JPH0243081A - Color ink ribbon cueing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect a printing start position correctly with a simple means regardless of the fluctuation of a take-up speed by cueing a color on the basis of a ratio of a take-up time for a skip length from a marker to the printing start position to a reference take-up time. CONSTITUTION:At the time of taking up an ink ribbon 10, prior to a color printing action a color marker 13YA, 13MA, or 13CA to be cued is read by an optical sensor 9. At this time, by the optical sensor 9 a take-up time t0 for a range from the start point of a preceding color marker 13CB, 13YB, or 13MB to the end point of the succeeding color marker 13YA, 13MA, or 13CA adjacent to the color marker 13CB, 13YB, or 13MB is detected. The ink ribbon 10 is taken up by a skp length S from the end point of the color marker 13YA, 13MA, or 13CA to be cued to a printing start position P based on a ratio of a take-up time (ts) for the skip length S to the take-up time t0 as a reference. By winding the ink ribbon 10 for the take-up time (ts), the printing start position P of the color to be cued is always coincident with a printing head position regardless of the fluctuation of a take-up speed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for locating the beginning of a color ink ribbon, and more specifically, a method for locating the beginning of each color of a color ink ribbon used in a color thermal transfer printer such as a personal computer system. Regarding how to.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Color thermal transfer printers used in personal computer systems and the like have a function of creating originals consisting of characters, graphics, etc. using a thermal transfer print head based on printer output signals from a personal computer main body.

In the above color thermal transfer printer, as shown in FIG.
3), and while winding up the color ink ribbon in the cassette (3), the thermal transfer print head (4) prints color onto the paper (6) set on the platen (5) of the printer body (1). Print. This printing operation is executed by repeatedly determining the desired color of the color ink ribbon in the cassette (3) and positioning it to the print head (4).

Here, the color ink ribbon is a translucent tape member in which a plurality of colors are periodically arranged in succession, and as mentioned above, in order to cue each color during printing operation, there is a non-contact tape member of different length between each color. A translucent color discrimination marker is provided. The beginning of the color ink ribbon during the above-described printing operation is performed by reading the color discrimination marker with an optical sensor provided in the vicinity of the print head of the carriage (2). That is, when winding the color ink ribbon, the optical sensor detects the marker of the color to be started, and then the color ink ribbon is rolled for a winding time corresponding to the skip length from the end point of the marker to the printing start position. is wound up and the desired print start position is aligned with the print head position to locate the beginning.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in the conventional color ink ribbon cueing method described above, after the optical sensor detects the marker of the color to be cued, the winding time from the end point of that marker to the printing start position is simply set as fixed data. Color ink ribbons were wound based on this. Therefore, the winding speed of the color ink ribbon varies depending on the winding drive voltage of the color ink ribbon, the winding state in the cassette (3), the temperature environment in which it is used, and individual variations due to differences in common models. The skip length from the end point of the detected marker to the print start position varies, and the print start position does not match the print head position.
For example, malfunctions such as printing at marker portions occurred.

Therefore, if we try to keep the winding speed of the color ink ribbon constant, we will be subject to various constraints such as having to strictly adjust and control the thickness and winding radius of the color ink ribbon, which will increase the cost. There was also the problem.

Therefore, the present invention was proposed in view of the above problems, and focuses on the fact that the width of the marker is constant, and its purpose is to An object of the present invention is to provide a color ink ribbon cueing method that can accurately detect the printing start position of a color ink ribbon using a simple means.

[Means to solve the problem]

The technical means for achieving the above object of the present invention is to periodically arrange a plurality of transparent colors in succession, and provide a non-transparent color discrimination marker between each color. A method of detecting the marker with an optical sensor and locating a desired color while winding up a color ink ribbon, the method comprising:
When winding the color ink ribbon, the ratio of the winding time of the skip length from the marker to the printing start position to this winding time is based on the winding time of a predetermined length that can be detected by the optical sensor. This is a color ink ribbon cueing method that cues up the printing start position of a desired color.

