JP2001162882A - Printer, its control method and information recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control a printer for preventing a user from pulling a paper before cutting the paper and quickly provide the user with the printed paper for use after the completion of printing. SOLUTION: When the printing for a paper r is completed, ejection rollers 15 and 16 are rotated on an ejection outlet 11 before the completion of the cutting by a cutter 13 to eject the paper r out of the ejection outlet 11 (D-E). When the rear end of the paper r is sensed by a paper sensor 17, the paper r is clamped by the ejection roller 16, and the paper ejected from the ejection outlet 11 is fixed to wait on a fixing site until the paper r is obtained by a user (F).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer for performing printing on continuous paper and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a printer characterized by controlling the transport of continuous paper after printing and a control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a printer built in an ATM device or the like for outputting a receipt or the like, a printer in which roll paper or other continuous paper is mounted and which is appropriately cut and separated by an automatic cutter mechanism is widely known. . Since this type of printer is often installed in a place where its manager or technician is not resident, it is an important issue to minimize the obstacles associated with its use.

In this type of printer, it is necessary to sufficiently consider the control of paper transport after printing is completed. In a normal printer, the leading edge of a sheet after printing or during printing is sequentially discharged from the discharge port to the outside of the housing by a paper feeding operation accompanying the printing. However, if the user tries to pull out the paper that has protruded from the discharge port before the paper is cut by the auto cutter mechanism, this causes printing failure and paper jam.

In order to prevent such a problem, conventionally,
The feeding by the discharge roller provided near the discharge port is temporarily stopped so that the leading edge of the sheet does not come out of the discharge port, and after the cutting of the sheet is completed, the feeding is restarted and the discharge is performed. There is something that I did.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional printer, it takes a long time before the user can take out the sheet because the sheet is conveyed after the cutting of the sheet is completed after the printing is completed. There is a problem.

In the above-described conventional printer, when the amount of printing on the paper is small, the paper may be cut before the leading edge of the paper reaches a discharge roller provided near the discharge port. In such a case, there is a problem that the sheet is not discharged from the discharge port and remains in the housing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide a printer and a control method for the same which can provide a user with paper after printing as quickly as possible.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer and a control method therefor, which ensure that the cut sheet is discharged from the discharge port even when the amount of printing on the sheet is small.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a printer control method according to the present invention comprises a step of printing on a recording medium (step (a)), and a step of printing the recording medium printed in step (a). A step (step (b)) of conveying the recording medium toward the recording medium outlet, and a vicinity of the leading end of the recording medium near the recording medium outlet so as to form slack in the recording medium conveyed in the step (b). (Step (c)) and a step of cutting the recording medium and separating the recording medium printed in step (a) from the non-printed recording medium (step (d)). Before the end of the step (d), the step of releasing the locking of the recording medium in the step (c) and starting the conveyance of the recording medium to the recording medium outlet (step (e)). It is characterized by the following.

[0010] By performing such control, the discharging operation can be started without waiting for the completion of the cutting operation, so that the throughput can be improved.

In the control of the present invention, the ejection of the recording medium is started prior to the cutting of the recording medium. However, by locking the leading end of the recording medium, a loop-shaped slack is formed in the recording medium on the transport path from the cutting means to the discharge port inside the printer, so that cutting by the cutting means cannot be performed. Even if the operator pulls the leading end of the recording medium that has come out of the discharge port before completion, this does not immediately cause cutting failure or paper jam.

In this case, the step (e) is a step of measuring the amount of slack of the formed recording medium (step (e)
1)) and, based on the slack amount measured in the step (e1), when the slack amount is larger than a predetermined value, conveyance of the recording medium to the recording medium discharge port is started at a first speed. Based on the slack amount measured in the step (step (e2)) and the step (e1), if the slack amount is smaller than a predetermined value, the conveyance of the recording medium to the recording medium discharge port is performed by a first method. And starting at a second speed lower than the speed (step (e3)).

