JPH11245493A - Ink sheet cassette and recording apparatus using the ink sheet cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink sheet cassette capable of recording on a plurality of print media having different lengths by using one kind of ink sheet cassette, and a recording apparatus using the cassette. SOLUTION: A standard paper having a length L1 and a panoramic paper having a length L2 twice as long as L1 are incorporated therein, and an ink sheet (ribbon) holding YMC ink sequentially and repeatedly in a winding direction is provided. When recording is performed by mounting an ink sheet (ribbon) cassette having an ink cycle in which each color of YMC ink is sequentially repeated, the ink sheet (managed in the management table managed in units of the standard paper length L1) is used. Based on the usage status of the (ribbon) and whether the recording medium used for recording is standard paper or panoramic paper, an unused ink sheet (can be used for recording on the designated printing paper) Control to perform cueing of the ribbon).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink sheet cassette and a recording apparatus using the cassette, and more particularly to an ink sheet cassette for recording a color image and a recording apparatus using the cassette.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 10, an ink ribbon used in a sublimation type printer which forms a color image in a frame sequential manner has Y (yellow), M (magenta) and C (cyan) on the ribbon. Are arranged so as to appear repeatedly, and the length of each color is determined by the size of the printing paper. That is, in one cycle of the Y, M, and C inks, the ribbon length (L) to which each ink is applied
Is equal to the maximum length of the recordable area on the printing paper,
Alternatively, in consideration of the conveyance accuracy of the ink ribbon and the printing paper, the recording paper is created slightly longer than the maximum length of the recordable area on the printing paper.

[0003]

Therefore, since the length (L) of each color ink ribbon in the conventional ink ribbon depends on the length of the printing paper, the ink ribbon and the ink ribbon for each printing paper having a different length are used. Had to be manufactured with an ink ribbon cassette containing the same.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and uses an ink sheet cassette capable of recording on a plurality of print media having different lengths using one type of ink sheet cassette. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an ink sheet cassette of the present invention has the following configuration.

In other words, there is provided an ink sheet cassette containing a multi-color ink sheet in which inks of a plurality of colors are sequentially and repeatedly held in a longitudinal direction, wherein the first recording medium has a first length; An ink sheet cassette wherein the second length of the second recording medium having a second length longer than the length is an ink cycle in which each of the plurality of colors of ink is sequentially repeated. Is provided.

Here, the plurality of colors are preferably cyan, magenta, and yellow. Because of the classification of each color ink, the cyan ink, magenta ink, and yellow ink that constitute one cycle of the ink are: A first mark indicating each color segment is further provided between a set of inks of cyan, magenta, and yellow inks constituting one cycle and another set of inks continuous with the set of inks. It is desirable that a second mark indicating a division of one cycle be provided. Further, the second length is desirably n times the first length (n is a positive integer).

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus which carries out recording by mounting the ink sheet cassette having the above-mentioned structure, wherein a winding means for winding or rewinding the multicolor ink sheet; Storage means for storing a management table for managing the use status of the multicolor ink sheet in units of the length of the first recording medium; and whether the recording medium used for recording is the first recording medium, or A designation unit for designating whether the recording medium is the second recording medium, a use status of the multicolor ink sheet managed in the management table, and a type of the recording medium designated by the designation unit. And a control unit for controlling the driving of the winding unit so as to find an unused ink sheet that can be used for recording on a designated recording medium.

Here, it is preferable that a recording head for recording on a recording medium in accordance with a thermal transfer method using the ink sheet cassette is further provided.

[0010] Further, it is preferable that a detecting means for detecting the first mark and the second mark is provided, and the management table stores the first recording medium in length units from the top of the multicolor ink sheet in order. It is preferable to hold information on whether or not the ink sheet is used.

With such a configuration, when the recording medium is the first recording medium, the control means controls the multicolor ink sheet up to the unused ink sheet area closest to the head of the multicolor ink sheet. If the recording medium is the second recording medium, at least n unused areas of the length of the first recording medium continue in the multicolor ink sheet if the recording medium is the second recording medium. The multicolor ink sheet can be controlled to be wound or rewound to an unused area of the ink sheet that is the unused area closest to the head of the multicolor ink sheet.

Further, the winding means winds or rewinds the multicolor ink sheet under the control of the control means until the detecting means detects the second mark. Only the multicolor ink sheet can be wound up.

