JP2020112878A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

To reduce a frequency of successive failure of access to a recording medium arranged on a card.SOLUTION: A recording device includes: a transportation mechanism for transporting a card in which a recording medium for recording information is arranged on one face and capable of inverting the card; a recording unit which performs reading and writing to the recording medium arranged on the one face; and a control unit which controls the transportation of the card and access to the card. The recording device first performs an access to the card being a processing object while assuming that the recording medium is present on a face where the previous access to the recording medium has succeeded.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12

Description

The present invention relates to a recording device for recording magnetic information or an image on a recording medium.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printing apparatus that forms an image such as a facial photograph or character information on a printing medium such as a plastic card is widely known. In such a printing apparatus, in addition to printing an image on a printing medium, a device for writing information on a plastic card having a magnetic tape or an IC chip mounted thereon is used to print a credit card, a cash card or the like. .. In a device for writing information on a magnetic card or an IC card of this type, one write head is usually used in order to reduce costs. Due to this limitation, there is known an information writing device that can continue processing even if the card is turned upside down by reversing the card and writing again when the information cannot be written in the card put in the writing device ( Patent Document 1).

JP, 2001-76307, A

However, in the card printer, when the card is set in the cassette and the magnetic card is inserted (set) in the wrong direction, the magnetic card is first inserted (set) after the second sheet by using the technique described in Patent Document 1. The magnetic reading is performed in the wrong direction. Considering that the second and subsequent magnetic cards are likely to be inserted (set) in the same direction as the first card, depending on the direction in which the magnetic card was inserted, magnetic reading and writing will always fail in each card, As a result, useless inversion processing and writing processing occur. Further, in the prior art, only magnetic cards are targeted, and contact type IC cards and the like are not targeted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the frequency of continuous failure of access to a recording medium arranged on a card.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configurations. That is, according to one aspect of the present invention, a card having a recording medium on which information is recorded is carried on one surface, and a carrying means capable of reversing the card,
Access means for accessing the recording medium arranged on the one surface;
A control means for controlling the transportation of the card and the access,
In the recording device, the control unit first accesses the recording medium assuming that the recording medium is on the surface on which the previous access to the recording medium has succeeded. Provided.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the frequency of continuous failure in accessing magnetic data of a card.

1 is an external view of a printing system including a printing apparatus according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applicable. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing apparatus of an embodiment. FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram illustrating a state of a standby position of the printing apparatus. FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram illustrating a state of a transport position of the printing apparatus. It is an operation explanatory view explaining the state of the printing position of the printing device. It is an appearance perspective view of a ribbon cassette. It is a perspective view which shows the engagement state of a supply spool and the main body side. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a control unit of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the sensor which detects an ink ribbon, and an empty mark, Comprising: It is a figure when it sees from the arrow A side of FIG. 6, (A) is a normal process before a near empty detection, (B) shows the near-empty processing after the near-empty is detected. It is a figure which shows the ink ribbon used with the printing apparatus of embodiment, (A) is a ribbon only for double-sided which the ribbon panel of a different kind is arrange|positioned in frame order, (B) is a ribbon panel of the same kind in frame order. It is an arranged ink ribbon. 6 is a flowchart of a card surface setting routine executed by a CPU of a microcomputer of a control unit of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment. 6 is a flowchart of magnetic card control executed by a CPU of a microcomputer of a control unit of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment. 5 is a flowchart of a magnetic information writing routine executed by the CPU of the microcomputer of the control unit of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment. 6 is a flowchart of IC magnetic card control executed by a CPU of a microcomputer of a control unit of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment. 3 illustrates the orientation of a magnetic card that is set in the medium storage unit of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment. 3 is a view showing the orientation of an IC magnetic card set in the medium containing section of the printing apparatus of the embodiment.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a printing apparatus that prints and records characters and images on a card and records magnetically or electrically (or electronically) information on the card will be described with reference to the drawings. To do.

<System configuration>
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the printing apparatus 1 that is a recording apparatus according to the present embodiment and has a function of writing magnetic information or electronic information forms a part of a printing system 200. That is, the printing system 200 is roughly composed of a higher-level device 201 (for example, a host computer such as a personal computer) and the printing device 1. The printing device 1 is connected to a higher-level device 201 via an interface (not shown), and the higher-level device 201 transmits print data, magnetic or electrical recording data, etc. to the printing device 1 to perform a recording operation. Etc. can be designated. The printing apparatus 1 has an operation panel section (also referred to as an operation panel section and an operation display section) 5 (see FIG. 8), and in addition to a recording operation instruction from the higher-level device 201, a recording operation from the operation panel section 5 is performed. Instructions are also possible. In the present embodiment, the recording target of the recording device 1 is a magnetic card having a magnetic stripe on one surface as a recording medium, an IC card having an IC chip embedded on one surface, or the other surface of the surface of the magnetic stripe. It is an IC magnetic card with an IC chip embedded in. In the case of the contact type, the IC chip includes an IC memory and a circuit for accessing the memory, and can be accessed from a surface provided with a contact. Also, in the non-contact type, there is no exposure of the electrical contact, and it can be accessed from both sides. In this embodiment, a magnetic card and a contact type IC card and a contact type IC magnetic card are targets of processing.

