JPH0510232B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention Purpose of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) This invention uses a thermal transfer ribbon coated with heat-melting inks of multiple colors to print color on printing paper using heat generated by a thermal head. The present invention relates to a thermal transfer color printer that performs.

(Prior Art) Generally, in a thermal transfer ribbon used in this type of thermal transfer color printer, the optimal amount of power supplied to a thermal head differs depending on the hue of the plurality of colors of ink provided on the ribbon. In particular, since black ink contains carbon black, it has better thermal conductivity than inks of other hues, and the amount of heat generated by the thermal head can be small.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, with conventional thermal transfer color printers,
Even when color printing is performed using ink of any hue, a constant amount of power is supplied to the thermal head, which requires extra power consumption.

(Object of the Invention) This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and when printing with a ribbon portion of black ink containing carbon black, it is faster to print than with a ribbon portion of other hue inks. ,
An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer color printer that can generate heat in a thermal head with a small amount of electric power and can reduce the power consumption required for printing operations.

Structure of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following features:
In a thermal transfer color printer equipped with a thermal head, multiple colors of heat-melting ink consisting of black ink containing carbon black and non-black ink not containing carbon black are used so that each hue appears repeatedly as a band of a predetermined length. a thermal transfer ribbon, a hue mark provided at a predetermined position on the thermal transfer ribbon to indicate the type of hue, a determining means for detecting the hue mark and determining the hue of a ribbon portion facing the printing position, and the thermal transfer ribbon. a power storage means for storing a first power amount supplied to the head and a second power amount smaller than the first power amount; When it is detected that the color is black, the second power amount is read from the power amount storage means, and the read second power amount is supplied to the thermal head, and when it is detected that the hue is other than black, and control means for reading the first electric energy from the electric energy storage means and supplying the read first electric energy to the thermal head.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Now, in the thermal transfer color printer of this embodiment, a planter board is placed on the frame (not shown).
is installed. A carriage 2 is supported on the frame so as to reciprocate along the planter 1, and a thermal head 3 is placed on the carriage 2. A ribbon cassette 4 is supported on a frame on one side in the longitudinal direction of the planter 1, and a part of the thermal transfer ribbon 6 wound and stored on a supply reel 5 is extended outside the ribbon cassette 4 in a loop shape. After that, it is taken up onto a take-up reel 8 via a pair of guide rollers 7. Further, a ribbon guide 9 is provided on the frame on the other side in the longitudinal direction of the planter 1, and the ribbon guide 9 goes around the loop-shaped portion of the thermal transfer ribbon 6 and guides the ribbon 6 along the printing lines of the planter 1 to the thermal head 3. I will guide you to face it.

The thermal transfer ribbon 6 of this embodiment is made of a transparent polyester film, and hue areas 10a, 10b, 1 are coated with heat-melting inks of four colors, cyan, yellow, magenta, and black, on its surface.
0c and 10d are provided so that they appear repeatedly as a band having a length of one print line width. Furthermore, hue marks 11a, 11b, and
11c and 11d are provided, and in this embodiment, they are constituted by different numbers of transparent slit portions. A photo sensor 12 as a discriminating means is disposed on the frame so as to detect the hue marks 11a to 11d on the thermal transfer ribbon 6 between the pair of guide rollers 7, and the thermal head 3
Hue area 1 of the loop part facing the printing position of
It is designed to discriminate hues from 0a to 10d.

Next, the control circuit in the thermal transfer color printer of this embodiment will be described.
When inputting a print signal from the input device 14,
Every time a detection signal of each hue is input from the photo sensor 12, the amount of supplied power corresponding to that hue is read out from the storage unit 15 as a power storage means,
The power switching supply device 16 is operated based on the read power amount to be supplied to the thermal head 3.
It is starting to supply electricity to the In this embodiment, when the photo sensor 12 detects that the hue of the ribbon portion corresponding to the printing position is black containing carbon black, the power supplied to the thermal head 3 is switched to the other hue. It is designed to be reduced by a predetermined amount compared to the case.

This switching of the power supply is performed by changing the voltage application time to the thermal head 3. For example, in the case of a hue other than black, an 8V voltage is applied to the thermal head 3 for 2.0m.
sec (first amount of power) is applied, whereas in the case of black, a voltage of 8V is applied for 1.7 msec (second amount of power).

In this way, in the case of the black hue area 10d, compared to the other hue areas 10a to 10c, even if the amount of power supplied to the thermal head 3 is reduced by about 20%, the black ink containing carbon black can be reduced. Since it has good thermal conductivity, sufficient printing can be performed.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, as shown in FIG. etc.
It is also possible to arbitrarily change and embody the configuration of each part without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Effects of the Invention As described in detail above, the present invention enables printing using a ribbon portion of black ink containing carbon black using less power than when printing using a ribbon portion of other hue inks that do not contain carbon black. It is possible to generate heat in the head and reduce the power consumption required for printing operation, and this invention focuses on the fact that among various colored inks, black ink containing carbon black has a particularly good thermoelectric efficiency. By storing the amount of power supplied for black ink containing carbon black separately from inks of other hues in the power storage means, it is not necessary to perform complex calculations each time to calculate the amount of power supplied. Furthermore, since the storage capacity of the power amount storage means can be made very small, an excellent effect can be achieved in that the configuration related to control and storage of the thermal transfer color printer can be simplified.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a thermal transfer color printer showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial front view of a thermal transfer ribbon, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control circuit.
FIG. 4 is a partial front view showing another embodiment of the thermal transfer ribbon. 3 is a thermal head, 4 is a ribbon cassette, 6
is a thermal transfer ribbon, 10a to 10d are cyan, yellow, magenta and black hue areas, 11a to 1
1d is a hue mark, 12 is a photo sensor as a discrimination means, 13 is a CPU as a control means, and a storage section 15 is an electric energy storage means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a thermal transfer color printer equipped with a thermal head, heat-melting ink of a plurality of colors consisting of a black ink containing carbon black and an ink other than black that does not contain carbon black is coated in a predetermined length for each hue. A thermal transfer ribbon that appears repeatedly as a color band, a hue mark provided at a predetermined position on the ribbon to indicate the type of hue, and detecting the hue mark to determine the hue of the ribbon portion facing the printing position. a power storage means for storing a first amount of power supplied to the thermal head and a second amount of power that is smaller than the first amount of power; When it is detected that the hue of the ribbon part is black,
A second amount of electric power is read from the electric power storage means, the read second amount of electric power is supplied to the thermal head, and when it is detected that the hue is other than black, the first amount of electric power is A thermal transfer color printer characterized by comprising: a control means for reading out the first electric power from the electric power storage means and supplying the read first electric power to the thermal head.