JPS60136471A - Color reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the replacement of filters and to attain the color reading at low cost by setting a sensor and each color filter in a bundle on a mobile stage of a printer. CONSTITUTION:A filter tape 31 contains filter parts which transmit red, green, blue and transparent colors in the lengthwise direction of the tape. Then the tape 31 is hooked to a tape feed roll 27, tape guide rolls 28 and 29 and a tape guide plate 30 as if it enclosed a lens barrel 24. The tape 31 is set into a case 21 together with a line type image sensor 26 provided at the rear end in the barrel 24 and put on a mobile stage 7 to be moved in the axial direction of a drum 2. In such a constitution, the replacement is simplified greatly among those color filters. This attains the color reading at low cost.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a color reading device that uses a printer to read a color document.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Recently, instead of using a dedicated reading device to read documents with characters, figures, etc. drawn on them, a printing head and a ribbon feed drive unit are installed on a movable table that moves along the length of the platen. The ribbon winding shaft is engaged with the ribbon feeding drive unit to feed and drive the ink ribbon (including ink tape, etc.) in the ribbon cassette set on the moving table, while ink on this ink ribbon is transferred by the print head. It has been considered to use a printer that transfers images onto a sheet of paper wrapped around the platen.

Generally, when reading a document using this printer, the document to be read is wound around the platen of the printer, and a line-type image sensor is set on the moving table instead of the ribbon cassette, and the document is fed by rotating the platen. This is accomplished by scanning an image sensor in the document width direction by moving a movable table. According to this reading method, the document can be read using the printer as is.

However, in the past, only the image sensor was set on the moving table of the printer, and the document wound around the platen was directly read by the image sensor. A color sensor that reads colors based on the same principle as the area-type color image sensor for imaging using dichroic mirrors used in television cameras, etc. must be used, and this color sensor can be a line-type color sensor. Although it is cheaper than the area-type color image sensor, it is much more expensive than a normal sensor that only detects shading, so it is difficult to use such an expensive color sensor to read documents. Since this is not cost-effective, conventionally the only option was to use a normal sensor as an image sensor and perform black-and-white reading that detects only the shading even if the document is a color document.

In addition, the color reading device for the pond uses a normal sensor that only detects shading as an image sensor.
By alternately inserting a red transmission filter, a green transmission filter, and a blue transmission filter in front of this image sensor, the output of the image sensor when the red transmission filter is inserted is extracted as a red signal, and the green transmission filter is inserted. There is a device that performs color reading that takes out the output of the image sensor as a green signal when a blue transmission filter is inserted, and takes out the output of the image sensor as a blue signal when a blue transmission filter is inserted.This color reading device is an inexpensive image sensor. Since ordinary sensors can be used, low-cost color reading can be performed.

However, in order to use such a filter-exchangeable color reading device for reading documents using the printer, it is necessary to know how to place the filters of each color on the printer's movable table. The problem of how to replace the filter had to be solved, and for this reason, it was considered to be extremely difficult to use a color reading device that uses the filter replacement method for reading documents using a printer. .

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to easily integrate sensors and filters of each color onto a moving table of a printer.
The present invention provides a color reading device that can perform color reading using a printer using a filter replacement method, which is a low-cost color reading method, in which the filters for each color can be replaced very easily. It is about providing.

(Summary of the Invention) That is, the present invention has a red transmission filter section, a green transmission filter section, and a blue transmission filter section arranged in a longitudinal direction in a case that is set in a moving table of a printer in exchange for a ribbon cassette. a tape feed roller that engages with a ribbon feed drive section of the movable base to feed and drive the filter tape, and a sensor that reads a document wound around the platen through the filter tape. By providing this, the sensor and the filters of each color can be set at once on the moving table of the printer, and the ribbon feeding drive section of the moving table can drive the tape feeding roller to feed the filter tape. This configuration is such that a desired filter section is moved in front of the sensor.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, we will explain the configuration of a printer that can be used to read documents by setting the color reading device of the present invention. Figure 1 shows a generally used thermal transfer printer. 2 is the printer body, 2 is the platen, and 6-3 is the paper feed port. Print paper is inserted through the paper feed port 3 and wrapped around the platen 2, and is driven by a paper feed roller (not shown) driven by a stepping motor. As printing progresses, platen 2 is fed by a predetermined amount by
It is designed to be sent upwards. In addition, 4 in the figure
5 is a drive shaft for the paper feed roller, 5a and 5b are platen drive gears, and 6 is a manual paper feed knob for manually rotating the platen 2.

Further, in FIG. 1, 7 is a movable table that moves along the platen 2 in its length direction, and this movable table 7 is
It is guided by a guide shaft 8 and reciprocated at a predetermined speed by a moving carriage feed wire 9.

10 is a printing thermal head provided on the front end of the moving table 7 facing the platen 2; 11 is a ribbon feeding drive section provided on the moving table 7; The moving table 7 includes a ribbon feeding drive hub 13 fixed to the upper end of the drive shaft 12 passing through the table 7.
A gear mechanism (not shown) is provided on the lower side of the printer body 1 to drive the drive shaft 12. By moving the movable table 7 with this gear mechanism meshed with the rack 14, the driving shaft 12 is driven by receiving a driving force from the rack 14.

Further, 15 is a ribbon cassette set on the upper surface of the moving table 7, and although only the outer shape of the ribbons 1 to 15 is shown in FIG. The ribbon cassette 15 is configured to accommodate an ink ribbon and a winding shaft for the ink ribbon.
is set on the movable base 7 by fitting the ribbon winding shaft into engagement with the ribbon feed drive hub 13 of the ribbon feed drive unit 11 provided on the movable base 7.

In this thermal printer, the moving table 7 is moved in the length direction of the platen 2, and the ink ribbon in the ribbon cassette 15 set on the moving table 7 is moved at the moving speed of the moving table 7 by the ribbon feeding drive unit 11. The ink of this ink ribbon is transferred to the printing paper wrapped around the platen 2 by the thermal head 10 while being fed and driven in synchronization with the ribbon feeding drive unit 11 during printing. The ink ribbon is moved from the home position at the left end to the return position at the right end while the gear mechanism is engaged with the rack 14 of the printer main body 1, and the gear mechanism is moved from the rack 14 when returning. The ink ribbon is moved to the home position in the vertical position B (the state in which the moving table 7 is rotated in the opposite direction to the platen 2) without feeding the ink ribbon.

Next, the configuration of a color reading device used by being set in the thermal printer will be explained.

Figure 2 shows the color reading device.
1, the ribbon cassette 1 is placed on the moving table 7 of the printer.
This is a case that is set in exchange for 5, and this case 2
1 is approximately the same size as the cassette case of the ribbon cassette 15, and a reading window 22 is opened in the front of the case 21. Note that 23 is a relief portion for the thermal head 10.

Inside this case 21, a lens barrel 24 is provided with an imaging lens 25 in a cylinder whose both ends are open, and its front end is connected to the reading window 22.
A line-type image sensor (for example, an MO8-type line image sensor with 16 light-receiving elements arranged in a row) is fixed at the rear end of the lens barrel 24 to detect the density of light. 26 have been installed.

Further, inside the case 21, a ribbon feeding drive section 11 is located on the side of the lens barrel 24 and is provided on the moving table 7 of the printer when the case 21 is set on the moving table 7 of the printer. A cylindrical tape feed row 527 that is fitted and engaged with the ribbon feed drive hub 13 is rotatably provided, and a pair of tape guide rollers 28 and 29 are arranged on both sides of the rear inside the case 21. A tape guide plate 30 having an opening at a portion facing the front end of the lens barrel 24 is provided inside the reading window 22.

=10= In addition, in FIG. 2, 31 includes a red transmission filter section R for color reading, a green transmission filter section G, a blue transmission filter section B, and a transparent filter section W for black and white reading in the longitudinal direction. It is an endless tape-like filter tape formed in sequence, and this filter chip 731 is manufactured by joining four types of tape-like filters, and each filter part R1G, B, and W are all the same length, for example, 30 m.
).

Then, this filter tape 31 is
- The filter chip 731 is attached to a pair of tape guide rollers 28, 29, and a tape guide plate 30 so as to surround the lens barrel 24.
3, the rotary arm 32 is pressed against the tape feed roller 27 by a pinch roller 34 provided at the tip of the rotary arm 32, and is driven to be fed by the tape feed roller 27. There is. Further, of the pair of tape guide rollers 28 and 29, the guide roller 28 located behind the tape feed roller 27 is provided at the tip of a rotating arm 35 that is pressed outward by a spring 36, and the guide roller 28 is located behind the tape feed roller 27. It is designed to give a certain tension to the tape 31,
The other tape guide roller 29 is a fixed roller that guides the filter tee 731 at a fixed position.

Further, an incandescent lamp 37 with a lens is provided on the outside of the tape guide plate 30 in the case 21, facing the reading window 22, and illuminating the reading surface of the document.
A color temperature conversion filter 38 is installed in front of the lamp 37 to bring the color of the light from the lens-equipped incandescent lamp 37, whose spectral characteristics are biased toward red, closer to white light.

Furthermore, two color identification elements 39a and 39b are arranged inside the tape guide plate 30 in the case 21 to detect the color of the filter tape portion between the fixed roller 29 and the tape guide plate 30. ing.

