JPH02277651A - Multi time ink ribbon printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable stabilization of printing quality and increase of a number of repetitive use to be achieved by restraining the deterioration of the printing quality due to the repetitive use to a minimum limit by a method wherein in the case where a multi-time ink ribbon is used, printing energy having been proportional to a number of repetitive printing is increased. CONSTITUTION:Printing is performed by giving initially printing energy lower than printing rated energy, for instance, 80% to a thermal head by using a multi-time ink ribbon. When an end detecting circuit 1 detects a leader tape at a final end of the ink ribbon, a printer is automatically stopped by this signal, and the ink ribbon is moved backward to perform printing on the second time. An integrating circuit 2 integrates a signal of this end detecting circuit 1, and detects a number of repetitive uses of the multi time ink ribbon. A printing energy control circuit 3 controls printing energy so as to be increased linearly or gradually in proportion to a repetitive number of printings by a data of the integrating circuit 2.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Regarding the printing method when using a multi-time ink ribbon in a thermal printer used for an output device such as a computer, the multi-time ink ribbon was developed for the purpose of suppressing changes in print density. In a thermal transfer printing method using a printer, the printing energy of the printer is automatically controlled to increase in proportion to the number of times of repeated printing.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a printing method when a multi-time ink ribbon is used in a thermal printer used in an output device such as a computer.

[Conventional technology]

Thermal printers are used in word processors, personal computer printers, facsimile machines, airline boarding pass issuing machines, horse racing ticket issuing machines, PO3s, and the like.

These thermal printers are mainly designed to use one-time ink ribbons (ink ribbons that can only be used once), and have a mechanism that allows you to manually set the printing energy applied to the thermal head to determine printing density. are doing. That is, it is common when using a one-time ink ribbon to print without changing the printing energy set at a constant level, and this is necessary in order to maintain a constant printing quality.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Since the conventional thermal printer described above uses a one-time ink ribbon, the ink ribbon must be replaced frequently, resulting in a complicated operation.

For this reason, there is a demand for the use of multi-time ink ribbons that can be used repeatedly. However, when a multi-time ink ribbon is used in the conventional thermal printer and repeatedly printed, the ink layer of the ink ribbon gradually wears out, so if the same energy is used throughout, the print density will gradually deteriorate and the print quality will deteriorate. The problem arises of deterioration.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-time ink ribbon printing method that makes it possible to suppress changes in print density.

[Means to solve the problem]

FIG. 1 is a diagram explaining the principle of the present invention.

In the present invention, as shown in the figure, when the horizontal axis represents the number of times of repeated printing by the multi-time ink ribbon and the vertical axis represents the printing energy of the thermal head, the relationship between them is represented by a solid line A.
Or, as shown by dotted line B, initially 80% of the rated energy
%, and the printing energy is increased linearly or stepwise in proportion to the number of repeated printings.

[For production]

For repeated printing multiple times, by initially setting the printing energy below the rated value, the initial printing density is suppressed, and as the number of printing repetitions progresses, the printing energy is increased to reduce the ink in the ink ribbon. It is possible to prevent the print density from becoming dull by covering the wear and tear of the print head, and it is possible to obtain an average print density from the initial stage to the final stage.

〔Example〕

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the first embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is an end detection circuit, 2 is an integration circuit, and 3 is an end detection circuit.
is the print energy control circuit.

The multi-time ink ribbon used in this embodiment is provided with leader tapes having a different light reflectance from that of the ribbon at the beginning and end for end detection.

In the method of this embodiment, using the multi-time ink ribbon described above, printing is first performed by applying printing energy lower than the rated printing energy (for example, 80%) to the thermal head. When the end detection circuit 1 detects the leader tape at the end of the ink ribbon, the printer automatically stops in response to this signal, moves the ink ribbon backward, and performs the second printing. The integration circuit 2 integrates the signals from the end detection circuit 1 and detects the number of times the multi-time ink ribbon is repeatedly used.

The printing energy control circuit 3 controls the printing energy to increase linearly or stepwise in proportion to the number of printing repetitions based on the data from the integrating circuit 2.

In this embodiment, which prints in this way, it is possible to prevent the print density from becoming too dark by initially setting the printing energy below the rated value, and by increasing the printing energy as the number of printing progresses, the ink It is possible to compensate for the consumption of ink within the ribbon and keep the print density constant.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the number of times of repeated printing and print density in this embodiment in comparison with the conventional example.

In the figure, the horizontal axis shows the number of repeated printing, and the vertical axis shows the printing density.The relationship between them is shown by curve A for this embodiment and curve B for the conventional example. The figure shows that in the conventional example, the print density is too dark at the beginning and too light at the end, but in this embodiment, the print density is almost constant.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is an end detection circuit, 2 is an integration circuit, and 3 is an end detection circuit.
4 is a print energy control circuit, and 4 is a holding circuit.

The difference between this embodiment and the previous embodiment is that, while in the previous embodiment the ink ribbon was not replaced midway through, in this embodiment the ink ribbon can be replaced midway through for fine printing. This is what I did. Therefore, a holding circuit 4 is added to the integrating circuit 2 for the number of times the ink ribbon is repeatedly used, which allows the accumulation to be held and released by manual operation. Printing energy control can be performed in the same manner as in the previous embodiment by canceling the hold when the hold is reached and continuing the hold before the hold.

Therefore, this embodiment also has exactly the same effects as the previous embodiment.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, when a multi-time ink ribbon is used with a thermal printer, the deterioration of print quality due to repeated use is minimized by increasing the printing energy proportional to the number of repeated prints. This makes it possible to stabilize printing quality and increase the number of repeated uses.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining the first embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the number of repeated printing and print density in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4, a diagram showing a comparison with the conventional example, is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an end detection circuit, 2 is an integration circuit, 3 is a print energy control circuit, and 4 is a hold circuit. Number of times of repeated printing (times) Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram of the principle of the present invention. Number of times of repeated printing (times) A diagram showing the relationship between the number of times of repeated printing and print density of an embodiment of the present invention in comparison with a conventional example. Figure 9 for explaining the embodiment of 1 Figure 2 Figure for explaining the embodiment of g2 of the present invention $4 Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A thermal transfer printing method using a multi-time ink ribbon, characterized in that the printing energy of the printer is automatically controlled to increase in proportion to the number of repeated printings. .