JPH08318666A - Ink ribbon cassette and adjusting device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent that a character blurs or collapses or contamination is generated or an ink excessive transfer phenomenon is generated. CONSTITUTION: An ink ribbon cassette has an ink tank, a transfer roller 22 supported in a freely rotatable manner, the drive roller 32 brought into contact with the transfer roller 22 under pressure through an ink ribbon 21 and rotated accompanied by the running of a carriage unit to feed the ink ribbon, the wick 23 brought into contact with the transfer roller 22 under pressure to supply the ink of the ink ribbon to the transfer roller 22 and an ink supply amt. adjusting means adjusting the supply amt. of the ink from the transfer roller 22 to the ink ribbon 21. In this case, an ink supply state and an ink supply stop state can be formed by operating the ink supply amt. adjusting means. Since the the ink quantity of the ink ribbon 21 can be made constant, the printing density of a character printed by a printing head can be made constant.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette and its adjusting device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a serial printer, a print head and an ink ribbon cassette are mounted on a carriage unit, and printing is performed by colliding a print wire of the print head with the ink ribbon. For this reason, the ink is applied to the ink ribbon and made to penetrate, but the ink is reduced by repeating printing. Therefore, ink can be supplied to the ink ribbon to replenish it.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional serial printer,
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a conventional ink ribbon cassette. In FIG. 2, 111 is a carriage unit that can be moved to the left and right, 112 is an ink ribbon cassette mounted on the carriage unit 111, 114 is a side frame, and 116 is a print head mounted on the carriage unit 111.

The ink ribbon cassette 112 has an ink tank 131 made of an impregnating member inside, and the ink in the ink tank 131 flows out to the wick 123. The transfer roller 122 is rotatably arranged in pressure contact with the wick 123.
The drive roller 132 is brought into pressure contact with the transfer roller 122.
Is rotatably arranged. Therefore, the transfer roller 122 is also rotated as the drive roller 132 is rotated.

Reference numeral 121 is an ink ribbon, and 133 is a sub tank for pressing the wick 123 against the transfer roller 122, and supplies ink secondarily. In the serial printer having the above configuration, when the carriage unit 111 is moved to the left or right to perform printing, a drive shaft (not shown) of the carriage unit 111 is rotated, and the drive roller 132 of the ink ribbon cassette 112 is rotated by the drive shaft. To be As a result, the transfer roller 122 and the drive roller 1
The ink ribbon 121 sandwiched between 32 and 32 is conveyed.

Then, the conveyed ink ribbon 121
Further, printing can be performed by colliding a print wire (not shown) of the print head 116. By the way, the wick 123 and the transfer roller 122 are brought into pressure contact with each other, and further, the transfer roller 122 and the drive roller 132 are brought into pressure contact with each other. Therefore, the ink in the ink tank 131 is supplied to the transfer roller 122 via the wick 123 and transferred to the ink ribbon 121 via the transfer roller 122.

In this way, the ink of the ink ribbon 121 can be replenished.

[0008]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional ink ribbon cassette, the wick 123 is used.
Is constantly pressed against the transfer roller 122, the ink in the ink tank 131 is continuously supplied to the ink ribbon 121 while the carriage unit 111 is moved and the ink ribbon 121 is conveyed.

Therefore, even when printing is not performed, the carriage unit 111 is moved to supply ink to the ink ribbon 121, and the ink ribbon 121 is in an excessive ink state. As a result, the printed characters may be blurred or crushed, or ink may be attached to the paper to cause stains.

Further, while the ink ribbon cassette 112 or the serial printer is not used, ink is supplied only to a portion of the transfer roller 122 which is in contact with the wick 123, and an excessive ink portion is formed. Then, when the ink in the excessive ink portion is further transferred to the ink ribbon 121, an excessive ink transfer phenomenon occurs in the ink ribbon 121, and as a result, bleeding and crushing of characters partially occur. Resulting in.

Further, when printing is performed at a low density, the ink ribbon 121 is in a state of excess ink, and the printed characters are blurred or crushed, or the paper is stained. The present invention solves the problems of the conventional ink ribbon cassette described above, in which printed characters are bleeded, crushed, paper is stained, and a partial ink excessive transfer phenomenon occurs on the ink ribbon. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink ribbon cassette and a device for adjusting the ink ribbon cassette that does not do so.

