JPH01190480A - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use an ink ribbon of a different kind by making it possible to use only one kind of a ribbon cassette, by applying a bar code to a thermal transfer ink ribbon of every kind scheduled in use to mount said ink ribbon to the ribbon cassette in a replaceable manner and detecting the bar code by a sensor to confirm the kind of the thermal transfer ink ribbon. CONSTITUTION:When monochromatic black printing is executed, a monochromatic black ink ribbon 10 is mounted to a ribbon cassette 34. When a motor 52 is rotated by the order from a CPU 46, the ink ribbon 10 is sent by spools 40, 42. A sensor 44 detects the bar code of the ink ribbon 10 to send the detection signal to the CPU 46. The CPU 46 compares the data stored in a ROM 50 with said detection signal to confirm that the ink ribbon used presently is a monochromatic ink ribbon. In multicolor printing, bar codes 26, 28, 30, 32 are detected by the sensor 44 when the ink ribbon 14 passes the sensor 44.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer characterized by a recognition method for a thermal transfer ink ribbon.

[Prior Art] Thermal transfer serial printers have a simple structure, generate little noise, and are inexpensive, so demand is increasing for personal use such as terminal systems and personal computers.

In a thermal transfer serial printer, an ink ribbon is usually stored in a ribbon cassette, and this ribbon cassette is attached to a carrier of the printer. The carrier is provided with a ribbon motor, and the ink ribbon in the ribbon cassette is wound from one spool to the other spool to print by thermal transfer.

Recently, color printing using thermal transfer serial printers has become popular, but in order to perform monochrome color printing, for example, it is necessary to prepare a ribbon cassette for monochrome color printing. To do rough, multicolor printing,
In addition to preparing ribbon cassettes for multicolor printing,
The control part of the printer itself also needs to be changed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional thermal transfer printer described above, in order to perform monochromatic black, monochromatic color, and multicolor printing, it is necessary to store ink ribbons suitable for each printing. It is necessary to separately prepare a dedicated ribbon cassette. The ribbon cassette must be changed every time the type of color printing is changed.

That is, when using a different ink ribbon, a different type of ribbon cassette must be used.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer printer that can use different types of ink ribbons by using only one type of ribbon cassette.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The thermal transfer printer of the present invention includes a thermal transfer ink ribbon on which barcodes are arranged at predetermined intervals along the ribbon feeding direction, and a ribbon cassette to which the thermal transfer ink ribbon is attached replaceably. and a sensor that detects the barcode.
The present invention is characterized by comprising means for recognizing the type of the thermal transfer ink ribbon based on the output of the sensor.

That is, various types of thermal transfer ink ribbons can be attached to the ribbon cassette. The thermal transfer ink ribbon is provided with an identification barcode, this barcode is detected by a sensor, and the thermal transfer ink ribbon is identified by a CPU or the like based on the output thereof.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows three types of thermal transfer ink ribbons used in one embodiment of the present invention. The monochromatic black ink ribbon 10 includes
Barcodes 16 are provided at predetermined intervals along the feeding direction of the ink ribbon.

The monochrome ink ribbon 12 is also given the same barcode 16 as the monochrome black ink ribbon 10. Different color regions are arranged on the multicolor ink ribbon 14 in a predetermined order along the feeding direction of the ink ribbon. In the illustrated example, yellow (Y), magenta (M),
Cyan (C) and black (B) areas 18, 20, 2
2.24 are lined up in order, and barcodes 26.28, 30.32 characterizing the area are given in front of each area.

FIG. 2 shows a ribbon cassette using the above-described ink ribbon. This ribbon cassette 34 has spools 40 and 42, and the ink ribbon 36 wound on the right spool 42 is taken up on the left spool 40. The ink ribbon 36 executes printing by passing through the printing l\rad 8. The ink ribbon 36 sent out from the spool 42 passes through a sensor 44 for detecting a barcode.

FIG. 3 shows the control system of the thermal transfer printer of this embodiment. A RAM 48 and a ROM 50 are connected to the CPLJ 46, and a negative feedback motor 52 for rotating the spools 40, 42 and the above-mentioned sensor 44 are connected to the CPU 46.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained. First, when performing monochrome black printing, the monochrome black ink ribbon 10 is attached to the ribbon cassette 34.

When the motor 52 rotates in response to a command from the CPU 46, the ink ribbon 10 (indicated by reference numeral 36 in FIG. 2) is fed by the spool 40.42. The sensor 44 is the ink ribbon 10
Detects the barcode 16 of the CPU 4 and sends the detection signal to the CPU 4.
Send to 6. The CPU 46 compares this detection signal with data stored in the ROM 50 and recognizes that the ink ribbon currently in use is a monochrome ink ribbon.

In this case, there is no need to distinguish between monochromatic black and monochromatic color. This is because the operation of the printer is the same in either case.

When printing in a single color (for example, red),
It is only necessary to attach the monochromatic color ink ribbon 12 to the ribbon cassette 34, and the other functions of the printer are exactly the same as in the case of monochromatic black.

When performing multicolor printing, a multicolor ink ribbon 14 is attached to the ribbon cassette 34. When the multicolor ink ribbon 14 passes through the sensor 44,
Barcodes 26, 28, 30 on this ink ribbon 14
．． 32 is detected by the sensor 44, and the CPU 46 recognizes that it is a multicolor ink ribbon. Multicolor printing is then performed in the usual manner.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the thermal transfer printer of the present invention, barcodes can be added to various thermal transfer ink ribbons that are scheduled to be used, and these thermal transfer ink ribbons can be replaced with ribbon cassettes. Since the type of thermal transfer ink ribbon is recognized by installing and detecting the bar code with a sensor, there is an effect that various ink ribbons can be used in the same ribbon cassette.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a partial view of three types of thermal transfer ink ribbons used in one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an internal plan view of the ribbon cassette of this embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a diagram of the control system of this embodiment. It is a block diagram. 10.12, 14.36...Thermal transfer ink ribbon 16
．． 26.28.30.32...Barcode 34...
Ribbon cassette 44...Sensor 46...CPU to, 12.14--Ink ribbon Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A thermal transfer ink ribbon having barcodes arranged at predetermined intervals along the ribbon feeding direction, a ribbon cassette to which the thermal transfer ink ribbon is replaceably attached, a sensor for detecting the barcode, and a sensor that detects the barcode based on the output of the sensor. and means for recognizing the type of the thermal transfer ink ribbon.