JPS5822176A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the time of printing as well as exhibit the printing output function of a printer to a maximum by altering the intervals of printing heads according to the widths of printing papers used and also to the lengths of printing data. CONSTITUTION:A paper width-relating switch 21 provided on the operating panel 20 of a printer is operated, or the light of a light source 23 is irradiated onto a light receiving element 22e corresponding to the width of a printing paper 8 set on a platen 2, the light coming to the other light receiving elements 22a-22d is interrupted by the paper 8, and its detection signal is put in a control circuit. In the control circuit, an interval-varying motor 15 mounted on a carriage 3a is driven in such a way as to optimise the distance between the printing heads 1a-1c in line with the width of the paper 8, and the carriages 3b and 3c on which printing heads 1b and 1c are mounted are moved through a link mechanism 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printer device ζ, and more particularly to an improvement in a printer device that is provided with a plurality of printing elements and performs line printing while integrally moving the plurality of printing elements.

Printing elements, concrete (2) A printer device that prints a line while moving the print head along the print line is equipped with multiple print heads, and prints while moving these print heads in one force (2 There are some products with improved printing speed than ＝.For example, I B M 'I'technical
, [)isclosure Bulletin
vol, 17 Hll 4- (September 1974)
l'-PRINTHffAD C0NTFLOL AP
An example of a printer device as shown in FIG. 1 is described in PARATU 8J.

In FIG. 1C2, la, 1b, and IC are print heads, and these three print heads are mounted on a carriage 3 that is movable parallel to the platen 2. The carriage 3 is structured to slide back and forth on two support shafts 4a and 4b. Output shaft of motor 5≦2Between the fixed timing gear 6a and the timing gear 6b rotatably attached to the frame etc. 1: A timing belt 7 is stretched, and one part of this timing belt 7 is fixed to the carriage 3. has been done. 8 is printing paper.

The spacing between adjacent print heads la, lb, and lc is determined as follows.

The maximum width of printing paper 8 that can be set in two printer units (
2. Therefore, it is unambiguous; if the maximum number of printing digits to be determined is N digits, the interval between each print head is equal to the printing length of the child digit. (Usually, N is an integral multiple of the number of print heads. In other words, printing - yx 2) The receiver has the printing up to the digit, the receiver has the print head character, and each one is responsible for printing the child digit length. There is.

In such a configuration, the printing time for the - line is as follows.

Three print heads 1,1. it), lc each have an independent drive circuit, can be controlled independently, and can print different characters at the same time (2). Even if you print characters for N digits, or even if you only print from the first digit to the child digit, the printing (=required time is the same. In other words, the printing speed of each print head is set to n characters /
If it is seconds, then the time required to print the - line will be the same. This is the case when there are three printing pads, but in order to convert them into a film (two,
Assuming that the number of print heads is H, the -line printing time Tp is expressed by the following formula.

'rp = wT (seconds) When considering the printing performance of the printer as a whole, this time plus the paper feed time Tf (seconds) becomes the net one-line printing time, and furthermore, C2 control C = 豐The effective printing time is the sum of the time Tc (seconds).

Normally, the performance of this Yuzu printer is often measured in terms of the number of lines that can be printed per minute, and the unit is often expressed in LPM (lines per minute). Express the above printing performance in this unit r
Then, as shown in the formula below, ≦2.

Although the effective printing speed can be improved, such conventional printer equipment has the following problems.

Figure 2 shows the relationship between the number of digits printed per line and the printing time per line in the printer control described above, when the number of print heads H is 2.3.
．． Case 4 is described. The horizontal axis shows the number of printing digits X in one line starting from the first digit, and the vertical axis shows the printing time rp in one line.

Let's organize the symbols again.

〇-Number of large printing digits per line N digits Number of 0 print heads Printing speed of H1 fixed 0 print head n characters/sec 〇-Line printing time 'rp seconds second second As shown in Figure 2, when there are H print heads ,
In the range of 1 x
In the range of p+1 <

Let us explain this using Figure 3.

FIG. 3 shows an example of printing on a general width printing paper 8.

In the print line 9a, the first character 10 is printed in the first column, and the last character 11 is printed in the Nth column (assuming rightward printing). Of course, the printing time for this N-digit printing line is N7.
;l (seconds). Also, as in print line 9C:: The first character IO starts from the first column, and the final sentence is shortened by the smaller number. However, even if the number of digits is less than N,
At the beginning, as in printed line 9b, there is a number of techniques, one;
The printing time requires dζ(1/)).

In other words, when actually operating a printer, the number of digits in the print data changes from line to line or depending on the width of the printing paper used, but when the length of the print data, that is, the number of printed character information decreases (two This means that there are areas where it is not possible to reduce the printing time even if the printing time is 1. In other words, there are areas where it is not possible to increase the amount of printed character information that can be output within unit time. In order to reduce this, it is effective to increase the number of print heads, narrow the spacing between the print heads, and increase the operating speed of the print head 1. However, if this happens, the printing Mlj control will become more complicated. There is a problem that this results in an increase in costs, etc.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the conventional multi-print head type printer device as described above, and to significantly improve the effective printing speed by 1. There are two ways to provide:

The above-mentioned problems with conventional printer devices are mainly due to the fact that the print heads are fixed to one carriage C and the mutual spacing is fixed.