[0012]

To this end, in the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention, the ink tank, the transfer roller rotatably supported, and the transfer roller and the ink ribbon are pressed against each other and are brought into pressure contact with each other. A drive roller that is rotated along with traveling to convey an ink ribbon, a wick that is pressed against the transfer roller and supplies ink from an ink tank to the transfer roller, and an amount of ink supplied from the transfer roller to the ink ribbon. And an ink supply amount adjusting means for adjusting the.

In the ink ribbon cassette adjusting apparatus of the present invention, the carriage unit is arranged so as to be movable, the operation members arranged at the left and right ends of the carriage unit in the traveling path, and the carriage unit are mounted on the carriage unit. And an ink ribbon cassette. And
The ink ribbon cassette, an ink tank, a transfer roller rotatably supported, and a drive roller that is pressed against the transfer roller while sandwiching the ink ribbon, and is rotated as the carriage unit runs to convey the ink ribbon. A wick that is brought into pressure contact with the transfer roller and supplies ink from an ink tank to the transfer roller; a shutter arm that has both ends facing the operating member and is movably disposed through the ribbon cassette cover; The shutter is fixed to the shutter arm, and is provided between the transfer roller and the wick so that the shutter can be inserted and removed with the movement of the shutter arm.

Another ink ribbon cassette adjusting device of the present invention further comprises a control device, the control device comprising a print amount integrating means for integrating the print amount, and a carriage corresponding to the integrated print amount. And an ink supply amount adjusting means for adjusting the ink supply amount by changing the traveling area of the unit.

[0015]

According to the present invention, as described above, in the ink ribbon cassette, the ink tank, the transfer roller rotatably supported, and the transfer roller and the ink ribbon are pressed against each other, so that the carriage unit can be moved. A drive roller that is rotated along with it to convey an ink ribbon, a wick that is brought into pressure contact with the transfer roller and supplies ink from an ink tank to the transfer roller, and an amount of ink supplied from the transfer roller to the ink ribbon is adjusted. And an ink supply amount adjusting means for controlling the ink supply amount.

In this case, since the ink supply amount from the transfer roller to the ink ribbon can be adjusted by operating the ink supply amount adjusting means, the ink supply state in which the ink is transferred from the transfer roller to the ink ribbon. And an ink supply stopped state in which ink is not supplied can be formed. In the ink ribbon cassette adjusting apparatus of the present invention, a carriage unit movably arranged, operation members arranged at the left end and the right end of the carriage unit in the traveling path, and an ink ribbon cassette mounted on the carriage unit. Have and.

The ink ribbon cassette is pressed against the ink tank, a transfer roller rotatably supported by the transfer roller and the transfer roller, and is rotated as the carriage unit runs to rotate the ink ribbon. And a wick that is pressed against the transfer roller to feed the ink in the ink tank to the transfer roller, and has both ends facing the operation member and is movably disposed through the ribbon cassette cover. A shutter arm, and a shutter fixed to the shutter arm and provided so as to be inserted and removed between the transfer roller and the wick as the shutter arm moves.

In this case, when the carriage unit is moved to the left end of the traveling path, the shutter arm is pushed by the operation member and moved to the right. On the other hand, when the carriage unit is moved to the right end of the traveling path, the shutter arm is pushed by the operation member and moved to the left. As a result, the shutter is inserted and removed between the transfer roller and the wick.

Another ink ribbon cassette adjusting device of the present invention further comprises a control device, the control device comprising a print amount integrating means for integrating the print amount, and a carriage corresponding to the integrated print amount. And an ink supply amount adjusting means for adjusting the ink supply amount by changing the traveling area of the unit. In this case, when the printing is repeated by the print head, the printing amount integrated by the printing amount integrating means becomes excessive, and when the printing amount reaches the set value, the ink supply amount adjusting means changes the traveling area of the carriage unit. To do.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a horizontal serial printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, 11 is a carriage unit that is driven to the left and right by driving a motor (not shown), 12
Is an ink ribbon cassette mounted on the carriage unit 11, 14L is a left side frame, 14R is a right side frame, and 16 is a print head mounted on the carriage unit 11.

When the carriage unit 11 is moved, an ink ribbon (not shown) is conveyed and printing is performed by colliding a print wire (not shown) of the print head 16 with the ink ribbon. The ink ribbon cassette 12 is provided with a shutter arm 13 which constitutes an ink supply amount adjusting means so as to penetrate an ink cassette cover (not shown), and the side frames 14L and 14R are opposed to the end surface of the shutter arm 13. Posts 15L and 15R as operation members are provided.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which the ink ribbon cassette according to the first embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a horizontal serial printer, and FIG. 6 is a general-purpose (handy) ink ribbon cassette according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a state diagram of the printer mounted on a mold serial printer. In the figure, 12 is an ink ribbon cassette, and the ink ribbon cassette 12
Is installed in a horizontal serial printer, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. In this case, the print head 16 (FIG. 4) is arranged downward.

Further, the ink ribbon cassette 12 is
When it is mounted on a general-purpose serial printer, it is placed horizontally as shown in FIG. In this case, the print head 16 is arranged sideways. Reference numeral 13 is a shutter arm, 13b is an on / off switching knob for moving the shutter arm 13 in the traveling direction of the carriage unit 11, and 26 is a ribbon cassette cover. The letters "ON" and "OFF" are attached to the surface of the ribbon cassette cover 26 and the end of the shutter arm 13 to display the switching position of the shutter arm 13.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an ink ribbon cassette according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a contact state diagram of a wick according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a first embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a bottom view of the ink ribbon cassette in the example of FIG.
FIG. 3 is an engagement state diagram of a claw portion in the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the ink ribbon cassette 12 has a shutter arm 13 extending through a ribbon cassette cover 26, and a film-shaped shutter 24 is fixed to the shutter arm 13. The shutter 24 constitutes an ink supply amount adjusting means together with the shutter arm 13. The shutter arm 13 can hold the knob 13b (FIG. 5) and move it to the left and right in the figure. Further, the shutter 24 extends obliquely with respect to the shutter arm 13, and as the shutter arm 13 moves, the transfer roller 22 and the wick 23.
Is inserted and removed between.

As shown in FIG. 9, the shutter arm 13 is provided with a notch 13c to form a claw portion 13a.
And a locking projection 13d is formed at the tip of the claw portion 13a. On the other hand, the ribbon cassette cover 26
A guide groove 26a is formed on the inner surface of the corresponding to the claw portion 13a, and the engaging protrusion 13d is engaged with the guide groove 26a. In this case, the guide groove 26a includes one convex portion formed in the center and two concave portions formed on the left and right of the convex portion, and positions the shutter arm 13 at two positions.

In this case, the operator operates the shutter arm 1
When the user wants to move 3, the two recesses give a click feeling (detent feeling), so that it is possible to prevent erroneous operation, switching failure and the like from occurring.
Further, a leaf spring 25 biased toward the transfer roller 22 is disposed at the tip of the wick 23, and the leaf spring 25 pushes the wick 23 with an appropriate pressing force to the carriage unit 11.
Press (Fig. 4). Incidentally, 32 is a drive roller.

When the grip portion 13b is gripped and the shutter arm 13 is placed at the "ON" side switching position, the shutter 24 is pulled out from between the transfer roller 22 and the wick 23, and the shutter 24 and the wick 23 are pressed to contact each other. A supply state is formed. Therefore, the ink supplied to the transfer roller 22 via the wick 23 is transferred to the ink ribbon 21.

On the other hand, when the grip portion 13b is gripped and the shutter arm 13 is placed at the switching position on the "OFF" side, the shutter 24 is inserted between the transfer roller 22 and the wick 23, and both are blocked by the shutter 24. As a result, the ink supply stopped state is formed. Therefore, during that time, the ink is not transferred to the ink ribbon 21. In addition, "ON" and "OFF" attached to the end of the shutter arm 13
When the shutter arm 13 is placed on the “ON” side, the character “ON” indicates that the shutter arm 13 indicates “OF”.
When placed on the “F” side, the character “OFF” appears outside the ink ribbon cassette 12.

By the way, the knob portion 13b is provided for moving the shutter arm 13 to switch between the "ON" side and the "OFF" side, but it can also be switched by moving the carriage unit 11. . That is, the left and right side frames 14L, 14
Posts 15L and 15R are arranged so as to project to the R, so that when the carriage unit 11 is moved to the left and right, both ends of the shutter arm 13 are set to the post 15L.
The shutter arm 13 is moved by being pressed against L and 15R. At this time, the amount of projection of the shutter arm 13 from the side surface of the ink ribbon cassette 12 is the same as the amount of movement of the shutter arm 13 when both end surfaces of the shutter arm 13 are pressed against the posts 15L and 15R. The shutter 24 is positioned by the lengths of 15L and 15R and the shutter arm 13.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, the guide groove 26
Since the two concave portions are formed in a, the claw portion 1
3a moves along the slope and is accurately engaged with the recess. Therefore, it is possible to increase the positioning accuracy of the shutter 24 against variations in the accuracy of the abutting positions when the carriage unit 11 is moved and the both end surfaces of the shutter arm 13 are applied to the posts 15L and 15R.

