JPS62256683A - Color printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve consumption of a ribbon at a specified band position and contrive a longer total useful life of the ribbon, by shifting a ribbon carriage according to a color to be printed, based on a predetermined initial printing band position. CONSTITUTION:A ribbon discrimination switch 24 is turned ON or is not turned ON according as a ribbon contained in a ribbon carriage is a color ribbon or a all-black ribbon. When the ribbon is discriminated to be a all-black ribbon, an initial band position is determined by a ribbon initial position determining circuit 101. When printing data are received by an interface circuit 33, a count at that time is detected the initial band position is determined according to the count, the ribbon carriage is shifted according to the initial band position, and predetermined printing is performed. Thus, the initial band position in using the all-black ribbon is determined at random by a counter in the circuit 101. Accordingly, a biasing in the useful life of the ribbon can be prevented from being generated, and the useful life of the ribbon as a whole can be prolonged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Objective of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a color printer that performs color printing by using a color ribbon.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, a color printer is configured to perform color printing using a color ribbon as shown in FIG. 4, for example. Color ribbons are made up of four bands, for example, A band to D band, which include "black,""blue," and "red."
, equipped with a color band of "yellow" color. In such a color printer, a color ribbon such as the one described above is set on a ribbon carriage, and the ribbon carriage is moved up and down so that the predetermined color band and the print head face each other to perform predetermined color printing. It is something.

That is, for example, when performing color printing of "blue", the ribbon carriage is moved so that the B band is located at the position of the print head. On this day, with the band set at the position of the print head, the print head is brought into contact with the B band to print "blue".

For example, when printing "black" for a long time,
Generally, a specific color ribbon is used in place of the color ribbon described above. That is, an all-black ribbon in which all four bands are "black" as shown in FIG. 5 is used. That is, such an all-black ribbon is set on the ribbon carriage, and black printing is performed with one of the four bands facing the print head.

In this case, that is, when an all-black ribbon is used, each time a predetermined page is printed, for example, each time one page is printed, the A-band, B-band, C-band, and D-band are sequentially printed.
Configured to use bands.

However, in conventional color printers, the printing position of the 4-band ribbon is always at a fixed position, for example, the A band position when the color printer's TA is loaded. Even if you shift the ribbon carriage and use bands A-D in order, the initial printing band position A
The band's use of "black" inevitably increases. For this reason, the degree of wear of the A band is higher than that of other bands, causing unevenness in the lifespan of the all-black ribbon and reducing the lifespan of the all-black ribbon as a whole.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in conventional color printers, for example, when printing in black using an all-black ribbon, a certain band position is used more frequently. As a result, the lifespan of the all-black ribbon is uneven, resulting in a decrease in the lifespan of the all-black ribbon as a whole.

An object of the present invention is to provide a color printer that can improve ribbon wear at a specific band position of a specific color ribbon when printing in a specific color using a specific color ribbon, thereby extending the life of the entire ribbon. This is what we are trying to provide.

[Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving Problems) That is, in the color printer according to the present invention,
A ribbon carriage for shifting a color ribbon or a specific color ribbon so that a predetermined color band faces a print head, and identifying whether the ribbon mounted on this ribbon carriage is the above-mentioned color ribbon or the above-mentioned specific color ribbon. Ribbon initial position setting means for randomly setting an initial printing band position to be different each time printing is started when the identification result of the ribbon identification means is the specific color ribbon; The present invention is characterized by comprising a ribbon shift control means for shifting the ribbon carriage according to the color to be printed based on a predetermined initial print band position when the identification result is the color ribbon.

(Function) In the color printer configured as described above, when the ribbon mounted on the ribbon carriage is a specific color ribbon, the ribbon printing initial position is randomly determined. Since predetermined printing starts from this randomly determined ribbon position, ribbon wear at a specific band position can be improved, extending the life of the entire ribbon. It becomes like this.

(Embodiment) A color printer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a printing mechanism section in this color printer. That is, in the printing ms section of this color printer, a shaft 12 is provided parallel to a platen 11 that supports printing paper and feeds the paper, and a carriage 13 is movable in the axial direction of this shaft 12. Supported. A print head 14 is disposed on the carriage 13 so as to be able to approach and separate from the platen 11.

Further, in the carriage 13, a ribbon carriage 15 that stores the four bands of color ribbon or all black ribbon (specific color ribbon) shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 above is movable up and down on its tip, that is, on the platen 11 side It is arranged as follows.

As a mechanism for controlling the vertical movement of the ribbon carriage 15, a ribbon motor 16, a ribbon gear 17, an idle gear 18, and a gear pinion 19 are used for the carriage 1.
It is provided at the bottom of 3.

The ribbon gear 17 is rotated in the direction of arrow 20 by the rotation of the ribbon motor 16, and the rotation of the ribbon gear 1γ causes the gear pinion 19 of the idle gear 18 to rotate in the direction of the arrow 21. The rotation of the gear pinion 19 causes the ribbon carriage 15 to move up and down, that is, in the direction of the arrow 22.

The ribbon carriage 15 moves in the direction of the arrow 22 to move the four color ribbons or all black ribbons.
It is configured to shift in four stages depending on the ribbon of the band configuration. The carriage 13 is provided with a ribbon position switch 23 for detecting the ribbon position by shifting in four stages.

Furthermore, this carriage 13 includes a ribbon carriage 1.
A ribbon identification switch 24 is provided for determining whether the ribbon stored in the ribbon 5 is a color ribbon or an all-black ribbon. That is, the identification switch 24 is designed to be turned on when, for example, the ribbon stored in the ribbon carriage 15 is a colored ribbon. ”／
The ribbon is identified by "off".