An image input device 204 such as a digital camera or a scanner, an input device 203 such as a keyboard or a mouse for inputting commands or data to the upper device 201, a display of data generated by the upper device 201, etc. is displayed on the upper device 201. A monitor 202 such as a liquid crystal display is connected.

<Printing device>
As shown in FIG. 2, the printing apparatus 1 has a housing 2, and the housing 2 is provided with an information recording section A, an image forming section B, a medium accommodating section C, and an accommodating section D.
The information recording unit A includes a magnetic recording unit 24, a non-contact type IC recording unit 23, and a contact type IC recording unit 27. The medium storage portion C stores a plurality of cards arranged in an upright posture, and has a separation opening 7 at the tip thereof so that the pickup roller 19 feeds the cards from the front row. Has become.

The delivered card is first sent to the reversing unit F by the carry-in roller 22. The reversing unit F is composed of a rotating frame 80, which is rotatably supported by the housing 2 so as to be rotatable, and two roller pairs 20, 21 supported by the rotating frame 80. The roller pairs 20 and 21 are rotatably supported by the rotating frame 80.
A magnetic recording unit 24, a non-contact type IC recording unit 23, and a contact type IC recording unit 27 are arranged on the outer circumference around which the reversing unit F turns. Then, the roller pair 20, 21 forms a medium carry-in path 65 for carrying in to any of the information recording units 23, 24, 27, and these recording units magnetically or electrically to the card. Data is written.

The image forming unit B is for forming images such as face photographs and character data on the front and back surfaces of the card, and is provided with a medium conveyance path P1 for transferring the card on an extension of the medium carry-in path 65. Conveying rollers 29 and 30 for conveying cards are arranged on the medium conveying path P1 and are connected to a conveying motor (not shown). The image forming section B is provided with a film medium conveying device, and a primary transfer portion B1 for printing an image by the thermal head 40 on the transfer film 46 conveyed by this conveying device, and then the heat roller 33. The secondary transfer portion B2 for printing the image printed on the transfer film 46 is provided on the surface of the card in the medium transport path P1.

On the downstream side of the image forming unit B, a medium transport path P2 for transporting the printed card to the storage stacker 60 is provided. Conveying rollers 37 and 38 for conveying cards are arranged on the medium conveying path P2, and are connected to a conveying motor (not shown).
A decurling mechanism 36 is arranged between the transport rollers 37 and 38, and the central portion of the card held between the transport rollers 37 and 38 is pressed to correct the curl generated by the heat transfer by the heat roller 33. Therefore, the decurling mechanism 36 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction shown in FIG. 2 by an elevating mechanism such as a cam (not shown).
The storage section D is configured to store the card sent from the image forming section B in the storage stacker 60. The storage stacker 60 is configured to move downward in FIG. 2 by the elevating mechanism 61.

The image forming section B in the overall configuration of the printing apparatus 1 will be described in more detail. The transfer film 46 is wound around a winding roll 47 and a feeding roll 48 of a transfer film cassette that is rotated by driving the motors Mr2 and Mr4. The film transport roller 49 is a main drive roller that transports the transfer film 46, and the drive amount of the transfer film 46 and the transport stop position are determined by controlling the drive of the roller 49. The film transport roller 49 is connected to a stepping motor (not shown). Although the motor Mr2 is also driven when the film transport roller 49 is driven, this is for winding up the transfer film 46 fed by the take-up roll 47, and does not drive the transfer film 46 as a main component of transport. .. The pay-out roll 48 is connected to the motor Mr4. When the transfer film 46 is conveyed in the winding direction by the winding roll 47, the rotation speed of the motor Mr4 is controlled to provide an appropriate back tension to the transfer film 46. Is given. The sensor Se1 detects a predetermined positioning mark on the transfer film 46, and outputs a signal indicating the detection.

A pinch roller 32a and a pinch roller 32b are arranged on the peripheral surface of the film transport roller 49. Although not shown in FIG. 2, the pinch rollers 32a and 32b are configured to be movable so as to advance and retract with respect to the film transport roller 49, and in the state shown in the figure, they advance to the film transport roller 49 and come into pressure contact therewith. As a result, the transfer film 46 is wound around the film transport roller 49. As a result, the transfer film 46 is accurately conveyed by a distance according to the number of rotations of the film conveying roller 49.

The ink ribbon 41 is housed in an ink ribbon cassette 42, and a supply spool 43 for supplying the ink ribbon 41 and a take-up spool 44 for taking up the ink ribbon 41 are housed in the cassette 42, and the take-up spool 44 is driven by a motor Mr1. The supply spool 43 is driven by the motor Mr3. DC motors capable of forward and reverse rotation are used for the motors Mr1 and Mr3. Further, Se2 shown in FIG. 2 is a transmissive sensor for detecting an empty mark (see reference numeral EMP_M in FIG. 9B) attached to the end portion of the ink ribbon 41 and indicating the usage limit of the ink ribbon 41.