Next, the ink ribbon cassette 1 having the above structure
The operation of No. 2 will be described. 10 is a sectional view of the ink ribbon cassette in the ink supply state in the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 11 is a view showing the shutter in the ink supply state in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 12 is the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a sectional view of the ink ribbon cassette in the ink supply stopped state in the first embodiment, and FIG. 13 is a view showing the shutter in the ink supply stopped state in the first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 10, the ink ribbon cassette 1
The shutter arm 13 disposed inside 2 is pushed in the direction of the arrow from the left side in the figure and placed on the "ON" side. At this time, as shown in FIG. 11, as the shutter arm 13 moves, the shutter 24 is pulled out from between the transfer roller 22 and the wick 23, and both are brought into pressure contact with each other to form an ink supply state.

When the carriage unit 11 (FIG. 4) is moved left and right, the drive roller 32 is rotated by a drive shaft (not shown) provided in the carriage unit 11. The drive roller 32 can be rotated only clockwise in the drawing by a mechanism (not shown) provided in the carriage unit 11.

As the drive roller 32 rotates, the transfer roller 22 pressed against the drive roller 32 also rotates, and the ink ribbon 21 sandwiched between the transfer roller 22 and the wick 23 is conveyed. . Since the wick 23 is pressed against the transfer roller 22, the ink in the ink tank 31 is supplied to the transfer roller 22 via the wick 23. Therefore, the transfer roller 22 transfers the ink to the ink ribbon 21 while rotating.

In this way, the ink in the ink tank 31 is supplied to the ink ribbon 21 via the transfer roller 22, so that the ink ribbon 2 can be printed by repeating printing.
Even when the ink of No. 1 is reduced, the ink of the ink ribbon 21 can be replenished. Next, as shown in FIG.
When the shutter arm 13 is pushed in the direction of the arrow from the right side in the drawing and placed on the “OFF” side, as shown in FIG. 13, the shutter 24 moves between the transfer roller 22 and the wick 23 as the shutter arm 13 moves. , And both are blocked by the shutter 24, and an ink supply stopped state is formed.

When printing is performed with the ink supply stopped, the ink on the ink ribbon 21 continues to decrease and the print density gradually decreases. Next, the operation of the serial printer equipped with the ink ribbon cassette 12 will be described. FIG. 14 is an operation explanatory view of the ink ribbon cassette in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 15 is the first embodiment of the present invention.
16 is a perspective view of the ink ribbon cassette in the ink supply state in this embodiment, and FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the ink ribbon cassette in the ink supply stop state in the first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 14, the carriage unit 11
Moves in the direction of arrow A and moves to the left end of the serial printer, the left end of the shutter arm 13 contacts the post 15L of the side frame 14L. At this time, the shutter arm 13 arranged in the ink ribbon cassette 12
Is pushed by the post 15L and is moved to the right in the figure as shown in FIG. As a result,
The ink supply states shown in 0 and 11 are formed.

On the other hand, in FIG. 14, when the carriage unit 11 first travels in the direction of arrow B and moves to the right end of the serial printer, the right end of the shutter arm 13 hits the post 15R of the side frame 14R. At this time, the shutter arm 13 is pushed by the post 15R and is moved to the left in the figure as shown in FIG. As a result, the ink supply stopped state as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 is formed.

Therefore, when normal printing is performed by the serial printer, the shutter arm 13 and the post 15 are used.
Carriage unit 1 so that L and 15R do not contact
1 is run along the guide 17, and the carriage unit 11 is moved to the left end or the right end of the serial printer only when the ink supply state and the ink supply stop state are switched. Reference numeral 16 is a print head mounted on the carriage unit 11.

Next, an adjusting device for the ink ribbon cassette 12 will be described. FIG. 17 is a block diagram of an ink ribbon cassette adjusting device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 18 is a first flow chart of the ink ribbon cassette adjusting device in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 19 is a second flow chart of the ink ribbon cassette adjusting device in the first embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 11 is a carriage unit,
12 is an ink ribbon cassette, 16 is a print head, 35
Is a control unit, 36 and 37 are relay units, 38 is a spacing (SP) motor, 39 is a line feed (LF) motor, 40 is a single / book switching sensor for switching between single and form, and 41 is I / An F code, 42 is an operation unit, and 43 is a power supply unit.

Next, the ink ribbon cassette 1 having the above structure
The operation of the second adjusting device will be described. First, when a power source (not shown) of the serial printer is turned on, the spacing motor 38 is driven and the origin in the space direction is set. At this time, the carriage unit 11 is moved in the direction of arrow B (FIG. 14) and stopped at the right end, and the control unit 35 stores the origin.