According to the present invention, prior to the step (d), a step (step (f)) of determining whether the recording medium has reached the recording medium locking position near the discharge port, and a step (f). It is preferable that the method further includes a step (step (g)) of conveying the recording medium to the locking position when the recording medium has not reached the locking position according to the determination in f).

This ensures that the cut sheet is reliably discharged even when the amount of printing on the continuous sheet is small.

In the present invention, the locking of the recording medium in the step (c) is performed by stopping the rotation of a discharge roller provided near the discharge port, and the release and conveyance of the lock in the step (e). Is preferably started by starting rotation of the discharge roller.

The present invention can also be recognized as an invention of a printer having a configuration capable of realizing the above control method.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing the internal structure of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control unit is expressed as a functional block, and shows the relationship with each control target. The printer 10 is a printer for printing receipts mounted on an ATM or the like, and stores roll paper R as a recording medium therein. A print head 12 for performing printing on the roll paper R is provided on a paper path extending from the storage portion of the roll paper R to the outlet 11 for the roll paper. Paper cutting mechanism 1 for cutting receipts to cut receipts
3. A feed-side discharge roller (hereinafter, referred to as a feed roller) 14 that conveys the roll paper R printed by the print head 12 toward the discharge port 11, and a roll paper R that is conveyed by the feed roller 14 before the discharge port. And discharge rollers (hereinafter, referred to as discharge rollers) 15 and 16 for discharging the paper from the discharge port to the outside of the printer. The feed roller 14 and the discharge rollers 15 and 16 are collectively referred to as a transport roller. In accordance with a print command from the host device 1 shown in FIG. 6, these transport rollers are appropriately driven, and the roll paper R is sequentially pulled out from the roll portion. With the feed of the roll paper R by the feed roller 14, the print head 12 is driven, and characters, symbols, and the like according to the print command are printed on the roll paper R. The printed area of the roll paper R is further transported by the feed roller 14 toward the discharge port 11 under the control of the first transport controller 3a, and when the rear end of the area is transported to a predetermined position, Under the control of the cutting controller 3c, the sheet is cut and separated by the sheet cutting mechanism 13, and is supplied to the user from the discharge port 11 as a single receipt. In addition, as the cutting mechanism, a fixed blade and a movable blade are arranged with the paper path interposed therebetween,
A mechanism is employed in which the movable blade is driven by a power source such as a motor to sandwich the paper between the movable blade and the fixed blade and cut the paper.

The discharge rollers 15 and 16 receive the leading end of the roll paper R fed by the feed roller 14 under the control of the second transport controller 3b, and
Lead to. The transport speed of the roll paper R by the discharge rollers 15 and 16 is usually set to be the same as that of the feed roller 14. Therefore, when the feed roller 14 and the discharge rollers 15 and 16 are driven, the feed roller 1
The pulling force does not act on the roll paper R between the roller 4 and the discharge rollers 15 and 16, and no extra slack occurs. For the sake of explanation, the portion of the roll paper R that is closer to the discharge port than the cutting position by the cutting mechanism 13 is hereinafter referred to as paper r. After being cut by the cutting mechanism 13, the sheet r is continuously conveyed by the discharge rollers 15 and 16, and substantially the entire area thereof is sent out from the discharge port 11. The discharge roller 16 on the downstream side in the transport direction is
The sheet r is nipped with a weaker pressing force than the discharge roller 15 on the upstream side. Such a mechanism can be realized by setting the strength of a spring (not shown) for pressing the driven-side roller of each roller pair as such. As will be described later, the rear end portion of the cut sheet r is finally held by the downstream discharge roller 16. As described above, since the paper r is held by the discharge roller 16 with a weak force, the user can easily pull out the paper r. Regarding the control according to the present invention, the discharge rollers 15 and 16 are independently driven and stopped by the second transport controller 3b, and the feed roller 14 is independently driven and stopped by the first transport controller 3a. Details of this control will be described later.

