DE2321675A1 - HIGH SPEED PRINTER - Google Patents

Description

Patent attorneys

Dipl. Ing. C. Wallach

Dipl. Ing. G. Koch

Dr. T. Haibach

8 Munich 2

Kaufingsrstr. 8, Tel. 240270

April 27, 1973 14 199 - V.

Centronics Data Computer Corporation Hudson, New Hampshire / USA

High-speed printer

The invention relates to printers and, more particularly, to high speed printers of the radio matrix type used for extremely high print speeds are suitable and the have an extremely low mass of the moving parts, so far not achievable with conventional designs To achieve print speeds.

Dot matrix printers are well known in the art and typically comprise an array of printing wires (commonly called catfish arranged in a regular matrix of seven rows and five columns with a total of 55 printing wires are), wherein the print wires are selectively brought to abut against an ink ribbon, which in turn against the paper document is pressed to form any desired characters. The print wires are then mechanically joined together shifted or moved in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the paper document to move the print wires to the next To move the print position. After completing a single line of characters or symbols, this becomes the five-by-seven matrix forming wire bundles are quickly moved back to the starting position, the paper document is advanced

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pushed and the next line of characters appears in the same way printed·

To the greetings of the crowd during the printing process with high speed must be moved * to decrease »was an improved form of the technique described above

suggested «as in the German patent

(German patent application P 21 22 674.4) is described. In this technique, the five-by-seven matrix of print wires is replaced by a set of essentially vertically aligned print wires that are incremented five times per character "to form essentially the same five-by-seven dot matrix, as described above _β The print wires are incremented an additional step forward to create the appropriate spacing between adjacent characters. The print wire assembly is moved forward in this way, UBi © Ine Zelohendeil @ gu complete, whereupon the print wire assembly is quickly moved forward in the reverse direction to return to the starting position. The paper document is then advanced and the next line of characters is printed in the same way and downtime is increased due to the wear and tear of the moving components. Furthermore, the distance covered by the printer head for one line of characters is twice the width of the print line.

Another proposal for increasing the printing speed of dot matrix printers is in the German patent (German patent application P 22 58 247.4) by the same applicant. To further reduce the size of the

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The movement covered by the print wire = arrangement, the print wires and the associated actuation solenoids are attached to a movable mounting arrangement, the free ends of the print wires moving back and forth being arranged essentially along an imaginary straight line. In a preferred embodiment, in which 80 characters are to be created per line, according to a five-by-SiebeK matrix, the printing wires selectively print a first row of dots, with each printing wire printing the first row of 10 characters per line * Then, the movable mounting arrangement results in only a reduced movement which is l in practice / 8 the length of the total length of a line of characters * in the FAIL ₅ in which the paper document is continuously fed, the mounting assembly is moved along a slightly inclined path so that the constant paper movement is compensated and at the same time a horizontal row of dots is achieved. Thus, the mounting assembly performs a movement that is effectively one tenth of a line of characters in the print position and one tenth in the return position, resulting in a mechanical movement equal to 1/5 of the length of a line of characters while in the printers described above the German patent ..... (German patent application P 21 22 674.4) perform the printing wire arrangements a movement that is equal to twice the length of a line of characters. It can thus be seen that with the printing wire arrangement according to the German patent ... (German patent application P 22 58 247.4) the magnitude of the mechanical movement of the parts is 1/10 compared to that of printers according to the German patent ... . (German patent application P 21 22 674.4) is reduced.

Although the techniques described above lead to a

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Significant increase in printing speeds and a reduction in the mass of the moving parts We continue to strive to create printers that allow even higher operating speeds while at the same time keeping the bulk of the moving Parts is further reduced, requiring techniques that are a significant departure from known Construction »and operational concepts.

It is an object of the invention to provide a high-speed impact printer of the dot matrix type in which the printing wires reduced one considerably Linear motion transverse to their longitudinal axes are subject and in which the need for a mechanical Movement of the actuation solenoids completely eliminated is, so that previously unattainable printing speeds possible are.

According to the invention, this object is achieved in that the high-speed printer has a printing machine frame, on the a number of print wire actuating solenoids are fixed in a stationary manner. In a preferred embodiment, where 152 characters are printed per line are 152 compression wire actuation solenoids fixedly mounted on the printer machine frame.

The printer machine frame also has facilities for attaching a paper document feed device to, either a rotatable orphan or a trigger-feed arrangement to advance the paper document can be either continuous or incremental. the Magnetic coils are attached in front of the pressure roller arrangement and each have a thin pressure wire that mechanically coupled with a solenoid armature for its actuation

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is. The free ends of the print wires are all close to the surface of the Papierdokumen te s arranged on the stopper can take place. An ink ribbon spanning the distance between a take-up and supply reel is arranged so that it spans the paper document and that the printing wires impinge on the ink ribbon to perform the printing of rows of dots.

An elongated movable baffle is positioned near the free ends of the print wires and is provided with a plurality of openings, preferably aligned along an imaginary straight line. Suitable bearings are provided in each of the openings and are each suitable for receiving the free ends of an associated pressure wire * to keep the free ends of these pressure wires in alignment along the imaginary straight line mentioned * while the pressure wires can move back and forth . In the case in which the paper document is continuously moved forward, the deflector plate is preferably guided along a slight inclined path in order to compensate for the movement of the paper document and thereby ensure the printing of a row of dots along an imaginary straight and preferably horizontal line. This arrangement can _s are omitted in cases in which the paper document is advanced step by step «.

