JP2007090614A - Print head control method, print head control device, and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print head control method and a print head control device capable of maintaining a stable print quality for a long period. <P>SOLUTION: The print head control device, which controls a print head having a plurality of heating elements, comprises a power unit 2 which supplies drive voltage for driving the plurality of heating elements to a thermal head 1, a voltage detecting section 32 which detects the drive voltage output from the power unit 2, and a control unit 33 which captures the detected output of the voltage detecting section 32 and corrects the print output for increase or decrease to be supplied to the thermal head 1 corresponding to the variation amount of the detected output. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print head control method, a print head control apparatus, and a printer that perform thermal recording with a thermal head.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic configuration of a conventional thermal printer. In the figure, a thermal printer supplies a thermal head 10 having a plurality of heating element elements, a power supply device 20 for supplying a driving voltage to the thermal head 10, and printing (printing) energy corresponding to print data to the thermal head 10. And a control circuit 30.
In a conventional thermal printer, the power supply device is set so that a driving voltage suitable for the characteristics of each thermal head is supplied to the thermal head at the time of shipment, or a driving voltage suitable for the characteristics of each thermal head is output. The print density setting value is set on the control circuit side of the printer so that the specified print density is obtained when printing out (see Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3). .
JP-A-6-55760 JP-A-5-229167 JP 58-185277 A

However, since the conventional thermal printer described above does not have a function and mechanism for monitoring the drive voltage and print density of the thermal head after shipment, if the drive voltage fluctuates, the print density is affected.
Therefore, if the drive voltage of the thermal head output from the printer power supply device fluctuates due to aging, voltage drop due to load fluctuation, etc., the print density may be greatly affected, and print quality may be impaired.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a print head control method, a print head control device, and a printer that can maintain stable print quality for a long period of time.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is a print head control method for driving and controlling a print head having a plurality of heating element elements, and detects a drive voltage of the print head supplied from a power supply device. The printing output supplied to the print head is corrected so as to increase or decrease in accordance with the variation amount of the detection voltage.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the print head control method for driving and controlling a print head having a plurality of heating element elements, the drive voltage of the print head supplied from a power supply device is detected, and the detected voltage The driving voltage supplied to the print head is corrected to be constant according to the amount of fluctuation.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the print head control method for driving and controlling a print head having a plurality of heating element elements, the drive voltage of the print head output from a power supply device is supplied via the control means. When the drive voltage of the print head supplied to the print head and output from the power supply device fluctuates, the drive voltage is corrected according to the fluctuation amount of the drive voltage by the control means.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print head control device for driving and controlling a print head having a plurality of heat generating elements, and a power supply for supplying a drive voltage for driving the plurality of heat generating elements to the print head. A printing output supplied to the print head in accordance with a fluctuation amount of the detection output, and a drive voltage detection means for detecting the drive voltage output from the power supply device; and a detection output of the drive voltage detection means And a control means for supplying the print head with correction so as to increase or decrease.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print head control device for driving and controlling a print head having a plurality of heating element elements, including a power supply device for supplying a drive voltage to the print head, and the power supply device. A drive voltage supply means for supplying a drive voltage for the print head, a voltage detection means for detecting a drive voltage output of the drive voltage supply means, and a fluctuation amount of the drive voltage based on the detection output of the voltage detection means And a voltage correction means for correcting the drive voltage supplied to the print head by the drive voltage supply means to be constant, the voltage supply means based on the output of the voltage correction means. It is characterized by supplying.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print head control device for driving and controlling a print head having a plurality of heating element elements. The power supply device generates and outputs a drive voltage supplied to the print head, and the power supply device. Drive voltage detection means for detecting the drive voltage output from the drive voltage, and when the drive voltage of the print head output from the power supply device fluctuates based on the detection output of the drive voltage detection means, the fluctuation of the drive voltage And a control unit that corrects the driving voltage in accordance with the amount and supplies the corrected driving voltage to the print head.

  A seventh aspect of the invention (printer) includes the print head control device according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the drive voltage of the print head supplied from the power supply device is detected, and the print output supplied to the print head is increased or decreased according to the fluctuation amount of the detected voltage. Since correction is made, stable print quality can be maintained for a long time.