The printer 10 further includes a paper sensor 17 between the two pairs of discharge rollers 15 and 16. The paper sensor 17 detects when the roll paper R is conveyed and its leading end portion has passed the upstream discharge roller 15. The paper sensor 17 also detects when the trailing end of the cut paper r exceeds this. The detection signal from the paper sensor 17 is input to the first and second transport controllers 3a and 3b and the cutting controller 3c.
Based on this, various controls are executed.

As will be described later, when the discharge roller is stopped by the second transport controller and the feed roller is rotated by the first transport controller, the sheet r can be slack between the two rollers. This slack amount is measured by the slack amount measuring device 3d based on the control amount of the transport roller by the first and second transport controllers.

The printer 10 is provided with an apparatus 20 for collecting cut and separated receipts. When the receipt is left in the discharge port 11 for a predetermined time, or based on a command from the host, the discharge rollers 15 and 16 reversely feed the receipt and draw it into the printer 10. The pulled-in receipt is carried into the collection path 21 by a transfer path switching mechanism (not shown), and is sequentially collected in the collection tray 22.

As shown in FIG. 6, the printer 10 has a CPU 31, a ROM 32, and a RAM 33 as the control unit 3. The CPU 31 mounted on the printer 10
In accordance with a control program stored in the OM, each of the above-described mechanical parts of the printer is controlled in accordance with a control command received from a host device 1 such as a host computer via the interface circuit 4. Further, in connection with the present invention, the CPU 31 in the printer includes a control program stored in the ROM 32 and first and second transport controllers for drivingly controlling the feed roller 14, the discharge rollers 15 and 16, and the cutting mechanism 13, respectively. 3a, 3b, function as the cutting controller 3c, and also function as the above-described slack amount measuring device 3d.

The control program stored in the ROM 32 can be rewritten by using the ROM 32 as a rewritable element such as an EEPROM. In this case, from the storage device such as an HDD built in the host device 1 or the external storage device 2 connected to the host device and a predetermined server via the network such as the Internet, the download to the ROM 32 via the interface circuit 4 is performed. can do.

FIGS. 2A to 3F are side views of the vicinity of the discharge section showing the respective steps of discharge control of the paper r in the printer according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the control. is there. Referring to these figures, the printer 10
Will be described.

When the printer 10 receives the data from the host device 1 through the interface circuit 4, it temporarily stores the data in a reception data buffer set in the RAM 33 in the control unit 3, and is realized by the CPU 31 and the control program. The contents are sequentially interpreted by the interpretation unit. If the interpreted data is a print command, the CPU 31
2 controls the drive of the print head 12 while feeding the roll paper R by the feed roller 14 as the first transport mechanism, and performs printing corresponding to the command on the roll paper R (FIG. 2).
(A)). At this time, the second transport controller 3b, C
PU 31 is provided with discharge rollers 15 and 1 serving as a second transport mechanism.
6 is driven in synchronization with the feed roller 14 (the rotation state of these rollers is indicated by arrows). With this printing operation, the roll paper R is gradually sent toward the discharge port 11,
The tip reaches the discharge roller 15 on the upstream side, and is sent further downstream by the driving force (FIG. 9B). When the leading end of the roll paper R (paper r) passes over the discharge roller 15, the paper sensor 17 installed on the downstream side
This is detected (step 401 in FIG. 4). Upon receiving this detection signal, the CPU 31 serving as the second transport controller 3b temporarily stops driving the discharge rollers 15 and 16 (Step 402). When the discharge roller 15 stops, the paper r
Is sandwiched here.

On the other hand, printing is continued in the print head 12, and the CPU 31, which functions as the first transport controller, controls the feed roller 14 to keep the roll paper R (paper r) until all printing corresponding to the print command is completed. ). As a result, the sheet r whose leading end is stopped by the discharge roller 15 gradually loosens as shown in FIG. 2C, and the cutting mechanism 1 disposed downstream of the printing unit.
A loop is formed between the roller 3 and the discharge roller 15. Here, the CPU 31 as the slack amount measuring means calculates the slack amount of the paper r. Here, the slack amount is determined by the discharge roller 15.
Can be obtained as the feed amount of the paper r by the feed roller 14 after the stoppage of.