Printing is done by moving the baffle to the home position performed, which is typically represented by the left end of the paper document. The baffle is moved at a substantially constant speed while the print wire actuating solenoids activated to stop the free ends of the print wires on the ribbon and then against the paper document to effect. In a preferred embodiment

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At play, the baffle deflects the print wires along a path that is equal to five adjacent dots (ie, a mark), which is a ^3- order path of 2 mm (l / l2 inches). Because only the leading ends of the print wires are deflected, the amount of mass that is moved while pressing a row of dots is reduced to an absolute minimum

The printer electronics consist of input devices for receiving data in either serial or parallel format and for feeding the data in Parallol-Porraat into a multi-stage Shift register- ^, clas a variety of binary words can save ', each with a specific character or Represent symbol.

If the .Register that codiert® representations can fully "· store permanent character line of a * is fully charged or when it is loaded to ZXM desired amount (your Drask to complete on the one line, and less than a full .ZeUa) _4, the contents of each level of the register ({31 «which contain Binsrbifcs representing characters or symbols) are coixverters for each character _a said first Punkfcreihe uer su printed 2eiöfeeszeile represent "This Signal® in turn for the selective initiation of the operation of the printing-a-raat-Bet & verwandet tlgungsmagnetspulen," as the bridge of ^ö points ¹¹ arranged on ISIT spaced intervals along ύ®τ first to printing dot purity ^ u cause _a The baffle is asam but a very small way {in ύ% ν Srööen ordwig of

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0.4 mm / l / βθ inch) moved to the right _s to effect selective printing at the next dot position in the first row of dots. A counter is used to account for the position of the baffle at any given time. The state of the counter controls the dot position of the first row of dots which is fed as the output of the associated solenoid to cause the actuation of this solenoid to print the correct dot at each position within the row.

This stepping process is used in the preferred embodiment continued over a path that is equal to five adjacent point positions until all points along the first Row of dots have been printed. The deflector will then returned to the starting position and di @ movement of the paper document at this time automatically maintains the appropriate dot spacing between the first and second rows of dots upright. The second and other rows of points are Five-by-seven matrices are formed in the same way.

After completing the seventh row of points, an actuation is made causes the paper document feed device to to separate the completed line of characters from the next line of characters to be printed. During this feed process the binary code groups of the next line are transferred to the Register moved and as soon as the register is loaded (either fully or to the desired extent) the operation for the next line of lines in the same way continued.

A perfect match or registration of the dot patterns in each row of dots is through the use of a match device ensures that the actuation of each solenoid only takes place at the exact printing position.

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possible and which continues to serve as a device for indexing the counter that shows the position of the deflection devices at any given point in time

The same technique as described above can be used for drawing a curve or a graph can be used, with only minor modifications to the electronics of the printer, as it still is is described in more detail,

According to the invention there is thus a novel high-speed impact printer of the dot matrix type in which printing characters in partly serial and partly parallel fashion for each line of characters and in serial line for - Line-wise for the formation of characters and / or symbols or for the representation of curves.

With this new high-speed impact printer the mass of the moving parts is considerably reduced and, moreover, the size of those carried out by the stop elements mechanical movement is considerably reduced compared to known techniques.

A print wire assembly is used in which the print wire actuation solenoids are stationary and in which the print wires are simultaneously deflected in the direction of each print position.

The invention is illustrated below with reference to in the drawing illustrated embodiments explained in more detail.

In the drawing show:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment a dot matrix impact printer;

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La is a perspective view of part of the embodiment of the printer after Pig. 1, which is shown in more detail,

Pig. Ib is an end view showing the registration devices the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 and la shows,

2 shows an illustration to explain the movement of the magnet coil carriage and the paper,

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of electronics for use in the execution ^ form of the print according to Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is an illustration of the manner in which characters are carried out the embodiment of the printer of Fig. 1 can be generated.

The printer according to the invention is an Ansehlagds-ueker, the Printing characters to create a five-by-sieve dot matrix any character used in the printer mode, or, alternatively, any of a variety of printing wires used when working in the curve-drawing mode. The printer, in a preferred embodiment, prints an array of 30-132 characters per line. Of the In one embodiment, the printer can print 80 characters per line, the paper width being between 20 and 22.5 cm changes. The printer uses an elongated paper document that is moved by a platen and creates about 6 character lines per 25 mm in the vertical direction and 10 characters per 25 mm in the horizontal direction. The printer needs no special paper and can produce one original and seven copies, with the seventh copy still very legible is.

