JPH10202993A - Image-recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To selectively use ribbon cassettes of single color or single function and enhance use efficiency by automatically switching.selecting ink ribbon cassettes or ink ribbon cartridges by a rotary motion or a rotary reciprocation in accordance with a record state and a usage.purpose. SOLUTION: A cartridge 12 employs a revolver method, with ribbon cassettes 21-24 arranged and held on a circumference of a cylindrical interior. One end of the cylindrical shape of the cartridge 12 is held and rotated by a power applied from a driving means 15. The other end of the cylindrical shape is opened, through which ribbon cassettes 21-24 of a slightly larger size than a width of a recording paper are slid in an axial direction of the cylindrical shape and exchanged. The ribbon cassettes 21-24 of a long size can be easily set compactly to the cartridge 12 of the revolver type.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus in which a method of exchanging and selecting a thermal transfer type ink ribbon is improved.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a thermal transfer recording apparatus 1 comprises an ink ribbon 2, paper or a transfer sheet 3 having a developed layer formed on paper, a thermal head 4, and a platen roller 5. ing.

[0005] The ink ribbon 2 is formed in a face-sequential manner according to the size of paper to be recorded on one side of a base sheet.
(Yellow) 6, M (magenta) 7, C (cyan) 8,
K (black) 9 ink layer and marker 1 for position detection
0 is provided for each color. The ink ribbon 2 and the transfer sheet 3 are conveyed at a predetermined timing while being sandwiched between the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 5. At this time,
The heat generating portion of the thermal head 4 selectively generates heat based on the image information, and the thermal energy causes the ink layer of the ink ribbon 2 melted or sublimated to be transferred to the transfer sheet 3 to form an image. When the recording of one color (Y6 in this case) is completed, the ink ribbon 2 is wound up and the next recording color M7
Is performed by detecting the marker 10. At the same time, the transfer sheet 3 is returned to the recording start position. Next, M7, C8, and K9 are sequentially recorded as in the case of Y6, and a color image for one screen is formed.

[0004]

In such a conventional recording apparatus, Y6, M7, C8,
K9 color ink layers are formed in a plane-sequential manner, and this is used as a structural unit for one screen.

For this reason, for example, even when an image composed of only Y6 is recorded, the subsequent M7, C8, K9
Is treated as one screen. Even if the recording range is for one line, the ink ribbon is similarly consumed as a structural unit for one screen. Generally, it is said that 75% is wasted without being used.

That is, the ink ribbon 2 for one screen is always used regardless of the color to be recorded and the recording range, and the use efficiency of the ink ribbon 2 is remarkably deteriorated. Low utilization efficiency is also a factor that increases running costs. If the consumption of the ink ribbon 2 is intense, the frequency of replacement becomes high, and it takes time and effort, and the amount of waste such as dust increases.

Further, since the structural unit for one screen is fixed, a corresponding ribbon length is required. For example, in the case of A4 size, even if it is simply calculated, it is 1188 mm (A4 total length ×
A ribbon length of four colors) is required. Therefore, when the number of recording screens is increased, the diameter of the ink ribbon 2 itself is increased and an extra volume is required.

In addition, since the ink ribbon 2 in which the ink layers are formed in a plane-sequential manner requires a complicated production process of color-coding and printing of the marker 10, the production cost is much higher than that of a single-color ink ribbon. This is also a factor that greatly affects the running cost of the printing apparatus. The recording apparatus also requires a sensor and control means for detecting the marker and finding the start of each color, and this is naturally reflected in the cost of the device.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems by rotating a ribbon cassette holding an ink ribbon or a cartridge holding an ink ribbon for each color in accordance with a recording situation or each use / purpose. Automatic exchange / selection by movement or reciprocating rotation. As a result, each ribbon cassette can selectively use a single-color or single-function ribbon according to the required amount, thereby increasing the use efficiency of the ink ribbon. Therefore, the running cost of the device can be reduced. In addition, space can be made more efficient, and a mechanism that can operate at high speed with a simple configuration can be realized.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail. In this embodiment, a recording apparatus using a line type thermal head will be described. FIG. 3 shows the recording device 11
The thermal transfer recording apparatus 11 includes a cartridge 12, a thermal head 13, a platen 14, a first driving unit 15, a second driving unit 16, and a control unit 17.

The cartridge 12 includes ribbon cassettes 21 to 21.
In the case of the present embodiment, for example, a revolver (rotary magazine) system is used. This places and holds the ribbon cassettes 21-24 along the circumference inside the cylinder. The cartridge 12 holds one end of the cylindrical shape and rotates by the power applied from the driving unit 15. The other end of the cylindrical shape is open, and from this opening portion, the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 having a size slightly larger than the width of the recording paper can be replaced by sliding in the axial direction of the cylindrical shape. The cartridge 12 of the revolver type can easily mount the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 having such a long size and is compact.

