JPS61172781A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform highly reliable color recording by using a single recording hammer, in a unihammer type dot printer, by providing a means for relatively moving a ribbon having a plurality of color inks with respect to the position of a recording hammer. CONSTITUTION:A ribbon guide 32 is moved relatively with respect to the position of a recording hammer by a positioning means and the recording hammer 11 is driven so that the recording hammer 11 reaches the position of the desired color ink adhered parts 14a-14c or cleaning part 14d of an ink ribbon 14A and the recording due to the arbitrary color of the ink ribbon is performed or the ink adhered to the recording hammer is wiped off. by such a simple and inexpensive structure that the single recording hammer is used, highly reliable color recording can be performed without generating the effect of undesired color mixing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field 1] The present invention relates to a recording device, and more specifically, a rotatably driven platen having a plurality of protrusions substantially parallel to its outer peripheral surface;
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that has a recording hammer provided opposite to the platen in a direction intersecting the protrusion, and performs recording by colliding the recording hammer with the platen through an ink ribbon.

[Prior Art] Various types of impact-type dot printers have been proposed in the past, and one known one is a so-called unihammer dot printer as shown in FIG.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of a unihammer type dot printer, and as shown in the figure, in this type of device, a platen 12 having a plurality of protrusions 12A on its circumference is used. .

A recording medium such as paper is arranged on the entire surface of this platen 12, and the recording hammer 11 is struck against the recording medium 10 via the ink ribbon 14 by a recording head 13 mounted on a carriage 15, and the protrusions of the platen are Recording dots are formed only in a certain portion of 12A.

According to such a system, dot recording can be performed with a simple and inexpensive configuration without the trouble of providing or controlling a plurality of recording hammers.

Furthermore, recently there has been an increasing demand for inexpensive color printers, and in response to this demand, recent unihammer type dot printers have become known that are capable of color recording.

In this type of device, four recording devices are used for each ink color portion of the ink ribbon 14 to which multiple colors of ink (here, four colors are shown as an example) are adhered.
5 are provided, and by driving these separately,
Dots of each color are formed on the recording medium on the protruding portion of the platen. The reason why a plurality of hammers are provided is to prevent ink adhering from an ink ribbon made of fabric or the like from remaining on the surface of the hammer and being mixed with other colors and recorded on the recording medium.

However, such color printers with one type of unihammer have multiple recording heads and hammers, and the configuration and
The control is therefore as complex as that of other types of color printers.

Recording can be done easily and inexpensively with just one head. It is not possible to take full advantage of the advantages of the unihammer type.
There was a drawback.

[Purpose] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has a simple and inexpensive structure using only one hammer.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a recording device that enables color recording.

[Structure of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a rotatably driven platen having a plurality of protrusions substantially parallel to its outer peripheral surface;
In a recording apparatus that has a recording hammer provided opposite to the platen in a direction intersecting the protrusion, and performs recording by colliding the recording hammer with the platen through an ink ribbon, A configuration is adopted in which means is provided for moving an ink ribbon containing ink relative to the position of the recording hammer, and recording is performed using ink of an arbitrary color on the ink ribbon.

[Example] The present invention will be described in detail below based on an example shown in one drawing. However, in the following description, members that are the same as or similar to those in the prior art will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 3(A) is a side view schematically showing the structure of the recording apparatus according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the carriage 15 runs parallel to a cylindrical platen 12 having a protrusion 12A on a guide bar or the like. It is supposed to move. A recording head 13 having a recording hammer 11 is mounted on the carriage 15 as in the conventional example, and a ribbon guide 32 is provided between the recording hammer 11 and the recording area of the recording medium 10 on the platen 12. An ink ribbon 14A is stretched. Ribbon guide 32 is attached to carriage 15.

FIG. 3(B) shows a configuration for moving the ribbon guide 32 to change the print color.

FIG. 3(B) shows the moving mechanism of the ribbon guide 32 provided on the carriage 15 from the platen 12 side. The pulse motor 32D is fixed to the carriage 15, and a pinion gear 32E is provided on its drive shaft. This pinion gear 32E meshes with a collar 32C formed on the lower side of the ribbon guide 32, which is supported so as to move parallel to the carriage in the direction of the arrow.