Following the print data for one receipt, the printer 10 performs a cutting command for causing the host computer to cut the paper r (this is equivalent to a command indicating the end of printing for one receipt).
To receive. When the cutting command of the paper r is interpreted by the data interpreting unit by the CPU (step 40 in FIG. 4).
3), the CPU starts printing end processing. At first,
The feed amount of the paper r after the discharge roller 15 is stopped, that is, the slack amount of the paper r is calculated (Step 40).
4). In the following step 405, if the calculated amount of slack is equal to or more than the predetermined value, steps 406 and 407 are sequentially performed, while if the amount of slack is less than the predetermined value, step 408 is performed.
And step 409 are sequentially performed.

The control shown in FIGS. 3D to 3F is in accordance with the steps 406 and 407 when the slack amount is equal to or more than a predetermined value. That is, when the slack amount is equal to or more than the predetermined value, the driving of the discharge rollers 15 and 16 is first started (Step 406). As a result, as shown in FIG. 3D, the leading end of the paper r is discharged from the discharge port 11, and
Accordingly, the loop of the formed sheet r gradually becomes smaller. Then, step 407 is executed, the cutting mechanism 13 is driven, the rear end of the paper r is cut, and separated from the roll paper R on the upstream side (FIG. 3E). The cutting of the sheet r is completed before the formed loop completely disappears.

In this embodiment, after the driving of the discharge rollers 15 and 16 is started in step 406, the sheet r is cut in step 407, but the present invention is not limited to this order. That is, the drive of the discharge rollers 15 and 16 only needs to be started before the cutting of the sheet r is completed, and the drive of the discharge rollers 15 and 16 and the start of the cutting of the sheet r may be performed first. . For example, the cutting operation of the paper r may be started immediately after the cutting command is interpreted (step 403). This makes it possible to reduce the entire processing time as compared with the case where the driving of the discharge rollers 15 and 16 is started after the cutting of the sheet r.

In one embodiment, the transport speed of the paper r by the discharge roller 15 is 100 mm / s, and the cutting mechanism 13
When the time required for cutting the paper by the maximum is 500 ms, the predetermined value of the slack amount is set to 50 mm. The paper r separated from the roll paper R by the cutting mechanism 13 is
As shown in FIG. 3F, the sheet is conveyed to the outside of the printer from the outlet 11 by the discharge rollers 15 and 16. And
Since the rear end of the paper r has passed over the paper sensor 17,
When this is detected, the driving of the discharge rollers 15 and 16 is stopped. As a result, the rear end of the paper r is
6, and the user can take it out.

On the other hand, if the slack amount is less than the predetermined value in step 405, first, the cutting mechanism 13 is driven and the paper r
Is completed (step 408), the discharge roller 15
And 16 are started, and the discharge of the paper r is started (Step 409). With this control, when the slack amount of the paper r is small, the discharge rollers 15 and 16
Therefore, it is possible to prevent paper jam, tearing of the cut portion of the paper, and the like, which occur when the paper r is pulled.

Next, control when the print amount for one receipt is small will be described. Step 40 shown in FIG.
In 1, when a cutting command is given before the paper r is detected by the paper sensor 17, that is, before the paper r is nipped by the discharge roller 15 (step 410), the control is transferred to the paper feeding process 411. This process is performed on paper r
This eliminates the problem that the paper is cut by the cutting mechanism 13 before being held by the discharge roller 15 and remains in the printer.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the control in the paper feeding process 411. When a cutting command is given to the CPU before the paper r is detected by the paper sensor 17 (step 410), the feed roller 14 and the discharge rollers 15, 16 are driven, and the conveyance of the paper r is started (step 501). ). When the leading end of the sheet r reaches the position of the sheet sensor 17 beyond the discharge roller 15 by the conveyance of the sheet r, this is detected, and the detection signal is sent to the CPU (step 502). Upon receiving this detection signal, the CPU stops driving the feed roller 14 and the discharge rollers 15, 16 (step 503). After the above process, the leading end of the paper r is nipped at the position of the discharge roller 15. In this state, the process proceeds to step 408 shown in FIG. 4, where the cutting of the sheet r is started. In the next step 409, the discharge rollers 15 and 16 are driven to discharge the sheet r from the discharge port 11. Will be done.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
This embodiment is different from the above-described embodiment only in the discharge control, particularly in the processing when the slack amount is smaller than a predetermined value, and is otherwise the same. Therefore, the emission control will be described below,
Other description is omitted.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the discharge control in this embodiment. In the figure, in steps denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 4, the same processes as those in the above-described embodiment are performed, and the description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the slack amount is measured by the CPU 41 (step 404), and the value of the slack amount is compared with a predetermined value (step 405). If the slack amount is equal to or larger than the predetermined value, in step 406, the driving of the discharge rollers 15 and 16 is started. At this time, the driving of the discharge roller is started at the first speed or at the first speed as a target, and thereafter, the same processing as in the first embodiment is performed.

