JPH08224947A - Printer device and ink cartridge used therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: A printer device and an ink cartridge used for the same that can reliably remove imitation products. A printer device (10) prints using ink supplied from a replaceable ink cartridge (50). A reading unit 30 for reading a predetermined portion of the mounted ink cartridge 50 is provided, and it is determined based on the reading result whether or not the specific display 54 is present on the predetermined portion of the ink cartridge 50. Printing is permitted only when it is determined that the specific display 54 is present in the predetermined portion. The ink cartridge 50 has a specific display 54 visually displayed on a predetermined portion of the outer surface read by the reading unit 30.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer apparatus for printing using ink supplied from a replaceable ink cartridge and an ink cartridge used for the printer apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a printer device of a type in which an ink cartridge is replaced, a thermal transfer printer device in which an ink cartridge containing an ink ribbon for printing is mounted and the ink ribbon is used for printing, and an ink cartridge containing a liquid ink are mounted. There is known an ink jet type printer device in which a printer is mounted and the ink is ejected to print.

For example, in a thermal transfer printer, the ink cartridge is formed so as to be attachable to and detachable from the printer, and when the ink ribbon is consumed by printing, it is replaced with a new ink cartridge. Further, in the ink jet printer, the ink cartridge is formed so as to be attachable to and detachable from the printer, and when the ink liquid is consumed by printing, it is replaced with a new ink cartridge.

These ink cartridges are usually used exclusively for each printer device model in order to realize optimum printing.

[0005]

However, if the outer diameter shapes are the same, ink cartridges other than the dedicated ones can be mounted on the printer and used, so that a poorly manufactured imitation product can be manufactured at a lower cost than the dedicated one. There are no end to the sellers. If you use a poorly imitated ink cartridge,
Not only do you get the desired print results, but sometimes
Problems sometimes occurred in the printer device.

An object of the present invention is to provide a printer device and an ink cartridge used for the same, which can surely eliminate counterfeit products.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a reading device for reading a predetermined portion of the ink cartridge mounted in a printer device for printing using ink supplied from a replaceable ink cartridge, and the reading device. A determination unit that determines whether or not a specific display is present in the predetermined portion based on the reading result by the determination unit, and the determination unit determines that the specific display is present in the predetermined portion. In this case, the printer device is characterized by permitting printing.

In the above-mentioned printer device, it is desirable that the reading means reads the predetermined portion when the ink cartridge is moved when it is mounted. In the above-described printer device, it is desirable that the reading unit reads the predetermined portion when moving when printing using the ink cartridge. In the above-described printer device, it is desirable that the specific display is a display that can prohibit the display action when a person other than a person who has the legal right to use the display shows the specific display.

In the printer device described above, it is desirable that the specific display is a registered trademark. In the ink cartridge which is mounted on the printer device and supplies the ink to the printer device, the predetermined portion of the outer surface is read by the reading means when the ink cartridge is mounted on the printer device, and a specific display is displayed on the predetermined portion. It is achieved by an ink cartridge characterized in that is displayed visually.

The above-mentioned ink cartridge preferably has an ink ribbon printed by thermal transfer and a roller around which the ink ribbon is wound. It is desirable that the above-mentioned ink cartridge has a liquid ink and a nozzle that ejects the ink. In the ink cartridge described above, it is desirable that the specific display is a display that can prohibit the display operation when a person other than a person who has the legal right to use this display operation.

In the above-mentioned ink cartridge, it is preferable that the specific display is a registered trademark. In the above-mentioned ink cartridge, it is desirable that SEGA is visibly displayed on the outer surface.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A printer device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printer apparatus according to this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an ink cartridge used in the printer apparatus according to this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a method of mounting the ink cartridge in the printer apparatus according to this embodiment. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a method of reading a predetermined portion of an ink cartridge by the printer device of the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printer device of the present embodiment.

The printer device according to the present embodiment is a color thermal transfer printer device for performing multicolor printing by thermal transfer. The ink cartridge 50 shown in FIG. 2 is inserted into the printer apparatus main body 10 shown in FIG. 1 to perform color printing on paper. As shown in FIG. 1, a paper feed tray 12 for supplying paper to be printed is provided below the printer body 10.
Is provided. Below the paper feed tray 12, a paper discharge port 14 through which printed paper comes out is provided.

