JPH0829613B2 - Control method for thermal transfer color recording apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention applies a plurality of inks of a plurality of colors in a surface-sequential manner in a plurality of sequences, and uses an ink ribbon having a recording start mark at a recording start position of at least each sequence to perform recording. The present invention relates to a method for controlling a thermal transfer type color recording apparatus that performs recording by sandwiching and running the ink ribbon and a sheet between a head and a platen.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a conventional example of this type of thermal transfer type color recording apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the conventional example.

In the figure, 1 is a recording head equipped with a line type heat generating resistor, 2 is a platen roller which is rotationally driven by a paper feed pulse motor 3, and the recording head 1 rotates a fulcrum 5 mounted on a bracket 4 during recording. The platen roller 2 is kept pressed by the spring 6 as a center, and is separated from the platen roller 2 by the head-up / down motor 7 and the cam 8 at the time of standby, paper feeding after printing is completed, or paper back feeding.

9 is a sheet of paper that runs between the recording head 1 and the platen roller 2 in the direction of arrow A from a sheet roll (not shown), and 10 is a supply roll 11 to a take-up roll 12 between the recording head 1 and the platen roller 2. It is an ink ribbon that runs to.

Reference numerals 13a and 13b denote pressure rollers that are pressed by the spring (not shown) and press against the platen roller 2.
Is the platen roller 2 by the pressure rollers 13a and 13b.
The drive of the platen roller 2 is transmitted by being pressed by,
Drive.

On the other hand, the ink ribbon 10 is run by winding the take-up roll 12 when the initial position is set, and is run at the same speed as the paper 9 by the frictional force with the running paper 9 during printing.

Further, in order to run the ink ribbon 10 without causing wrinkles or skews during printing, it is necessary to wind it with the take-up roll 12 so as not to cause tarumi after passing through the recording head 1 and the platen roller 2. Therefore, the take-up roll 12 is driven by the ink ribbon of the paper 9 being printed.
It is driven via a frictional force that is weaker than the frictional force with respect to 10, and is wound at a higher speed than the peripheral speed of the platen roller 2.

Reference numerals 14a and 14b denote ribbon guide rollers for guiding the running of the ink ribbon 10. The ribbon guide rollers 14a and 14b run the paper 9 and the ink ribbon 10 for a fixed distance l while they are fixed on the printing surface, and then the paper 9 and the ink The print quality is improved by separating the ribbon 10 and reliably transferring the ink.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a mechanism for driving the take-up roll 12 of the ink ribbon 10. In the figure, 15 is a clutch gear that slides in the rotational direction on the side frame 16a, and 17 is a clutch gear connected to the clutch gear 15. Motor gear to drive this, 18
Is a ribbon winding motor that drives the motor gear 17.

Reference numerals 19a and 19b denote ribbon roll guides, and the ribbon roll guides 19a and 19b are rotatably attached to the clutch gear 15 via a clutch plate 20.
19b is rotatably attached to the side frame 16b as a pair of ribbon roll guides 19a, and is pressed in the arrow direction by a spring 21 so as to slide in the axial direction.

The ribbon roll guide 19a and the ribbon roll guide 19b fix both ends of the roll core 22 of the take-up roll 12 and rotate the take-up roll 12 to rotate the ink ribbon.
Take up 10 and go.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the structure of the ink ribbon 10.
The ink ribbon 10 has a width equal to that of the paper 9, and a size L ′ slightly larger than the size L of the recording area 9a of the paper 9 in which transfer inks of three primary colors for printing yellow, magenta, and cyan are preset. A plurality of groups are applied in a frame-sequential manner to the marks 23, 24, 25 corresponding to the print start position of each color.
Are printed respectively, and can be detected by the ribbon sensor 26.

With the above configuration, for example, when it is determined to print in the order of yellow, magenta, and cyan, when the power is first turned on, the ink ribbon 10 is run by the take-up roll 12,
When the mark 23 corresponding to the yellow print start position is detected by the ribbon sensor 26, the mark is stopped and the initial setting is performed.

Here, the recording head 1 presses the platen roller 2 with the spring 5 around the fulcrum 4 as the center of rotation, and in this state, the paper 9 and the ink ribbon 19 run simultaneously, and the yellow printing is performed on the recording area 9a on the paper 9. Be seen.

After printing the yellow, the recording head 1 has a motor 7 and a cam 8
Is separated from the platen roller 2 by the
The paper 9 is reversely fed (hereinafter referred to as back-feed) by the reverse rotation of, and returns to the initial position.