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the overall control system of the color printer configured as described above. That is, the entire color printer is controlled by a CPU 31, and a pass line 32 is connected to the CPU 31. And this pass line 32
includes an interface circuit 33, ROM 34, RAM
35, CG (character generator) 36, LB (
Line buffer 7a) 37, I10 boat 38, ribbon motor driver 39, paper feed motor driver 40. A carriage motor driver 41 and a print head driver 42 are connected to each other.

The interface circuit 33 receives print data from a host computer (not shown) and transfers this print data to the CP.
Transferring to LJ 31. ROM34 is CP tJ
31 is stored therein. R
The AM 35 operates in response to a signal sent from the CPU 31 via the pass line 32, and stores information sent via the pass line 32 or reads stored information. CG36 is a storage section that stores character patterns, and LB37 is a storage section that stores one line of print data.

Further, the I10 boat 38 is connected to the ribbon position switch 2.
3 and the ribbon identification switch 24, and the ribbon position signal from the ribbon position switch 23 and the ribbon identification signal from the ribbon identification switch 24 are connected to the pass line 32.
The data is sent to the CPU 31 via the CPU 31.

Further, the ribbon motor driver 39, paper feed motor driver 40, carriage motor driver 41, and print head driver 42 are the ribbon motor 16, paper feed motor 43, carriage jetter 44, and print head 14, respectively.
is driven based on a control signal from CP LJ 31.

The ribbon motor driver 39 is controlled by the ribbon initial position determination circuit 101 when the ribbon identification signal from the ribbon identification switch 24 indicates an all-black ribbon.

This ribbon initial position determination circuit 101 operates a counter at the same time as the power of the color printer is turned on, and when the interface circuit 33 receives print data, this counter detects the count value, and the detected count value It is configured to output a ribbon motor driver control signal to the ribbon motor driver 39 based on.

That is, the ribbon motor driver 39 drives the ribbon motor 16 according to the count value in response to the input of the ribbon motor driver control signal, and the ribbon motor 16 driven in this way causes The ribbon carriage 15 is shifted according to the count value.

In other words, for example, if the above counter is configured with a 2-bit counter, the count value is "00" in the A band, the count value is "01" in the B band, and the count value is "10".
If the count value is set in advance as "C band" and "11" as the C band, the ribbon carriage 15 will be shift-controlled in accordance with the count value.

The operation will be explained below with reference to FIG. First, when the power is turned on or when a device initialization signal or print data input via the interface circuit 33 is received, the ribbon carriage 15 is shifted to the initial position in step S1. In this case, the A band is set as the printing position. In this state, in step S2, it is determined whether the ribbon stored in the ribbon carriage 15 is a color ribbon (C ribbon) or not.

In this case, as described above, if the ribbon stored in the ribbon carriage 15 is a color ribbon, the ribbon identification switch 24 is turned on, whereas if it is an all-black ribbon, it is turned on.

If it is determined that the ribbon is a color ribbon, the ribbon carriage is shifted according to the color to be printed based on the initial band position determined in advance.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the ribbon is not a color ribbon, that is, if it is determined that it is an all-black ribbon, the initial band position of the all-black ribbon is determined in step S3.

In this case, as described above, the ribbon initial position determining circuit 10
1 determines the initial band position.

That is, the counter constituting the ribbon initial position determining circuit 101 operates simultaneously when the power is turned on, and sequentially counts one digit at a time at a certain period.

In this state, when the interface circuit 33 receives print data, it detects the count value at that time, and determines the initial band position according to the count value.

Once the initial band position is determined in this manner, the ribbon carriage 15 is shifted in accordance with the determined initial band position in step S4 to perform predetermined printing.

In this way, the initial band position when using the all-black ribbon is randomly determined by the counter of the ribbon initial position determination circuit 101, and is set to any of the A band to D band. Therefore, for example, by shifting the ribbon carriage 15 page by page, A-
When the C bands are used in order, the frequencies of use of each of the A to C bands are about the same because the initial band positions are always different. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the unevenness of the ribbon life, and it becomes possible to extend the life of the ribbon as a whole.

Note that in the ribbon initial position determining circuit 101, the count value of the counter is detected when the interface circuit 33 receives print data, but the time to detect the counter value is not limited to this time, and the count value is always detected. It suffices as long as it can be detected randomly.

Furthermore, in the embodiment, the ribbon initial position determination circuit 10
1 is configured by a counter, but it is not limited to this; in short, any configuration may be used as long as the initial band position when using a specific color ribbon can always be randomly set.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the initial band position when using a specific color ribbon can be randomly set. Therefore, wear and tear at a certain butt position can be reduced, and the life of the ribbon as a whole can be extended.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the printing mechanism section of a color printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the control system, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation. , FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a color ribbon, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of an all-black ribbon. 11...platen, 13...carriage, 14...
・Print head, 15... Ribbon carriage, 16...
・Ribbon motor, 23... Ribbon position switch, 24
...Ribbon identification switch, 31...CPU, 33.
. . . Interface circuit, 39 . . . Ribbon motor driver, 101 . . . Ribbon initial position determining circuit. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 A: Black B: Stomach C: Red D: Stomach ARM B
:Black C:Black 0:jaFigure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A color printer that performs predetermined color printing using a color ribbon consisting of a plurality of color bands of different colors or a specific color ribbon consisting of a plurality of color bands of the same color. a ribbon carriage for shifting the color ribbon so that a predetermined color band faces the print head; and a ribbon identification means for identifying whether the ribbon mounted on the ribbon carriage is the color ribbon or the specific color ribbon. and ribbon initial position setting means for randomly setting the initial printing band position to be different each time printing starts if the identification result of the ribbon identification means is the specific color ribbon; A color printer comprising: in the case of a color ribbon, ribbon shift control means for shifting the ribbon carriage according to the color to be printed based on a predetermined initial print band position.