JPH03219985A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect whether a ribbon cartridge is mounted without using an exclusive switch by detecting whether the ribbon cartridge is mounted on the basis of the object to be detected appearing on a route, which is detected by a detector upon mounting of the ribbon cartridge. CONSTITUTION:When the carriage position detector (CR detector) 12 placed on a carriage 11 is present at the position of a home position detection plate 113 or a ribbon cartridge mounting detection plate 14, the plate intercepts light and H is detected. When the detector 12 is present at other position, L is detected. At first, when the output of the CR detector is L, the carriage 11 (CR) moves in the left direction until the output of the CR detector becomes H and, when the output of the CR detector is H, the CR detector moves in the right direction until the output thereof becomes L. The CR detector moves by predetermined quantity in the left direction from this state. When the output of the CR detector is H, the position thereof is present at the right end of the home position detection plate 14 and, from this position, the CR detector is moved to a position of (b+c)/2 in the right direction. When the output of the CR detector is H, it is judged that a ribbon cartridge is mounted and, in the case of L, it is judged that the ribbon cartridge is not mounted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides means for moving a print head, a detector fixed to the print head, a first detected object fixed to a printer main body, and the detector The present invention also relates to a printer including means for detecting the relative position of the print head from the printer main body using the first detected object, and a ribbon cartridge.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, some printers of this type use a dedicated switch to detect whether or not a ribbon cartridge is attached.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventional printers as described above have a problem in that the cost increases because a dedicated switch is used.

This invention was made to solve the problem,
The purpose is to detect whether or not a ribbon cartridge is attached without using a dedicated switch.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A printer device according to the present invention includes means for moving a print head, a detector fixed to the print head, a first detected object fixed to the printer main body, the detector, and a detector fixed to the print head. means for detecting the relative position of the print head with respect to the printer main body by the first detected object; a ribbon cartridge; a second detected object that appears on the path to be detected by the detector by mounting the ribbon cartridge; container and said second
This device is equipped with means for detecting whether or not a cartridge is attached using an object to be detected.

[Example] The present invention will be described in detail below based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the printer device of the present invention.

A system bus 1 includes a microprocessor unit that controls the entire device, a control circuit 2 that includes a storage device that stores information necessary for control, a carriage that carries a print head, and a carriage that moves in a direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction and its drive circuit. A drive unit 3, a head drive unit 4 consisting of a head and its drive circuit, a paper feed drive unit 5 consisting of a paper feed motor and its drive circuit, a carriage position detector 6 that detects the reference position of the carriage, and a data exchanger with the host computer. External interface sections 7 that perform transmission and reception are connected to each of them.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the printer device of the present invention.

An ink ribbon 8, an ink ribbon cartridge 9 that stores the ink ribbon, a print head 10, a carriage 11 that carries the print head and moves left and right, a carriage position detector (hereinafter referred to as CR detection) 12 mounted on the carriage 11, and a carriage detector. Home position detection board 13 detected by
, a ribbon cartridge attachment detection plate 14 is shown.

In this embodiment, a light transmission type is used for the CR detection, and as shown in FIG.
, at the position of the ribbon cartridge attachment detection plate 14,
When the plate blocks the light, H is detected, and when the plate is in any other position, L is detected. The home position detection plate 13 is fixed to the printer body, and the ribbon cartridge attachment detection plate 14 is attached to the ribbon cartridge. The positions of each plate are such that (c-b)<a, the carriage is at the leftmost position at 0, the home position detection plate is at a, and the ribbon cartridge detection plate 14 is at position b from position C. Suppose it is the width of the board.

Next, a method for detecting the presence or absence of a ribbon cartridge will be explained.

First, read the output of the CR test (step 15). If this result is L, CR to the left until the CR test becomes H.
(Step 16), and if the result is H, it moves to the right until the CR test becomes L (Step 17). From this state, move leftward by (c-b) +m (step 18). At this time, m is (c-b)+m<a
Let be the value that satisfies.

Here, read the output of the CR test again (step 19). If the result is L, return to step 16. If the result is H, this position is the right end of the home position detection board 14, and the CR position is Set =a-((c-b)+m) (step 20), then set CR to the right (b+c)
/2 position (step 21). Here, read the output of the CR test again (step 22). If the result is H, it is determined that the ribbon cartridge is installed. If this result is L, it is determined that the ribbon cartridge is not installed. be done.

In this embodiment, the ribbon cartridge attachment detection plate was attached to the ribbon cartridge, but as shown in Figure 5, the ribbon cartridge attachment detection plate attached to the printer body detects CR inspection only when the ribbon cartridge is attached. The same effect can be obtained by using structures that appear on the system.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to detect a ribbon cartridge without using a dedicated detector, so that the cost of the printer device can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram clearly showing the configuration of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a printer device of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a printer device of an embodiment of the present invention viewed from above. ,
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the CR detection, the home position detection plate, and the ribbon cartridge attachment detection plate in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example in which the structure of the ribbon cartridge detection plate in one embodiment of the present invention is changed. Figure 1 System bus 1 Figure 2 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] means for moving a print head, a detector fixed to the print head, a first detected object fixed to the printer body and located on a detection system of the detector, the detector and the first object;
A printer comprising: a means for detecting the relative position of the print head with respect to the printer main body by a detected object, and a ribbon cartridge; a second detected object that appears on the detection path of the detector when the ribbon cartridge is attached; 1. A printer device comprising means for detecting whether or not a cartridge is attached using a container and the second object to be detected.