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The characters are printed (in the preferred embodiment) by moving the paper document at a substantially constant speed across the platen, with the aid of a mechanical movement. The top row of dots (ie the first row of dots) of all characters is formed in the following way: The printer _9, which is supposed to be able to print 80 characters per line in the exemplary embodiment described, has 80 magnetic coils or solenoids which are attached at a small distance from one another . In the case where each line comprises 80 characters, the magnet coil wires are fixed in the movable deflector and are spaced about 2.5 mm apart from one another. When each! See "from 5 point positions (d _s h. 5 dot columns per character) is" the magnet coils are a maximum actuated six times per dot row and the movable deflector is gradually snsß via a path in the GrU & enordnuns of 2 ₈ 5 constant in wesenfeliehen speed moves j OTi j © d @ radio row of a line of characters to complete «, The Bafestigungsanordnwag is then returned to the starting position (ie the extreme left position), in which it is ready to print the next row of dots in the line of characters. Seven rows of dots are printed to form a line% * on, (up to 132) characters su _s where each character is defined by an associated Ftaf-by-'Seven dot matrix and the sixth dot position represents the distance between adjacent characters.

Each individual solenoid forms a single character in a way that strongly corresponds to the way in which an electron beam scans the screen of a cathode ray tube (i.e. line by line, such as in television receivers is used).

The exact distance between the dots in each row and thus the printing

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Point in time is initiated by the touch-up impulse, which is given by an optical pickup head cooperating with a stationary slotted Mylar strip that for each point position along the horizontal row of points a slot is provided. It is a slot spacing of the order of magnitude provided by a point size between characters.

The characters are printed by the print wires, which are driven by the solenoids to strike the print wires against the ink ribbon to create dots on the original copy. The solenoid coils are actuated by generating the scanning pulse derived from the optical pickup head. This pulse is on the order of 450 microseconds in duration with a rest (flyback) time of 550 microseconds. The characters are printed such that a row of dots of each of the characters is printed row by row in a drawing line. Seven rows of dots are printed, forming a five-by-seven dot matrix for each character printed in one line of characters. The distance between horizontal rows of dots is on the order of 0.015 inches, while the distance between oak rows is on the order of the distance between 5 horizontal rows of dots.

In a preferred embodiment, the movement of the paper document is constant _a , regardless of the fact that single line feeds or multiple line feeds are desired. A single motor arrangement is used as the source of all of the driving forces required in the printer, such as moving the platen or paper drive and moving the movable deflector. Suitable gears or other mechanical mechanisms are used to couple the output of the motor assembly to each of the moving

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facilities provided, It can be seen that the Ribbon through the same motor arrangement through suitable gear arrangements can be driven. The deflector is oriented horizontally and moves along a path which has a slight inclination with respect to the horizontal direction to the relative vertical movement of the printing wires to synchronize with the vertical movement of the paper, so that the print is a horizontally aligned straight line of dots it is established * During the return stroke, the relative downward movement of the solenoid mounting assembly with the continuous upward movement Moving the paper together to create the correct spacing between horizontal rows of dots.

The character match control is performed by a character match control unit, the mechanical features of which are described in more detail below and the one optical Can generate signal by the movement of an optical pick-up head and a light source interacting therewith against an intermediate Mylar code strip when the printer prints a row of dots. That The optical signal is converted into an electrical pulse to initiate the timing for printing each line and to increment the row counter which detects the dot position in each row of dots that is printed. The completion each row is also determined by a second counting device, so that there are devices to determine the particular series of points associated with any one Time is printed.

The Pig «1 and la are perspective views which are shown partially bent apart for the purpose of understanding the To facilitate Druekera, this printer 10 consists of an elongated mounting bracket Il, which is on the

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Machine frame F is attached to the magnetic coils 12 to fix this stationary. In a preferred embodiment, the front ends of each of the magnet coils are with Provided threaded parts 12 a, which are screwed into threaded openings 11 a in the mounting plate 11. Each of the solenoids is further provided with a thin pressure wire 13 which extends outwardly from the front end of each solenoid and the mechanically with the (for reasons of simplicity not shown) armature of the magnet coils is connected, this armature with the (also for reasons of simplification not shown) field coils of the magnet coils cooperates to generate the reciprocating * movement of the printing wires.

The German patents and

(German patent applications P 21 22 674.4 and P 22 29 010.4) show typical magnet coil arrangements that are of great advantage can be used in the embodiment of the printer described here. A detailed description of the Magnetic coil arrangements are used here for reasons of simplicity omitted and at this point it is expressly referred to the above-mentioned German patents for the description referenced these solenoid assemblies. To understand the embodiment of the printer is sufficient too know that the anchors and compression wires are normally biased so that the compression wires are spaced a small distance be held by the ribbon. The activation of the magnetic field coils causes a movement of the armature and thus the Print wires in the direction indicated by arrow 14, so that they impinge on the ribbon 15 and this against hit the paper document 16. Switching off the magnetic field coils causes the armature and thus the pressure wires

from
under the influence) (for reasons of simplification, not shown) spring elements come, which return the armature and the pressure wires to the non-extended or rest position.

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The paper document 16, which is preferably an elongated Piece of paper with an indefinite length is guided around a pressure roller 17 which rotates around a shaft 18 which is connected to the single drive motor M is coupled, which serves as an Antxiebsquelle for the entire mechanical © movement in the printer.

The ink ribbon 15 is wound on a Vorrate "and would take the coil 19 or 20, wherein said coils are selectively mechanically coupled to the single drive motor M _$ to the ink ribbon to move 15 i" to the direction shown by the arrow 21 »Me liolle" 22a to 22d SFAD feäervorgespaimt and serve "to UbA to obtain between the supply 'and pick-up coils 19 or * 20 extending ribbon under tension. A EiiiEsSialteii the Hagssetfeld coils causes _s that the" ugehörigea print wires against the? arbbaa <I 15 for Stop are brought, which in turn is pressed against the paper document 16, na cause the formation of points su. The entire IdBesrbewejpmg ämT Bmiclcdrlhte in the direction of the arrow 1A Ue ^ in äsT üwBMmoTummg, from 0.3 ? 5 s »<0» 015 In normal operation, the free end of each print wire is approximately 0.15 sec (0.006 nominal) from the ribbon and 4e® paper. This small distance can be used due to the fact that a A large part of the force is absorbed by the ribbon and the paper when it is hit.

The pressure wires extend through a first stationary fixed plate 23 which has a look! is provided with gemstone bearings 24 * the openings provided in the plate 23 are arranged, so that a bearing with an extremely low coefficient of sliding friction results for each of the pressures extending through these bearings. The gemstone bearings 2H _S, which are fastened in the plate 23, act as a contact point for controlling the bending or deflection of the pressure wires 13, which is to be explained in more detail

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Way,

The printer 10 also has sine bewegliehe baffle 25 having a plurality of openings to accommodate the ₅ gemstone mountings "The free ends d®r print wires 13 extend through a respective check © · sugehßsdgg a @ r Eä@I.3teinl&gerungen 26 _s, the extremely low ßieitfceibiang coefficients between you and the pressure wires result in ₀

As can be seen best ays Fig. 1ε _s has the baffle 25 two langgeatr @ ect @ V-shaped groove at 25a and 25b, the wad on opposite sides of the flat "near the bottom edge is this record? Än The two rails 27 and 28 are arranged parallel at a distance and are slightly inclined at a desired angle with respect to the longitudinal axis ITa of the printing roller 17, but the bearings 26 are aligned so that they form a small angle with ien Inclined rails 27 and 28 form the baffle 25 is arranged to slide between the rails 27 and 28. The rails 2? and 28 are each provided with V-shaped elongated grooves 2? a and 28a, respectively. A number of bearing rollers 29 iac in the grooves 27a and. 25b in the rail 27 ösw, plate 25 vs.

Sine rotating in the direction shown by the arrow 32 direetion shaft 31 is coupled to the single drive motor of the printer via suitable from V @ r © infachungsgründen not shown mechanical means to drive di © shaft 31 in the direction shown by the arrow 32 direetion _t A cam member 33 rigidly secured to the shaft 31 \ mu rotates therewith. This f / jlinä ^ ical Noskene! © .meist 33 has-einenSchiebe-! Rigidly attached soekenflansch 33a ₉ on the Noekenelement

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and the peripheral portion thereof is in sliding engagement with two spaced downward projections 25c and 25d provided on the underside of the baffle 25 to move the baffle in the forward (pressing) direction shown by arrow 3Ί and thereafter in the reverse or return direction reciprocate, which is shown by the arrow 35, wherein the forward and Rüefcwärtsbewegungen during one revolution of Verschiebungsnoekenelementes 33 take place.

The alignment or correspondence of the points with one another is achieved by means of a slotted Mylar strip 40 which is rigidly attached to the machine frame by means of suitable means. An arrangement 41 attached to the underside of the baffle plate 25 has two downwardly extending parts 42 and 43 which are used to attach a light-sensitive pick-up device 44 and a light source 45, as can best be seen in FIG. The correspondence strip 40 is provided with a plurality of narrow slits 40a which are spaced apart, the distance between these slits being exactly the same as the distance between adjacent dots printed in any row of dots. The preferred shape of the conformance strip is that the entire conformance strip is opaque to light and the narrow slots 40a are translucent so that the passage of light through these slots from the light source 45 is possible and this light is intercepted by the photosensitive element 44 to generate an output pulse which is used to enable the solenoids to be switched on only when the associated pressure wires are in alignment with one of the slots. This output pulse is also used to generate a pulse that keeps the counter going

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is used to determine the point position that has just been printed serves.

As mentioned above, the rails 27 and 27 are arranged with a very slight inclination with respect to the horizontal direction in order to ensure the printing of a row of dots, in which all points are aligned along an imaginary straight line, which is preferably parallel to the horizontal direction is. For example, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 60 represents a dot that is printed at time t. Direct thereafter, the free ends of the solenoid pressure wires are deflected to move to a position in which the Point 61 is printed. During this period point 60 has moved up to point 60 * due to the fact that the paper is continuously moving in the direction indicated by arrow A at a constant speed · Due to the inclination of rails 27 and 28, the free ends of the print wires will move along dashed line 64 to print point 62. During this Time moves the paper document upwards (arrow A), whereby the first point from the point 60 "to 60" and the second point is moved from the point oil to point 61 *. Through the diagonal movement of the free ends of the pressure wires all three points are caused to lie along a straight line (dashed line 63). It should be noted that the distance between the points in FIG. 2 has been increased by to facilitate an understanding of the operation, the typical distance between points being on the order of 0.45 mm (0.018 inches). It should also be noted that the inclination angle represented by the dashed line 24 has been enlarged for further understanding of the interaction of the baffle movement and the continuous paper movement to achieve a print of a row of dots along an imaginary straight line to facilitate the

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preferably runs parallel to the horizontal direction

The speed of movement of the pressure roller 17 and thus the Paper document 16 is also chosen so that during the Time that the movable baffle 25 for the movement of the rightmost position to the leftmost position (during a reverse process) requires the paper document 16 see has moved over a path equal to half the distance between adjacent rows of points that have a Make characters. Contributing to this is the fact that during, the movable deflector plate 25 during the pressing Moves up and to the right, it moves downwards and to the left during the carriage return. In one embodiment, the paper moves during printing over a path that is equal to the radius of the point, so that during the carriage return movement of both the paper and the carriage over a radius each results in a combined movement of one diameter of a point.

While the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1, the use of a Sohiebenockens to achieve the desired pressure and return movement of the print wire baffle 25 shows, it is understood that any other suitable means may be used, such as the Nookenelement 27 _s in Fig. Ib of the German patent specification .. ···· * · ... ·· (German patent application P 22 58 247.4) or alternatively a toothed belt device can be used, depending on the requirements of the user.

The stationary plate 23, which has the gemstone bearings 24, acts as a bending point for each of the pressure wires 13 » control the bend of each print wire, that of each print wire

./e

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is exposed when the baffle 25 reaches the free ends of the Print wires moved simultaneously during the line printing process.

Figure 4 shows the dot patterns for some typical characters that can be printed by the embodiment of the printer, the point spacing in FIG. 4 being enlarged to facilitate understanding of this figure. The solid circles indicate points to be printed. In any case, the order of pressing is as follows: point row 1, point positions 1 * 2,3,4,5 (for each print wire) until dot row 1 is completed; Point row 2, point positions 1,2,3 * 4,5 to row 2 is completed; and so on until all seven rows of dots have been completed so that one character digit is completed. Appropriate selection of points in each five-by-seven matrix (containing 35 different dot positions) allows any desired character to be printed, typical examples of these characters in Fig. 4 are shown.

3 shows a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the electronics 70 for actuating the printer mechanism according to FIG. 1. The electronics 70 according to FIG. 6 consists of one Data input device 71 * which, for example, can be an external source, such as a computer, of the data in the form of Can output input information to the printer. The data can be in the form of a six-bit binary code ranging up to can represent up to 64 different characters, numbers or other symbols. The output lines of the data input blank are connected to the input of a three-phase clock control unit 74 and a counter 75 and to the input of the register 76 tied together. The zero refill hold 72 provides the opportunity a "padding" of the register with spaces in the case in which a print line is less than the total number of characters

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that the printer can print per line.

The print cycle circuit 73 comprises, for example, an alternate bare and resettable flip-flop to indicate the initiation of a print cycle, indicating that a search for the next group of points to print should be performed during this print cycle. The solenoids, such as solenoids 12 of Fig. 1, are used actuated by a pulse that has a duration on the order of 450 microseconds. The rest period between adjacent solenoid control pulses lies in the Of the order of 550 microseconds and during this time interval the search for the next group of points is carried out carried out so that the printer is ready for the next dot printing process, as can be better seen from the description of the operation of the electronics according to FIG becomes 0

The clock pulse source 7k, the input of which is connected to the outputs of each of the electronic circuits shown as blocks 71-73, is a clock pulse source which can generate two trailing clock pulses for actuating the data register 76. A two-phase clock pulse source suitable for this purpose can be formed, for example, by a clock pulse source and a monostable multivibrator, which is triggered by the clock pulse source in order to generate a first output from the clock pulse source and a second output (lagging the first output) from the monostable multivibrator. However, any other type of clock pulse source and register may be used, it being understood that register 76 in the described embodiment is of the type which uses two temporally separated clock pulses to shift it.

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The outputs of each of the circuits 71-73 are simultaneously connected to the input of the counter 75 which generates a pulse at its output 75b for every 5 pulses supplied to its input 75a. The output of the counter 75 is fed to the input of the counter 76 and a timing pulse decoder 77 at the same time. The counter 76 generates a pulse at its output for each group of 8 pulses applied to its input 76a. The outputs of all stages of the counter 76 are also fed to an input of the timing pulse decoding circuit 77 at the same time. The timing pulse decoder 77 consists of a counter and logic decoding circuits for generating an output signal at only one of its 80 outputs 77a at any given time. Each of the output lines is connected to associated input lines of an 80-bit buffer register 83 which operates in a manner to be explained in more detail.

The counters 75 and 76 together form one to 80 counting Counter, i.e. this composite counter, generates an output pulse at 76b for every 80 supplied to input 75a Impulses. The function of this counting process is described below described in more detail.

The output line 76b of the counter 76 is connected to the input line 78a of a counter 78. The output 78b of the Counter 78 is connected to the input 80a of a counter 80 dividing by 10, the output 80b of which is connected to the input 8la a second counter 81 dividing by 10 is connected, the output 8Ib of which is in turn connected to the input 84a of a multiplexer circuit 84 is connected.

The counter 78 dividing by 6 is furthermore provided with a number of outputs 78e v © n of each of its stages, wherein these outputs each with the associated inputs of a column

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Decoder 79 nit 5 output lines 79a are connected, the with associated input lines of a character generator 85 are connected, which will be described below.

