JPH10250124A - Method for controlling printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase a printing speed without causing the deterioration of printing quality by reducing the generation of vibration accompanied by the movement of a thermal head irrespective of the continuous movement of a shuttle unit without stopping it it an intermediate portion in a method of control ling a printer which performs printing by moving a thermal head while bringing it into pressure contact with a recording sheet. SOLUTION: In recording, a thermal head 34 is moved to a standby position close to a pressure contact position rather than a return position set far apart from a recording sheet before the thermal head 34 enters a recording range. If it is so arranged that operation of returning to the return position (head-up) from the pressure contact position (head-down) is also performed not only at the time when the thermal head 34 is moved toward the pressure contact position, but also even after the deviation of the thermal head 34 from the recording range, the thermal head 34 will hardly be affected more adversely due to vibration.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of controlling a printer for printing by pressing a thermal head against a recording sheet and moving the thermal head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a thermal printer, printing is performed by moving a thermal head (thermal head) while contacting a thermal recording sheet. In a thermal transfer printer, a thermal head moves while pressing an ink ribbon (thermal transfer donor sheet) to print on a recording sheet.

Immediately before printing is started, the thermal head is pressed against the recording sheet directly (heat-sensitive method) or indirectly (thermal transfer method) via an ink ribbon (head-down),
In the case of the thermal transfer type, winding of the ink ribbon is started. Similarly, when printing is completed, the thermal head is separated from the recording sheet or the ink ribbon (head-up), and in the case of the thermal transfer type, winding of the ink ribbon is stopped.

In particular, in the case of the thermal transfer type, the ink ribbon must be wound up while the thermal head is pressed against the ink ribbon. Therefore, in order to reduce the amount of ink ribbon used, printing is performed by the thermal head as much as possible. Immediately before, it is necessary to move to the pressure contact position at high speed (head down), and conversely, immediately after printing, return from the pressure contact position to the return position at high speed (head up). For this reason, the impact when the thermal head is moved up and down increases.

[0005] When the weight of the thermal head increases as the width of the ink ribbon increases, the impact increases. If the impact is large, the vibration of the thermal head becomes large particularly at the start of printing, and the printing quality is reduced. A similar problem occurs with the thermal type.

Therefore, immediately before printing is started, the shuttle unit (carriage) for holding the thermal head and the ink ribbon is temporarily stopped. During this stop, the thermal head is pressed against the ink ribbon (head down), and then slightly later. It has been proposed to start moving the shuttle unit (carriage) and start winding the ink ribbon (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-241010). That is, the impact and vibration of the thermal head are attenuated while the shuttle unit (carriage) is stopped, and printing is started after the vibration is eliminated.

Further, in this method, when printing is not performed, the thermal head separates from the recording sheet (head-up) and the winding of the ink ribbon is stopped, so that the use of the ink ribbon can be prevented.

[0008]

However, such a system in which the shuttle unit (carriage) is stopped immediately before and immediately after printing has a problem that the printing speed is reduced.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to reduce the occurrence of vibrations due to the movement of the thermal head despite the continuous movement of the shuttle unit without stopping it halfway. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer control method capable of increasing a printing speed without lowering the printing speed.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a printer for performing printing by moving a thermal head while pressing a recording sheet against a recording sheet. This is achieved by a printer control method in which a thermal head is moved from a return position far away from a recording sheet to a standby position close to a pressure contact position.

The thermal head vibrates not only when moving toward the pressure contact position but also when returning from the pressure contact position (head down) to the return position (head up). If it is performed after it is removed, it will be less likely to be adversely affected by vibration.

A plurality of thermal heads are provided so as to correspond to a plurality of recording ranges which divide a recording sheet at substantially equal intervals in the width direction, and the thermal heads corresponding to the respective recording ranges are independently operated while moving them integrally. In this case, it is preferable to move the thermal head between the return position and the standby position while all the thermal heads are out of the entire recording range of the recording sheet.

