JPS63278884A - Multi-color ink ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce a take-up time for an unnecessary ink ribbon and a cost, by a method wherein each color area is set to have a length according to a recording sheet size to be used, and an indication part indicating an available recording sheet size is provided. CONSTITUTION:In a three-color ink ribbon consisting of a Y (yellow) 1, a M (magenta) 2, and a C (cyan) 3, bar code parts 4, 5, and 6 representing color and length are provided on the respective color areas 1-3 of the ink ribbon so as to be respectively corresponding to the Y (yellow) 1, the M (magenta) 2, and the C (cyan) 3. The length of the respective color areas 1-3 is commonly set to one of recording paper sizes, such as A3 horizontal, A3 vertical, A4 horizontal, and A4 vertical. An indication part 12 indicating a available recording paper size and a capacity of printing lines is provide on an ink ribbon cassette case 11. In this manner, an operator can select an ink ribbon cassette according to a recording paper size to be used, and the reduction of printing time and cost can be made possible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a multicolor ink ribbon cassette suitable for use in serial type thermal printers and the like.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in a multicolor ink ribbon cassette for a thermal printer, each color area is arranged at equal length intervals, and the length of each color area is set so as to exceed the maximum printable range of the printer used. .

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve] However,
In the above conventional example, when printing in multiple colors using recording paper that is less than the maximum printable range of the printer used, the specified color to be printed is selected by winding up the unnecessary portion with the winding shaft in the ink ribbon cassette. As a result, it had the following drawbacks:

(1) When selecting a designated color, it takes time to wind up the unnecessary ink ribbon.

(2) Even if only a small amount is used, the ink ribbon is always wound up to cover the maximum printable area of the printer.
It is very uneconomical.

[Means and effects for solving the problem] According to the present invention, each color area is set to a length that matches the size of the recording sheet to be used, and furthermore, there is an instruction to specify the size of the recording sheet that can be used. Since this section is provided, it is possible to shorten the winding time of the unnecessary ink ribbon and make it more economical.

[Example] Figure 2 shows an ink ribbon used in an example of the present invention,
It is a three-color ink ribbon consisting of IY (yellow), 2M (magenta), and 3C (cyan), and 4, 5.6 is a barcode section that indicates the color and length of each color area 1 to 3 of the ink ribbon, and 1 Corresponding to Y (yellow) in code section 4.2, M
C (cyan) in code section 5.3 corresponding to (magenta)
The code section 6 corresponds to the code section 6.

The length of each color area 1 to 3 is the recording paper size, for example, A3 landscape.
It is commonly set for one of the printing paper sizes such as A3 portrait, A4 landscape, and A4 portrait -m-.

FIG. 1 shows an overview of the ink ribbon cassette.

In the figure, an ink ribbon cassette case 11 is provided with a display section 12 that displays usable recording paper sizes and print line capacity. This further clarifies that the ink ribbon cassette is suitable for the recording paper size used. 10 is an ink ribbon winding shaft.

According to the above embodiment, the operator can select the ink ribbon cassette according to the size of the recording paper to be used.
It is possible to shorten printing time and reduce costs.

In the above embodiment, the ink ribbon has cord parts 4 to 4.
6 may be deleted and formed by filling the area accordingly. Furthermore, if the code section is left, it is also possible to delete the display section 12. To do this, the code section should be read when the cassette is installed in the printer.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, since the length of the color area of the ink ribbon is set according to the size of the recording sheet, and the usable recording sheet indicating part is provided, printing time can be shortened and the ink ribbon cassette can be used. can be used economically.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multicolor ink ribbon cassette embodying the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the ink ribbon. 1. Color area (yellow area) 2. Color area (magenta area) 3. Color area (cyan area) 4. Barcode area (yellow area) 5. Barcode area (magenta area) 6. Barcode area (cyan area) ) 10, ink ribbon winding shaft 11, cassette case 12, display part man

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a multicolor ink ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon having a plurality of color regions of different colors in the length direction, the length of the color region is set according to the width of the recording sheet to be used. A multicolor ink ribbon cassette, characterized in that it has an instruction section for indicating the size of usable recording sheets.