JP3249322B2 - Recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, and more particularly to a recording apparatus for performing printing in which spot color printing and full color printing are mixed in one page.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a recording device such as a word processor, a part (character or block graphic) to be particularly emphasized is required.
May perform spot color printing using a specific color, for example, a metallic ink such as gold or silver, and perform full color printing using an ordinary multi-color ribbon for other portions.

[0003]

In such a case, the printing area is divided into a spot-color printing area and a full-color printing area, and the user views each area while viewing the screen displayed on the display. Designation is performed using a pointing device such as a mouse, and a user selects an ink ribbon to be used for printing the area, mounts the ink ribbon on a printer, and performs printing, thereby realizing desired printing. However, in this case, it is necessary for the user to select and replace the ink ribbon to be used for each printing area, which is cumbersome.

The present invention overcomes the above-identified problems, reduces the frequency of ink ribbon replacement, and
An object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus which is easy to use and can obtain good print quality.

[0005]

To SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object, a recording apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention, sentence in one page
A printing apparatus for performing printing in which a spot color printing unit and a full color printing unit composed of characters or block graphics coexist, a printing data management unit for determining and managing data related to output, and the printing data management unit An RGB table storing a plurality of RGB component values of each color for spot color printing, wherein the management unit performs printing based on print data output from
If pixel data having the same value as any one of the component values stored in the RGB table is detected, the RGB component values of a pixel adjacent to this pixel are checked, and these 2
Spot color printing if the component values of two pixels match
And the two pixel components have different values.
Determining means for determining the full-color printing unit case, the determination
Spot color printing of recorded data based on the judgment of the means
Copy and full-color printing, and print either one
After printing the print data of the
The recording data of the other printing unit is output to the recording unit and printing is performed.
Printing control means for performing the printing .

[0006]

[0007]

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the detected pixel
The data is stored in the spot color
-Of each component value stored in the RGB table for printing
If it has the same value as one of the values, the RGB component values of the pixel adjacent to this pixel are checked by the judgment means built in the print data management unit, and the component values of these two pixels are compared. by examining whether the component values of the two match (the same value), the recording data is separated judgments and spot color printing unit and the full-color printing unit, to a printing system
Control means, based on the judgment of the judgment means.
Color printing section and full-color printing section
Output the print data of the other printing unit to the printing unit and print
After that, the recording data of the other printing unit is output to the recording unit.
The desired record can be obtained by performing printing .

[0009]

[0010]

[0011]

FIG. 1 to FIG. 8 show an embodiment of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, a printer having a ribbon cassette exchanging mechanism for holding a plurality of ribbon cassettes and automatically selecting and exchanging a desired ribbon cassette in accordance with print information is used as a recording unit. A recording apparatus in which a recording data management unit for performing management is provided in a host computer will be described.

FIGS. 1 to 3 are main structural views showing an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer as a recording section of a recording apparatus according to the present invention.

As shown in detail in FIG. 1, the thermal transfer printer P of this embodiment has a flat platen 1 which receives a load when a paper and an ink ribbon 70 are pressed by a thermal head 11 described later. . Also, this platen 1
And a carriage guide shaft 2 extending in parallel to both sides of the main body case of the thermal transfer printer P are bridged to left and right side plates (not shown), and a carriage 3 forming a main part for printing.
Are slidably held by the guide shaft 2.
Further, a plate-shaped carriage guide portion 6 for guiding the movement of the carriage 3 is provided in the main body case so as to extend in parallel with the platen 1. On the other hand, a carriage support 7 is projected from the rear of the carriage 3, and the carriage support 7 is slidably held by the carriage guide 6.

A carriage drive motor 4 is provided below the back of the carriage guide section 6, and a sprocket 4a rotated by the carriage drive motor 4 is provided near the carriage drive motor 4. ing. The end of the carriage 3 is attached to the sprocket 4a.
The carriage 3 is wound along the guide shaft 2 and the carriage guide portion 6 through the running of the toothed drive belt 5 by the drive of the carriage drive motor 4. Reciprocating in parallel. The carriage support portion 7 for sliding and guiding the carriage 3 along the carriage guide portion 6 has a substantially U-shaped cross-section. Protrusions 7a are formed in contact with the guide portions 6, and these protrusions 7a prevent the carriage 3 from rattling during movement.

A plurality of heating elements (not shown) are arranged on the carriage 3 and are arranged so as to be movable toward and away from the platen 1. A cassette carrier 12 which can be moved up and down in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction and on which a ribbon cassette 60 can be mounted; a supply reel 61 which winds an ink ribbon 70 stored in the ribbon cassette 60 from both ends thereof; Supply bobbin 13 and take-up bobbin 1 respectively engaged with reel 62
4 and the upstream and downstream of the ink ribbon 70 in the running direction with the thermal head insertion portion 63 of the ribbon cassette 60 facing the intermediate portion of the ink ribbon 70 which is formed in a concave shape and is led out of the ribbon cassette 60 to the outside. The second supply bobbin 15 and the second take-up bobbin 16 respectively engaged with a pair of pinch rollers 64, 65 disposed at the position.
And a peeling roller 17 disposed downstream of the thermal head 11 in the running direction of the ink ribbon 70 and selectively driven according to the type of the ribbon cassette 60 to be used, and drives these members. For this purpose, a driving member and the like described later are provided.

As will be described later, the thermal head 11 is pressed against and separated from the platen 1, the cassette carrier 12 is moved toward and away from the carriage 3, and the ink ribbon is supplied, wound and supplied. The rewinding operation and the driving operation of the peeling roller 17 are all driven by a single stepping motor 18 (FIG. 2) disposed on the carriage 3 as described later. The operation of pressing the thermal head 11 against the platen 1 is referred to as a head-down operation, and the operation of separating the thermal head 11 from the platen 1 is referred to as a head-up operation.

A first transmission gear 20 and a second transmission gear 21 are meshed with the output pinion gear 19 of the stepping motor 18, respectively. On the upper surface of the first transmission gear 20, a substantially triangular rocking plate 22 that is rotatable around a rotation center 20a of the transmission gear 20 is mounted.

A pin 22a is provided at one end of the rocking plate 22 for engaging with a cam groove 26 formed on the upper surface of the cam 25. At the other two ends, the pin 22a is connected to the transmission gear 20. A first oscillating gear 23 and a second oscillating gear 24 that mesh with each other are provided, and depending on the oscillating position of the oscillating plate 22, one of the two oscillating gears 23, 24
The gear 25 is meshed with a gear 25a having a toothless portion 25b formed substantially at the center in the width direction of the outer peripheral surface of the cam 25 disposed near the rocking plate 22. A tip of a spring (not shown) is engaged with the upper surface of the rocking plate 22, and the rocking plate 22 is constantly urged toward the cam 25 by the elastic force of the spring.

As shown in FIG. 4, the outer peripheral portion of the cam 25 has a gear portion 25a formed substantially all around the center in the thickness direction and having a toothless portion 25b formed partially in the circumferential direction.
A first intermittent gear 25c formed in a range of about one-fourth of the upper part in the thickness direction, and a position in the circumferential direction shifted from the first intermittent gear 25c to about two-half of the lower part in the thickness direction. The second intermittent gear 25d formed in a range of 5 laps
And are arranged. These two intermittent gears 25c, 25
As shown in detail in FIG. 4, the shape of the tooth d is such that two connected teeth and one tooth are formed alternately at intervals of one tooth.

On the upper surface of the cam 25, there are formed a first cam groove 26 with which the pin 22a of the rocking plate 22 is engaged and a second cam groove 27 for contacting and separating the peeling roller. Further, a cam groove 28 for contacting and separating a thermal head is formed on the lower surface of the cam 25.

The first cam groove 26 is formed by two communicating grooves 26c and 26d, which are formed in a substantially diametrical direction by forming concentric annular inner grooves 26a and outer grooves 26b, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 1, when the first swing gear 23 meshes with the gear portion 25a, the pin 22a is engaged with the inner groove 26a, and the second swing gear 2
When the gear 4 engages with the gear 25a, the pin 22a is engaged with the outer groove 26b. Further, the first cam groove 26 is provided with a pin 2 for holding both the swing gears 23 and 24 at a position where they do not mesh with the gear portion 25a.
2a has locking portions 26e and 27f in the inner groove 26a.

The second cam groove 27 for contacting and separating the peeling roller has an arc groove 27a at the center of the cam 25 and an arc groove 27b of about 160 degrees in the outer periphery of the cam 25.
Are communicated by a linear communication groove 27c.

Further, the cam groove 28 for contacting and separating the thermal head is provided with a curved groove 2 extending from the center of the cam 25 to the outer periphery.
8a and about 1 communicating with the outer end of the curved groove 28a.
It is constituted by an arc groove 28b in a range of 90 degrees.

In the vicinity of the cam 25, a bent head pressure contact lever 29 is provided, and a side portion of a lower portion of the head pressure contact lever 29 is supported so as to be swingable about a shaft 30. A pin 29a protrudes from one end of the head pressing lever 29, and the pin 29a is engaged with the head contact / separation cam groove 28 of the cam 25. The other end of the head pressure lever 29 is configured to press the back surface of the head mounting base 11 a to which the thermal head 11 is mounted via a pressure spring 31.