The printer may be of a thermal recording type or a thermal transfer type, or may be a combination of both types. In the case of the thermal transfer type, it is preferable to start or stop winding the ink ribbon while the thermal head is moving between the standby position and the pressing position.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the internal structure thereof, and FIG.
4 is a front perspective view, FIG. 4 is a front perspective view, FIG. 5 is a view showing an operation panel provided on an upper surface of a pressing lid of the scanner, FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control system, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cassette holder,
FIG. 8 is a plan view of the cassette driving mechanism, and FIGS.
11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IX-IX and the line XX, FIG. 11 is a perspective view partially showing a support mechanism of the cassette holder, FIG. 12 is a front view of the cassette, and FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the thermal head. FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a typical coloring process, and FIG.
Is a flowchart of a printing operation, FIG. 16 is a view showing a print range of a cassette, FIG. 17 is a view showing operation timing of a thermal head, FIG. 18 is a detailed view of a part thereof, and FIG. Reference numeral 20 is an explanatory view of the printing principle.

[0015]

[Outline of Apparatus] First, an arrangement structure of each part of the apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a horizontally long housing, and a front upper surface near the center of the housing is a lid 12 which can be opened and closed upward. By opening the lid 12, a cassette described later can be replaced.

A printer 14 is housed in the housing 10 as shown in FIGS. The printer 14 has a paper roll 16 and a platen 18 arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction. The platen 18 is located on the front side of the paper roll 16, and the paper 20 drawn from the lower edge of the paper roll 16 is wrapped around the platen 18. The paper 20 is fed between the rollers 22 and 24 and can be discharged from the lower front side of the housing 10 to the front side.

The printer 14 further includes a paper roll 16.
Has a shuttle unit (carriage) 26 traveling in the left-right direction in front of the vehicle. The shuttle unit 26 is held by two horizontal and parallel guide rails 28. The shuttle unit 26 holds two cassette holders 30 (30A, 30B) movably back and forth. Each cassette holder 30 accommodates three cassettes 32 of ink ribbons (thermal transfer donor sheets) of the same color in the lateral direction.

The shuttle unit 26 is provided with three thermal heads 34 that move up and down above the platen 18. Each thermal head 34 is connected to the cassette holder 30.
When the cassette holder 30 is moved above the platen 18 with the thermal head 34 at the same position as the cassette 32 stored in the cassette 32, the cassette holder 30 is positioned on the ink ribbons of the three cassettes 32. . The shuttle unit 26 also includes three cassettes 3
Three rotating shafts 36 are provided which are engaged with and disengaged from reels for winding two ink ribbons.

As will be described later, the printer 14 is of a multi-color heat-sensitive and thermal transfer recording type. The paper 20 used here is a heat-sensitive recording sheet, for example, a sheet which thermally develops black on a white background. Cassette holder 30A,
The three cassettes 32 accommodated in 30B respectively accommodate ink ribbons of the same color that is different from the color of the heat-sensitive coloring of the paper 20. The structure will be described later.

In FIGS. 1 and 3, reference numeral 40 denotes a cutter,
The print paper 20 is cut under the front of the print paper 20.
That is, the cutter 40 is movable right and left above the paper 20, and cuts the paper 20 by pressing down with a fingertip and moving left and right.

Reference numeral 42 denotes a scanner, which is located near the center of the upper surface of the housing 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the scanner 42 includes a pressing lid 44 placed on the housing 10 from above, a transport mechanism that feeds the document 46 between the pressing lid 44 and the housing 10 from right to left, and , CCD housed in housing 10
A line sensor 48 and an optical system for guiding an image on a main scanning line orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the document 46 to the line sensor 48 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the transport mechanism is composed of four feed rollers 50 that feed the original 46 from right to left while sandwiching the original 46 from above and below. The two rollers 50 on the housing 10 side are motors (not shown). Is driven to rotate. The optical system includes an appropriate number of mirrors 52 and lenses 54. Reference numeral 56 denotes a light source.

Reference numeral 58 denotes an operation panel, which is attached to the upper surface of the holding lid 44 of the scanner 42. Operation panel 58
The operation of will be described later.

The printer 14, the scanner 42, the operation panel 58, etc.
It is connected to the bus 62 via 60c (FIG. 6).