Next, the ink ribbon 10 is fed by the take-up roll 12 until the mark 24 corresponding to the magenta printing start position is detected by the ribbon sensor 26, and the recording head 1 is pressed against the platen roller 2 in the same manner as the yellow printing described above. Then, the paper 9 and the ink ribbon 10 are fed at the same time, and magenta is printed on the recording area 9a on which the yellow has been printed.

After printing the magenta, the recording head 1 is separated from the platen 2 again, the paper 9 is back-fed and returned to the initial position, and the recording area 9a in which the yellow and the magenta are printed.
Then, cyan printing is performed in the same manner as above, and the recording of one screen is completed.

Then, the ink ribbon 10 is moved until the mark 23 corresponding to the print start position of the next yellow is detected by the ribbon sensor 26, the print start position is initialized, and the printer waits until the next recording.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, according to the above-described conventional technique, when the paper is back-fed after each printing of yellow and magenta, the paper and the ink ribbon are fixed to each other for a constant distance l after printing, so that the peeling force becomes large. .

Further, when the power is turned off during printing, the paper and the ink ribbon are left fixed, but in this case, a force larger than the above-mentioned peeling force is required.

As described above, in the conventional technology, a large torque is required for the paper feeding motor, and at the same time, a large holding force is required for the ribbon winding motor, resulting in an increase in the size of the motor. However, there was a problem of causing higher price and higher price.

As a solution to this problem, there is a device that causes the paper and the ink ribbon to travel together by 1 when the power is turned on or when printing is started. Although the ink melting surface between the paper and the ink ribbon is peeled off after 1 travel, Since the paper and the ink ribbon are sandwiched between the recording head and the platen roller, the recording head remains clinging even when the recording head separates from the ink ribbon, and the problem cannot be sufficiently solved.

Further, there is a device that causes the paper and the ink ribbon to run again when the printing of the yellow, magenta, and cyan has been completed, but it requires an additional 1 l of the ink ribbon for each color printing, which is also sufficient. The problem has not been resolved.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and solves the problem that an operation of peeling a melted surface with a small torque results in a traveling operation that consumes both the paper and the ink ribbon. However, it is an object of the present invention to realize a control method for a thermal transfer type color recording apparatus that can reliably remove a sheet and an ink ribbon with a small motor without sacrificing the loss of the sheet and the ink ribbon. It is a thing.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention uses an ink ribbon having a recording start mark at the recording start position of each color ink while applying inks of a plurality of colors in a frame-sequential manner, and between the recording head and the platen. In a control method of a thermal transfer type color recording apparatus for sandwiching the ink ribbon and the paper and sequentially recording the inks from the first color, the paper and the ink ribbon are sandwiched between the recording head and the platen when the power is turned on. When the recording start mark of the first color ink is detected within a certain traveling distance by traveling at a speed, recording is started by stopping the traveling of the paper and the ink ribbon at the detection position, When the recording start mark of the first color ink does not exist in the inside, the holding between the recording head and the platen is released, and only a small amount of paper is back-fed. After that, the ink ribbon is made to travel until the recording start mark of the first color ink is detected, and then recording is started by sandwiching the paper and the ink ribbon between the recording head and the platen. .

Further, according to the present invention, each time the recording of ink of each color is completed, the recording head and the platen are run at a constant distance while holding the paper and the ink ribbon, and after the running, the holding is released and only the paper is backed up by a small amount. It is characterized by feeding.

[Action]

According to the present invention as described above, when the paper and the ink ribbon are sandwiched between the recording head and the platen and are driven at the same speed when the power is turned on, the recording start mark of the first color ink exists within a certain traveling distance. If not, after releasing the sandwiching between the recording head and the platen, back feeding only a small amount of paper, after running the ink ribbon until the recording start mark of the ink of the first color is detected,
Since the recording head and platen are sandwiched between the recording head and the platen and recording is controlled to start recording, a small motor can be used to securely remove the recording paper and the ink ribbon without sacrificing the loss of the recording paper and the ink ribbon. It becomes possible to do.

When the paper and the ink ribbon are run when the power is turned on as described above, when the recording start mark of the first color ink is detected within a certain running distance, the paper and the ink ribbon run at the detection position. Since the printing is stopped and the recording is started, the printing can be started immediately if the previous printing is normally completed, and the printing can be performed efficiently in terms of time.

Further, after each recording of ink of each color, the recording head and the platen hold the paper and the ink ribbon while traveling at the same speed for a certain distance, and after the traveling, the nipping is released and only a small amount of paper is back-fed. Immediately after the recording of ink of each color, when the paper and the ink ribbon are run for a certain distance, even if the succeeding part is stuck by the holding force of the recording head and the platen, the paper and the ink ribbon are moved by a small amount of back feed of the paper thereafter. The sheet can be reliably pulled off, and therefore, one page of paper can be stably fed back or discharged for ejection.

