JP2000127544A - Shuttle control method for dot line printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance print speed even in case of short paper feed time by applying a thrust lower than that of an inversion energizing means reversely thereto immediately before inversion of a hammer mechanism section and starting acceleration in synchronism with the end of sheet feed. SOLUTION: When a large number of lines are fed, a control section driving section 58 performs deceleration control of a hammer mechanism section 55. Low speed motion control is started when a shuttle is detected in the vicinity of an inverting position during deceleration control. In the low speed motion control, a motion power slightly weaker than the thrust of an inversion energizing means is applied reversely in order to move the hammer mechanism section 55 at low speed. Furthermore, an acceleration start time is set in synchronism with the paper feed in case of multiple line feed and acceleration control is started when an acceleration control time is reached. According to the control method, shuttle operation can be controlled with no lag in synchronism with the paper feed in case of multiple line feed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shuttle control method for a dot line printer which performs printing while reciprocating a hammer mechanism having a plurality of hammers by a shuttle mechanism having reversing biasing means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of a linear motor type shuttle mechanism.

In the drawing, a plurality of printing elements (not shown)
Is connected to a shuttle mechanism composed of a linear motor coil 51 and a linear motor magnet 52 via a belt 53 and a pulley 54, and serves as a power source based on a command from a control unit 58. When the shuttle mechanism is driven, the power is also transmitted to the hammer mechanism to reciprocate.

[0004] The linear motor coil 51 operates in a phase opposite to that of the hammer mechanism 55 and also serves as a counter balancer.

Further, at both ends of the hammer mechanism 55 or the linear motor coil 51, reversing urging means (not shown) are arranged at positions for urging reversal. The reversing biasing means is not limited to a spring, but may be a means utilizing the same polarity repulsion of a magnet. This reversing biasing means is provided by the hammer mechanism 5.
5 acts to increase the thrust at the time of reversal.

The reciprocating reciprocating operation of the hammer mechanism 55 and the linear motor coil 51 is performed by calculating the position and reciprocating speed of the hammer mechanism 10 by the scale 56 and the encoder 57 and determining the reciprocating motion on a predetermined reciprocating speed curve. Works. The control is performed by a control unit driving unit 58 that changes the value of the current supplied to the linear motor coil 51 and supplies the current.

The printing paper is mounted facing the hammer mechanism and is conveyed by paper feeding means (not shown). In the course of the reciprocating operation of the hammer mechanism 55, printing is performed by driving the printing element toward the printing paper via the ink ribbon.

FIG. 6 is a drive circuit diagram of a linear motor.

The circuit diagram in the figure is a general H-bridge type circuit diagram. By controlling the transistors 61/64 or 62/63, a current is supplied to the linear motor coil to drive the motor. I have. At this time, the current of the linear motor can be varied by controlling the PWM of the transistor 61 or the transistor 62.

In the above-structured dot line printer, the shuttle operation of the hammer mechanism is controlled as shown in FIG.

Part A shows a shuttle operation during continuous line-by-line printing, and paper feeding is performed during a reversal section. On the other hand, part B shows a shuttle operation when the paper is fed by a predetermined amount or more. During the reversal section, the hammer mechanism is evacuated to a region where the reversal bias does not act and stopped (start-up waiting time). In synchronization with the feed, the hammer mechanism is advanced to the next reciprocating motion to improve the printing speed at the time of line feed of a predetermined number or more.

[0012]

In the above-described dot line printer, when the operation area of the reversing biasing means of the reversing biasing means is enlarged, the time until the shuttle mechanism stops and the time until the shuttle mechanism starts up are reduced. If the paper feed time at the time of multi-line feed is relatively short, the evacuating / stopping time will be longer than the paper feeding time, and the printing speed cannot be improved. there were.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to perform a shuttle control of a dot line printer capable of improving the printing speed even when the paper feeding time is short.

[0014]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a hammer mechanism having a plurality of printing elements mounted thereon, and at least a magnet and a coil, and a drive current is supplied to the coil to form the hammer. A shuttle mechanism having reversing biasing means for reversing the mechanism and applying a biasing force to the hammer mechanism when the reciprocation is reversed; and a paper transporting means for transporting print paper, wherein the hammer mechanism is provided. In a dot line printer that performs printing on the printing paper in the process of reciprocating movement, during a period in which a predetermined amount or more of paper is conveyed, immediately before the hammer mechanism is reversed, the thrust is smaller than the thrust of the reversing urging means. Thrust is applied in a direction opposite to the thrust of the reversing urging means to move the hammer mechanism at a low speed, and to start acceleration so as to synchronize with the end of sheet conveyance.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the configuration of the shuttle mechanism is the same as that of the prior art, and will not be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the operation of reversing, stopping, and starting the hammer mechanism during continuous printing. In the figure, part A shows a shuttle operation during continuous line-by-line printing, and in the same manner as in the related art, in the reversing section, the reversing urging means is fed during the shuttle reversing section. Part B represents the stop and start of the shuttle operation when executed by multi-line feed.

As shown in the figure, in the case of a multi-line feed, the shuttle operation increases the reversal time by moving the hammer mechanism at a low speed near the inversion position, and waits (Twn; acceleration) to synchronize with the paper feed in the multi-line feed. By controlling (start waiting time), the hammer mechanism can be accelerated without wasting time, and the next printing operation can be started. That is, by varying the acceleration start waiting time Twn in accordance with the line feed amount, it is possible to synchronize with the paper feed time Tfn at the time of multiple line feeds, which has conventionally been the problem. Even when Tfn is short, no wasted time is present, and non-printing time can be minimized.

Further, the time (Tfn-Twn) from the start of the shuttle to the start of printing is shortened.
The effects of shuttle variations are reduced, and wasteful time can be reduced.

FIG. 2 is a position / velocity waveform diagram of the shuttle operation of the hammer mechanism, FIG. 3 is a control flowchart thereof, and FIG. 4 is a speed / current waveform diagram of the shuttle operation. The control method will be described.

When a control unit driving unit 58 sends a multi-line feed operation command from a host device (not shown) during the shuttle operation,
The control section driving section 58 calculates the deceleration start position P1 in accordance with the multi-line feed command, and starts the deceleration control when the shuttle of the hammer mechanism comes to the position P1. In the deceleration control, it is detected that the print end position P2 and the shuttle speed become V1, and when P2 is detected, the acceleration start time is calculated from the number of line feeds, and the timer is set. When V1 is detected, the position P3 at that time is stored, and the low-speed movement control is started. At this time, the correction of P1 is also performed so that P3 comes to the same position every time.

In the low-speed movement control, in order to move the hammer mechanism at a low speed, a driving force slightly weaker than the thrust of the reversing urging means is applied in a direction opposite to that of the reversing urging means. The acceleration start time set during the deceleration control is checked, and when the acceleration start time comes, the acceleration control is started. At the same time, the acceleration start position P4 is stored. That is, by correcting the drive current I1 shown in FIG. 4 so that P4 comes to the same position every time, the dispersion of the time required for the acceleration movement from the acceleration start position P4 to the print start position P2 is minimized. I have.

By performing the above-described control, the shuttle operation can be controlled without delay in synchronization with the paper feed time at the time of line feed of many lines.

[0023]

By performing the reciprocating movement control according to the present invention in the shuttle mechanism having the reverse biasing means,
In the vicinity of the reversal section, the speed of the shuttle operation can be reduced, and the printing speed can be significantly improved even in a short-time multi-line feed printing. In addition, in long-line multi-line printing, the error of the shuttle operation can be reduced, and thus the printing speed can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an operation diagram showing trajectories of reversing, stopping, and starting a hammer mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a position / velocity waveform diagram of a shuttle operation of the hammer mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a speed waveform / current waveform diagram of the shuttle operation of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory view of a linear motor type shuttle mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a drive circuit diagram of a linear motor.

FIG. 7 is an operation diagram showing trajectories of reversing, stopping, and starting a conventional hammer mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

51: Linear motor coil, 52: Linear motor magnet, 53: Belt, 54: Pulley, 55: Hammer mechanism, 56:
Scale, 57 ... Encoder, 58 ... Control unit drive unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hammer mechanism on which a plurality of printing elements are mounted, at least a magnet and a coil, and a drive current is applied to the coil to reciprocate the hammer mechanism. A shuttle mechanism provided with reversing biasing means for applying a biasing force to the hammer mechanism during reversing,
A dot line printer for printing on the printing paper in the course of reciprocating movement of the hammer mechanism, wherein the hammer mechanism is provided during a period in which the paper is transported by a predetermined amount or more. Immediately before the unit is turned over, a thrust less than the thrust of the reversing urging means is applied in a direction opposite to the thrust of the reversing urging means to move the hammer mechanism at a low speed and synchronize with the end of the sheet conveyance. A method for controlling a shuttle of a dot line printer, comprising: starting acceleration.