JPH0632978B2 - Ink ribbon printer - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ink ribbon printer using an ink ribbon that can be printed multiple times, and more particularly to a printer that prints ink on a print medium by heat or pressure. ． [Prior Art] Conventionally, in order to reduce the number of times of ink ribbon replacement, as shown in FIG.
Both ends of the ink ribbon 1 divided into three stages of b and c are wound around the original winding core 3 and the winding core 4, and the recording paper is formed by the print head 2 provided so as to straddle the ink ribbon 1 in the width direction (Fig. It is known that the printing is performed by pressure-bonding to (not shown) and independently driving the heating elements 2a to 2c corresponding to the desired ink surfaces a to c. However, in the above case, even when printing on a specific ink surface, the print head simultaneously presses the entire ink surface onto the recording paper, so that the ink surface other than the printing portion is also rubbed on the recording paper, causing fog. There was a problem. In addition, because the ink ribbon was wide, it was necessary to make the ribbon base thicker, the sensitivity was low, and there was a problem with print quality. There was a problem. In addition, a printing method using an ink ribbon capable of printing a plurality of times separately from the above is also disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-212287. Since it is rewound and reused, there is a problem that the so-called blocking phenomenon occurs, in which the ink is transferred to the ink base, which deteriorates the print quality. [Object of the Invention] The present invention is intended to solve the above problems all at once.
By using an ink ribbon that can be printed multiple times, repeatedly using a certain range for the number of times that it can be overprinted, and then reusing the unused ink part anew after that number of times, it is possible to reduce the number of times of ink ribbon replacement In addition to the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ink ribbon printer which is intended to reduce the size of the ink ribbon cassette and, in turn, reduce the size of the printer and improve the printing quality. [Constitution of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an ink ribbon printer in which a cassette storing an ink ribbon capable of printing a plurality of times is mounted on a carriage and reciprocated so that printing can be performed only in the forward direction. A means for rewinding the ink portion used at the time of forward so that it can be used for the next time at the time of returning, and means for detecting a preset number of times of printing of the ink ribbon at the home position of the carriage as once at the time of forward movement. The carriage is configured so as to stop the rewinding drive of the ink ribbon when the carriage returns to the last one reciprocation, which is the final number of the set print times. [Embodiment] Next, the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. In the figure, 10 is an ink ribbon, and the ink ribbon 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes a main winding core 12 and a winding core 13 which are rotatably supported at symmetrical positions in the cassette body 11, both ends of which are wound, and an intermediate portion is outside a recess 14 provided in the center of the front surface of the cassette body 11. Is exposed to. The ink ribbon 10 is capable of printing the same portion a plurality of times, and its width may be the same as that of a conventional ink ribbon (9 mm or less, usually 6.35 to 8.0 mm). If the gap between the lateral width of the ink ribbon 10 and the upper and lower inner surfaces of the cassette body 11 is too narrow, the ribbon is rubbed against the upper and lower surfaces of the cassette body 11 during printing, which makes the winding heavy and causes winding failure. However, if it is too wide, the ribbon may be exposed during traveling, causing poor traveling. Therefore, it is preferable to make this gap as narrow as possible and insert a slipping sheet (not shown). Reference numeral 15 is a flat spring having a substantially V-shaped plane interposed between the original winding core 12 and the winding core 13,
The base end is fixed to a support rod 16 supported on the lower surface of the cassette body 11, and each tip is pressed against the outer circumference of the ink ribbon 10 wound around the cores 12 and 13 to prevent the ink ribbon from loosening during running. ing. Reference numerals 17 and 17 ′ are recesses 14 that expose the ink ribbon 10.
The guide rollers 18, 18 'provided at the inscribed portion of the passage window of the ink ribbon 10 provided on the outer side of the support pin 1 have the base end side.
Leaf springs supported by 9, 19 '
Reference numeral 8'is for applying a constant tension to the exposed portion of the ink ribbon 10. Reference numeral 20 is a window for detecting the end of the ink ribbon 10.
0 is provided corresponding to the ribbon passage 21 on the side surface of the cassette body 11. 22 is a carriage on which the cassette body 11 is mounted.
On the upper surface of the carriage 22, there are provided projections 23, 23 'into which the front and rear recesses 14, 14' of the cassette body 11 are fitted. Reference numeral 24 denotes a print head fitted between the ink ribbon 10 and the concave portion 14 where the ink ribbon 10 is exposed.
Has its base end tiltably supported by a carriage 22 and tilted by an appropriate tilting means (not shown) to press the ink ribbon 10 onto a recording paper (not shown) for printing. ． The printing operation of the print head 24 is performed only when the carriage 22 is moving to the right (forward), and is not performed when the carriage 22 is moving to the left (return). Denoted at 25 and 26 are a take-up shaft and a rewind shaft projecting from the upper surface of the carriage 22. The winding cores 12 are located so that they can be respectively coupled to the recessed holes 12a provided in the lower end surface of the winding core 12. 27 is a motor for driving an endless belt 28 connected to the carriage 22, 29
Is a guide shaft of the carriage 22, 30 is a rack provided in parallel with the traveling path of the carriage 22, and 31 is the carriage 22.