According to the present invention, a first recording medium having a first length and having a built-in multicolor ink sheet holding inks of a plurality of colors sequentially in the longitudinal direction,
Of a second recording medium having a second length longer than the length of
When printing is performed by mounting an ink sheet cassette in which the second length is the cycle of the ink in which each color of the plurality of inks is sequentially repeated, management is performed using the length of the first printing medium as a unit. Based on the usage status of the multicolor ink sheet managed in the table and whether the recording medium used for recording is the first recording medium or the second recording medium, the designated An operation is performed to find an unused ink sheet that can be used for recording on a recording medium.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows, as an example using an ink sheet as a typical embodiment of the present invention, a recording head which performs recording on a recording medium in accordance with a thermal transfer method using an ink ribbon cassette incorporating an ink ribbon as one form thereof. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording device mounted.

In FIG. 1, a printing paper 4 is pressed against a rubber portion of a conveying roller 6 by a pinch roller (not shown) in a state of being backed up on a platen 5. Transport roller 6
A gear 7 is attached to the shaft 6a, and is connected to a transport motor M1 via a reduction gear 7a. The transport roller 6 is rotated by the rotation of the transport motor M1, and the printing paper 4 is transported. Therefore, when the recording head 18 contacts the printing paper 4 to perform recording, the platen 5 maintains the position of the printing paper 4.

A shaft 12 is fixed to the front side of the platen 5 in parallel with the platen 5, and a rack 13 is fixed to the opposite side of the carriage 14. Guided and supported movably in the direction of arrow B. That is, the carriage 14 can reciprocate in a direction perpendicular to the transport path A of the printing paper 4.

A part of the belt 11 is fixed to the carriage 14 and is stretched by a pulley gear 9 and a pulley 10. The pulley gear 9 is connected to the carriage motor M2 via reduction gears 8a and 8b, and the rotation of the carriage motor M2 rotates the pulley gear 9 and the pulley 10, whereby the belt 11 is driven and the carriage 14 moves along the shaft 12. It reciprocates in the direction of arrow B.

The carriage 14 is provided with a carriage table 35 for mounting an ink ribbon cassette (see FIGS. 2 and 3). The carriage table 35 is provided with a sensor S3 for identifying the color of the multi-color ribbon (see FIG. 5).
Is provided with a sensor S2 for detecting the presence or absence and type of the ink ribbon cassette and the end of the ink ribbon.

Further, on the upper surface of the carriage table 35, pins 35a, 35b and hooks 35c, 35d, 35
e is provided.

FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view of an ink ribbon cassette (hereinafter, referred to as a cassette) 40, and FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the ink ribbon cassette. As shown in FIG. 3, the ink ribbon cassette 40 is formed of an upper case 41 and a lower case 42, and is loaded on the carriage table 35 with the ink ribbon 49 stored therein.

The ink ribbon 49 is wound around the supply core 43, passes through rollers 48 rotatably mounted on the protrusions 42a and 42b of the lower case 42, and is once exposed to the outside of the cassette at an opening 42c of the lower case. After entering the cassette again through the lower case opening 42d and further exposing the cassette outside through the lower case opening 42e, it re-enters the cassette through the lower case opening 42f, as shown in FIG.
Is wound around a take-up core 44 which is driven to rotate by a take-up spool 23 shown in FIG.

Incidentally, the cassette 40 is the carriage table 3
5, the ink ribbon 49 exposed from the openings 42c and 42d of the cassette 40 faces the recording head 18 and generates heat in accordance with the recording information. 18 for heating. Further, the ink ribbon 49 is attached to the lower case 4.
The lower case 42 is formed by pressure contact springs 45 and 46 provided on
Are respectively urged by the protrusions 42g and 42h. In addition, felts 45a and 46a are attached to the press contact springs 45 and 46, respectively, to prevent the ink ribbon 49 from being damaged by press contact.

Further, the tension spring 47 urges the ink ribbon 49 upward at the portion k, and the pressure contact spring 4
In cooperation with 5 and 46, the slack of the ink ribbon 49 is removed.

Further, a part of the ink ribbon 49 is exposed from the opening 42n of the lower case 42.
When 0 is loaded at a predetermined position of the carriage table 35, the sensor S2 is located at the opening 42n of the cassette 40, and the sensor S2 detects the ribbon end of the ink ribbon 49. The sensor S3 is connected to the opening 42 of the lower case 42.
The bar code (described later) of the ink ribbon 49 is detected while facing the position of the ink ribbon 49 exposed from e and 42f.