[Effect]

According to the method of the present invention, with respect to the standard winding time,
Since the beginning is determined by the ratio of the winding time of the skip length from the marker to the printing start position, even if the winding speed changes, the variation in the winding time will be compensated by the ratio of the winding time. canceled out. Therefore, reliable judgment data can always be obtained at the time of starting the color ink ribbon, regardless of the winding speed.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the color ink ribbon cueing method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1(a), (b) (C1 to 4).

First, a specific structural example of a color thermal transfer printer using the color ink ribbon described above will be explained. In addition, the same parts as in FIG. 5 are given the same reference numerals. , (5) is a platen that is rotatably installed on the printer main body (1) (see Fig. 5), and is used to hold the paper ( 6) Wind it up and set it in a predetermined position. (2) is a substantially rectangular flat carriage mounted on the printer body (1) so as to be able to reciprocate at a constant stroke parallel to the platen (5); (4)
A thermal transfer print head is attached to the carriage (2), and is arranged to face the platen (5) with the paper (6) interposed therebetween. (7) and (8) are ribbon winding units provided at symmetrical positions in the center of the carriage (2); (9)
1 is an optical sensor such as a photocoupler which is fixedly installed near the print head of the carriage (2), and has a light emitting part (9a) and a light receiving part (9b) arranged facing each other. (3) is a removable cassette that is positioned and placed on the carriage (2), and stores the color ink ribbon (10) wound around winding and unwinding reels (11) and (12). The color ink ribbon (lO) in this cassette (3) is
As shown in Figure 4, yellow (Y), magenta (M),
This is a translucent tape member in which a plurality of colors of cyan (C) are arranged in series in a periodic manner. Each color above (Y) (M) (C
) are non-transparent, for example, black color discrimination markers (13Ya) (13Y
a) (13Ma) (13Ma) (13C^)
(13CB) (hereinafter referred to as color marker) is provided. And color markers (13YB) between adjacent colors, that is, yellow (Y) and magenta (M), magenta (M) and cyan (C), and cyan (C) and yellow (Y). (13M^), (13MB) and (1
The distance between (3CA), (13Ca) and (13YA) is set to be a constant length (Ilo).As mentioned above, the color markers (13Y^) (13Ya), (13
M^) (13Ma), (13C^) (13Ca) are provided at both ends of each color (Y), (M), and (C) because the cassette (3) uses both side A and side B. For example, when using the A side and winding the color ink ribbon (10) in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 4, the preceding color markers (13YA), (13MA), (13CA)
Conversely, when using side B, when winding in the direction of arrow B in Figure 4, the preceding color markers (13Ya) and (13
MB), (13CB) is detected.

When printing in color using the color thermal transfer printer, first, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cassette (3) is
are positioned and placed on the carriage (2), and the winding and unwinding reels (11) (12) of the cassette (3) are placed on the carriage (2).
are fitted into the ribbon winding parts (7) and (8) of the carriage (2).

At this time, the print head (4) and optical sensor (9) are arranged within the windows (14) (15) of the cassette (3), and the optical sensor (9) is placed between the paper (6) and the print head (4). 9)
Color ink ribbons (10) are arranged between the light emitting and receiving parts (9a) and (9b), respectively.

In this state, while winding up the color ink ribbon (process 0) in the cassette (3) from the ribbon winding section (8) to (7), color printing is performed on the paper (6) by the thermal transfer print head (4). During this printing operation, the cue for each color is repeatedly executed by color discrimination of the color ink ribbon (10).

The cueing of the color ink ribbon (lO) during the above printing operation is performed as follows, and this is shown in Fig. 1(a).
(bl (C). The explanation will be based on FIG. 1 (al
is yellow (Y), and Figure 1 (b) is magenta (M).
, in Figure 1 (C1 is cyan (C) and A of cassette (3)
This shows the case of detection when using a screen.

