JP2000033726A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of improving printing speed and reducing power consumption. SOLUTION: A heating resistor is so constituted that dimensions in a main scanning direction and in a sub-scanning direction of a static dot printed by a thermal head are the same or the dimension in the sub-scanning direction is smaller than that in the main scanning direction. An image is formed by repeating alternately printing and non-printing such that the printing of (n) line is executed and the printing of (n+1) line is not executed, thereby obtaining a printer capable of printing a high quality image in high speed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for improving printing speed and reducing power consumption.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a printing apparatus which forms an image such as a character or a figure on a recording sheet by using a thermal line head having a plurality of heating resistors arranged in a main scanning direction. Particularly, the heating resistor is configured such that the static dot shape printed by the thermal line head is the same in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, or is shorter in the sub-scanning direction than in the main scanning direction. As shown, there is known a printing apparatus in which the same print data as the first time is printed a plurality of times in this example, thereby forming one dot by printing twice to improve the printing efficiency.

In recent years, trends in the performance of printing apparatuses have been increasing printing speed and reducing power consumption. Therefore, in order to increase the printing speed, the energizing time of the heating resistor is shortened by reducing the applied pulse width of the thermal line head, thereby shortening the printing cycle and improving the speed.
In order to reduce power consumption, the number of heating resistors printed at one time by the thermal line head is reduced to reduce the current consumed at a time, thereby reducing power consumption.

[0004]

However, if the printing is performed twice with the applied pulse width of the thermal line head kept short as shown in FIG. 17 in order to realize the above-mentioned conventional high printing speed, the following equation (Equation 1) is obtained. As shown in FIG. 18, the applied energy E of the thermal line head decreases, and as shown in FIG.
As a result, the print density was reduced.

There is no problem if the applied energy stabilizes the print density as shown in FIG. 19, but if the applied energy is in the unstable region, the decrease in the print density in this case simply means that the print is light. Not only the problem but also the printed matter fades due to aging and becomes unreadable.

[0006]

(Equation 1)

In order to reduce the applied pulse width without decreasing the applied energy E in order to prevent the print density from decreasing, it is necessary to increase the applied power P. this is,
This leads to an increase in power supply capacity, that is, an increase in power supply cost,
There has been a problem such as going back to low power consumption which is one of the recent trends in the performance of printing apparatuses.

On the other hand, a method of reducing the number of heating resistors printed at a time by a thermal line head at a time and reducing the current consumed at a time to reduce power consumption is to reduce the heating resistor actually printed in one line. Dividing is performed by dividing the total number of bodies by the number of heating resistors that can be printed at one time.

If the number of heating resistors that can be printed at one time is 128 dots, the number of heating resistors can be reduced to 64 in order to reduce power consumption.
Assuming that the number of heating resistors to be printed in this line is 384 dots, the number of divisions when the number of heating resistors that can be printed at one time is 128 dots is 3, and the number of divisions when the number of heating resistors is 64 dots is 64 dots. It becomes 6. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 20, reducing the number of heating resistors to be printed at once reduces the number of divisions and increases the printing cycle. Therefore, the printing speed is reduced.

The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of improving printing speed and reducing power consumption.

[0011]

In order to solve this problem, a printing apparatus according to the present invention is arranged so that the printed static dot shape is the same in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, or that the printed static dot shape is smaller in the sub-scanning direction than the main scanning direction. A printing apparatus for forming one dot by printing a plurality of times by using a thermal line head in which a heating resistor is configured so as to be shorter, wherein a recording paper is pressed against the thermal line head and the recording paper is pressed in the sub-scanning direction. Paper feed means for moving; print data generating means for generating print data; and print control means for energizing the heating resistor based on the print data.
An image is formed by alternately repeating the presence / absence of printing such that printing is not performed on the +1 line. According to the present invention, a printing apparatus capable of improving printing speed and reducing power consumption can be obtained.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the printed static dot shape is the same in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, or is shorter in the sub-scanning direction than in the main scanning direction. What is claimed is: 1. A printing apparatus for forming one dot by printing a plurality of times by using a thermal line head in which a heating resistor is formed, wherein a recording sheet is pressed against the thermal line head and moved in a sub-scanning direction. Means, print data generating means for generating print data, and print control means for energizing the heating resistor based on the print data, wherein n lines are printed and the next n + 1 lines are not printed. A printing apparatus characterized in that an image is formed by alternately repeating the presence or absence of a character, and the power consumption for printing is reduced without substantially deteriorating the quality of characters. It has the effect that the door can be.