Next, the case where the ink ribbon cassette is loaded on the carriage table 35 will be described.

First, when the ink ribbon cassette is loaded, the openings 41a, 41b, 42i, and 42j provided in the upper case and the lower case of the cassette 40 are connected to the pins 35, respectively.
a, 35b, and the hook 35c is elastically engaged with the locking portion 42k of the lower case, thereby making the cassette 4
0 can be removably loaded on the carriage table 35.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit of the printing apparatus shown in FIG. In FIG. 4 showing a control circuit, 1700 is an interface for inputting a recording signal transmitted from a host computer (hereinafter, referred to as a host), 1701 is an MPU, 1702 is a ROM for storing a control program executed by the MPU 1701, and 1703 is various data This is a DRAM for storing the above-mentioned recording signals and recording data supplied to the recording head 18. 170
Reference numeral 4 denotes a gate array (GA) for controlling supply of print data to the print head 18;
It also controls data transfer between the MPU 700, MPU 1701, and RAM 1703. M1 is a carriage motor for transporting the recording head 18, and M1 is a transport motor for transporting the printing paper. Reference numeral 1705 denotes a head driver for driving the recording head 18, and 1706 and 1707 denote transport motors M, respectively.
1. A motor driver for driving the carrier motor M2.

The operation of the above control configuration will be described. When a recording signal enters the interface 1700, the gate array 17
04 and the MPU 1701 converts the recording signal into recording data for printing. Then, the motor driver 17
06 and 1707 are driven, and the head driver 1
The recording head 18 is driven according to the recording data sent to 705, and recording is performed.

Also, an ink ribbon controller 1709
Is an ink ribbon motor 17 according to an instruction from the MPU.
10 is driven to take up the ink ribbon 49 contained in the cassette 40. Further, the ink ribbon controller 1709 controls the operation of the sensors S2 and S3, inputs the outputs from these sensors, converts them into digital signals, and transmits them to the MPU 1701.

As a result, the MPU 1701 detects the ribbon end of the ink ribbon 49,
9 is detected.

Further, an EEPROM 1708 defines an ink ribbon information holding table, which will be described later, and stores necessary information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the configuration of each color ink applied to the ink ribbon 49 and the length of the printing paper.

As shown in FIG. 5, the lengths of the Y (yellow), M (magenta), and C (cyan) ink ribbons per cycle arranged so as to appear repeatedly on the ink ribbon 49 are shown. Is equal to the length (L2) of “panoramic paper”. "Standard paper" used for normal printing
(L1) is half the length (L2) of the panoramic paper.

The specific size of the standard paper and the panoramic paper is 100 mm (M) × 148.
mm (L1), 100 mm (M) x 296 for panoramic paper
mm (L2) is typical.

In the recording apparatus of this embodiment, two types of printing paper of the above-mentioned "standard paper" and "panoramic paper" are used.

Next, with respect to ink ribbon movement control using a recording apparatus having the above-configured ink ribbon mounted thereon, a flowchart shown in FIG. 6 and a DRAM 170 shown in FIG.
The operation table (ink ribbon information holding table) for controlling the ink ribbon defined in No. 3 will be described. With this recording apparatus, recording can be performed on both standard paper and panoramic paper using one type of ink cassette.

First, in step S100, the user designates from the host whether to use standard paper or panoramic paper as printing paper. This designation information is transferred to the recording device as print paper information via the interface 1700, and is set in a predetermined area of the DRAM 1703.

Next, in the processing from step S110,
Based on the set printing paper information, the MPU 1701
Controls via the ink ribbon controller 1709 and the ink ribbon motor 1701 to take up the ink ribbon to the ink unused area.

Here, the winding control of the unused area of the ink ribbon will be briefly described.

When the power of the recording apparatus is turned on, the EEPR
Information of the ink ribbon information holding table defined in the OM 1708 is developed in a predetermined area of the DRAM 1703.
The ink ribbon information holding unit holds information on a used portion of the ink corresponding to the ink ribbon cassette. FIG. 7 shows the configuration of the table.

In FIG. 7, one frame in the table corresponds to one standard sheet, and one panoramic sheet is represented by two frames. The numbers assigned to the frames in the table are assigned in ascending order from the head of the ink ribbon to the ribbon end. In this embodiment, since the length of one cycle of each of the Y, M, and C inks of the ink ribbon corresponds to the length of the panoramic paper as described above, one set of two frames (Y, M) in FIG. , C) can store information indicating the state of the ink ribbon area. In FIG. 7, the shaded portion indicates a used area. Therefore, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 7, the area with the number "1" means that the ink is used by the standard paper, and the numbers "3" and "4" mean that the area is used by the panorama paper.

Therefore, when the ink ribbon is in use as shown in FIG. 7, when the standard paper is used next, the recording operation is performed by using the ink ribbon in the ink ribbon area corresponding to the number "2" in FIG. Is performed to move the ink ribbon to the head of the area of the number “2”. On the other hand, when panoramic paper is used, the ink ribbon is placed at the beginning of the area of the number "5" in order to perform recording using the ink ribbon areas corresponding to the numbers "5" and "6" in FIG. Control to move to.

Therefore, in step S110, it is determined whether the printing paper to be used is standard paper or panoramic paper. If it is standard paper, the process proceeds to step S120. If it is panoramic paper, the process proceeds to step S130. move on.

In step S120, the ink ribbon information holding table is searched, and the ink ribbon is wound up to the head of the area where the ink is not used (the head of the number "3" in FIG. 7). Control to rewind. On the other hand, in step S130, in an area where ink is not used, an odd number and an even number are used in order of at least two consecutive frames until the head of the area with the smallest number in the unused area (the number “5” in FIG. 7). Wind up the ink ribbon.

When the process of step S120 or S130 is completed, the process proceeds to step S140, where the host transfers the print data to the printing apparatus and executes the printing operation.

Incidentally, the cueing of the ink ribbon in step S120 or S130 is performed using the first mark (FIG. 5) provided between the C ink and the M ink and between the M ink and the Y ink.
The middle bar code 202) is a second mark (see FIG. 5) attached to each set of Y ink, M ink, and C ink for one cycle.
The middle barcode 201) is read by the sensor S3, the information is processed by the MPU 1701, and the driving of the ink ribbon motor 1710 is controlled based on the processing result. Specifically, the numbers “1”,
The cueing of the odd-numbered ink ribbon areas such as "3" and "5" is performed by the first and second marks, but the numbers "2", "4", and "6" shown in FIG. The cue of the even-numbered ink ribbon area is performed by winding or rewinding the ink ribbon to an odd-numbered position immediately before the number, and thereafter further extending the ink ribbon by a fixed amount (length L1) from the cueing position. It is performed by winding.

When the power supply of the recording apparatus is cut off, as the end processing, the EE is stored in the latest ink ribbon information holding table held in the DRAM 1703.
The contents of the ink ribbon information holding table stored in the PROM 1708 are updated.

Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, an ink ribbon in which the cycle of each color ink is equivalent to the length of the panoramic paper is used, and the usage status of the ink ribbon is changed to that of the standard paper half the size of the panoramic paper. The ink ribbon is controlled in accordance with the length of use, and the winding / rewinding of the ink ribbon is controlled in accordance with the managed use state. You can use the ink ribbon so that it does not.

In the embodiment described above, as shown in FIG. 5, an example using two types of panoramic paper having the same width (W) as the standard paper and twice the length of the standard paper has been described. However, the present invention is not limited by this.
For example, as shown in FIG. 8, assuming that the length of the standard paper is L1, the length of one color of ink in one cycle is three times the length (L3).
By preparing an ink ribbon with
It is possible to cope with printing paper of a plurality of types of lengths, such as double panoramic paper and triple panoramic paper. Needless to say, even in the case of the half paper in which the length direction of the standard paper is halved, the management of the unused area of the ink ribbon based on the half paper is performed in the same manner as described in the above embodiment. Control becomes possible.

In the embodiment described above, the cueing of the even numbered ink ribbon areas such as the numbers "2", "4", and "6" in FIG. A fixed amount (length L) from the first mark and the second mark)
Although the example performed by winding the ink ribbon only in 1) has been described, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG.
02, in addition to the second mark 201, a third mark 203 may be provided in units of length (L1) outside the effective recording area, and the head may be located by detecting it.