The bus 62 also has a CPU 64 and a ROM 6
6, RAM 68 and the like are connected. The ROM 66 has a CP
An operation program of U64 and various constants are stored in the memory. The CPU 64 is a control device 70 (FIGS. 2 and 4) that performs various controls according to the operation program.
Also serves as a control device of the printer 14. The control device 70 performs control in accordance with the operation flow chart of FIG. 14 when operating this device, and controls the printer 14 during printing in FIG.
Control according to

[0026]

[Printer] Next, the printer 14 will be described. The printer 14 uses thermal paper as a print paper 20 while performing thermal transfer with a thermal transfer ink ribbon (thermal transfer recording donor sheet) in an overlapping manner. The three cassettes 32 accommodating ink ribbons of the same color are accommodated in a common cassette holder 30 (30A, 30B) as shown in FIG. On the front surface of the shuttle unit 26, two arms 80, 80 (FIGS. 8, 9, 11) protrude forward, and the ends of both arms 80, 80 are connected by a connecting plate 82.

The arms 80, 80 are horizontal and parallel to each other, and two guide rods 84, 84 parallel to the arms 80, 80 extend between the shuttle unit 26 and the connecting plate 82. Cassette holder 30A, 30B
Is moved forward and backward by being guided by these guide rods 84, 84. Ends of arms 80, 80 and shuttle unit 2
As shown in FIGS. 9 and 11, a pair of upper and lower belts 86 (86A, 86B) are stretched between the belts 6 so as to be able to reciprocate. The upper belt 86A is one of the cassette holders 30A.
It is connected to. The lower belt 86B is connected to the other cassette holder 30B.

The belts 86A and 86B run independently of each other by a motor (not shown) in the shuttle unit 26, and the running of the belt 86A causes the cassette holder 30A to run.
Can be moved back and forth. Similarly, the belt 86B
, The cassette holder 30B can be moved back and forth. Here, both cassette holders 30A, 30B
Move between a position above the platen 18 (print position P1) and a front side and a rear side of the platen 18 (retreat positions P2, P3), as shown in FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 12, the cassette 32 includes a supply reel 32B for the ink ribbon 32A and a take-up reel 32C.
And accommodating. The cassette holder 30 is provided with a window (not shown) through which the rotating shaft 36 passes through the take-up reel 32C of the three cassettes 32. The rotary shaft 36 extends through the take-up reel 32C in one of the cassette holder 30B to the printing position P _1.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 13, the thermal head 34 has a base end pivotally supported by the shuttle unit 26 and the other end swinging up and down at a distal end (swinging end) of an arm 34A. 34B. The three arms 34A holding the three thermal heads 34 correspond to the three cassettes 3 accommodated in the rear cassette holder 30B.
2 through the ink ribbon 32A and the platen 18
(Print position P1).

The arm 34A rises when moving the cassette holder 30 back and forth to prevent interference with the ink ribbon 32A, and descends during printing to bring the thermal head 34 into contact with the ink ribbon 32A or the print paper 20. The detailed operation at this time will be described later. In addition, as shown in FIGS.
A roller 34C for attaching the ink ribbon 32A to the print paper 20 is attached.

Therefore, in the standby state (FIGS. 3 and 8) in which both cassette holders 30A and 30B are located at the retreat positions P2 and P3, the thermal head 34 directly contacts the print paper 20 and thermal recording can be performed. Also, a state in which the cassette holder 30A has been moved to the print position P1 (see FIGS. 9 and 1).
In 0), the thermal head 34 comes into contact with the ink ribbon 32A of the cassette 32 of the cassette holder 30A, and the thermal transfer recording can be performed.

As shown in FIG. 20A, a paper 20 made of a thermal paper has a support 20A and a thermal recording layer 20B. The heat-sensitive recording layer 20B contains a leuco dye and a color developer. The ink ribbon 32A is a support 32A.
a and a thermal transfer layer 32Ab. This thermal transfer layer 32A
b contains a desensitizing substance that suppresses a color-forming reaction between the leuco dye and the developer of the heat-sensitive recording layer 20B, and one or both of a colored dye and a colored pigment.

The leuco dye, developer, desensitizing substance, and colored dye (pigment) used here are described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-264997 filed by the same applicant. Do not repeat the description.

