JPS6260679A - Thermal transfer recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically identify the form of an ink sheet being set and easily perform thermal transfer recording in various modes, by providing a means for detecting the number of colors of inks possessed by an ink sheet and the lengths of ink parts of the ink sheet. CONSTITUTION:When identifying an ink sheet, color detection signals outputted from a color sensor 111 are stored into the first register 112 or the second register 113. The first register 112 stores the first color detection signal outputted from the sensor 111, whereas the second register 113 stores the second and later color detection signals. The contents of the registers 112, 113 are compared with each other by a comparator 114 each time a color detection signal is stored into the second register 113. A counter 115 is provided for counting the number of colors of inks possessed by the ink sheet, and is incremented by 1 each time the comparator 114 detects discord. A memory 116 stores the length of an ink part in the longitudinal direction of the ink sheet.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording device, and is particularly suitable for a thermal transfer recording device capable of performing color recording.

(B) Prior art Recently, color printing has been attempted in various recording devices, and even in thermal transfer recording devices, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-14026
As seen in Publication No. 6, colorization is performed.

Such a thermal transfer recording device is equipped with an ink sheet having a plurality of color inks repeated in the longitudinal direction, and performs color X-printing by sequentially overlapping recording of each color ink on a single sheet of recording paper.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention By the way, in recording by the above-mentioned thermal transfer recording device,
It is necessary to be able to perform various types of recording, such as color recording with a different number of colors or recording with different areas, and in this case, the ink sheet to be used should be By making the ink sheets different, the ink sheet can be used effectively without wasting it. For this reason, thermal transfer recording apparatuses are required to be configured to be able to use a variety of different ink sheets.

Here, if the ink sheet used is different, the thermal transfer recording operation will naturally be different, so it is necessary to recognize the form of the set ink sheet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to automatically identify the form of an ink sheet completely set in a thermal transfer recording device, and to easily perform various types of thermal transfer recording.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a thermal transfer recording device that performs recording by thermally transferring ink from an ink sheet to recording paper, and detects the number of colors and length of ink that the ink sheet has. It is characterized by comprising a detection means.

(E) Function The ink sheet set in the thermal transfer recording device is conveyed in the forward direction, so that the number of colors and length of ink contained in the ink sheet are automatically detected.

(F) Embodiment FIGS. 1 and 2 are side views showing different states of an embodiment of the present invention.

The ink sheet (2) drawn out from the ink sheet roll (1) has, for example, yellow, magenta, cyan and black inks repeated in this order in its longitudinal direction. Then, the ink sheet (2) is attached to the guide shaft (3) and the first head guide shaft (4).
) to the thermal head (5) and the rotatable platen (
6) and the second head guide shaft (7).
), the contact between the conveying roller (8) and the pressure roller (9), and the guide shaft (10) to reach the take-up roll (11).

On the other hand, the recording paper (
13) is an insertion opening (1) of an insertion path (15) provided through a guide roller (14) between two plates with a slight gap between them.
5a), passes through the gap between the first conveyance roller (16) and the first pressure roller (17), passes through the gap between the thermal head (5) and the platen (6), and then passes through the gap between the thermal head (5) and the platen (6). 2
It passes through the contact between the Wi feed roller (18) and the second pressure roller (19) and reaches the discharge port (20a) of a discharge path (20) provided between two plates with a slight gap between them.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are a perspective view and a top sectional view showing the main parts of the transport drive system for the ink sheet (2).

The drive motor (30) can rotate in forward and reverse directions, and has a gear (31).
) (32), conveying roller (8), gears (33) (34) and gear (35) coaxially provided on this roller.
(36) Each belt stretched between (37>(38)
to drive.

The gears (35) and (36) are each connected to a spring clutch (39).
) (40) and the gear (41>(42)).The spring clutch (39) transfers this rotational force to the gear only when the gear (35) rotates counterclockwise in the figure. (41), and conversely, the spring clutch 40) transmits this rotational force to the gear (42) only when the gear (36) rotates clockwise in the figure.

