JPH043817Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a multicolor ink ribbon for a multicolor printer.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional multicolor ink ribbons have multiple color bands of different colors stacked in the width direction of the ink ribbon, but in the case of this ink ribbon, the ink ribbon is moved perpendicular to the running direction of the ink ribbon. Since it is necessary to select a color band to be used for color printing, a mechanism for switching the color band is required, resulting in a complicated device.

In order to solve this problem, various techniques have been proposed in which a plurality of color bands of different colors are provided in the running direction of the ink ribbon, and the color band to be used for printing is selected by controlling the running of the ink ribbon. There is.
For example, JP-A-55-154193, JP-A-57-8186
No., JP-A-57-8187, JP-A-57-45072, etc., and will be explained in sequence below.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a multicolor ink ribbon shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-154193. In this multicolor ink ribbon, an information storage section 1 is provided in front of each color band for identification. One to a plurality (three in this case) of holes 2 are provided at predetermined positions in the information storage section 1.
Color identification is performed by providing a The color of the color band is identified and selected by detecting the position and number of the holes 2 using detection means (three in this case) corresponding to each hole 2 provided in the information storage section 1. Therefore, a different information storage section 1 is provided for each color band.
There was a problem in that the detection circuit required complicated means.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a multicolor ink ribbon shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-8186, in which 3 ₁ to 3 ₃ indicate each color band, and 4 ₁ to 4 ₃ indicate the color bands provided in front of the color band. ₁ to ₃ are stripe parts 4 ₁ to 3.
It shows the width of 4 ₃ and is set as ₁ < ₂ < ₃ . In this case, by detecting the difference in the passing time of the widths ₁ to ₃ of the stripe portions 4 ₁ to 4 ₃ located in front of each color band 3 ₁ to _{3 3} , the color of the color band is determined and printed. Selecting the color band to be used. Therefore, in this case as well, it is necessary to provide stripe portions 4 ₁ to 4 ₃ with different widths in the color bands 3 ₁ to 3 ₃ , and
The detection circuit also requires a complicated one.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the ink ribbon shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-8187, and 5 ₁ to 5 ₃ indicate each color band. In this case, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 55-154193
Since the ink ribbon itself is not provided with means for identifying color bands as in No. 1 and JP-A No. 57-8186, light-emitting and light-receiving elements, etc. are made to correspond to the color band surface of the ink ribbon, and color bands 5 ₁ to 5 ₃ are printed. The color of the color band is determined by detecting the difference in reflectance from the color band, and the color band to be used for printing is selected. In this case, since it depends on the difference in the reflectance of the color bands 5 ₁ to 5 ₃ , the reflectances may be close to each other, and there is a problem that requires a complicated recognition circuit to judge this. be.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a multicolor thermal transfer recording device shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 57-45072, in which 6 is a multicolor ink ribbon in which color bands of the same length are sequentially provided as one pattern; 7 is a multicolor ink ribbon; The thermal recording head 8 is a head facing roll, but in this case, the circumferential length of the head facing roll 8 and the length of the color band of the ink ribbon 6 are certified to be the same, and the rotation speed of the head facing roll 8 is the same. Therefore, the transition of one color is controlled. For example, if one color band pattern has three colors, the head facing roll 8
Printing of all colors can be completed by rotating the button three times. However, even in this case, since the positions of the color bands of the head facing roll 8 and the ink ribbon 6 are aligned and the corresponding color band is recognized by the rotation of the head facing roll 8, this control system achieves high accuracy. I have a problem that requires something complex.

In addition to the above method, there is a method of selecting a color band to be used for printing by detecting the difference in transmittance of each color band of the ink ribbon, which will be explained below.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of the detection means based on the transmittance of the ink ribbon, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the color band structure of the ink ribbon and the signal level depending on the transmittance.