At this time, the ink ribbon cassette 1
The second shutter arm 13 is pushed by the post 15R of the side frame 14R to move in the direction of arrow A, and the ink supply stopped state is formed. Then, the control unit 35 also stores that the ink ribbon cassette 12 is in the ink supply stopped state. Next, the spacing motor 38 is driven in the reverse direction, the carriage unit 11 is moved in the direction of arrow A, and is stopped at the left end. At this time, the shutter arm 13 of the ink ribbon cassette 12 is pushed by the post 15L of the side frame 14L and moves in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 14 to form the ink supply state.
The controller 35 previously stores the left end position for bringing the ink ribbon cassette 12 into the ink supply state, and the carriage unit 11 reaches the left end position.
To move.

By the way, when the printing is repeated by the print head 16, the printing amount is integrated, but the count value x is used to judge whether the integrated printing amount is large. A count is performed by a first duty counter (not shown) provided in the controller 35 as a print amount integrating means. Therefore, the control unit 35 determines that the print amount is small when the count value x decreases with the passage of time, and determines that the print amount is large when the count value x increases.

Then, in order to calculate the count value x, the control unit 35 calculates the print ratio Z _X every time printing is performed on each print line. The print rate Z _X is also used as an index indicating whether high-density printing or low-density printing is performed, that is, whether the print duty is high or low. The total number of dots when one line is printed according to the print data input to the serial printer is D, and the amount of space moved by the carriage unit 11 when one line is printed is D _T. Then, the printing rate Z _X is expressed by Z _X = (D / D _T ) · 100 [%] (1). The space amount D _T is a value obtained by converting the moving distance into the number of dots.

Next, each printing rate Z_XThe addition value α corresponding to
It is read from a table (not shown) in the control unit 35.
In this case, the printing rate Z_XIs divided into 5 ranks,
The addition value α is set for each link. That is, 2 ≦ Z_XIf ≦ 100, the addition value α is set to 500. For example,
Each line consists of 136 digits, and each line contains 35 or more ANK characters.
Corresponds to when included above. Also, 1.5 ≦ Z_XIf <2, the addition value α is set to 30 and 0.7 ≦ Z_XIf <1.5, the addition value α is set to −2, and 0.2 ≦ Z_XWhen <0.7, the addition value α is set to −15, and 0 ≦ Z_XIf <0.2, the addition value α is set to -30. For example,
One line consists of 136 digits, less than 4 ANK characters per line
This is the case when it is included. The print rate Z _XIs 0
If it is, the carriage unit is printed without printing.
This is the case when the hood 11 is moved.

As described above, when the print ratio Z _X is Z _X <1.5, the added value α takes a negative value. Then, each time printing for one line is performed, the addition value α is added to the count value x.

Next, the control unit 35 determines whether the count value x is smaller than 0 and larger than -10000. When the print amount is appropriate and the count value x is within this range, the control unit 35 causes the print data of the next line to be input and prints, calculates the print ratio Z _X , and adds the added value. Read α. Then, these operations are repeated.

On the other hand, when the print amount is large and the count value x is 0 or more, the control unit 35 resets the first duty counter to set the count value x to 0, and then inputs the print data of the next line. Then, printing is performed, the printing rate Z _X is calculated, and the added value α is read. When the print amount is small and the count value x is smaller than -10000 (the negative value is large), the ink supply amount adjusting means (not shown) in the control unit 35 performs the ink supply stop process. That is, when the count value x becomes -10000 or less, the control unit 35 issues an instruction to the relay unit 36, and the traveling area of the carriage unit 11 is changed by the motor driver. As a result, the carriage unit 11 is moved to the right end to move the shutter arm 13 of the ink ribbon cassette 12 to the left, and the ink supply stopped state is formed. When the ink supply is stopped, the control unit 35 resets the second duty counter to set the count value y to -1000.
Set to 0.

In this case, the count value y is also the count value x.
Is used as an index indicating the print amount in the same manner as
Determines that the printing amount is small when the count value y increases little by little with the passage of time, and that the printing amount is large when the count value y rapidly increases. Then, in order to calculate the count value y, the print rate Z _Y is calculated each time printing is performed for each print line.