In the vicinity of the cam 25, a substantially L-shaped peeling roller driving lever 32 is disposed, and one end of the peeling roller driving lever 32 is provided on the surface of the cam 25. A pin 32a is formed to be engaged with the peeling roller contact / separation cam groove 27 formed at the other end.
And a second pin 32b engageable with the lever 3 and a hole 3 formed in the transmission member 33 interlocked with the peeling roller driving lever 32.
A third pin 32c that can be inserted into 3b is formed, and a cylindrical projection 32d is formed on the substantially central upper surface of the peeling roller driving lever 32.

A rod-shaped pin 33c is formed at one end of the transmission member 33, and a lower end of the pin 33c is
d, and is fixed to the carriage 3 through the upper end of the pin 33c.
The peeling roller driving lever 3 is inserted into the hole 32c of the 2d so that its tip protrudes from the upper end.
2 is held on the transmission member 33. Further, a pin 34a formed below the peeling roller mounting member 34 is inserted into the elongated hole 33d formed at the other end of the transmission member 32. Further, the other end 3 of the peeling roller attaching member 34
Reference numeral 4b is rotatably inserted around a pin (not shown) projecting from the carriage 3 using the pin as a fulcrum. As a result, the peeling roller 17 is moved toward and away from the platen 1 via the transmission member 33 by the rotation of the peeling roller driving lever 32, but the ribbon cassette 60 to be used is moved to the rod-shaped pin 33c. Press the tip of the
When this pin is pushed down, the pin 32c of the peeling roller driving lever 32 is not inserted into the hole 33b of the transmission member 33, and the peeling roller 17 does not rotate.

The second winding bobbin 16 is rotatably inserted and held by a pin into which the hole 34b at the other end of the peeling roller mounting member 34 is inserted.

The carriage 3 is provided with the second drive gear 21 which always meshes with the output pinion gear 19 of the stepping motor 18 so as to be rotatable about a rotation shaft. Fig. 5
As described in detail, the gear 35, which is driven to rotate with the rotation of the drive gear 21, is connected with a certain play through the connecting member 21a. This gear 3
A take-up gear 36 is disposed on the upper surface of 5, and the take-up bobbin 14 is coaxially mounted above the take-up gear 36 via a friction mechanism.

Further, the carriage 3 is provided with a transmission gear 37 which always meshes with the gear 35. The transmission gear 37 has a first swing gear 38 which always meshes with the transmission gear 37, and The second oscillating gear 39 is the oscillating plate 37
a. The transmission gear 37 is constantly biased in the direction of the winding gear 36 by a spring.

The second winding bobbin 16 is mounted on the carriage 3 via the peeling roller mounting member 34.
A second winding gear 41 meshed with the winding gear 36 of the winding bobbin 14 via transmission gears 40a and 40b below the second winding bobbin 16.
Are mounted coaxially via a friction mechanism (not shown).

The first swing gear 38 and the second swing gear 39 are connected to the winding bobbin 14 and the second winding bobbin 16 irrespective of the rotation direction of the stepping motor 18.
The first oscillating gear 38 meshes with the winding gear 36 or the second oscillating gear 39 in accordance with the rotation direction of the stepping motor 18. Are engaged with the transmission gear 40a.

In this embodiment, when the stepping motor 18 rotates counterclockwise, the first swing gear 38 meshes with the winding gear 36, while the stepping motor 18 rotates clockwise. When rotating, the second swing gear 39 meshes with the transmission gear 40a, and a rotational force is transmitted to the winding bobbin 36 and the second winding bobbin 41. Further, since the second drive gear 21 and the gear 35 on the upper surface thereof are arranged with a certain play by the connecting member 21a as described above, when the rotation direction of the stepping motor 18 is reversed, For example, when the cam 25 is rotated for a head-up operation or a head-down operation, the rotation of the second transmission gear 21 is not transmitted to the gear 35, and the ribbon winding operation is not performed. A spring clutch is provided between the winding bobbin 14 and the winding gear 36, and the winding bobbin 14 is controlled so as to always rotate only in one direction (the winding direction of the ink ribbon 70). I have. As a result, the ink ribbon 70 wound on the winding bobbin 14 is not pulled out in the reverse direction, and does not loosen.

