JPS5859886A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the scratching of print and missed printing by a method in which the end mark of an ink ribbon is detected by a detection means provided on the printer side and the exchange of the ink ribbon is detected by the opening or closing of the cover of the printer. CONSTITUTION:When an ink ribbon 1 comes near its end and a reflector 1a as an end mark comes to the opening 2b of a cassette 2, light from a luminous diode D is reflected, the base current of a photo transistor Tr flows, the P1 terminal of an interface 12 becomes high level, output to a typewriter 13 is stopped by CPU, and the ribbon cassette 2 goes down. Then, when the ribbon cassette 2 is exchanged and the cover is closed, switch SW turns OFF, the PO terminal of the interface 12 becomes H-level, and the exchange of the cassete 2 is recognized by CPU. Under the condition, the cassette 2 is still in lowered state, light from the luminous diode D hits on a decision portion 9, and the kind of the ink ribbon is discerned. Afterwards, printing operation is started by CPU.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printing device, and more particularly to a printing device configured to detect the end of an ink ribbon.

In general, in printing devices that use ink ribbons, even though the ink ribbon has run out, if the user prints without noticing this, the printout often becomes blurred or the user prints blankly. arise.

The present invention was developed in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional technology, and it automatically detects the end of the ink ribbon.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device configured to be able to inform the user (=user) of this.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a detection means for detecting the end mark of the ink ribbon provided at the end of the ink ribbon on the printing device side, and detects the end of the ink ribbon by this detection means. , the printer's cutter (
- Opening/closing <Yoo 0 We have adopted a structure that works in conjunction with the opening/closing switch to detect when the ink ribbon has been replaced, and prevents printing force, misalignment, and blank printing.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings (-- and the embodiments shown).

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates an ink ribbon, and 1a is provided. The ink ribbon 1 is housed in an ink ribbon cassette 2 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Two ink ribbon cassettes are mounted on the cassette mounting table 3,
The plunger 5 of the solenoid 4 installed in the lower part of the mounting table is moved up and down.

In the example shown in the figure, the end of the ink ribbon cassette 2 is provided with a bent arm 2a for guiding the ink ribbon 1. and the platen 1, and printing is performed by the print head 8. On one side of the tip of the arm 2a of the ink ribbon cassette 2, for example, on the inner side, there is an opening 2b through which the ink ribbon 1 is exposed.
is formed, and above it is provided a marking section 9 in which a mark made of a reflector or the like for identifying the type of ink ribbon is provided, for example.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the fixed part of the typewriter is provided with a detector 10 at a position facing the opening 2b of the arm 2a. (
-1 Consists of a light-emitting diode D as a light-emitting element and a phototransistor Tr as a light-receiving element, and is configured so that reflected light from the light-emitting diode D can be detected.

The emitter side of the light emitting diode Tr is connected to an inverter 11 as shown in FIG. 1, and the output of the inverter 11 is connected to the P1 terminal of the interface 12.

The symbol SW is a switch, and this switch is the fourth
As shown in FIG. The interface 12 is connected to the central processing unit CPU via a data bus 16, and is also connected to a typewriter 13 shown as an example of a printing device via a data bus 16a. Figure 1 (-, R1 to R3 indicates resistance.

Next, the operation of this embodiment having two configurations as described above will be explained.

First, during normal printing (-), the plunger 5 of the ink ribbon cassette 2 is raised by the operation of the solenoid 4,
If the ink ribbon is in the raised state and there is enough ink ribbon, the light beam from the light emitting diode D will only be reflected by the side surface of the ink ribbon 1 through the opening 2b. ;The base current of the X 9 Tr does not flow, and the state of the P1 terminal of the interface 12 is low level (Ll), and the CPU reads this through the data bus 16 and recognizes that the ink ribbon has not reached the end. Then, information to continue printing is output to the typewriter 13. On the other hand, when the ink ribbon approaches the end and the reflector 1a provided at the end of the ink ribbon 1 faces the opening 2b, the light emitting diode D The light is reflected, and the photo transistor receives this light,
The pace current of the phototransistor Tr flows, the state of the P1 terminal of the interface 12 becomes high level (6), the CPU recognizes that the ink ribbon is nearing the end, and outputs information to the typewriter 13 to continue printing. is stopped, the printing operation is interrupted, and the ink ribbon cassette 2 is lowered. The printing interruption may be notified to the user by sounding a buzzer or flashing a lamp.

Here, the user opens the cover, replaces the ribbon cassette, and closes the cover. Since the opening and closing of the cover is linked to the switch SW, the level of the PO terminal of the interface 12 changes when the switch SW is turned on and off, and the CPU recognizes that the ink ribbon cassette has been replaced.

In other words, the old switch SW that opens the cover is turned on,
The Po terminal of the interface 12 goes from H level to L level, and when the cover is closed again, the Po terminal goes back to H level, and it is assumed that the cover has been opened and closed and the ink ribbon cassette has been replaced.

Next, the CPU determines the type of ink ribbon based on the level of the PIJ child of the interface 12. That is,
Since the typewriter is not operating yet, the ink ribbon cassette remains lowered, and the light from the light emitting diode D hits the determination section 9 above the opening 2b of the arm 2a of the ink ribbon cassette, where there is a reflector, etc. The light receiving state of the phototransistor Tr changes depending on whether the phototransistor Tr is present or not, and the Pli terminal of the interface 12 becomes H level or L level, thereby determining whether the ink ribbon is, for example, a multi-strive ribbon or a one-time ribbon.

After detecting the end of the ink ribbon and identifying the ink ribbon in this way, the CPU outputs information to continue printing to the typewriter to start the printing operation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart explaining the above operation. In step 17, print information is sent from the CPU, and in step 18, it is determined whether or not the P1 terminal of the interface is at H level. If it is at H level, Step 19 (stop outputting the print information at step 2,
At 0, it is determined whether or not the PO terminal 4 is at the L level. If it is at L level, it is detected in step 2-1 whether the Po terminal has become high level due to the replacement of the ink ribbon, and further in step 22 it is detected by the level change of the P1 terminal depending on the type of ink ribbon. Then, the process returns to step 17 and information on continuing printing is output.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably notify the user (-) that the ink ribbon is nearing the end, and to prevent the user from printing without noticing the end C1 of the ink ribbon. This method has excellent effects such as the fact that the same detector can be used to determine the type of ink ribbon.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures are for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a block diagram explaining the control circuit, Fig. 2 is a vertical side view showing the installed state of the ink ribbon cassette, and Fig. 3 is the detector and the ink ribbon cassette. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the typewriter, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart explaining the operation. 1... Ink ribbon 2... Ink ribbon cassette 4... Solenoid 10... Detector 1
1.15...Inverter 12...Interface 13...Typewriter 14...Cover.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a printing device equipped with an ink ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon, a mark for detecting the end of the ink ribbon is provided at the end of the ink ribbon, a detection means for detecting the mark is provided on the printing device side, and the ink ribbon is located at the end of the ink ribbon. A printing device characterized in that it is configured to be able to notify that it is approaching. (2) A switch is provided that opens and closes in conjunction with the opening and closing of the cover of the printing device, and this switch detects replacement of the ink ribbon, and a signal from a detector that detects the end of the ink ribbon determines whether printing should be continued. 2. A printing device according to claim 1, further comprising a processing device for transmitting said information. (3) "The ink ribbon cassette is provided with a determining section capable of determining the type of ink ribbon at a position where the end of the ink ribbon can be detected by a detector i2, or The printing device according to item 2.