JP2005041163A - Ribbon support structure, ink ribbon structural body, and image printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize detection of a residual ink ribbon and secure detection of loading of the ribbon in a small and low cost device in an image printer using the roll type ink ribbon. <P>SOLUTION: A built-in sensor 10 is positioned opposite to a slit-like hole 9 provided to a compartment section 6. As the plurality of slit-like holes 9 are arranged in the rotary direction of the compartment section 6, the sensor 10 can detect one revolution of a ribbon core 4 by detecting all the slit-like holes 9. By counting an amount of a rotation (the number of steps) of a stepping motor for conveying the ribbon at a time when the ribbon core 4 is rotated for one revolution, a length L of the ribbon drawn for one revolution thereof can be calculated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to realizing detection of the remaining amount of ink ribbon and the reliability of ribbon mounting at a small size and at low cost in an image printing apparatus such as a facsimile or printer using a roll-shaped ink ribbon.

  In an image printing apparatus such as a facsimile or a printer that uses a roll-shaped ink ribbon, as shown in FIG. 4, the ink ribbon is placed on two shafts on the supply side where the unused portion is wound and on the side where the used ribbon is wound. A wound structure is known.

  In the above device, a thermal head for transferring the ink ribbon to the recording paper, a platen roller, etc. are provided around the ribbon, and during printing, the recording paper is fed to the ribbon while pressing the recording paper against the ribbon, and the printing speed is increased. In general, a structure is used in which a ribbon shaft on the winding side is rotated to continuously wind up used ribbons.

  In order to check the remaining amount of the ink ribbon with the above apparatus, it is necessary to detect the amount of ribbon used by some method.

  Conventionally, in order to detect this amount of use, the rotation amount of the ribbon is counted by attaching a disk with a slit-like hole that detects the rotation of the ribbon on the outside of the ribbon axis and an encoder device provided with a sensor. Is used to calculate the remaining amount of ribbon (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). FIG. 5 shows a general structural schematic diagram of the prior art. A rotation amount detection device such as a disk 1 or a sensor 2 having a slit-like hole 3 for detecting rotation is installed inside a device main body 5 separate from the ribbon core 4 around which the ink ribbon 1 is wound. .

As another method, there is a method in which an encoder device similar to the above is provided and the remaining amount of the ribbon is detected based on a change (time) in the rotation period of the ribbon (see, for example, Patent Documents 3 and 4).
JP-A-4-331178 JP 2001-47717 A JP-A-6-47977 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-244724

  However, in the above conventional apparatus, it is necessary to install an extra part such as a disk having an extra space for incorporating the above apparatus inside the apparatus main body or a slit-like hole for detecting rotation. However, there is a problem that the cost becomes larger than necessary, the cost increases, and the manufacturing cost for precision parts increases.

  The object of the present invention is to reduce the amount of ribbon remaining at a small size and at low cost by detecting the remaining amount of ink ribbon from the amount of feed when the ribbon is consumed. An object of the present invention is to provide a ribbon support structure capable of detecting the amount.

  The present invention provides a ribbon support structure for rotatably supporting a roll-shaped ink ribbon, wherein a hole provided for rotation detection or a protrusion is provided in a partition provided at an end of a supply-side or take-up-side ribbon core, and In addition, a sensor or a switch for detecting the rotation detection hole or protrusion is provided inside a bearing for supporting the core.

  In the present invention, since the hole or protrusion of the partition provided at the end of the ribbon core is detected by the sensor or the switch, the rotation speed of the ribbon can be easily detected. Therefore, if the ribbon is fed by a stepping motor or the like, it is possible to easily know the ribbon feeding amount when the ribbon is rotated by a certain number of revolutions (for example, one revolution). If the ribbon feed amount is known, the outer diameter of the ribbon winding at that time can be known, and further, the remaining amount of ribbon can be calculated from this outer diameter. Accordingly, the remaining amount of the ribbon can be easily known with a simple structure without providing a disk having a slit-like hole. Also, since the remaining amount of ribbon at that time can be absolutely known by the feed amount (number of steps) of the stepping motor when the ribbon rotates at a constant speed, even when the ribbon is removed from the entire device and attached again, There is an advantage that the remaining amount can be known.

  Further, since the rotation detection hole or protrusion is provided in the partition of the ribbon core end portion, it is not necessary to separately provide a detection target component, and the structure is simplified.

  Furthermore, if the ribbon core is not set correctly, the rotation detection hole or projection is provided, so that it is not necessary to separately provide a detection target component, and the structure is simplified.

  Furthermore, if the ribbon core is not set correctly, the rotation detection hole or protrusion cannot be detected, so it is possible to easily detect whether the ribbon core is set correctly. When it is not set correctly, the user can be notified by issuing an alarm.

  According to this invention, since the detection device can be configured to be located inside the ink ribbon, the device can be miniaturized. Further, by integrally forming the rotation detection structure on the ribbon core, it is not necessary to provide the same structure on the apparatus main body side, and the number of parts can be reduced.

  Moreover, since the remaining amount of the ribbon at that time can be absolutely known from the feed amount (number of steps) of the stepping motor when the ribbon rotates once, even when the ribbon is detached from the apparatus main body and attached again, There is an advantage that the remaining amount can be accurately known.

  Hereinafter, a ribbon support device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show a ribbon support structure diagram and an enlarged view thereof, respectively. The ink ribbon support structure includes an ink ribbon 1 and a hollow ribbon core 4. The ink ribbon 1 is configured by winding an ink ribbon around a ribbon core 4 in a roll shape. A partition 6 is provided inside the one end of the ribbon core 4. The partition 6 is provided with a large number of slit-shaped holes 9 along the rotation direction. Outside the partition 6, a ribbon core bearing (spool) 11 that fits in the inner diameter of the ribbon core and supports the ribbon core 4 is provided. A removable ribbon core bearing (spool) 8 is provided on the side opposite to the bearing 11.