Further, the supply bobbin 13 is provided on the upper surface of the cam 25. A supply gear 42 is coaxially mounted below the supply bobbin 13 via a friction mechanism (not shown) to apply a constant supply load (back tension) to the ink ribbon 70 or to control a ribbon cassette 6 to be described later. The ink ribbon 70 is configured to be rewound with the replacement.

A transmission mechanism 43 is provided near the cam 25. The transmission mechanism 43 includes a gear 44a meshable with the second intermittent gear 25d formed below the outer peripheral portion of the cam 25, a gear 44b meshable with the first intermittent gear 25c, and the gear 44a. The transmission gear 44d includes an integrally rotating transmission gear 44d and another transmission gear 44c that is connected to the gear 44b via the spring clutch mechanism and transmits only the counterclockwise rotation of the gear 44b. When the cam 25 further rotates from the initial head-up position, the gear 44a rotates while meshing with the second intermittent gear 25d, and the rotational force is transmitted to the lift gear 46 (described later) via the gear 44d. It is configured to communicate.

The first intermittent gear 25b or the second intermittent gear 2 of the cam 25 provided in the transmission mechanism 43
Gear 44b or gear 44 meshable with each other
“a” has a shape in which two large tooth portions and one small tooth portion are alternately formed. This is to ensure transmission with the first intermittent gear 25b and the second intermittent gear 25c.

Since the upper gear 44b and the transmission gear 44c on the upper surface thereof are disposed via the spring clutch 44d (FIG. 6), the gear 44b is always provided in only one direction (counterclockwise in this embodiment). Therefore, the supply gear 42 meshing with the transmission gear 44c can rotate only in the rewinding direction. Therefore, a certain load of the friction mechanism acts on the supply of the ink ribbon 70, thereby preventing the ink ribbon 70 from being loosened due to drawing out.

A lift gear 4 is provided near the transmission mechanism 43.
The lift gear 46 has a screw groove 46a formed on the outer periphery thereof. The lower end of the lift gear 46 is connected to the intermittent gear 2 formed on the cam 25.
The rotation shaft 47a of the gear 47 meshing with the gear 44d meshing with the gear 5b is spline-coupled via a coil spring 48. As a result, the lift gear 46 rotates together with the gear 47, but can slightly move up and down by the action of the coil spring 48.

As shown in detail in FIG. 1, the cassette carrier 12 has a screw groove 46 of the lift gear 46.
a, and a pair of guide members 49a, 49b provided on the carriage 3;
Are formed in the carriage 3 along the guide members 49a, 49b in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the carriage 3 along the guide members 49a, 49b as the lift gear 46 rotates. It has become. Further, the cassette carrier 12 is engaged with a holding portion of the ribbon cassette 60, and has a pair of rectangular holding members 12d and 12h for holding the ribbon cassette 60.
The holding members 12d and 12e are urged by an urging member (not shown) in a direction in which the distance between them becomes smaller.

As shown in detail in FIG.
The first detection sensor 51 for detecting the type of the ribbon cassette 60 held in a cassette holding portion (not shown) at a predetermined position of the main body case, and the presence or absence of the ribbon cassette 60 on the carriage 3 Second detection sensor 52
Is mounted. As shown, the first detection sensor 51 and the second detection sensor 52
The first detection sensor 51 is disposed at a position slightly away from the ribbon cassette 60, and the second detection sensor 52 is disposed at a position close to the ribbon cassette 60. Thus, the shape of the sensor arrangement plate 50 is formed.

A drive control means 54 having a storage means 53 is provided at a portion (not shown) of the thermal transfer printer P, so that all the drives of the thermal transfer printer P are controlled by the drive control means 54. Has become. In this embodiment, the storage means 53 and the drive control means 54 are configured to perform the following special operations.

That is, the storage means 53 stores the first
The position of the cassette carrier 12 detected by the detection sensor 51 and the second detection sensor 52 and the type of the ribbon cassette 60 mounted on the cassette carrier 12 (color of the stored ink ribbon) are stored. Has become. On the other hand, when the drive control unit 54 receives the detection signal of the end of the ink ribbon 70 of the ribbon cassette 60 detected by the ribbon end detection unit (not shown), the drive control unit 54 uses the used data based on the contents stored in the storage unit 53. The ribbon cassette 60 is accommodated in an empty cassette holding section, and the next type of ribbon cassette 60 to be used is mounted on the carriage 3. The various gears 25c, 44a, 46, 47
..., cassette carrier 12 and its holding claws 12d, 1
2e and the like constitute a ribbon cassette exchange mechanism.

The ribbon cassette 60 used in this embodiment includes a metallic red, gold, and silver ribbon cassette and an ordinary multi-color ribbon (in the longitudinal direction of the ribbon, three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan, or three colors of these). (In which four color ink portions in which black is added to the color is repeatedly and continuously formed) is used.