In this case, the print ratio Z _Y is calculated by the same equation (1).
It is represented by. Next, the added value β corresponding to each printing rate Z _Y is read from a table (not shown). In this case, the printing rate Z
_Y is divided into 5 ranks, and the added value β for each rank
Is set. That is, when 2 ≦ Z _Y ≦ 100, the addition value β is set to 500, and when 1.5 ≦ Z _Y <2, the addition value β is set to 100 and 0.7 ≦ Z _Y <1 .5, the addition value β is set to 20, if 0.2 ≦ Z _Y <0.7, the addition value β is set to 5, and if 0 ≦ Z _Y <0.2, The added value β is set to 1.

Then, each time one line is printed, the added value β is added to the count value y. Next, the control unit 3
5 determines whether the count value y is 0 or less,
When the count value y is 0 or less, the print data of the next line is input and printing is performed, the printing rate Z _Y is calculated, and the added value β is read. Then, these operations are repeated.

When the count value y is larger than 0, the ink supply amount adjusting means in the control section 35 changes the traveling area of the carriage unit 11 and moves the carriage unit 11 to the left end for the next processing. Then, the ink supply state is formed in the ink ribbon cassette 12. Since all the added values β in the ink supply stopped state are set to positive integers, when the added value β is added to the count value y, the count value y always becomes larger than 0, and the ink ribbon cassette 12 is set to the ink supply state. Switch.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the ink density of the ink ribbon 21 (FIG. 10) from continuing to decrease when the ink supply is stopped and the print density becomes too low. In this way, it is determined based on the print data input to the serial printer whether the print amount is larger than the set value, and if the print amount is equal to or larger than the set value, the ink ribbon cassette 12 is set to the ink supply state and the print amount is changed. If it is less than the set value, the ink supply to the ink ribbon cassette 12 is stopped.

Therefore, since the ink amount of the ink ribbon 21 can be made constant, the ink ribbon 21 will not be in an excessive ink state, and the print density of the characters printed by the print head 16 will be constant. can do. As a result, the printed characters are blurred,
No more crushing and no stain on the paper.

By the way, the added values α and β are made different depending on the level of the print duty. That is, when the print duty is high, the print amount is large with respect to the space amount of one line, and the ink ribbon 21 per unit ribbon length is large.
The amount of ink consumption also increases. On the other hand, when the print duty is low, the print amount is small with respect to the space amount of one line, and the ink consumption amount of the ink ribbon 21 per unit ribbon length is small.

However, the amount of ink supplied from the ink tank 31 to the ink ribbon 21 depends on the transfer roller 2
Since it is determined in accordance with the rotation amount of 2, that is, the movement amount of the carriage unit 11, it is always constant. Therefore, depending on the height of the print duty, the ink ribbon 21
If the consumption amount of the ink changes, the ink amount of the ink ribbon 21 also changes.

Therefore, the added values α and β are made different depending on the level of the print duty. When the print duty is high, the period of the ink supply stop state is shortened, and when the print duty is low, the period of the ink supply stop state. Is long. Therefore, the ink amount of the ink ribbon 21 does not change, and the print density of the characters printed by the print head 16 can be made more constant.

When the ink ribbon cassette 12 or the serial printer is not used, the operator holds the knob 13b (FIG. 6) and moves the shutter arm 13 to switch it to the "OFF" side, or the carriage unit 11 is moved. The ink supply is stopped by moving it to the right end. In this way, the ink is not supplied only to the portion of the transfer roller 22 that is in contact with the wick 23, so that it is possible to prevent the ink excessive transfer phenomenon from occurring on the ink ribbon 21.

Next, the flowchart will be described. Step S1 The carriage unit 11 is moved in the direction of arrow B (FIG. 14) to find the origin, and the ink ribbon cassette 12 is stopped. In step S2, the carriage unit 11 is moved in the direction of arrow A so that the ink is supplied. Step S3 The count value x is set to 0. In step S4, the print data of the next line is input and printing is performed, and the print ratio Z _X is calculated. In step S5, the added value α is read. In step S6, the additional value α is added to the count value x. Step S7 The count value x is smaller than 0, and −
Determine if it is greater than 10,000. When the count value x is smaller than 0 and larger than -10000, the process returns to step S4 and the count value x is 0 or more or -1.
If it is 0000 or less, the process proceeds to step S8. In step S8, it is determined whether the count value x is 0 or more. If the count value x is 0 or more, the process returns to step S3, and if the count value x is -10000 or less, the process proceeds to step S9. Step S9 The carriage unit 11 is moved to the right, and the ink supply to the ink ribbon cassette 12 is stopped. Step S10 The second duty counter is reset and the count value y is set to -10000. In step S11, the print data of the next line is input and printing is performed, and the print ratio Z _Y is calculated. Step S12: Read the added value β. In step S13, the added value β is added to the count value y. In step S14, it is determined whether the count value y is 0 or less. When the count value y is 0 or less, the process returns to step S11, and when the count value y is greater than 0, the process returns to step S2.