The ink ribbon 41 is a double-sided ribbon, and is a color ribbon panel for printing the front surface (first surface) of a card, which is a ribbon of Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and Bk (black). The panel 41a and the Bk (black) ribbon panel 41b, which is a monochrome ribbon panel for printing the back surface (second surface), are repeated in a frame-sequential manner (see FIG. 10A). The ink ribbon 41 is for printing a color image such as a face photograph on the front surface (first surface) and a monochrome image such as characters on the back surface (second surface). Therefore, printing is performed on one card using Y, M, C, Bk, and Bk. A ribbon panel of a different type is continuously arranged from the double-sided ribbon (Y, M, C, Bk: Bk or Y, M, C, Bk, Hs: Bk, Hs (Hs is heat seal), etc. ), it is an ink ribbon formed by arranging it in a frame sequential manner. Therefore, double-sided printing of the card can be performed by printing on the first side of the card using the first type of ribbon panel and printing on the second side of the card using the second type of ribbon panel. To do.

When color printing is performed on both sides of the card, ribbon panels 41a of the same type (Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and Bk (black) form one group) are sequentially printed. When printing is performed using the ink ribbon (see FIG. 10B) configured as described above and double-sided monochrome printing is performed, an ink ribbon (not shown) configured only with Bk (black) is used.

In the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, it is possible to perform printing processing using a plurality of types of ink ribbons 41 as described above, so it is necessary to determine the type of ink ribbon 41. This may be determined by mounting an IC chip on the ink ribbon and communicating with the printing apparatus 1, or may be set by the user by inputting the type of the ink ribbon 41. Further, the ink ribbon 41 may be marked, the mark may be read by the sensor Se2 described below, and the type of the ink ribbon 41 may be determined based on the result.

The sensor Se2 also detects the passage of the Bk panel, and the position of each ribbon panel is controlled by the detection of the Bk panel, which is used for ribbon cueing described later. Specifically, the rotation amount of the supply spool 43 from the Off edge of Bk (black) for the back surface (the rear end in the transport direction of the ribbon panel 41b) is detected (the rotation amount of the supply spool is detected by the encoder 121 described later). Position management in Y (yellow), M (magenta), and C (cyan) from Bk (black) to the next Bk (black). At this time, the winding diameter of the ribbon of the supply spool 43 may be further detected and reflected on the feed amount. In this embodiment, since there is no mark indicating the boundary between Y (yellow) and M (magenta) and between M (magenta) and C (cyan), the Off edge of Bk (black) (Bk rear end for back surface) is set to Y ( It is determined to be the start position (the tip of Y) of yellow), and the relative position management from here determines the boundary (the tip of M) between Y (yellow) and M (magenta), and the boundary between M (magenta) and C (cyan). Judge the boundary (tip of C). The boundary between C and Bk may be the same.

Further, since a gap of about 3 mm is formed between the front-side Bk (black) and the back-side Bk (black), it is possible to detect the On edge (tip) of the back-side Bk. Bk (black) cueing is also possible. In the present embodiment, the rotation amount of the supply spool 43 is detected by the encoder 121 described later, and the rotation amount of the supply spool 43 when the ink ribbon 41 is conveyed by a constant amount is detected to detect the rotation amount of the supply spool 43 and/or the supply spool 43. The ribbon diameter is calculated by detecting the spool diameter of the take-up spool 44. This spool diameter information is also used when the ribbon is cued. Although the ribbon transport distance for Y, M, and C cue from the Off edge of the Bk (black) panel is constant, the supply spool rotation amount for transporting the constant distance changes depending on the spool diameter, so the spool diameter is always set. The rotation amount of the supply spool 43 is detected and controlled.

The platen roller 45 and the thermal head 40 form a primary transfer portion B1, and the thermal head 40 is arranged at a position facing the platen roller 45. The thermal head 40 is heated and controlled by a head control IC (not shown) according to image data, and prints an image on the transfer film 46 using the sublimation type ink ribbon 41. The cooling fan 39 is for cooling the thermal head 40. The ink ribbon 41 that has been printed on the transfer film 46 is peeled off from the transfer film 46 by the peeling roller 25 and the peeling member 28. The peeling member 28 is fixed to the cassette 42, and the peeling roller 25 is brought into contact with the peeling member 28 at the time of printing so that the transfer film 46 and the ink ribbon 41 are sandwiched by the peeling roller 25, whereby the peeling is performed. Then, the separated ink ribbon 41 is taken up by the take-up spool 44 driven by the motor Mr1, and the transfer film 46 is conveyed by the film conveying roller 49 to the secondary transfer portion B2 including the platen roller 31 and the heat roller 33. To be done.

In the secondary transfer portion B2, the transfer film 46 is nipped together with the card by the heat roller 33 and the platen roller 31, and the image on the transfer film 46 is transferred onto the card surface. The heat roller 33 is attached to an elevating mechanism (not shown) so as to come into pressure contact with and separate from the platen roller 31 via the transfer film 46.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the platen roller 45, the peeling roller 25, and the tension receiving member 52 that receives the tension of the transfer film 46, the standby position separated from the transfer film 46, the transfer film 46 and the ink ribbon 41. The thermal head 40 and the peeling member 28 are press-contacted to each other via the print position, and the platen roller 45 and the thermal head 40 are movable between the standby position and the print position.
Further, the pinch rollers 32a and 32b and the tension receiving member 52 are configured to be able to come into contact with and separate from the film transport roller 49. The platen roller 45, the peeling roller 25, the tension receiving member 52, and the pinch rollers 32a and 32b are driven by a cam (not shown).

