JPS62189187A - Multicolor ink ribbon - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the need for a complicated printing color changeover mechanism, prevent a component part from being broken at the time of changing over a printing color and make it possible to easily print in various multiple colors, by providing a color discrimination part at each boundary between adjacent color parts of a multicolor ink ribbon. CONSTITUTION:An ink ribbon 11 comprises printing color parts 121, 122, 123 cyclically provided in the order of red, blue and black, and stripe parts (color discrimination parts) 131, 132$, 133 each of which has a fixed optical characteristic and is provided between adjacent ones of the color parts 121, 122, 123 to designate the color of the color part following it. For example, the stripe part 131 has a length of l1 and designates the color of the color part following it to be red, whereas the stripe part 132 has a length of l2 and designates the color of the color part following it to be blue, and the stripe part 133 has a lenght of l3 and designates the color of the color part following it to be black. The stripe parts 131, 132, 133 have the respective lengths l1, l2, l3 so set that l3>l2>l1, and are formed of a light-transmitting substance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Objective of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) This invention relates to a multicolor ink ribbon for printing used in a printing device.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, multicolor ink ribbons for the purpose of multicolor printing have been used that are identified in the width direction (colored in parallel to the transport direction). That is, as shown in FIG. 4, a red portion 2 and a black portion 3 are formed on the ink ribbon 1 in its transport direction, and selection switching is made as to whether the print head presses the red portion 2 or the black portion 3. Due to this, red printing or black printing was performed.

However, such a printing device using an ink ribbon requires a complicated print color switching mechanism such as a mechanism for moving the print head or a mechanism for moving the ink ribbon in the vertical direction so that the print head is positioned in each color area. did. Additionally, if the printing color is switched in the middle of a print line using the above mechanism, the ink ribbon may get caught and damaged, so the print head had to be side-out before switching. .

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, this invention eliminates the disadvantages of requiring a complicated printing color switching mechanism and the possibility of damage occurring when switching printing colors. Multi-color printing of various colors is easily possible without the need for a mechanism and without damage when switching printing colors, and the ink ribbon can be detected without returning the ink ribbon after each color is detected. To provide a multicolor ink ribbon capable of preventing the occurrence of wasted areas.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The multicolor ink ribbon of the present invention has a large number of continuous color parts of at least two colors, and a color identification part is provided at the boundary between each of the color parts. It has been established.

(Function) The present invention is a multicolor ink ribbon having a large number of continuous color areas of at least two colors, in which the boundary between the color areas is identified by a color identification part.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

FIG. 1 shows a multicolor ink ribbon of the present invention, in which an ink ribbon 11 is transported in the direction of arrow a, and the portion facing a print head (not shown) is pressed by the print head. be. For example, the ink ribbon 11 has printing color portions 12 repeatedly identified in the order of red and black in the transport direction! .

122.123 and their colored parts 12t, 122°12
stripe portions (color identification portions) 13t and 132 with constant optical characteristics specifying the color of the rear color portion provided between the stripes 13t and 3;
．． 13s.

The stripe portions 131, 132, and 133 are each formed of a light-transmitting material having different lengths, and possible means for forming them include, for example, pasting a transparent tape or making them transparent by heat processing. . For example, the length of the stripe portion 131 is 11
, specifies that the rear colored part is red, the length of the striped part 132 is 12, specifies that the rear colored part is blue, the length of the striped part 133 is 13, and the rear colored part is 12. The color part is specified to be black. In addition, the length of the stripe portion 131°132.133 +1
．． 12.13 has the relationship [13>12>11].

FIG. 2 shows a print color selection device according to the present invention. That is, the detector 21 outputs a signal corresponding to the stripe portions 13t, 132° 133 of the ink ribbon 11, and for example, the detector 21 outputs a signal corresponding to the stripe portions 13t, 132° 133 of the ink ribbon 11. (photoelectric converter) 23. That is, light from the stripes of the ink ribbon 11 is supplied to the light receiving section 23. The output of the detector 21, that is, the output of the light receiving section 23, is supplied to a quantization circuit 25 via an amplifier circuit 24. This quantization circuit 25 is
The supplied signal is converted to logic 1 by a predetermined quantization level.
This is a circuit that quantizes signals.

The output of the quantization circuit 25 is the stripe width detection circuit 26.
The stripe width detection circuit 26 is supplied with a very short cycle clock signal from a control circuit (not shown). The stripe width detection circuit 26 counts clock pulses supplied while a logic "0" signal is supplied from the quantization circuit 25.The output of the stripe width detection circuit 26 is sent to the color determination circuit 27. is supplied to

This color determination circuit 27 determines what color is behind the detected stripe portion according to the count value supplied from the stripe width detection circuit 26, and the determination result is specified by an IIIJw circuit (not shown). When the colors match, an ink ribbon stop signal is output, and when they do not match, an ink ribbon drive signal is output. The output of the color determination circuit 27 is supplied to an ink ribbon drive circuit 28. The ink ribbon drive circuit 28 transports the ink ribbon 11 when an ink ribbon drive signal is supplied from the color determination circuit 27, and stops transporting the ink ribbon 11 when an ink ribbon stop signal is supplied. .

Next, the operation in such a configuration will be explained.

For example, assume that the print head (not shown) is instructing the color determination circuit 27 to print red while the print head (not shown) is printing black using the black color portion 12. Then, the color determination circuit 27 supplies an ink ribbon drive signal to the ink ribbon drive circuit 28 because it does not print the specified color.

As a result, the ink ribbon drive circuit 28 transports the ink ribbon 11 in the direction a. Then, as the ink ribbon 11 is transferred, the stripe portion 131 first reaches the detector 21 . Then, the light from the light emitting section 22 passes through the stripe section 131 and reaches the light receiving section 23, from which a corresponding signal is output. As a result, while the light receiving section 23 outputs a signal detecting the stripe section 131, the quantization circuit 25 outputs a logic tt On< signal, and the stripe width detection circuit 26 counts the supplied clock. .

Then, based on the count value, the color determination circuit 27 determines that the width of the stripe section 131 matches the width of the stripe section specifying the designated red printing, and outputs an ink ribbon stop signal. As a result, the ink ribbon 11 stops, and at this time, the red color portion 121 of the ink ribbon faces the printing portion of the print head, resulting in a state in which red printing is possible.

Further, when printing in other colors, the same operation is performed.

The waveforms of the main parts of the above operation are shown in Fig. 3(a)(b).
) (c) As shown.

In this way, the width of the striped area between the colored areas is used to determine what color the colored area behind the striped area is, and if the determination result is the specified printing color, printing is performed. By doing so, multicolor printing of various colors can be performed.

In the above embodiment, the stripe section specifies the color of the colored section behind the striped section; however, the present invention is not limited to this, and may specify the color of the colored section in front of the striped section. Also good.

Furthermore, although the case has been described in which the stripe portions having constant optical characteristics are formed of a light-transmitting material, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be similarly implemented in the case of forming the stripe portions with a material having light reflectance characteristics different from those of the color portions for printing. In this case, the stripe portions specifying each color portion may have different light reflectances.

Further, although a case has been described in which the colored portions 131.132.13:l are repeated, an endless ink ribbon may be used, and one colored portion 131.132 N 13B may be provided.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, since the color identification portion is provided at the boundary between each color portion of the multicolor ink ribbon, there is no need for a complicated printing color switching mechanism. Moreover, multicolor printing of various colors is easily possible without causing damage when switching printing colors, and the ink ribbon does not have to be returned after each color is detected, resulting in wasted area corresponding to the detection. It is possible to provide a multicolor ink ribbon that can prevent

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 3 show an embodiment of this invention,
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of a multicolor ink ribbon, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a print color selection device, and FIG. 3 is a signal waveform diagram of main parts for explaining the operation. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a conventional multicolor ink ribbon. 11... (multicolor) ink ribbon, 121, 122.1
2yo...color part, 13t, 132.13a...stripe part (color identification part). Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue = 10-

Claims (1)

Claims: A multicolor ink ribbon having a large number of continuous color areas of at least two colors, characterized in that a color identification area is provided at a boundary between the color areas.