JPS59190866A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit multi-color printing concurrently in a short time by a small- size thermal head printer in which color-forming materials of different colors are melted at different temperatures and printed. CONSTITUTION:In an FF circuit 13, setting resetting are repeated by clock signal of an oscillator 15, low-temperature color-forming indication is made at setting, and high-temperature color-forming indication is made at resetting. When a print requirement signal A is judged by CPU11 through a logical circuit on the basis of setting signal, printing data for one dot line for red-color low-temperature coloration are sent out and stored in a shift register 23. When the clock signal is inversed, a transistor 27 is turned ON through the logical circuit, and heating resistors 251, 25n corresponding to the output terminals of the shift register are driven by voltage VL and heated at low temperatures. In the same way, FF circuit 13 is reset by the next clock signal, and the registers are driven by voltage VH and heated at high temperatures. Multi-color printing can thus be made in a short time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus using a thermal dot printing method.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Currently, printing devices based on thermal dot printing are used in many directions. In addition, various printing methods have been devised for the printing apparatus, not only for printing in one color but also for printing in multiple colors. For example, as a method that takes advantage of the difference in color development depending on heating temperature, υ which has a low-temperature printing section and a high-temperature printing section
, Even in thermal transfer, are each transfer different? It has come to be carried out by having a main page and a printing section.

However, even though it is known in principle that different colors can be obtained by changing the applied temperature, it is not possible to simultaneously print multiple colors with the same head. The current situation is that this has not been done.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was developed in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a printing device that can print in multiple colors at the same time using a thermal dot printing method.

[Summary of the invention]

This invention divides printing for at least one dot line into printing times for each color, transfers print data to a thermal head in accordance with the divided time widths, and after this transfer,
By changing the tlV source voltage of the thermal head according to the printing time width of each color, and driving the heating element of the thermal head according to the above print data with this switched power supply voltage, the coloring body of different colors can be generated at different temperatures. Printing is performed by melting the

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the internal mechanism. Paper P is conveyed by a conveyance path 1 and then conveyed to a transfer section 2. As shown in FIG. The paper P conveyed to this transfer 'gI2 is conveyed through the platen 3 while being pressed by the transfer paper 4 and the thermal head 5.

Thereby, the ink on the transfer paper 4 is transferred onto the paper P by the action of the thermal head 5.

The platen 3 is driven by a motor 6. Then, the transfer paper 4 wound on the reel 7
is guided to a take-up reel 8 via a roller (not shown) and the transfer section 2, and is wound up by the take-up reel 8. After that, the paper P is conveyed on the conveyance path 1 and is discharged to a paper discharge tray (not shown). The thermal head 5 is composed of heating resistors (not shown) arranged in a line, and these heating resistors are driven by a driver (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 2, the transfer paper 4 has two ink layers (coloring material) made of wax, lenone, dye, etc. on one side of the film 4 □, a black ink layer 42 and a red ink layer 43. are layered. For example, the red ink layer 43 is an ink layer mainly made of wax and has a low melting temperature, and the black ink layer 44id is an ink layer mainly made of nyresin and has a high melting temperature. In addition, the transfer process of the thermal head 5 is performed by heating the opposite side of the ink surface of the transfer paper 4 with a heating resistor (not shown). is separated and transferred onto paper P.

FIG. 3 shows the main parts of the electric circuit. That is,
The CPU 11 controls the entire system, and its start signal and stop signal are sent by flip-flop circuits (
It is supplied to the set input terminal and resetter of the FF circuit (FF circuit) 12, and is also supplied to the data input terminal of the D-type FF circuit 13.

Further, the oscillator 15 generates a clock pulse of a predetermined period, and the clock pulse is transmitted to the FF circuit 1.
It is designed to be supplied to the 3°14 clock pulse input terminal. The output of the oscillator 15 is supplied to one input terminal of an AND circuit 16, and is also supplied to one input terminal of an AND 10j path 18 via a 5-inverter circuit 17. The set output of the FF circuit 13 is supplied to the other input terminals of the AND circuits 16 and 18. The output of the AND circuit 16 is the AND circuit 19.2
The redrive signal output from the AND circuit 18 is supplied to one input terminal of the AND circuits 21 and 22. The set output of the FF circuit 14 is supplied to the other input terminal of the AND circuit 19.21, and the set output of the FF circuit 14 is supplied to the other input terminal of the AND circuit 20.22.
4 reset outputs are provided. In addition, the above FF circuit 1
The reset output of No. 4 is supplied to its data input terminal.

The outputs of the AND circuits 19 and 20 are supplied to the CPU 1. The CPU 11 determines the print requester based on the output of the AND circuit 19, and outputs one line of print data corresponding to red from the data output terminal 11, or outputs the print data based on the output of the AND circuit 20). Determine request B,
One line of print data, which is 6- to 6- for black, is output from the data output terminal 111. Above CPU 1
1 output end 11. Print data from and output end 112
The clock signals from the input signal are supplied to the shift register 23. The outputs from the output terminals Q1 to Q of the shift register 23 are respectively supplied to one input terminal of AND circuits 241 to 24n, and the outputs of the AND circuit 18, i.e. A drive signal is supplied. The above AND circuit 24. ~24n
The power supply voltage from the supply voltage switching circuit 26 is applied to the corresponding heating resistors (heating elements) 251 to 25 by the output of the supply voltage switching circuit 26.

Here, the shift register 23. AND circuit 24, ~
24n and heating resistor 25. The thermal head 5 is constituted by 25n.

The outputs of the AND circuits 21 and 22 are connected to NPN transistors 27 and 28 in the supply voltage switching circuit 26, respectively.
supplied at the pace of. Accordingly, when the supply voltage switching circuit 26 is supplied with the output of the AND circuit 21, the transistor 27 is turned on, so that the power supply voltage V is changed to the heating resistor 25 in the thermal head 5. 25 and when the output of the AND circuit 22 is supplied, the transistor 28 is turned on, and the power supply voltage Vl (is applied to the heating resistors 25. to 25 in the thermal head 5.
is applied. However, [power supply voltage V□>power supply voltage vL].

Next, the operation in such a configuration will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

For example, suppose that the CPU 11 outputs a υ start signal. Then, the FF circuit 12 is set, and the pFF circuits 13 and 14 are activated by this set output. As a result, the FF circuit 13 is set by the clock pulse from the oscillator 15, and the FF circuit 14 repeats set-reset every time the clock pulse from the oscillator 15 rises. At this time, the FFl path 140 set output is logic "1"
When the signal is ``'', low-temperature coloring is instructed, and when the logic ``o'' signal is, it is instructed to produce warm-temperature coloring.In addition, by the set output of the FF circuit 13, one input of the AND circuit 16. A logic ``1'' signal is provided at the end. Therefore, when the clock pulse is @1#, AND circuit 1
6 is established and @Q II, the AND circuit 18 is established. As a result, when the FF circuit 14 outputs a set output and the AND circuit 16 outputs a logic "l" signal, the AND circuit 19 is established, and the logic "1" signal from the AND circuit 19 is sent to the CPU 11. Supplied. Based on this signal, the CPU 11 determines the printing job, and outputs one dot line worth of print data for the low-temperature coloring tab red from the output end 111. Then, the print data is stored in the shift register 23 and the corresponding output terminal Ql-Q.

A signal is output from.

Then, when the clock pulse from the oscillator 15 is reversed, the AND circuits 16 and 19 fail, and the AND circuit 1
8 holds true. The output of this AND circuit 18 is supplied as a drive signal to AND9-circuits 21 and 22. At this time, the FF circuit 14
The dart of AND circuit 2) is opened by the set output of . As a result, the drive signal is supplied to the pace of the transistor 27 via the AND circuit 21, and the transistor 27 is turned on. Therefore, the power supply voltage vL is applied to the heating resistors 251 to 25n. Furthermore, the darts of the AND circuits 241 to 24 are opened due to the drive signal. As a result, the AND circuits 24+ to 24n connect the heating resistors 25. ~25 is driven by the power cloth pressure vL. As a result, heat is generated at a low head temperature, so that the heating resistor 25. The red ink layer 43 of the transfer paper 4 corresponding to 25n is melted and dots are transferred onto the paper P.

Then, when the FF circuit 14 is reset, the AND circuit 1
The gate of 9.21 is closed and the dart of AND circuit 20.22 is opened. At this time, a logic "]" signal is outputted from the CAND circuit 16 or 10- by the rise of the clock pulse, and this output signal is supplied to the CPU 11 via the AND circuit 20. Based on this signal, the CPU 71 determines the print request B, and outputs one dot line worth of print data for the upper part coloring, that is, black, from the output terminal Ill. Then, the print data is stored in the shift register 23 and the corresponding output terminal Q+-Q
A signal is output from.

Then, when the clock pulse from oscillator 15 is inverted, AND circuit 16 . ．． 20 is not established, AND circuit 18 is established. The output of this AND circuit 18 is passed through the AND circuit 22 to the transistor 28 as a drive signal.
, the NC is supplied and the transistor 28 is turned on.

As a result, the power supply voltage vH changes to the heating resistors 251 to 25n.
is applied to Furthermore, the drive signals cause the AND circuits 241 to 24n to open 9-1.

As a result, the AND circuits 244 to 24 connect the heating resistor 2 corresponding to the output of the output end of the shift register 23 to Qn.
51 to 25n are driven by the power supply voltage. As a result,
Since the head heat is generated at Hirubuchi, the black ink layer 42 and the red ink layer 43 of the transfer paper 4 corresponding to the heated heating resistors 251 to 25 are melted.
Dots are transferred onto the top. At this time, since the black ink is superior to the red ink, it is the same as if black dot transfer had been performed.

Thereafter, red and black are transferred in the same manner as described above every time the paper P is conveyed by one dot. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, red printed characters 31. The black printed characters 32 are now printed.

In addition, the signal waveforms of each part to explain the above operation are shown in the fourth section.
It is as shown in the figure.

In the above embodiments, a case has been described in which transfer printing using transfer paper is performed, but the present invention is not limited to this, and direct printing without using transfer paper can be performed in the same manner. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the paper has a black colored layer 42 with a high melting temperature and a red colored layer 43 with a low melting temperature on a paste 41, and the thermal head 44
When it generates heat at a low temperature, only the red color forming layer 42 is melted and a red color is developed, which is S# when measured by temperature, and when heated, black,
The red coloring layers 43 and 42 are melted, black and red are mixed, and black, which is superior to red, is produced. In addition, as shown in Figure 8, coloring layers with different melting temperatures are mixed on the film as shown in Figure 8. It may be provided above. In this case, the red dye is melted and transferred onto the paper at a low temperature, and the red and black dyes are melted and flaked at a high temperature, resulting in a black color that is superior to red and is transferred onto the paper.

Furthermore, although the case of two-color printing has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and printing in three or more colors may be performed by adding each power supply section and a dividing circuit corresponding to each printing color. In addition, the heat generation temperature changes depending on the ambient temperature, so
Even clearer printing may be obtained by performing temperature tf correction on the supplied power.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As detailed above, according to the present invention, there is provided a marking TD1 device that uses a thermal dot printing method and can print in other colors at the same time, reducing the size of the device, shortening printing time, and reducing costs. can.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 to FIG. 6 show an embodiment of this invention.
Figure 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the internal mechanism, Figure 2 is a diagram showing the ink layer of the transfer paper, Figure 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the main parts of the electric circuit, and Figure 4 is a diagram showing the structure of the main parts of the electric circuit. A signal waveform diagram of the main parts in the operation, FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation,
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a printing example, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a sheet of another embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of a transfer paper of another embodiment. P...paper, 4...transfer body, 41...film,
42...Black ink layer (coloring body), 43...Red ink layer (coloring body), 5...Thermal head, =1
4- Horn...CPU, 12.13.14...FF circuit, 1
5... Oscillator, 16.1 &, 19.20.21. 22.24. ~24...AND circuit, 23...Shift register, 251-25n...Heating resistor (heating element), 26...Supply voltage switching circuit, 27.28...
transistor. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue 15-? (Fig. 51 Fig. 2 XjT Fig. 5-352- Fig. 6 Fig. 8

Claims (1)

[Claims] A dividing means for dividing printing for at least one dot line into printing times for each color in a printing device that performs printing by melting color forming bodies of different colors according to differences in heat generation temperature of a thermal head; , a transfer means for transferring print data to the thermal head according to the time width divided by this means, and a switching means for switching the power supply voltage of the thermal head according to the printing time width of each color after the print data is transferred by this means. Then, by driving the heating element of the thermal head according to the print data using the power supply voltage switched by this switching means, the color forming element of the specific color is melted at different temperatures and printed. What is claimed is: 1. A printing device characterized by comprising: printing means for performing.