Gak meshing with gear (41X42) 43) <44
) are friction rings (45>(46>
It is connected to the holding reel body (47) of the take-up roll (11) and the holding reel body (48) of the ink sheet roll (1) on shafts (49) and (50) via. In addition, the gear (
43) and (44) are spring clutches (51) and (5), respectively.
2), and the spring clutch (51) has a gear (43
) is prohibited from rotating counterclockwise, and the spring clutch (
52) prohibits clockwise rotation of the gear 44).

In this configuration, when the ink sheet (2) is conveyed in the left direction (forward direction) in the figure, the drive motor (30) is rotated in the forward direction (ie, clockwise).

Due to this forward rotation, the conveying roller (8) rotates counterclockwise, and the healds (37) and (38) rotate counterclockwise, respectively. The rotation of the belt (37) is transmitted to the gears (41) (43>) through the spring clutch (39),
Therefore, the holding reel body (47>) rotates clockwise, and the take-up roll (11) transports the ink sheet (2).
Wind up. On the other hand, the rotation of the belt (38) is not transmitted to the gear (42>) by the spring clutch (40).

Therefore, the holding reel body (48) is attached to the ink sheet roll (
When the ink sheet (2) is pulled out from 1), it rotates clockwise, but the friction ring (
46> applies a braking force, and pack tension is applied to the ink sheet (2) pulled out from the ink sheet roll (1), so that the ink sheet (2) moves in the forward direction without loosening or wrinkles. Can be transported.

On the other hand, when the ink sheet (2) is conveyed rightward in the figure (in the opposite direction), the drive motor (30) is rotated in the reverse direction, that is, counterclockwise, and the various parts that accompany this rotation are rotated. The operation is symmetrical to the case described above. That is, due to the reverse rotation of the drive motor (30), the conveying roller (8) rotates clockwise, and the holding reel body (48) rotates counterclockwise. On the other hand, as the holding reel body (47: is the ink sheet 2) is conveyed in the opposite direction, l! It rotates clockwise against the braking force of the J friction ring 5).

As described above, the ink sheet (2) is conveyed in both directions by the forward and reverse rotation of the single drive motor (30), and furthermore, no slack or wrinkles occur during such feeding.

5 and 6 are a perspective view and a side sectional view showing the peripheral mechanism of the thermal hemet (5).

The thermal head (5) is a pair of plate brackets (60)
The platen (6) can be moved toward and away from the platen (6).

The plate bracket (60) has the first branch (61) and the vgz
It has a substantially V-shape consisting of branch parts (62), and the connecting part of each branch part is rotatably supported by a shaft (63).

A thermal head <5), a first head guide shaft (4), and a second head guide shaft (7) are arranged in parallel on the first branch (61), and a cam is disposed on the second branch (62). Cam pressure contact (65) having pressure contact roller (64)
) are provided. In addition, the plate bracket (60) is rotated clockwise about the shaft (63) by a tensioned spring (67) between the tip of the second branch (62) and the shaft (66). It's broken.

A cam support shaft (70) equipped with a fan-shaped eccentric cam (68) and a sensor shutter (69) is disposed above and parallel to the cam support shaft (65), and is connected to the cam pressure roller (64) and the eccentric The cam (68) is opposed to the cam (68). Further, a sensor (71) made of a photo ink rubber is disposed within the movement path of the sensor shutter (69), and the sensor (71) is ) outputs a 1 signal, and outputs the O word in a state where the sensor shutter <69) is located outside the sensor (71).