In the standby position of FIG. 3, the pinch rollers 32a and 32b are not in pressure contact with the film transport roller 49, and the platen roller 45 is not in pressure contact with the thermal head 40. Then, upon receiving the print command, the image forming unit B moves to the print position shown in FIG. At that time, first, the pinch rollers 32 a and 32 b wind the transfer film 46 around the film transport roller 49, and the tension receiving member 52 contacts the transfer film 46. After that, the platen roller 45 is pressed against the thermal head 40. At this printing position, the platen roller 45 moves toward the thermal head 40 to sandwich and press the transfer film 46 and the ink ribbon 41, and the peeling roller 25 is in contact with the peeling member 28.
In this state, when the transfer film 46 starts to be transferred by the rotation of the film transfer roller 49, the ink ribbon 41 is also wound by the winding spool 44 by the operation of the motor Mr1 and transferred in the same direction. During this conveyance, the positioning mark provided on the transfer film 46 passes the sensor Se1 and moves by a predetermined amount, and when the transfer film 46 reaches the print start position, the thermal head 40 is moved to a predetermined area of the transfer film 46. Is printed. In particular, the tension of the transfer film 46 increases during printing, so that the tension of the transfer film 46 separates the pinch rollers 32a and 23b from the film transport roller 46 and from the peeling member 28 and the thermal head 40 to the peeling roller 25 and the platen roller. It works in the direction of separating 45 from each other. However, as described above, since the tension of the transfer film 46 is received by the tension receiving member 52, the pressure contact force of the pinch rollers 32a and 32b does not become weak, and accurate film conveyance can be performed, and the thermal head 40 can be carried out. Since the pressure contact force between the platen roller 45 and the platen roller 45 and the pressure contact force between the peeling member 28 and the peeling roller 25 are not weakened, accurate printing and peeling can be performed. After the printing is completed, the ink ribbon 41 is peeled off from the transfer film 46 and wound on the winding spool 44.

The amount of movement of the transfer film 46 due to conveyance, that is, the length in the conveyance direction of the printing area where printing is performed, is detected by an encoder (not shown) provided on the film conveyance roller 49, and the film conveyance roller is correspondingly detected. The rotation of 49 is stopped, and at the same time, the winding by the winding spool 44 by the operation of the motor Mr2 is also stopped. As a result, the printing of the first color on the printing area of the transfer film 46 by the thermal head 40 is completed.

After that, the image forming section B moves to the transport position shown in FIG. 5, and the platen roller 45 returns in the direction of retracting from the thermal head 40. In this state, the pinch rollers 32a and 32b still wind the transfer film 46 around the film conveying roller 49, the tension receiving member 52 is in contact with the transfer film 46, and the transfer film 46 is rotated by the reverse rotation of the film conveying roller 49. It is conveyed backward to the initial position. At this time as well, the movement amount of the transfer film 46 is controlled by the rotation of the film conveying roller 49, but the length of the printed area in the conveying direction is reversely conveyed. The ink ribbon 41 is also rewound by a predetermined amount by the motor Mr3, and the panel of the color to be printed next is made to stand by at the initial position (heading position).
Then, when the printing position shown in FIG. 4 is reached again, the platen roller 45 is brought into pressure contact with the thermal head 40, and the film transport roller 49 is again rotated in the forward direction to move the transfer film 46 by the length of the printing area. Printing with the next color is performed by the thermal head 40.

Thus, the operations at the print position and the transport position are all colors (in this example, four colors of Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and Bk (black) for the front side. It is repeated until the printing of Bk (black) is completed. Then, when the printing (primary transfer) by the thermal head 40 is completed, the primary-transferred area of the transfer film 46 is conveyed to the heat roller 33. At this time, the pressure contact of the pinch rollers 32a and 32b to the transfer film 46 is released. .. At the subsequent secondary transfer portion B2, the transfer film is transferred by the drive of the winding roll 47, and the transfer onto the card is performed. At the time of secondary transfer, the transfer film 46 and the card are pressed against each other by the heat roller 33 and the platen roller 31 to heat them, so that the image formed on the transfer film 46 is transferred to the card.

<Ink ribbon cassette>
Next, the cassette 42 that stores the ink ribbon 41 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 6, the cassette 42 has a rectangular plate-shaped base 11 serving as a base of the cassette 42. The base 11 is provided with main body connection protrusions 15 and 16 for mounting to the main body device (printing apparatus 1). Springs are wound around the body mounting protrusions 15 and 16, and these body springs are slidably mounted on the body device.

A take-up spool 44 is rotatably arranged on one side in the longitudinal direction of the base 11 (upper side in FIG. 6), and a supply spool 43 is rotatable on the other side in the longitudinal direction of the base 11 (lower side in FIG. 6). It is located in. That is, circular through holes that rotatably support the shafts (see reference numeral 119 in FIG. 7) on one side of the take-up spool 44 and the supply spool 43 are provided on one side and the other side in the longitudinal direction of the base 11, respectively. Has been formed. The take-up spool 44 has a large-diameter engagement portion 115 on the opposite side of the shaft, and the supply spool 43 has an engagement portion 112 having a smaller diameter than the engagement portion 115 on the opposite side of the shaft 119. As described above, the diameters of the engaging portion 115 and the engaging portion 112 are different from each other in order to prevent the cassette 42 from being mounted in the main body apparatus even if the cassette 42 is mistakenly mounted in the vertical direction shown in FIG. Is.

