1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color printer and more particularly, to a color printer for driving a ribbon according to the count of an optical encoding disk so as to economize the length of the ribbon.
2. Description of the Prior Art
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The light sources 14, 16 are located on one side of the ribbon 12 for producing light beams 38, 40 of two predetermined colors. The sensors 18, 20, corresponding to the light sources 14, 16, are located on the opposite side of the ribbon 12. The sensors 18, 20 are used to detect light beams 38, 40 penetrating through the ribbon 12 and produce corresponding signals to determine the position of the ribbon 12. The detection of an opaque dividing section 32 signals the beginning position of a new dye region 22 of the ribbon 12, and also corresponds to the beginning position of a yellow dye area 24. The detection of an opaque dividing section 34 and a transparent dividing section 36 by the sensors 18, 20 corresponds to the beginning position of the magenta dye area 26, cyan dye area 28, or overcoating dye area 30. The reservation of opaque dividing sections 34 and transparent dividing sections 36 for detection of the position of the ribbon 12 is a disadvantage of the prior art color printer 10 because it decreases the effective utilization of the ribbon 12, resulting in higher production costs of the ribbon 12.
It is therefore a primary objective of the claimed invention to provide a color printer for economizing an ribbon for solving the above-mentioned problem.
According to the claimed invention, a color printer for economizing an ribbon is proposed. The color printer includes a ribbon including a plurality of dye regions, and each dye region includes a plurality of dye areas for carrying dye of different colors. The color printer further includes a print head for transferring dye on the ribbon onto a subject, a ribbon-moving device for moving the ribbon so that the print head can transfer the dye on each of the dye areas of one dye region onto the subject to form a color picture, an optical sensing module installed on the side of the ribbon including an optical encoding disk driven by the ribbon-moving device for generating a count when the ribbon-moving device moves the ribbon, and a control module for controlling the ribbon-moving device to move the next dye region of the ribbon to the print head after finishing printing one dye region of the ribbon according to the count of the optical encoding disk.
These and other objectives of the claimed invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
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Step 100:Start the first light source 64 and the light sensor 66 for detecting the dividing section 80 in front of the yellow dye area 82, and wind the ribbon 52 at a constant linear speed with the ribbon-moving device 56;
Step 102:Please refer to
Step 104: Start the second light source 68 and the light detector 70. When the ribbon-moving device 56 moves the ribbon 52 the length of the printing range of the yellow dye area 82 Lp, the light detector 70 can detect the count N of the optical encoding disk 62 synchronously. Simultaneously the print head 54 finishes printing the yellow dye area 82 and the print head 54 stops printing;
Step 106: The ribbon-moving device 56 moves the ribbon 52 until the light detector 70 detects the count Nof the optical encoding disk 62, wherein N″ can be obtained by the relation (Lp/N)=(L″/N″). At the same time, the light detector 70 generates a sensing signal to the control module 60 for controlling the ribbon-moving device 56 to stop winding the ribbon 52. Thus, the print head 54 can locate on the beginning print point of the next magenta dye area 84;
Step 108: Start the print head 54 to print the magenta dye area 84, and then repeat Step 104 and Step 106 until the print head 54 finishes printing the magenta dye area 84, the cyan dye area 86, and the overcoating dye area 88. The color printer 50 finishes printing the piece of photo paper; and
Step 110: If it is necessary to print to another photo paper, repeat Step 100 to Step 108. Otherwise the printing work is complete.
As mentioned above, the color print 50 can utilize the relation of the length Lp, the count N of the optical encoding disk 62, and the length L″ to get the necessary count N″ corresponding to the length L″ that the ribbon-moving device 52 has to move the ribbon 52. That is, when the optical encoding disk 62 rotates by the count N″, the ribbon 52 moves in the distance L″. So the print head 54 can be accurately located at the beginning print point of the next dye area. The necessary count N″ of the optical encoding disk 62 can be calculated after the print head 54 finishes printing one dye area and the count N is obtained. In addition, the count N corresponding to each dye area can be obtained by experiment before the color print 50 leaves the factory, so the necessary count N″ corresponding to each dye area can be calculated and stored in the control module 60 of the color printer 50 in advance. Thus, the next count N″ of the optical encoding disk 62 can be looked up from a stored table in the control module 60 after the print head 54 finishes printing one dye area and the count N is obtained. Furthermore, the control module 60 can recognize the present position of the dye region of the ribbon 52 according to the count of the optical encoding disk 62 for providing information about the used position of the ribbon 52. In addition, since one piece of photo paper is printed to by one dye region, a user can recognize how many dye regions have been printed onto pieces of photo paper and how many dye regions can be printed onto pieces of photo paper in the future.
Compared to the prior art color printer, the color printer of the present invention needs only a dividing section in front of the first dye area of a dye region to detect the beginning print point of the ribbon. The beginning print points of the other three dye areas are determined by counts of optical encoding disk instead of reserving additional dividing sections in front of three dye areas and the length L_f1. This increases the effective utilization of the ribbon. Besides, the present invention provides users with information about the used position of the ribbon and how many pieces of photo paper can be printed to in the future.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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093101004 | Jan 2004 | TW | national |