| 摘要 |
PURPOSE:To enable color printing to be performed and prevent thermal ribbon consumption from being increased at the time of monochroic printing, by providing at least two carriages at least one of which is slidable, performing color printing under the condition where all of the carriages are close to each other, and performing monochroic printing under the condition where the carriages are spaced a predetermined distance apart from each other. CONSTITUTION:A left carriage 2 on the printing starting side is fixed to a belt 10, while a right carriage 4 on the printing ending side is detachably fixed to the belt 10. Optical sensors 12, 14 are mounted respectively at a printing starting position and a printing ending position. When performing color printing, the carriages 2, 4 are fixed to the belt 10 in the state of making close contact with each other. When performing monochroic print, the carriage 4 is so fixed to the belt 10 that printing data can be printed separately, with a substantially central position as a boundary. It is necessary to determine whether or not the distance between the carriages 2 and 4 is correct,before starting the printing. An MPU 32 calculates the distance l3 over which the carriage 2 is moved, and obtains the distance lx=l2-l3 between the carriages 2, 4 from the distance l3 and the distance l2 (known) between the sensors 12 and 14. |
