JPS6356482A - Residual ink ribbon amount display system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the residual amount of an ink ribbon to be easily checked even during a printing operation of a printer, by providing a position sensor on a rotary shaft for taking up the ink ribbon, counting the take-up rotational frequency by the position sensor, and displaying the result of the counting. CONSTITUTION:A magnet 19 is fitted at a point on a take-up shaft 14, and is rotated together with the shaft 14. With the magnet 19 rotated, a Hall element 18 detects one signal change each time the shaft 14 is rotated by one revolution, and output a detection signal from a terminal 20. The roll diameter of an ink ribbon 12 on the take-up side is gradually increased as printing proceeds. Since the length of the ink ribbon 12 taken up in a fixed period of time is constantly fixed, the rotating speed of the shaft 14 is lowered as the roll diameter on the take-up side increases. The rotating speed can be detected by counting the changes in the detection signal obtained from the Hall element 18. By counting the rotating speed of the take-up shaft 14 and converting the counted speed into the roll diameter, the residual amount of the ink ribbon 13 can be detected and checked.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for displaying the remaining amount of ink ribbon, and more particularly to a method for displaying the remaining amount of ink ribbon in a printer that uses an ink ribbon housed in a cassette-like case.

Furthermore, in the past, in this type of printer, a hole was made in the surface of the cassette-like case to make it possible to see the remaining amount of ink ribbon.

In such conventional printers, the remaining amount of ink ribbon was checked by temporarily stopping printer operation, opening the printer cover, and looking inside through a hole in the cassette-like case. The disadvantage is that it is not possible to check the remaining amount of ink ribbon when the ink ribbon is inside, and that it is not possible to check the remaining amount of ink ribbon at all times, and it takes time and effort to check the remaining amount of ink ribbon. be.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional products as described above. The purpose is to provide a method for displaying amounts.

The ink ribbon remaining amount display method according to the present invention is an ink ribbon remaining amount display method for a printer having a winding mechanism for winding up the ink ribbon, and the ink ribbon remaining amount display method is a method for displaying the remaining amount of ink ribbon in a printer having a winding mechanism for winding up the ink ribbon. means for generating a rotational information signal according to the number of rotations, a counting means for counting the number of rotations of the ink ribbon to be wound up based on the rotational information signal, and a counting means for counting the number of rotations for winding the ink ribbon counted by the counting means; The present invention is characterized in that it has a determining means for determining the amount of ink ribbon, and the remaining amount of the ink ribbon is displayed according to the determination result of the determining means.

Embodiment Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a counter 3 counts signal changes over a certain period of time based on a position signal A obtained from a winding mechanism section 2. The winding diameter of the ink ribbon is determined by the determiner 4 from the rotation speed information B written as a result, and the remaining information C of the ink ribbon is sent to the control circuit 1. The control circuit 1 converts this remaining amount information C into display information, and causes the display 5 to display this display information.

2 is a structural diagram of the winding mechanism section 2 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of the ribbon cassette 11 of FIG. 2. In these figures, the inside of the ribbon cassette 11 is divided into two upper and lower stages, and the unused part of the ink ribbon 13 is arranged in the lower part, and the used part of the ink ribbon 12 is arranged in the upper part. The ink ribbon 12 is always wound up from the ink ribbon 13 via the side guide rollers 21, 22 of the ink ribbon 12. That is, the rotational motion transmitted by the gear 16 directly connected to the motor shaft of the DC motor 17 for winding is transmitted by the transmission gear 15 to the winding @14.
The winding shaft 14 rotates together with the rotation of the DC motor 11. A magnet 19 is attached to one point of the winding shaft 14, and this magnet 19 rotates with the rotation of the winding shaft 14, and the rotation of this magnet 19 causes the Hall element 18 to rotate once every time the winding fall 14 rotates once. detects a change in the signal, and outputs this detection signal from the terminal 20.

At this time, the winding diameter of the ink ribbon 12 on the winding side gradually increases as the printer prints. Therefore, the ink ribbon 1 at a certain time
Since the length of winding 2 is always constant, the rotational speed of the winding shaft 14 becomes slower as the winding diameter increases. This rotational speed is known 19 by counting the changes in the detection signal 1q received from the Hall element 18.

In this way, a position sensor (Hall element 18 and magnet 19) is provided in the winding mechanism section 2 of the ink ribbon 12.13 housed in the ribbon cassette 11, and the winding rotation speed is counted and converted into the winding diameter. By doing this, the remaining amount M of the ink ribbon is detected, and this detection result is displayed on the printer operation panel as the remaining amount of unused ink ribbon 13, so that the ink ribbon can be easily removed at any time even when the printer is printing. You can check the remaining number of 13.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a Hall element 1 is used as a sensor.
8 and a magnet 19, a light emitting element and a light receiving element may be used as the sensor, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
-Detailed Description of the Invention According to the present invention, a position sensor is provided on the rotating shaft for winding the ink ribbon, and the position sensor counts the number of rotations of the ink ribbon to be wound. By converting it into the cutting diameter and displaying it, there is an effect that the remaining amount of the ink ribbon can be easily checked at all times even when the printer is printing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the winding mechanism shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of the ribbon cassette shown in FIG. 2. Explanation of symbols of main parts 2... Winding mechanism section 3... Counter 4... Judgment device 5... Display 12.13... ... Ink ribbon 14 ... Winding shaft 18 ... Hall element 19 ... Magnet

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ink ribbon remaining amount display method for a printer having a winding mechanism for winding an ink ribbon, the method comprising means for generating a rotation information signal corresponding to the number of rotations of a rotating shaft for winding the ink ribbon, and the rotation information. a counting means for counting the number of winding revolutions of the ink ribbon based on a signal; and a determining means for determining the remaining amount of the ink ribbon based on the number of winding revolutions counted by the counting means; An ink ribbon remaining amount display method characterized in that the remaining amount of the ink ribbon is displayed according to the result.