Further, according to the present invention, the drive voltage of the print head supplied from the power supply device is detected, and the drive voltage supplied to the print head is corrected to be constant according to the fluctuation amount of the detected voltage. Thus, the same effect can be obtained.
Further, according to the present invention, the drive voltage of the print head output from the power supply device is supplied to the print head via the control means, and the drive voltage of the print head output from the power supply device fluctuates. In this case, the same effect can be obtained by correcting the drive voltage in accordance with the fluctuation amount of the drive voltage by the control means.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the print head control apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the print head control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention is based on a power supply device 2 for supplying a drive voltage THV to a thermal head (print head) 1 having a plurality of heating elements, and print data. And a control circuit 3 for driving and controlling the thermal head 1.

The control circuit 3 stores a print input unit 30 to which print data is input, and a table (see FIG. 2) showing the relationship between the fixed data and the read value of the drive voltage and the correction value of the print signal (print energy) output. The storage unit 31, the voltage detection unit 32 that detects the drive voltage of the thermal head 1 output from the power supply device 2, and the control unit 33.
The control unit 33 has a function of correcting the print signal based on the print data supplied to the thermal head 1 according to the fluctuation amount of the drive voltage THV.

In the above configuration, the thermal head drive voltage THV supplied from the power supply device 2 to the thermal head 1 is detected by the voltage detector 32 and output to the controller 33 by the voltage detector 32.
The control unit 33 refers to the table shown in FIG. 2 stored in the storage unit 31 based on the value of the drive voltage THV detected by the voltage detection unit 32, that is, according to the fluctuation amount of the drive voltage THV. A correction value of the printing signal (printing energy) output to the thermal head 1 corresponding to the fluctuation amount of the drive voltage THV is obtained.

Next, the control unit 33 corrects the print data input from the print data input unit 30 with the obtained correction value, and outputs it to the thermal head 1. As a result, a correction value commensurate with the fluctuation amount of the drive voltage THV is reflected in the print signal (print energy).
For example, if the read value (detected value) of the drive voltage THV is “194” at the time of shipment, the voltage value of the drive voltage THV output from the power supply device 2 at a certain point in time is “192”. The correction value “2” of the print signal output to the thermal head 1 from the table shown in FIG. If the read value has not changed to “194”, it remains in the uncorrected state.

  Next, FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a print head control apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a print head control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention includes a control unit 3A that outputs a print signal corresponding to print data to the thermal head 1, and a power supply device that supplies a drive signal THV to the thermal head 1. 2A.

The power supply device 2A includes a power supply unit (drive voltage supply unit) 20 that supplies the drive voltage THV of the thermal head 1, a voltage detection unit (voltage detection unit) 21 that detects a drive voltage output of the power supply unit 20, and a voltage A voltage correction unit (voltage correction unit) that outputs a correction signal for making the drive voltage supplied to the thermal head 1 constant by the power supply unit 20 according to the fluctuation amount of the drive voltage based on the detection output of the detection unit 21. 22.
The voltage supply unit 20 supplies the drive voltage THV to the thermal head 1 based on the output of the voltage correction unit 22.

In the above configuration, a preset driving voltage THV is supplied from the power supply unit 20 to the thermal head 1. The voltage detection unit 21 outputs the drive voltage THV output from the power supply unit 20 to the detection frequency and voltage correction unit 22.
When the voltage correction unit 22 compares the drive voltage value set in advance with the detection value of the drive voltage detected by the voltage detection unit 21, the drive voltage output from the power supply unit 20 varies. In this case, a correction signal, which is a control signal for performing correction according to the variation amount, is output to the power supply unit 20. The power supply unit 20 corrects and outputs the drive signal level to a preset level based on the correction signal output from the voltage correction unit 22.
Therefore, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the drive voltage supplied to the thermal head 1 can be automatically corrected automatically by the power supply device 2A even if voltage fluctuation occurs.

  Next, FIG. 4 shows a configuration of a print head control apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the print head control device according to the third embodiment of the present invention generates a drive voltage for the thermal head 1 and outputs it, and the drive supplied to the thermal head 1 output from the power supply device 2. When the drive voltage THV output from the power supply device 2 fluctuates based on the detection output of the voltage detection unit (drive voltage detection means) 32 that detects the voltage and the voltage detection unit 32, the drive voltage THV depends on the fluctuation amount of the drive voltage A voltage correction circuit 40 for correcting the drive voltage, and a control unit (control means) 33 for supplying the corrected drive voltage to the thermal head 1 via the selector 41.

When there is no change in the drive voltage THV output from the power supply device 2, the control unit 33 outputs it to the thermal head 1 via the selector 41 and there is a change in the drive voltage THV output from the power supply device 2. In this case, the drive voltage corrected to a preset level by the voltage correction circuit 40 is output to the thermal head 1 via the selector 41.
According to the third embodiment of the present invention, a stable drive voltage THV can be supplied to the thermal head 1 by the controller 3B.
The first to third embodiments of the present invention are also achieved by the above-described printer including the print head control device according to the first to third embodiments of the present invention and the print head control method implemented by each of the print head control devices. The same effects as those of the print head control apparatus according to the above can be obtained.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a print head control apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a table stored in a storage unit in the print head control apparatus according to the first embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1. The block diagram which shows the structure of the print head control apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the print head control apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a conventional thermal printer.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,10 ... Thermal head 2, 2A, 20 ... Power supply device 3, 3A, 3B, 30 ... Control circuit, 20 ... Power supply part, 21, 32 ... Voltage detection part, 22 ... Voltage correction part, 30 ... Print Data input unit 31 ... Storage unit 33 ... Control unit 40 ... Voltage correction circuit 41 ... Selector

Claims (7)

In a print head control method for driving and controlling a print head having a plurality of heating element elements,
A print head control method comprising: detecting a drive voltage of the print head supplied from a power supply device; and correcting the print output to be supplied to the print head according to an amount of fluctuation of the detected voltage. In a print head control method for driving and controlling a print head having a plurality of heating element elements,
A print head control method comprising: detecting a drive voltage of the print head supplied from a power supply device; and correcting the drive voltage supplied to the print head according to a variation amount of the detected voltage. . In a print head control method for driving and controlling a print head having a plurality of heating element elements,
When the drive voltage of the print head output from the power supply apparatus is supplied to the print head via the control means and the drive voltage of the print head output from the power supply apparatus fluctuates, the control means A method for controlling a print head, wherein the drive voltage is corrected according to a fluctuation amount of the drive voltage. In a print head control device that drives and controls a print head having a plurality of heating element elements,
A power supply for supplying a driving voltage for driving the plurality of heating elements to the print head;
Drive voltage detection means for detecting the drive voltage output from the power supply device;
Control means for capturing the detection output of the drive voltage detection means, correcting the print output to be supplied to the print head in accordance with the amount of change in the detection output, and supplying the correction to the print head;
A print head control device comprising: In a print head control device that drives and controls a print head having a plurality of heating element elements,
A power supply device for supplying a driving voltage to the print head;
The power supply device
Drive voltage supply means for supplying a drive voltage to the print head;
Voltage detection means for detecting a drive voltage output of the drive voltage supply means;
Voltage correction means for correcting the drive voltage supplied to the print head by the drive voltage supply means according to the amount of fluctuation of the drive voltage based on the detection output of the voltage detection means;
The print head control device, wherein the voltage supply means supplies a drive voltage based on an output of the voltage correction means. In a print head control device that drives and controls a print head having a plurality of heating element elements,
A power supply that generates and outputs a drive voltage for the print head; and
Drive voltage detection means for detecting a drive voltage output from the power supply device;
When the drive voltage supplied to the print head output from the power supply device fluctuates based on the detection output of the drive voltage detection means, the drive voltage is corrected according to the fluctuation amount of the drive voltage, and the correction Control means for supplying the drive voltage to the print head;
A print head control device comprising: A printer comprising the print head control device according to claim 4.

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