In both figures, 9 is an ink ribbon with a pattern configuration of different color bands 9- _a to 9- _o , and ₁₀ is a detector, and as shown in FIG. 9-Detect the transmittance of _o . As shown in Fig. 8, the signal becomes the highest level "1" in color band 9- _o , and the next color band 9- _a
The lowest level is 1- _a , which is color band 9.
_-b is level 1- _b , color band 9- _c is level 1- _c , and so on, and the signal levels are successively higher. here,
The difference between level 1 and level 1- _a and level 1 and level 1- _b is that the color transmittance is different, so the color selection is clear, but level 1- _a and 1- _b and level 1- _b and 1 - In _c , the difference in level is close, in other words, for colors with similar color transmittance, signal levels that are close must be clearly judged, and therefore there is a problem that requires a complex recognition circuit. Ta.

In the present invention, the detection means for each color band is simplified by providing a multicolor ink ribbon with a pattern change position for color bands in a simple configuration.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

As mentioned above, in the conventional technology, a color band identification part is provided on the ink ribbon for each color band of the ink ribbon, or the difference in reflectance or transmittance of each color band of the ink ribbon is used to identify the corresponding color band. In the former case, it was necessary to make a judgment for each color band, resulting in a complicated circuit configuration, and in the latter case, it was necessary to make a judgment for each color band, resulting in a complicated circuit configuration. There are problems that require complex recognition circuits. Further, adjustment by rotation of the head facing roll that rotates in contact with the ink ribbon has been described, but as mentioned above, this also has the problem of complicating the control system.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a plurality of color bands with different colors in the running direction of the ink ribbon, and uses the plurality of color bands as one pattern to print continuous multicolor ink in the running direction of the ink ribbon. In the ribbon, there is a transparent part in the running direction of the ink ribbon,
A color area with a lower light transmittance than the transparent area, and a recognition area lined up again with the transparent area, are arranged in parallel in advance of each pattern in the running direction of the ink ribbon, and the recognition area and each color band are placed in the same order for each pattern. , and are continuous with the same length.

[Effect]

The present invention having the above-mentioned configuration detects the transparent part of the recognition part, then detects the colored part with lower light transmittance than the transparent part, detects the transparent part again, and distinguishes between the transparent part and the colored part. Based on the clear difference in the level of the detection circuit signal, it is possible to recognize the beginning of the pattern by determining that the time for the transparent part to pass again after the detection of the colored part is within a certain period of time. The desired color band can be selected by running the ink ribbon a predetermined distance using the end of the section as a reference position. As described above, since the color order and length of the color bands in each pattern are all configured to be the same, the color band can be selected as described above in any pattern.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the relationship between a multicolor ink ribbon and the level of its detection circuit signal according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a detection means for the multicolor ink ribbon.

In FIG. 1, 11 is a multicolor ink ribbon;
2 is a transparent part 11- _a , a black part 11- _b , and a transparent part 11.
- It is a recognition section configured in the order of _c , where 11- _d is a yellow part, 11- _e is a red part, 11-f is a blue part, and 11- _f is a blue part.
- _o indicates each color band formed by the brown portion, ₁ to _o indicate the length of the recognition section 12 and the constituent parts of each color band, and 13 indicates one pattern configured in the order described above.

As described above, in this embodiment, the color bands in the running direction of the ink ribbon 11 are a yellow part 11- _d , a red part 11- _e , a blue part 11- _f , and a brown part 1 with some omitted.
The order is 1- _o , and the yellow part 11- _d is the beginning.
A recognition unit 12 is provided in front of the pattern 13.
This one pattern 13 is repeatedly provided in the running direction of the multicolor ink ribbon 11 while maintaining the above-mentioned order of construction.
The numbers ₁ to _o , which make up the color order and length of each part, are repeated in the same way.

In FIG. 2, 11 is the multicolor ink ribbon described above, and 14 is a detector such as a photo sensor for detecting the transmittance of the ink ribbon.