Thus, the eccentric cam (68) is connected to the cam support shaft (70).
When located higher up (Fig. 6), the plate bracket (6
0) is rotated by the rotation biasing force of the spring (67).
Rotate clockwise around the thermal head (5).
is pressed against the platen (6). On the other hand, eccentric cam (68)
When the eccentric cam (68) rotates and is located below the cam support shaft (70), the eccentric cam (68) comes into contact with the cam pressure roller (64>), and therefore the plate-shaped plastic cant (6o) is pressed against the spring (
The thermal head (5) rotates counterclockwise around the shaft (63) against the rotation biasing force of the platen 6).
distance from

In this embodiment, in an initial state such as when an original is input into the printer, the thermal head (5) is in pressure contact with the platen (6), that is, the eccentric cam (68) is in contact with the cam support shaft. (70) (hereinafter referred to as the first state).Then, when separating the thermal head (5) from the platen (6), the eccentric cam (68) moves clockwise approximately 180'. The position below the cam support shaft (7o) (hereinafter referred to as the second position) is rotated.
state). Next, when the thermal head (5) is brought into pressure contact with the platen (6), the eccentric cam (68) is rotated approximately 180 degrees counterclockwise to the first state. Note that while the eccentric cam (68) is moving from the first state to the second state and vice versa, the sensor shutter (
69) passes through the sensor (71), and at the end of the movement, that is, in the first state and the second state, the sensor shutter (69)
is located outside the sensor (71).

In this way, the eccentric cam (68) moves between the first state and the second state to the right of the position of these states.

Therefore, there is no need to provide any extra space required for the movement of the eccentric cam (68).

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each of the above components includes a pair of fixed side plates (80), a pair of fixed side plates (80) located slightly inside and parallel to these fixed side plates, and rotatable about an axis (81). It is completely attached to a pair of movable side plates <82) arranged on the

The pair of fixed side plates (80) have an ink sheet roll (1
), guide shaft (3), thermal head (5) and its surrounding area, conveyance roller (8), guide shaft (10
) and a take-up roll (11) are attached. The pair of movable side plates (82) include a recording paper roll (12), a guide roller (14), a first conveyance roller <16>, a pressure roller (17), a platen <6>, a second conveyance roller ( 18)
and a second pressure roller (19) are attached.

As shown in Fig. 2, when the movable side plate (82) is moved counterclockwise around the axis 81) to the open state, the ink sheet roll (1) and the ink sheet (2) are largely exposed. , therefore, the ink-n-trol (1) can be easily replaced.

By the way, as the movable side plate <82) rotates, the platen (6) is separated from the thermal head (5) by a large distance;
The shaft of the thermal head (5) by the spring (67) (
63) is rotated clockwise around plate bracket 1.
- the second branch (62) of (60) is connected to the cam support shaft (7);
0), the thermal head (5) does not pose an obstacle when opening and closing the movable side plate (82).

FIG. 7 is a block circuit diagram for controlling the operation of the thermal transfer recording apparatus in this embodiment.

A CPU (90) consisting of a microcomputer controls the operation of each section via an interface (91) in response to key signals from a keyboard <92>.

Note that the CPU (90) stores whether the eccentric cam (68) is located in the first state or the second state.

Color sensor (111) when identifying ink sheet (2)
The color detection signal outputted by the color sensor (112) is stored in the second register (113).The second register (112) stores and holds the first color detection signal outputted by the color sensor (111). , second register (1
13) stores color detection No. 13 output from the color sensor (111) from the second time onwards. Runsta (1),
2) and the contents of the second register (113) are compared by a comparator (114) every time a color detection signal is stored in the second register (113).

The counter (115) is for counting the number of colors in the ink sheet (2), and the counter (115) is for counting the number of colors in the ink sheet (2).
4) counts up by one each time a comparison mismatch is detected.

The memory (116) stores the length of one ink in the longitudinal direction of the ink sheet (2).

By the way, as a color sensor (111),
An amorphous integrated full color sensor as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 8-125855 is suitable, and this color sensor (1
11) is a lamp (110) that passes through the ink sheet (2).
), it outputs a different 3-bit color detection signal corresponding to each color of ink on the ink sheet (2).