Further, the cassette 42 has a cover 17 that covers the take-up spool 44 and the supply spool 43 in a direction intersecting with the base 11. The cover 17 is fixed to the end of the base 11 along the longitudinal direction. Further, in the cassette 42, the shafts 14 and 13, the shaft-shaped peeling member 28, and the shaft 12 are arranged in this order from the lower side to the upper side in FIG. 6 so as to be parallel to the axis of the supply spool 43 or the take-up spool 44. It is set up. One side of each of these shafts is fixed to the base 11, and the other side is fixed to an extending portion that extends from the cover 17 so as to face the base 11.
Therefore, the ink ribbon 41 fed from the supply spool 43 is slidably in contact with the shafts 14 and 13, the peeling member 28 and the shaft 12 on one surface side and is wound up by the winding spool 44, or vice versa. The peeling member 28 and the shafts 14 and 13 are slidably contacted with each other, and are conveyed so as to be rewound on the supply spool 43.

Here, as an additional remark regarding the positional relationship between the sensor Se2 and the thermal head 40 on the main body apparatus side and these shafts when the cassette 42 is mounted on the main body apparatus, as shown in FIG. The sensor Se2 is positioned between the shaft 14 and the shaft 13 along the unwound ink ribbon 41, and the thermal head 41 is positioned between the shaft 13 and the peeling member 28. Further, regarding the relationship between the ink ribbon 41, the supply spool 43, the take-up spool 44, and the like when the cassette 42 is attached to the main body device, the tension ribbon is stretched between the supply spool 43 and the take-up spool 44 of the ink ribbon 41. The set length is set to be smaller than the total length of the ribbon panels of 3 colors out of the ribbon panels of 4 colors of Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and Bk (black) that are continuous. Further, along the ink ribbon 41 stretched between the supply spool 43 and the take-up spool 44, the distance between the supply spool 43 and the sensor Se2, the distance between the sensor Se2 and the thermal head 40, The distance between the thermal head 40 and the peeling member 28 and the distance between the peeling member 28 and the take-up spool 44 are both set to be smaller than the length of the ribbon panel of the ink ribbon 41 for one color.

<Engagement with spool body and body device>
Next, with reference to FIG. 7, the spool main body 110 on the supply spool 43 side and the engaging portion of the printing apparatus 1 that engages with the spool main body 110 will be described. FIG. 7 shows an engagement state between the engagement portion 112 of the supply spool 43 and the engagement member (engagement convex portion 122) on the main body apparatus side. The engagement portion of the take-up spool 44 and the main body apparatus are shown. Since the engagement state with the side engagement member is similar, only the supply spool 43 will be described, and the description of the take-up spool 44 will be omitted. The engaging portion 112 has eight rectangular convex portions protruding toward the end portion. The supply spool 43 and the take-up spool 44 shown in FIG. 6 are respectively formed by winding (holding) the ink ribbon 41 around the spool body 110, and the supply spool 43 has an unused portion of the ink ribbon 41. It is wound and the used portion of the ink ribbon 41 (the ink ribbon 41 after thermal transfer by the thermal head 40) is wound around the take-up spool 44.

The spool body 110 has a tubular ribbon holding portion 118 that has flanges 113 and 114 on both sides to hold the ink ribbon 41, an engaging portion 112 that is provided at one end adjacent to the flange 113, and a flange. It has a shaft portion 119 provided adjacent to 114 on the opposite side of the engaging portion 112 and having a diameter reduced from the tubular portion of the ribbon holding portion 118.
Since the flanges 113 and 114 positionally regulate the winding of the ink ribbon 41 around the ribbon holding portion 118 in the axial direction of the spool body 110, even if the spool body 110 rotates, the unused link ribbon 41 from the ribbon holding portion 118 is rotated. Is supplied without displacement (in the case of the supply spool 43), and the used portion of the link ribbon 41 is properly wound around the winding side ribbon holding portion (in the case of the winding spool 44).

The main-device-side engaging portion of the supply spool 43 with respect to the engaging portion 112 is composed of a plurality of members. That is, the support shaft 125 is fixed to the housing 2, and the support shaft 125 rotatably supports a disc-shaped engaging member having a gear at the outer edge thereof. On the side of the engaging member that engages with the engaging portion 112, two engaging convex portions 122 having different shapes from the convex portions (grooves) of the engaging portion 112 face each other (of the engaging member It is provided so as to have a phase difference of 180° with respect to the rotation direction. In the engaging portion 122, a groove formed by an inclined surface which is linearly formed on the side surface of the convex portion and has a predetermined inclination angle and a bottom portion which connects the inclined surfaces of the adjacent convex portions is formed ( In FIG. 7, the relationship between the convex portions of the engaging portion 112 and the engaging portion 122 is opposite.) A spring 124 is wound around the support shaft 125, and the engagement member (engagement convex portion 122) is slidably biased toward the engagement portion by the spring 124. A gear (not shown) meshes with the gear 123, and the driving force from the motor Mr3 is transmitted to the gear (not shown).

When the cassette 42 is mounted on the main body device, the tip of the convex portion of the engaging portion 112 of the spool main body 110 and the tip of the engaging convex portion 122 provided on the engaging member on the apparatus main body side come into contact with each other (collide with each other). It may not be inserted smoothly. Since the engaging member is provided slidably in the axial direction of the support shaft 125, when the tip of the convex portion of the engaging portion 112 and the tip of the engaging convex portion 122 hit, the engaging convex portion 122. Temporarily retracts to the device frame side (the opposite side of the spool body 110). Then, when the engaging member or the spool main body 110 rotates, the engaging convex portion 122 enters the groove between the convex portions of the engaging portion 112, and is biased toward the spool main body 110 side by the spring 124, so that the engaging convex portion 122 and The convex portion (intervening groove) of the engaging portion 112 makes point contact at two points.

