JPH0767825B2 - Print control method for printers with multiple print heads - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a passbook in which a plurality of print heads are mounted side by side in a horizontal direction and each of which is driven to perform a printing process on a plurality of different media such as a passbook and a slip. The present invention relates to a print control method in a printer equipped with a plurality of print heads such as a slip printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Printers equipped with a plurality of print heads are used in financial institutions such as banks, and there are passbook / slip printers that print on passbooks and slips as print media. Since this passbook / slip printer is centrally managed by the center computer, the main purpose is to print the message sent from the center computer on the passbook and also print the same message on the slip. It has become a device.

Therefore, when a transaction such as deposit or withdrawal is made by a customer, a medium insertion mechanism (hereinafter referred to as an inserter) is used in order to print on a different medium without fail for each transaction. In the case of a 1-inserter 1-head printer equipped with only one print head each, the passbook is first set in the inserter for printing, and after the passbook has been printed, it is ejected from the outlet and then Set the voucher in the same inserter with the passbook set,
In the same manner, a series of print processing operations are performed in which print processing is performed on the voucher, and when the print processing is completed, the slip is discharged.

However, in such a processing procedure, since the work processing time becomes very long because the passbook and the slip are processed separately, a printer with two inserters and one head has been mainly used. . However, after all, although the passbook and slip insertion / ejection processing can be performed in parallel, only one print head is mounted, so printing is inevitably performed alone, resulting in a longer business processing time. From the viewpoint that the configuration of one head is inevitably obstructed in order to reduce the number of times, recently, a passbook / slip printer having two inserters and two heads and capable of completely parallel operation has appeared.

The passbook / slip printer mainly employs a wire dot impact type print head in order to handle a copy medium having a structure in which a plurality of sheets are bound together like a slip.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, when the printing is performed in parallel by the wire insert printer having two inserters and two heads, the work processing time can be shortened, but two printings can be performed. It is necessary to drive the head in the same manner, which has a drawback that the power supply capacity becomes large.

In particular, the print head of the wire dot printer requires a higher driving voltage than other motors and magnets not related to the printing process because a plurality of wire dots are moved by the magnet in a short period of time. The power supply capacity for driving the print head with respect to the entire power supply has been extremely high. 5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams for showing the problems of the conventional example. FIG. 5 shows the drive current waveform per pin of the wire dot in the print head.
FIG. 6 shows an example of a drive circuit for the print head. As shown in these figures, since the current is supplied from the power supply during the period of DT1, the peak current is set to Ip, the driving cycle is set to T1, and at the same time when the wire of 12 pins at the maximum is driven, the power supply of the print head driving voltage Vd The required rated current It can be approximately represented by the following formula 1.

[0008]

[Formula 1] It = 12 × Ip · DT1 / 2 × T1 The driving cycle T1 is determined by the printing speed, and when the printing speed is A [PPS], it can be expressed as T1 = 1 / A [S]. For example, the printing speed is 2000 [PPS], Ip =
If it is 3 [A], It = 12 × 3 [A] × 200 [u
S] / 500 [uS] × 2 = 7.2 [A]. The current value shown on the left also guarantees solid printing (printing that always drives 12 dots).
y (the ratio of the number of dots that are actually printed to the total number of dots that can be printed), the print head drive voltage V
The rated current of d is determined.

For example, if only the printing of Chinese characters is performed, the printing drive duty of Chinese characters is about 30% at maximum, and therefore the print head driving voltage Vd is 4 with a margin taken into consideration.
Assuming 0%, the print head drive voltage Vd = 7.2 [A]
× 40% = 2.88 [A]. In addition, considering the image printing that prints figures etc., the margin is 70%.
Print head drive voltage Vd =
A power source of 7.2 [A] × 70% = 5.04 is required.

