JPS62128779A - Multicolor printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to effectively use a multicolor printing ribbon, by mounting a use amount judging means for comparing the total amount of a use amount calculated by a ribbon use amount calculation means and the use amount of a ribbon used in the next line with the unused amount of a monochromatic part used in the previous line when it was judged that the printing color of the next line is the same to that of the previous line. CONSTITUTION:When the printing of a first line is finished, the printing color of a second line is judged by a printing color judging means and, when the printing color is red and same as the first line, the printing data of the second line is stored in one line buffer memory of RAM 34. At first, the ribbon use amount in the printing data of the second line is calculated by a use amount judging means and the total amount of said use amount and the ribbon use amount in the first line is calculated. This total amount and the ribbon unused amount in a red part K1 are compared and judged and, if the unused amount is more than the total amount, the printing data of the second line is printable in the unused part of the red part K1 and, therefore, a multicolor printing ribbon 9 is fed by the length used in the first line to print the second line.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a multicolor printing device that prints on printing paper using a multicolor printing ribbon having different colors arranged in the ribbon feeding direction.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the printing ribbon used in this type of device is one in which, for example, three basic colors, red, yellow, and blue, are arranged sequentially in the ribbon feeding direction as one block. The span) is set to be somewhat longer than the length corresponding to the maximum number of characters printed in one line by the printing device. The printing operation using such a multi-color printing ribbon is that, for example, if one line is printed in red and the next line is printed in blue, the red ribbon used in the previous line will be printed in blue even if the front part is not used. The ribbon is fed to the ribbon portion of the printer and the printing operation is performed. Also, if a certain line is printed in red and the next line is printed in the same red color, when printing in the previous line is completed, the distance from the red ribbon part used in this line to the next red ribbon part will be 1. The printing operation is performed by feeding the ribbon of the block.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Therefore, when printing in the same color even when lines change, the single-color ribbon part used for printing one line is not used for printing the next line, even if there is a large part that is not used for printing, and the single-color ribbon part of the next block is Printing will be performed using the ribbon portion. For this reason, the number of printing ribbons consumed increases, and many of the ribbons are disposed of as used, leaving a large portion that is not used for printing.

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a multicolor printing device that can effectively use a multicolor printing ribbon.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a print color determining means for determining the print color of the next line, and a ribbon usage amount calculating means for calculating the usage amount in a monochrome portion of the multicolor printing ribbon used in the printing operation of the previous line. If the printing color judgment means determines that the printing color of the next line is the same as the printing color of the previous line, the total amount of the usage amount calculated by the ribbon usage calculation means and the ribbon usage amount used in the next row is calculated. The present invention is a multicolor printing device including a usage amount determining means for comparing an unused amount of a single color portion used in a previous line with an unused amount.

[Effect]

By providing each of the above-mentioned means, the present invention provides that when it is determined that the printing color of the next line is the same as the printing color of the previous line, the total amount of ribbon used in the previous line and the amount of ribbon used in the next line is calculated. The total amount is compared with the unused amount of the monochrome ribbon portion used in the previous row, and if printing is possible, the unused portion is used for printing.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multicolor printing device. In the same figure, 1
is a cylindrical platen, and this platen 1 is driven by a paper feed motor 2 to feed printing paper 3 one line at a time each time a printing operation is completed. Reference numeral 4 denotes a carriage on which a thermal head 5 is mounted, and is moved in a direction parallel to the axial direction of the platen 1, that is, in the direction of arrow (A) by driving a carriage motor 6.

Note that the number of characters printed in one horizontal line is 80 characters.

7a and 7b are ribbon cassettes, and the ribbon cassette 7a is on the ribbon storage side;
b is the ribbon winding side. Note that the ribbon winding is performed by driving a ribbon feed motor 8 provided on the ribbon cassette 7b side.

As shown in FIG. 2, the configuration of the ribbon 9 is a multicolor printing ribbon in which each single color of red M1 yellow Y1 blue C is sequentially arranged as one block. In addition, the span S of each single color
has a length equivalent to 100 characters, and a black line B is formed at the boundary between each monochrome MSY%C.

Furthermore, a photosensor 10 is installed on the ribbon cassette 7a side to detect the boundaries of each single color M1YSC in the multicolor printing ribbon 9 when the ribbon cassette 7a is attached. That is, this photosensor 10 detects the black line B of the multicolor printing ribbon 9 and sends the detection signal to the manual port 11.

On the other hand, 1.20 is a CPU (central processing unit), and this CPU2Q has a data bus 21 and an address bus 22.
The following means are connected via the control bus 23. That is, an interface transmission circuit 25 for exchanging print data with the host computer 24, a timer circuit 26, a manual port 28 for reading the switch states of a setting switch section 27 for setting printing conditions and operation modes, and a thermal head. 5, a head drive circuit 29, a change operation switch, and a print start position activation switch.