Although the print duty is divided into five ranks in the present embodiment, the number of ranks may be any number, and the added values α and β are associated with each rank.
Can be changed arbitrarily. Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 20 is an engagement state diagram of a claw portion according to the second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 21 is a first state diagram of a shutter according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 22 is a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 23 is a second state diagram of the shutter in the example, and FIG. 23 is a third state diagram of the shutter in the second embodiment of the present invention.

In this case, the shutter arm 13 can be positioned at three positions, and the shutter arm 13 is formed with a notch 13c to form a claw portion 13a as shown in FIG. In addition, a locking projection 13d is formed at the tip of the claw portion 13a. On the other hand, a guide groove 126a is formed on the inner surface of the ribbon cassette cover 26 so as to correspond to the claw portion 13a, and the locking protrusion 13d is locked in the guide groove 126a.
In this case, the guide groove 126a is composed of two convex portions and three concave portions ac to position the shutter arm 13 at three positions.

When the locking projection 13d is located in the recess a, the shutter 124 is not inserted between the transfer roller 22 and the wick 23, and an ink supply state is formed, as shown in FIG. Next, when the locking projection 13d is positioned in the recess b, the shutter 124 is halfway between the transfer roller 22 and the wick 23 (transfer roller 22 as shown in FIG. 22).
And 1/2 of the contact area between the wick 23 and
An ink half supply state is formed.

When the locking projection 13d is located in the recess c, as shown in FIG. 23, the shutter 124 is inserted between the transfer roller 22 and the wick 23, and the ink supply stopped state is formed. In the ink half-supply state, the ink supply amount is half that in the ink supply state.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the operator looks at the print density of the characters, and the shutter arm 13
If the print density is extremely low, move it to the position shown in FIG.
When the print density is extremely high, the print density can be controlled by moving the print density to the position shown in FIG. 23, and when the print density is appropriate, moving the print density to the position shown in FIG. First
And in the second embodiment, the shutter arm 13
Can be positioned at two or three positions, but four or more are required in accordance with the combination of the length of the shutter arm 13, the movement amount of the shutter arm 13, the lengths of the posts 15L and 15R, and the like. It is also possible to position at a plurality of positions.

Further, in the first and second embodiments,
Although the ink ribbon cassette 12 for monochrome is described, the ink ribbon cassette 12 for four colors of color printers can be applied. In that case, a unique ink ribbon cassette is provided for each color, and a shutter arm is provided for each ink ribbon cassette. Further, when printing in any color, the ink ribbon cassettes of the other three colors are switched to the ink supply stopped state.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be variously modified based on the spirit of the present invention, and these are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

[0068]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, in the ink ribbon cassette, the ink tank, the rotatably supported transfer roller, and the transfer roller and the ink ribbon are sandwiched and brought into pressure contact with each other. A drive roller that rotates as the carriage unit travels to convey an ink ribbon, a wick that presses against the transfer roller and supplies ink from an ink tank to the transfer roller, and ink from the transfer roller to the ink ribbon. And an ink supply amount adjusting means for adjusting the supply amount of the ink.

In this case, the ink supply state and the ink supply stop state can be formed by operating the ink supply amount adjusting means. Therefore, since the ink amount of the ink ribbon can be made constant, the ink density of the character printed by the print head can be made constant without the ink ribbon being in an excessive ink state. As a result, the printed characters are blurred,
No more crushing and no stain on the paper.

When the ink ribbon cassette or the serial printer is not used, the ink supply stopped state can be formed by operating the ink supply amount adjusting means. In this case, since the ink is not transferred only to the portion of the transfer roller which is in contact with the wick, it is possible to prevent the ink excessive transfer phenomenon from occurring on the ink ribbon.

In the ink ribbon cassette adjusting apparatus of the present invention, the carriage unit movably arranged, the operation members arranged at the left and right ends of the carriage unit in the traveling path, and the carriage unit are mounted on the carriage unit. And an ink ribbon cassette. And
The ink ribbon cassette, an ink tank, a transfer roller rotatably supported, and a drive roller that is pressed against the transfer roller while sandwiching the ink ribbon, and is rotated as the carriage unit runs to convey the ink ribbon. A wick that is brought into pressure contact with the transfer roller and supplies ink from an ink tank to the transfer roller; a shutter arm that has both ends facing the operating member and is movably disposed through the ribbon cassette cover; The shutter is fixed to the shutter arm, and is provided between the transfer roller and the wick so that the shutter can be inserted and removed with the movement of the shutter arm.