Therefore, if the image printing process is performed under the above numerical conditions, the print head drive voltage V of the power supply required by the printer having the structure of one inserter and one head.
The rated current of d is 5.04 [A], whereas a printer capable of parallel printing with 2 inserters and 2 heads requires twice as much 10.08 [A]. As a result, 2
In addition to high power consumption in printers with two inserter heads, the power volume for driving the print head also increases, which is a major practical obstacle to passbook / slip printers, which have been required to be smaller in recent years. It was. In addition, the increase in power supply capacity and power supply volume has also been a factor of increasing the device cost.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in order to minimize the processing time, the two print heads can be printed independently so that the two print heads can be printed independently. Various problems caused by mounting, that is, when performing high printing drive duty such as image printing, the rated current of the printing drive voltage becomes large, resulting in not only the power supply volume but also the external dimensions of the device. In order to prevent the problem that the cost of the apparatus is increased accordingly, the processing speed is improved as a whole work by considering the frequency of use of the two print heads, and the power supply capacity and the power supply volume are increased. Less printing (power supply capacity and power volume equivalent to a device that enables image printing with a single print head) It is an object to provide a printing control method in head mounted printer.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention controls drive of a plurality of print heads mounted on each of them based on print data transmitted from a host device via a communication control device. By doing so, a printer equipped with a plurality of print heads, which performs printing processing on a plurality of types of media, controls a plurality of printer mechanism units for independently driving the plurality of print heads and the operation of the printer mechanism units. Printer control means, print data determination means for determining whether the print data from the higher-level device is character data or image data, and a drive command for each printer control means based on the determination result of the print data determination means. A main control unit for issuing and controlling the drive of the entire printer is provided.

In addition, in the printer equipped with a plurality of print heads described above, instead of the print data determination means, a print drive Du
The ty calculation means is provided.

[0014]

According to the above-described structure, according to the printer device having the print data determining means, first, when the printer with a plurality of print heads receives the print data transmitted from the host device through the communication control device, the print data is printed. The data determination means determines whether the content of the print data is character data or image data, and when it is determined that the print data is character data, it is possible to perform parallel printing processing by a plurality of print heads and each printer control section is controlled by the main control section. To the printer, and if it is determined that the image data is image data, it is determined that parallel print processing cannot be performed by a plurality of print heads, and a sequential drive processing command is issued to each printer control unit. To do.

Also, by providing the print data judging means, when the printer equipped with a plurality of print heads receives the print data transmitted from the host device via the communication control device, the contents of the print data are judged by the print data judging means. Determines whether is character data or image data,
When it is determined that the data is character data, parallel printing processing by a plurality of print heads is enabled, the main control unit issues a parallel drive processing command to each printer control unit, and it is determined that the data is image data. In the case, compared with the case where it is determined that the character data,
The printing speed of the drive processing command issued from the main control unit to each printer control unit is reduced.

Next, in place of the print data determining means,
In the case where the print drive duty calculating means for calculating the print drive duty from the print data from the host device is provided, the printer equipped with a plurality of print heads receives the print data transmitted from the host device via the communication control device. Then, the print drive duty calculating means calculates the print drive duty of this print data. If the calculated print drive duty is less than a predetermined value, it is possible to perform parallel print processing by a plurality of print heads, and the main control unit issues a parallel drive processing command to each printer control unit. If the print drive duty is equal to or more than a predetermined value, it is determined that parallel print processing by a plurality of print heads is impossible, and a sequential drive processing command is issued for each printer control unit. .

Further, since the print drive duty calculating means is provided, when the printer having a plurality of print heads receives the print data transmitted from the host device via the communication control device, the print drive duty calculating means prints the print data. If the print drive duty of the data is calculated and the calculated print drive duty is less than or equal to a predetermined value, simultaneous printing with multiple print heads is possible and the print drive duty is greater than or equal to the predetermined value. If yes,
Compared with the case where the print drive duty is less than a predetermined value, the print speed of the drive processing command issued from the main control unit to each printer control unit is reduced.

As a result, by any of the printing control methods described above, the current value required to drive the print head is set within the range that does not exceed the rated current of the power supply device provided in the printer device. The drive of the print head can be controlled.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of a passbook / slip printer showing an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the passbook / slip printer is roughly divided into a passbook / slip printer unit A for actually printing on a medium. , A communication control device B for performing a predetermined preprocessing when transmitting a message from a center computer (not shown) to a passbook / slip printer unit.

First, the passbook / slip printer unit A includes a main control unit (SCPU unit) 1, a memory unit 2, an EPROM unit 3, and a CG.
It comprises a section (character generator section) 4, a DMAC section 5, a host interface control section 6, a passbook printer control section 7, a slip printer control section 8, a passbook printer mechanism section 9, and a slip printer mechanism section 10. The main controller 1
Is a microprocessor for controlling the overall operation of the passbook / slip printer unit A having the above-mentioned configuration, and analyzes a message from a higher-level device, develops print data, and executes the DMA.
The mode setting and the activation information setting in the C section 5, the issue of individual operation commands to the passbook printer control section 7 and the slip printer control section 8 and the analysis of the response are performed.