A gear 121C is meshed with the gear of the engaging member, and a rotary plate 121A having a slit (not shown) coaxially formed is fixed to the gear 121C. A transmission-integrated sensor 121B including a light emitting element and a light receiving element is arranged at a position sandwiching the rotary plate 121A. Therefore, the rotary plate 121A and the sensor 121B constitute an encoder 121 as a rotation amount detecting means for detecting the rotation amount of the supply spool 43 that supplies the ink ribbon 41. The encoder (not shown) provided on the above-described film transport roller 49 has the same configuration. That is, a gear similar to the gear 123 shown in FIG. 7 is fitted to the drive shaft of the film conveying roller 49, and a gear (corresponding to the gear 121C in FIG. 7) meshing with this gear and a rotary plate (see FIG. 7). (Corresponding to the rotating plate 121A), and the rotation of this rotating plate can be detected by a sensor (corresponding to the sensor 121B in FIG. 7).

As the thermal head 40 prints on the transfer film 46, the ink ribbon 41 is conveyed from the supply spool 43 side to the take-up spool 44. According to this, the ribbon diameter of the supply spool 43 is The diameter changes from the large diameter to the small diameter, and the ribbon diameter of the take-up spool 44 changes from the small diameter to the large diameter. Along with this change, the tension when the ink ribbon 41 is wound on the take-up spool 44 shifts from large to small, and the tension when the ink ribbon 41 is rewound on the supply spool 43 is opposite. In order to make a transition from small to large, in this example, two motors, a motor Mr1 serving as a rotation driving source of the take-up spool 44 and a motor Mr3 serving as a rotation driving source of the supply spool 43, are used. These two motors also use the speed difference to adjust the tension of the ink ribbon 41. For example, when the ink ribbon 41 is wound by the take-up spool 44, the rotation speed of the motor Mr3 is set to be slightly lower than the rotation speed of the motor Mr1 as well, and a back tension is applied so that the ink ribbon 41 does not loosen. The rotation of the motors Mr1 and Mr3 in the direction in which the ink ribbon 41 is wound up on the winding spool 44 is forward drive, and the rotation of the motors Mr1 and Mr3 in the direction to rewind the supply spool 43 is reverse drive. ..

<Control part>
Next, the control and electric system of the printing apparatus 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 8, the printing apparatus 1 includes a control unit 100 that controls the operation of the entire printing apparatus 1, and a power supply unit that converts a commercial AC power supply into a DC power supply that can drive/operate each mechanical unit and control unit. And 120.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the control unit 100 includes a microcomputer 102 (hereinafter, abbreviated as a microcomputer 102, which is also referred to as a processor) that performs a control process of the entire printing apparatus 1. The microcomputer 102 includes a CPU that operates at a high speed clock as a central processing unit, a ROM that stores basic control operations (programs and program data) of the printing apparatus 1, a RAM that serves as a work area of the CPU, and an internal bus that connects these. It is composed of.

An external bus is connected to the microcomputer 102. The external bus has an interface (not shown) for communicating with the host device 201, print data to be printed on the card, recording data to be magnetically or electrically recorded on the magnetic stripe portion of the card or the built-in IC. Is temporarily connected to the buffer memory 101.
In addition, the external bus has a sensor control unit 103 that controls signals from various sensors, an actuator control unit 104 that controls a motor driver that sends drive pulses and drive power to each motor, and a heating element that forms the thermal head 40. A thermal head control unit 105 for controlling heat energy to the device, an operation display control unit 106 for controlling the operation panel unit 5, and the above-described information recording unit A are connected. The power supply unit 120 supplies operating/driving power to the control unit 100, the thermal head 40, the operation panel unit 5 and the information recording unit A.
(motion)
Next, a print processing operation of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with a CPU of the microcomputer 102 (hereinafter, simply referred to as CPU) as a main component. Since the overall operation of the printing apparatus 1 has already been described, here, the flow of determining the printing order for the card by the CPU will be mainly described.

First, in the printing system 200 of the embodiment, the magnetic card or the IC magnetic card having both the IC chip and the magnetic tape is set by the user in the medium containing portion C of the printing apparatus 1, and the orientation of the card is set. The user makes an input to the printing device 1 (FIG. 11). The method of setting the magnetic card is as shown in FIG. 15, and the method of setting the IC magnetic card is as shown in FIG. In any case, there are four ways of setting each. In the case where the magnetic recording unit 24 and the contact type IC recording unit 27 can write and read information to and from only one side of the card, for example, the magnetic recording unit 24 has the magnetic tape in the depth direction with respect to the printer 1. Only certain magnetic cards ((a) and (b) in FIG. 15) can be processed. Similarly, the contact-type IC recording unit 27 can process only the IC magnetic card ((a) and (b) in FIG. 16) having the IC chip in the depth direction with respect to the printing apparatus 1. When the magnetic tape is in front of the printer 1 ((c), (d) in FIG. 15) or when the IC chip is in front of the printer 1 ((c), (d) in FIG. 16) Cannot read or write information even if the card is flipped.

The printing system 200 of the present embodiment this time is a system based on the above configuration. That is, the operator aligns the cards as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B for magnetic cards and the IC magnetic cards as shown in FIGS. In the magnetic card, the surface of the magnetic stripe is called the A surface, and in the IC magnetic card, the IC surface is called the A surface. Therefore, in the procedure of FIG. 11, designation of a magnetic card or an IC magnetic card and whether the mounting direction is (a) or (b) may be set. (a) or (b) may be, for example, designation of whether the depth direction of the printing apparatus is the A surface (front surface) or the B surface (rear surface). This makes it possible to specify which side the magnetic stripe or IC surface and the printing surface are on when placed in the medium containing portion C. Further, as the procedure of FIG. 11, an initial value of the information indicating the previous success surface read in S1201 of FIG. 12 or S1401 of FIG. 14 may be set. The initial value may be fixed to the A surface, for example.

Here, since the printing system 200 can print on both sides of the magnetic card, the user creates print data by the host device 201 such as a PC. The user creates print data for the front surface and print data for the back surface, and also creates magnetic information to be written on the magnetic card. The printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment receives the print data including the magnetic writing information sent from the upper level apparatus 201 and starts the printing operation.

[Magnetic Card Writing and Printing Procedure] Control of the printing apparatus 1 for receiving print data and writing information on a magnetic card will be described with reference to flowcharts (FIGS. 12 and 13). The procedure of FIG. 12 is executed when a magnetic card is set as the card type in FIG.
First, in S1201, the information indicating the successful magnetic writing on the previously successful magnetic card is read. This information is, for example, the A side or the B side, which is based on the setting of the operator in the procedure of FIG. Since the back side of the printing apparatus is set to the A side or the B side by the setting of the operator, the printing apparatus 1 knows which side the writing is performed on the basis of the setting at the time of magnetic recording. This is because. The reason "based on the setting" is that there is a possibility that the direction and setting of the actual card are different, and the printing apparatus 1 knows not the actual card surface but the setting. Because it is a face.

In S1202, it is determined whether the magnetic writing data is included in the print data. If included, branch to S1203. If not included, magnetic writing is not performed and the process branches to S1206 to perform card printing control. In S1203, the write success side of the previous magnetic card read in S1201 is determined. If it is determined in S1203 that the successful writing surface is the A surface, the current writing target card is also conveyed so that the A surface of the magnetic card and the write element of the magnetic recording unit 24 are in contact with each other (S1204). On the other hand, if it is determined that the success side is the B side, the current writing target card is also conveyed so that the B side of the magnetic card and the writing element of the magnetic recording unit 24 are in contact with each other (S1205). In the next S1300, information is actually written on the magnetic card. In this way, the writing to the surface that succeeded last time is first tried.

If the magnetic writing is successful in S1300, it is determined in S1206 whether or not a print job (or print data) exists in the print data received by the printer 1. If there is no print job, the card is ejected out of the machine and the operation of the printing apparatus 1 ends. If there is a print job, printing is performed on the card in S1207. Since the printing apparatus 1 knows which side of the card faces which direction, the card is conveyed to the secondary transfer portion B2 so that the side to be printed (for example, side A) is the transfer film 46 side. be able to. In S1208, it is determined whether or not there is a double-sided printing request in the print job. If there is a double-sided printing request, the card is inverted in S1209 and printing is performed on the back side of the card. For reversing, for example, the card may be returned to the reversing unit F to be reversed, and then transferred to the secondary transfer portion B2 again. When the printing operation is completed, the card is ejected out of the machine in S1210, and the operation of the printing apparatus 1 is completed.

FIG. 13 shows details of the procedure (S1300) for writing magnetic information to the magnetic card. In S1301, write data is passed to the magnetic recording unit 24, and magnetic information is written in the magnetic card. Next, in S1302, the magnetic recording unit 24 reads the magnetic information of the magnetic card, and in S1303, the read information is compared with the written information to determine whether the writing is successful. If the magnetic writing is successful, the surface (A surface or B surface) on which the magnetic writing is successful is recorded in S1314. If the writing fails, check the magnetic force setting of the magnetic writing of the magnetic recording unit 24 in S1304 and S1305. If the magnetic force setting of the magnetic writing is Lo-CO (weak), set the magnetic force. Set to Hi-CO (strong) and perform magnetic writing again. Further, in S1306, it is determined whether the writing succeeds in the same manner as in S1302 and S1303, and if successful, the success side of the magnetic card is saved in S1304.

If it fails, the magnetic card is inverted and magnetic writing is performed on the opposite surface (S1307). If the writing is successful as a result of magnetic reading in S1308 and S1308, the magnetic writing success side of the magnetic card is saved in S1314. If unsuccessful, the magnetic force for magnetic writing is increased in S1310 and S1311 to perform magnetic writing again. If successful, the magnetic writing success side is saved in S1314. On the other hand, if it fails, the card is ejected out of the machine as a failure card and the user is notified of the error. The magnetic card to be ejected as a failure card is set in the medium accommodating portion C of the printer 1 as shown in (c) or (d) of FIG. 16, or the magnetic tape does not exist in the first place. ..