When winding up the color ink ribbon (10), the color (Y
) (M) (C) color markers (13Ya ) (13M
A) Read (13CA). At this time, the optical sensor (9) moves from the starting point of the color marker (13Ca) (13Ya) (13Ma) of the preceding color (C) (Y) (M) to the color marker (13CB) (13Ya).
(13Ma) and the adjacent subsequent colors (Y) (M) (
C) color marker (13Y^) (13MA) (13CA)
The winding time (to) to the end point is detected. Here, color markers (1
3Ca) (13Ya) (13Ma) starting point and color marker (13YA) (13MA)
Since the length (2o) from the end point of (13CA) is set to - constant for each color, the winding time (to
) is the standard.

Then, the color marker (13YA) (
Wind up the color ink ribbon (10) by the skip length (S) from the end point of 13MA) (13CA) to the printing start position (P). This is performed based on the ratio of the winding time (ts) of the skip length (S) to the reference winding time (to). That is, the winding time (ts) of the skip length (S) is calculated by the following equation of the standard winding time (to): αto+β.

In addition, α and β are constants, and color ink ribbon (10)
Color marker length and optical sensor (9) and print head (4)
It is determined by various conditions such as the distance between the two. In this way, the preceding color markers (13Ca) (13YB) (13Ma
) and the subsequent color marker (13YA) to cue.
) (13MA) (13cA) The length (j!o) from the end point is constant, whereas the color marker (13Y^) (13MA) (13c
Since the distance between the print head position, which is the skip length (S) from the end point of A ) to the printing start position it (P), and the optical sensor position is constant, the winding time ( ts) is calculated using a linear equation based on the standard winding time (to), and the winding time (ts
), the printing start position (P) of the color to be cued will always match the print head position, regardless of fluctuations in the winding speed.

In addition, although the above explanation was made regarding the use of the A side of the cassette (3), when the B side of the cassette (3) is used, FIG.
(The color ink ribbon (10) is run with the left and right sides reversed in the direction of the arrow C1.
), Figure 1 Mountain) is Yellow (Y), 1st Fjj!
J(cl detects magenta (M).

[Effect of the invention] According to the method of the present invention, for the standard winding time,
Since the beginning is determined by the ratio of the winding time of the skip length from the marker to the printing start position, even if the winding speed changes when winding the color ink ribbon, it remains constant. Since a skip length of 100 is obtained, the cue of each color can be accurately found, and malfunctions can be prevented from occurring. In this way, it is possible to provide a highly reliable and practical method for locating the color ink ribbon without strictly adjusting and managing the color ink ribbon.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1(a) (mount) (C) to Fig. 4 are for explaining an embodiment of the color ink ribbon cueing method according to the present invention. ) is a diagram showing a part of the color ink ribbon at each winding stage in the beginning of each color, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the main parts of a color thermal transfer printer before cassette setting, and Figure 3 is a diagram showing the main parts of a color thermal transfer printer. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the color ink ribbon of the cassette after setting the cassette. FIG. 5 is a perspective view, partially in section, showing a color thermal transfer printer. (9) - Optical sensor, (10)...Color ink ribbon, special order (13Y8 (13CA (Y) (lo) (S) (to) ) (13YB) (13MA) (13
MB )) (13cB), - Color discrimination marker, (M) (C) - Color, - Predetermined length, One skip length, (ts) - Winding time. Applicant for permission: NEC Home Electronics Co., Ltd. Ebara Province, Figure 3, Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) While winding up a color ink ribbon in which a plurality of translucent colors are periodically arranged in succession and a non-transparent color discrimination marker is provided between each color, an optical sensor detects the above. A method of detecting a marker and locating a desired color, wherein when winding the color ink ribbon, a winding time of a predetermined length that can be detected by the optical sensor is used as a reference, and the winding time is A method for cuing up a color ink ribbon, characterized in that the print start position of a desired color is cued based on the ratio of the winding time of the skip length from the marker to the print start position.