Therefore, the feature of the present invention is that the mode of the ink sheet (2) completely set in the thermal transfer recording device can be automatically identified. Note that identification of the ink sheet (2) refers to the number of ink colors that the ink sheet (2) has and the number of ink colors that the ink sheet (2) has.
) is to detect the length of one ink in the longitudinal direction, respectively.

In this example, an ink sheet (2
) is set and, for example, the start switch on the keyboard (92) is pressed, the leading edge of the ink layer with ink sheet 1-<2) is transferred to/from the thermal, prior to the above-mentioned identification of ink sheet 1 and 2). (5) and platen (6)
(i.e., the recording position).

FIG. 8 shows a control program stored in the CPU (90) for performing the arrangement operation of the ink sheet (2).

In response to pressing the start switch of the keyboard (92), the eccentric cam (68) first drives the drive motor (93) so that the thermal head (5) separates from the platen (6). Drive traces are caused by this.

Then, the lamp (110) is turned on and the ink sheet (
2) is transported in the forward direction by a predetermined amount (for example, one step of the drive motor (30)). After the conveyance is finished, it is determined whether the ink is the desired ink (for example, yellow ink) based on the color detection signal output by the color sensor (111). Here, even if the color sensor (111) detects the desired yellow ink, the detection position to be rejected is not necessarily limited to the leading end of the yellow ink, but may be in the middle of the yellow ink. Therefore, the ink sheet (2) is further conveyed in the forward direction by a predetermined amount.

After that, the color sheet (111) began to detect ink other than yellow ink, and at this time, the ink sheet (2)
continues to be transported in the forward direction. And the color sensor (
111) detects the next yellow ink, this is the leading edge of the yellow ink, and when this leading edge is conveyed to the space between the thermal head 5) and the platen (6), the ink sheet (2) is detected. ) stops, and the lamp (11
0) is turned off, and the alignment of the ink sheet (2) is completed.

When the positioning of the ink sheet (2) is completed and the completion signal is output, the above-mentioned ink rate (2) is identified.

FIG. 9 shows a control program stored in the CPU (90) for performing the identification operation of the ink sheet (2). Note that this figure shows the case where the ink sheet (2) that can be used in a thermal transfer recording device is limited to A4 size and A3 size, but the present invention is not limited to this.

In response to the above-mentioned end signal, first, the counter C115)
The color of the ink on the ink sheet (2) is detected by the color register (111), and the detected color detection signal is stored in the register (1, 12).

Next, the drive motor (30) is driven to rotate, and the ink sheet <2) is conveyed in the forward direction by the length Pl.

Such length aP1 is A4 size ink sheet (2)
The length is slightly longer than the length of one ink layer in the longitudinal direction.

When the conveyance of the ink sheet (2) is completed, the color of the ink on the ink sheet (2) is detected again by the color sensor (111), and the detected color detection signal is stored in the second register (113). Ru.

Then, the second runster (112>) and the second register (11
3) is compared by a comparator (114).

If the comparison results of the filler plate (114) do not match, it can be determined that the ink sheet (2) is for A4 size, and the length of one ink, that is, the length of A4 size in the vertical direction, can be stored in the memory (416). . If the comparison result of the comparator (114) is a match, it means that the ink length of the ink sheet (2) is longer than Pl, and in this case, the ink sheet (2) is determined to be for A3 size, and one ink In other words, the vertical length of A3 size> is the memory ([6
). Here, when the comparison result of the reject comparator ([4)] does not match, the content of the counter (115) is set to 1.
is added.

Next, the drive top (30) is driven to rotate, and the ink notebook (2) is completely conveyed in the long vertical direction stored in the memory (116). After such transportation, the color sensor (
111) detects the color of the ink on the ink sheet (2), and the detected color detection signal is sent to the second register <11
3). Then, due to the combination (114), the second Lujista (112) and the second Renosta (113)
The contents are compared and when the comparison does not match, the counter (11
1 is added to the contents of 5).