When the main control unit 1 issues individual operation commands to the passbook printer control unit 7 and the slip printer control unit 8, these control units 7 and 8 are driven in parallel. In order to determine whether or not the print data transmitted from the host computer via the communication control device B is character data or image data, print data determination means 1a is provided. The print data determining means 1a determines the content of the print data based on the interface data transferred after the print data transmitted from the host computer is transmitted by the communication control device B. Yes, if it is determined to be character data, parallel printing is determined to be processable within the rated current value of the power supply for driving the print head provided in the printer, and if it is determined to be image data, Since the rated current value is exceeded, parallel printing is prohibited, and the main control unit 1 issues a serial drive command that can be performed within a predetermined value.

The memory unit 2 is composed of a readable / writable SRAM (static RAM capable of retaining information unless power is cut off) and the like, and is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a memory map in the main control unit of FIG. As shown, the memory unit 2 is used as a work area, a high-order communication buffer area, a passbook print data buffer area, a slip print data buffer area, and the like.

The EPROM section 3 stores, in addition to an operation program of the main control section 1 after the power is turned on, a blocked basic program and the like such as an upper communication program. The CG unit 4 corresponds to a predetermined character code such as ANK character or Chinese character, and stores image data of all characters.

The host interface control unit 6 receives communication data from the host device such as the communication controller B,
The data is transferred to the upper communication buffer of the memory unit 2. The passbook printer control unit 7 and the slip printer control unit 8 are
The passbook printer mechanism unit 9 and the slip printer mechanism unit 10 each having an individual CPU or the like, which analyzes a command from the main control unit 1 and is composed of a plurality of motors, magnets, and sensors for operating the print head. Generate a detailed control signal to, analyze the operation state after the operation is completed,
A response is transmitted to the main control unit 1.

Further, the passbook printer control unit 7 and the slip printer control unit 8 have line buffers for passbook and slip printing respectively, and by the control of the DMAC unit 5,
The data in the passbook print data buffer or the slip print data buffer in the memory unit 2 is sequentially transferred by DMA (Direct Memory Access) at a timing synchronized with each print head spacing operation, and printing is performed on the passbook or slip.

The passbook / slip printer unit A having the above-mentioned configuration
Is a communication control device B which is a host device via the interface cable 11 by the host interface control unit 6.
Connected with. The communication control device B mainly includes a line control unit 12, a PR (protocol) interface control unit 13, a CPU 14, and a memory 15.

The line control unit 12 is connected to a center computer (not shown) via a dedicated line or the like, and the center computer sends electronic messages such as business data and control data to the corresponding communication control unit B. . And
The communication control device B that has received this message sends the message to the CPU 14
Then, the electronic mail is transmitted to the passbook / slip printer unit A by performing the processing determined by the program in the memory 15.

For example, in the case of a payout operation at a financial institution, when the data such as the payout amount is transmitted to the center computer and the file in the center computer is updated, the communication control device B is sent from the center computer. In response to this, the down-line telegram of the passbook entry data and the slip entry data regarding the payout transaction is transmitted. The communication control device B analyzes the downlink message from the center computer and transfers the data of each line of the passbook entry data and the slip print data to the passbook / slip printer unit A individually via the PR interface control unit 13. To do. Here, an example of the transferred data is shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a logical interface format with a host device. The logical interface format is "ST" which is a 1-byte start code.
"CM" that starts with "X" and indicates the 1-byte command type
"D", "T / D" for identifying a 1-byte message for a passbook or a slip, "C / I" for identifying 1-byte character data or image data, and "DATA" following 1-byte "LEN" indicating the length of the "" part, an n-byte "DATA" part, a 1-byte "BCC" that is a check digit of a message, and a 1-byte "STP" that is the end code.

When the data of each line of the passbook entry data and the slip print data having the above-described configuration are individually transferred sequentially from the communication control device B through the interface cable 11, the upper interface control of the passbook / slip printer unit A is performed. The unit 6 first transfers the data to the upper communication buffer area of the memory unit 2. In the above example, since the passbook and slip print data are both character data, the first command data indicates "CMD" = 0lH indicating print data, "T / D" = 00H indicating passbook data, indicates character data. “C / I” = 00H is set and transferred to the first half of the upper communication buffer.

In the next command data, "CMD" indicating print data = 01H and "T / D" indicating slip data =
01H, “C / I” indicating character data = 01, and transferred to the second half of the upper communication buffer. The main control unit 1 analyzes the higher-order communication data unit, and "C / I" = 01H
If the print data is character code data, the data is read from the CG section 4 corresponding to the character code and is developed into image data for one line, and the passbook or slip print buffer area Transfer to.