  In FIG. 2, the outer diameter of the ribbon core bearing 11 is set to be substantially equal to the inner diameter of the ribbon core, and the built-in sensor 10 is provided at a position slightly decentered from the center of the partition portion 6. Further, since the sensor 10 is located between the end of the ribbon core 4 and the partition plate 6 and is provided in the ribbon core bearing 11, the overall size of the ribbon support device is not increased. Since many slit-shaped holes 9 are provided in the rotation direction of the partition 6, the sensor 10 can detect one rotation of the ribbon core 4 by detecting the total number of the slit-shaped holes 9. When only one rotation of the core 4 is detected, it is not necessary to increase the number of slit-shaped holes. Further, in the case of detecting the constant rotation of the ribbon core 4, it is desirable to increase the number of slit-like holes as much as possible in order to increase the accuracy.

  FIG. 3 shows a side shape of the partition 6 having the slit-shaped hole 9. In actual use, the bearing 8 is first inserted into the ink ribbon 1 on the supply side, and then the ribbon 1 is inserted into and mounted on a bearing 11 incorporating a sensor 10 fixed to the apparatus main body. When the ribbon is consumed for printing, the ribbon 1 on the supply side is fed out by a certain amount by a ribbon feeding unit 12 provided with a ribbon feeding stepping motor. At this time, the sensor 10 detects the slit-shaped hole 9 of the partition 6 inside the rotating ribbon core and confirms that the ribbon core is rotating. At this time, if the output of the sensor 10 repeats the on-off state, it is a regular product. If not, it is an improper product or the ribbon is not properly attached, so that a warning is issued to call the user attention such as display or sound. Further, the number of slit-like hole portions 9 is counted, and it is detected whether or not the number has reached one rotation of the ribbon 1. In place of the slit-shaped hole 9, a protruding step may be provided. For this detection, a transmissive sensor or switch may be used instead of the reflective photosensor. The length L of the ribbon unwound by one rotation of the ribbon can be calculated by counting the feed amount (number of steps) of the ribbon feeding stepping motor at one rotation.

L = number of steps (motor feed) * feed per roller motor step ... (1)
The ribbon winding outer diameter D at this time is D = L / π (2)
If the outer diameter of the ribbon is known, the remaining ribbon amount LL can be calculated from a generally known formula for calculating the winding length of the roll. A general calculation method is shown below as a reference example.

LL = (π (D2−d2) / 4) / t (3) D = ribbon outer diameter, d = ribbon core outer diameter, t = ribbon thickness The ribbon remaining amount LL is obtained as described above, and this remaining amount LL. When the value falls below a predetermined value, the user is notified by a buzzer or display. In this embodiment, since the remaining amount of the ribbon at that time can be absolutely known from the feed amount (number of steps) of the stepping motor when the ribbon makes one rotation, the ribbon is removed from the apparatus main body and mounted again. Even when there is an advantage of knowing the remaining amount.

  As another method, the relationship between the stepping motor feed amount step number with respect to the consumption amount or remaining amount of the ribbon is graphed in advance by an experiment, and the graph is obtained from the residual value of the counted number of steps. There is also a method of reading the consumption amount or the remaining amount. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment in the case of graphing. In the embodiment, the horizontal axis represents the yield value of the number of feeding steps of the stepping motor, and the vertical axis represents the remaining amount of ribbon. For example, when it is desired to display the remaining amount display when the remaining amount of the ribbon reaches 10 m, the display is performed when the motor feed step number on the vertical axis intersecting the horizontal axis at the vertical axis 10 m of the graph is reached. The ribbon support structure (support structure for roll-shaped recording paper, etc.) of the present embodiment can be applied to any apparatus, and can detect the roll-shaped recording paper and the remaining amount of ribbon with high accuracy. For example, when applied to a facsimile, the ribbon feed amount per step of the stepping motor is from 1 / 7.7 mm to 1 / 15.4 mm, but this length is sufficiently longer than the length for printing one sheet of paper. Since it is small, the remaining amount can be accurately detected.

Ribbon support device sectional view and ribbon shaft sectional view Ribbon support device Detailed example of sensor Ribbon support device ink ribbon side view Cross section of main body and ribbon shaft of conventional ink ribbon support device Cross section of conventional ink ribbon Graph of number of motor STEPs and remaining ribbon

Claims (6)

  In a ribbon support structure for rotatably supporting a roll-shaped ink ribbon, a rotation detection hole or protrusion is provided in a partition provided at an end of a supply side or take-up side ribbon core, and the core is A ribbon support structure, wherein a sensor or a switch for detecting the rotation detection hole or protrusion is provided inside a bearing for support.   A roll-shaped ink ribbon structure, wherein an ink ribbon rotation detection hole or protrusion is provided in a partition provided at an end of a ribbon core. The ribbon support structure of claim 1;
By detecting the hole or protrusion with the sensor or switch, the constant rotation speed of the ribbon core is determined, and the ribbon remaining amount is determined based on the ribbon winding outer diameter obtained from the ribbon feed amount at the constant rotation speed. An image printing apparatus comprising: a ribbon remaining amount calculating means for calculating   4. The image printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the ribbon remaining amount calculating means detects whether or not the ink ribbon is correctly set by detecting rotation of the hole or protrusion.   The image printing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising display means for displaying the ribbon remaining amount.   The image printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the display unit displays a warning when the ink ribbon is not set correctly.

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