JPS63257674A - Thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable effective usage of an ink ribbon corresponding to using conditions, by providing a mark for discriminating whether the ink ribbon is a used one or not on the ink ribbon, then detecting the mark and controlling a driving section. CONSTITUTION:A thermal printer comprises a punch 17 for making punch holes which are used for descriminating whether an ink ribbon is a used one or not, a solenoid 18 for driving the punch, and a pin 19 arranged at the end of a platen 2 in order to feed an ink ribbon 7 through utilization of the punched holes 20, where a sensor 11a has a C-shaped notch for passing the end of the ink ribbon 7 while a light emission diode 21 and a light receiving diode 22 are arranged respectively at the opposite sides of a notch space so as to detect color marks 10(a, b, c) of the ink ribbon passing between the diodes 21, 22. The sensor 11a has a first electrical contact 23 fixed to the upper face of the notch and holds/slides the ink ribbon 7 and a second electrical contact 24 fixed to the lower face of the notch connectably with the first contact 23, so as to detect punched holes 20 made through the ink ribbon 7 by means of the punch 17.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to thermal printers, and more particularly to controlling the use of ink ribbons.

(Prior Art) A perspective view of a conventional thermal printer is shown in FIG. The printer shown in the figure is a thermal transfer type recording device that performs color recording, and employs a so-called field-sequential swiveling system.

In the figure, 1 is a print head (line thermal head) equipped with a plurality of heating resistors arranged in a line, and this print head is supplied from a paper roll 3 between a platen 2 and Thermal transfer recording is performed by sandwiching the paper 4 running along the paper 4 and the ink ribbon 7, which is supplied and wound up by the supply roll 5EL and the take-up roll 6 and runs together with the paper 4. 8 is a pressure roller facing the platen 2. The platen 2, the paper roll 3, and the pressure roller 8 are attached to an opening/closing cover (not shown) of the housing of the printer device, and by opening the opening/closing cover, the ink ribbon 7, its supply roll 5, and take-up roll 6 are attached.
It is a big departure from the. In this state, supply roll 5
By removing the take-up roll 6 and the ink ribbon 7
It can be removed and reinstalled.

The ink ribbon 7 has a width equivalent to the width of the paper, and has a dimension L' slightly larger than the size of the recording area 9 in which transfer ink of three primary colors for printing yellow, magenta, and cyan is set in advance. It is coated. This device is
First, yellow is transferred to the recording area 9, then the paper 4 is fed backwards to the initial position and set, then magenta is transferred, and then cyan is transferred in the same manner as above. This is to record multiple screens. Here, in order to sequentially record yellow, magenta, and cyan, the ink ribbon 7 has a mark IOa corresponding to the printing start position of each color.
, fob, Inc are printed in advance, and the sensor U detects this.

Normally, the print head 1 rotates about a fulcrum 13 attached to a bracket 12 and is kept pressed against the platen 2 by a spring 14 to perform recording. During standby or when the ink ribbon 7 is running to set the printing start position for each color, the motor 15 and the cam 16 move the head down and separate the print head 1 from the platen 2.

In such a configuration, if it is predetermined to print in the order of yellow, magenta, and cyan, the mark lOa corresponding to the print start position of yellow is set by the sensor 1 when the power source is used.
After the initial setting of running until detection in step 1 and positioning,
Start printing.

The ink ribbons 7 used in the above apparatus can be roughly divided into melt-type ink ribbons made of wax-based pigments, additives, softeners, etc., and melt-type ink ribbons made of wax-based pigments, additives, softeners, etc., and sublimable disperse dyes, polyvinyl alcohol, synthetic resins, toluene, ketones, etc. There are two types of sublimation ink ribbons made of solvents such as:

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between applied energy and print density. Note that the print density uses data measured by a Macbeth densitometer. As shown in the figure, in the case of a melt-type ink ribbon, when the applied energy exceeds a certain value, the print density rapidly increases, and when the applied energy is further increased, the print density reaches a saturated state where the print density does not increase. On the other hand, the sublimation ink ribbon provides a print density that is approximately proportional to the applied energy. The main uses of melt-type ink ribbons are 2.
CRT for computer terminals that expresses images using value data
Suitable for hard copies, etc. The main use of sublimation ink ribbons is for full-color hard copies for broadcast television, etc., which express images using multivalued data. Both have been put into practical use as dedicated recording devices, respectively, due to differences in control methods.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the thermal transfer color printer device having the above configuration has the following problems.

When thermal printing is performed using the ink ribbon mentioned above, when the ink in the part used for printing is transferred to the paper, the base material of the melt-type ink ribbon is exposed, so the ink ribbon has already been printed. It can be easily determined that

On the other hand, with dye-sublimation ink ribbons, when images are expressed using multivalued data, there are very few places where high-density printing is performed, so most parts of the ribbon do not change significantly due to printing. , it was difficult to determine whether it had already been printed.

For this reason, for example, a sublimation ribbon is used to print a multi-tone image, then a melting ink ribbon is used to print a binary image, and a light sublimation ink ribbon is used again to print a multi-tone image. When attempting to print, it is not easy to determine which part of the ink ribbon is being used for printing, either by the control circuit of the printer or by visual inspection.

Therefore, if a used part of the ink ribbon is used again by mistake, the print quality may deteriorate, and when the ink ribbon is reinstalled, the positional relationship between the ribbon's color mark and the mark sensor may cause continuous yellow, magenta, and cyan There have been problems such as waste of ink ribbon due to the occurrence of unused areas covering three colors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a thermal printer that can economically use an ink ribbon and has excellent print quality.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the problems of the prior art described above, the present invention provides a head portion having a heating resistor element, and a head section that generates a visible image on a recording medium by the heat generated by the heating resistor element. A thermal printer that includes a film-like ink ribbon and a drive unit that drives the ink ribbon to supply the ink ribbon to a head unit is configured with the following means.

The above-mentioned thermal printer includes: an applying means for applying a mark to the ink ribbon for identifying whether the ink ribbon is used or not; a detecting means for detecting the mark on the ink ribbon; and a control means for controlling the drive unit based on the drive unit.

(Function) According to the present invention, since the thermal printer is configured as described above, each technical means functions as follows.

In the thermal printer according to the present invention, the applying means provides the ink ribbon with a mark, such as a perforation, for identifying whether the ink ribbon is used or not. The detection means detects marks on the ink ribbon. This detection consists of, for example, two electrical contacts, and if the mark is a perforation, the perforation is detected by the presence or absence of contact between the electrical contacts. Since the control means controls the drive section based on the detection result of the detection means, the ink ribbon can be used effectively depending on the state of use of the ink ribbon. Therefore, the problems of the prior art can be solved.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a thermal printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that the same reference numerals are given to the same constituent elements as those used in the explanation of FIG. 5 in the figure.

In FIG. 1, 17 is a punch that forms a perforation (punch hole) 20 for identifying whether the ink ribbon is clean or not, 18 is a solenoid that drives the punch, and 19 is a solenoid that drives the ink ribbon by using the perforation 20. This is a pin provided at the end of the platen 2 to feed the platen. The ink ribbon 7 has a film shape as in the conventional case, but in this embodiment, it is coated with a sublimation dye.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of sensor lla shown in FIG. 1. In the figure, the sensor lla has a U-shaped notch on its side surface to allow the end of the ink ribbon 7 to pass through, and a light emitting diode 21 and a light receiving diode 22 are arranged on opposing surfaces across the notch space. Equipped with This is to detect the color marks 10 (a, b, c) of the ink ribbon passing between the light emitting and light receiving diodes 21 and 22 (the mark portion has lower transmittance than other areas). In order to detect the perforation 20 formed in the ink ribbon 7 by the punch 17, the sensor lla also includes a first electrical contact 23 that is attached to the top surface of the notch of the sensor lla and slides while holding the ink ribbon 7. and an electrical contact 24 attached to the lower surface and capable of electrical connection with the first electrical contact 23.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the thermal printer shown in FIG. 1. In the figure, reference numeral 31 indicates a human power department that inputs signals related to printing from a host device, etc., and 32
Reference numeral 33 indicates a control unit that controls each part, and 33 a buffer memory that stores data for one color of yellow, magenta, and cyan in one color screen. 34 is a power supply; 35 is a ribbon punch hole sensor (second
Consisting of the electrical contacts 23, 24 of the sensor lla shown in the figure)
, 36 is a ribbon mark sensor (composed of a light emitting diode 21 and a light receiving diode 22 of the sensor 11a shown in FIG. 2) for detecting marks provided on the ink ribbon 7;
7 is an up-down motor for the thermal head 1, and 38 is a ribbon winding motor. In the figure, reference numeral 18 denotes a punch driving solenoid that punches a hole to indicate the area used for printing on the ink ribbon, as described above.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the printing operation of this recording apparatus.

First, as an initial operation when the power of this recording apparatus is turned on, the control section 32 controls the ribbon winding motor based on the power supply 34, and rewinds the ink ribbon 7 in the direction opposite to arrow B (FIG. 1). Check whether there is an area where no perforation 20 exists across the three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan.
It is detected by the sliding electrical contacts 23, 24 of the sensor lla, ie the ribbon bunch hole sensor 35. Based on this detection, the control unit 32 further controls the take-up motor 38 to position the unused area of the ink ribbon 7.

