JPS5968244A - Control method of printing of color printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain clear-cut color pictures without bad register in color printing by a method in which a mark is provided on a part of pages in advance, and by detecting the mark, the printing timing of each color in the page or printing start-up position of paper of each color in the page is controlled. CONSTITUTION:When a paper 1 is fed to the direction of arrow and a mark Ma is detected by a detector 10a, cyanine color printing as the first color is started on the page 1P from the time of the detection. After the ending of cyanine color printing on the page 1, a platen roller 3 is revesely turned to feed the paper 1 in the opposite direction, and at the time when the operation is ended, the platen roller 3 is again turned normally to feed the paper 1 in the direction of arrow. When the mark Ma is again detected by the detector 10a, from the time, Magenta color printing as the second color is started. In the same way thereafter, yellow color printing as the third color is made and color printing on the page 1P is ended. The paper 1 is fed in the direction of discharge until the printing position of the next page.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printing method for a color printer that performs color printing on paper.

Some color printers have cyan and magenta.

There is a color printer that uses an ink ribbon on which ink of three colors (yellow) is repeatedly applied 11-8 times and thermally transfers these three colors of ink onto paper in order to create seven colors using a subtractive color method. In order to obtain a clear color image in such a color printer, it is necessary that the images of cyan, magenta, and yellow colors completely overlap each other. here,
A conventional image alignment method used in the above-mentioned color printer will be explained with reference to FIG. In this figure, 1 is a sheet of paper, and the sheet of paper 1 is brought into contact with the outer periphery of a platen roller 3 and is conveyed by this platen roller 3. In this case, feed holes are provided on both sides 11 of the paper 1, and these feed holes are engaged with the feed pins 3a, 3a, . . . of the platen roller 3. .2 is cyan.

The ink ribbon is sequentially coated with magenta and yellow ink, and is passed through the lower gate of the platen roller 3, overlaps the paper l, and is carried by the platen roller 3 and another conveyance system (not shown) to the left side of one side (as indicated by the arrow). direction). 4 is a thermal head provided close to the left side of the platen roller 3, and during printing, the paper 1 and the ink ribbon 2 are
It is designed so that it is pressed against the surface. In figure t, point "I"
Pal is the print start position and print end position of paper 1, respectively, and the length between points a and -a corresponds to the length of a part of the print section. In addition, the ink ribbon 2 (point b1-b) is the section where cyan ink is applied, and the interval (abbreviation - your length) is the area where cyan ink is applied.
The driving force of magenta, yellow, cyan, magenta, etc. is transmitted to the right side f between b and f in the same interval width, and the clock 2 can also rotate in either counterclockwise direction. The conveyance of the paper 1 is controlled by supply pulses to the stepping motor.

Now, when the platen roller 3 rotates clockwise (forward rotation) in the above-mentioned +; Paper 1.
It presses against the ink ribbon 2 to print cyan on the paper 1. Then, when the printing end position tRa 1 of the paper 1 and the ink ribbon 20 point b2 reach the position 1ζ of the thermal head 4, the pressure contact of the thermal head 4 is released, and the platen roller 3 is reversed while the ink ribbon 2 is stopped. The paper 1 is conveyed in the direction of the broken line arrow B by rotating clockwise (reversely). In this case, the drive amount of the platen roller 3 in the reverse direction -1 is made equal to the drive amount in the forward direction for one page. That is, the number of pulses supplied to the stepping motor is set to be the same as during normal rotation. As a result, the printing start position a of the paper 1 reaches the position of the thermal head 4 again. At this time, point b of ink ribbon 2! is located at the position of the thermal head 4, so at this point, magenta ink is applied to the ink ribbon 2 in the opposing portion between points a and -a of the paper l. From then on, the above-mentioned operation is repeated, and the distance between the points a1 and am (from cyan to magenta) is repeated.

Printing is performed using the yellow composite color t. In this case, in the above-mentioned color printer, color printing is performed by reciprocating the paper 1 three times, and the paper 1 during each reciprocation is
Positioning (i.e. ftft1if1 alignment) limits the number of pulses supplied to the stepping motor iiMI
L/I'm going. There is a color printer that rotates the cut paper three times while keeping it in contact with the outer periphery of the platen roller 3, thereby performing a printing operation similar to the above case (three back and forth printing). Image alignment is performed by controlling the number of pulses supplied to the stepping motor.

By the way, in the conventional color printer image alignment method described above, the amount of drive of the platen roller for positioning the paper is predetermined by the number of pulses, so the feed hole of the paper is If the paper is deformed due to reciprocating motion, or if the paper itself is deformed due to temperature, humidity, etc., there will be a shift in the paper conveyance, and as a result, the print position of each color will shift, making it impossible to obtain a clear color image. This invention addresses the above-mentioned circumstances and provides a printing control method for a color printer that can obtain a clear color image without color shift, in which one part of the page is marked in advance. By detecting this mark, the printing timing of each color in the precious stone column or the printing start position of the paper for each color printing special number on the page is controlled.