In this case, when the carriage unit is moved to the left end of the traveling path, the shutter arm is pushed by the operation member and moved to the right. On the other hand, when the carriage unit is moved to the right end of the traveling path, the shutter arm is pushed by the operation member and moved to the left. Therefore, the shutter arm can be moved only by moving the carriage unit to the left end or the right end of the traveling path, and the shutter can be inserted / removed between the transfer roller and the wick.

Another ink ribbon cassette adjusting apparatus of the present invention further has a control device, and the control device includes a print amount integrating means for integrating print amounts, and a carriage corresponding to the integrated print amount. And an ink supply amount adjusting means for adjusting the ink supply amount by changing the traveling area of the unit. In this case, when printing is repeated by the print head, the running area of the carriage unit can be changed in accordance with the print amount accumulated by the print amount integrating means to form the ink supply state and the ink supply stop state. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an ink ribbon cassette according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional serial printer.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a conventional ink ribbon cassette.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a horizontal type serial printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the ink ribbon cassette according to the first embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a horizontal serial printer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which the ink ribbon cassette according to the first embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a general-purpose serial printer.

FIG. 7 is a contact state diagram of the wick according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the ink ribbon cassette according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an engagement state diagram of the claw portion according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the ink ribbon cassette in the ink supply state in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the shutter in the ink supply state in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the ink ribbon cassette with the ink supply stopped in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the shutter in the ink supply stopped state according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an operation explanatory diagram of the ink ribbon cassette according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the ink ribbon cassette in an ink supply state in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the ink ribbon cassette with the ink supply stopped in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of an ink ribbon cassette adjusting device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a first flowchart of the ink ribbon cassette adjusting apparatus in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a second flowchart of the ink ribbon cassette adjusting apparatus in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is an engagement state diagram of a claw portion according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a first state diagram of the shutter according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a second state diagram of the shutter according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a third state diagram of the shutter according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Carriage Unit 12 Ink Ribbon Cassette 13 Shutter Arm 13b Handle 15L, 15R Post 21 Ink Ribbon 22 Transfer Roller 23 Wick 24, 124 Shutter 26 Ribbon Cassette Cover 31 Ink Tank 32 Drive Roller 35 Control Section

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Akinori Nishino 1 Tateda Shono, Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture 1 Stock Company Oki Data Systems (72) Inventor Takashi Kikuchi 1 Tachida Shono, Fukushima City Fukushima Prefecture 1 Stock Association Oki Data Systems

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An ink tank comprising: (a) an ink tank; (b) a rotatably supported transfer roller; and (c) an ink ribbon sandwiched between the transfer roller and the ink roller, and the roller is rotated as the carriage unit travels. And a drive roller that conveys the ink ribbon, (d) a wick that is pressed against the transfer roller to supply the ink in the ink tank to the transfer roller, and (e) an amount of ink supplied from the transfer roller to the ink ribbon. And an ink supply amount adjusting means for adjusting the ink ribbon cassette. 2. The ink supply amount adjusting means for inserting and removing the shutter between the transfer roller and the wick, and the shutter arranged so as to be insertable and removable between the transfer roller and the wick. The ink ribbon cassette according to claim 1, comprising a shutter arm. 3. The ink ribbon cassette according to claim 2, wherein the shutter arm includes a knob for moving the shutter arm from the outside of the ribbon cassette cover. 4. (a) a carriage unit movably arranged; (b) an operation member arranged at a left end and a right end of a carriage path of the carriage unit; and (c) mounted on the carriage unit. (D) The ink ribbon cassette has an ink tank, a transfer roller rotatably supported, and a pressure contact with the transfer roller and the ink ribbon sandwiched therebetween. A drive roller that is rotated to convey an ink ribbon, a wick that is pressed against the transfer roller and supplies ink from an ink tank to the transfer roller, and both ends of the wick face the operation member, and penetrates the ribbon cassette cover. A shutter arm movably arranged and fixed to the shutter arm,
An adjusting device for an ink ribbon cassette, comprising: a shutter that can be inserted and removed between the transfer roller and the wick as the shutter arm moves. 5. A control device, comprising: a print amount integrating means for integrating the print amount; and an ink supply amount by changing the traveling area of the carriage unit in correspondence with the integrated print amount. The ink ribbon cassette adjusting device according to claim 4, further comprising: an ink supply amount adjusting means for adjusting.