When a human power signal related to printing is supplied from the host device to the human power section 31, the printing operation is started (step 100), and after the control section 32 clears the buffer memory 33 (step 101), it receives yellow data and displays one screen. The data for the time period is stored in the buffer memory 33 (step 102).

Next, in order to locate the beginning of the yellow area of the ink ribbon 7, the ribbon winding motor 38 is rotated, and the color marks 10 (a, b, c) are moved to the ribbon mark sensor 36 (the light emitted by the sensor lla shown in FIG. 2). The ink ribbon 7 is caused to run until it is detected by the ink ribbon (consisting of a diode 21 and a light receiving diode 22) (step 103). The control unit 32 drives the head up/down motor 37 to raise the thermal head 1 (step 104), and supplies the yellow data stored in the buffer memory 33 as a print signal to the thermal head 1 to record dot by dot. (Step 1)
05). At this time, the control unit 32 rotates the LF motor 15 to run the printing paper 4 in the six directions of the arrows, rotates the ribbon winding motor 38 to wind the ink ribbon onto the winding roll 6, and further winds the ribbon. The solenoid 18 is driven in accordance with the amount of drive of the motor 38 to make a hole in the ink ribbon 7.
punch holes). This operation is performed in common for each color.

When recording for one color of yellow is completed, the control unit 32 operates the head up/down motor 37 to move the thermal head 1
is brought down (step 106).

Next, the control unit 32 reverses the LF motor 15 to backfeed the paper to the yellow printing start position (step 107), receives magenta data from the human power unit 30, and stores it in the buffer memory 33 (step 1).
08).

Next, in order to locate the beginning of the magenta area of the ink ribbon, the ribbon winding motor 38 is driven until the ribbon mark is detected by the ribbon mark detection sensor 36 (step 109). Then, the head up/down motor 37 is operated to raise the thermal head 1 (step 11).
0).

To print magenta, follow step 10 above.
Similarly to 5, the magenta data stored in the buffer memory 33 is made into a print signal and sent to the thermal head 1 for dot-by-dot recording (step ill). When magenta recording is completed, the head up/down motor 17 is operated to lower the thermal head 1 (step 112).
.

Next, the LF motor 15 is reversed to backfeed the paper to the yellow and magenta printing start position (step 113). When the control unit 32 receives cyan data from the human power unit 30, the control unit 32 stores this data in the buffer memory 3.
3 (step 114), the ink ribbon is located in the same manner as in step 103 and step 109 (step 115), and the head up/down motor 17 is operated to raise the thermal head 1 (step 1).
16). Then, the above step 105 and step Il
Cyan data is recorded in the same manner as in step 117.
). After recording is completed, the head up/down motor 37 is operated to lower the thermal head 1 (step 11).
8) Rotate the LF motor 19 to feed the paper (
Step 119). This completes the series of printing operations.

As is clear from the above explanation, when printing is performed by reinstalling the ink ribbon after removing it, in the thermal printer according to the prior art, the process shown in step 103 described above allows continuous printing due to the positional relationship between the ribbon mark and the ribbon sensor. There was a risk that the three colors of ribbon (yellow, magenta, and cyan) would be taken up by the ribbon take-up roll without being printed, but in the printer of this embodiment, the ink ribbon was installed in the ribbon at the time of initial printing settings. By detecting the perforations 20 indicating whether printing has been completed or not, the ink ribbon can be used without waste.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, according to the present invention, there is provided a means for attaching a mark indicating that the ink ribbon is used, a detection means for detecting the mark, and a drive of the ink ribbon based on the detection result. Since the thermal printer is configured with a control means for controlling the ink ribbon, the ink ribbon can be used effectively without leaving an unused part of the ink ribbon, and as a result, it is possible to provide a thermal printer with excellent printing quality and economical efficiency. can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a thermal printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the sensor in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an electrical configuration of the thermal printer according to this embodiment. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the thermal printer, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a conventional thermal printer, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between applied energy and print density. 11a”-sensor, 17・-punch, 18-・
・Solenoid, 19-... bottle, 20-... hole.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A head section having a heat generating resistor element, a film-like ink ribbon that produces a visible image on a recording medium by the heat generated by the heat generating resistor element, and an ink ribbon for supplying the ink ribbon to the head section. A thermal printer comprising: a driving unit that drives the ink ribbon; an applying unit that applies a mark to the ink ribbon to identify whether the ink ribbon is used; and a detection unit that detects the mark on the ink ribbon; A thermal printer comprising: a control means for controlling the driving section based on a detection result of the detection means.