The printer body 10 is always covered with an upper cover 16. On the upper surface of the upper cover 16, there are provided a power switch, an indicator (not shown) for displaying a printing state and error contents, various buttons (not shown) such as a print button and a pause button.
Further, the upper cover 16 is provided with an eject button (not shown). Eject button (not shown)
When is pressed, the upper cover 16 pops up,
As shown in, the inside can be seen.

A thermal head 20 for thermal transfer printing is provided on the back side of the upper cover 16. A ribbon detection switch 22 that detects whether or not the ink cartridge 50 is mounted is provided behind the thermal head 20. Inside the printer body 10, a cartridge mounting portion 24 for mounting the ink cartridge 50.
Are formed.

A rubber roller 26 is provided at the back of the cartridge mounting portion 24. The ink ribbon 52 of the ink cartridge 50 shown in FIG.
It is sandwiched between 6 and the thermal head 20. Rubber roller 2
The ink of the ink ribbon 52 is thermally transferred onto the paper by rotating the ink ribbon 52 overlaid on the paper by 6 while pressing it against the thermal head 20.

Rubber roller 26 of cartridge mounting portion 24
A gear 28 is provided on the left front side of the. The ink ribbon 52 of the ink cartridge 50 is wound up by rotating the gear 28. On the upper part of the cartridge mounting portion 24, a reading identification portion 30 for reading and identifying a specific display 54 “SEGA” displayed on the outer surface of the ink cartridge 50 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ink cartridge 5
The 0 frame 56 is provided with a sending roller 57 and a winding roller 58. The ink ribbon 52 pulled out from the delivery roller 57 is wound up by the winding roller 58. An arrow 60 indicating the insertion direction of the ink cartridge 50 is displayed on the insertion side of the upper surface of the frame 56, and a registered trademark "SEGA", which is a specific display 54, is displayed on the left side thereof. The specific display 54 indicates that the ink cartridge 50 is a product of SEGA Enterprises Co., Ltd., and as described later, the ink cartridge 50 is a genuine product by the characteristic method of the present embodiment. Used to identify.

The specific display 54 is a display that can be visually recognized, and the registered trademark "SEGA", which is the specific display 54, is displayed on the ink cartridge 50, so that the ink cartridge 50 is registered. It can be confirmed that it has legitimacy based on the trademark "SEGA". That is, the registered trademark “SEGA”, which is the specific display 54, displays this as the ink cartridge 50.
It is a display that can prohibit the display act when used by a person other than the trademark owner who is the person who has the legitimate title for the act displayed in.

As a specific display 54 of the same kind, "SEG
In addition to the registered trademark "A", "PRODUCED BY"
SEGA "," UNDER LICENSE FROM
There is a display such as "SEGA" and a barcode for displaying a manufacturer and a product. Next, a method for mounting the ink cartridge 50 on the printer body 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, an eject button (not shown) on the front surface of the upper cover 16 is pushed. Then, the upper cover 16
Jumps up. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3, by grasping the frame 56 of the ink cartridge 50 by hand, the arrow 60 of the ink cartridge 50 is moved to the printer main body 10.
To the cartridge mounting portion 24. At this time, as will be described later, the specific display 54 of the ink cartridge 50 is read by the read identifying unit 30, and it is determined whether or not the ink cartridge 50 is a genuine product. Then, after the ink cartridge 50 is fully inserted, the upper cover 16 is closed.

Next, the details of the read identification section 30 of the printer body 10 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4B, the reading sensor 32 is composed of 16 pairs of reflective photosensors 34. Two sets of eight reflective photosensors 34 arranged in a line are prepared, and they are shifted from each other by a half pitch. Thereby, the character width of the specific display 54 of the ink cartridge 50 is detected with a fineness of 16 dots.

Each reflective photosensor 34 includes an LED 34.
a and the phototransistor 34b are paired. The light output from the LED 34a is reflected by the frame 56 of the ink cartridge 50, and the reflected light is received by the phototransistor 34b. In the frame 56 of the ink cartridge 50, the ground portion has a satin finish, while the SEGA character portion has a mirror finish. Therefore, the character part has a different reflectance from the ground part,
It can be detected by the reflective photosensor 34.

The light reception signal of the reading sensor 32 is input to the reading unit 36. When the ink cartridge 50 is inserted, the frame 56 moves directly below the reading sensor 32, so that the intensity of the light reception signal of each reflective photosensor 34 changes according to the shape of the character. The reading unit 36 stores the temporal change of the light reception signal of each reflective photosensor 31. Judgment unit 38
Shows SEGA in the frame 56 from the time-series signal of the received light signal.
It is determined whether or not the character is written. Since the operator manually inserts the ink cartridge 50, the moving speed is not stable. Therefore, the determination unit 38 identifies the character SEGA based on the ratio of the time when the received light signal changes.