In the present embodiment, the thermal transfer printer P is connected to a host computer HC (not shown) using a bidirectional interface as shown in FIG. Are configured to be separated from the spot color printing unit and the full color printing unit and output from the host computer HC.

In more detail, the host computer HC receives an input from an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, or the like, and the input unit 83 of the host computer HC.
A print data management unit 82 for determining and managing print data related to the output stored in the printer is provided. The print data management unit 82 separates the print data into a spot color print unit and a full color print unit. To judge,
RGB component values of each color used for the spot color are registered in advance (for example, in the case of metallic red: R50, G20,
B30) The built-in RGB table 84 is provided.

Incidentally, there is a possibility that RGB component values having the same values as the respective component values stored in the spot color RGB table 84 may exist in the recording data of the full color printing unit. Some may be recognized as spot colors and spot color printed. To avoid this, the host computer H
C is provided with a judgment means 85. When detecting a pixel having the same value as any of the component values stored in the RGB table 84, the determination unit 85 checks the values of the RGB components of the pixel adjacent to this pixel, and
The component values of the two pixels are compared. If the two component values match (the same value), it is determined that the image is a character or a block figure and the spot color printing unit is determined. If the values are different, full color printing is performed. It is configured to determine that the part is a part.

In this embodiment, a print control unit 86 is provided in the print data management unit 82. The printing control unit 86 outputs the recording data of one of the spot color printing unit and the full color printing unit mixed in one page to the recording unit 81 based on the judgment data of the judgment unit 85. Thereafter, the recording data of the other printing unit is configured to be output to the recording unit 81. Thus, the order of the recording data to be output to the recording unit 81 is determined.

The spot color printing is a "character"
Alternatively, it is assumed that it is composed of only “block graphics”.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described.

The host computer HC, which has received the instruction to output the data to the thermal transfer printer P, uses the built-in judgment means 85 based on the values of the RGB tables 84 of the respective colors used for the built-in spot colors to determine the recording data. Is determined to be separated into a spot color printing unit and a full color printing unit.

At this time, unless an RGB component value having the same value as the value stored in the RGB table 84 is detected in the recording data of the full-color printing section, it is determined that the recording data is of the full-color printing section. to decide.

Conversely, the spot color RGB table 8
When an RGB component value having the same value as the value stored in step 4 is detected, the values of the RGB components of the adjacent pixels are checked.
Comparing the component values of two pixels, if the values match (the same value), it is determined that the image is a character or a block figure, and a spot color printing unit is used. If the values are different, a full color printing unit is used. And the recording data is separated into a spot color printing section and a full color printing section.

In the case of full-color printing, it is extremely unlikely that pixel data having the same value is adjacent to each other.
Even if pixels having the same value are adjacent to each other, it is only one point in the full-color image, and there is almost no problem visually.

After the recording data is separated into the spot color printing section and the full color printing section in this way, the printing control section 86 first prints the recording data of the spot color printing section into the recording section 81 among the judgment data. Output to the thermal transfer printer P.

The thermal transfer printer P receiving the recording data
As an initial operation, the carriage 3 is reciprocated along the platen 1, the type and position of the ribbon cassette 60 mounted on the cassette carrier 12 are detected by the first detection sensor 50, and stored in the memory. As a result, what kind of ribbon cassette 60 is mounted on which cassette carrier 12 is stored.

Then, printing is performed line by line based on the recording data (as necessary, while replacing the ink ribbon of another metallic color with a ribbon cassette replacing mechanism described later).

When the printing of the spot color printing area in one page is completed, the print control means 86 sends a back feed command to the paper transport section of the thermal transfer printer P to reversely transport the paper to the printing start position. Is issued, and after the sheet is reversely conveyed to the predetermined position, subsequently, the print control unit 86
The print data of the full-color printing section is output again from the head position, the printing of the full-color printing area is performed using the multi-color ink ribbon, and the printing of one page is completed.

Next, the thermal transfer printer P used in this embodiment
The driving operation at the time of printing and the exchange mechanism of the ink ribbon cassette will be described in detail.

First, when the stepping motor 18 is rotated clockwise, the first transmission gear 20 rotates counterclockwise. As a result, the swing plate 22 rotates counterclockwise, and the first swing gear 23 meshes with the gear 25 a on the outer peripheral portion of the cam 25. If the stepping motor 18 is further rotated in this state, the cam 25 rotates counterclockwise, and the pin 29a of the head pressure lever 29 is located at the innermost periphery of the head contact / separation cam groove 28 of the cam 25. .