A manual port 31 that reads the state of an operation switch 30 consisting of a function select switch and the like that designates the setting state of printing conditions, a feeder drive circuit 32 of the paper feed motor 2 for controlling the feeding of the printing paper 3, and a carriage. A carriage drive circuit 33 of the motor 6, a RAM (random access memory) 34, a ROM (read only memory) 35, a ribbon drive circuit 36, and a man port 11 are connected. The ROM 35 stores a program for the multicolor printing flowchart shown in FIG. 3, and the CPU 20 issues commands in accordance with this program to control the multicolor printing operation. In other words, the CPU 20 has the following functions.

That is, a print color determining means for determining the print color of the next line;
A ribbon usage amount calculating means calculates the amount of ribbon used in the single color portions M, Y, C of the multicolor printing ribbon 9 used in the printing operation of the previous line, and a printing color determining means determines that the printing color of the next line is the same as that of the previous line. If it is determined that the colors are the same, the amount of ribbon used calculated by the ribbon usage calculation means, the total amount of ribbon used in the next row, and the single color portion M, Y, used in the previous row,
and a usage amount judgment means for comparing the unused amount of C with the unused amount.

Next, the operation of the apparatus configured as described above will be explained. Here, to make the operation clear, 30 is written in red in the first line.
A case will be described in which characters are printed and 40 characters are printed in the same red color on the next second line.

First, the print data of the first line is temporarily stored in a one-line buffer memory formed in the RAM 34 according to a command from the CPU 20. Next, in step e1, the CPU 20 reads the print data stored in the 1-line buffer memory by the ribbon usage calculation means and calculates the ribbon usage (for 30 characters) for the red portion, for example, 1.

This amount of ribbon usage is determined by the command from the CPU 20.
is memorized. Thereafter, the process moves to step e2, and the first line is printed in red. In other words, print data is sent to the head drive circuit 29 and the thermal head 5 generates heat according to this print data, and at the same time, the carriage motor 6 is driven and the carriage 4 moves in the direction of arrow (a) to thermally transfer the data to the print paper 3. will be carried out. As a result, the first line is printed on the printing paper 3.

When the printing of the first line is completed, the process moves to step e3, and the print color determining means judges the print color of the second line. In this case, the print color is red, which is the same as that of the first line. Therefore,
Move to steps e4, e5, and e6.

At this time, the print data of the second line is stored in the 1-line buffer memory of the RAM 34. Therefore, the usage amount judgment means first calculates the amount of ribbon used in the second line of print data (40 characters), and then calculates the total amount of this ribbon usage and the ribbon usage in the first line. . Then, this total amount is compared with the unused ribbon in red area 1. As a result of this comparative judgment, if the unused amount is greater than the total amount, the print data of the second line can be printed in the red part with the unused part of 1, and therefore the process moves to step e7 and the multicolor printing ribbon 9 is The ribbon is fed by the length used in the first line. In this way, in step e8, thermal transfer is performed on the red part and the unused part, and the print data of the second line is printed.

If it is determined in step e3 that the printing color of the next line is not red but a different color, for example yellow, the process moves to step c9, where the multicolor printing ribbon 9 is fed to the yellow area 2 and printed. Further, if it is determined in step c6 that the total amount is greater than the unused amount, step cO
Then, the multicolor printing ribbon 9 is fed to the red part of the next block up to 3 and printed.

In this way, in the above embodiment, if it is determined that the printing color of the first line is the same as the printing color of the second line, the amount of ribbon used in the first line and the amount of ribbon used in the second line are The total amount of ribbon used is calculated, and this total is compared with the unused amount of the monochrome ribbon used in the second line. If printing is possible, printing is performed without sending the ribbon to the next block. As a result, the same single color portion, for example M, can be used for two lines of printing, and each of the single color portions M, Y, and C can be used effectively, and the amount of unused portions is considerably reduced. This reduces ribbon consumption and reduces the economic burden.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be modified without departing from the spirit thereof.

For example, the ribbon cassette can be mounted on a carriage and moved along with the gear ridge.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As detailed above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a multicolor printing device that can effectively use a multicolor printing ribbon.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a multicolor printing device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a multicolor printing ribbon used in the device of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a multicolor printing ribbon used in the device of the present invention. It is a printing flowchart. 1... Platen, 3... Print paper, 4... Carriage, 5... Thermal head, 7 a, 7 b.
・・Ribbon cassette, 9・・Multicolor printing ribbon, 10・
...Photo sensor, 20...CPU. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a multicolor printing device that performs thermal transfer onto printing paper using a multicolor printing ribbon formed by arranging mutually different monochrome parts in the ribbon feeding direction, a printing color determination means for determining the printing color of the next line and a printing color of the previous line are provided. Ribbon usage amount calculation means for calculating the usage amount in the monochromatic portion used in the operation, and when the printing color determination means determines that the printing color of the next line is the same as the printing color of the previous line, the ribbon usage amount calculation means and a usage amount determining means for comparing the amount of ribbon used in the next row and the total amount of ribbon used in the next row with the unused amount of the monochromatic portion used in the previous row. A multicolor printing device characterized in that if it is determined that printing is possible with an unused amount of a monochrome portion, a printing operation is performed using the monochrome portion.