The data register 82 can store 80 characters _s where each character consists of 6 bits. The outputs of the data register 82 (6 binary bits) are connected to 6 associated inputs 85a of the character generator 85 and at the same time to associated input lines 82c of the data register 82 via the feedback loop 82b. The view pulse input 82d of the data register 82 is connected to the output 74b of the clock pulse source 74, while the data input lines 82a are connected to the data input 71 or any other suitable external source which provides the input data for the printer operation. In the block diagram of the system shown, data can initially be supplied in serial format, with all 6 bits being converted in parallel format in a suitable serial-parallel converter if this is desired. The operation of the electronic circuit according to Fig. 3 is as follows:

It should first be assumed that the data register 82 has been filled with 80 characters, which means that each character position to receive a leiehen ₉ is a © number or other symbol in a row of 80 characters "When this is done, the first character (with 6 data bits) which was introduced into the register 82 has been shifted by 80 places from the extreme left stage of the register 82 to the extreme right stage © of the register, so that the state of its data code appears at the 6 outputs of the register 82 at its right end . At this point in time, the data input unit 71 delivers a shift pulse which is fed to the input of the counter 75, which is divided by 10, and at the same time to the clock pulse source 74. The outputs of the counters 75, 76, 78, 80 and 81 have

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at this time all a binary © zero on «The 6 data bits in the rightmost stage of the register 82 are fed to the input of the character generator 85 at the same time. To this Time the column decoder 79 provides an output pulse on the leftmost output line, so that the Character generator provides a 7-bit output that represents the seven Represents point positions in the first column of the first character to be printed in the character line (see e.g. Fig. 4, in which the points of column 1 appear at the seven starting positions 85c of the character generator 85). These seven bits are simultaneously supplied to associated inputs 84b of the multiplexer circuit 84.

The row counter 81 has 4 output lines 8Ib, the with associated input lines 84a of the multiplexer circuit 84 are connected, the binary code of those lines being printed out at any given time Series represents. As can be seen from Figure 4, printing seven rows represents printing one row of characters or other symbols. Initially, the row counter is set to zero, which is indicated by the multiplexer circuit 85 as Indicates that the point in the special column of points to be printed for point row 1 is evaluated Point position is to be selected * The multiplexer circuit 84 works as a decoder, with only one of the seven input lines 84b connected to the output line 84c connected to any given point in time. The logic state of the bit in column 1, row 1, of the first Character is fed to the input of the 80-bit buffer register 83, which consists of 80 bistable flip-flop circuits, each with a binary bit regardless of its binary state can save. The correlation between the 80's memory flip-flops and the 80 solenoid coils provided in the described embodiment of the printer is closed

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recognize, whereby in this embodiment 80 characters can be printed per line. It can be seen that any other line length can be used and there were in practice embodiments _s designed which were used up to 132 characters per line. In such embodiments it will be apparent that a buffer register 83 is used which has 132 stages, the remaining circuitry also being modified accordingly.

The output of the timing pulse decoder 77 consists of 80 output lines, only one of which to any one Time is released. The mode of operation is such that the first or leftmost output line during the At the beginning of the first line of characters to be printed is enabled to indicate that a dot position (i.e. in the first Row of dots and the first column) of the first character in the bistable flip-flop circuitj assigned to this position is stored.

The next pulse from the clock pulse source Ik shifts all of the characters encoded and stored in the register 82 by one position to the right. The coded character stored in the rightmost position circulates through the return path 82b so that it is shifted to the first position or the leftmost stage of the register 82 again.

The second character consisting of a 6-bit code is fed to the associated inputs 85 a of the character generator 85. Simultaneously with this, the column decoder 79 remains in the zero count state because data from the first dot column of the remaining 79 characters must also be entered into the buffer register 83 and then printed. The output code generated by the column decoder 79 therefore represents the fact that the first column (i.e. column 1 - see Fig. H)

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of the second character must appear on the output lines 85c of the character generator 85. These 7 exits that the Represent the state of the bits in column 1 of the second character, the inputs 84b of the multiplexer * Circuit 84 supplied. The row counter 81 remains in the zero count state at this point in time, which indicates that that the point in row 1, column 1 (for the second character) must be selected. Veil the timing pulse decoder has received only one output pulse from the divide-by-10 counter 75, the output signals of the decoder 77 appearing at 77a only enable the second flip-flop register so that it can receive a bit that denotes the Point state (i.e. a point or no point) of the first column represents in row 1 of the second character.

This process continues until a dot state in dot row 1, column 1 of all 80 characters in the 80 levels of the Buffer register 83 has been entered. The outputs at each of the 80 flip-flop stages of register 83 are connected to magnet coil driver circuits, which in turn are connected to associated Outputs of the solenoid coils (12 according to FIG. 1) are connected. The printer carriage moves and moves at this time to the first position, in which the photocell and the light source are in line with or coincide with the first Slit or the first opening in the conformance strip 40 are brought. It should be noted that the light source 45 and the photocell 44 are preferably aligned with any of the gem bearings 26 provided in the baffle 25. When the correspondence between one of the correspondence slots and the light source 45 and the photocell 44 occurs, the photosensitive pickup 44 generates a pulse based on the match condition to activate a gating circuit 86 which provides a sharp output pulse generated, which is sufficient to the outputs of the buffer register

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sum enable the solenoid driver to switch on. Be it notes that the 80 dot position states of the characters noted above (1 through 80) are all entered in less than 500 microseconds. Because the movable baffle a time on the order of 550 microseconds to the Deflecting the print wires from a coincident position needed for the next, it can be seen that the process of entering the 80 bits takes place well before the time in which these 80 bits control the associated solenoid driver.

