JPS62270375A - Ink ribbon apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance printing capacity by providing a confirming hole to one side of a cassette or reel having an ink ribbon wound therein and providing a detector detecting said confirming hole to the side of a carriage and making it possible to detect whether the present printing position is present in the upper half side or lower half side of the ink ribbon. CONSTITUTION:When an ink ribbon 12 is almost taken up by a take-up reel 19 by the advance of printing, a transparent reader tape part is sent out to the position of a ribbon detector 26 to turn the detector 26 ON and the supply of a current to a thermal head 10 is cut off and a carriage 7 is further shifted to move until a pinch roller 29 passes a final printing position and entirely releases the sticking of the ink ribbon 12 to printing paper 13 to stop. Then, a replacement indication lamp is allowed to light and indication is applied so as to turn over an ink ribbon cassette 16. Because the turned-over surface has no confirming hole 16a, a detection knob 25 is pushed down and a track detector 24 is turned OFF and the carriage 7 is returned to a final printing position to reopen printing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention 3. Detailed Description of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink ribbon device capable of applying an ink ribbon having a width twice or more than the width required for recording. The present invention relates to an ink ribbon device applied to printers and the like.

Printer 1 Using an Ink Ribbon Device For example, an ink ribbon used in a thermal printer that prints by heating a hot-melt ink ribbon with a thermal head has a structure as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the thermal transfer ink ribbon is made by coating a base 1 such as a polyester film with a pigment or dye 2 such as carbon black and a thermofusible binder 3.
It has a structure coated using The ink ribbon having such a structure is transferred to printing paper as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. That is, by heating the heat-generating resistor 5 installed in the thermal head 4 that is pressed from the base l side, the heated portion of the binder 3 is heated.
is melted and transferred onto printing paper 6 for printing.

The binder 3 needs to be applied to the base 1 with a certain degree of adhesive force in order to prevent the ribbon from staining hands or printing paper when they come into contact with these objects. This binder also has a strong affinity for paper.

For this reason, the ink ribbon and printing paper 6 immediately after the thermal transfer shown in FIG. 2 are in an adhesive state, and as shown in FIG.
It is necessary to attach it to the printing paper 6 side.

When using an ink ribbon with this type of transfer structure,
Not only thermal transfer ink ribbons but also other types of ink ribbons, such as impact type ink ribbons, consume a lot of ink ribbon as printing speeds increase and printing throughput increases, and ink ribbons must be replaced frequently. However, this replacement work has the problem of reducing printing efficiency.

Therefore, the present applicant has disclosed an ink ribbon device to which an ink ribbon configured to have a width twice or more than the width required for recording to increase the capacity can be applied, as described below.

According to the present invention, since the capacity of the ink ribbon can be increased, it is only necessary to turn the ink ribbon upside down, reducing the effort of replacing it with a new ribbon, and significantly reducing costs. can.

Hereinafter, the present invention described above will be explained in detail using the drawings.

In the embodiments described below, the width of the ink ribbon is at least twice the height of the characters to be printed, and a double-track ink ribbon is used so that printing can be performed using the upper half and lower half. This is an ink ribbon device configured to increase the capacity of the ribbon. More specifically, it is an ink ribbon device configured to use an ink ribbon having a width at least twice the height of a printed character, and to be able to print using an upper half and a lower half of the ink ribbon. A recognition means is provided on one side of the cassette or reel containing the ink ribbon to recognize whether the upper or lower side is in the printing position, and this recognition means is installed in the printing device or the ink ribbon holding member, etc. A detecting means for detecting is provided, and the detecting means is configured to be able to detect which side portion is at the printing position. Furthermore, the carriage is equipped with a detection device that detects the leader tape portion provided at both ends of the ink ribbon, and when the leader tape portion is detected by this detection device, the ink ribbon feeding device is installed so as to wind up the leader tape portion. It is configured to rotate a motor.

By adopting such a structure, the ink ribbon can be replaced with a new ink ribbon at least as frequently as the conventional ink ribbon, and printing efficiency has been significantly improved.

Further, in the embodiments described below, switching instructions between the first and second tracks can be automatically given, and the leader tape portion can be automatically fed.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail along with embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 4 and the following are illustrations of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figures, the reference numeral 7 indicates a carriage, and one end of the carriage 7 is slidably and rotatably supported on a guide shaft 8. . A suppression shaft 9, which also serves as a guide shaft and is arranged parallel to the guide shaft 8, is in contact with the lower surface of the free end side of the carriage 7. This suppression shaft 9 is driven by a solenoid or the like (not shown) and is rotated in the vertical direction as shown by arrows A and B in FIG. 4. When this press shaft 9 is rotated upward, the carriage 7 is Thermal head lO rotates clockwise around guide shaft 8 and is provided integrally with carriage 7.
is pressed against the platen 11. An ink ribbon 12 and printing paper 13 are placed between the thermal head 10 and the platen 11.
is located.

The carriage 7 is fixed by a drive belt 14 driven by a pulse motor (not shown), etc., and a guide shaft 8
is moved horizontally along.

When the suppression shaft 9 moves downward as shown by the arrow A, the carriage 7 is rotated counterclockwise about the guide shaft 8.
The thermal head 10 separates from the platen 11.

A mounting plate 15 fixed to the upper surface of the carriage 7 serves as a base for mounting the ink ribbon cassette 16, and a clamp made of an elastic material is mounted on the side edge of the plate 15 opposite to the thermal head 10. The lower end of the plate 17 is fixed, and a curved portion 17 is provided near the upper end of the clamp plate 17.
a is formed, and when the cassette 16 is press-fitted downward from this curved part 17a, the curved part 17 of the clamp plate 17
The cassette 16 is held below a by the elasticity of the clamp plate 17. A supply reel 18 and a take-up reel 19 are disposed within the cassette 16 as shown in FIG.
A winding motor 23 is connected via a friction clutch 22 to the lower end of the zero winding shaft 21 which is fitted into the supply shaft 20 and the winding shaft 21 which protrude from the winding shaft 20 .

In addition, a ribbon track detector 2 is installed in a part of the carriage 7.
4, and a detection knob 25 protrudes from this ribbon track detector 24. This detection knob 25
The tip extends through a through hole 15a formed in the mounting plate 15, and is fitted into a recognition hole 16a formed in the side plate of the cassette 16. This recognition hole 16a detects that the upper half of the ink ribbon 12, which has a width more than twice the height of the characters to be printed, wound around the reels 18 and 19, that is, the first track, is in the printing state. In the state shown in FIG. 4, the detection knob 25 is in the recognition hole 16.
Since it is fitted into the print position a, it is turned on and detects that the first track is at the printing position.

On the other hand, the thermal heads 10 are located on the left and right sides of the carriage 7.
On the side, a ribbon detection device 26 consisting of a photocoupler or the like.
27 is provided, and the ink ribbon 12 is guided through this ribbon detection device 26.27, and is guided in contact with a pair of pinch rollers 28.29 provided on the carriage 7 with the thermal head 10 sandwiched therebetween. . Detection device 2
6.27 is fitted into the opening 16b of the cassette 16.

In Fig. 4, the numbers 30 and 31 indicate printing paper 1.
This is the paper feed roller No. 3.

Note that the recognition hole 16a of the cassette 16 described above is formed only on one side of the cassette 16, and when the other side presses the detection knob 25 by turning the cassette 16 over, the ribbon track detector 24 is turned off. Then,
It can be seen that the second track has been set.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as above will be explained.

First, in the printing standby state of the printing device, the press shaft 9 is displaced in the direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 4, that is, downward, and the thermal head 10 is separated from the platen 11.

If the ink ribbon cassette 15 is not set in this state, the track detector 24 is turned on as shown in surface A of FIG. It becomes. In this case, the printing device determines that the ink ribbon cassette is not set, turns on the setting support lamp for the ink ribbon cassette (not shown), instructs to set the ink ribbon cassette, and stops the printing operation.

In this state, the ink ribbon cassette 16 is set on the carriage 7 so that the upper half, ie, the first track, is in the printing state. In this state, all the ink ribbons are wound around the supply reel 18 of the ink ribbon cassette 16, and in FIG. 6, there is a transparent leader tape section from the take-up reel 19 to the vicinity of the thermal head IO. The length of this leader tape portion is such that even when all the ink ribbon is wound onto the supply reel 18 and the take-up reel 19 is locked, the supply reel 18
The length is set so that it does not reach the position of the ribbon detection device 26 on the side.

When the ink ribbon cassette 16 is sent in this way, the signal of the track detector 24 becomes O as shown in FIG.
N, the signal of the ribbon detection device 27 is turned ON, and the signal of the ribbon detection device 26 is turned OFF, resulting in the mode shown by symbol B in FIG. In this state, the cassette is set and it is determined that there is still a leader tape section in the printed area, the ribbon winding remoter 23 is activated, the leader tape section is wound onto the winding reel 19, and the opaque ink is The ribbon portion reaches the ribbon detection device 27. At this point, the ribbon detection device 27 is turned off, and the mode shown by C in FIG. 7 is entered. Then, a solenoid (not shown) is activated and the suppression shaft 9 is rotated upward, so that the carriage 7 is rotated clockwise about the guide shaft 8 in FIG. Print paper 1
3 to be pressed against the platen 11 to enable printing.

If, for some reason, the leader tape section has been taken up on the take-up reel 19 from the beginning, the signals of each detection section will be in the mode shown by symbol C in Fig. 7, and printing will start at the same time as the ink ribbon is set. It becomes possible.

When printing becomes possible in this way and print data (not shown) is input to the thermal head 1o, the heating resistor of the thermal head 10 is energized with a desired character pattern, and the heat generated by the thermal head 10 causes the ink to flow. The ink on the ribbon 2 is transferred to the printing paper 13 and printing is performed.

When the printing of the first character is completed in this way, the carriage 7 is moved to the drive belt 14 by a pulse motor (not shown).
is shifted by one character in the printing direction via , and the second character is printed.

On the other hand, when the carriage 7 is shifted, the pinch roller 28 supported by the carriage 7
Because the ink ribbon 12 is pressed against the platen 11 at the same time, the ink ribbon 12 does not have a relative speed to the platen 11 despite the shift of the carriage 7, but the ink ribbon 12 has a relative speed between the platen 11 and the carriage 7. It is pulled out from the supply reel 18 and taken up on the take-up reel 19 at the same time. When the ink ribbon 12 is wound up, the ink ribbon is bent and guided from the pinch roller 29 toward the take-up reel 19, so that the printing paper 13
The ink ribbon that has been stuck to the ink ribbon is peeled off, and the ink ribbon feeding operation is performed.

When one line of printing is completed, the carriage 7 is further shifted in the printing direction by a predetermined amount, and stops after peeling off the ink ribbon stuck to the printing paper 13. At the same time, the pressing shaft 9 descends, and the carriage 7 Rotated counterclockwise in Fig. 4,
The thermal head 1o separates from the platen 11. The carriage 7 then returns to the printing start position and prints the next line.

When printing progresses in this way and most of the ink ribbon 12 is wound onto the take-up reel 19, the transparent leader tape portion connected to the end of the ink ribbon 12 is fed out to the position of the ribbon detection device 26. Then, this detection device 26 is turned on, and the mode shown by reference numerals in FIG. 7 is entered.

When the ribbon detector ff126 is turned on, printing of the character being printed at that time is completed, and at the same time, the power supply to the thermal head IO is cut off, the carriage 7 is further shifted, and the pinch roller 29 passes the final printing position. Then, all the adhesive from the ink ribbon 12 to the printing paper 13 is peeled off, and then the ink ribbon 12 is stopped and raised. and carriage 7
At the same time as the truck stops, the truck replacement instruction lamp lights up.
The user is instructed to turn over the ink ribbon cassette 16.

When the ink ribbon cassette 16 is turned over, since there is no recognition hole 16a on the turned side, the detection knob 25 is pressed down, the track detector 24 is turned off, and it is detected that the second track is at the printing position. Ru. The signals from each detection section are in the mode indicated by symbol E in FIG. In this state, the printing device detects that the leader tape section of the ink ribbon is present at the printing position, and performs the winding process of the leader tape section in the same way as in the B mode of the first trunk described above, and prints. When the F mode shown in FIG. 7 is reached, the carriage 7 is returned to the final printing position and printing is resumed.

When the printing further progresses and the ink ribbon 12 on the second track is completed, the leader tape portion is guided to the position of the ribbon detection device 26, so the mode shown by symbol G in FIG. 7 is entered, and like the D mode, the ink Perform the ribbon 2I1m operation, stop the carriage 7, and turn on the cartridge replacement instruction lamp.

Note that the leader tape portions provided at both ends of the ink ribbon 12 are long enough to prevent the supply reel 18 and take-up reel 19 from locking even if the carriage 7 is shifted to separate the ink ribbon. There is.

Furthermore, although the above embodiments have been described as being applied to thermal transfer type printing bags, it is easily understood that they can also be applied to dot impact type printing devices, type impact type printing devices, etc. Good morning.

Furthermore, the present invention can be easily applied not only to cassette type ink ribbons but also to oven reel type ink ribbons by providing recognition holes in the ribbon reel.

As is clear from the above description, according to this embodiment, an ink ribbon having a width twice or more than the height of printed characters is used.
The ink ribbon 921 is configured so that printing can be performed using the upper half and the lower half, and a recognition hole is provided on one side of the cassette or reel in which the ink ribbon is wound, and this recognition hole is provided on the carriage side. A detector is installed to detect whether the current printing position is on the upper half or the lower half of the ink ribbon, so one roll of ink ribbon can print twice as much as conventional printers. This eliminates the hassle of replacing the ink cassette with a new cassette, greatly increasing work efficiency, and since the ink ribbon replacement instructions are automatically given, there are no malfunctions, and the leader tape section can also be wound automatically. An ink ribbon device can be obtained.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the capacity of the ink ribbon can be increased, it is possible to reduce the labor of replacing the ink ribbon with a new ink ribbon, and the ink ribbon device can significantly reduce the cost. can provide additional support.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional plan view of a thermal transfer ink ribbon, FIGS. 2 and 3 are partially enlarged cross-sectional plan views illustrating the transfer state, and FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a plan view of the carriage, FIG. 6 is a plan view of the ink ribbon cassette, and FIG. 7 is a surface diagram for explaining the signal output state of the detection means. 7... Carriage 10... Thermal head 1
1...Platen 12...Ink ribbon 13.
...Print paper 16...Ink ribbon cassette 8...Supply reel 19...Take-up reel 23
...Motor 24...Track detector 25.
...Detection knob 26.27...Ribbon detection device 28.29...Pinch roller

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) An ink ribbon device that records an image using an ink ribbon, comprising: an ink ribbon having a width twice or more than the width required for recording; and a first winding around which the ink ribbon can be wound. a second winding part capable of winding the ink ribbon; a detected part provided at one end and the other end of the ink ribbon for notifying the end of the ink ribbon; In order to detect the detected portion provided on the ribbon, the ink ribbon is wound around a detection area provided along the conveyance path of the ink ribbon and the first winding portion or the second winding portion. a driving force receiving part for receiving the driving force for the recording, a reporting part for notifying the surface of the ink ribbon cassette, a loading part capable of loading the ink ribbon cassette face-to-face freely, and for recording on the recording sheet; a recording device that acts on the ink ribbon loaded in the loading section; and a recording device for detecting the detected portion of the ink ribbon, provided to correspond to the detection area of the ink ribbon cassette loaded in the loading section. ribbon detection means; cassette detection means for detecting the notification section of the ink ribbon cassette loaded in the loading section; and applying a driving force to the driving force receiving section of the ink ribbon cassette loaded in the loading section. An ink ribbon device having a transmissible drive means and capable of loading an ink ribbon cassette from front to back. 2) An ink ribbon device that performs image recording using an ink ribbon, which includes: an ink ribbon having a width twice or more than the width required for recording, a first winding portion capable of winding the ink ribbon, and the ink ribbon. a second winding part capable of winding the ink ribbon; a detection part provided on one end side and the other end side of the ink ribbon for notifying the end of the ink ribbon; In order to detect the detected portion, a detection area provided along the conveyance path of the ink ribbon and a driving force for winding the ink ribbon are applied to the first winding part or the second winding part. a driving force receiving part; a notifying part for notifying the surface of the ink ribbon cassette; a loading part into which an ink ribbon cassette can be loaded either front or back; a recording device that acts on the ink ribbon that has been loaded; a ribbon detection device that detects the detected portion of the ink ribbon and is provided to correspond to the detection area of the ink ribbon cassette loaded in the loading section; a cassette detection means for detecting the notification section of the ink ribbon cassette loaded in the loading section; a driving means capable of transmitting a driving force to the driving force receiving section of the ink ribbon cassette loaded in the loading section; , a reversal instruction means for instructing to turn over the ink ribbon cassette when the ribbon detection means detects one end of the ink ribbon; and a reversal instruction means for instructing to turn over the ink ribbon cassette when the ribbon detection means detects the other end of the ink ribbon; An ink ribbon device comprising: cassette replacement instruction means for instructing to replace a cassette.