By carrying the same surface as the previous successful magnetic writing surface to the magnetic recording unit 24 when magnetically writing as described above, it is possible to reduce the possibility of unsuccessful read/write failure. This is because when the card to be processed is placed on the printing apparatus 1, the faces and directions of the plurality of cards should be aligned, and the placement of the faces of the subsequent cards is the same as that of the leading card. This is because it is expected.

● IC magnetic card writing and printing procedure Next, control in the case of an IC magnetic card in which a magnetic card and an IC card are integrated will be described using a flowchart (S1400). The procedure of FIG. 14 is executed when the IC magnetic card is set as the card type in FIG.
First, in S1401, the previous IC write success surface is read. Next, in step S1402, it is determined whether IC writing is included in the print data. If it is not included, the process proceeds to S1412 and IC writing is not executed. If it is included, the process proceeds to S1403. In S1403, it is determined which side has succeeded in writing to the IC chip last time, and if the last successful IC writing side is A side, the A side of the IC magnetic card and the writing element of the contact type IC recording unit 27 are The card is conveyed so as to come into contact with it (S1405). If the previous IC writing success side is the B side, the card is conveyed so that the B side of the IC magnetic card and the writing element of the contact type IC recording unit 27 come into contact with each other (S1404).

When the card is completely conveyed to the contact type IC recording unit 27, the IC information to be written is passed to the contact type IC recording unit 27 to execute the IC writing (S1406). If writing is successful, the successful side of IC writing is saved (S1409). The area in which information is stored in S1409 is different from the storage area in S1314 so as not to be overwritten in S1314 in FIG. If the writing fails, the IC magnetic card is inverted and the IC writing is performed again. If the writing succeeds, the success side is saved, and if the writing fails, it is ejected as a failed card to the outside of the machine to notify the user of the error.
The failure card is set when the card is set as shown in (c) or (d) of FIG. 16 or when a card without an IC chip is set.

If the IC writing is successful, the process shifts to magnetic writing control. In S1412, it is determined whether or not the magnetic writing data exists in the print data, and if there is no magnetic writing, the magnetic writing is not performed. In the case of magnetic writing, it is determined in S1403 which side is the side where IC writing is successful. This may be the opposite side of the side indicated by the information stored in S1409. The IC chip and magnetic tape are not on the same side of the card, but on the opposite sides. Therefore, if the successful side of IC writing is the A side, the B side of the IC magnetic card and the writing element of the magnetic recording unit 24 are conveyed so as to come into contact with each other. On the contrary, if the successful side of IC writing is the B side, the conveyance is performed so that the B of the UC magnetic card and the writing element of the magnetic recording unit 24 come into contact with each other. The magnetic writing is performed in S1300 and is not described here because it has been described above. However, when FIG. 13 is executed as a part of FIG. 14, S1314 may be skipped because the success surface information saved in S1314 is not referred to. Further, in the printing operation on the card after magnetic writing, the control is the same as in the case of the magnetic card, and therefore the description is omitted.

As described above, when performing magnetic writing on the IC magnetic card, the IC writing failure occurs by transporting the card to be written so that the IC writing success surface comes into contact with the writing element of the contact type IC recording unit 27. It has the effect of reducing the possibility of doing so and reducing the frequency of failures. Further, by carrying the card to be written so that the surface opposite to the IC writing success surface comes into contact with the writing element of the magnetic recording unit 24, there is an effect of reducing the possibility of magnetic writing failure.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, when the writing to the preceding card is successful, the successful surface is stored, and the succeeding card is also tried to be recorded on the surface. However, if the recorded information is known in advance, it can be determined whether the reading has been successful. Therefore, when the reading of the information from the preceding card is successful, the successful side may be stored and the reading of the succeeding card from the side may be attempted. These writing and reading can be comprehensively represented by the term access, for example.

[Other Examples]
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program. It can also be realized by the processing. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

1 printing apparatus, 5 operation panel section, 100 control section (a part of printing order determining means), A information recording section, B image forming section, C medium accommodating section, D accommodating section, F reversing unit

Claims (8)

Carrying a card on which a recording medium on which information is recorded is arranged, and a conveying means capable of reversing the card,
Access means for accessing the recording medium arranged on the one surface;
A control means for controlling the transportation of the card and the access,
A recording apparatus, wherein the control unit first accesses the recording medium assuming that the recording medium is on a surface on which the previous access to the recording medium was successful, for the card to be processed. The recording device according to claim 1, wherein
The control means, when the access to the surface that first attempts to access the recording medium fails, determines that the recording medium is on the other surface, and accesses the recording medium. Recording device. The recording device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein
The recording apparatus, wherein the control means conveys the card by the conveying means so that the surface to be accessed can be accessed by the access means. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Further comprising a medium containing means for containing a plurality of cards to be processed,
The recording apparatus, wherein the transport means sequentially transports the cards stored in the medium storage means. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The control means stores success in the case where the access is successful with respect to an attempted access to the recording medium, and the previous access to the recording medium is stored based on the storage of the success. A recording device characterized by identifying a successful surface. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The recording apparatus is characterized in that the recording medium is a magnetic stripe, and the access is recording of information on the magnetic stripe. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The recording apparatus is characterized in that the recording medium is an IC chip including a memory, and the access is recording of information in the IC chip. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein
The recording apparatus further comprising a printing unit that prints on one side or both sides of the card.