The determination unit 38 displays a SEG which is a specific display.
The reference information for identifying the character A is stored in advance, and by comparing this reference information with the light reception signal,
It is determined whether or not the character SEGA is displayed. If the received light signal matches the reference information, a match signal is output, and if it does not match, a mismatch signal is output. The coincidence signal or the non-coincidence signal is output to the printer control unit 40 that controls the entire printer device.

When the coincidence signal is input, the printer controller 4
0 allows printing and the inserted ink cartridge 50
The printing is executed by. When the non-coincidence signal is input, the printer control unit 40 displays an error on an indicator (not shown) and stops printing. Printing cannot be performed until the imitation ink cartridge 50 is removed and the regular ink cartridge 50 is inserted.

The specific display information stored in advance in the judging section 38 is not limited to information on one specific display, but may be information on a plurality of specific displays permitted to be used under a business contract or the like. But it's okay. Multiple specific displays can be used. Next, the operation of the printer device of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, it is determined whether or not the upper cover 16 is open (step S10). When it is determined that the upper cover 16 is open, the reflection type photo sensor 34 of the reading sensor 32 is operated to enter a standby state for reading a specific display (step S11). When the ink cartridge 50 is inserted and passes directly below the reading sensor 32, the reading unit 3
A specific display forming area on the surface of the frame 56 is read by 6 (step S12).

Next, the judging section 38 judges whether or not the display of the frame 56 is the character "SEGA" (step S13). If it is determined that the character SEGA is displayed, the printer control unit 40 permits printing and the inserted ink cartridge 50 executes printing (step S14). If it is determined that the character SEGA is not displayed, the printer control unit 40 displays an error on an indicator (not shown) and performs error processing to stop printing (step S15).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a person other than the person who has the legal right to use the act of displaying on the ink cartridge, the particular act of prohibiting the act of displaying is used and the particular act is used. Since the printing is permitted only when it is determined that the display is present, it is possible to reliably exclude the use by the counterfeit product in which the specific display is not displayed.

A printer device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an outline of the configuration of the printer device of this embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of the printer device of this embodiment. In the first embodiment, the present invention is applied to the thermal transfer type printer device using the ink cartridge containing the ink ribbon, but in the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to the ink jet type printer device in which liquid ink is ejected from the nozzle to print. Apply the invention.

The printer device of the present embodiment has the configuration shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), a carriage 70 for mounting the ink cartridge 80 is provided. The carriage 70 is supported by guide rails 72 and ball screws 74. By rotating the ball screw 74 by the motor 76, the carriage 70 is moved left and right along the guide rail 72.

The carriage 70 has an ink cartridge 8
0 is installed. As shown in FIG. 6B, nozzles 82 are formed on the surface of the ink cartridge 80 on the paper side, and characters or the like are printed on the paper by ejecting liquid ink from the nozzles 82. Ink cartridge 8
The characters "SEGA", which is a registered trademark, are displayed as the specific display 84 on the upper surface and the rear surface of 0. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, the ink cartridge 8
A read identification unit 78 is provided to read and identify the specific display 84 displayed on the rear surface of the display unit 0. Read the rear surface of the ink cartridge 80 that moves left and right during printing, and
Identify whether or not the characters EGA are displayed. The specific configuration of the read identifying unit 78 is the same as that of the read identifying unit 30 of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

Next, the operation of the printer device of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, it is determined whether the ink cartridge 80 is mounted on the carriage 70 (step S20). When the ink cartridge 80 is not set, a warning indicating that "the ink cartridge is not set" is displayed and the process stands by (step S21).

The ink cartridge 80 is the carriage 70.
If it is confirmed that the printing is started by the printer device, it is judged whether or not the printing by the printer device is started (step S2).
2). When printing is started, the read identifying unit 78 is operated to read the rear surface of the ink cartridge 80 that passes through (step S23). Next, the read image is "SE
It is determined whether the character is "GA" (step S2).
4).

When it is determined in step S24 that the character SEGA is displayed, the printer device continues printing using the ink cartridge 80 (step S25). If it is determined in step S24 that the character SEGA is not displayed, the printer displays an error message on an indicator (not shown) and also performs error processing to stop printing (step S26).