At this time, since the head pressure lever 29 is swung to the left most, the head mount 11a operates together with the head pressure lever 29, and the thermal head 11 is pressed against the platen 1, ie, the so-called head. It will be kept down. In this state, the first oscillating gear 23 is the toothless portion 2 of the gear 25a on the outer peripheral portion of the cam 25.
When the stepping motor 18 further rotates counterclockwise, the rotational force of the first swing gear 23 is not transmitted to the cam 25, and the cam 25 stops at this position. In this state, the peeling roller driving lever 32
Is located at the innermost periphery of the peeling cam groove 27 on the surface of the cam 25, the peeling roller driving lever 32 is pivoted to the rightmost side with the pin 33C as a fulcrum, and is moved through the pin 32c. As a result, the transmission member 33 is rotated rightward, whereby the peeling roller fixing member 34 is rotated in the direction of the platen 1. The above-mentioned cam 25
Is rotating, the torque of the stepping motor 18 is also transmitted to the second transmission gear 21, but the gear 35 does not rotate because there is play between the second transmission gear 21 and the gear 35. Also, the cam 25 during the head down operation
Is transmitted to the gear 44b via the first intermittent gear 25c, but the gear 44b is connected to the gear 44c by opening the spring clutch as described above. In addition, since the gear 44c does not rotate, and therefore, the supply gear 42 does not rotate, the ink ribbon is not fed and slack does not occur.

In this state, the stepping motor 1
8 is rotated clockwise, the transmission gear 21 and the gear 35 are rotated.
, The rotation of the second transmission gear 21 is transmitted to the gear 35, and the gear 35 rotates together with the second transmission gear 21. The rotation of the second transmission gear 21 is transmitted to the transmission gear 37, and the transmission gear 37 rotates clockwise. When the transmission gear 37 rotates clockwise, the second swing gear 39 engaged with the transmission gear 37 swings and meshes with the transmission gear 40a. Accordingly, the rotation of the transmission gear 40a is transmitted to the winding gear 36 and the second winding gear 4 via the transmission gear 40b.
1 and the take-up bobbin 14 and the second take-up bobbin 16 rotate to perform a take-up operation of the ink ribbon.

Accordingly, in this head-down state, the carriage driving motor 4 is driven to move the carriage 3 to selectively drive the thermal head 11 and to drive the stepping motor 18 to wind up the ink ribbon. The necessary records are made.

The movement from the head down state to the head up state is performed as follows. When the stepping motor 18 is rotated counterclockwise in the head down state, the first transmission gear 20 rotates clockwise. As a result, the swing plate 22 swings rightward, and the first swing gear 23
Is disengaged from the outer peripheral portion of the cam 25, and the second swing gear 24 meshes with the gear portion 25a on the outer peripheral portion of the cam 25. When the stepping motor 18 is further rotated in the same direction in this state, the cam 25 continues to rotate clockwise so that the pin 29a of the head press-contact lever 29 is positioned at the outermost periphery of the head contact / separation cam groove 28 of the cam 25. become. At this time, since the head pressure lever 29 is swung to the right most, the head mount 11a operates together with the head pressure lever 29, and the thermal head 11 is farthest from the platen 1, ie, a so-called head-up state. Will be held. When the stepping motor 18 is rotated clockwise in this state, the first swing gear 23 is separated from the outer peripheral portion of the cam 25, and the second swing gear 24 is shifted to the gear 25 of the cam 25.
and the cam 25 is rotated. When the stepping motor 18 is rotated counterclockwise again in this state, the pin 22a of the rocking plate 22 is located in the communication groove 26c of the first cam groove 26, and the second rocking gear 24 is connected to the gear on the outer peripheral portion of the cam 25. 2
5a. In this position, the first swinging gear 23 is also separated from the outer peripheral portion of the cam 25, so that even if the stepping motor 18 further rotates counterclockwise, the rotational force of the stepping motor 18 is not transmitted to the cam 25. ,
The cam 25 is kept stopped at this position. In this state, the pin 32a of the peeling roller driving lever 32 is
Is located at the outermost periphery of the peeling roller contact / separation cam groove 27 on the surface of the cam 25, so that the peeling roller driving lever 32 is pivoted to the left most with the pin 33c as a fulcrum, and via the pin 32c. The transmission member 33 rotates to the left, whereby the peeling roller fixing member 34 is held at a position away from the platen 1. Note that while the cam 25 is rotating, the torque of the stepping motor 18 is also transmitted to the second transmission gear 21, but there is play between the second transmission gear 21 and the gear 35, The gear 35 does not rotate. During the head-up operation, the rotational force of the cam 25 is transmitted as a counterclockwise rotational force to the gear 44b via the first intermittent gear 25c.
Rotates in the counterclockwise direction, whereby the supply gear 42 rotates clockwise, and the winding operation of the ink ribbon is performed.