The pulse motor 32D is at tooth position 14a' of the rack 32C.
14d' is driven by a predetermined amount at a time so as to come to the center of the drive shaft, and the ribbon guide 32 is moved horizontally in parallel. Note that the reference numeral 15 indicates a stopper provided on the carriage 15 to restrict movement to the right side of the ribbon guide 32 and to prevent the pinion gear rack from coming out of engagement.

FIG. 4(A) is a view of the apparatus of FIG. 3(A) from the right side of FIG. 3(A), showing the recording hammer 11, the upper part of the ribbon guide 32, and the tension structure of the ink ribbon 14A. There is.

The ribbon guide 32 is formed as a substantially L-shaped structure with an opening around the recording area 40, and two inclined slits 32A are provided in each arm portion of the L-shape. The ink ribbon 14 is formed by these slits 32A, 32A.
A is slidably stretched with a constant tension so as to diagonally cross the recording area, and is transported in the left and right direction by a ribbon conveying mechanism (not shown) as the recording operation progresses, so that new ribbons are always placed in the recording area 40. The ink ribbon is fed in.

The ink ribbon 14A here includes striped portions 14a-14 each impregnated with or attached with three colors of ink.
ct-j and cleaning portion 14d without ink
It consists of

As shown in FIG. 3(B) and FIG. 4(A), the positions 14a' to 14 of the rack teeth are moved by the drive of the pulse motor 32D.
d' to the center of the pinion gear 32E, the corresponding portion 14aN of the ink ribbon 14
14d is moved in front of the recording hammer 11, and a desired recording color can be selected.

FIG. 4(B) shows an example of a circuit configuration for controlling the above configuration.

In FIG. 4(B), reference numeral 60 is a CPU (central control processing unit) consisting of a microcomputer chip, etc.
It operates according to the program stored in M (read only memory) 61. Data to be recorded is stored in memory 63 in association with character data and its recording color, and discrimination of one color is performed by color discrimination circuit 62.

The motor 12G for driving the platen 12, the recording hammer 11, and the pulse motor 32D for ribbon shifting are connected to the CPU 60 via drivers 64 to 66, respectively.

Next, the basic recording dot forming operation in the above configuration will be explained in detail.

When the protrusion 12A provided parallel to the axial direction of the platen 12 is moved to the position of the recording area 40 by the CPU 60 rotating the platen 12 via the driver 64,
The recording hammer 11 is driven via a driver 65, and is caused to collide with the protrusion 12A at the recording position via the ink ribbon 14A and the recording medium 10. The protrusion 12A is the platen 12
Since the recording hammer 11 is provided in a direction crossing the ink ribbon 14A on the recording medium 1O,
The ink is recorded as dots.

As the platen 12 is driven to rotate, the protrusion 12A also moves, so the recording hammer 11 collides with the recording hammer 11 at a predetermined position each time to form vertical dots in the dot matrix, and the carriage 15 is moved along the platen. At the same time, horizontal dots are formed one after another by the next protrusion.

Next, the color recording operation in the above configuration will be explained in detail.

As shown by the broken line in FIG. 4(A), the relative position of the ribbon guide 32 with respect to the recording hammer 11 is moved by the positioning mechanism shown in FIG. 3(B).
1 is the ink-applied portion 14 of the desired color of the ink ribbon 14A.
Make sure to place it at positions a to 14c. At this time, the CPU
60 recognizes the color of the recorded data in the memory 63 via the discrimination circuit 62, and based on this, the above operation is executed by driving the pulse motor 32D via the driver 66.

For example, if the desired color of the dot is in the portion 14a, move the ribbon guide 32 so that the relative position of the recording hammer 11 is on the broken line 11a, lock it, and perform the above-mentioned operation, so that the dot is in the color of the portion 14a. form.

If the color of the next dot to be formed is the same color, the above-described dot forming operation is repeated, but if a dot of a different color is to be formed, the recording hammer 11 is moved to the relative position corresponding to the cleaning portion 14d shown by the solid line. The ribbon guide 32 is moved and locked into position, and the recording hammer 11 is driven - times (or multiple times).

As a result, the portion 14a attached to the recording hammer 11
After that, the recording hammer 11 is moved to a relative position corresponding to the portion 14b or 14c and a dot forming operation is performed, thereby forming a dot of the desired color without causing undesired color mixture. can be done.

