JP2002019172A - Printer and printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a printer in which printing can be performed at a desired density by simply designating a print speed. SOLUTION: When a print speed is inputted by operating an input section 18, a CPU 11 supplies data corresponding to print speed to a print control section 15 and a motor control section 14. The motor control section 14 controls the rotational speed of a stepping motor 7 based on the data corresponding to print speed delivered from the CPU 11 and a label 1 is carried at that print speed. Based on the data corresponding to print speed delivered from the CPU 11, the print control section 15 determines an energy being applied to a head 5 and applies thus determined energy to the head 5. Under control of the CPU 11, characters and figures corresponding to print data read out from an RAM 13 is printed on the label.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing method, and more particularly, to a printing apparatus and a printing method that only specify a printing speed.
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing method that can perform printing at a desired density.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a thermal printer as a printing apparatus is provided with a density setting command for setting a density and a speed setting command for adjusting a printing speed. There are things you can do. In addition, the majority of devices are volume-compatible so that fine adjustment can be performed.

[0003]

However, when the printing speed is set high and the density is set high, there is a problem that the set density may not be obtained.
This is because when the printing speed is set to be high and the density is set to be high, the applied energy applied to the thermal head constituting the thermal printer may be insufficient for the required applied energy. is there.

In order to increase the applied energy applied to the thermal head, a predetermined time, that is, a time until the thermal head reaches a predetermined temperature, is required. Therefore,
Since there is an upper limit to the power that can be supplied to the thermal head per unit time, if there is a certain correlation between the density and the printing speed, the energy applied to the thermal head will be insufficient.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is possible to change the applied energy applied to the thermal head in accordance with the printing speed set by the user, and determine the printing density by the printing speed. To make it possible.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a printing apparatus prints a character or a graphic corresponding to predetermined print data on a predetermined medium by applying a predetermined amount of applied energy to a print head. A printing device for storing print data, a transporting device for transporting the medium in a predetermined direction, and applying a predetermined applied energy to the print head to correspond to the print data on the medium transported by the transporting device. Printing means for printing characters and graphics to be printed, control means for controlling the magnitude of applied energy applied to the print head by the printing means, and designation means for designating a conveyance speed at which the conveyance means conveys the medium in a predetermined direction. Determining means for determining the magnitude of applied energy to be applied to the print head by the control means in accordance with the transport speed specified by the specifying means. The control means controls the applied energy determined by the determination means to be applied to the print head by the printing means, and the transport means transports the medium at a transport speed designated by the designating means, and Characters and graphics corresponding to the print data are printed on the medium at a density corresponding to the transport speed specified by the specifying means. Also, depending on the sensitivity of the medium,
Correction means for correcting the magnitude of the applied energy determined by the determination means may be further provided. The printing method according to claim 3, wherein a character or a figure corresponding to the predetermined print data is printed on a predetermined medium by applying an applied energy of a predetermined magnitude to the print head. And a transport step of transporting the medium in a predetermined direction, and a printing step of applying a predetermined applied energy to the print head and printing characters or graphics corresponding to the print data on the medium transported by the transport unit. A control step of controlling the magnitude of applied energy applied to the print head in the printing step; a designation step of designating a conveyance speed at which the medium is conveyed in a predetermined direction in the conveyance step; and a conveyance specified in the specification step. Determines the amount of applied energy to be applied to the printhead in the control step, corresponding to the speed And a determination step that, in the control step, the applied energy is determined at decision step is controlled to be added to the print head in the printing step, in the conveying step,
The medium is transported at the transport speed specified in the specifying step, and in the printing step, characters and graphics corresponding to the print data are printed on the medium at a density corresponding to the transport speed specified in the specifying step. I do.
In a printing apparatus and a printing method according to the present invention, print data is stored, a medium is transported in a predetermined direction, a predetermined applied energy is applied to a print head, and characters and graphics corresponding to the print data are applied to the transported medium. Print. At this time,
The transport speed at which the medium is transported in a predetermined direction is specified, the magnitude of the applied energy to be applied to the print head is determined in accordance with the specified transport speed, and the determined applied energy is applied to the print head. The medium is conveyed at a specified conveyance speed, and characters and graphics corresponding to the print data are printed on the medium at a density corresponding to the specified conveyance speed.

[0007]

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of an embodiment of a label printer to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the label printer includes a control unit 10 for controlling each unit, a print head 5 for printing on the label 1, and a stepping motor (hereinafter simply referred to as a motor as appropriate) driven by the control of the control unit 10. 7), and is rotated by the rotational force of the motor 7 transmitted via the belt 8, and is releasably attached to the backing sheet 2 and the backing sheet 2 constituting the label continuous body 3 set on the supply shaft 4 described later. Roller 1 that conveys the label 1 and presses the label 1 against the print head 5, a supply shaft 4 that rotatably supports the label continuous body 3, a light emitting unit that emits predetermined light, and a light emitting unit that emits predetermined light. A light-receiving unit that receives the emitted light and outputs an electric signal corresponding to the intensity of the received light (the amount of light received per unit time). The light-emitting unit and the light-receiving unit sandwich the mount 2 and the label 1. Arrangement , A label 1 and a position detection sensor (hereinafter simply referred to as a sensor as appropriate) 9 for detecting a gap (a portion of only the backing sheet 2 between two adjacent labels 1) based on the amount of light received by the light receiving section. .

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the electrical configuration of the embodiment of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 10 stores a predetermined control program and information (such as information indicating applied energy corresponding to a printing speed) in a ROM (r
read only memory) 12 and ROM 12
Operates according to the control program stored in the CPU and controls each part.
ng unit) 11 and various data necessary for the operation of the CPU 11 are stored, a character string to be printed,
RAM (random access mem) having a drawing area in which print data such as figures and barcodes are expanded
ory) 13, a motor control unit 14 that supplies a pulse signal to the stepping motor 7 to rotate the stepping motor 7, characters to be printed supplied from the CPU 11,
A control signal corresponding to print data such as a figure and a bar code is generated and supplied to the print head 5 to control a print control unit 15 for performing a printing operation and a light emitting unit of the position detection sensor 9 under the control of the CPU 11. And emit light,
A sensor control unit 16 which receives an electric signal output from the light receiving unit, converts the electric signal into digital data, and supplies the digital data to the CPU 11; an external interface 17;
0. An input unit 18 for inputting various data such as a printing speed, which will be described later, and an input unit 18
A monitor 19 for displaying input data and various information is connected via an interface 20.
Input data input from the input unit 18 is supplied to the CPU 11 via the interface 20, and display data corresponding to various information displayed on the monitor 19 is supplied from the CPU 11 via the interface 20. I have. In addition, various data can be transmitted and received to and from an externally connected device via the external interface 17.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The operation of the present embodiment will be described. First of all, C
The PU 11 determines whether data indicating the printing speed has been input (step S1). If the input unit 18 determines that the data indicating the printing speed has not been input (NO in step S1), the process proceeds to step S1.
Subsequent processing is repeatedly executed. On the other hand, when the user operates the input unit 18, for example, 50 millimeters / second (m
m / s), 75 mm / s, 100 mm / s, 125 mm
/ S, 150 mm / s, etc., when inputting data for designating a printing speed, the CPU 11 determines that data indicating the printing speed has been input (step S1).
YES), the data indicating the printing speed input by the input unit 18 is temporarily stored in the RAM 13 (step S2).

Next, the CPU 11 determines whether or not an instruction to start printing has been given (step S3). When it is determined that the start of printing has not been instructed (step S
(NO in 3), the processing after step S3 is repeatedly executed. On the other hand, when the user presses a predetermined key of the input unit 18 or presses a print start button (not shown) to instruct the start of printing, the CPU 11
It is determined that the start of printing has been instructed (Y in step S3).
ES), the CPU 11 reads out the print data stored in the RAM 13 and supplies the read data to the print control unit 15, and also outputs the data indicating the print speed previously input from the input unit 18 and stored in the RAM 13 to the print control unit 15. (Step S4). Further, the CPU 11 also supplies the data indicating the printing speed, which has been input from the input unit 18 and is stored in the RAM 13, to the motor control unit 14 (step S5).

The print control unit 15 is controlled by the CPU 11
When the print data supplied from the RAM 13 is received, a control signal corresponding to the print data is generated and supplied to the print head 5 (step S6). The print control unit 15
Determines the magnitude of the applied energy to be applied to the print head 5 based on the data indicating the printing speed supplied from the RAM 13 under the control of the CPU 11 (step S7).

The magnitude of the applied energy is, for example, as shown in FIG.
The correspondence between the printing speed and the applied energy as shown in (1) is obtained, information indicating the correspondence is stored in advance in the ROM 12 or the like, and the value of the applied energy corresponding to the printing speed is sequentially read from the ROM 12 and set. Alternatively, a predetermined mathematical expression representing the correspondence between the printing speed and the applied energy is stored in the ROM 12, and the applied energy corresponding to the designated printing speed is determined by calculation from this mathematical expression. May be.

FIG. 4 shows the correspondence between the printing speed and the applied energy as described above. In the case of this example, when the printing speed is set to 50 mm / s, a predetermined amount of applied energy is applied to the print head 5 so that a character or a graphic having a high density is printed. When the printing speed is set to 75 mm / s, the print head 5 is printed so that characters and figures with a slightly higher density are printed.
Is applied with a predetermined magnitude.
When the printing speed is set to 100 mm / s, a predetermined amount of applied energy is applied to the print head 5 so that characters or figures having a normal density are printed. When the printing speed is set to 125 mm / s, a predetermined amount of applied energy is applied to the print head 5 so that characters or figures having a slightly lower density are printed. When the printing speed is set to 150 mm / s, a predetermined amount of applied energy is applied to the print head 5 so that characters or figures with low density are printed.

When the motor control unit 14 receives the data indicating the printing speed supplied from the RAM 13 under the control of the CPU 11, the motor control unit 14 controls the stepping motor 7 so that the label 1 and the backing paper 2 are transported at the printing speed. A control signal is supplied thereto. The stepping motor 7 to which the control signal has been supplied starts rotating at a speed corresponding to the control signal. The torque of the stepping motor 7 is transmitted to the platen roller 6 via the belt 8 to rotate the platen roller 6. As a result, the label 1 and the backing paper 2 sandwiched between the platen roller 6 and the print head 5
The paper is transported at the specified print speed (Step S
8).

At the same time as the label 1 and the mount 2 are conveyed, the applied energy of the magnitude determined as described above is applied to the print head 5 (step S).
9). More specifically, an applied energy having a magnitude corresponding to the printing speed is applied to a predetermined heating element (not shown) constituting the print head 5 in accordance with the print data.

As a result, characters and graphics corresponding to the print data are printed on the label 1 at a density corresponding to the printing speed designated by the user (step S10). That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the user sets a relatively low printing speed when printing characters and graphics with relatively high density, and prints characters and graphics with relatively low density when printing. A relatively high speed is set as the speed.

As described above, the user can adjust the density of characters or figures to be printed only by setting the printing speed.

Of course, the density may be designated instead of the printing speed. In that case, the printing speed and the applied energy corresponding to the designated density are selected, and characters and figures having the designated density are printed.

Next, a method for controlling the printing speed according to the sensitivity of the medium to be printed (the label 1 in this embodiment) will be described. For example, when characters and figures are printed on a plurality of types of media under the conditions that the printing speed and the applied energy are constant, the difference in the density of the characters and figures as a printing result is caused by the sensitivity of each medium. In other words, the higher the density (darker) of the characters and graphics printed on the medium, the better the sensitivity of the medium, and the lower (lighter) the density, the worse the sensitivity of the medium.
In addition, when an ink ribbon or the like is used, the sensitivity may be affected by the characteristics of the ink ribbon, but the characteristics of the ink ribbon and the like are not considered here for the sake of simplicity.

If the user knows the sensitivity of the medium in advance, the user can specify the printing speed in accordance with the sensitivity to perform printing at a desired density. That is, when the sensitivity of the medium is low, the printing speed is specified to be slightly lower. If the sensitivity of the medium is good, the printing speed is specified to be slightly faster. If the sensitivity of the medium is not known, test printing is performed, the sensitivity of the medium is determined from the printing result, and printing is performed at a desired density.
Adjust the printing speed.

