JPH10129049A - Printing medium cartridge and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To write many data related to printing on the side of a printing medium cartridge in a system loading a printer with the printing medium cartridge to perform printing to certainly read the data on the side of the printer. SOLUTION: A printing medium cartridge 1 is equipped with an IC memory 30 storing data related to printing and the electric contact member 35 coming into contact with the terminal of the IC memory 30 is provided to the printer loaded with the printing medium cartridge 1 and data is read/written between the IC memory 30 and the printer through the electric contact member 35.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print media cartridge having a built-in print medium for printing a recorded image such as a video image, and a printer in which the print media cartridge is mounted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a system for printing a recorded image such as a video image as a hard copy, that is, as a photograph, a print media cartridge having an ink ribbon as a print medium is inserted into a printer and loaded, and the ink of the ink ribbon is printed on the printing paper by the printer. A device that transfers the image data to a printout has been widely put to practical use.

In recent years, as the field of use of such a printing system has expanded, many types of print media have appeared. For example, in addition to standard color prints and monochrome prints, recently printing on transparent sheets for OHP (Overhead Projector) and laminating a protective layer on the print surface simultaneously with printing to improve durability There is also a print media.

[0004] Since these various print media have different print characteristics, even in the same printer, print colors are slightly different for each print medium.

In addition, it is difficult to always maintain a constant print color because of variations in the quality of each production lot in the manufacturing process of the print media and variations due to compatibility between the print media and the printer.

Conventionally, information relating to printing is converted into a bar code, and a code ring on which the bar code is printed or pasted is attached to a spool in a print media cartridge, or a bar code is printed or pasted on the surface of the cartridge. Therefore, a system has been adopted in which this is read by a reading sensor on the printer side. Based on the barcode information read by the reading sensor, the printer determines the type of print media and sets print conditions according to the type of print media, or matches the print media with the printer to always optimize the print media. I was trying to get a state.

[0007]

However, such a system using a barcode has a drawback that the amount of information that can be written to the barcode is small and that the information cannot be rewritten. Also, if dust or the like accumulates on the barcode, the barcode information cannot be read correctly by the reading sensor, causing a problem such as a malfunction of the printer or a poor print quality.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a cartridge containing a print medium, on which an IC memory for storing information relating to printing is mounted. On the other hand, in a printer in which this cartridge is mounted, an electric contact member is provided for contacting a terminal of the IC memory, and information is read / written from / to the IC memory via the electric contact member.

[0009] Since the IC memory has a large storage capacity and is rewritable, more information on printing can be written. Further, reading / writing of information between the IC memory and the printer is performed via electric contacts, so that it is reliable.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, the basic structure of a print media cartridge will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a print media cartridge as a whole, and reference numeral 2 denotes a housing. Inside the housing 2, a pair of spools, ie, a take-up spool 3 and a supply spool 4, are arranged in a rotatable manner. Has been established.

An ink ribbon 5 as a print medium is wound around the spools 3 and 4, and the ink ribbon 5 is fed from the supply spool 4 to the take-up spool 3. It is a structure that can be done.

An opening 6 is formed on the upper surface of the housing 2 as shown in FIG.
The ink ribbon 5 spanned between the spools 3 and 4 from the opening 6 is exposed on the upper surface side of the housing 2.

At the front side of the housing 2, projecting cylindrical portions 3a, 4a at the tips of both spools 3, 4 are projected. A feed operation is performed.

An engagement recess 7 is provided at the rear of the upper surface of the housing 2.
When the print media cartridge 1 is loaded into the printer, the locking means of the printer is engaged with the engagement concave portion 7 to lock the print media cartridge 1.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a pair of left and right reference holes 8 are provided in the rear wall on the inner surface side of the housing 2, and when the print media cartridge 1 is loaded in the printer, the reference holes 8 are attached to the printer. Side reference pin.

Next, the print media cartridge 1
The configuration of the printer in which is mounted will be described with reference to FIGS. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a printer as a whole;
Reference numeral 2 denotes a printer main body.
2a, a power switch 13, a display panel 14, an opening of the cartridge loading section 15, a cartridge eject button 16, a print operation button 17, a print paper storage tray 18, and a print eject port 19 are provided.

Further, the printer body 12 has a front part 12.
A cover plate 20 for opening and closing a is mounted so as to be able to move up and down. A magnetic metal plate 21 is attached to the back side of the lid plate 20.
A fixing magnet 22 is attached to 2a.
When the cover plate 20 is closed, the magnetic metal plate 21 is magnetically attracted to the fixing magnet 22 so that the cover plate 20 is closed.
Are kept closed. The printer 11 of this embodiment has a structure in which the power switch 13, the display panel 14, and the print operation button 17 are exposed on the front surface of the cover plate 20, even when the cover plate 20 is closed as shown in FIG. .

The cartridge loading section 15 is formed in a cavity corresponding to the outer shape of the print media cartridge 1, and the print media cartridge 1 is inserted and loaded therein with almost no gap.

A pair of reference pins 23 are provided inside the cartridge loading section 15, and the reference holes 23 of the print media cartridge 1 are engaged with the reference pins 23 when the print media cartridge 1 is loaded. As a result, accurate positioning of the print media cartridge 1 is performed.

In the printer 11, a lock claw 24 is provided as a lock means which protrudes into the cartridge mounting portion 15. When the print media cartridge 1 is mounted, the lock claw 2 is provided as shown in FIG.
The print media cartridge 1 is locked by the engagement of the engagement 4 with the engagement recess 7 of the print media cartridge 1. When the lock of the print media cartridge 1 is released, the lock claw 24 is disengaged from the engagement concave portion 7 by pressing the cartridge removal button 16, whereby the print media cartridge 1 can be removed from the cartridge loading portion 15. ing.

A pair of drive shafts 25 and 26 are provided at the back of the cartridge loading section 15, and when the print media cartridge 1 is loaded as shown in FIG. Engagement cylindrical portions 3a, 4
a are engaged with each other and are integrally rotated. The drive shafts 25 and 26 are configured to be rotationally driven by drive motors 27 and 28, respectively.
The operation of feeding the ink ribbon 5 is performed by rotating the spools 3 and 4 integrally with the spool.

A print head for printing a recorded image such as a video image is provided inside the printer main body 12, that is, a print head that prints ink from the ink ribbon 5 exposed through the opening 6 of the print media cartridge 1. Is transferred to a print sheet to print an image, and the printed print sheet is taken out from the take-out port 19.

In the above-described print system, particularly in this embodiment, an IC memory for storing information relating to printing is mounted on the print media cartridge 1, and the printer 11 can communicate with the IC memory. System.

First, in the print medium cartridge 1 of the present embodiment, an IC memory 30 is provided inside the front end 2a of the housing 2 as shown in FIGS. The IC memory 30 is fixed to a substrate 31, and a plurality of terminals 32 as input / output units of the IC memory 30 are provided on a surface on the opposite side of the substrate 31.

A housing recess 33 is provided at the front end 2a of the housing 2, and the IC memory 30 is fitted into the housing recess 33 together with the substrate 31 and housed and fixed. Terminal holes 34 corresponding to the terminals 32 are provided on the front surface of the front end 2a of the housing 2 respectively.
The terminal 32 is exposed from the terminal hole 34 to the front.

On the other hand, on the printer 11 side, a pin-shaped electric contact member 35 is provided at the back of the cartridge loading portion 15 so as to correspond to the terminal 32 of the IC memory 30. When the cartridge 1 is loaded, the electric contact member 35
The terminals 32 are in contact with each other.

The electrical contact member 35 is connected to an electronic circuit (read / write circuit for information signal) in the printer by a wiring 36, that is, the electronic circuit of the printer 11 and the print media cartridge are connected via the electrical contact member 35. Intercommunication, that is, reading / writing of information, is performed with the IC memory 30 on one side.

The information stored in the IC memory 30 includes the type of the ink ribbon, the characteristic value of the ink ribbon, the lot number, the expiration date, the customer code, the used amount, the error content, and the like. Among these, the information on the type of ink ribbon, the characteristic value of the ink ribbon, the lot number, the expiration date, and the customer code is written in the IC memory 30 by the manufacturer in advance before the print media cartridge 1 is shipped. And the information on the error contents are written from the printer 11 into the IC memory 30 every time a printing operation is performed.

Then, the printer 11 reads the information written in the IC memory 30 to determine the type of the ink ribbon, and performs adjustment so as to always obtain an optimum printing state. Necessary information is displayed on the display panel 14.

Since the IC memory 30 has a large storage capacity and is rewritable, more information can be written as compared with the conventional barcode system, and the information can be read at a higher speed. Also IC
Reading of information between the memory 30 and the printer 11 /
Writing is performed via electrical contacts, so that it is reliable and highly reliable.

In addition to the configuration described above, in the system of the present embodiment, in order to more reliably read / write information between the IC memory 30 and the printer 11, various measures are taken. An elaborate structure is employed.

That is, first, in the print media cartridge 1, as shown in FIG. 6, the lock engaging recess 7 and the IC memory 30 are arranged on a straight line a parallel to the cartridge insertion direction. ing.

With such a structure, when the print media cartridge 1 is loaded in the cartridge loading portion 15 and locked in the engagement concave portion 7, a position corresponding to the locking portion linearly in the cartridge insertion direction. Since the terminal 32 of the IC memory 30 and the electrical contact member 35 are in contact with each other, the contact between the terminal 32 of the IC memory 30 and the electrical contact member 35 is reliably held in a stable state.

On the printer 11 side, the electric contact member 35 is elastically biased so as to press against the terminal 32 of the IC memory 30. That is, the electric contact member 35 is provided so as to be able to protrude and retract from the hole 38 of the housing 37 as shown in FIG.
It is always biased in the protruding direction by the elastic force of a spring 39 disposed inside the housing 37.

When the print media cartridge 1 is loaded in the cartridge loading section 15, the terminal 32 of the IC memory 30 comes into contact with the electrical contact member 35 and presses the electrical contact member 35 against the force of the spring 39. The electric contact member 35 is brought into pressure contact with the terminal 32 of the IC memory 30 by the elastic force.

Here, the electrical contact member 35 has a structure that can swing when the print media cartridge 1 is inserted. That is, in the present embodiment, the hole 38 of the housing 37 into which the electrical contact member 35 is inserted is formed with an inner diameter having a margin with respect to the outer diameter of the electrical contact member 35. Therefore, the insertion operation of the print media cartridge 1 is performed. Sometimes, when the electric contact member 35 is pressed by the terminal 32 of the IC memory 30, the electric contact member 35 swings (tilts) away from the center as shown in FIG. At this time, the electric contact member 35 is moved so that the electric contact member 35 is easily swung.
Is formed in a spherical shape (a contact portion with the terminal 32).

As the electric contact member 35 swings during the insertion operation of the print media cartridge 1 as described above, the tip of the electric contact member 35 rubs the surface of the terminal 32 of the IC memory 30. Even if the surface is dirty, it is cleaned, so that the electrical contact between the terminal 32 and the electrical contact member 35 is more reliably maintained.

As described above, since the terminal 32 of the IC memory 30 and the electrical contact member 35 are surely in contact with each other, the reading / writing of information between the IC memory 30 and the printer 11 is reliably performed. A more reliable print system can be provided.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment but can adopt various other embodiments.

[0041]

As is apparent from the above description, in the print system using the print media cartridge and the printer of the present invention, more information can be stored than before by using an IC memory as a means for storing information relating to printing. There is also an advantage that writing can be performed and information reading speed is high. In addition, since reading / writing of information between the IC memory and the printer is performed through the electric contact, it is possible to provide a reliable and highly reliable print system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a print media cartridge.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the same turned over.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where a cover plate of the printer is closed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where a cover plate is opened.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a state where a print media cartridge is loaded in the printer.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a lock of the print media cartridge.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the relationship between the IC memory on the print media cartridge side and the electrical contact members on the printer side.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of the swing of the electric contact member.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 print media cartridge, 5 ink ribbon (print media), 7 engagement recess (engagement section), 11 printer, 15 cartridge loading section, 30 IC memory, 32 Terminal, 35 ‥‥ electrical contact member, 39 ‥‥ spring

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A print media cartridge having a built-in print medium, wherein an IC memory for storing information relating to printing is mounted. 2. The printer according to claim 1, further comprising an engaging portion which engages with the locking means on the printer side when loaded into the printer, wherein the engaging portion and the IC memory are arranged on a straight line parallel to the cartridge insertion direction. The print media cartridge according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A printer in which the print media cartridge is loaded, the printer having an electric contact member for contacting a terminal of the IC memory, and reading information from the IC memory via the electric contact member. / Writing is performed. 4. The printer according to claim 3, wherein the electric contact member is elastically biased so as to press against the terminal of the IC memory. 5. The printer according to claim 4, wherein the electrical contact member has a structure capable of swinging when the print media cartridge is inserted.