JP2987993B2 - Printer and printer control means - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer using an ink ribbon and a method for controlling the printer, and more particularly to a method for effectively detecting a ribbon end.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There has been known a printer in which a so-called three-primary-color ink ribbon is used as a printer, and color printing can be performed by thermally transferring ink on the ink ribbon to photographic paper.

FIG. 3 shows an ink ribbon used in the above-described printer. The ink ribbon 1 has a yellow (Y) ink coated surface 2, a magenta (M) ink coated surface 3, and a cyan (C) ink coated surface. An ink portion 5 for one sheet of photographic paper having the ink application surface 4 as a set is formed continuously with a cue mark (code) 6 as a boundary.

In the conventional printer, at the start of the printing operation, the cue mark 6 is detected by a cue mark detection sensor, and the cue of the ink portion 5 of the ink ribbon 1 is detected. After that, the printing operation is continuously performed.

[0005]

However, as described above, in the conventional printer, since the head of the ink ribbon is located at the start of the printing operation, there are the following problems. Was.

(1) At the start of the printing operation, the ribbon is caught, so that it takes a long time until the printing operation is completed.

(2) The end of the ribbon cannot be detected until the print operation is started by pressing the print start button. (After the print operation is started and the ink ribbon is started to be fed, the reel of the ink ribbon is started.) Rotation stops and the ink ribbon is used up, that is, the ribbon end is found.) This not only wastes the operation of pressing the print start button, but also causes the operation until the ribbon end is found after the print start button is pressed. Time is wasted.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems by detecting the start of the ribbon and detecting the end of the ribbon before pressing the print start button.

[0009]

The ink ribbon is fed at the time of discharging the paper, and the feeding of the ink ribbon is stopped when the next cue mark is detected by the cue mark detection sensor.
When the rotation detection sensor detects the stop of the rotation of the ink ribbon, the ink ribbon end is displayed on the display unit.

[0010]

When the paper is ejected, the ink ribbon is caught in preparation for the next printing operation. When cueing cannot be performed, that is, when the ink ribbon has been used, a ribbon end error is displayed by the ribbon end error indicator. , The next printing operation can be performed effectively.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the printer and printer control of the present invention
The method will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an ink ribbon drive control system of a printer according to the present invention. The ribbon feed motor 11 rotates a reel 12 to feed the ink ribbon 1, and also displays a head mark 6 on the ink ribbon 1. Is detected by the cue mark detection sensor 13, the ribbon feed motor 11 is stopped by a CPU (central control unit) 14 as control means , and cueing of the ink ribbon 1 is performed.

When the rotation of the reel 12 is stopped after the use of the ink ribbon 1, this is detected by the rotation detection sensor 15, and the ribbon end is displayed on the display unit 16. Reference numeral 17 denotes an operation panel.

[0014] Next, operation and pudding of the printer of the present invention
The method of controlling the power will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

When a print start button provided on the operation panel 17 is pressed, a printing operation is started.

When the print start button is pressed, the ink ribbon 1 is rotated, and the cue mark detection sensor 13 is set to the position indicated by A in FIG.
The cue mark 6 of the ink ribbon 1 is detected at the position (step
1).

When the ink ribbon 1 further rotates and the cue mark 6 exceeds the detection position and reaches the position B, the ink ribbon 1 temporarily stops (step 2). Then, the thermal head and the platen are ready for printing. When the preparation is completed, the ink ribbon 1 starts to rotate again and the printing operation is performed, and the yellow ink coated surface 2, the magenta ink coated surface 3, and the cyan ink coated. The dye on the surface 4 is sequentially thermally transferred to the printing paper by the thermal head, and the printing operation is completed (step 3).

When the printing operation is completed, the ink ribbon 1
Stops the rotation, and the paper discharging operation is performed. At this time, the ink ribbon 1 starts rotating again.

When the next cue mark 6 is detected by the cue mark detection sensor 13, the rotation of the ink ribbon 1 is stopped to prepare for the next print (step 4).

If the cue mark 6 cannot be detected, the ink ribbon 1 continues to rotate, and when the so-called ribbon end is reached, the rotation of the ink ribbon 1 stops.

When the rotation detection sensor 15 detects that the rotation of the ink ribbon 1 has stopped, a ribbon end error is displayed on the display unit 16.
It is displayed (step 5).

When a ribbon end error is displayed, the ink ribbon 1 may be replaced with a new one.

If the display section 16 does not display the ribbon end, the ink ribbon 1 has stopped at the position where the cue mark 6 has been detected by the cue mark detection sensor 13.

Therefore, when the print start button is pressed for the next print operation, the head-start mark detection sensor 1 is pressed.
3 detects the cue mark 6 immediately, that is, the cue mark 6
Is checked, and the next print operation is continuously performed.

[0025]

Since the printer of the present invention has the above-described structure, the following effects are obtained.

(1) Since the cueing of the ink ribbon is performed at the time of paper ejection, the cueing operation of the ink ribbon at the start of the next printing operation can be eliminated, and the printing time can be shortened accordingly.

(2) Since the ribbon end can be detected at the time of paper ejection, it is possible to eliminate the useless operation and time of pressing the print start button even though the ink ribbon has been used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing drive control of an ink ribbon.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the printer.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the ink ribbon.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ink ribbon, 6 ... Heading mark, 13 ... Heading mark detection sensor, 15 ... Rotation detection sensor, 16 ... Display part .

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An incremental display having a display portion and a cue mark.
Of the ink ribbon
In a printer provided with a rotation detection sensor, at the start of printing , the head detection mark detection sensor detects
Detects the head mark of the ink ribbon and performs predetermined printing.
On the other hand , the ink ribbon is fed at the time of paper ejection, and the leading end of the next cue mark is detected by the cue mark detection sensor.
When the ink ribbon is detected, the feeding of the ink ribbon is stopped and the next
In preparation for printing, the tip of the next cue mark is detected by the cue mark detection sensor.
Is not output and is detected by the rotation detection sensor of the ink ribbon.
When detecting stop of ink ribbon rotation,
Stop the feeding of the ink ribbon and display the end of the ink ribbon on the above display.
A printer, comprising: control means for displaying . 2. An incremental display having a display section and a cue mark.
Of the ink ribbon
In a control method of a printer including a rotation detection sensor,
hand, At the start of printing, the cue mark detection sensor detects
For detecting the head mark of the ink ribbon and performing predetermined printing.
And Feeds the ink ribbon when discharging paper, The tip of the next cue mark is detected by the cue mark detection sensor.
When the ink ribbon is detected, the feeding of the ink ribbon is stopped and the next
Preparing for printing; The tip of the next cue mark is detected by the cue mark detection sensor.
Is not output and is detected by the rotation detection sensor of the ink ribbon.
When detecting stop of ink ribbon rotation,
Stop the feeding of the ink ribbon and display the end of the ink ribbon on the above display.
Printer system characterized by including the step of displaying
Your way.