In this head-up state, printing is not performed even if the carriage 3 is driven. For example, color printing is performed using a multi-color ribbon 70 in which a plurality of color inks are repeatedly formed in the longitudinal direction. When performing the step (1), it is necessary to feed the ink ribbon 70 idly to make the ink portion of a desired color face the thermal head 11, so that the stepping motor 18 is further rotated counterclockwise. Then, when the stepping motor 18 rotates by a predetermined amount, the play between the drive gear 21 and the gear 35 is eliminated,
When the stepping motor 18 further rotates, the driving gear 2
The rotation of 1 is transmitted to the gear 35, and the gear 35 rotates together with the second transmission gear 21. The rotation of this gear is transmitted to the transmission gear 37, and the transmission gear 37 rotates counterclockwise. When the transmission gear 37 rotates counterclockwise, the swing gear 38 engaged with the transmission gear 37 swings and meshes with the winding gear 36. The rotation of the winding gear 36 causes the winding bobbin 14 to rotate.
Not only rotates, but also the rotation of the winding gear 36 is transmitted to the second winding gear 41 via the transmission gears 40a and 40b, and the second winding bobbin 16 rotates, so that the ink ribbon winding operation is started. Done.

When the stepping motor 18 is rotated clockwise from this state, the swinging plate 22 rotates leftward, and the pin 22a moves from the specific position 26c to the inside of the first cam groove 26, and further stepping is performed. Motor 18
Is rotated clockwise, the above-described head-down operation is performed.

Next, a ribbon cassette exchanging mechanism for exchanging the ribbon cassette 60 mounted on the cassette carrier 12 will be described.

First, an operation when a desired ribbon cassette 60 is loaded from a state where the ribbon cassette 60 is not loaded on the cassette carrier 12 will be described.

When the head is in the head-up state, the head is first set to the head-down state. When the head is in the head-down state, the stepping motor 18 is rotated counterclockwise from that state. Then, the second swing gear 24 meshes with the gear 25a of the cam 25 by the clockwise rotation of the transmission gear 20, and rotates the cam 25 clockwise. As a result, as described above, the thermal head 11 is positioned in the head-up state. When the stepping motor 18 is further rotated from this state, the pin 29a of the head press-contact lever 29 remains in the head-up state and the pin 29a of the cam groove 28 It moves along the arc groove 29a on the outer peripheral portion.

At this time, the intermittent gear 25c formed below the outer peripheral portion of the cam 25 is connected to the gears 44a, 44a of the transmission member 43.
The gears 44a and 44b are rotated by meshing with the gear 4b.
Along with this, the gear 44d rotates, causing the gear 47 to rotate. The rotation of the gear 47 rotates the lift gear 46, and the rotation of the lift gear 46 causes the cassette carrier 12 to move upward along the guide members 49a and 49b. Thereby, the cassette carrier 12
The holding claws 12d and 12e engage with holding portions 66a and 66b formed on the outer peripheral portion of the ribbon cassette 60, and hold the ribbon cassette 60.

At this time, even if there is a slight variation in height at the position where the ribbon cassette 60 is held, the lift gear 46 is spline-connected to the shaft 47a of the gear 47 via the coil spring 48 (FIG. 6). ), Can absorb vertical rattling. Even when the gear 44b rotates, the transmission gear 44c does not rotate because the gear 44b and the transmission gear 44c are connected via the spring clutch.

After holding the ribbon cassette 60, the stepping motor 18 is rotated clockwise.
Thereby, the cam 25 rotates counterclockwise via the first swing gear 23. At this time, the gears 44a, 44d, and 47 rotate via the intermittent gear 25c, and the lift gear 46 rotates. As a result, the cassette carrier 12 descends,
It is arranged on the carriage 3. Thus, the desired ribbon cassette 60 is mounted on the carriage 3.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the first winding bobbin 14, the second winding bobbin 16, the supply bobbin 1
3 and the engaging member 1 that engages with the reels 61 and 62 of the ribbon cassette 60 formed on the supply bobbin 15, respectively.
4a, 16a, (13a, 15a)
Since the ribbon cassette 60 is vertically movable with the b, 16b and (13b, 15b) interposed therebetween, even when the ribbon cassette 60 is not properly engaged at the time of replacement, the ribbon cassette 60 is pressed down against the spring, and thereafter, By the rotation of the bobbins 13, 14,
When the positions match, the spring is pushed upward by the urging force of the spring, so that reliable engagement is performed.