When "C / I" = 00H, the main control unit 1 determines that the print data is image data. Since the image data of this print data is sent from the host as it is, the main control unit 1 transfers it to the passbook or the slip print buffer area as it is. And
When the print data for both the passbook and the slip is character data, since the print drive duty is low, the main control unit 1 determines that it is possible to perform parallel printing in which the passbook and the slip are simultaneously printed. A permission command is issued to the passbook printer control unit 7 and the slip printer control unit 8. At the same time, the main control unit 1 sets the address information of the passbook print buffer area and the slip print buffer area separately for the channel to the DMAC unit 5. As a result, by the timing activation of the passbook printer control unit 7 and the slip printer control unit 8, the data in each print buffer area is time-divided by the DMA and sequentially transferred to the respective line buffers, whereby a plurality of print heads are driven simultaneously. However, the passbook and slips are printed simultaneously in parallel.

As described above, the passbook / slip printer unit A uses the information of "C / D" which is a flag indicating whether the print data in the communication data from the host device is a character or an image, and the main control unit. In 1, it is determined whether or not parallel printing can be performed on the passbook and slip. In other words, when the transferred print data is image data, the high print drive Dut
Since there is a possibility of y, the rated current required to drive the print head will be large, so parallel printing will not be performed. Immediately after printing on the passbook, this time on the slip As described above, the drive operation of the print head is staggered. It is to be noted that whether the print data is character data or image data is discriminated by the communication control device B, which is a higher-level device.
When creating command data to be transferred to the slip printer A,
This determination result will be added.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but there are other embodiments as shown below. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the print head drive control is performed by providing the print data determining means for determining the print data from the host device as either the character data or the image data. As can be seen from the block diagram showing the embodiment, the print drive duty (the ratio of the number of dots actually used for print operation to the total number of printable dots) in the print data is calculated by the print drive duty calculating means 1b. By doing so, the drive control of the print head is performed.

That is, even if the print data from the center computer is image data, the print drive duty may actually be low. In such a case, the passbook and the slip print data buffer (even in the case of characters are used). 1 line of data (data after expansion to the image)
In the main control unit 1, the maximum data that can be tolerated within the rated current value determined by the power supply unit is divided into units, and the number of data of 1 (print) and 0 (no print) in the divided data is printed. If the total density of the data of 1 in the block in which the passbook and the slip are printed in parallel after being analyzed by the printing drive duty calculation means is within a preset predetermined value, parallel printing is possible. It is assumed that parallel printing is impossible if even one of the values exceeds a predetermined value, and the main control unit 1 prints the slip immediately after the passbook printing as in the above embodiment.

Although the print drive duty of the print buffer is analyzed by software in the above, there is no particular problem if it is performed by hardware logic. In the print control method described above, when the result of analyzing print data is high print drive duty, the parallel drive is not performed to limit the increase in the print drive current. If the current is within the range, high printing drive Dut
Even in the case of y, it is possible to control the printing speed of the passbook and slip printer to be low.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, the content of the print data transmitted from the host device is analyzed by the print data determining means or the print drive duty calculating means to determine and calculate the result, and Based on the judgment and calculation results, we decided to control the drive commands for the multiple print heads provided in the printer so that they would fall within the predetermined drive current value. All the print data is analyzed by a printer equipped with multiple print heads, and whether or not it is possible to print multiple print heads in parallel and whether or not to reduce the printing speed even in the case of parallel print Judgment can be made and an appropriate print head drive command can be issued based on this judgment, so printing is always performed within the limited print drive rated current. Ukoto can be, moreover are also possible with the image printed at the same degree of print drive density and printer 1 head configuration.

In addition, since the low print drive duty is normally used when printing the character that is most frequently used, a plurality of print heads can be printed in parallel, and therefore printing can be performed on a plurality of media at the same time. Therefore, it is possible to significantly reduce the work processing time as compared with the print processing amount of the printer having the one-head configuration. Even when parallel printing is not performed, compared to a 2-inserter 1-head printer, a 2-inserter 2-head printer does not require movement of the medium to a position where the platen is present or switching operation. After all, the business processing time can be shortened.