After the end of 80 sliding "operations are the characters in their original position with the first character in the rightmost stage and said the last to be entered in aas tab character in the leftmost stage," repeats at this time the process is inherent, with the exception that the column decoder will now receive an output from the divide-by-6 counter 78 due to the fact that the divide-by-8 counter 7β has generated a pulse at its output 76b to indicate that 80 pushes have taken place. At this point the column decoder 79 receives this pulse and causes its next output line to be activated, thereby causing the character generator 85 to provide a 7-bit output representing the dot states of the second column for the first © character. The counters 80 and 81 would still have to be triggered and have the effect that the output of the row counter 81 continues to preset the multiplexer circuit 84 so that it receives the binary state which represents the point state in the point row 1, column 2, of the first character (see Fig. 4). This binary bit is separated out and appears at the output 84c of the multiplexing circuit 84. The Zeitsteuerimpul8decodier @ r 77 generates an output in which only

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its leftmost line is active, the bit appearing at the output of the multiplexer circuit 84 in the stage of the buffer register 82 representing the first character. This process continues until the binary bits which the funct states of the point positions in point row 1, Column 2, representing 80 characters, have now been entered into the buffer register 83. Again, it should be noted that this process takes less than 500 microseconds, so this In practice, bits are "waiting" for the deflector assembly to move to the next coincident position.

The process described above is continued until all points in point row 1, column 2, for which 80 characters have been printed. The process described above continues until all 5 column positions in the first row of dots for the 80 characters have been printed.

The divide by 5 counter 78 counts the number of columns that have been printed. The ability to count 5 columns is despite the fact that there is space between the end of each character and the beginning of the next character because there is no need for the Move print wire deflectors over 6 dot positions. Alternatively, however, it is possible to adjust the printing wire deflectors 25 over 6 positions in the cases in which it is desired to print or draw curves.

Because each solenoid in the preferred embodiment is designed to print 10 characters (with the possibility of printing 80 characters per line with 80 solenoid coils results) the output * s counter switches after the end of the first row of points, the row counter 81 continues so that it presets the multiplexer circuit 84 so that

309846/0904 ■ '■■ "' *

that the data bits representing the function positions of point row 2 for the first row of 80 rows are selected. Because the counter, dividing by 5, has been reset by 78 nmh d®m the entire first point i ^ ih © © ia @ ^ line -wan 80 £ ®i © hen, causes ö © r gap © iaß® © ö € i @ r @s? 79 again that the ⁵ character generator 85 s © is prefixed, that it supplies output information to 8® £ ώ © ώ output lines 85e, which represented the point® _Λ the column of any Ε®ί © Ιϊ @ ηβ in dsi ^{3 © rsfcesü} printed w®rä © fi g @ llesi ₉ d ^ s on his input lines 85a. fed

The cycle is then for dl® sweifce to s ^ te H @ i! I® in the first Eeich © ns @ il © refe ©! ^, Vebei sw this time purikt a Jknasgang τ © ώ the row counter Si ^ erfaaet is _s um anssuseiger «that © ine Seiehenseil © naeSu the BFm © k®n of the seventh series was completed ₉ at © ioen JUssg & ngsiisgralg su erseugen, the tin® accelera- tion causes the B © if @ gimg d @ ® Fapi @ rd © kuffientes , ism an auei ^ iclieisfei ÄbsfeeM between the just printed Eeiciieng © ii @ and the sslefesten g * i driiclt®üden drawing ropes to create «Di @ s @ r AfaBtmn ll @ gb wise in de ^ @ r @ Benordnung vea 5 Fimkt ^ sitieis The stroke can be controlled by the mechanical process control as described in the German patent ..... _β « _β , β _β Ι _β ^ C ^ @ ^ ss @ h @ Fat @ ntanmeldung P 23.17 ^ 93« 8) of gl @ i @! i @ is Änm @ lde? £ n. is described.

The character generator 85 kanu pit ® ± m®i? Magsjefeliera · "or Feetkörper-Speiehervorlhtung v @ ^ glie! I © ii w © rö © a _s ole a first SatE of inputs S5a uM @ £ si © si sw® £ t © ra Sats from Singlssi @ n 85b, which see an ^ ® ^ g © g within the character generation ©? ® '' sehneiSe

<ä £ @ oil ©

any

309848/0

can select different characters, numbers or other symbols. The special column in the five-by-seven matrix of the selected character is on the output lines 85c output, depending on which of the Column inputs is activated. A suitable character generator that can be used for this purpose is the Character generator with the type designation TMS 4103 from Texas Instruments Co. It can be seen that any other character generator, depending on the requirements of the User can be used.

The drawing of curves is carried out by the Register 82 is converted to an 80-bit register for storing only one binary bit per stage, the Dot positions in each stage represent the dots to be printed. In this case, the use of the character generator and the multiplexer circuit is not necessary and that Register 82 can operate in the same manner as buffer register 85 to selectively print the dots in each row of dots.