These two color identification elements 39a and 39b detect the color of the filter tape portion between the fixed roller 29 and the tape guide plate 30, thereby identifying the filter tape 1.
31 is provided in order to determine which filter section is in front of the lens barrel 24.One color identification element 39a is provided with a red transmission filter on the light receiving surface of a photoelectric conversion element (for example, a phototransistor). The other color identification element 39b is a blue detection element in which a blue transmission filter is provided on the light receiving surface of the photoelectric conversion element.

The table below shows the two color identification elements 39a and 39b.
This figure shows the relationship between the filter part of the filter chip 731 detected by the color identification element 39a and the filter part in front of the lens barrel 24. For example, as shown in FIG.
, 39b, the output of the red detection element 39a is 0, and the output of the blue detection element 3 is 0.
The output of the image sensor 9b becomes 1, and in this case, it is determined that the green transmission filter section G is in front of the lens barrel 24, and in this state, the output of the image sensor 26 is taken out as a green signal. In addition, when the red transmission filter section R is in front of the color discrimination elements 39a and 39b, the output of the red detection element 39a is 1, and the output of the blue detection element 39b is O. It is determined that the transparent filter section W for black and white reading is present in the image sensor 2 in this state.
The output of 6 is taken out as a black and white signal.

Note that the color identification elements 39a and 39b and the image 1
4- The image sensor 26 and the lamp 37 are connected to terminals (not shown) arranged on the lower surface of the case 21 via an image sensor drive circuit etc. (not shown) arranged inside the case 21, The terminals are arranged on the movable base 7 of the printer by setting the color reading device on the movable base 7, and are connected in contact with the connection terminals provided in the movable base 7 and the printer main body 1. The print control circuit is connected to a read control circuit attached to the print control circuit using a flexible connector that connects the print control circuit.

When reading a document, the color reading device replaces the ribbon cassette 15 set on the movable table 7 of the printer and sets the color reading device on the movable table 7 as shown in FIG. The reading of a color original is performed as follows.

First, to explain the operations performed by the operator, the operator performs a printer function switching operation to switch the printer's control circuit to a state for performing reading control, and also places the color reading device on the printer's movable table 7. The tape feed roller 27 is fitted into and engaged with the ribbon feed drive hub 13 of the ribbon feed drive section 11 provided on the movable table 7, and the document to be read is inserted from the paper feed port 3 of the printer. After wrapping the original around the platen 2, press the start button to cause the printer to start reading the original.

When the start button is pressed, the printer first leaves the moving stage 7 with the gear mechanism of the ribbon feeding drive unit 11 separated from the rack 14 and does not feed the filter chip 131 in the color reading device. In this state, the color identification element 39a in the color reading device determines which filter section of the filter tape 31 is in front of the lens barrel 24 in the color reading device.

39b, and if the red transmission filter part R used for the first red reading of the color reading performed in the order of red reading, green reading, and blue reading is not in front of the lens barrel 24, the filter tape 31 is fed. The red transmission filter section R is driven to be sent in front of the lens barrel 24.

The filter tape 31 is fed by moving the moving table 7 a required distance from the home position with the gear mechanism of the ribbon feeding drive section 11 engaged with the rack 14 of the printer main body 1. When the moving table 7 is moved in this manner, the tape feeding row 527 of the color reading device is moved by the ribbon feeding drive unit 11 which is driven by receiving the driving force from the screw 14 as the moving table 7 moves. As a result, the filter chip 131 is driven to be rotated until the red filter portion R is in front of the lens barrel 24.

The moving distance of the moving table 7 at this time is determined by which filter section is the filter section in front of the lens barrel 24 confirmed by checking the filter section, for example, as shown in Fig. 2. If there is a green transmission filter section G following the red transmission filter section R in front of the lens barrel 24, move the moving stage 17-7 until the filter tape 31 is fed by the length of the three filter sections. If there is a transparent filter section W in front of the lens barrel 24, the moving stage 7 can be moved until the filter tape 31 is fed by the length of one filter section.
The red transmission filter section R can be positioned in front of the lens barrel 24.

After moving the moving table 7 in this way and positioning the red transmission filter section R in front of the lens barrel 24, first, move the moving table 7 and connect the gear mechanism of the ribbon feeding drive section 11 to the rack. The filter tape 31 is removed from the filter tape 31 in the state M in which it is detached from the platen 14 (the state in which the moving table 7 is rotated to the opposite side from the platen 2).
The moving table 7 is moved to the home position without performing any feeding, and then the moving table 7 is moved to the ribbon feeding drive section 11.
By moving the color reading device from the home position to the rightmost return position while disengaging from the gear mechanism, the color reading device is operated in the direction of the document, and the lamp 31 in the color reading device moves the document surface. The image sensor 26 reads the red component of the document surface through the red transmission filter section R while illuminating the document surface.

