JPH10297069A - Apparatus for detecting amount of remaining ink-ribbon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To correcty detect the amount of a remaining ink ribbon even before printing from a bar code on the ink ribbon indicating data of the amount. SOLUTION: In reading a bar code, when a control signal from a control circuit 2 is ON and the bar code of an ink ribbon 63 reaches a read position by a sensor 7 on a carriage 6, the sensor 7 reads the bar code. The bar code describes data indicating the amount of the remaining ink ribbon at the time point. The data of the amount of the remaining ink ribbon are read by a read means 4. In order to switch winding of the ink ribbon 63 and a direction of the winding, upon receipt of a movement signal from the control circuit 2 to the carriage 6, a rotary motion of a stepping motor 10 is transformed to a linear motion between a driving wheel 9 and a load wheel 92 by a belt 93, whereby the carriage 6 is moved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device, and more particularly to an ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device which detects a remaining amount of an ink ribbon by reading a bar code recorded on the ink ribbon. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional (not shown) ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device utilizes the fact that the rotation speed of a take-up roller or a supply roller changes according to the remaining amount of an ink ribbon, and uses this rotation speed as a rotary speed. The remaining amount of the ink ribbon is detected by the detection by the encoder.

[0003]

However, the conventional ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device measures the rotational speed of the take-up roller or the supply roller by using an optical rotary encoder or the like. Since the encoder is mounted on the printer, there is a problem that the mechanism of the carriage is complicated, the volume is large, and the remaining amount of the ink ribbon cannot be detected unless printing is performed.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to record a bar code of remaining amount data on an ink ribbon and to mount an ink ribbon rewinding mechanism to detect the remaining amount without performing printing. A detection device is provided.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device according to the present invention comprises an ink ribbon, a print head for performing printing via the ink ribbon, and an ink ribbon on the ink ribbon. A carriage mounted with a barcode having remaining amount data recorded thereon, a sensor for detecting the barcode, left and right reels for winding the ink ribbon in a forward / reverse direction, and a barcode detected by the sensor. Reading means for reading the remaining amount data; rewinding means for controlling the left and right reels to wind up the ink ribbon in a forward / reverse direction; a driving circuit for driving the rewinding means; A stepping motor rotated by a circuit, a counter for measuring the number of steps of the stepping motor, and a stepping motor measured by the counter The number of steps, characterized in that it is constituted by a control circuit for controlling so as to count the wound distance of the ink ribbon.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of an ink ribbon of the ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, an ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention
A print head 5 for performing printing via the ink ribbon 63, a bar code having remaining amount data recorded on the ink ribbon 63, a sensor 7 for detecting the bar code,
A carriage 6 having left and right reels 61 and 62 for winding the ink ribbon 63 in a forward / reverse direction;
Reading means 4 for reading remaining amount data from the detected bar code, and rewinding means 8 for controlling the left and right reels 61 and 62 to wind the ink ribbon 63 in the forward / reverse direction.
A driving circuit 1 for driving the rewinding means 8, a stepping motor 10 rotated by the driving circuit 1,
A driving wheel 91 rotated by the stepping motor 10,
A belt 93 that transmits the rotational motion of the driving wheel 91, a load wheel 92 interlocked with the belt 93, a platen 11 that sandwiches the paper between the print head 8, and a stepping motor 1
It is composed of a counter 3 for measuring the number of steps of 0 and a control circuit 2 for controlling to count the distance of the winding of the ink ribbon 63 based on the number of steps of the stepping motor 10 measured by the counter 3.

Next, the operation of the ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the operation of the ink ribbon remaining amount detecting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is performed when the control signal from the control circuit 2 is ON when the bar code 64 is read. When the bar code 64 of the ink ribbon 63 reaches the reading position of the sensor 7 on the carriage 6, the sensor 7 reads the bar code 64, and the bar code 64 indicates the remaining amount of the ink ribbon 2 at this time. The remaining data is read by the reading means 4.

The method for winding the ink ribbon 63 and switching the winding direction is as follows.
When a movement signal is generated, the rotational motion of the stepping motor 10 is transmitted to the driving wheel 9 by the belt 93 and the driving wheel 91.
The linear motion is converted in the section from 1 to the load wheel 92, and the carriage 3 moves.

[0013]

As described above, according to the ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device of the present invention, by detecting the remaining amount of the ink ribbon by the bar code, the volume of the carriage can be reduced by installing only the sensor on the carriage. If the bar code is described in the upper and lower margins of the ink ribbon, there is an effect that the ink ribbon cassette can be used regardless of the front and back sides.

Further, according to the ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device of the present invention, by mounting the means for rewinding the ink ribbon in the carriage, the remaining amount of the ink ribbon can be confirmed without printing, and the bar code can be checked. Has the effect of being able to detect the remaining amount of the ink ribbon in character units.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an ink ribbon remaining amount detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of an ink ribbon of the ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 drive circuit 2 control circuit 3 counter 4 reading means 5 print head 6 carriage 7 sensor 8 rewinding means 10 stepping motor 11 carriage (platen) 61 left reel 62 right reel 63 ink ribbon 91 stepping motor (drive wheel) 92 stepping motor ( Load car) left and right reel 6
1,62 93 Stepping motor (belt)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ink ribbon, a print head for performing printing via the ink ribbon, a bar code having remaining amount data recorded on the ink ribbon, a sensor for detecting the bar code, and an ink ribbon. A carriage having left and right reels for winding in a forward / reverse direction; reading means for reading the remaining amount data from a bar code detected by the sensor; and a forward direction of the ink ribbon by controlling the left and right reels Rewinding means for winding in the reverse direction, a driving circuit for driving the rewinding means, a stepping motor rotated by the driving circuit, a counter for measuring the number of steps of the stepping motor, and a counter for measuring the number of steps. The number of steps of the stepping motor is controlled so as to count the winding distance of the ink ribbon. An ink ribbon remaining amount detecting device comprising a control circuit.