Next, a case where the ribbon cassette 60 is mounted on the cassette carrier 12 in advance and this ribbon cassette 60 is replaced with another type of ribbon cassette 60 will be described.

First, the carriage 3 is reciprocated to cause the first detection sensor 51 to detect the holding portion of the main body case where the ribbon cassette 60 is not held. When this position is detected, the carriage 3 is positioned at a position opposite to this position by the control means 54, the cassette carrier 12 is raised as described above, and the ribbon cassette 60 is held by the holding portion. Is lowered, and a desired ribbon cassette 6 is operated in the same manner as when the ribbon cassette 60 is not mounted.
0 is mounted.

As described above, according to the recording apparatus of the present embodiment, when performing recording in which the spot color print area and the full color print area are mixed, the user can view the displayed screen while watching the displayed screen. Areas can be designated for each area using a pointing device such as a mouse, and the user can select the ink ribbon to be used for printing the area and mount it on the thermal transfer printer P. Since the reverse conveyance and the replacement of the ink ribbon cassette can be automatically performed, the usability is improved, and good printing quality can be obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be modified as required. For example, in the present embodiment, the print data management unit 82 is provided on the host computer HC side connected to the thermal transfer printer P, but the print data management unit 82 may be provided on the thermal transfer printer P. . In addition, it goes without saying that the order in which the print control unit 86 outputs the recording data to the thermal transfer printer P does not always have to be the spot color printing unit. Furthermore, when a plurality of ribbon cassettes of the same type are mounted and the ink ribbon is used, it is possible to replace the ribbon cassette of the same type and continue recording. Note that the recording unit is not limited to a thermal transfer printer, and various printing devices such as a page printer can be used.

[0077]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By the judging means, it is possible to automatically separate the printing areas of the spot color printing section and the full color printing section. Further, the printing control means can reduce the frequency of replacing the ink ribbon and perform efficient printing in which the sheet is automatically reversely conveyed. In addition, the ribbon cassette replacement mechanism can reduce the frequency of manual replacement of the ink ribbon, so that the usability of the recording apparatus can be improved and good print quality can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part showing an embodiment of a recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part configuration showing an embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a main part of an embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention, showing a head down state.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a cam in an embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exploded explanatory view showing a connection structure of a second transmission gear and a gear in the embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an exploded explanatory view showing a structure of a lift gear and a transmission member in a cassette carrier driving mechanism in one embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exploded explanatory view showing a configuration of a ribbon winding bobbin and a supply bobbin in one embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an exploded explanatory view showing a configuration of a second ribbon take-up bobbin and a delivery bobbin in one embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing control means of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Carriage 11 Thermal Head 12 Cassette Carrier 18 Stepping Motor 20, 21 Transmission Gear 23, 24, 38, 39 Swinging Gear 25 Cam 25c Intermittent Gear 29 Head Pressure Lever 29a Pin 43 Transmission Member 46 Lift Gear 51, 52 Detection Sensor 53 Storage Means 54 Drive unit 60 Ribbon cassette 82 Recording data management unit 83 Input unit 84 RGB table 85 Judgment unit 86 Printing control unit P Thermal transfer printer HC Host computer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-14384 (JP, A) JP-A-60-253370 (JP, A) JP-A-59-218886 (JP, A) JP-A-4- 257456 (JP, A) JP-A-6-90355 (JP, A) JP-A-5-134824 (JP, A) JP-A-5-4384 (JP, A) JP-A-1-200964 (JP, A) JP-A-4-150670 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/525 B41J 2/325 B41J 5/30 H04N 1/46 H04N 1/60

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. One page consists of characters or block figures
A recording device that performs printing in which a spot color printing unit and a full color printing unit are mixed, wherein a recording data management unit that determines and manages data related to output, and a recording data output from the recording data management unit. An RGB table that stores a plurality of RGB component values of each color for spot color printing, and that is stored in the RGB table. If pixel data having the same value as any of the component values is detected, the RGB values of the pixels adjacent to this pixel are detected.
Check the component values and make sure that the component values of these two pixels match
If so, judge that it is a spot color printing section and
If the components of the pixels have different values, a determination unit that determines a full-color print portion, and the recording data based on the determination by the determination unit.
Data into a spot color print section and a full color print section.
Release the recording data from one of the printing units to the recording unit.
After printing, press the record data of the other
A printing apparatus, further comprising print control means for performing printing by outputting to a recording unit.