JPS60101073A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable beautiful printing and the simple feed of an ink ribbon, by making the center-to-center distance of printing members larger than the height of a picture element with respect to the feed direction of the ink ribbon when picture elements are printed in an overlapped state in order to improve printing quality. CONSTITUTION:When a character or a figure is printed, a printing head 14 moves to a direction shown by the arrow k along with an ink ribbon 17. Because wires 24 are arranged obliquely to the direction shown by arrow K, a signal corresponding to each position is applied to perform priting. With respect to an L-direction, because the wires are arranged so as to be overlapped, picture elements are printed in apartially overlapped state. At this time, the ink ribbon 17 moves to the L-direction. Because the center-to-center distance S of the wires in the K-direction is made larger than the diameter of the picture element to be transferred, for example, the part, which is printed by the wire 24a and of which the ink layer is lost in the ink ribbon 17, passes an oblique line part 17a. Therefore, this part is not overlapped with the adjacent wire or other wire.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a printing device that separates characters and figures into pixels and performs printing by transferring ink from an ink ribbon having an ink layer onto recording paper. .

Conventional Reli Structure and Its Problems In recent years, many printing devices have been used that print characters and graphics by dividing them into pixels. In such devices, characters and figures are drawn by arranging and printing pixels, so the outlines of the characters and figures are not drawn smoothly. For this reason, when it is desired to improve the print quality by smoothing the contours of characters or figures, a method is used in which some of the pixels are overlapped for printing.

An example of such a device will be explained using FIGS. 1 to 6. In FIG. 1, 1 is a print head, 2 is a platen, 3 is a recording paper, and 4 is an ink ribbon 1. A recording paper 3 and an ink ribbon 4 are arranged between the print head 1 and the platen 2. The platen 2 is fixed to the main body of the apparatus (not shown), and the print head 1 is placed on a carriage (not shown) and is configured to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the platen 2 in the direction shown in the drawing. A plurality of print wire drive units 11 as shown in FIG. 2 are attached to the print head 1. As shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, the yoke 6 is made of a magnetic material and is fixed to the print head 1. A print spring 6 is still attached to the yoke 5, and an armature 7 made of a magnetic material is fixed to the opposite end of the print spring 6.

On the other hand, a coil 9 is wound around the yoke 6, and when a current is applied to the coil 9, the armature 7 is attracted to the yoke 6 against the restoring force of the printing spring 6 due to electromagnetic force (C). A wire 8 is attached to the armature 7.
is supported by a bearing 10. The wire 8 is placed at a position where its tip faces the platen 2, and the wire 8 and the platen 2
A recording paper 3 and an ink ribbon 4 are arranged between them.

FIG. 3 shows a view of the print head 1 viewed from the direction of arrow C in FIG. In FIG. 3, the tips 8a and 8b of the wire 8
, 8c, 8d, 8e, and 8f are supported by the bearing 10 and are perpendicular to the arrow direction shown in the figure, which is the direction of movement of the print head 1.
They are arranged in two rows in a staggered manner. In addition, the illustrated G
Arrange the wires at a position such that the distance Y between the centers of adjacent wires in the G direction is smaller than the diameter of the tip of the wire.
ing. The ink ribbon 4 is configured to be sent in the direction of the arrow B shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 by an ink ribbon transport stage (not shown).

Next, the operation of this printing device will be explained.

In FIG. 2, when current is supplied to the coil 9, the armature 7 is attracted to the yoke 6 by electromagnetic force against the restoring force of the printing spring 6, as described above.

As a result, the wire 8 that has been strung by the armature 7 also moves in the direction of the arrow E shown in the figure.

Next, when the current flowing through the coil 9 is cut off, the armature 7 and the wire 8 move in the direction of the arrow F shown in the figure due to the restoring force of the print/shape 6. At this time, due to the reaction caused by the restoration of the printing spring 6, the printing pin 6 is deformed to a position closer to the direction F than the position shown in FIG.

At this time, the tip of the wire 8 comes into contact with the ink ribbon 4,
Furthermore, this ink ribbon 4 can be pushed onto the recording paper 3.

The recording paper 3 is supported on the back side by the platen 2. When the ink ribbon 4 is pressed against the recording paper 3, the ink in the ink ribbon 4 is transferred to the recording paper 3 to form pixels.

Next, the printing operation of characters and figures will be explained using the case of drawing a vertical line as an example. When the print head 1 moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1, the wire 8 also moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. At this time, printing is first performed on the recording paper using the wires sb, ad, and af. Next, the print head 1 moves and the wires aa, 8c, 8e are connected to the wires sb.
, ad.

When the wires 8f come to a position overlapping the pixels printed on the recording paper, printing is performed using the wires 8a, 8c, and 8e. An example of printing in this manner is shown in FIG. As is clear from the figure, some of the pixels are printed in a Φ-aligned state, which gives a smooth outline. At this time, the ink ribbon 4 is being moved in the direction B in FIGS. 1 and 3. Therefore, if we consider the relative movement between the print head 1 and the ink ribbon 4 by identifying the print head 1, in FIG.
It is considered that the ink ribbon 4 is moving in the direction B shown in the figure. In FIG. 3, the wire 8b&(
Therefore, when printing is performed, the wire 8 of the ink ribbon 4
The ink in the portion 4a corresponding to b is transferred to the recording paper. At this time, a part of the ink of the printing compatible Fils 4 B on the ink ribbon 4 is transferred to the recording paper, so that it becomes thin.

Next, when the ink ribbon 4 and the print head 1 move relative to each other and the print corresponding part 4a of the ink ribbon 4 comes to a position facing the print wire 8 as shown in the position 4b in the figure, the wire 8a
Alternatively, when printing is performed in 8C, a portion of the pixels printed by the wire that corresponds to the portion 4b of the ink ribbon is transferred thinner than other portions. Therefore, a density difference occurs within one pixel. In addition, when an ink ribbon 4 is used which has an ink layer such that all of the ink corresponding to the pixel is transferred by one printing, when the same operation as above is performed, as shown in Fig. 5. A portion of the pixel is transferred as shown in 13.

As shown in Figure 2, in the conventional device, some of the two pixels were missing or faded, resulting in poor print quality. In addition, in order to prevent such a low print quality, a method may be considered in which printing is performed when the printable portion 4a of the ink ribbon 4 reaches a position 4C not facing the wire 8 in FIG. In addition to deteriorating the utilization efficiency of the ink ribbon, the ink ribbon feeding mechanism becomes complicated because the amount of ink ribbon feeding must be precisely controlled.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device that is capable of beautiful printing, allows easy ink ribbon feeding, and is efficient in the use of ink ribbons.

Structure of the Invention The printing device of the present invention includes a plurality of printing parts, an ink ribbon having an ink layer that is transferred to a recording medium by the action of the printing parts, and a movement for relatively moving the printing member and the recording medium. and a center-to-center distance in the first direction of two adjacent printing parts in a first direction perpendicular to the direction of relative movement within a plane in which the printing part and the recording medium move relative to each other. The height of the printing part is arranged so as to be smaller than the height of the pixels recorded on the body in the first direction, and in a predetermined second direction in a plane in which the printing part and the recording body move relative to each other. arranging means for arranging the printing part so that the distance between the centers of any two printing members in the second direction is larger than the height of the pixel recorded on the recording medium in the second direction; , and includes an ink ribbon moving means for moving the 21-ink ribbon in a direction perpendicular to the second direction, thereby moving the 21-ink ribbon in a direction perpendicular to the relative movement direction of the printing member and the recording medium. In addition to printing pixels densely to make the contours of the printed pixels appear smooth, it is possible to improve the quality of pixel printing by using a simple ink ribbon feeding method, and it is also possible to improve the efficiency of ink ribbon usage. .

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6, 14 is a print head; 15 is a print head;
is a platen, 16 is a recording paper, 17 is an ink ribbon, 18
．． 19 is an ink rib/core. The platen 16 is fixed to the main body of the apparatus (not shown), and the print head 14 is placed on a carriage (not shown) and is configured to be movable in the direction of the arrow, which is the longitudinal direction of the platen 15, by the power of a motor (not shown) or the like. ing. A recording paper 16 and an ink ribbon 17 are arranged in an arrangement I between the print head 14 and the platen 160, and the ink ribbon 17 is made of a base material made of polyester or the like and coated with ink.
The ink ribbon is configured so that when pressure is applied, all the prints on the ink ribbon in the area where the pressure is applied are transferred onto the recording paper. The ink ribono 17 is still attached to the print head 14.
The ink ribbon is wound around ink ribbon cores 18 and 19 which are rotatably supported and arranged on the lower and upper sides of the ink ribbon. The ink ribbon cores 1B and 19 are attached to a carriage (not shown) and move together with the print head 14 in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure J-
It is configured to Inc Ribo/Core 19iJ,
It is rotated in the direction of the arrow N shown in the figure by the power of a motor or the like (not shown), and thereby the incremental bobbin 17 is moved in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure.

The print head 14 includes a print wire drive section 20 shown in FIG.
Multiple units are installed. In FIG. 2, the printing wire drive section 20 is connected to the yoke 21. Printing nokune 22. Amateur 23. Print wire 24. It is composed of a coil 26.

The yoke 21 is made of a magnetic material and is fixed to the print head 14.

In addition, a printing spring 22 is attached to the yoke 21,
An armature 23 made of a magnetic material is fixed to the opposite end of the printing spring 220.

On the other hand, a coil 25 is wound around the yoke 21, and when a current is applied to the coil 26, an electromagnetic force is generated, and this electromagnetic force causes the armature 23 to move in the direction of the arrow P shown in the figure, against the restoring force of the printing spring 22. is attracted to the yoke 21. A wire 24 is fixed to the armature 23, and the tip of the wire 24 is supported by a bearing 26 so as to be able to reciprocate. The tip of the wire 24 is placed at a position facing the platen 15, and a recording paper 16 and an ink ribbon 17 are placed between the wire 24 and the platen 16.

FIG. 8 shows a view of the print head 14 viewed from direction M in FIG. 6. In FIG. 8, the tip of the wire 24 is attached to a bearing 26.
The printing heads 14 are supported by the printing heads 14 and arranged in two rows diagonally with respect to the direction of the arrow, which is the traveling direction of the print head 14. Also, wire 2
4, the wires in two rows of wire groups interpolate with each other in the direction indicated by the arrow, and the wires 24 are arranged at equal intervals in the direction indicated by the arrow. At this time, the center word ml in the L direction of the two wires adjacent in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure is smaller than the diameter of the pixel printed and transferred by the wire 24,
The center-to-center distance S of each wire in the lateral direction is configured to be larger than the diameter of the pixel to be printed and transferred by the wire 24. Further, the center-to-center distance S of the wire in the horizontal direction is configured to be an integral multiple of the center-to-center distance of the pixels to be transferred.

Next, the operation of this printing device will be explained. In FIG. 7, when a current is supplied to the coil 26 by a drive circuit (not shown), the armature 23 is attracted to the yoke 21 against the restoring force of the print spring 22, as described above. Therefore, the wire 24 that has been strung by the armature 23 also moves in the direction P shown in the figure. Next, when the current flowing through the coil 25 is cut off, the armature 23 and the wire 24 are connected to the printing spring 22.
It moves in the direction Q shown in the figure due to the restoring force. At this time, the printing spring 22 is deformed by the reaction at the time of restoring to a position closer to the Q direction than the neutral position shown in FIG. At this time, the tip of the wire 24 comes into contact with the ink ribbon 17, and further pushes the ink ribbon 17 onto the recording paper 16. The back side of the recording paper 17 is supported by the platen 15, and due to the impact of contact with the wire 24, ink from the ink ribbon 17 is transferred to the recording paper 16, forming pixels. At this time, all of the ink on the ink ribbon 17 in the portion corresponding to the pixel is transferred to the recording paper side.

Next, the printing operation of this printing device will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 8. When printing characters, figures, etc.
6 and 8, the print head 14 moves in the direction of the arrow together with the ink ribbon 17. At this time, the wires 24 are arranged obliquely to the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. A signal corresponding to the position of is applied to perform printing. At this time, as mentioned above,
Regarding the direction, since the wires are arranged so as to overlap, some of the pixels are printed in an overlapping manner, similar to the conventional example shown in FIG. 4. Also, at this time, the ink ribbon 17
is moving in the L direction shown in the figure.

As described above, the center-to-center distance S of the wire in the direction is set to be smaller than the diameter of the pixel to be transferred. For example, in the ink ribbon 17 in FIG. 8, the part t'' where the ink layer is lost after being printed by the wire 24a passes through the *[ line part 17a in the figure. Therefore, this portion does not overlap with adjacent wires or other wires. Therefore, beautiful printing can be achieved without any pixel being missing due to printing again on the part of the ink ribbon where the ink layer has been lost. In addition, it is sufficient to feed the ink ribbon by one pixel or more for each printing, which allows for efficient use of the ink ribbon, and also allows for slight changes in the ink ribbon feeding speed, so it is less accurate. The ink ribbon can be fed by a simple mechanism without the need for.

In the embodiments of the present invention, an example has been described in which the printing part is composed of a wire 7 and a drive part that drives the wire, and an ink ribbon that transfers by impact force is used as the ink ribbon. Alternatively, a printing device may be used in which a heating body is used in the printing section 41 and an ink ribbon that performs transfer by heat is used for the ink ribbon.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention, an example will be described in which an ink ribbon is used in which the ink layer is lost after printing once on the ink ribbon. An ink ribbon may also be used, in which case it is possible to print beautifully and evenly.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above explanation, the printing device of the present invention has the following effects:
When printing pixels in a stacked manner to improve printing quality, the ink ribbon is configured so that the distance between the centers of the printing area is larger than the height of the printed pixels in the feeding direction of the ink ribbon. The printed area of the ink ribbon does not become smaller than other printed areas, so beautiful printing is possible without missing some pixels or uneven density within a single pixel. In addition, the ink ribbon can be fed without requiring much precision, and the ink ribbon can be used efficiently.

In particular, if an ink layer is used that loses its ink layer after printing once per ink ribbon, it is even more effective because printing can be performed without missing any part of the pixel.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional printing device, Fig. 2 is a sectional side view of the main part showing the inside, Fig. 3 is a front view of the main part, and Figs. 4 and 5 are printing by the conventional printing device. For example,
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a sectional side view of the main part showing the inside thereof, and FIG. 8 is a front view of the main part. 14...-printing head, 15...platen,
16...=t2 Q 14(,,17...-
Ink ribbon, 24...wire. Daiyato changes his name to patent attorney Toshio Nakao and one other person
1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 50 7 Mouth

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An ink ribbon having a plurality of printing parts, an ink layer that is transferred to the recording medium by the action of the printing parts, a moving means for relatively moving the printing member and the recording medium, and the printing member and the recording medium. In the plane of relative movement of the body, the center-to-center distance in the first direction of two printing members adjacent in the first direction perpendicular to the direction of relative movement is the distance between the centers of the pixels recorded on the recording medium. The printing part 4A is arranged so that the height in the first direction is smaller than the height in the first direction, and the height of the printing part (in a predetermined second direction in the plane in which the printing part A and the recording medium move relative to each other, any two printing members arranging means for arranging the printing section side so that the center-to-center distance in the second direction is larger than the height of the pixels recorded on the recording medium in the second direction; 1. A printing device comprising: an ink ribbon moving means for moving the ink ribbon in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the ink ribbon. (2) Claim (1) characterized in that the ink ribbon has an ink layer in which most of the ink in the portion corresponding to the transferred pixel is lost by one transfer. Printing device as described in section.