It is a pinion that meshes with the rack 30 and rotates when traveling. The winding shaft 25 and the rewinding shaft 26 are the pinion 3
1 is connected to the gear, and when the carriage 22 is moving to the right, the take-up shaft 2
5 rotates in the winding direction of the ink ribbon 10, while the rewinding shaft 26 becomes free rotation, and when the carriage 22 moves to the left, the winding shaft 25 becomes free rotation, and the rewinding shaft 26 rewinds.
Can rotate the ink ribbon 10 in the rewinding direction. That is, the ink ribbon 10 is the carriage 2
2 is printed by the operation of the print head 24 at the time of the forward movement, and the part fed from the original winding core 12 is taken up by the take-up core 13 at the time of the printing operation, and is used at the forward time at the time of the return and is taken by the take-up core 13. The wound ink portion is rewound on the original winding core 12, and when the next line is moved, the portion used for printing the previous line is reused. This is because the ink ribbon 10 uses an ink ribbon that can be printed a plurality of times. The number of times the ink ribbon 10 is used is empirically determined in advance, and therefore the operation is repeated only for the set number of times. The ink ribbon 10 is not rewound on the original winding core 12 when the carriage makes one final reciprocation of the carriage, which is the final number of the set print times. As a method of detecting the number of times of printing, for example, the position where the carriage 22 is at the home position is detected as the first time by a detection means (not shown) such as a micro switch or a photo sensor, and the carriage reciprocates to return to the home position. Sometimes the second time is detected, the signal is sent to a counter (not shown), and the counter counts the number of times. The signal may be output to the control unit so as not to operate the drive mechanism of the rewind shaft 26 of the carriage 22. Alternatively, a pulse motor may be used to drive the carriage, and the number of pulses may be controlled.
You may use a micro-computer. Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, indicates the first starting point of the cassette body 11. When the cassette body 11 moves to the right as → ', the print head 24 tilts and the ink ribbon 1
Press 0 on the recording paper and print. During this printing operation, the unused portion 10a of the ink ribbon 10 is the forward dimension winding core 1
The winding core 13 winds up an amount equivalent to the winding amount from the winding core 13. The ink portion 10 used for printing the first line when the cassette body 11 reaches "
b (indicated by a dotted line) is wound on the winding core side, and
The print head 24 is separated from the ink ribbon 10, and the recording paper is fed by one line. Then, the cassette body 11 is
Go left as shown. Also in this case, the print head 24 remains separated from the ink ribbon 10 and does not print, and is rewound on the forward dimension winding core 12 while the ink portion 10b used for printing by → 'is reached. Thus, when reaching the cassette body 11, the print head 24
After the recording paper is fed by one line away from the ink ribbon 10 again, the printer tilts and starts the second printing toward ′. In this printing, the same ink portion 10b used for printing the first line is overprinted while being fed again from the original winding core 12, and is wound on the winding core 13. Therefore, the state of ′ is exactly the same as the state of ′, and when going leftward, it is the same as that of ′ →. That is, after the third time, the ink ribbon 10
At the time of the last one round trip, which is the final print count of
The above steps' → 'and' → are repeated up to ′, but at the time of returning ′ → ″, the ink portion 10b used in the preceding row returns to ″ without being wound. That is, the "state" is the same as the "state", and is the first starting point of the unused portion 10a. In an ink ribbon printer in which a cassette containing a ribbon is mounted on a carriage and reciprocated so that printing can be performed only in the forward direction, the ink portion used in the forward direction of the carriage can be used in the backward and the next forward times. Rewinding means, means for detecting a preset number of times of printing of the ink ribbon at the home position of the carriage as one forward time, and return of the last one round trip of the carriage when the forward time is the final number of the set printing times. Since it is characterized by having means for stopping the rewinding drive of the ink ribbon,
The ink ribbon is repeatedly used for the number of times that the same ink portion can be overprinted within a certain range, and after that number of times, the unused ink portion is newly fed out, and one roll of ink ribbon is used several times. This will reduce the number of times the ink ribbon needs to be replaced and will greatly reduce consumables costs. In addition, unlike the conventional one that uses a wide ink ribbon, it can contribute to the miniaturization of the ink ribbon cassette and the miniaturization of the printer, and since printing is performed a plurality of times in a certain range of the ink ribbon, There is no blocking phenomenon that occurs when the tape is wound and then rewound and used, and improvement in print quality can be expected.
It has various excellent effects.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the relationship between a carriage and an ink ribbon cassette, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the ink ribbon cassette, and FIG. , Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional example. 10 …… Ink ribbon, 11 …… Cassette body 12 …… Original winding core, 13 …… Take-up core 17 …… Take-up shaft, 18 …… Rewinding shaft

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ink ribbon printer in which a cassette containing an ink ribbon capable of printing a plurality of times is mounted on a carriage and reciprocated so that printing can be performed only in the forward direction.
The ink part used when the carriage moved forward,
A means for rewinding so that it can be used in the next forward, a means for detecting a preset number of times of printing of the ink ribbon at the home position of the carriage as one forward time, and a forward time is the final number of the set print times. An ink ribbon printer comprising means for stopping the rewinding drive of the ink ribbon when the carriage returns to the end once.