In view of this, we decided to make the interval between each print head variable for each print head. Although it may be variable, the latter configuration usually provides sufficient effect.However, if the length of the print data to be printed on the printing paper (2) changes, When printing on narrow printing paper, etc. (2) Change the spacing between the print heads as appropriate to minimize the printing time and maximize the print output performance of the printer device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of a printer device according to the present invention, and parts equivalent to those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.

Multiple printheads, in this example three printheads la
Carriage 3B+ 3 with +1belc each independent
b* ac, and these carriages can slide parallel to the platen 2 on two support shafts 4a, 41), respectively.

Each carriage 3a, 3b, 3C is connected to each other (in series) by a link mechanism 14, and the print head 1a and the print head 1b
The space between the printing gutter 1b and the print head 1C is always equal to the space between the printing gutter 1b and the print head 1C.

A variable interval motor 15 is mounted on the carriage 3a, and a binon 16 is fixed to the rotating shaft of this motor. Also, carriage 3a+= is Binyon I6
A groove 18 is provided to slidably guide the rack 7, and one end of the rack 17 is connected to the carriage 3bl=
Fixed. With such a configuration (=2), when the interval variable motor 15 is rotated, the interval between the carriages 3a and 3b (print heads 1a and lb) changes, and at the same time (two carriages 3b and 3c (printing nozzles 1b and tc) The spacing also changes due to the action of the link mechanism 14 (2). In this case, the changes in both spacings are equal, that is, the spacing is 11M.
It changes by the same amount of 1 in proportion to the rotation speed of the 1'T variable motor 15.

The timing belt 7 is stretched between the timing gear 6a fixed to the main shaft of the motor 5 for moving the carriage and the rotatable timing gear 6b attached to the frame C2; Clamp fitting 1
9 (-Therefore, the carriage 3al2 is fixed. With this configuration (2V), when the motor 5 is rotated, the gear ridges 3..
(=moves along the same direction and rotates the motor 5 in forward and reverse directions ζ: Therefore, the carriage performs reciprocating motion.

The interval variable motor 5 described in 1viJ is connected to the print head 13 to
1d so that the mutual spacing is optimal for the width of the printing paper 8 (
Second, the drive is controlled by a control N path (not shown). This signal () control circuit (2) needs to indicate the position of the printing paper 8 set on the platen 2.

The printing paper width can be specified by operating the printer's operation panel 1: operating the provided switch 21 corresponding to the paper width. Provide a means to automatically recognize the width,
The recognition result may be input manually to the control circuit. Such recognition means includes, for example, a light source device such as a lamp as shown in the figure, and a light receiving element 2 such as a phototransistor.
Combinations 2a to 22e can be used. In this configuration, the light source enters only the light receiving element 22eC on the platen 2 (if the set printing paper 8 is 15 inches wide, the light incident on the other light receiving elements: l-22a to 22d is blocked by the printing paper). In the case of a width of 5 inches, the light from the light receiving element 22a (second light #I23 is received).
Light receiving elements 22a-22. are arranged in association with a specific paper width. Then, the detection signal of each light receiving element is inputted to the control circuit C described above.

Next, the relationship between the width of the printing paper 8 and the optimum distance between the print heads will be described.

Generally used printing paper includes 5 inch width, finch width, 8 inch width, 10 inch width, and 15 inch width. The maximum width of is assumed to be 15 inma for convenience.

Normally, 15-inch wide printing paper generally prints one line (= maximum 132 digits), and 8-inch wide printing paper generally prints one line (-maximum 72 digits. In addition, the width of each printing paper (: Therefore, the maximum number of printing digits in one line is N digits, which is determined by the formula.) In the printer of this embodiment, c1 print head la corresponds to the width of the printing paper used.

The mutual spacing of 1b+1'c is set to 8-digit (H is the number of print heads) printing Fc-2. H in non-example:
3, the mutual ialim of the print heads is 15
When using inch-width paper, the print format is set to 44 digits,
When using 8 inch wide paper, the print length is set to 2 or 4 digits.

In this way, by changing the interval between the print heads according to the width of the printing paper to be used (2), it is possible to increase the speed of printing as follows: print head O). ＼, that is, the value corresponding to a 15-inch wide printing paper (2) If 72 digits are printed on an 8-inch wide printing paper with ＼ fixed, the - line printing time is ≦ 2, as is clear from Figure 2. Its value is N=132 and X is 72, so T
p=dan=±L and there are 31n n. (=On the other hand, if you change the print head spacing to 24 digits, N is 72, - Shortening the line printing time increases the actual printing speed of the printer device, improving print output performance.