〔Example〕

 Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control system used in the embodiment.

In this embodiment, the main body of the apparatus is the same as the apparatus described with reference to FIG. 3 and the ink ribbon used is the same as that described with reference to FIG. The explanation will be given using it as it is.

First, referring to FIG. 2, in the figure, 27 is a paper feed control circuit for controlling the operation of the paper feed pulse motor 3 connected to the platen roller 2, and 28 is a head up / down motor 7 connected to the recording head 1. A head up / down control circuit for controlling the operation, 29 is a ribbon winding control circuit for controlling the operation of the ribbon winding motor 18 connected to the clutch gear 15 of the winding roll 12, and 30 is an operation control of each mechanism in the apparatus. It is a main control unit for performing.

The control method of this embodiment having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In order to bring the recording head 1 into the down state at the same time when the power is turned on, first in S1, the head up / down control circuit 28
Thus, the head up / down motor 7 is rotated in the down direction, and the recording head 1 is moved down to the reference position.

When the print signal is input in S2, the main control unit 30 sends a signal to start operation to the paper feed control circuit 27, the head up / down control circuit 28, and the ribbon winding control circuit 29 by using this as a trigger, and S3 Head up / down control circuit
28 drives the head-up / down motor 7 to bring it into a head-up state, and in S4, the paper feed control circuit 27 and the ribbon take-up control circuit 29 respectively drive the paper feed pulse motor 3 and the ribbon take-up motor 18 to feed the paper. Take up 9 and ink ribbon 10.

At this time, since the recording head 1 is in the up state, a frictional force is generated between the recording head 1 and the platen roller 2 and the paper 9, and the ink ribbon 10 runs at the same speed as the paper 9.

If the yellow mark 23 on the ink ribbon 10 is detected by the ribbon sensor 26 in S6 while the paper feed and the ribbon winding are within a certain distance l in S5, the power is turned off after the last regular printing. This means that the sheet 9 and the ink ribbon 10 are not fixed to each other on the printing surface, and therefore the sheet feeding and the ribbon winding are stopped in S7 to start the printing.

On the other hand, when the traveling distance of the paper feed and the ribbon winding reaches 1 in S5, the power is turned off during the previous printing, and the paper 9 and the ink ribbon 10 are fixed on the printing surface.
While the paper 9 and the ink ribbon are separated from each other by the paper feeding and the ribbon winding, the recording head 1 and the platen roller 2
During the period, the sheet 9 and the ink ribbon should be clinging since they are still pressed.

Therefore, in S8, the paper feed and the ribbon winding are stopped, and the head down state is set in S9.
After releasing the pressure of, the paper 9 is back-fed by a small amount (several millimeters) by the reverse rotation of the platen roller 2 in S10, whereby the paper 9 and the ink ribbon 10 are completely peeled off, and the ribbon winding is performed in S11. To take. Here, the ribbon winding has a structure that does not rotate in the opposite direction.

Next, in S12, the yellow mark 23 of the ink ribbon 10 is wound up until it is detected by the ribbon sensor 26.

Therefore, in S13, the ribbon winding is stopped, and then the head-up state is set in S14 to start printing.

After the completion of the yellow printing in S15, while the paper 9 and the ink ribbon 10 are fixed on the printing surface, the paper is fed by 1 in S16, the ribbon is wound, and the fixing surface is separated.

However, here, the fixed surfaces of the paper 9 and the ink ribbon 10 are separated, but since the paper 9 and the ink ribbon 10 are still pressed between the recording head 1 and the platen roller 2, even if the head goes down, the paper 9 and the ink ribbon 10 still remain. Ribbon 10 is clinging.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the head is further lowered in S17, and the paper 9 is back-fed by a small amount (several millimeters) by the reverse rotation of the platen roller 2 in S18 to measure the complete separation of the paper 9 and the ink ribbon 10. Then, in S19, the paper 9 is back-fed and returned to the initial position.

Similarly, after magenta printing (S20 to S24), in the present embodiment, the paper is fed by l in S25, the ribbon is wound up to separate the fixed surface, the head is lowered in S26, and the platen roller 2 is moved in S27. Minute amount of paper 9 (several millimeters) by rotation
The paper 9 is back-fed to completely peel off the paper 9 and the ink ribbon 10, and then the paper 9 is back-fed and returned to the initial position in S28.

Even after cyan printing (S29 to S33), the paper is fed by 1 in S34, the ribbon is wound up, the head is lowered in S35, and the paper 9 is moved by a small amount (several millimeters) by rotating the platen roller 2 in S36. After the paper 9 is fed and the paper 9 and the ink ribbon 10 are completely peeled off, the paper 9 is discharged in S37.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, an ink ribbon having a recording start mark at the recording start position of each color ink is applied by repeatedly applying the inks of a plurality of colors in a frame-sequential manner, and between the recording head and the platen. In a control method of a thermal transfer type color recording apparatus for sandwiching the ink ribbon and the paper and sequentially recording the inks from the first color, the paper and the ink ribbon are sandwiched between the recording head and the platen when the power is turned on. When the recording start mark of the first color ink is detected within a certain traveling distance by traveling at a speed, recording is started by stopping the traveling of the paper and the ink ribbon at the detection position, When the recording start mark of the first color ink does not exist in the inside, the holding between the recording head and the platen is released, and only a small amount of paper is back-fed. After that, the ink ribbon is run until the recording start mark of the first color ink is detected, and then the paper and the ink ribbon are sandwiched between the recording head and the platen to start recording. ,
The following effects can be obtained.

That is, according to the present invention, when the paper and the ink ribbon are sandwiched between the recording head and the platen at the time of power-on and are run at the same speed, when the recording start mark of the first color ink does not exist within a certain traveling distance. Removes the sandwiching between the recording head and the platen, back-feeds only a small amount of paper, and then runs the ink ribbon until the recording start mark of the ink of the first color is detected. Since the ink ribbon is controlled so as to be sandwiched between the recording head and the platen to start recording, a small motor reliably removes the paper and the ink ribbon without sacrificing the loss of the paper and the ink ribbon. The effect that it becomes possible is obtained.

Further, when the paper and the ink ribbon are run when the power is turned on, when the recording start mark of the first color ink is detected within a certain running distance, the running of the paper and the ink ribbon is stopped at the detection position. Since the recording is started, the printing can be started immediately if the previous printing is normally completed, and it is possible to obtain the effect that the printing can be performed efficiently in terms of time.

Further, according to the present invention, each time the recording of ink of each color is completed, the recording head and the platen are caused to travel at a constant distance while holding the paper and the ink ribbon, and after the traveling, the nipping is released and only a small amount of paper is backed up. Since the paper is fed, immediately after the recording of each color ink is completed, when the paper and the ink ribbon are run for a certain distance, even if the succeeding part is stuck by the clamping force between the recording head and the platen, a small amount of paper after that feeds the paper. With this, the ink ribbon can be reliably pulled off, and therefore, it is possible to obtain an effect that the paper for one page can be back-fed and fed for discharging stably.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system used in the embodiment, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional example, and FIG. 4 is a conventional example. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of the conventional example, and FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an ink ribbon used in the conventional example. 1 ... Recording head 2 ... Platen roller 3 ... Paper feed pulse motor 7 ... Head up / down motor 9 ... Paper 10 ... Recording head 12 ... Take-up roller 14a, 14b ... Ribbon guide roller 18 ... … Ribbon winding motor 23,24,25 …… Mark 26 …… Ribbon sensor 27 …… Paper feed control circuit 28 …… Head up / down control circuit 29 …… Ribbon winding control circuit 30 …… Main control section

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Michimasa Ohtake 1-7-12 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP 62-196158 (JP, A) JP JP 62-231773 (JP, A) JP 58-101076 (JP, A) JP 59-194873 (JP, A) JP 60-129281 (JP, A)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An ink ribbon having a recording start mark at a recording start position of each color ink is applied by repeatedly applying inks of a plurality of colors in a frame-sequential manner, and the ink ribbon and paper are provided between a recording head and a platen. In a control method of a thermal transfer type color recording apparatus for sandwiching and sequentially recording ink from the first color, when the power is turned on, the paper and the ink ribbon are sandwiched between the recording head and the platen and run at the same speed, When the recording start mark of the first color ink is detected within a certain traveling distance, the recording is started by stopping the traveling of the paper and the ink ribbon at the detection position, and the first recording is performed within the certain traveling distance. When there is no recording start mark of the color ink, the nipping between the recording head and the platen is released, and only a small amount of paper is back-fed, and then the first A thermal transfer color recording apparatus, characterized in that the ink ribbon is made to travel until a recording start mark of the color ink is detected, and then the paper and the ink ribbon are sandwiched between the recording head and the platen to start recording. Control method. 2. After each recording of ink of each color, the recording head and the platen run the paper and the ink ribbon at the same speed for a fixed distance, and after the running, the nipping is released and only a small amount of paper is fed back. A method of controlling a thermal transfer type color recording apparatus according to claim (1).