Further, there is no significant difference in power consumption as compared with a one-head printer, and since the power supply capacity and power supply volume are similar, the overall size of the device does not need to be large, and as a result, the device cost is low. The effect that it becomes possible to suppress is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of a passbook / slip printer showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a logical interface format with a host device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a memory map of an SCPU unit.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a drive current waveform per pin of a wire dot in the print head.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a drive circuit of a print head.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A passbook / slip printer section B communication control device 1 main control section 1a print data determination means 1b print drive duty calculation means 7 passbook printer control section 8 slip printer control section 11 interface cable

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Isamu Miki 1-7-12 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Fumihiko Sato 4-3 Tsunashima-east, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa No. 1 in Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Katsuhiro Saito No. 4-3, Jonai, Hanamaki-shi, Iwate Inside Shinko Seisakusho Co., Ltd. (72) Kazunori Kato, 570, Ohito, Ohito-cho, Tagata-gun, Shizuoka TEPCO Company Ohi factory

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of printers that perform a printing process on a plurality of types of media by drivingly controlling a plurality of print heads mounted on each of them based on print data transmitted from a host device via a communication control device. A print control method for a printer equipped with a print head, comprising: a plurality of printer mechanism units for independently driving the plurality of print heads; a printer control unit for controlling the operation of the printer mechanism units; A print data determination means for determining whether the print data is character data or image data, and a drive command is issued to each printer control means based on the determination result of the print data determination means and a drive control for the entire printer is performed. A plurality of print data transmitted from the host device via the communication control device is provided with a control unit. When the printer equipped with the head receives it, the print data determination means determines whether the content of this print data is character data or image data. If it is determined that it is character data, parallel print processing by multiple print heads is enabled. The main control unit issues a parallel drive processing command to each printer control unit, and when it is determined that the data is image data, it is determined that parallel print processing by a plurality of print heads is impossible,
A print control method for a printer equipped with a plurality of print heads, wherein a drive processing command is sequentially issued for each printer control means. 2. A plurality of printers that perform a printing process on a plurality of types of media by drivingly controlling a plurality of print heads mounted on each of them based on print data transmitted from a host device via a communication control device. A print control method for a printer equipped with a print head, comprising: a plurality of printer mechanism units for independently driving the plurality of print heads; a printer control unit for controlling the operation of the printer mechanism units; A print data determination means for determining whether the print data is character data or image data, and a drive command is issued to each printer control means based on the determination result of the print data determination means and a drive control for the entire printer is performed. A plurality of print data transmitted from the host device via the communication control device is provided with a control unit. When the printer equipped with the head receives it, the print data determination means determines whether the content of this print data is character data or image data. If it is determined that it is character data, parallel print processing by multiple print heads is enabled. When the main control unit issues a parallel drive processing command to each printer control unit, and when it is determined that it is image data, the main control unit compares it with the case where it is determined that it is the character data. A print control method for a printer having a plurality of print heads, characterized in that the print speed of a drive processing command issued to each printer control unit is reduced. 3. A plurality of printing processes are performed on a plurality of types of media by drivingly controlling a plurality of mounted print heads based on print data transmitted from a host device via a communication control device. A print control method for a printer equipped with a print head, comprising: a plurality of printer mechanism units for independently driving the plurality of print heads; a printer control unit for controlling the operation of the printer mechanism units; Based on the calculation result of the print drive duty calculating means for calculating the print drive duty (the ratio of the number of dots actually performing the print operation to the total number of dots capable of performing the print operation) A main control unit that issues a drive command to each of the printer control units and controls the drive of the entire printer. When the printer with a plurality of print heads receives the print data transmitted from the device via the communication control device, the print drive duty of this print data is calculated by the print drive duty calculating means, and the calculated print drive duty is If it is less than a certain value, it is possible to perform parallel printing processing by a plurality of print heads, the main control unit issues a parallel drive processing command to each printer control unit, and there is a print drive duty. If the number of print heads is equal to or more than the predetermined value, it is considered that parallel print processing by a plurality of print heads is impossible, and a drive processing command is sequentially issued for each printer control means. Print control method. 4. A plurality of print processing is performed on a plurality of types of media by drivingly controlling a plurality of mounted print heads based on print data transmitted from a host device via a communication control device. A print control method for a printer equipped with a print head, comprising: a plurality of printer mechanism units for independently driving the plurality of print heads; a printer control unit for controlling the operation of the printer mechanism units; Based on the calculation result of the print drive duty calculating means for calculating the print drive duty (the ratio of the number of dots actually performing the print operation to the total number of dots capable of performing the print operation) A main control unit that issues a drive command to each of the printer control units and controls the drive of the entire printer. When the printer with a plurality of print heads receives the print data transmitted from the apparatus via the communication control device, the print drive duty of the print data is calculated by the print drive duty calculating means, and the calculated print drive duty is determined. If the value is less than or equal to the specified value, simultaneous printing with a plurality of print heads is possible, and if the value is greater than or equal to a certain value, the printing drive duty is less than or equal to a certain value. A printing control method for a printer equipped with a plurality of print heads, characterized in that the printing speed of a drive processing command issued from the main control unit to each printer control unit is reduced as compared with the case.