When the thermal head 34 is brought into contact with the surface of the paper 20 on the side of the heat-sensitive recording layer 20B, the heat-sensitive recording layer 2
Coloring (thermosensitive coloring) is caused by the reaction between the leuco dye of 0B and the color developer. In the case of this embodiment, the color is black. FIG.
In (A), 20C indicates this colored portion. If the thermal head 34 generates heat at a predetermined coordinate position, only the predetermined coordinate position can be colored black.

When the ink ribbon 32A is placed on the thermally colored paper 20 and heated by the thermal head 34, coloring by thermal transfer is performed as shown in FIG. 20B. That is, the thermal transfer layer 32 of the ink ribbon 32A
The desensitizing substance of Ab suppresses the coloring of the heat-sensitive recording layer 20B, while the colored dye (or pigment) contained in the thermal transfer layer 32Ab is transferred to the surface of the paper 20.

Since the coloring of the thermosensitive recording layer 20B is suppressed by the desensitizing substance, the coloring of the colored dye (pigment) is suppressed by the thermosensitive recording layer 2B.
Vivid and beautiful without color mixing with the color development of 0B. FIG.
0 (B) 20D is a thermosensitive recording layer 20B made of a desensitizing substance.
Indicates a portion in which the color development is suppressed. Reference numeral 20E denotes a colored dye (pigment) portion of the transferred ink ribbon 32A.

[0038]

[Coloring Edit Operation] Next, the operation of the color editing process according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, when past coloring data remains, the coloring data display LCD 100 (FIG. 5) of the operation panel 58 is lit.
If the LCD 100 is lit, the user presses the all clear key 102 on the operation panel 58 to delete the past coloring data. If no color is to be applied, that is, if printing is performed in a single color (single color mode) (step 200),
The document 46 may be set as it is on the scanner 42 (step 212) and printed.

The printer 14 according to the present invention uses both thermal recording using a thermal recording sheet and thermal transfer recording using an ink ribbon. Cassette holder 30
In A and 30B, a cassette 32 containing an ink ribbon 32A of a desired color is stored in advance. When performing coloring (step 200), first, the coloring sheet 1 shown in FIG.
00 (100A, 100B) (step 20)
2). The coloring sheet 100 may be a thin blank sheet, and has substantially the same dimensions as the document 46. A range in which the coloring sheet 100 is overlapped on the document 46 and colored in the same color is surrounded by black lines using black markers. For example, “SALE!” Is surrounded by a black line on the coloring sheet 100A. Coloring sheet 100
B encloses “50%” and “70%” with black lines.

Next, one of the coloring sheets 100A is set on the scanner 42 (step 204), and the color designation key 1
Press 04A or 104B. The color designation key 104A instructs coloring by the cassette holder 30A. The color designation key 104B designates coloring by the cassette holder 30B. The color specification keys 104A and 104B are 3
Each key is composed of three keys, and the three keys are used to distinguish the coloring depth. Therefore, the coloring sheet 100A
If the range is to be colored with the color of the cassette holder 30A, the key of the desired density in the color designation key 104A is pressed.

When the color designation key 104A or 104B is depressed, the scanner 42 starts to read and memorize the range of the black line drawn on the coloring sheet 100A. Similarly, another color sheet 100B is set on the scanner 42, and the color designation key 104B or 104A is pressed, and the color sheet 1 is pressed.
The range of the black line written in 00B is read and stored (step 210). In FIG. 5, reference numeral 106 denotes a cassette exchange key. When this key 106 is pressed, the cassette holders 30A, 3
OB both move to the near side and come to a position where they do not interfere with the thermal head 34 and the rotating shaft 36. In this state, the cassette 32 can be replaced.

When the setting of the coloring is completed (step 21)
0) Then, the document 46 is set on the scanner 42 (step 212). Then, print conditions are set (step 214). First, an output mode of standard output, photograph output, inversion output, or color output is selected with the key 108, the print size is set with the key 110, and the print contrast is set with the key 112. If the user wants to check the print result made by these settings before the actual print, he presses the test print key 114 (step 21).
6).