In this embodiment, the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 can be exchanged while one end of the cartridge 12 is held. However, the cartridge 12 itself can be detached from the driving means 15 so as to be detachable, and the recording is performed. The ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 may be replaced outside the apparatus 11. In this way, there is also a merit that the maintenance of the apparatus becomes easy.

The ribbon cassette 21 has a Y (yellow) ink ribbon 21a, the ribbon cassette 22 has an M (magenta) ink ribbon 22a, and the ribbon cassette 23 has a C (ink) ribbon.
(Cyan) ink ribbon 23a, ribbon cassette 24
Is provided with a K (black) ink ribbon 24a. The end of the ink ribbon 21a is held by a spool 21b, and is wound around the spool 21b during recording. Similarly, the ink ribbons 22a to 24a are held on spools 22b to 24b, respectively. Since the ink ribbons 21a to 24a are independent for each color, the length of the ink ribbons can be reduced to about 1/4 as compared with the conventional ink ribbon. Therefore, each ink ribbon becomes extremely compact. For example, in the specification for recording 100 sheets of A4 paper, the ink ribbon length is about 29 m. However, when an ink ribbon having a thickness of 6.5 μm is wound with a core diameter of 15 mm, the outer diameter of the present invention is 21.5 mm. Becomes On the other hand, in the conventional ink ribbon, the length of the ink ribbon is about 122 m including the marker, and the outer diameter is 36 mm.

The cartridge 12 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG.
1 to 24 are sequentially conveyed to the recording position. The recording position is set at a predetermined place where the thermal head 13 and the platen 14 are arranged.

The second drive means 16 applies power to the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 conveyed to a predetermined position for each color recording, and winds up the ink ribbon in accordance with the timing of image recording by the thermal head 13 and the platen 14. . The second driving means 16 has a mechanism for connecting and disconnecting power to the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24. As shown in FIG. 4, when the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 are at the recording position, the link portions 16a are connected to the respective spools 21b to 24b. ~
24b, the cartridge 12 moves to a position where the rotation of the cartridge 12 and the movement of the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 are not hindered. Thereby, it is possible to apply power without interrupting the operation when automatically replacing / selecting the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24.

The thermal head 13 is of a line type in which a heating element is formed in the main scanning direction (width direction) of the recording paper. The thermal head 13 is provided so as to be surrounded by the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24. In this embodiment, the thermal head 13 is provided in a space surrounded by the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 provided on the circumference of the cartridge 12. Is arranged. The thermal head 13 is brought into contact with or separated from the platen 14 by driving means (not shown).
The separation position of the thermal head 13 (indicated by a virtual line in the figure) is located inside the movement trajectory of the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 to which the cartridge 12 rotates and conveyed, and at a place where interference with the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 is avoided. is there.

The control means 17 controls the entire recording apparatus 11, and controls the conveyance of the transfer sheet 32 from the supply to the discharge of the transfer sheet 32 based on a recording instruction, image information, and information from a sensor and the like. To record an image. Further, the first driving means 15 is controlled to rotate (rotate or reciprocate) the cartridge 12 so that the necessary ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 are sequentially conveyed to the recording position, and the second driving means 16 is controlled to control the ribbon cassette. The link portion 16a is connected to the spools 21b to 24b to the spools 21 to 24 to apply power, and when the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 are replaced, the link portion 16a is separated from the spool and the thermal head 13 contacts the platen 14 with the thermal head 13. Contact and separate.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This program is incorporated in the control means 17, and is usually executed by a recording start command.

First, at P1, a control signal is output to the first drive means 15 to select the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 required for recording. In this case, the home position mark provided on the cartridge is detected by a sensor (not shown), so that the yellow ribbon cassette 21, which is the first recording color, is recognized and conveyed to the recording position. Note that the ribbon cassette 21 may always be at the recording position in the initial recording state. At this time, the thermal head 13 is held at a predetermined separation position.

Next, at P2, a control signal is output to the second drive means 16 to move the link section 16a to move the spool 21b.
To be connected.

At P3, it is determined whether or not the recording is the first time. This is the detection of the transfer sheet 32 set in the sheet feeding unit 31,
Judgment is made by a signal such as recording start.

At the time of the first recording, the transfer sheet 32 set in the sheet feeding section 31 is transported to the position of the thermal head 13 and the platen 14 in P4, and the thermal head 13 is brought into contact with the platen 14 in P5. This allows
The ink ribbon 21 a and the transfer sheet 32 are held while being sandwiched between the thermal head 13 and the platen 14.

Based on the image information input at P5, recording for each line by the thermal head 13 and the platen 14
The conveyance of the recording sheet 32 by the rotation of is performed at a predetermined timing, and a Y image is formed. At the same time, the ink ribbon 21a is also wound around the spool 21b at a predetermined speed, and the recording sheet 32 retreats to the tray 33 side. At this time, since the diameter difference between the start and the end of the winding of the ink ribbon 21a is small, a high-quality image with a small force of fluctuation of the ribbon tension is obtained. In general, if the fluctuation in the tension of the ribbon is small, the image quality becomes high, and it is desirable that the image quality does not change ideally.

Next, in P6, it is determined whether or not the recording for the image information of the same color has been completed.
Proceed to 7. If not, the same process is repeatedly executed.

In P7, it is determined whether or not printing of all colors necessary for printing has been completed. This is checked based on the color components included in the image information and the recording status of the colors related to the color components.

When recording is not completed, the thermal head 13 is returned to a predetermined separation position in P8, and the second
A control signal is output to the driving means 16 to drive the spool 21b to slightly wind the ink ribbon 21. This is performed to remove the slack of the ink ribbon 21 generated when the thermal head 13 is separated.

Next, at P10, a control signal is further output to move the link portion 16a to release it from the spool 21b. As a result, the cartridge 12 becomes rotatable.

At this point, the process returns to P1 again to select the next color ink cassette 22, proceeds to P2, and branches to P11 for the second and subsequent recordings at P3 to transfer the transfer sheet 32 retreated to the tray 33. Thermal head 13 and platen 1
At the same time, the ink ribbon is transported to the position 4, and the processes after P5 are repeatedly executed to select and exchange the ink ribbon required for the image information and perform recording. In the case of this embodiment, the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 are arranged in the order of recording colors, and when all the colors of Y, M, C, and K are recorded, the cartridge 12 rotates in one direction and It is set so that Y, that is, the cue of the ribbon cassette 21 is performed by circling, but the cartridge 12 is selected so as to select a cartridge of an arbitrary color in an arbitrary order by rotating and reciprocating freely in forward and reverse directions. You can also this is,
It is convenient when a combination other than Y, M, C, and K, for example, a ribbon cassette of any two or more colors is mounted.

On the other hand, when all the image information has been recorded in P7, the process proceeds to P12, where the transfer sheet 32 is conveyed to the paper discharge port side, and the operation of the apparatus ends.

In the recording of each color by the image recording apparatus of the present invention, for example, an image composed of each of Y, M, C, and K is recorded in a recording range of 200 mm as shown in FIG.
When recording is performed with a length of m and the remaining area is recorded with text of only K, the amount of ink ribbon used is about 1/6 in the three colors of Y, M, and C compared to the conventional method. , Again K
Even when the entire area is recorded with only text, only one-fourth or less is used, which is economical.

When a 30 mm square color image is recorded, for example, a 30 mm square image can be recorded only by consuming the same amount of ribbon in all of Y, M, C and K. That is, the ink ribbons 21a of the respective colors use only the same length as the image.

On the other hand, even in a rare case where the entire surface is recorded, a blank portion for separating color areas and a space for a marker are not required unlike the conventional case, so that the amount of the used ribbon is the same as the conventional one. It can be suppressed to about 80%. Further, for example, even in a usage style in which a character of 10.5 points is recorded only for K lines for only 7 lines (length in the line direction is about 40 mm), the consumption amount of the ribbon is 1/3 of the conventional amount.
It took about two. This is because no ink ribbon other than K is used at all, and only a required amount of K is used, and the effect of the concept of the present invention is remarkably exhibited.

As described above, the ink ribbons 21a to 24a
Cassettes 21 to 24 for holding the colors for each color
Is automatically selected by rotation. Therefore, for example, even when an image composed of only Y is recorded, only the required amount of the Y ink ribbon 21a is used. In other words, the ink ribbon can be used appropriately for each color to be recorded and each recording range. As a result, the use efficiency of the ink ribbon is remarkably improved, and the running cost for recording can be significantly reduced. Also, since the diameter of the ink ribbon for each color can be reduced,
This can contribute to downsizing and weight reduction of the device.

In this embodiment, the ink ribbon is stored in the ribbon cassette. However, the ink ribbon may be directly mounted on the holding means.

Further, since each color is a single ink ribbon, complicated production steps such as color separation of ink layers and marker printing as in the related art can be omitted, and there are also effects such as cost reduction and production cost reduction.

In addition, since it is not necessary to detect the marker on the ink ribbon, the number of components of the apparatus can be reduced and the cost can be reduced. As a secondary effect, the reliability during recording has also been improved.