The invention according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the energizing time of the heating resistor in the n-line is at least the time during which the applied energy for stabilizing the applied concentration of the thermal line head is applied. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing is not performed on the (n + 1) th line even if the energization time of the heating resistor on the (n) th line is lengthened, so that the total printing cycle of the (n) and (n + 1) th lines is short, and the printing speed is improved. In addition, printing on the n-th line has an effect that the applied energy becomes a stable region shown in FIG. 19 and the printing density becomes stable because the energizing time of the heating resistor is extended.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the printed static dot shape is the same in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction.
Alternatively, there is provided a printing apparatus for forming one dot by printing a plurality of times by using a thermal line head having a heating resistor configured to be shorter in a sub-scanning direction than in a main scanning direction, wherein the recording paper is formed by the thermal line. A paper feeding unit that presses against the head and moves in the sub-scanning direction; a print data generation unit that generates print data; and a print control unit that energizes the heating resistor based on the print data. The printing device is characterized in that the printing is performed and the next line is not printed, so that the presence or absence of printing is repeated for each of a plurality of lines to form an image, and the character quality is hardly impaired This has the effect that power consumption for printing can be reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the printed static dot shape is the same in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction.
Alternatively, there is provided a printing apparatus for forming one dot by printing a plurality of times by using a thermal line head having a heating resistor configured to be shorter in a sub-scanning direction than in a main scanning direction, wherein the recording paper is formed by the thermal line. Mxn dots comprising a paper feeding means for pressing and moving the head in the sub-scanning direction, a print data generating means for generating print data, and a print control means for energizing a heating resistor based on the print data. Is a printing apparatus characterized in that a predetermined area in one line is printed with only odd-numbered lines or only even-numbered lines, without lowering the printing speed and almost deteriorating the quality of characters. Without reducing power consumption for printing.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the characters in one line are printed on odd-numbered lines, those on even-numbered lines, and those printed on a character-by-character basis or on a plurality of consecutive characters basis. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, when the number of printing digits per line is 24, 12 digits are printed on odd lines and the remaining 12 digits are printed on even lines. In this case, half the number of printing digits is better when printing is performed separately for odd and even lines than when 24 digits are printed simultaneously. Therefore, there is an effect that the current consumed for printing characters, that is, the power consumption can be reduced without lowering the printing speed.

In the invention according to claim 6 of the present invention, the predetermined number of dots in one line is printed separately for each unit of the predetermined number of dots, the one printed on odd lines and the one printed on even lines. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, when the total number of heating resistors in one line is 384 dots, 192 dots are printed on odd lines and 192 dots are printed on even lines. Then 384
Compared to the case of printing dots at the same time, half the number of dots is better to print separately for odd and even lines. Therefore, there is an effect that the current consumed for printing characters, that is, the power consumption can be reduced without lowering the printing speed. This content is particularly effective for graphic printing of figures and the like.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, wherein an image in one line is printed as an image thinned out in a staggered manner. In addition, since the images are thinned out in a zigzag pattern, printing can be performed with half the current as compared with the images that have not been thinned out, and the power consumption can be reduced.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. Liner for printing paper and graphics, 3 is a platen roller for pressing and contacting the thermal line head 2 to convey the recording paper, 4 is a stepping motor for rotating the platen roller 3, 5 is a platen motor for rotating the stepping motor 4. This is a paper feed gear that transmits to the roller 3.

The thermal line head 2 has a plurality of heating resistors in the main scanning direction in which the printed static dot shape is the same in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, or in the main scanning direction. They are arranged so as to form one dot by printing a plurality of times.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a printing operation in the embodiment, FIG. 3 is a timing chart of one-time printing in the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a printing in the case of thinning out each line in the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram, and FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of printing when one line is thinned out to four lines in the embodiment, and FIG. 6 is an actual print result content in the embodiment.

The operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

First, the current print data is created by print data generating means (not shown) and transferred to the thermal line head 2. Here, the normal print data in FIG. Next, the stepping motor 4 is driven by the paper feeding means (not shown), and the recording paper 1 is moved by one line, here the nth line, via the paper feeding gear 5 and the platen roller 3. ), The heating resistor of the thermal line head is energized once. The energization time (head applied pulse width) here is a long time as shown in FIG. 3, and applies the applied energy in the print density stable region shown in FIG. 19 to the thermal line head.

Next, the stepping motor 4 is driven by the paper feeding means to move the recording paper 1 to the (n + 1) th line. At this time, the second printing is not performed as in the related art. N +
Printing is alternately performed so that printing is performed on two lines and printing is not performed on the (n + 3) th line.

Therefore, conceptually, printing is thinned out for each line as shown in FIG. As a result of actual printing, as shown in FIG. 6, when the printing speed is low, the gap in the sub-scanning direction thinned out for each line becomes large. Is so small that the gap cannot be recognized by the naked eye. This is because the gap is hidden by the tailing phenomenon that occurs when the printing speed increases.

The printing apparatus obtained as described above usually increases the printing speed by forming one dot by printing once using a thermal line head that prints twice and forms one dot. In this case, the print quality can be improved and the printing speed can be improved without lowering the print density and causing fading in the two-time printing, which are problems.

In the above description, one-time printing is performed using a thermal line head that forms one dot by printing twice.
The same effect can be obtained by forming one dot by using a thermal line head that forms one dot by printing three or four times, that is, a plurality of times, that is, forming one dot. . In the above description, thinning is performed for each line. However, as shown in FIG. 5, thinning is performed once for several lines or several times for several lines such as once for four lines. It is possible to improve the printing speed.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, which has the same contents as those of the first embodiment, and will not be described here. Omitted. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a printing operation according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a printing conceptual diagram in the case where printing is performed separately for each character into odd lines and even lines according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram of printing in the case where printing is performed separately for odd characters and even lines for every several characters in the embodiment, and FIG. 10 is an image diagram showing an effect in the embodiment.

The operation of the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

First, the current print data is created by a print data generating means (not shown) and transferred to the thermal line head 2. Here, the method of developing the data in the development buffer differs depending on whether the number of digits to be printed this time is odd or even. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, if the data is odd-numbered, the data is expanded into an odd-numbered line expansion buffer. If the number is even-numbered, the data is expanded into an even-numbered line expansion buffer. Transfer data to the thermal line head.

Next, the stepping motor 4 is driven by the paper feeding means (not shown) to move the recording paper 1 by one line, here the nth line, via the paper feeding gear 5 and the platen roller 3, and the printing control means (Not shown) to energize the heating resistor of the thermal line head.

Next, the print data of the even-numbered lines is transferred to the thermal line head, and the stepping motor 4 is driven by the paper feeding means to move the recording paper 1 to the (n + 1) -th line.
The heating resistor of the thermal line head is energized by the printing control means. Thereafter, the above operation is repeated until printing of one line is completed.

In the printing apparatus obtained as described above, the lines to be printed for each character are divided into odd and even lines as shown in FIG. Also, as shown in FIG. 10, when printing is not performed separately for odd and even lines for each character, a heating resistor of 14 dots simultaneously consumes current, and for each character, an odd,
When printing is performed separately on even lines, the heating resistor of 7 dots consumes current at the same time.
By printing separately on even lines, printing can be performed with half the current consumption. Therefore, an effect is obtained that the current consumed for printing characters, that is, the power consumption can be reduced without lowering the printing speed.

In the above description, print data is developed for odd and even lines for each character. However, similar effects can be obtained by developing print data for a plurality of characters as shown in FIG. Similar effects can be obtained even if the odd and even numbers described above are reversed. Further, although the description has been made such that the operation is shifted to the printing operation after the development of the print data for one line is completed, the printing operation may be performed while developing the print data.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a printing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and has the same contents as those of the first embodiment. Omitted. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a printing operation according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 shows a case where half of the total number of heating resistors according to the third embodiment are printed separately for odd lines and even lines. FIG. 13 is a printing conceptual diagram in the case where printing is performed separately for odd lines and even lines for each quarter dot of the total number of heating resistors in the embodiment.

The operation of the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 11, 12, and 13.

First, the current print data is created by print data generating means (not shown) and transferred to the thermal line head 2. Here, the method of developing the data in the development buffer differs depending on whether the data to be printed this time is left or right of 192 dots. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 12, if it is to the left of 192 dots, it is developed in the development buffer of the odd-numbered line.
If it is to the right of 92 dots, it is developed in an even-numbered line developing buffer, and when one block has been developed, the odd-numbered line print data is first transferred to the thermal line head.

Next, the stepping motor 4 is driven by the paper feeding means (not shown) to move the recording paper 1 by one line, here the nth line, via the paper feeding gear 5 and the platen roller 3, and the printing control means (Not shown) energizes the heating resistor of the thermal line head.

Next, the print data of the even-numbered lines is transferred to the thermal line head, and the stepping motor 4 is driven by the paper feeding means to move the recording paper 1 to the (n + 1) -th line.
The heating resistor of the thermal line head is energized by the printing control means. Thereafter, the above operation is repeated until printing of one block is completed.

In the printing apparatus obtained as described above, the lines to be printed on the left half and the right half are divided into odd and even lines as shown in FIG. Compared to printing without separating into odd and even numbers, printing by separating into odd and even lines on the left and right halves enables printing with half the current consumption. Therefore, an effect is obtained that the current consumed for printing figures and the like, that is, the power consumption can be reduced without lowering the printing speed.

In the above description, the print data is developed on odd and even lines with a boundary of 192 dots, which is half of the total number of heating resistors, but as shown in FIG. The same effect can be obtained even if print data is expanded to odd and even lines with a boundary of several dots, such as 96 dots. Similar effects can be obtained even if the odd and even numbers described above are reversed. Further, although the description has been made such that the operation is shifted to the printing operation after the development of the print data for one line is completed, the printing operation may be performed while developing the print data.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a printing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, which has the same contents as in the first embodiment, and will not be described here. Omitted. FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a printing operation according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 15 is a conceptual diagram of printing characters that are thinned out in a staggered manner in the fourth embodiment.

The operation of the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 14 and 15.

First, the current print data is created by print data generating means (not shown) and transferred to the thermal line head 2. Here, the method of developing the data in the development buffer differs depending on whether the data to be printed this time is odd-numbered dots or even-numbered dots. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 15, if the dots are odd-numbered dots, they are developed into odd-numbered line developing buffers. If the dots are even-numbered dots, they are developed into even-numbered line developing buffers. Is transferred to the thermal line head.

Next, the stepping motor 4 is driven by the paper feed means (not shown), and the recording paper 1 is moved by one line, here the nth line, via the paper feed gear 5 and the platen roller 3, and the print control means (Not shown) energizes the heating resistor of the thermal line head.

Next, the print data of the even-numbered lines is transferred to the thermal line head, and the stepping motor 4 is driven by the paper feeding means to move the recording paper 1 to the (n + 1) th line.
The heating resistor of the thermal line head is energized by the printing control means. Thereafter, the above operation is repeated until printing of one line is completed.

Since the printing apparatus obtained as described above prints characters that are thinned out in a zigzag pattern as shown in FIG. 15, printing can be performed with half the current consumption compared to characters that are not thinned out. . Therefore, an effect is obtained that the current consumed for printing characters, that is, the power consumption can be reduced without lowering the printing speed. This content is particularly effective in terms of print quality as the number of dots in one character increases.

In the above description, characters are thinned out in a zigzag manner in the print data development process. However, similar effects can be obtained by using characters that have been thinned out in a zigzag in advance.
Similar effects can be obtained even if the odd and even numbers described above are reversed. Further, although the description has been made such that the operation is shifted to the printing operation after the development of the print data for one line is completed, the printing operation may be performed while developing the print data.