The details of this development will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of printing marks in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the mechanical configuration of the same embodiment. In these figures, portions G corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and their explanations will be omitted.

In FIG. 2f, It-It are perforations, and the space between the perforations 1rl is 1p. Ma is a pre-printed mark, length 2-3
Five lines are printed in the conveyance direction of the paper 1. In this case, the mark Ma is printed on the left side of the leading edge (generally blank space) of the page lp. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 10a denotes a detector for detecting the mark Ma, which is installed near the paper ejection side of the thermal head 4. The detector 10a is composed of a reflective photosensor, which irradiates the left end of the paper 1 with light, receives the reflected light, and detects the mark Ma based on the amount of light received. .

[Next] Now, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. First, the paper sheet is conveyed in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG.
When the mark Ma is detected, printing of cyan, which is the first color, starts on the page ip (see FIG. 2) from the time of this detection. Then, as the conveyance and printing of the paper 1 progresses and cyan color printing on the page 1p is completed, the platen roller 3 is reversely rotated to reversely convey the paper l. The amount of reverse conveyance is made equal to the length of Alp or somewhat larger, but the amount of reverse conveyance is controlled by the number of pulses supplied to the stepping motor for driving the paper, and does not require particular accuracy. Then, when the reverse conveyance is completed, the platen roller 3 is rotated forward again, and the paper l is sent in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG.
When this is detected, printing of the second color, magenta, starts from the moment of this detection. In the same way,
The third color, yellow, is printed, and color printing on page 1p is completed. Then, move paper 1 in the ejection direction (third direction).
(see the arrow in the figure), and the printing start position of the next page is conveyed to the position of the thermal head 4.

In this way, since printing of each color is started when the detector 10a detects the mark Ma in this implementation (Tari), the images of each color match accurately.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a printing example of the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the pattern configuration of the second embodiment.

In FIG. 4, Mb is a preprinted mark similar to the mark Ma, and is printed at the left end of the page 1p at a distance dt from the printing start position a. In FIG. 5, 10b is a detector for detecting the mark Mb, and like the detector 10a, the mark M is detected by the reflective photosensor f.
In this case, the positional relationship between the detector fob and the thermal head 4 is such that when the detector 10b detects the mark Mb, the print start value Rat of page 1p is at the position of the heating resistor of the thermal head 40. (Print position) Make sure it is at this point.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

First, paper 1 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 8g5, and when the detector 10b detects the mark Mb, 1
Prints in cyan, which is the color of the grain.

When this cyan printing is completed, the platen roller 3 is rotated in the reverse direction to convey the paper 1 in the reverse direction.

This reverse conveyance is continued until the detector 10b detects the mark IVlb. Then, when the detector 10b detects the mark Mb, the reverse conveyance is stopped, and the platen roller 3 is rotated forward again to convey the paper 1 in the discharge direction (see the arrow in FIG. 5).
Printing of the second color, magenta, begins. Then, when magenta printing is finished, as in the case described above,
The paper 1 is conveyed in reverse until the detector 10b detects the mark Mb, and printing is performed in yellow, which is the third color, from the position where the reverse conveyance ends.

In this way, in this embodiment, when printing each color on page 1p, the mark Mb is detected to control the print start position (reverse conveyance stop position) of paper l, so that the print start value Ita is always set for each color. Printing starts from I, and color misregistration does not occur. In addition, the above-mentioned I. Second example 1
The same effect can be obtained by, for example, making a hole of an appropriate size and detecting the hole instead of the marks Ma and Mb.

Further, the present invention can be applied not only to color printers that transport paper back and forth, but also to color printers that perform color printing by rotating paper three times.

As explained above, according to the present invention, by attaching a mark to a part of the page in advance and detecting this mark, the printing timing of each color on the page G or the printing start of the paper at the time of printing each color on the page Since the position is controlled, even if the feed holes of the paper are deformed, or the paper itself is deformed due to temperature, humidity, etc., one image of each color on the same page will not shift, and therefore , an extremely clear color image can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration near the printing section of a conventional color printer, and Fig. 2 shows the first embodiment of the present invention (
FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the reconnaissance configuration of Example G, and FIG. 4 is a second diagram of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a printing example in the embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the mechanical configuration of the embodiment. 10a, 10b...detector, Ma, Mb...
····mark. Applicant Shinko Electric Co., Ltd. Figure 1 Figure 3 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] 4JI in different colors sequentially on the same page part of the paper being conveyed
In a print control method for a color printer that performs printing once, a mark is attached to a portion of the frame in advance, and by detecting this mark, the printing timing of each color on the page or the paper at the time of printing each color on the page is determined. Printing control method 0 for a color printer characterized by controlling the printing start position of