The cleaning portion 14d of the ink ribbon 14A can have a higher ink removal function by using a material with high ink absorption on the surface on the recording hammer 11 side.

Further, depending on the order in which dots are formed for the ink colors of the portions 14a to 14c or for a larger number of ink colors, it is possible that the cleaning portion 14d may not be used.

For example, when using the four colors of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black, the colors become darker one after another even if the recording is performed in this order, so the degree of undesirable color change in the formed dots due to the influence of color mixing is small. However, if the order is reversed, the later colors are more likely to be affected by color mixing.

Therefore, if control is performed such that the cleaning portion 14d is used only when recording is performed in the order in which printing is performed in the order in which the colors are most susceptible to the influence of color mixture, the overall recording speed can be improved without being affected by color mixture so much.

Next, FIG. 5(A) shows a different embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5(A) corresponds to FIG. 4(A), and the recording hammer 11
and shows the ribbon guide 32 portion.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5(A), the ribbon guide 32 is formed into a rectangular shape with slits 32A, 32B and an opening 401 corresponding to the recording area, and is arranged almost parallel to the recording hammer 11. Specifically, it is configured to move in the vertical direction in the figure and lock at a predetermined position with respect to the carriage 15. At this time, the ribbon shift mechanism may be constructed as shown in FIG. 5(B).
shows the configuration of FIG. 5(A) from the platen side,
Ribbon shift is performed using the same pulse motor 32D, pinion gear 32E, and rack 32C as in FIG. 3(B).
In FIG. 5B, reference numerals 14a-14d' indicate the positions of the corresponding rack teeth for selecting ribbon sections 14a-14d.

The structure of the ink ribbon 14A is the same as that shown in FIG. 4(A). Further, the operation for color printing differs only in that the ribbon guide 32 is moved in the vertical direction, and other member control can be performed in the same manner using the configuration shown in FIG. 4(B).

According to such a configuration, in addition to the above-mentioned effects, the structure of the ribbon guide 32 can be made simpler, which has the advantage of reducing manufacturing costs.

[Effects] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, there is provided a rotatably driven platen having a plurality of protrusions substantially parallel to the outer circumferential surface, and a platen that faces the platen and intersects with the protrusions. In a recording apparatus that has a recording hammer provided in a direction in which the recording hammer is disposed, and performs recording by colliding the recording hammer with the platen through the ink ribbon, the ink ribbon containing ink of a plurality of colors is placed in the direction of the recording hammer. Since a means for moving the ink ribbon relative to the position is provided and recording is performed using ink of any color on the ink ribbon, the simple and inexpensive structure of using a single recording hammer prevents undesired color mixture. It is possible to provide an excellent recording device that can perform color recording with high reliability without causing such effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 2 explain the conventional structure. Figure 1 is a side view showing the structure of a conventional unihammer one-type recording device, and Figure 2 is the structure of a conventional unihammer one-type color printer. FIG. 3 and the following are related to the present invention. FIG. 3 (A) is a side view showing an embodiment of a recording apparatus adopting the present invention, and FIG. An explanatory diagram showing the mechanism in Figure (A) from the platen side, Figure 4 (A) is the third
The front view showing the structure around the recording hammer of the device in Figures (A) and (B), Figure 4CB) is
) is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control circuit in the configuration of
FIG. 5(A) is a front view illustrating a different embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5(B) is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of FIG. 5(A) from the platen side. lO... Recording medium 11... Recording hammer 14
A... Ink ribbon 15... Carriage 32... Ribbon guide 32
C...Rack 32D...Pulse motor 32E
...Pinion gear 60...CPU 63...Memory Figure 1 (B) 32C 5th wJ (A)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A rotatably driven platen having a plurality of protrusions substantially parallel to its outer peripheral surface, and a recording hammer provided opposite to the platen in a direction intersecting the protrusions. , in a recording apparatus that performs recording by colliding a recording hammer with the platen via an ink ribbon, comprising means for moving an ink ribbon having ink of a plurality of colors relative to a position of the recording hammer; A recording apparatus characterized in that recording is performed using ink of an arbitrary color on the ink ribbon. 2) A means for removing ink adhering to the recording hammer is provided on the ink ribbon, and after the ink is removed by colliding the recording hammer with the removing means when switching colors, recording is performed using the next ink color. A recording device according to claim 1, characterized in that: