JPS61199975A - Image former - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To notify a temperature lowering-waiting condition of a thermal head by suppressing the increase in the number of parts by a method in which when the temperature of thermal head exceeds an allowable range, a displayer is flickered. CONSTITUTION:When it is judged that the temperature of a thermal head exceeds an allowable range, the displayer 181 of an operating panel 18 is flickered. In short, a pulse signal is sent out from a controller 17 and supplied to a drive circuit 19. In the circuit 19, the lamp, etc., of the panel 18 is flickered according to the pulse signal. The condition is kept during the period when the temperature of the head 11 exceeds an allowable range, and the transferring action is stopped. When the temperature of the head 11 is lowered beyond the allowable range, the flickering of the displayer is stopped and usual action is restored.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using a thermal head.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

As is well known, image forming apparatuses using thermal heads include those that use a thermal head to heat and melt the ink on an ink ribbon and transfer it to paper, or those that use heat generated by the thermal head to color the paper itself and create an image. There are different types of formations. In either case, the temperature of the thermal head itself rises during transfer.

If the temperature exceeds the allowable range, the transfer operation must be temporarily interrupted and the temperature must be allowed to drop. but,
In this case, if the transfer operation is simply stopped by the control section of the apparatus main body, it is not possible for the operator to know whether the transfer operation is due to a stoppage or a malfunction.

However, providing a means for notifying this would result in an increase in the number of parts, so it was not a good idea and it was necessary to take some measure.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an image forming apparatus that can notify an operator of a waiting state for a temperature drop of a thermal head while suppressing an increase in the number of parts. This is what I am trying to do.

[Summary of the invention]

In this invention, for example, the temperature of a thermal head is detected, and if the temperature exceeds a permissible range, the existing display section is blinked to notify the standby state of the transfer operation.

[Embodiments of the invention]

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

In Figure 1, the thermal head 11 is provided with a thermistor 12 as temperature detection means. This thermistor 12 has a power supply ■, resistors 13, 14, . capacitor 15
A bias circuit consisting of the following is provided. The output signal of the thermistor 12 is supplied to an A/D converter 16, and a digital signal corresponding to the temperature of the thermal head 11 is output from the A/D converter 16.

This digital signal is supplied to a control section 17 composed of, for example, a microcomputer, and this control section 17 detects the temperature of the thermal head 11 from the input signal, and a drive circuit 19 that drives the operation panel 18 according to the detected temperature. And the thermal head 11 etc. are controlled.

Figure 2 shows the operation of the control section 17. That is, in the control section 17, the thermal head temperature is read in step S1, and step S! It is determined whether the thermal head temperature read at is within the allowable range. As a result.

If it is within the allowable range, normal operation is performed in step S, and control is transferred to step S1 again.

On the other hand, the step S! If it is determined that the thermal head temperature exceeds the allowable range, it is determined in step S4 whether or not transfer is currently in progress, and if transfer is in progress, the transfer operation is continued. When the transfer operation is completed, the display section 181 of the operation panel 18 blinks in step S. That is, the control section 17 outputs a pulse signal that is repeatedly turned on and off every several 1Qms, for example, and this signal is supplied to the drive circuit 19. Drive circuit 1
At 9, lamps and the like on the operation panel 18 are blinked in response to this pulse signal. From this state, control is again transferred to recording step S1, and this state is maintained as long as the temperature of the thermal head 11 exceeds the permissible range, and the transfer operation is stopped. Further, when the temperature of the thermal head 11 falls within the permissible range, the display stops blinking and normal operation is resumed.

Incidentally, the display may be blinked by blinking the entire display section 18 of the operation panel 18 or blinking a specific lamp. According to the above embodiment, when the temperature of the thermal heater 11 falls within the permissible range, If the limit is exceeded, the display section iti of the operation panel 18 is blinking. Therefore, it is possible to notify the operator of the standby state of the transfer operation.

Moreover, the notification operation is performed using the existing display section 111. Since it uses , it is possible to suppress an increase in the number of parts, which is economically advantageous.

It goes without saying that this invention can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of notifying the operator of the temperature drop waiting state of the thermal head while suppressing an increase in the number of parts.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart shown to explain the operation. 11... Thermal head, 12... Thermistor. 17... Control unit, 18... Operation panel, 181...
・Display section.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A thermal head that is driven according to transfer data, a temperature detection means that detects the temperature of this thermal head, a display section that displays various operating states, and the detected temperature exceeds the permissible range. An image forming apparatus comprising: a control means for blinking the display section. (2) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means causes the entire display section to blink. (3) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means causes a part of the display section to blink.