[0049]

As described above, according to the printing apparatus of the present invention, one dot is formed by one printing using a thermal line head that forms one dot by printing twice, for example. The print quality can be improved and the printing speed can be improved without lowering the print density in two-time printing and causing fading, which are problems when speeding up is attempted.
By printing separately for odd and even lines for each character or dot, printing can be performed with half the current consumption. Therefore, it is possible to realize a printing apparatus that can reduce the current consumed for printing characters, that is, the power consumption, without lowering the printing speed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a printing operation according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a timing chart in one-time printing according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual printing diagram according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of printing when thinning is performed once on four lines according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram for explaining actual print result contents according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a printing operation according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram of printing in a case where printing is performed separately for each character into odd lines and even lines according to the embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram of printing in a case where printing is performed separately for each of several characters into odd lines and even lines according to the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the effect of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a printing operation according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram of printing when half the total number of heating resistors according to the embodiment is printed separately for odd lines and even lines.

FIG. 13 shows 1/1/2 of the total number of heating resistors according to the embodiment.
Conceptual diagram of printing when printing is performed separately for odd lines and even lines for every 4 dots

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a printing operation according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a printing conceptual diagram of characters that are thinned out in a staggered pattern according to the embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a conceptual printing diagram for explaining twice printing by a conventional printing apparatus.

FIG. 17 is a timing chart for explaining twice printing by a conventional printing apparatus.

FIG. 18 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a relationship between a pulse width applied to a head and printing content in twice printing of a conventional printing apparatus.

FIG. 19 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between a head applied energy and a print density in general thermosensitive recording paper.

FIG. 20 is a timing chart for explaining division driving in a conventional printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording paper 2 Thermal line head 3 Platen roller 4 Stepping motor 5 Paper feed gear

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Koji Toyoda 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Terms (reference) 2C066 AA01 AA08 AB05 AB09

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A thermal line head in which a heating resistor is configured so that a printed static dot shape is the same in a main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction, or is shorter in a sub-scanning direction than in a main scanning direction. A printing apparatus for forming one dot by printing a plurality of times by using the paper feed means for pressing a recording paper against the thermal line head and moving the recording paper in a sub-scanning direction; a print data generating means for generating print data; Print control means for energizing the heating resistor based on the print data, wherein the n lines are printed and the next n + 1 lines are not printed so that the presence or absence of printing is alternately repeated to form an image. A printing device, comprising: 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the energizing time of the heating resistor in the n-th line is at least equal to a time during which applied energy for stabilizing the applied density of the thermal line head is applied. 3. A thermal line head having a heating resistor configured such that the printed static dot shape is the same in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, or shorter in the sub-scanning direction than in the main scanning direction. A printing apparatus for forming one dot by printing a plurality of times by using the paper feed means for pressing a recording paper against the thermal line head and moving the recording paper in a sub-scanning direction; a print data generating means for generating print data; Print control means for energizing the heating resistor based on the print data, and forming an image by repeating the presence or absence of printing for each of the plurality of lines so that printing is continuously performed on a plurality of lines and the next line is not printed. A printing apparatus characterized in that the printing is performed. 4. A thermal line head in which a heating resistor is configured so that the printed static dot shape is the same in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, or is shorter in the sub-scanning direction than in the main scanning direction. A printing apparatus for forming one dot by printing a plurality of times by using the paper feed means for pressing a recording paper against the thermal line head and moving the recording paper in a sub-scanning direction; a print data generating means for generating print data; Print control means for energizing the heating resistor based on the print data, and printing a predetermined area in one row composed of m × n dots with only odd-numbered lines or only even-numbered lines. Characteristic printing device. 5. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the characters in one line are printed in odd lines and those in even lines are printed separately for each character or for a plurality of continuous characters. The printing device according to claim 4. 6. The printing method according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined number of dots in one line are printed separately for each predetermined number of dots, and those printed on odd lines and those printed on even lines. Item 5. The printing device according to Item 4. 7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein an image in one line is printed as an image thinned out in a staggered manner.
The printing device according to the above.