Then, the scanner 42 starts operating and the original 4
6 is read, and an image (for example, A7 size) smaller than the actual print is printed out (step 21).
8). In this printing operation, the image being read is colored in parallel based on the already inputted coloring data, and the area where the coloring is not set is printed in black by thermal recording. That is, the printing is performed by the printer 14 in conjunction with the scanner 42.

By checking the result of the check print output in such a small size, if there is further correction, the color editing is performed again on the corrected portion. To perform the actual print, the original 46 is set on the scanner 42 again (step 220).
Press the start / stop key 116. Then manuscript 46
1 is read by the scanner 42, and the coloring process is performed in parallel while blackening the portion where the coloring is not set.
9 to output an enlarged print (step 22).
2). As described above, the document 42 is read by the scanner 42 and output to the printer 14 in parallel while reading, so that the capacity of the image memory can be reduced.

[0045]

[Operation of Printer] In the present invention, one thermal head 34 is used to perform thermosensitive coloring and thermal transfer. That is, the shuttle unit 26 is placed at the home position HP (see FIG. 1).
6), thermal head 3 on this home position HP
The thermal recording is performed by bringing 4-1 into contact with the paper 20 as shown in FIG. 16A (FIG. 15, step 300).

FIG. 16A shows a case in which the print paper 20 of A1 size (width 555 mm) is printed. In this embodiment, the three thermal heads 34 are each 185 mm in which the width of A1 size is divided into three. , And each thermal head 34 has a range D ₁ ,
D ₂ and D ₃ are shared. Similarly, FIG. 16B shows a case of B1 size (width 684 mm), and FIG. 16C shows a case of width 870 mm. These ranges D ₁ , D ₂ , D ₃ correspond to the operation panel 5
The control device 70 calculates the print size based on the print size set by the key 110 of FIG.

In the case of FIG. 16A, each thermal head 3
Since 4 is located at the head of the ranges D ₁ , D ₂ , D ₃ , the three thermal heads 34 simultaneously start thermal recording with the start of the movement of the shuttle unit 26. FIG. 16 (B),
Shuttle unit 26 and the cassette holder 30 in the case of (C) is when starting moving range D ₁ from the home position HP performs thermal recording only the first thermal head 34-1 on the home position HP is lowered .
The thermal head when next to the thermal head 34-2 moves cassette holder 30 further is in the range D ₂ 34
-2 descends, and thermal printing is performed in parallel with the first thermal head 34-1.

[0048] Further cassette holder 30 is moved when the first thermal head 34-1 exits the range D ₁ the thermal head 34-1 is raised, the end of the thermal head 3
4-3 recording in this range D ₃ begins lowered to fall within the scope D _3. Thus enters the range D _1, D _2, D ₃ of the thermal head 34-1,34-2,34-3 during movement of the cassette holder 30 corresponds, recording only that the thermal head 34 is lowered Do.

When the thermal recording is completed (step 300), the shuttle unit 26 and the cassette holder 30 are returned to the home position HP (step 30).
2) The cassette holder 30A is moved to the print position (P1) and set (step 304). Then, while the shuttle unit 26 is moving, thermal transfer is performed in a predetermined desired color by the cassette 32 of the cassette holder 30A (step 306). The operation of the thermal head 34 at this time is the same as in the above-described thermal recording.

Next, the shuttle unit 26 is returned to the home position HP (Step 308). If the thermal transfer is not completed (Step 310), the cassette holder 30A is returned to the retreat position (P2), while the cassette holder 30B is moved to the print position (P2). Move to P1) (step 312). Then, thermal transfer recording is performed to a predetermined desired color by the cassette 32 of the cassette holder 30B.

The above operation is repeated while intermittently feeding the paper 20 (steps 314 and 316). When printing is completed, the paper 20 is fed by a predetermined amount and cut by the cutter 40.

When the thermal transfer is performed, the colored dye (pigment) and wax contained in the thermal transfer layer 32Ab are transferred to the paper 20, so that after the thermal transfer recording, the thermal head 34 is brought into direct contact with the paper 20 to perform the heat-sensitive coloring. Then, colored dyes (pigments) and waxes on the paper 20 adhere to the thermal head 34. For this reason, beautiful prints cannot be obtained. Therefore, in the present invention, thermal recording is performed in advance, and then thermal transfer recording is performed. Because of this, multi-color printing by one thermal head 34 becomes possible.