In this embodiment, recording is performed by sequentially replacing the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 of each color.
When there is an unused color component in the image information, it is possible within the scope of the present invention to skip over the ribbon cassette of that color and select the next ribbon cassette.

Although the center of the cartridge 12 is fixed and rotated, an eccentric movement in which the center point moves may be used. In short, it is only necessary that the ribbon cassettes 21 to 24 return to the same position when rotated by 360 °. In this case, also in this case, the thermal head 13 is
It goes without saying that it is inside the rotating area of No. 4.

In the present invention, the ribbon cassettes are Y, M, C,
Although the four colors of K are used, a ribbon cassette containing, for example, a protection material such as an overcoat with the remaining three colors may be provided. Further, if a color image is not required, all colors K can be formed. In this way, a long-time or a large amount of recording can be performed.

Further, the present invention can be applied not only to the arrangement of the ribbon cassettes for four colors as in this embodiment but also to the image recording apparatus in which the ribbon cassettes for two colors or four or more colors are arranged. It goes without saying that technical ideas can be applied.

[0041]

According to the present invention, the required type of ink ribbon can be taken out in the required amount instead of the conventional one using the maximum amount of ink ribbon regardless of the image area. As a result, the ribbon can be used without waste, reducing the running cost per sheet and the frequency of ribbon replacement. This contributes to the global environment, such as reducing waste such as garbage and reducing the consumption of raw materials, and lowering running costs allows more people to enjoy image output. In addition, since various types of ribbons can be mounted, necessary ribbons can be used according to the user's intention. This is an excellent effect that is not available in the conventional recording apparatus, in which special colors are supported, only specific ink ribbons are attached, and variations are wide.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional image recording apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an ink ribbon used in a conventional image recording apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an image recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between a driving unit of the image recording apparatus of the present invention and an ink ribbon.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a program showing a control procedure of the image recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a recorded image by the image recording apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image recording device 2 Ink ribbon 3 Transfer sheet 4 Thermal head 5 Platen roller 6 Y (yellow) ink layer 7 M (magenta) ink layer 8 C (cyan) ink layer 9 K (black) ink layer 10 Marker 11 Recording device 12 Cartridge (holding unit) 13 Thermal head 14 Platen 15 First driving unit 16 Second driving unit 16a Link unit 21, 22, 23, 24 Ribbon cassette 21a, 22a, 23a, 24a Ink ribbon 21b, 22b, 23b, 24b Spool 31 Paper feeder 32 Transfer sheet 33 Tray

Claims (4)

[Claims] In an image recording apparatus using a thermal transfer ink ribbon, a ribbon cassette for holding an ink ribbon or a holding means for holding an ink ribbon for each color is provided with a rotary movement or a rotation movement according to a recording situation or each use / purpose. An image recording apparatus wherein the ribbon cassette or the ink ribbon is automatically exchanged and selected by rotating and reciprocating. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said holding means is configured as a revolver in which said ribbon cassette or ink ribbon is arranged on a circumference, and / or in a space in which said ribbon cassette or ink ribbon is arranged on a circumference. 2. A thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a thermal head. 3. A structure for applying power for winding the ink ribbon to the ribbon cassette and not hindering the ribbon cassette replacement selection operation when automatically selecting the replacement of the ribbon cassette. And / or first driving means for winding a predetermined amount of the ink ribbon at the time of ribbon cassette replacement selection, and / or interference with the ribbon cassette within the movement trajectory of the ribbon cassette at the time of ribbon cassette replacement selection. 4. The thermal transfer recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thermal head moves to a position where the thermal transfer is avoided. 4. A revolver type holding means for holding a ribbon cassette or an ink ribbon for each color for holding an ink ribbon and / or for arranging the ribbon cassette or the ink ribbon on a circumference, and applying power to the cassette. The first driving means for rotating and rotating the ribbon cassette or the ink ribbon provides the winding power, and does not hinder the operation of replacing or selecting the ribbon cassette or the ink ribbon when replacing or selecting the ribbon cassette or the ink ribbon. Second driving means configured as described above,
The ribbon cassette or ink ribbon of the cassette is provided in a space arranged on the circumference, and when the ribbon cassette or the ink ribbon is selected or replaced, the ribbon cassette or the inside of the movement trajectory of the ribbon cassette or the ink ribbon. Alternatively, a thermal head disposed at a position to avoid interference with the ink ribbon, the first driving unit is controlled to convey a ribbon cassette or ink ribbon of a predetermined color to a predetermined recording position, and the second driving unit is An image recording apparatus, comprising: a control unit that controls the ribbon cassette or the ink ribbon conveyed to the recording position and connects the power to the ribbon cassette or winds up the ink ribbon in synchronization with image recording timing.