JP2663183B2 - Drive control method for thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a thermal transfer method in which a heat-meltable ink of an ink ribbon is melted by a thermal head movable along a platen, and is transferred to a printing paper to perform printing. The present invention relates to a drive control method for a printer, and more particularly to a drive control method for a thermal transfer printer using a color ink ribbon having a plurality of ink layers called a multi-color ribbon.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 2 shows a general thermal transfer printer, in which a plate-shaped platen 2 is disposed substantially at the center of a frame 1 so that its printing surface is substantially vertical. Below the front side of the platen 2, a carriage 3 is arranged in parallel with the platen 2. A flange-like guide portion 4 is formed on the front edge of the frame 1, and a rack 5 is formed on the inner edge of the guide portion 4. A carriage 6 is attached to the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4. The carriage 6 reciprocates along the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion by driving a gear meshing with the rack 5 by a motor. It is free to move. A thermal head 7 is attached to the tip of the carriage 6 so as to face the platen 2.
Is mounted on the side of the cartridge 6. A marker at the end of the ink ribbon accommodated in an ink ribbon cassette (not shown) mounted on the upper surface of the cartridge 6 and each color of the color ink ribbon are displayed. A photo sensor 26 for detecting the marker section is provided.

A printing paper (not shown) is provided behind the platen 2.
Is formed in the front of the platen 2, and a paper feed roller 9 that conveys printing paper at a predetermined speed is disposed in the paper insertion port 8. Below the paper feed roller 9, a pressure roller 10, which is pressed against the paper feed roller 6, is rotatably disposed, and pinches the paper inserted from the paper insertion port 8 with the paper feed roller 9. Transported.

FIG. 3 shows a carriage driving mechanism, a thermal head up mechanism and a ribbon take-up mechanism in such a printer. A carriage driving motor 11 is provided in the carriage 6, and the carriage driving motor 11 is provided. The output of the motor 11 is transmitted via a pinion 12 to a gear 13 that meshes with the rack 5. The carriage 6 is reciprocally movable along the carriage shaft 3 and the guide portion 4 by the forward / reverse rotation of the carriage moving motor 11.

On the platen 2 side of the carriage 6, a fixing member 14 of the thermal head 7 is pivotally mounted via a fulcrum 15.
A thermal head 7 is attached to the tip of the fixing member 14. The fixing member 14 of the thermal head 7 is in contact with one end 17a of a cam follower 17 which is formed in a bell crank shape and is rotatable about a fulcrum 16 as a follower. The portion 17b is slidably engaged with an endless cam groove 19 of a cam member 18 as a driving joint. An output pinion 23 of a thermal head-down motor 22 mounted on the carriage 6 via a transmission gear 21 meshes with a gear 20 integrally formed on the outer periphery of the cam member 18. The cam member 18 is rotated by the rotation of the head up / down motor 22, and the cam follower 17 is rotated with the rotation of the cam member 18, and the cam follower 17 is pressed by the one end 17 a of the cam follower 17 by the rotation of the cam follower 17. Fixing member 14 is platen 2
, The thermal head 7 is pressed against the platen 2 via the ink ribbon and the printing paper (head down) and released (head up).

A motor 25 for driving an ink ribbon take-up bobbin 24 for winding an ink ribbon (not shown) is also provided on the carriage 6 separately from the above-described motor 22 for thermal head down, and its output pinion is provided. A take-up gear 27 provided coaxially with the ink ribbon take-up bobbin 24 via a transmission gear 25b is engaged with the ink ribbon take-up bobbin 24 via a so-called slip mechanism. Further, a sensor (not shown) for detecting the thermal head 7 up-down is provided, and the operation of the motor 25 for winding the ink ribbon is controlled by the function of this sensor in response to the thermal head 7 up-down. It has become to be.

As shown in FIG. 4, a color ink ribbon used for color printing is formed on a long ink ribbon 27 along a length direction of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and magenta (M). The black (B) ink layer is continuously arranged in a repeating unit, and marker portions 27a to 27a-2
Reference numeral 7d denotes a shape that can distinguish each color. For example, in FIG. 4, the number of markers is changed for each color, and each marker portion is formed by a photo sensor 26 provided on the carriage 6. By detecting, each color of the ink ribbon is detected, and recording is performed in a desired color.

The drive control in such a thermal transfer printer is performed as follows.