18- After reading the red component of the document in this way, the moving table 7
Once returned to the home position, the moving table 7 is moved to the rack 14, and the gear mechanism of the ribbon feeding drive section 11 is moved to the rack 14.
After the filter chi 131 is fed by moving the moving table 7 by engaging with the lens barrel 24 and exchanging the red transmission filter section R in front of the lens barrel 24 with the green transmission filter section G, the moving table 7 is moved to the home position. After moving, move table 7
is moved to the return position to cause the image sensor 26 to read the green component of the document surface through the green transmission filter section G. Then, by repeating the same control as described above, a blue transmission filter section is placed in front of the lens barrel 24. B is moved to cause the image sensor 26 to read the blue component of the document surface through the blue transmission filter section B.

Reading of the red component, green component, and blue component is performed by scanning the same part of the document three times (corresponding to the part that is being read by the image sensor 26) with the color reading device. The color reading of
Place platen 2 on the bond whose red, green, and blue color components have been read.
This is performed by repeating the operation of rotating the document by an angle corresponding to the reading [1] of the image sensor 26 and bringing the next part of the document to be read to face the color reading device.

In addition, when reading a black and white original or when reading a color original using black and white scanning that reads only the shading, the transparent filter section W of the filter tape 31 is positioned in front of the lens barrel 24, and this It is sufficient to perform reading by feeding the document each time one reading scan is performed in this state.

As mentioned above, this color reading device has a red transmission filter part R and a green transmission filter in the longitudinal direction inside the case 21 which is placed on the moving table 7 of the printer in exchange for the ribbon cassette 15. Part G and blue transmission filter part B
A filter tape 3 in which a transparent filter portion W and a transparent filter portion W are sequentially formed.
1, a tape feed roller 27 that engages with the ribbon feed drive unit 11 of the movable table 7 to feed and drive the filter chip 131, and an image sensor 26 that reads the document wound around the platen 2 of the printer through the filter tape. Since the image sensor and the filters of each color can be easily set together on the moving table of the printer, the filters of each color can also be replaced very easily. , color reading using a printer can be performed using a low-cost color reading method that involves filter replacement.

In the above embodiment, the filter tape 31 in the color reading device is fed by moving the moving table 7 by the required distance from the home position. This may be carried out while the moving table 7, which has been moved to the return position while reading the document, returns to the home position, or when the moving table 7 is at the home position, it is engaged with the ribbon feed drive unit 11. By providing a mechanism in the printer to drive this,
The filter tape 31 may be fed and driven while the moving table 7 is kept at the home position, or
Further, drive mechanisms for the ribbon 21-feeding drive unit 11 are provided at the home position and the return position of the moving table 7, respectively, so that when the moving table 7 is moved from the home position to the return position and from the return position to the home position. It is also possible to perform reciprocating reading in which the color reading device is operated to read when returning to the position.

Further, in the above embodiment, the filter tape 31 is provided with a transparent filter section W for monochrome reading in addition to the red transmission filter section R, the green transmission filter section G, and the blue transmission filter section B. When used for reading only, this transparent filter section W is not necessary.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to this invention, the sensor and the filters of each color can be easily set together on the moving table of the printer, and the filters of each color can also be replaced very easily, so that the cost of replacing the filters can be reduced. Color reading using a printer can be performed using a color reading method.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 22-1 is a perspective view of a printer used for reading originals by setting the color reading device of the present invention.
The figure is a cross-sectional plan view of the color reading device, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the color reading device set in the printer. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Printer main body, 2... Platen, 7... Moving table, 10... Thermal head for printing, 11... Ribbon feed drive part, 13... Ribbon feed drive hub, 21
... Case, 24 ... Lens barrel, 25 ... Image forming lens, 26 ... Image sensor, 27 ... Tape feed roller, 31 ... Filter tape, R ... Red transmission filter section , G... Green transmission filter section, B... Blue transmission filter section, W... Transparent filter section, 37...
Incandescent lamp with lens, 38... Color temperature conversion filter, 39a, 39b... Color identification element. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue 23-

Claims (1)

[Claims] A printing head and a ribbon feed drive section are provided on a movable table that moves along the length of the platen, and a ribbon cassette is set on the movable table by engaging the ribbon take-up shaft with the ribbon feed drive section. A color reading device that reads a document using a printer that feeds and drives an ink ribbon and transfers the ink of the ink ribbon onto a sheet of paper wrapped around the platen by the print head, the color reading device being able to replace the ribbon cassette. A filter tape in which a red transmission filter section, a green transmission filter section, and a blue transmission filter section are sequentially formed in the longitudinal direction is placed in a case that is set on the moving table, and a filter tape that engages with the ribbon feeding drive section of the moving table. A color reading device comprising: a tape feeding roller that feeds and drives the filter tape; and a sensor that reads a color original wound around the platen through the filter tape.