In the above-described configuration, the color band to be used for printing is selected as follows. That is, when the ink ribbon 11 runs and passes through the detector 14, the detector 14 detects the transmittance of the ink ribbon 11. Based on the level of the detection circuit signal detected by this detector 14, the color band used for printing, that is, yellow part 11- _d to brown part 1
Choose one of 1- _o .

As shown in FIG. 1, the level of the detection circuit signal detected by the detector 14 becomes "0" at time t1 when the transparent part 11- _a of the recognition part 12 passes the detector 14, and the level of the detection circuit signal detected by the detector 14 becomes "0" at the time _t1 when the transparent part 11-a of the recognition part 12 passes through the detector 14, and At time _t2 when 11- _b passes, it becomes "1", and this black part 11
Immediately after the passage of _-b , the transparent part 11- _c passes, so it becomes "0" again. The black part 11 of this recognition part 12
- Since _b is short, for example, about 5 mm, the level of the detection circuit signal will suddenly become "0" as described above,
If the time from when it becomes "1" to "0" again is less than a certain time, it means that the recognition unit 12 has been detected, and next is the first color band of one pattern 13, that is, the yellow part 11- _d. be able to recognize the beginning of

In this way, when the level of the detection circuit signal when detecting the recognition unit 12 changes from "1" to "0",
That is, by setting the end of the black portion 11- _b as the pattern reference position, any color band can be selected for printing by running the ink ribbon 11 a desired distance from this pattern reference position.

This selection of color bands can be freely performed within any pattern, since the order of the recognition unit 12 and each color band and the lengths ₁ to _o of each component are the same in one continuous pattern 13. be able to.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, this idea consists of a transparent part, a color part with a lower light transmittance than the transparent part, and a recognition part arranged in parallel with the transparent part in each pattern in the running direction of the ink ribbon. A multicolor ink ribbon is obtained by arranging the ink ribbons in parallel in advance and making the recognition part and each color band continue in the same order and the same length for each pattern.

By using such multicolored ink ribbon,
When detecting a transparent part, then detecting a colored part, and then detecting a transparent part again, if the time from detecting the colored part to detecting the transparent part is within a certain period of time, this is the recognition part. To determine this, by setting the end of the color section at this time as the pattern reference position, any color band can be selected by running the ink ribbon a predetermined distance from this point.

Therefore, instead of determining the color based on the judgment unit for each color band and the reflectance and transmittance of the color band as in the past, the detection circuit receives the output from a detector such as a sensor and determines whether the ink ribbon is transparent or colored. Since this method only detects whether or not the current is present, it has the advantage of requiring a simpler detection circuit than conventional methods.

In addition, since the color band is selected by running the ink ribbon a predetermined amount based on the recognition unit, there is no need to change the detection circuit to increase or decrease the color band, and it is only necessary to change the running distance of the ink ribbon. There is also this effect.

It is also possible to identify whether the ink ribbon is a multicolor ink ribbon or a single color ink ribbon, depending on whether or not there is a level change in the detection circuit signal.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the relationship between a multicolor ink ribbon and its detection circuit signal level according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a detection means for the multicolor ink ribbon, and FIG. A plan view of a conventional multicolor ink ribbon, FIG. 4 is a plan view of another conventional multicolor ink ribbon, FIG. 5 is a plan view of another conventional multicolor ink ribbon, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of a conventional multicolor ink ribbon. FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of the apparatus, FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of a detection means based on the transmittance of a conventional multicolor ink ribbon, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the signal level and the transmittance of the ink ribbon. 11...Multicolor ink ribbon, 12...Recognition section,
13...1 pattern.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A plurality of color bands of different colors are provided in the running direction of the ink ribbon, and the multicolor ink ribbon is continuous in the running direction of the ink ribbon, with the plurality of color bands being set as one pattern. A color area with lower light transmittance than the transparent area, and a recognition area lined up again with the transparent area, are placed in parallel in advance of each pattern in the running direction of the ink ribbon, and the recognition area and each color band are arranged in the same order for each pattern. A multicolor ink ribbon characterized by continuous ink ribbons of the same length.