JPH06426B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is designed to perform printing by mounting either a color ink ribbon coated with a plurality of colors of ink or a black ink ribbon coated with a black ink. It is about a printer that can.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the end of a color film ribbon of this type of printer is detected by providing a color mark having a reflectance lower than that of the ink application area at the end and detecting that the light irradiated on the ink ribbon is not reflected. Was there. On the other hand, the black ink ribbon detects the end of the ribbon by providing a transparent part of the ribbon at the end and detecting that the light irradiated on the ink ribbon passes through the ribbon and reaches the sensor provided on the back side. . That is, the end of the color ink ribbon is detected by using a reflective sensor, and the end of the black ink ribbon is detected by using a transmissive sensor. Alternatively, the end of the ink ribbon is detected by observing the fluctuation of the torque of the motor that drives the ink ribbon winding shaft.

However, in this case, one printer is equipped with a reflection type sensor and a transmission type sensor, or a current detection means for detecting the torque fluctuation of the motor is required. As a result, the printer configuration has become complicated.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides a color ink ribbon having a portion having a reflectance lower than that of an ink application region at the end of the ribbon, or an ink application region at the end of the ribbon. Use one of the black ink ribbons that has a higher reflectance than that to determine whether the attached ink ribbon is a color ink ribbon or a black ink ribbon, and from the ink ribbon of the light that irradiates the attached ink ribbon In the case of the color ink ribbon, the light is not detected by the light detecting means, and in the case of the black ink ribbon, the light is detected by the light detecting means. The end of the attached ink ribbon is detected due to the existence.

Action With this configuration, the color ink ribbon has a high light reflectance and the black ink ribbon has a low reflectance, so that the end of each ink ribbon provided with a portion having a reflectance different from the ink application area provided at the end portion. The part is detected by the absence of light detection or the presence of light detection.

Embodiment Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a film ribbon described later, 2 is a line detection unit for detecting the state of the line provided on the film ribbon 1, and 3 is a detection signal detected by the detection unit 2 and receives the detection signal. A control unit 4 which outputs a control signal is a film ribbon drive unit which drives the film ribbon 1 in accordance with the control signal sent from the control unit 3.

The film ribbon 1 used in the printer of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a color film ribbon used in the printer in this embodiment. As shown in the drawing, three colors of inks of yellow (Y) magenta (M) cyan (C) are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the belt-shaped film. Are sequentially applied to different positions, and a plurality of sets of inks are applied with the three colors of Y, M, and C as one set. 5 is a black line indicating the head of Y, 6
Is a black portion indicating the film end, and printing is performed by the printer by moving in the direction of arrow A. While the third
The figure is a schematic illustration of a black film ribbon. Reference numeral 7 is a black film portion for printing, and 8 is a portion coated with aluminum foil showing a film ribbon end, which is printed by the printer by moving in the direction of arrow A similarly to the color film ribbon of FIG.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the operation of the line detection unit 2 when the above-described film ribbon is used will be described.

In FIG. 4, 9 is the film cassette body, 10 is the film ribbon shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and 11 is a thermal head for printing. Reference numeral 12 is a reflection type photosensor corresponding to the line detection unit 2 shown in FIG. 1, and is composed of a light emitting diode 12a and a phototransistor 12b as shown in FIG.

In the structure as described above, the film ribbon 10 is indicated by the arrow B.
Moving in the direction of, the front surface of the reflective photosensor 12 is passed. In that case, in the case of a color film ribbon, the black line and the black portion shown in FIG. 2, and in the case of a black film ribbon, the aluminum foil portion shown in FIG. A signal is output from the reflective photosensor 12. That is, in the case of a color film ribbon, the light from the light emitting diode 12a is normally reflected on the film ribbon, makes the phototransistor 12b conductive, and outputs a high level signal (hereinafter referred to as H signal) to the output terminal S. On the other hand, when the black line portion and the black portion pass, the light of the light emitting diode 12a is not reflected by the film ribbon. Therefore, the phototransistor 12b is cut off and outputs a low level signal (hereinafter, referred to as L signal) to the output terminal S.

Next, in the case of the black film ribbon shown in FIG. 3, normally, the light from the light emitting diode 12a is not reflected by the black film ribbon, the L signal is output to the output terminal S, and the end portion of the film ribbon is output. Then the light emitting diode 12a
The light from is reflected by the aluminum foil, and H is output to the output terminal S.
The signal is output.

That is, a signal as shown in FIG. 6 for a color film ribbon and as shown in FIG. 7 for a black film ribbon is output to the output terminal S.

The H signal and the L signal from the output terminal S described above are processed by the control unit 3 shown in FIG. 1 according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, the processing of the control unit 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

(A) For example, the color cassette and the black cassette are distinguished by switching the switch on and off depending on the shape of the film ribbon cassette.

(B) In the case of a color cassette, the signal from the output terminal S is discriminated, and if it is the H signal, it is determined that printing is possible.

(C) If it is an L signal, the film ribbon is a black line portion, so the film ribbon is fed several steps.

(D) The signal from the output terminal S is discriminated again. At this time, if it is the H signal, it is determined that the width of the black line is narrow and it is the head of Y. If it is an L signal, the width of the black line is wide, and therefore it is judged to be the film end.

(E) If it is judged as a black cassette in block (a),
The signal from the output terminal S is discriminated. If it is the L signal, it is determined that the black portion can be printed, and if it is the H signal, it is determined that the film end is reached.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to reliably detect the Y head of the film ribbon and the end of the film ribbon.

As described above, the present invention identifies whether the mounted ink ribbon is the black ribbon or the color ribbon, and detects the reflected light by the sensor that receives the reflected light of the light applied to the ink ribbon,
In the case of a color ribbon, the state in which the detected reflected light is lower than a predetermined value continues for a predetermined amount or more, and in the case of a black ink ribbon, the detected reflected light is higher than the predetermined value. Even if it is attached, the end of the printer can be detected, and the hardware configuration of the printer can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a color film ribbon, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a black film ribbon, and FIG. 4 is a film cassette. And a plan view showing the detection unit,
Fig. 6 is a circuit diagram of the reflective photosensor for detection, Fig. 6 is a waveform diagram of the output signal from the reflective photosensor when the color film ribbon is used, and Fig. 7 is a reflective photosensor when the black film ribbon is used. The output signal waveform diagram from the sensor, FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the control unit. 1 ... Film ribbon, 2 ... Line detection unit, 3 ... Control unit,
4 ... Film ribbon drive part, 5 ... Black line, 6 ... Black part, 7 ... Black film, 8 ... Aluminum foil part, 12 ... Reflective photosensor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A color ink ribbon, or a ribbon, in which inks of a plurality of colors are applied in predetermined positions a plurality of times at different positions in the longitudinal direction of the ribbon, and the end portion of the ribbon has a portion having a lower reflectance than the ink application area. A printer for performing printing by mounting any of the black ink ribbons having a portion having a higher reflectance than the ink application region at the end portion of the ink, the drive means for moving the ink ribbon in the longitudinal direction, and the mounted ink A discriminating means for discriminating whether the ribbon is a color ink ribbon or a black ink ribbon, a light source for irradiating the mounted ink ribbon with light, and a light detecting means for detecting reflected light of the light from the light source from the ink ribbon, In the case of the color ink ribbon discriminated by the discriminating means, the state in which the light detected by the light detecting means is lower than the predetermined value continues for a predetermined amount or more. Printer For black ink ribbon, characterized in that and a control means for detecting the end of the mounted ink ribbon by light detected by said light detecting means is higher than a predetermined value.