As described above, according to this embodiment, when a person other than the person who has the legal right to use the act of displaying on the ink cartridge, the particular display is used, the particular display can be prohibited. Since the printing is permitted only when it is determined that the display is present, it is possible to reliably exclude the counterfeit product on which the specific display is not displayed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the registered trademark is used as the specific display, but it is a display that can prohibit the display operation when it is used by a person other than the person who has the legal right to display this on the ink cartridge or the like. Any display can be used, for example, "PRODUCE
D BY SEGA "," UNDER LICENSE
Anything such as "FROM SEGA" or the like, a bar code indicating a manufacturer or a product, a display mark decided by an industry group, etc., can be effectively eliminated socially by recognizing its uniqueness. .

Further, although the reflection type photo sensor is used as the reading sensor in the above embodiment, other sensors such as a CCD sensor may be used. Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment is the thermal transfer type printer device in which the ink cartridge does not move during printing or the ink jet type printer device in which the ink cartridge moves during printing, the present invention can be applied to other types of printer devices. Good. For example, the present invention can be applied to a thermal transfer printer device in which an ink cartridge moves during printing, a page printer such as a laser printer or an LED printer in which the ink cartridge is replaced, and the like.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, a reading means for reading a predetermined portion of an ink cartridge to be mounted and whether or not a specific display is present on the predetermined portion based on the reading result by the reading means. If the determination unit determines that the specific display is present in the predetermined portion, the printing is permitted, so that the imitation product in which the specific display is not displayed is displayed. The ink cartridge can be reliably removed. Therefore,
It is possible to avoid problems caused by using a poorly imitation ink cartridge.

As a specific display, if a display other than a person who has the right to the act of displaying this on an ink cartridge is used, the display can be prohibited. It is easy to tell what is. Also, in order to be able to use the printer device in the same way as a genuine product, the imitator is forced to illegally display a specific display on the surface of the ink cartridge, which is a counterfeit product. Particularly effective.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printer device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an ink cartridge used in the printer device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a method of mounting the ink cartridge in the printer device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a method for reading a predetermined portion of an ink cartridge by the printer device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the printer device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a printer device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of the printer device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Printer main body 12 ... Paper feed tray 14 ... Paper discharge port 16 ... Top cover 20 ... Thermal head 22 ... Ribbon detection switch 24 ... Cartridge mounting part 26 ... Rubber roller 28 ... Gear wheel 30 ... Read identification part 32 ... Read sensor 34 ... Reflective photosensor 34a ... LED 34b ... Phototransistor 36 ... Reading unit 38 ... Judgment unit 40 ... Printer control unit 50 ... Ink cartridge 52 ... Ink ribbon 54 ... Specific display 56 ... Frame 57 ... Sending roller 58 ... Winding roller 60 ... Arrow 70 ... Carriage 72 ... Guide rail 74 ... Ball screw 76 ... Motor 78 ... Read identification section 80 ... Ink cartridge 82 ... Nozzle 84 ... Specific display

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A printer device for printing using ink supplied from a replaceable ink cartridge, wherein a reading unit for reading a predetermined portion of the ink cartridge to be mounted, and the reading result by the reading unit, A determination unit that determines whether or not a specific display is present in a predetermined portion, and permits printing when the determination unit determines that the specific display is present in the predetermined portion. A printer device characterized by the above. 2. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the reading unit reads the predetermined portion when the ink cartridge is moved when the ink cartridge is mounted. 3. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the reading unit reads the predetermined portion when the ink cartridge moves when printing using the ink cartridge. 4. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the specific display is used by a person other than a person who has a legal right to act to display the specific display on the ink cartridge. A printer device characterized by a display that can prohibit the display action. 5. The printer device according to claim 4, wherein the specific display is a registered trademark. 6. An ink cartridge which is mounted on a printer device and supplies ink to the printer device. When the ink cartridge is mounted on the printer device, a predetermined portion of the outer surface is read by a reading means, and a specific portion of the predetermined portion is read. An ink cartridge characterized in that the display is visible. 7. The ink cartridge according to claim 6, comprising an ink ribbon printed by thermal transfer, and a roller around which the ink ribbon is wound. 8. The ink cartridge according to claim 6, further comprising a liquid ink and a nozzle for ejecting the ink. 9. The ink cartridge according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the specific display is a display act when a person other than a person who has a legal right to use the particular indication uses the specific indication. An ink cartridge characterized by being a display that can prohibit. 10. The ink cartridge according to claim 9, wherein the specific display is a registered trademark. 11. The ink cartridge according to claim 10, wherein SEGA (registered trademark) is visibly displayed on the outer surface of the ink cartridge.