JPS59187874A - Method for simultaneously recording in plural lines for color printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obviate the inconvenience of moving a paper or a head in a sub- scanning direction for each color recording, by a method wherein when recording on a serial printer by using a thermal transfer ink ribbon provided with ink regions of multiple colors, a thermal head provided with a group of heating elements corresponding to each of the color ink regions is used. CONSTITUTION:When recording on the serial printer by using the thermal transfer ink ribbon provided with the ink regions 1a-1c of multiple colors in parallel with each other, the head 2 provided with a group of heating elements 3b, 3c, 3d at positions corresponding respectively to the ink regions 1a-1c is used. Accordingly, it is unnecessitated to move a paper 4 or the head 2 in the sub-scanning direction 6, and color recording can be performed by only moving the head 2 in a main scanning direction 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a color recording method for a multicolor serial color printer using a thermal transfer color ribbon.

A conventional device of this type is the one shown in Figure 1. In the figure, fi+ is a thermal transfer color ribbon, (2) is a thermal head, (A) is a heating element group, (4) is paper, (5) is a main scanning direction, and (6) is a sub-scanning direction.

Next, the operation will be explained. During recording, the thermal transfer color ribbon (1), thermal head (2), and paper (41) are in contact with each other.
1 away from the thermal transfer color ribbon (11) and move the thermal head (2) and paper in the sub-scanning direction, or move the thermal transfer color ribbon (1) in the sub-scanning direction.

Since a conventional serial color printer using a thermal transfer color ribbon is configured as described above, it is necessary to move the color ribbon or head in the sub-scanning direction when changing colors, and it is necessary to add a mechanism for this purpose. This has the disadvantage of complicating the entire mechanism and resulting in a decrease in recording speed and image quality.

This invention was made to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional ones as described above, and by recording each color with a thermal head having a group of heating elements corresponding to each color, the mechanism for changing colors was eliminated, and the overall The purpose is to simplify the mechanism.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Second
In Figures (a) and (bl), (11 is the thermal transfer color ribbon, (2) is the thermal head, (3b) to (3d) are the heating element group, (4) is paper, (5) is the main scanning direction, (6) is ) indicates the sub-scanning direction.

Next, the operation will be explained. Each color is recorded by a heating element group corresponding to each color of the thermal transfer color ribbon. Therefore, a color can be selected by selecting a heating element group corresponding to each color and outputting data. In addition, since there is no movement of the thermal head in the sub-scanning direction when changing colors, it is possible to use the same mechanism as recording with a single color ribbon. But it can be improved.

In the present invention, the heating element group does not mean only one row, but the same effect can be achieved even if it extends over multiple rows. However, if the data spans multiple lines, the recording speed will be increased by the number of lines. Further, the present method is not limited to the type of thermal transfer color ribbon shown in one embodiment.

In addition, the heating elements in the thermal head do not need to be separated between blocks (the heating elements may be formed continuously, and the blocks may be formed by electrically selecting the heating elements to be energized.

As described above, according to the present invention, since each heating element group is assigned to each color of the thermal transfer color ribbon, the apparatus can be simplified and highly reliable. In addition, since the position between each color is fixed on the thermal head in advance and determined by the arrangement number of the heating element group, the color shift between each color can be reduced compared to the case where N separate thermal heads are used for recording. There is.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional color printer that uses one thermal head for each color. Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of a conventional color printer that uses one thermal head for each color. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a color printer. In the figure, (11 is a multicolor thermal transfer color ribbon, (2) is a thermal head, (3a) (3b) (3c) (3d)
is a heating element group, (41 is paper, (51 is main scanning direction, (6)
indicates the sub-scanning direction. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an N-color serial color printer using a thermal transfer color ribbon, each color is associated with one block of heating element groups in the thermal head, and each color is recorded by a thermal head formed of a total of N blocks of heating element groups. A method for simultaneously recording multiple lines for a color printer, which is characterized by: