JPH0558323U - Thermal transfer recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To realize bidirectional printing by using a multi-time ink ribbon and to increase the recording speed. [Structure] The bi-directional printing a and b is performed by using the same portion of the ribbon for the number of guaranteed printing times of the multi-time ink ribbon 2, and the unidirectional printing is performed only when the ribbon 2 is wound. [Effect] It is possible to realize high-speed printing as compared with conventional unidirectional printing alone.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial application]

 The present invention relates to a thermal fusion transfer recording device using a monochrome multi-time ink ribbon.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 A thermal fusion transfer recording device equipped with a serial type thermal print head uses an ink medium called an ink ribbon cassette, which is shaped like a miniature music cassette. Inside the ink ribbon cassette, there are a pair of reels on the supply side and the take-up side, on which the ink ribbon coated with heat-meltable ink is wound. To print, heat the thermal print according to the data, melt the ink on the ink ribbon, and peel the transfer paper. This cycle is repeated to form letters and pictures. At this time, since the ink ribbon can be used only in one direction from the supply side to the winding side, the driving direction of the thermal print head is also one direction, which is so-called unidirectional printing.

Further, there is a so-called multi-time ink ribbon in which ink can be used a plurality of times, which is useful for greatly reducing running costs. The usage is basically the same as the conventional ink ribbon, but when the supply reel becomes empty, the cassette is reversed and reused. This reversal turns the take-up reel into a supply reel, enabling multiple uses (guaranteed number of times).

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 As mentioned above, printing is slower than bidirectional printing such as the wire dot method, because unidirectional printing is the same regardless of whether a general ink ribbon or multi-time ribbon is used. The drawback was unavoidable. Further, as a cause of slowing the printing speed, it is necessary to replace the ink ribbon or invert the multi-time ribbon when all the ink ribbon is wound up during printing, which takes time.

Further, depending on the recording apparatus, there is a model in which the data is lost when the ink ribbon is replaced, and in that case, it is necessary to print again, which is also a cause of a long time, and the printing speed is increased. It was a big challenge above. The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and utilizes the multi-time ink ribbon's multiple-time printing capability to respond to each reciprocating operation of supplying the ink ribbon and repeating winding. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that enables so-called bidirectional printing by performing printing by printing.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The means adopted by the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention to achieve the above-mentioned object are as follows. Using the Monochrome Time Ink Ribbon Cassette, the ink ribbon in the Monochrome Time Ribbon Cassette is alternately supplied and wound according to the reciprocating motion within the printing range of the above cassette, and the above-mentioned each A control unit for performing bidirectional printing by performing printing for each operation is provided. The control unit includes counting means for detecting the number of times of printing, and n when the guaranteed number of ribbon printing is n, and n when it is even. Is a reciprocating number setting means for outputting n-1, and an idle feeding means for reversely feeding the head and the ribbon cassette without printing when the output value of the counting means reaches the setting value of the reciprocating number setting means. And is characterized in that the printing operation is repeated until the completion of the idle feeding means as a unit operation.

[0007]

[Action]

 For convenience of description, printing in the direction in which the ink ribbon is fed from the supply reel will be referred to as the forward direction (arrow a in FIG. 1), and the opposite direction will be referred to as the reverse direction (arrow b in FIG. 1). When printing is performed in the forward direction using the multi-time ribbon, the ribbon is unwound from the supply reel and wound up by the take-up reel. After the printing in the forward direction is completed, printing is performed in the reverse direction, so that the ribbon is wound around the supply reel and unwound from the winding reel. By this reciprocating operation, the head returns to the original position, and the ribbon also returns to the initial winding state after one line is repeatedly used. This one round trip is called one cycle.

Next, the round trip number setting means will be described. Printing guarantee of multi-time ink ribbon is n (> 2). At this time, the set value of the reciprocating number setting means is set to the above value according to the odd / even of the guaranteed printing number n. That is, if the guaranteed print count n is an even number (n = 4, 6 ...), n-1 is set. If the guaranteed print count n is an odd number (n = 3, 5, ...), set to n. To be done.

Therefore, printing is started from the forward direction, the number of reciprocations of the cassette is counted by the counting means, and this count value is compared with the set value of the number of reciprocations setting means. When the count value reaches the set value, the ribbon cassette is in the state of returning to the original position regardless of the odd-even of n. From this state, forward printing is performed only once. After that, the reverse operation is performed without printing. This completes one unit of operation. After that, the above-described unit operation is repeated until the ribbon is used up or a print end signal comes.

Since the above operation is performed, the maximum print cycle usable in the present invention is (n−2) / 2 cycles when n is an even number during one unit operation, and when n is an odd number ( n-1) / 2 cycles, and the number of times of printing in one unit in the forward direction is the number of times of printing in one unit. That is, the number of prints is (n−2) + 1 = n −1 if n is even, and (n−1) + 1 = n if odd.

[0011]

【Example】

 The present invention will be described based on examples. FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view showing an example of a thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the present invention, and FIG. 3 shows a drive circuit of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a serial type thermal head (hereinafter referred to as a thermal head), 2 is a monochrome multi-time ink ribbon (hereinafter referred to as an ink ribbon), 3 is an ink ribbon cassette, and 4 is a transfer target paper. Reference numerals 9 and 10 denote take-up and supply reels provided in the ink ribbon cassette 3, respectively. The ink ribbon 2 is wound on the reel so that the ink ribbon 2 can be bi-directionally wound and supplied.