It can be seen from the foregoing description that there is provided a printer which prints characters in accordance with the present invention or draw a curve, printing a long series of dots as the print wires move is reduced to a value on the order of l / n of the entire length of the printing line, where η represents the number of printing wires provided for each row of dots. The size of the mass produced during the printing process is set in motion is also considerably reduced as compared with conventional printer devices because the solenoids that actuate the print wires are stationary are attached and only the free ends of the print wires are deflected to perform the printing process.

Patent claims:

. - I .1 »...... ι ι.» I 111.11 I «/»

309846/0904

Claims (8)

2321670 Claims f l.JHigh-speed push button for the formation of ^ - "Dot patternη on a moving document, characterized by a deflection arrangement which is movable in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the paper document (1 (5)) (25) »a number of stop elements (12), each are stationary in the vicinity of the deflector assembly (25) and each have a reciprocating wire (13) and means for pressing the printing wire (13) against the paper document (16) at high speed include, wherein the free ends of the printing wires (13), which can abut against the document, in openings are arranged, which are provided with mutual spacing in the deflection arrangement (25), and means (70) for selectively energizing the stop means (12) during movement of the deflector assembly (25) in the printing direction for successive rows of dots print, the distance traveled by the deflector assembly (25) in printing a cell of dots being equal to 1 / N the Total length of the line, where N is the number of anchors (12) and where a selected number of rows cooperate to form a composite dot pattern. 2. High-speed printer according to claim 1, characterized in that the free ends of the printing wires (13) are evenly spaced and that each printing wire (13) l / N the total number of points per 3 0 9 8 A 6/0904 Row can print. 3. high-speed printer according to claim 1, characterized by means (17 / M) for continuous movement of the paper document (16), means (33) for movement the deflector assembly (25) and means (27 * 28) for guiding the deflector assembly (25) along an inclined Path such that each row of dots lies along a straight line regardless of the fact that the paper document (16) moves during the pressing of each row of dots. H, high-speed printer according to claim 1, characterized by means for generating a variety of character signal groups, each comprising a plurality of series of signals which together represent a character, and means for successively coupling the series of signals to associated connection devices (12). for printing a variety of characters 5 · High speed printer according to claim 1, characterized by means (31, 33) coupled to the movement means for moving the slide arrangement. 6. High speed printer according to any of the preceding Claims for printing characters in dot matrix form with M rows and N columns of dots to represent each Sign or symbol, which is a movable element, a A large number of rigidly attached magnetic coils arranged in the vicinity of the movable element, a piece of paper « document and facilities for moving the paper document it simultaneously with the movement of the moving one Element and a control device comprises, each of the solenoids including a print wire, the 3098A6 / 0904 free end is fastened in an associated opening in the movable element, characterized in that the control devices register units (82) with a plurality of stages for storing the binary-coded representation of characters to be printed on a line of the paper document (16), devices (7 ¹ O for shifting the characters out of the register units (82), the register units (.82) furthermore including devices (82b) for the circulation and return of characters which from the output stage into the input stage of the register units (82) when a Shift pulse, first devices (75 »76) for counting the number of shift pulses supplied to the register unit (82) for identifying the character in the output stage of the register unit (82), second devices (78,79) for identifying the column of points, which is printed by the printer arrangement, third means for identifying the from each magnetic coil le (12) printed character, fourth means (8l) for identifying the row of characters that is being printed, means (79) coupled to the second means for determining the column that is printed, a character generator unit (85), which is connected to the output stage of the register unit (82) and the column determining means (78,79) is coupled to provide an output representing the dots in the M-th column of the character stored at the time in the output stage of the register unit (82) represents, with the character generator unit (85) and the fourth means (8l) coupled means (84) for selecting only the points of the row position which are determined by the fourth means (8l), buffer storage means (83) with a plurality of storage positions, their 309846/0904 Looked! is equal to the number of solenoids (12) that are coupled to the point selection devices and the first devices for storing the output of the point selection devices in the memory position, which is assigned to the magnetic coil which is assigned to the stored point to be printed, and comprise matching devices (40,44,45) which control the movement of the movable element (25) in order to generate Measure pulses that control the point in time at which the solenoids (12) are actuated simultaneously, with each solenoid is coupled to an associated one of the storage positions of the buffer storage devices (83) and wherein the buffer storage means (83) are enabled by the matching means (40,44,45) to selectively actuate the plurality of solenoids after the buffer storage devices (83) are loaded. 7. high speed printer according to claim 6, characterized by means of generating a code which identifies the last character to be entered in the register, and means for replenishing responsive to the first counting means and the code generator means the remaining part of the register unit (82) with space data until the register positions are complete are filled. 8. High-speed printer according to claim 6, characterized by devices coupled to the second devices for achieving a shift of ^ ₀ / S _r characters in the register whom * the points in the first row of the first group * have been printed by dikes, where * . K the total sa & l v © s Zeiels @ si in eiiies ⁵ toes © i2 & S High-speed printer according to claim 6, characterized in that T is the maximum number of characters per line _$ S _{n is} the number of megnet coils (12) and the number of stages in the buffer register (83) that the first counting device (75 * 76) is up to Count of T, that the second counters (78) can count up to the count of T (N + 1) and that the third counters count directions (81) up to the count of T (N4i) x -g— « η · can. OSi40 / 0904 3S Blank page