The print result of the test print is read by a predetermined optical sensor or the like and fed back, so that the sensitivity of the medium is automatically determined, and the printing speed specified by the user is corrected based on the sensitivity. It is also possible.

In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which characters, figures, and the like are printed on a label that is removably attached to the backing sheet. The invention can be applied.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a label printer has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to other printing apparatuses.

In the above embodiment, any one of five preset printing speeds can be designated. However, N printing speeds are set in advance, and any of the five printing speeds is set. Can be specified. Here, N is an arbitrary natural number of 2 or more.

In the above embodiment, the print controller 15 determines the magnitude of the applied energy according to the printing speed. However, the CPU 11 may determine the applied energy.

The configuration and operation of the above embodiment are merely examples, and it goes without saying that the configuration and operation can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0027]

As described above, according to the printing apparatus and the printing method according to the present invention, print data is stored, the medium is transported in a predetermined direction, a predetermined applied energy is applied to the print head, and the print medium is transported. Print characters and graphics corresponding to the print data on the medium. At this time, the transport speed at which the medium is transported in a predetermined direction is specified, and in accordance with the specified transport speed,
The magnitude of the applied energy to be applied to the print head is determined, the determined applied energy is controlled so as to be applied to the print head, the medium is transported at a specified transport speed, and characters and graphics corresponding to the print data are controlled. Is printed on the medium at the density corresponding to the specified transport speed, so that only by specifying the transport speed of the medium, characters and graphics can be printed on the medium at the desired density.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an embodiment of a label printer to which a printing apparatus according to the invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a control unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the correspondence between printing speed and applied energy.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 label 2 mount 3 label continuous body 4 supply axis 5 print head 6 platen roller 7 stepping motor 8 belt 9 position detection sensor 10 control unit 11 CPU 12 ROM 13 RAM 14 motor control unit 15 print control unit 16 sensor control unit 17 external interface 18 Input unit 19 Monitor 20 Interface

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus which prints a character or a figure corresponding to predetermined print data on a predetermined medium by applying a predetermined magnitude of applied energy to a print head, wherein the storage stores the print data. Means, conveying means for conveying the medium in a predetermined direction, applying a predetermined applied energy to the print head, and printing the characters or figures corresponding to the print data on the medium conveyed by the conveying means. Printing means, control means for controlling the magnitude of the applied energy applied to the print head by the printing means, designation means for designating a transport speed at which the transport means transports the medium in the predetermined direction, The applied energy to be applied to the print head by the control means, corresponding to the transport speed specified by the specifying means. Determining means for determining the size of the key, the control means controls the applied energy determined by the determining means to be applied to the print head by the printing means, the transport means, The medium is transported at the transport speed specified by the specifying unit, and the printing unit prints the characters and graphics corresponding to the print data on the medium at a density corresponding to the transport speed specified by the specifying unit. A printing device characterized by being printed. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a correction unit configured to correct the magnitude of the applied energy determined by the determination unit according to the sensitivity of the medium.
A printing device according to claim 1. 3. A printing method for printing a character or a figure corresponding to predetermined print data on a predetermined medium by applying a predetermined magnitude of applied energy to a print head, wherein the print data is stored. Transferring the medium in a predetermined direction, applying a predetermined applied energy to the print head, and printing the characters or graphics corresponding to the print data on the medium conveyed by the conveyance unit. A printing step, a control step of controlling the magnitude of the applied energy applied to the print head in the printing step, and a designation step of designating a transport speed at which the medium is transported in the predetermined direction in the transport step. Corresponding to the transport speed specified in the specifying step, A determining step of determining the magnitude of the applied energy to be applied to the printing head, wherein in the controlling step, the applied energy determined in the determining step is applied to the printing head in the printing step Is controlled as
In the transporting step, the medium is transported at the transporting speed specified in the specifying step, and in the printing step, characters and graphics corresponding to the print data are adjusted to the transporting speed specified in the specifying step. A printing method, wherein printing is performed on the medium at a corresponding density.