Reference numeral 6 is a head unit, 7 is a guide shaft of the ink ribbon cassette 3, 8 is a drive motor, and 11 is a drive belt. The thermal head 1 and the ink ribbon cassette 3 are mounted on a head unit 6 that moves along a guide shaft 7, and a transfer motor 4 and a drive belt 1 that are operated by a drive circuit (not shown) cause the transfer paper 4 to be transferred. It moves in the directions of the arrows a and b within the range of the paper width.

FIG. 3 shows a drive circuit of the present invention, 1 is a thermal head, 8 is a drive motor, 12 is a thermal head drive circuit, 13 is a motor drive circuit, and 14 is a thermal head drive circuit and a motor drive circuit. 13 is a control unit for controlling the synchronization with 13. Although not shown in the figure, the control unit 14 includes a counting means (15 in FIG. 2) for detecting the number of times of printing, and a reciprocating number of times that outputs n when the guaranteed number of ribbons n is odd and n-1 when it is even. A setting means (16 in FIG. 2), and an idle feeding means for feeding the head and the ribbon cassette backward without printing when the output of the counting means and the output of the reciprocating number setting means coincide with each other, The thermal head drive circuit 12 and the motor drive circuit 13 are controlled so as to repeat the above printing operation until a print end signal comes as a unit operation until the completion of the idle feeding means.

The operation of the controller 14 will be described below with reference to FIG. Here, description will be given assuming that the guaranteed number of times n of the ink ribbon 2 is guaranteed is 5. Since the guaranteed number of times n is 5, which is an odd number, the round trip number setting means is set to 5. When the control unit 14 issues START (print start command), the counting means is reset according to the flowchart. Then, one print is performed in the a direction. The supply of the ink ribbon 2 from the supply reel 10 in the ink ribbon cassette 3 is performed in accordance with the movement of the head unit 6 in the a direction, and an amount corresponding to the movement amount of the head unit 6 is wound on the take-up reel 9. The same amount is taken out from the supply reel 10.

In the control unit 14, according to the flow chart, when the print end signal is received, the printing is ended (END), otherwise, the count value n of the count unit 15 is incremented by one, and the reciprocation number setting unit 16 Compare with the setting value of. Since the count value is 1 and has not reached the set value of 5, printing is performed in the reverse direction b 1 according to the control flow. As a result, the unwound portion of the ink ribbon 2 is used for printing twice.

This is because the thermal transfer recording apparatus performs one bidirectional (reciprocal) printing, and thus, each time the printing operation is repeated, the count value n in the control unit 14 is also increased by one. Is added. When there is no print end signal, bidirectional printing is finally performed twice, that is, the ink ribbon 2 is repeatedly printed four times, and n becomes 4. Further, by performing forward printing in the a direction, the ink ribbon 2 performs repeated printing 5 times, and the count value in the control unit 14 becomes 5. At this time, the guarantee number of times of the Ribon was just finished.

At this stage, since the count value has reached the set value 5 of the reciprocal printing number setting means, the control unit 14 follows the control flow and moves the ribbon cassette and the head in the b direction without printing to return to the original value. Return to position. At the time of this movement, the ink ribbon 2 remains stopped inside the ink ribbon cassette, and is not wound around the supply reel 10 as at the time of printing. Therefore, the ink ribbon 2 is prepared so that a new ink surface can be supplied, and it is ready to perform bidirectional printing twice and forward printing once.

By repeating the above operation, that is, two times of bidirectional printing and one time of forward printing, and then returning to the original position by idling, the printing is repeated until a signal indicating the end of printing is issued. Continues to. By performing the above operation, printing can be performed at about 1.7 times the speed as compared with the case of only the forward operation.

In addition, since the ink ribbon 2 can be printed five times as much as a normal one-time ink ribbon before the ink ribbon 2 is used up, the time for replacing the ink ribbon is reduced to one fifth. In the above, the case where the guaranteed number of times of printing is an odd number has been described, but when the number of guaranteed printing is an odd number, the same printing operation is executed by setting the set value of the reciprocating number setting means to n-1. Even in this case, since reciprocal printing is the main printing operation, it is effective in improving the printing speed and saving the trouble of replacing the ribbon cassette.

[0020]

[Effect of the device]

 As described in the above description, according to the present invention, (1) bidirectional printing is the main subject of printing, and high-speed printing can be achieved. (2) There is a remarkable effect that the labor of replacing the ink ribbon is saved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a thermal transfer type recording apparatus used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Serial Thermal Head 2 Monochrome Multi-Time Ink Ribbon 3 Ink Ribbon Cassette 4 Transfer Paper 5 Platen 9 Take-up Reel 10 Supply Reel 14 Control Unit 15 Counting Unit 16 Print Count Setting Unit

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A monochrome time ink ribbon cassette is used, and the ink ribbon in the monochrome time ribbon cassette is alternately supplied and wound in a reciprocating operation, and printing is performed for each operation. 1. A thermal transfer recording apparatus comprising a control unit for performing orientation printing, wherein the control unit includes counting means for detecting the number of reciprocations of the ribbon cassette, and the guaranteed number of times n of printing of the ink ribbon.
Is a odd number, n is an even number, and n-1 is a reciprocating number setting means, and when the output value of the counting means reaches the set value of the reciprocating number setting means, the head and the ribbon cassette. And a blank feeding means for feeding the paper in reverse without printing, and repeating the printing operation as a unit operation until the completion of the blank feeding means.