On the other hand, if the amount of slack is smaller than the predetermined value, in step 412, the discharge rollers 15 and 16 are discharged at a second speed lower than the first speed or at the second speed as a target. Driving is started. After the driving of the discharge rollers 15 and 16 is started in step 412, the sheet r is cut from the roll paper R in step 413. Then, after the cutting of the sheet r is completed, in step 414, the driving speed of the discharge rollers 15 and 16 is changed to the first speed or accelerated with the first speed as a target. The completion of the cutting of the paper r can be detected by a movable blade reference position sensor (not shown) provided in the cutting mechanism. Alternatively, the timing of the speed change in step 414 can also be obtained by measuring the maximum time required for disconnection (500 ms in the following example) using a timer built in the CPU and generating a timer interrupt.

In one embodiment, the time required for cutting the paper by the cutting mechanism 13 is up to 500 ms,
When the first transport speed in Step 6 is 100 mm / s, the predetermined value of the slack amount is set to 50 mm, and the second transport speed in Step 412 is set to 20 mm / s. In this case, the minimum slack amount in design is set to 10 mm, and tearing of the sheet r having a slack amount smaller than this is allowed in the cut portion.

In this embodiment, the cutting of the paper r is performed in step 406.
Alternatively, the process is started following the start of driving of the discharge rollers 15 and 16 in the step 412, but the present invention is not limited to such an order. In this example, regardless of the amount of slack,
The conveyance of the discharge rollers 15 and 16 may be started before the cutting of the paper r is completed.
Any time after the detection of the paper cutting command in step 403 may be performed.

As described above, when the slack amount is small, the paper r
By lowering the transport speed of the paper, it is possible to avoid problems such as paper jam and paper tear caused by competition between the cutting of the paper and the transport thereof.

In the present embodiment, the slack amount is compared with a single predetermined value, and is conveyed at two different speeds based on this. However, the present invention is not limited to the number of such classifications. That is, the transport speed may be selected from three or more different speeds based on a comparison with a plurality of predetermined values. In this case, it is desirable to use a table that defines the correspondence between the range of the slack amount and the transport speed.

As described above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the matters shown in the above embodiment, and the claims and the detailed description of the invention, and The range in which those skilled in the art can make changes and applications based on well-known techniques is included. In the above-described embodiment, an example is described in which the discharge rollers are two pairs of the upstream side and the downstream side. However, the present invention can be realized by a discharge roller including a pair of rollers.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent a user from pulling a sheet before cutting the sheet,
The paper after printing can be promptly provided to the user.

Further, according to the present invention, when the slack amount of the sheet due to the prohibition of the continuous sheet discharge is small, the cutting is performed prior to the sheet conveyance or the sheet conveyance speed is reduced. In this way, it is possible to avoid the conflict between the cutting of the sheet and the conveyance of the sheet, and to prevent the problems such as the tearing of the sheet and the paper jam caused by the user pulling the sheet during the cutting of the sheet. Can be.