Above (: In the example explained above, the spacing between the print heads is optimally set depending on the mt of the printing paper. Although this is still effective enough, it is necessary to further shorten the printing time per line. It is effective to optimally set the spacing between the print heads according to the print data length of each print line.The print head spacing is controlled in this way - Example ζ
The second point will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control sieve unit for controlling the variable interval filter 15 and the carriage moving motor 5 (see FIG. 1 for both). The other configuration of the printer device is the same as that shown in FIG.

FIG. (
Yu includes printing information such as characters and symbols that are actually printed,
Information such as spaces, which are the intervals between them, is stored in encoded form m11. δ is a digit count judgment circuit that determines the length of digits from the first character to the last character for one line to be printed from among the print information stored in the print panfam, that is, the number of digits (see Fig. 3).
The number of digits from the first character 10 to the crossroad character 11 in the second row is determined. Shigeru uses the moving board calculation circuit to calculate the difference between the number of digits of the printed line of direct Ail and the number of digits of the current printed line. Rotate. Calculate the subsequent motion. According to this configuration, the printer device (2) automatically prints the data according to the length of the print data including the sent space. You can set the print head spacing that is optimal for the number of digits to be printed.

诂 is a printing start digit position determination circuit, and print buffer 24
Determine the column position of the first character to be printed on the line to be printed. In this example, bidirectional printing is possible, so
When printing while moving the print head from left to right (at the time of forward printing), the digit 10 of the first character in 2 in Figure 3 is determined to be the print start digit, and the print head is moved from right to left. When printing is performed while printing (reverse direction printing), the last character 11 in FIG. 3 is determined to be the printing start digit.

The head is a movement 1 circuit that calculates the necessary movement amount and direction to move a specific print head to a predetermined position before printing starts, and this movement wrinkle and direction are determined based on the end of printing of the previous line. It is calculated by comparing and subtracting the print head digit position of the leftmost or rightmost l1111 at the time and the printing start digit position of the current print line. In other words, if the current printing is to be performed by forward printing, the movement and direction (rotation 1 and rotation direction of the motor 5) for moving the leftmost print head to the printing start digit position of the current printing line are Calculated. If this printing is in the reverse direction, set the rightmost four printing fields to the printing start digit position? A movement line and direction for movement are calculated. According to this calculation result, the motor drive circuit I drives the carriage moving motor 5.

Similarly, the line printing printer device, which is the χ1 beast of the present invention, usually performs printing after receiving the b crimping printing data,
Next, there is a time period in which the change operation is performed (i.e., 7 o'clock + 1 pus is the above-mentioned Tf), and the above-mentioned print head interval setting operation and movement of the print head to the printing start digit are performed during this change operation time. It can be done inside the obi,
I don't appreciate extra time.

Hereinafter, the results of shortening the one-line printing time in the embodiment of the present invention described in Section E will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 7 shows the relationship between one line printing time and printing quality according to an embodiment of the present invention. Horizontal axis (=number of printing digits printed in one line starting from the first digit

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows the schematic configuration of a conventional printer device.
Figure 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the number of printing digits and the printing time for one line in a conventional printer device, Figure 3 is a diagram showing printing examples of print data of different lengths, and Figure 4 is a graph of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the schematic configuration of the embodiment, and FIG.
A block diagram of the cape part of the motor for moving Fuji, Fig. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the number of printing digits and one line printing time of the printer device according to the present invention C, and Fig. 7 is a graph when printing one line according to the present invention. 1
It is a graph showing the shortening of output tt. 1a, 1b, 1c... Print head, 2... Platen, 3 a T 3 b @ 3 c... Gear ridge % 5... Carriage movement motor, 8... Stamp paper, 14... Link mechanism, 15...Print head interval μ'' variable motor, 16...Bignon, 17...
・Rack, addition...operation panel, 22a-22e...
・Light receiving element, B...Light source, Sae...Print buffer, 5...Long digit circuit, F, 29...Transfer hi
J value calculation circuit, 27.30...Motor drive circuit, Seki...Print start digit determination circuit. Figure 1 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A printer device i1m which prints a line while moving (=a printer device i1m!-) which prints a plurality of printing elements arranged in the direction of the printing line along the printing line 1; 2. A printer device characterized in that it is equipped with an interval variable means for arbitrarily setting the interval between the widths of the printing paper. The printer apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the interval variable means C2 sets the interval between the printing elements. 3. The printer apparatus has means for specifying the width of the printing paper. , the printer device according to claim 1, characterized in that the spacing variable means (so as to set the spacing between the printing elements with :) according to the printing paper width designated by the means. 4.1 print line (2) The interval variable means has means for detecting the length of the number of digits from the first digit to the last digit of the print information to be printed, and the length of the number of digits detected by the means) = the interval variable means The printer device according to claim 11, characterized in that the printer device is configured with (: to set the interval between the printing elements).