Further, in the embodiment described above, the recording apparatus has been described as an example of a serial type recording apparatus which performs recording while reciprocatingly scanning a recording head and transporting a recording medium. It is not limited. For example, the present invention can be applied to a recording apparatus having a so-called full-line recording head in which the recording width of the recording head is long.

Although the recording method of the recording apparatus in the embodiment described above is described as a thermal transfer method, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to a recording apparatus using a sublimation recording method.

Even if the present invention is applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus (for example, a copier, a facsimile) composed of one device Device).

Another object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU) of the system or apparatus.
And MPU) read and execute the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided on a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instructions of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0060]

As described above, according to the present invention, one type of ink sheet cassette can be commonly used even when recording is performed using recording media having different sizes. There is no need to provide a plurality of different ink sheet cassettes, and it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost of the ink sheet cassette.

[0061]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording apparatus equipped with a recording head that performs recording on a recording medium according to a thermal transfer method using an ink ribbon cassette, which is a typical embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view of the ink ribbon cassette 40.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the ink ribbon cassette.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit of the printing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a configuration of each color ink applied to an ink ribbon 49 and a length of a printing paper.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating ink ribbon movement control.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an ink ribbon information holding table.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of one modification of the ink ribbon.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of still another modified example of the ink ribbon.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the configuration of a conventional ink ribbon and printing paper.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Printing paper 5 Platen 6 Conveyance roller 14 Carriage 18 Recording head 35 Carriage table 40 Ink ribbon cassette 49 Ink ribbon 201, 202 Barcode 1700 Interface 1701 MPU 1702 ROM 1703 DRAM 1704 Gate array (GA) 1705 Head driver 1706, 1707 Motor driver 1708 EEPROM 1709 Ink ribbon controller 1710 Ink ribbon motor M1 Transport motor M2 Carriage motor S2, S3 Sensor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Kyogoku 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Takanobu Shiraiwa 3- 30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inside the corporation

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An ink sheet cassette containing a multi-color ink sheet which holds a plurality of color inks in a longitudinal direction in a repeated manner, wherein the first recording medium has a first length, and the first recording medium has a first length. The second recording medium having a second length longer than the length,
Wherein the length of the ink sheet cassette is a cycle of ink in which each of the plurality of inks is sequentially repeated. 2. The ink sheet cassette according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of colors are cyan, magenta, and yellow. 3. A first mark indicating each color division is provided between cyan ink, magenta ink and yellow ink constituting one cycle of the ink, and cyan ink and magenta ink constituting one cycle of the ink. And a second mark indicating the one-period division is provided between one set of ink by yellow ink and another set of ink continuous with the one set of ink. 3. The ink sheet cassette according to 2. 4. The second length is equal to n of the first length.
The ink sheet cassette according to claim 3, wherein the number is double (n is a positive integer). 5. A recording apparatus that performs recording by mounting the ink sheet cassette according to claim 4, wherein: a winding unit that winds or rewinds the multicolor ink sheet; and the multicolor ink. Storage means for storing a management table for managing the use status of the sheet in units of the length of the first recording medium; and whether the recording medium used for recording is the first recording medium;
Alternatively, based on a designating means for designating the second recording medium, a use status of the multicolor ink sheet managed in the management table, and a type of the recording medium designated by the designating means. And a control means for controlling the driving of the winding means so as to find an unused ink sheet which can be used for recording on the designated recording medium. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a recording head that performs recording on a recording medium using the ink sheet cassette according to a thermal transfer method. 7. The recording apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising detection means for detecting the first mark and the second mark. 8. The management table includes, in order from the top of the multicolor ink sheet, a length unit of the first recording medium,
8. The recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the recording apparatus stores information on whether the ink sheet is used. 9. The control means, if the recording medium is the first recording medium, winds up the multicolor ink sheet to an unused ink sheet area closest to the head of the multicolor ink sheet. Or, if the recording medium is the second recording medium, an ink sheet in which at least n unused areas of the length of the first recording medium are continuous in the multicolor ink sheet. 9. The control of winding or rewinding the multicolor ink sheet up to an unused ink sheet area closest to the leading side of the multicolor ink sheet in the unused area of the multicolor ink sheet. Recording device. 10. The winding means winds or rewinds the multicolor ink sheet under the control of the control means until the detecting means detects the second mark. The recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the multicolor ink sheet is wound up by one length.