Further, according to the present invention, the cut sheet can be reliably discharged from the discharge port even when the amount of printing on the sheet is small.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an internal structure of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the vicinity of a discharge unit showing each stage of roll paper discharge control in the printer according to the present invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are side views of the vicinity of a discharge unit showing each stage of roll paper discharge control in the printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of discharge control corresponding to FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of control in a sheet feeding process.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a control circuit of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of discharge control according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 printer 11 discharge port 12 print head 13 cutting mechanism 14 feed roller 15 discharge roller 16 discharge roller 17 paper sensor 20 recovery device 21 recovery path 22 recovery tray R roll paper r paper

Claims (9)

[Claims] (A) a step of printing on a recording medium; (b) a step of transporting the recording medium printed in step (a) toward a recording medium outlet; and (c) a step of (b) B) locking the vicinity of the leading end of the recording medium in the vicinity of the recording medium discharge port so as to form slack in the recording medium conveyed in step d); and (d) cutting the recording medium. Separating the printed recording medium from the unprinted recording medium in (e), and (e) releasing the locking of the recording medium in step (c) before the end of step (d), Starting the conveyance of the medium to the recording medium discharge port. 2. The control method according to claim 1, wherein the step (e) comprises: (e1) a step of measuring a slack amount of the formed recording medium; and (e2) a step of measuring the amount of slack in the step (e1). Based on the slack amount, when the slack amount is larger than a predetermined value, the step of starting the conveyance of the recording medium to the recording medium outlet at a first speed; and (e3) measuring in step (e1). Starting the conveyance of the recording medium to the recording medium outlet at a second speed lower than the first speed if the amount of slack is smaller than a predetermined value. A method for controlling a printer. 3. The control method according to claim 1, wherein (f) prior to the step (d), determining whether the recording medium has reached the recording medium locking position near the discharge port. (G) transporting the recording medium to the locking position when the recording medium has not reached the locking position according to the determination in step (f). How to control the printer. 4. The control method according to claim 1, wherein the locking of the recording medium in the step (c) is performed by stopping rotation of a discharge roller provided in the vicinity of the discharge port. The method of controlling a printer, wherein the release of the lock and the start of the conveyance are performed by starting the rotation of the discharge roller. 5. The control method according to claim 4, further comprising: (h) determining whether a portion near the leading end of the recording medium has reached the recording medium locking position near the discharge port. (C) includes: (c1) rotating the discharge roller until the recording medium reaches the locking position according to the determination result in step (h); and (c2) determining the result in step (h). And stopping the discharge roller when the recording medium reaches the locking position. 6. A print head for performing printing on a recording medium, a discharge port for discharging the recording medium printed by the print head, and a discharge port disposed near the print head for cutting the recording medium. Cutting means for separating the printed recording medium from the non-printed recording medium; first conveying means for conveying the recording medium printed by the print head toward the discharge port; A second transporting unit that is installed near the outlet and selectively engages the recording medium transported by the first transporting unit and selectively transports the recording medium out of the outlet; Printing end detecting means for detecting the end of printing on a medium, and cutting control means for controlling the cutting means to cut the recording medium when printing is completed, according to the printing end detecting means. When the printing is completed in response to the printing completion detecting means, prior to the completion of the cutting of the recording medium by the cutting control means, the second transport means is controlled to lock the recording medium. And a conveyance control unit for starting conveyance of the recording medium. 7. The printer according to claim 6, further comprising a slack amount measuring means for measuring a slack amount of the formed recording medium, wherein the transport control means is measured by the slack amount measuring means. Based on the slack amount, when the slack amount is larger than a predetermined value, the recording medium is conveyed to the recording medium discharge port at a first speed, and when the slack amount is smaller than a predetermined value, A printer, wherein a recording medium is conveyed to the recording medium discharge port at a second speed lower than the first speed. 8. The printer according to claim 6, wherein a determination unit that determines whether the recording medium has reached the recording medium locking position near the discharge port, and wherein the recording medium is When not reaching the locking position, controlling the first transport means,
A printer comprising: an auxiliary transport unit configured to transport the recording medium to the locking position. 9. A computer-readable information recording medium storing a computer program for implementing the printer control method according to claim 1. Description: