JPS6363392B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printing device, and more particularly to a printing device configured to be able to detect the end of an ink ribbon.

In general, in printing devices that use an ink ribbon, if the user continues printing without noticing even though the ink ribbon has run out, the print may become blurred or the user may print blankly. Occurs often.

The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional printer, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device configured to automatically detect the end of the ink ribbon and notify the user of this. It is an object.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a first detector for detecting the end mark of the ink ribbon provided at the end of the ink ribbon is provided on the printing device side, and the first detector detects the end mark of the ink ribbon provided at the end of the ink ribbon. A second detector is provided for detecting the termination and for detecting movement of the cover of the printing device;
A structure is adopted in which the type of ink ribbon is detected by the first detector in response to the detection of cover operation by the detector, thereby preventing blurred printing or blank printing.

Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be explained based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates an ink ribbon, and the end portion of this ink ribbon is made of, for example, a metal foil that reflects light as an end mark. A reflector 1a is provided. The ink ribbon 1 is housed in an ink ribbon cassette 2 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The ink ribbon cassette 2 is mounted on a cassette mounting table 3, and is moved up and down by a plunger 5 of a solenoid 4 provided below the mounting table.

In the example shown in the figure, a bent arm 2a for guiding the ink ribbon 1 is provided at the end of the ink ribbon cassette 2, and the ink ribbon 1 is inserted into the type wheel 6 through an opening at the tip of the arm 2a. The print head 8 prints on the print head 8 . Ink ribbon cassette 2
An opening 2b, through which the ink ribbon 1 is exposed, is formed on one side of the tip of the arm 2a, for example, on the inner side, and above the opening 2b, a reflector or the like for identifying the type of the ink ribbon is formed. A determination unit 9 is provided with a mark consisting of:

On the other hand, a detector 10 is provided in the fixed part of the typewriter at a position facing the opening 2b of the arm 2a, as shown in FIG. This detector 10
As shown in FIG. 1, it is composed of a light emitting diode D as a light emitting element and a phototransistor Tr as a light receiving element, and is configured to be able to detect the light reflected from the light emitting diode D.

The emitter side of the light emitting diode Tr is connected to the inverter 11 as shown in FIG.
Connected to 1 terminal.

Reference numeral SW indicates a switch, which is linked to the opening and closing of the cover 14 of the typewriter 13, as shown in FIG. 4, and is configured to be turned on when the cover 14 is opened. switch
The SW is connected to the interface 12 via the inverter 15, and the interface 12 is connected to the central processing unit CPU via the data bus 16.
It is also connected to a typewriter 13 shown as an example of a printing device via a data bus 16a. In addition, in FIG. 1, R1 to R3
shows resistance.

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

First, during normal printing, the plunger 5 of the ink ribbon cassette 2 is raised by the operation of the solenoid 4, and the ink ribbon cassette 2 is in the up position. 2b, the base current of the phototransistor Tr does not flow, and the state of the P1 terminal of the interface 12 is low level L.
The CPU reads this via the data bus 16, recognizes that the ink ribbon has not reached the end, and outputs information to the typewriter 13 to continue printing. On the other hand, when the ink ribbon approaches the end and the reflector 1a provided at the end of the ink ribbon 1 faces the opening 2b, the light from the light emitting diode D is reflected and the phototransistor Tr receives it. The base current of the phototransistor Tr flows, and the P1 of the interface 12
The state of the terminal becomes high level H, the CPU recognizes that the ink ribbon is nearing the end, stops outputting information to continue printing to the typewriter 13, the printing operation is interrupted, and the ink ribbon cassette 2 is lowered. . The printing interruption may be notified to the user by sounding a buzzer or flashing a lamp.

Here, the user opens the cover, replaces the ribbon cassette, and closes the cover. Opening and closing of the cover is linked to the switch SW, so the switch SW
The level of the P0 terminal of the interface 12 changes as the ink ribbon cassette is turned on and off, and the CPU recognizes that the ink ribbon cassette has been replaced. That is, when the cover is opened, the switch SW is turned on and the P0 terminal of the interface 12 goes from H level to L level. When the cover is closed again, the P0 terminal goes back to H level, the cover is opened and closed, and the ink ribbon cassette is replaced. considered as having been done.

Next, the CPU determines the type of ink ribbon based on the level of the P1 terminal of the interface 12. That is, since the typewriter is not yet in operation, the ink ribbon cassette remains at its bottom, and the light from the light emitting diode D hits the portion of the determining section 9 above the opening 2b of the arm 2a of the ink ribbon cassette and is reflected there. The light reception state of the phototransistor Tr changes depending on whether there is a body, etc., and the P1 terminal of the interface 12 becomes H level or L level, which determines whether the ink ribbon is, for example, a multi-stripe ribbon or a one-time ribbon. Discern.

In this way, the end of the ink ribbon is detected,
After determining the ink ribbon, the CPU outputs information to continue printing to the typewriter, and starts the printing operation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart explaining the above operation. In step 17, print information is sent from the CPU, and in step 18, it is determined whether or not the P1 terminal of the interface is at H level. In step 19, the output of print information is stopped, and in step 20, it is determined whether the P0 terminal is at the L level. If it is at L level, it is detected in step 21 whether or not the P0 terminal has become high level due to the replacement of the ink ribbon.Furthermore, in step 22, the type of ink ribbon is detected from the level change of the P1 terminal, and in step 17 Returns to and outputs information to continue printing.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably notify the user that the ink ribbon is nearing the end, and to prevent the situation where printing is performed without noticing the end of the ink ribbon. It also detects the opening and closing of the cover of the printing device, and depending on the detection of this cover, the type of ink ribbon can be determined using the same detector as the ribbon end detector, which eliminates blurred printing. This has excellent effects such as not causing blank firing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure explains one embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a block diagram explaining the control circuit, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view showing how the ink ribbon cassette is installed, FIG. 3 is a perspective view explaining the arrangement of the detector and the ink ribbon cassette, and FIG. 4 is a typewriter. FIG. 5 is a flowchart explaining the operation. 1... Ink ribbon, 2... Ink ribbon cassette, 4... Solenoid, 10... Detector, 11, 15
...Inverter, 12...Interface, 13...
Typewriter, 14...Cover.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printing device to which an ink ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon can be attached, including a first detector that detects the ribbon end of the ink ribbon of the ink ribbon cassette and the type of the ink ribbon, and also detects the operation of the printer cover. A second detector is provided, and if the first detector does not detect the ribbon end during printing operation, the printing operation is continued, and when the ribbon end is detected, the printing operation is interrupted, and while the printing operation is interrupted, the second detector 1. A printing device comprising: an arithmetic processing device that starts a printing operation after a first detector detects the type of ink ribbon in response to detection of a cover operation by a first detector.