[0053]

[Operation of Thermal Head] In the above description, the thermal head 34 is described as simply moving up and down in each recording range D, but actually performs a more complicated operation. Then, the operation of the thermal head 34 (up / down operation)
Will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. These figures show the position of the shuttle unit 26 in the horizontal direction and the height of the thermal head 34 in the vertical direction. The shuttle unit 26 moves from the home position (HP) on the right end to the left, and during the movement, the thermal heads 34-1, 34-2, 3
4-3 moves up and down, and the trajectory is Q ₁ ,
These are indicated by Q ₂ and Q ₃ .

The shuttle unit 26 includes the thermal head 3
4-1 is the position out slightly outside the recording range D ₁ and the home position HP. Therefore, the thermal head 34-
At 1, the shuttle unit 26 slightly starts moving from the home position HP, enters the recording range D ₁ , and starts printing.

Each of the thermal heads 34 has a return position T ₁ farthest from the recording sheet 20, a pressing position T ₂ for pressing against the recording sheet 20 or the ink ribbon 32 A, and a standby position T ₃ located between them. You can choose. Return position T ₁ is set to 10mm higher than for example the pressure contact position T _2. Standby position T ₃ is set to 3mm higher than the contact position T _2. Now, consider the case where the recording ranges D ₁ , D ₂ , and D ₃ are larger than the spacing between the cassettes 32 (equal to the gap d between the thermal heads 34) as shown in FIG. 16 (B) or (C).

While the shuttle unit 26 is waiting at the home position HP, it places all the thermal heads 34 at the return position T ₁ . When a print start command comes from the control device 70, the three thermal heads 34 are lowered. In this case the right end of the thermal head 34-1 is lowered to contact position T _2. Locus to Q ₁ FIG. 17 shows this state. Other thermal head 34-2 and 34-3 is lowered to the standby position T _3.

[0057] During the movement of shuttle unit 27 shuttle unit 34-1 is held in pressure contact position T ₂ in the range D _1, directly without thermal head 34-1 via the ink ribbon 32A, if this time thermosensitive recording Recording sheet 2
Touch 0 to record. In the case of thermal transfer recording, the ink ribbon 32A is sandwiched between the thermal head 34-1 and the recording sheet 20, and recording is performed while winding the ink ribbon 32A. Thermal head 34-1 recording range D ₁
Thermal head 34-1 passes through the moves to the standby position T _3, also stops the winding of the ink ribbon 32A.

Other thermal heads 34-2 and 34-
_{No. 3} has moved from the return position T1 to the standby position T3 when the shuttle unit 26 is at the home position HP. The thermal head 34-2 performs recording by moving the pressing position T ₂ enters the recording range D _2, returns after this range D ₂ to the standby position T _3. At this time, if thermal transfer recording is performed, it is a matter of course that winding is performed with the ink ribbon 32A interposed therebetween.

[0059] Similarly thermal head 34-3 moves to the pressing position T ₂ enters the recording range D _3, returns After this range D ₃ with other thermal head 34-1 and 34-2 in the return position T ₁ . Thus, all the thermal heads 34
Is a large distance between the return position T ₁ and the standby position T ₃ (7
to move between mm) outside the recording range D ₁ to D _3, performs only the movement of the short distance (3 mm) between the standby position T ₃ and pressing position T ₂ are within the recording range D ₁ to D ₃ Therefore, there is no possibility that the printing quality is adversely affected.

[0060] Note that the winding of the ink ribbon 32A is thermal head 34 is started or stopped while moving from the standby position T ₃ to the pressure contact position T _2. That is, as shown by the locus Q ₂ of the thermal head 34-2 in FIG. 18, as close as possible to the pressure contact position T ₂ (e.g. 1mm position from the contact position T ₂₎ between a standby position T ₃ and pressing position T ₂ the a winding start point R ₁ and the winding end point R _2.

When the thermal head 34-2 is in the pressure contact position T
_The position (pressure contact R ₃ ) which is lowered to ₂ is actually slightly before the head of the recording range D ₂ (print start point R ₄ ) as shown in FIG. Position the thermal head 34-1 is away from the pressure contact position T ₂ (Release point R ₄₎ is the end of the recording range D _2. The same applies to the release points and pressure contacts of the thermal heads 34-1 and 34-3.

In the above embodiment, one cassette holder 3
Although three cassettes 32 are accommodated in 0, one, two or more cassettes may be accommodated.
When the coloring sheet 100 is colored into two or more colors, it is needless to say that two or more coloring sheets are prepared according to the number of colors. In this case, it is desirable to increase the number of cassette holders 30 to increase the number of colors that can be colored. . In the case where printing is not required in an arbitrary range in the middle of the recording range D,
Returns from the pressing position T ₂ in the standby position T _3, the ink ribbon 32
The winding of A may be stopped.

[0063]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when recording is performed, the thermal head is moved to the standby position between the return position and the pressure contact position before the thermal head enters the recording range. Therefore, the amount of vertical movement while the thermal head is within the recording range is reduced. For this reason, the impact and vibration caused by the vertical movement of the thermal head are reduced, and the printing quality can be improved. Also, since the shuttle unit does not need to be stopped during printing, the printing speed is increased. .

If the thermal head is returned from the standby position to the return position after passing through the recording range, the impact and vibration at the time of the return will not adversely affect the print quality, which is more preferable. .

A plurality of thermal heads respectively corresponding to a plurality of recording areas where the width of the recording sheet is substantially equally divided are arranged at predetermined intervals, and these thermal heads are moved integrally and operated independently within the corresponding recording areas. When printing is to be performed, it is preferable to move between the return position and the standby position when all the thermal heads are out of the entire recording range of the recording sheet (claim 3).

The printer may be of the thermal recording type (claim 4) or of the thermal transfer type. In particular, in the case of the thermal transfer method, it is preferable that the thermal head starts or stops winding the ink ribbon between the standby position and the press-contact position. By bringing the start or stop of the winding of the ink ribbon close to the pressing position in this way, it is possible to reduce a wasteful use amount of the ink ribbon.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an enlarged printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing its internal structure.

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view.

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation panel provided on an upper surface of a presser lid of the scanner.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control system.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cassette holder.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the printer.

9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a mechanism for moving the cassette holder.

FIG. 12 is a front view of the cassette.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a support structure of the thermal head.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a coloring process.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a printing operation.

FIG. 16 shows the operation of the shuttle unit.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the operation timing of the thermal head.

FIG. 18 is a detailed view of a part of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a print output example.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of a printing principle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 housing 14 printer 18 platen 20 print paper (recording sheet) 26 shuttle unit 30 cassette holder 32 cassette 32A ink ribbon (thermal transfer donor sheet) 34 thermal head 36 rotation axis 42 scanner 46 document 58 operation panel 70 control device 100 (100A, 100B) Coloring sheet D₁, D_Two, D_Three Recording range T₁Return position  T_Two Pressing position  T_Three Standby position

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shuzo Hanaoka 1163 Shimoizane, Inari-cho, Nagano-shi, Nagano Nagano Japan Radio Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] In a printer control method for printing by moving a thermal head while pressing a recording sheet against the recording sheet, when recording, the thermal head is largely separated from the recording sheet before the thermal head enters the recording area. A printer control method, wherein the printer is moved from a return position to a standby position closer to the pressure contact position. 2. The printer control method according to claim 1, wherein the thermal head is moved from a standby position to a return position after the thermal head has passed the recording range. 3. Printing is performed by independently operating a plurality of thermal heads corresponding to a plurality of recording ranges, each of which corresponds to a plurality of recording ranges that substantially divide the width of a recording sheet. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the thermal head is out of the entire recording range of the recording sheet, the thermal head moves between the return position and the standby position. 4. The printer control method according to claim 1, wherein the printer is of a thermal recording type in which a thermal head is brought into contact with the thermal recording sheet to perform printing. 5. A printer of a thermal transfer type in which an ink ribbon is interposed between a recording sheet and a thermal head for printing, and winding of the ink ribbon is started while the thermal head is moved from a standby position to a pressure contact position. 4. The printer control method according to claim 1, wherein the winding of the ink ribbon is stopped while moving from the pressure contact position to the standby position.