JPS59148691A - Color printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a small-size color printer capable of high-speed printing by using a system in which a dot matrix head of a small width is used, and a printing ribbon is set in the running direction of a printing head and guided by a ribbon guide. CONSTITUTION:Bimorph type electrostrictive vibrators 14 to drive impact pins 13 are set in a multi-layer by facing each pair of them vertically and the left and right-handed widths of a pin drive mechanism 11b are almost equalized with the width of the tip end 11a of the head. A dot matrix printing head 10 of such a system is used. A ribbon guide 17 having guide lines 17a and 17b and an opening window 19 is attached (4 is printing paper) to the front of printing heads 10y, 10m, 10c, and 10b for each color, mounted on a carriage 7, a multi-color ink ribbon 2 set in almost parallel with the running direction of the head is turned in the nearly vertical direction, and the regions 2y, 2m, 2c, and 2b of each color of the ribbon 2 are guided to the front of each corresponding color printing head.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dot matrix color printer that realizes color printing using ink ribbons of multiple colors.

-Technical Background With the spread of color displays in information processing devices, there is a strong need for small and inexpensive color printers. Currently, dot matrix impact printers and thermal transfer printers are single-color printers that are widely available and in practical use.These printers are relatively inexpensive and have high versatility in that they can also print kanji and graphics. are doing. In such a dot matrix type impact or thermal transfer printer, the printing color is determined by the non-printing color, so color printing can be realized by using multicolored ink ribbons.

・Prior art and problems FIG. 1 shows a conventional printer that realizes color printing using an impact dot matrix type print head 1 and a multicolor ink ribbon 2 that is color-coded in the printing direction. Here, 3 is a platen mounted on a frame (not shown), 4 is printing paper wrapped around the platen 3, 5, 6
7 is a kite bar installed parallel to the platen 3, and 7 is a carriage that reciprocates along the kite bar 5. The print head 1 is mounted on this gear ridge 7, and does not run in the printing line direction. The lines are printed.

Reference numeral 8.8 is a ribbon guide, and by moving the ribbon guides 8 and 8 up and down based on the given color designation information, the ink ribbon 2 is shifted and L:l is moved.
] The printing color is changed. Therefore, when performing color printing with a printer having such a structure, it is necessary to frequently shift the ink ribbon 2 during printing operation, and the print head 1 prints for each color to increase the number of colors. The printing operation will be repeated the corresponding number of times, so 1. There was a time when the printing speed was significantly lower than that of color printing. In addition, 2 y + 2 in the figure
m, 2c, and 2b indicate the areas of each color on the ink ribbon 2, and the four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are normally used as the basic colors for color printing.

As another means of performing color printing with an impact printer or a thermal transfer printer, a plurality of print heads 1 (for example, four) as shown in FIG. 1 are arranged side by side in the print line direction and mounted on a carriage 7, i, j mark〃＼.

Means is also adopted for printing each basic color assigned to each of the two printing heads. However, the conventional dot matrix print head 1 has a pin drive mechanism gl! compared to its tip 1a. Since the left and right width of the lb is quite wide, the print positions of the parallel print heads are spaced apart, making the dimensions of the carriage 7 and its travel stroke very large. Since the ribbon cartridge and ribbon drive mechanism have to be mounted on the carriage 7, the inertia mass of the device mounted on the carriage 7 increases and the print head is forced to pass vertically. It becomes difficult to run the sF back and forth at high speed, making high-speed printing impossible.
There were reports that the equipment would also become larger.

・Purpose of the Invention This invention provides a structure of a print head in which the left and right dimensions of the pin drive 1I111 mechanism can be made almost equal to the left and right dimensions of the tip of the head, and an inkliner stretched in the print line direction that can be set at a printing position of 11. This was done with the aim of solving the above-mentioned problems of the conventional means by providing a simple pivot point that can be turned up and down at (?), and realizing a compact and inexpensive color printer that is capable of high-speed printing. .

・Construction of the Invention The color printer of the present invention has a plurality of dot matrix heads (10)' + 10 m driven by pins.

It has a print head 9 formed by juxtaposing 10C+ iob and a multicolor ink ribbon 2 color-coded in the width direction or a multicolor ink ribbon consisting of a group of juxtaposed ribbons with different ink colors, and a plurality of dot matrix heads 1, In a color printer that realizes multi-angle printing by printing each color applied to each dot matrix head 10y to 10b, each dot matrix head 10y to 10b has a bimorph type tortoise distortion vibrator 14 for driving a pin 13 facing vertically. two inclined parallel guide ridges 17a located above and below the printing plate 9;
A ribbon guide 17 having a diameter of 17b is provided, and the ribbon guide 17 allows the multicolor ink ribbon 2, which is disposed approximately parallel to the running direction of the print head 9, to be turned in a downward direction on the road in front of the print head 9. This is a characteristic feature.

・Embodiments of the invention Next, the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 to 8 will be explained. In the illustrated embodiments, 3 is a platen, 4 is a printing paper, 5, 6
1 is a guide bar, and 7 is a carriage, which are constructed in the same manner as the conventional device shown in FIG. Reference numeral 9 denotes a print head mounted on the carriage 7, which includes four impact dot matrix heads 10y, 10m, and IO arranged in parallel.
Each dot matrix head 10 has a structure shown in FIGS. 3 to 5.

In Figures 3 to 5, 11 is the head main body, 12 is a bin guide provided at the tip of the head, 13...13 is an impact vibrator, and 14...14 is a bimorph type electrostrictive vibrator for driving the pins. It is.

A bimorph electrostrictive vibrator is a piezoelectric transducer made by bonding two or more piezoelectric transducers with opposite polarities, and when a voltage is applied to the north pole, the bimorph responds and displaces, just as a bimetal responds to heat. Is pressure suitable for displacement? A metal plate is used for the joint part of the 8 conversion elements.

As shown in FIG. 5, the bimorph type electrostrictive vibrator 14 of the illustrated embodiment is a high-contrast type in which a metal plate 16 is provided at the junction of two piezoelectric transducers 15. Board 16
M&r,i is 1i on the head body 11! An impact pin 13 is installed at the tip of the metal plate 16 by applying a pressure of '4 to the piezoelectric transducer 15.15.
The pin 13 is bent to drive the pin 13.

As shown in FIG. 3, the bimorph electrostrictive vibrators 14...14 are provided in multiple layers facing each other vertically, and by adopting such a configuration, a large number of impact pins 13...・The left and right width of the /η portion 11b is approximately equal to the tip portion 11a of the head)
The print head 9 can be compactly constructed, and is made up of a plurality of dot matrix heads 10y to 10b arranged in parallel.

Reference numeral 17 is fixed to the carriage 7 by brackets 18, 18, and its structure is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. As shown in the figure, the ribbon kite 17 is
It is a diamond-shaped play 1- having two inclined and parallel kite ridges 17a and 17b, and an opening window 19 is provided in the central part where the tips iWi, iR1 (of the print head 9) are located. .10y to l shown by imaginary lines in Figure 6
ob indicates the position of the tip of the dot matrix head. Two guide ridges 17a of this kite plate 17.

17b is located above and below the tip of the print head 9, and the ink ribbon 2, which is disposed approximately parallel to the running direction of the print head 9, is turned downward on the road as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. Areas 2y to 2b of each basic color on the ink ribbon 2
passes through the tips of the corresponding dot matrix heads 10y to 10b. In order to use the ribbon area evenly, the ink ribbon 2 is sometimes arranged at a slight inclination from the running direction of the print head 9, and as shown in FIG. By tilting the turning direction of the ink ribbon 2, the ink area of the ink ribbon 2 can be used widely.

FIG. 8 shows the printing mechanism fjl of the apparatus configured as described above.
In the half-view showing I, 20.20 is the frame of the printer,
21. 21 is a ribbon kite installed in the frame 20,
22 is a phone cassette installed on the frame 20.

・Effects of the Invention As can be understood from the description of the embodiments above, the configuration of the present invention makes it possible to arrange a plurality of dot matrix heads close to each other, which is useful for color printing. The print head can be configured compactly,
Furthermore, the ink ribbon can be arranged parallel to the running direction of the print head, eliminating the need to mount a ribbon cartridge and ribbon drive mechanism on the carriage, and making it possible to configure the printing mechanism section in a compact and compact manner. This makes it possible for the print head to travel back and forth at high speed.
Since all printing colors can be printed at once by one scan of the print head, it is possible to provide a color printer that is small, inexpensive, and capable of high-speed printing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the printing mechanism of a conventional color printer, Figs. 2 to 8 are views showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the printing mechanism. 3 is a sectional view of the dot matrix head, FIG. 4 is a front view thereof, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing one pin drive element, FIG. 6 is a front view of the ribbon guide, and FIG. 7 is a front view of the dot matrix head. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line AA, and FIG. 8 is a plan view of the side of the printing press. In the figure, 2 is a multicolor ink printer, 3 is a platen, 4 is printing paper, 7 is a carriage, 9 is a print head, 10 y +
10 m, 10 c + 10 b is a dot matrix head, 13 is an impact pin, 14 is a bimorph type electrostrictive vibrator, 15 is a piezoelectric transducer, 16 is a metal plate, 1
7 is a ribbon guide, 17a and 17b are guide edges, 18
19 is a bracket, 19 is an opening window, and 22 is a link cassette. Agent Patent Attorney: Yao Nishi

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) It has a print head made up of a plurality of pin-driven dot matrix heads arranged side by side, and a multicolor ink ribbon made up of multicolor ink ribbons color-coded in the width direction or a group of ribbons of different ink colors arranged side by side, In a color printer that achieves multicolor printing by printing each color assigned to each of a plurality of dot matrix heads, each dot matrix head is of a bimorph type for driving pins, with strain oscillators facing each other vertically. A ribbon kite is provided which has two inclined parallel guide ridges located above and below the print head, and is arranged substantially parallel to the running direction of the print head by the ribbon guide. A color printer, characterized in that a printed ink ribbon is turned in a downward direction at the front of a print head.