Ink sheet (2) based on the contents of the refusal memory (116)
The operations from conveyance to comparison by the comparator (114) are performed until the comparison results of the comparator (114) match, and when they match, the identification operation ends.

In this way, the content of the counter (115) when the operation is completed indicates the number of colors of ink that the ink sheet (2) has.

Incidentally, the ink sort (2) that was conveyed at the time of identification of this ink-1-(2) is unused. Therefore, by rewinding the ink sheet (2) after the identification, it is possible to prevent the ink sheet (2> from being wasted).

In this manner, various types of thermal transfer recording are performed based on the identified results.

For example, if the content of the counter (115) is 4, it means that the ink sheets (2) having four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and blank have been set. and,
In such a state, when the recorded signals corresponding to yellow, magenta, cyan, and blur/yellow are completely input to the thermal transfer recording device, first, the yellow ink on the ink sheet (2) is changed based on the control program shown in FIG. The leading end is placed at the recording position. Then, the thermal head (5) is pressed against the platen (6), and the recording paper (13>) and ink sheet (2>) are conveyed together.In this state, by driving the thermal head (5>) with heat, the yellow Thermal transfer recording can be performed.

When yellow thermal transfer recording is completed, the thermal head (
5) is separated from the platen (6>), the first conveyance roller (16) and the second conveyance roller (18) are rotated clockwise and counterclockwise, respectively, and the recording paper (13>) is rewound. This rewinding amount is equal to the amount conveyed during the yellow thermal transfer recording described above.

When the rewinding of the recording paper (13) is completed, the magenta tip of the ink sheet (2) is moved to the thermal head (
5) and the platen (6), and the thermal head (5) is brought into pressure contact with the platen (6) again.
Magenta thermal transfer recording is performed.

Furthermore, thermal transfer recording for cyan and black is performed in the same manner.

By the way, even if recording signals corresponding to yellow, magenta, and cyan are inputted in a state where an ink sheet having four colors of ink is set as described above, in the present invention, the ink sheet) form is Since these are automatically identified, after the recording of the recording signals corresponding to yellow, magenta, and cyan is completed, the unused black ink portion is automatically conveyed based on the recording completion signal.

Conversely, when an ink sheet containing three colors of ink, yellow, magenta, and cyan, is set,
When recording signals corresponding to magenta, cyan, and black are input, recording signals corresponding to yellow, magenta, and cyan are recorded, so that
The recording is terminated, and recording using the recorded signal corresponding to black is no longer performed.

Furthermore, if A3 size printing is not performed when all A4 size ink sheets are fully set, the printing operation is automatically prohibited based on the identification result.

As described above, appropriate thermal transfer recording can be performed depending on the form of the ink sheet that has been automatically identified.

Furthermore, if the contents stored in the counter (115) and memory (116) are displayed on the display, the form of the ink sheet (2) set in the thermal transfer/recording device can be immediately recognized. I can do it.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically identify the form (i.e., the number of ink colors and length) of an ink sheet set in a thermal transfer recording device, so that the form of the ink sheet can be automatically identified. Accordingly, thermal transfer recording can be performed appropriately.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures relate to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 1 and 2 are side sectional views showing different states of the thermal transfer recording device, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views showing an ink sheet conveyance drive system. 5 and 6 are perspective views and side sectional views showing the thermal head mechanism, FIG. 7 is a block diagram, FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing ink sheet setting operation control, and FIG. The figure is a flowchart showing ink sheet identification operation control. (1) Ink sheet roll, (5) Real head, (6) Platen, (11) Take-up roll,
(12) Recording paper roll, (30) Drive motor, (68) Eccentric cam, (100) First sensor,
(101)...Second sensor, (110)...Light source, (
111)...Color sensor, (115)...Counter, (116)...Memory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A thermal transfer recording device that performs recording by thermally transferring ink on an ink sheet to a recording paper, characterized in that the thermal transfer recording device is equipped with a detection means for detecting the number of colors and length of ink contained in the ink sheet. Device.