Color printer with sensors arranged along a length of a...

Incremental printing of symbolic information – Thermal marking apparatus or processes – Multicolor

Reexamination Certificate

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Reexamination Certificate

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06493017

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photo printer, and more particularly, to a photo printer with sensors arranged along a length of a ribbon for detecting the ribbons position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Please refer to FIG.
1
and FIG.
2
.
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of a conventional ink ribbon positioning system
10
.
FIG. 2
is a block diagram of a conventional color printer
50
. FIG.
1
and
FIG. 2
show the Taiwan Patent No. 399016 “INK RIBBON POSITIONING SYSTEM OF A COLOR PRINTER”. The ink ribbon positioning system
10
is used for identifying the position of a color ink ribbon
12
of the color printer
50
. The ink ribbon
12
is installed inside a ribbon cartridge (not shown) in a windable manner, and comprises a plurality of sequentially arranged dye regions
14
. Each of the dye regions
14
comprises four dye frames
16
,
18
,
20
,
22
for separatelycarrying yellow, magenta, cyan, and over coating dye. The ink ribbon
12
also comprises opaque regions
24
installed at the front and rear ends of the dye regions
14
.
The ink ribbon positioning system
10
comprises a light source
32
installed at one side of the ink ribbon
12
for emitting a light beam
34
of a predetermined color toward the ink ribbon
12
and an optical sensor
36
installed at the opposite side of the ink ribbon
12
fordetecting the light beam
34
passed through the ink ribbon
12
and generating a corresponding output voltage. The ink ribbon positioning system
10
also comprises an identification device
38
for identifying positions of the dye region
14
of the ink ribbon
12
and the dye frames
16
,
18
,
20
,
22
inside the dye region
14
according to the output voltages generated by the optical sensor
36
and generating corresponding position signals. The light beam
34
emitted by the light source
32
has different penetration rates for each of the four dye frames
16
,
18
,
20
,
22
inside the dye region
14
and for the opaque region
24
. Therefore, when two adjacent dye frames pass by the optical sensor
36
sequentially, the optical sensor
36
will generate different output voltages.
The color printer
50
comprises a winding mechanism
52
for winding the ink ribbon
12
inside the ribbon cartridge so that each of the dye frames
16
,
18
,
20
,
22
inside the dye region
14
pass by a thermal print head
54
sequentially, the thermal print head
54
for transferring the different colors of dye on the dye frames
16
,
18
,
20
,
22
onto a photo paper (not shown) sequentially, and a control circuit
40
for controlling operations of the winding mechanism
52
and the thermal print head
54
according to the position signals generated by the identification device
38
so as to form a desired pattern.
Because the light beam
34
emitted by the light source
32
has different penetration rates for each of the dye frames
16
,
18
,
20
,
22
and the opaque region
24
, as two adjacent dye frames pass by the optical sensor
36
in sequence, the optical sensor
36
will generate different output voltages. The identification device
38
will identify the positions of the dye region
14
and the dye frames
16
,
18
,
20
,
22
inside the dye region
14
according to the corresponding output voltages generated by the optical sensor
36
, and will generate corresponding position signals. The control circuit
40
will control the winding mechanism
52
to wind the ink ribbon
12
according to the position signals generated by the identification device
38
so as to pass the ink ribbon
12
by the thermal print head
54
for sequentially transferring dyes onto the photo paper.
The identification device
38
differentiates the positions of each of the four frames
16
,
18
,
20
,
22
inside the dye region
14
according to the light beam having different penetration rates for each frame. The identification device
38
comprises three comparators
42
,
44
,
46
with reference voltages between the four dye frames
16
,
18
,
20
,
22
and the opaque region
24
so as to discern the four distinct output voltages and generate corresponding position signals for identifying the positions of the dye frames
16
,
18
,
20
,
22
inside the dye region
14
of the ink ribbon
12
. However, the yellow dye frame
16
and the over coating dye frame
22
will generate the same output voltage, so the identification device
38
has to discern orders of the other dye frames (the magenta dye frame
18
and the cyan dye frame
20
) first to differentiate the yellow dye frame
16
from the over coating dye frame
22
. In addition, a particular barcode is printed at a front end of the yellow dye frame
16
and the over coating dye frame
22
respectively to distinguish the two. This causes the color printer
50
to need more time to identify the initial position of the ink ribbon
12
(the initial position of the yellow dye frame
16
) when the color printer
50
prints at the initial position of the yellow dye frame
16
. It also increases the amount of parts used, resulting in higher production costs.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide a color printer with sensors arranged along a length of a ribbon for detecting the ribbons position to solve the above-mentioned problems.
In the claimed invention, the color printer comprises an ink ribbon capable of moving in a predetermined direction. The ink ribbon has a plurality of dye regions sequentially arranged in the predetermined direction on the ink ribbon. Each dye region includes a plurality of dye frames for carrying dye of different colors,a print head for transferring the dye of different colors stored in the dye frames onto an object to form a desired pattern,a ribbon driving device for causing the ribbon to move in the predetermined direction, a controller for controlling the color printer, and a plurality of optical detecting devices mounted adjacent to the ink ribbon and arranged sequentially along the predetermined direction. When each of the optical detecting devices senses a dye frame, at least two output signals are detected. Each output signal is defined as a phase. A position of the ink ribbon is discerned by the controller according to the phase and phase-to-phase variation recorded by the optical detecting devices when the controller commands the ribbon driving device to move the ink ribbon.
The ink ribbon positioning system in the present invention can search for an initial position of the dye frame of the ink ribbon according to the different phase-to-phase variations generated by the light sources and the photo sensors of the optical detecting devices without any identification devices, parts for measuring voltage variations, or particular barcodes to identify the ink ribbon, resulting in decreasing costs.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the multiple figures and drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4710781 (1987-12-01), Stephenson
patent: RE33260 (1990-07-01), Stephenson
patent: 5751601 (1998-05-01), Tang et al.
patent: 6071024 (2000-06-01), Chi-Ming et al.
patent: 6080993 (2000-06-01), Zwijsen
patent: 6396526 (2002-05-01), Sung et al.
patent: 11-180016 (1999-07-01), None

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