The printing paper is inserted from the paper insertion slot 8, the printing paper is sandwiched between the paper feed roller 9 and the pressure roller 10, and the paper feed roller is driven to rotate, so that the printing paper is perpendicular to the moving direction of the carriage 6. Carry a predetermined amount. Then, the ink ribbon take-up motor 25 is driven to take up the ink ribbon until the ink layer of a desired color comes to the printing position. After that, the motor for thermal head down
By driving the thermal head 7 against the platen 2 with a predetermined pressing force, the carriage 22 is driven to drive the carriage 6 and the ribbon winding motor 25 by driving the carriage driving motor 11 in this state. By rotating the winding bobbin 24 and winding the ink ribbon, the thermal head 7 is driven based on a desired recording signal.
The desired printing is performed on the recording paper. by the way,
When printing is performed in a different color from the middle of one line printing, the carriage 6 is stopped at that time, and then the thermal head 7 is pulled up from the platen 2, and the ribbon is returned again after this pulling-up operation is completed. Winding motor 25
Is driven, the ribbon winding bobbin 24 is rotated to detect a marker portion of a desired color with a photo sensor, and when the ink layer of the desired color is opposed to the printing position, the ribbon winding operation is stopped, and the thermal operation is stopped. After pressing the head 7 against the platen 2 again,
The next recording is performed by moving the carriage 6. When printing of one line is completed, the carriage 6 is moved to the next printing position, and the above steps are repeated to perform the next printing. At this time, when recording the next line,
The paper feed roller 9 is rotated to perform a predetermined amount of paper feed operation in parallel with the return operation of the carriage 6, but when different colors are recorded on the same line in a superimposed manner, the paper feed operation is performed only by the return operation of the carriage 6. Is not performed.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the drive control method of the conventional thermal transfer printer described above, the thermal head down operation is not started until the ink layer of the desired color of the ink ribbon is completely conveyed to the printing position. It takes a long time from the time to the end of the thermal head down operation, resulting in a disadvantage that the effective printing speed is reduced.

[Means for solving the problem]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described drawbacks. In a thermal transfer printer using a color ink ribbon, a process is performed between the time when a desired color of the color ink ribbon is detected and the time when the color is sent to a printing position. The ink ribbon winding mechanism and the thermal head down mechanism are controlled so that the thermal head down operation is started.

[Action]

 The above means operates as follows.

In order to control to start the thermal head down operation between the time when the desired color is detected during the transport of the color ink ribbon (during the winding) and the time when the color is sent to the printing position, the ink ribbon is controlled. The time from the start of the winding operation to the end of the thermal head down operation can be reduced.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the drive control method of the thermal transfer printer of the present invention will be described with reference to the operation timing chart of FIG.

After the recording paper is set to a predetermined position by rotating the paper feed roller 9, the ink ribbon winding motor 25 is driven, and the winding bobbin 24 is rotated to start winding the color ink ribbon. I do. When the photo sensor 26 detects a marker of a desired color,
The thermal head down motor 22 is driven to start the thermal head 7 down operation. It takes about 0.5 seconds from the start of the thermal head 7 down operation to the contact of the thermal head 7 with the platen 2, during which time the ink ribbon is further wound up and the desired color portion faces the printing position. When the thermal head 7 is pressed against the platen 2, the slipping mechanism of the ribbon winding mechanism operates, and the rotational force of the ribbon winding motor 25 is reduced by the winding bobbin 24.
And the ink ribbon is not wound up. When the carriage 6 is moved by driving the carriage moving motor 11 after the thermal head 7 has been pressed against the platen 2, the ink ribbon is drawn out by the ink ribbon by the pressure contact force between the thermal head 7 and the platen 7. At this time, a desired printing is performed by driving the thermal head 7 based on a desired recording signal. When printing is performed in a different color during the printing of one line, the movement of the carriage 6 is stopped at that time, and then the operation of opening the thermal head 7 from the platen 2 is started. As soon as the ink ribbon is released, the ribbon winding motor 25 is driven, and the ribbon winding bobbin 24 is rotated to start winding the ink ribbon. During the winding of the ink ribbon, the operation of the thermal head 7 is completed, but the winding of the ink ribbon is continued as it is, and the marker portion of a desired color is detected by the photo sensor.
26 starts the down operation of the thermal head 7 at the time of detection. Then, in the same manner as in the first printing, after the ink layer of the desired color is conveyed to the printing position, the down operation of the thermal head 7 ends, and the carriage is moved again to perform the next printing. When printing of one line is completed, the carriage 6 is moved to the next printing position, and the above steps are repeated to perform the next printing.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, in the present invention, in the thermal transfer printer using the color ink ribbon, the thermal head down operation is started when a desired color is detected while the color ink ribbon is being conveyed. The time from the start of the winding operation to the end of the thermal head down operation can be shortened, and as a result, the effective printing speed can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the operation timing of the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention in a time series, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a general thermal transfer printer, and FIG. 3 is a thermal head up / down mechanism, a carriage transport mechanism, and the like. FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a ribbon winding mechanism. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a color ink ribbon. 2... Platen, 5... Rack, 6.
…… Thermal head, 11 …… Carriage drive motor,
22 ... Motor for thermal head down, 24 ... Bobbin for winding ink ribbon, 25 ... Motor for winding ribbon
26 ... Photo sensor, 27 ... Color ink ribbon, 27a,
27b, 27c, 27d …… Marker part

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A carriage driving mechanism for reciprocating a carriage having a thermal head along a platen;
A head take-down mechanism for bringing the thermal head into and out of contact with the platen; and a ribbon take-up mechanism for taking up the ink ribbon. A long ink ribbon is provided with a plurality of colors along the length direction. In a thermal transfer printer using a color ink ribbon in which an ink layer is arranged in a continuous repeating unit and a marker portion representing each color is formed between each color division, the ribbon winding mechanism is driven to print a desired color at a printing position. A thermal transfer printer which starts the down operation of the thermal head while the ribbon is being conveyed to the printing position, and after the desired color is detected by the sensor and then conveyed to the printing position. Drive control method.