JP2009090547A - Thermal printer and printing speed reducing control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal printer which can perform a speed reduction with an optimal inclination of speed reduction acquired from the information on printing contents and position. <P>SOLUTION: With the thermal printer, two or more line data printed by a thermal head are memorized in n line data storage section 23. A head strobe signal is issued by a head strobe signal formation section 28 for every line data. The printing speed corresponding to the head strobe signal is computed by a printing speed calculation section 29 for every line data. When the printing speed lower than the present printing speed exists in the printing speeds of each line data computed, the inclination of speed reduction for making the speed reduction from the present printing speed to the speed lower than the present one is computed by a speed-reduction inclination calculation section 30. A motor control section 31 controls the speed of motor according to the computed inclination of speed reduction and makes the printing speed reduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a thermal printer and a printing speed deceleration control method capable of decelerating with an optimum deceleration gradient obtained from information on printing contents (energization pulse width, division by physical block, etc.) and printing position information.

  A thermal printer, which is one of information printing terminals, is used in various system forms including the retail industry and the logistics industry.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a general configuration of a thermal printer. As shown in FIG. 6A, the thermal printer includes a platen (platen roll) 53 and a thermal head 41. The platen 53 is held rotatably about an axis 53a along the width direction of the thermal paper (not shown). A motor 52 is connected to the shaft 53a via a train wheel 54. The motor 52 is, for example, a stepping motor.

  After the rotational motion of the motor 52 is decelerated by the train wheel 54, it is transmitted to the shaft 53a, and the platen 53 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow for paper feeding. The thermal head 41 is disposed so as to be pressed against the platen 53 from behind with the thermal paper in between.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, the thermal head 41 is held so as to be rotatable about a shaft 53a. When a printing operation is performed, the printing portion of the thermal head 41 is made of recording paper by a spring member 55. It is pressed against a certain thermal paper 42. If the printing unit is energized in this state, printing for one line is performed, and a part of characters or a part of image appears on the thermal paper. When printing for one line is completed, the platen 53 rotates in the direction of the arrow, and the thermal paper is fed.

  In the thermal head 41, as shown in FIG. 7, the heating elements for one line of the image to be formed are arranged in the main scanning direction. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the thermal head 41 is divided into four physical blocks 1 to 4, and 64 heat generating elements R <b> 1 to R <b> 64 are arranged in a line in each physical block 1 to 4. . Further, the heating elements R1 to R64 in the physical blocks 1 to 4 are connected to the head drive blocks DST1 to DST4 of the head drive circuit 25, respectively. (The physical block is a group of heating elements in the thermal head divided into groups, and is a group of heating elements driven by one head strobe signal. Also, the actual number of heating elements, and (The number of physical blocks may be further increased.)

  The energization pulse control unit 27 applies the head strobe signal STB1 to the head drive block DST1 to drive the heating elements R1 to R64 in the physical block 1 according to the dot data held in the 1-line buffer 24. Is done. In other words, the output voltage Vp of the thermal head drive power supply 26 is applied to a heating element that is turned on (a heating element to which an energization pulse is applied to actually perform printing).

  Similarly, by applying the head strobe signal STB2 to the head drive block DST2, the heating elements in the physical block 2 are driven, and by applying the head strobe signal STB3 to the head drive block DST3, The heating element is driven. Further, the heating element in the physical block 4 is driven by applying the head strobe signal STB4 to the head driving block DST4.

  By the way, when driving such a thermal head divided into a plurality of physical blocks, a method is disclosed in which the number of on dots in one line of print data is detected and the print speed is controlled (see Patent Document 1). reference). That is, when the detected number of on dots is small, high speed printing is performed by simultaneously driving the physical blocks 1 to 4, and when the detected number of on dots is large, the physical blocks 1 to 4 are divided into two groups. In this method, low-speed printing is performed by driving in a time-sharing manner and current consumption of the thermal head driving power source is suppressed.

For this purpose, in the thermal printer of Patent Document 1, print data for a plurality of lines immediately before printing is sequentially stored line by line in a data storage unit. When the on-dot number detection unit detects the number of on-dots of one line of print data stored in the data storage unit, the control unit prints one line in which the number of on-dots changes over the specified number. When the data is recognized, the control unit changes the printing speed step by step every time one line of print data is printed by the time when the one line of print data is printed. As a result, it is possible to switch the printing speed step by step, and since there is no sudden change in the printing speed when the printing speed is switched, it is possible to prevent the user from feeling uncomfortable.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-180027

  The above-described thermal printer of Patent Document 1 detects the number of on dots from print data for a plurality of lines before printing, and detects the physical block of the thermal head at the stage where the number of on dots exceeding the specified number of on dots is detected. In order to drive in a time-sharing manner, the printing speed is gradually reduced so as to shift from high-speed printing to low-speed printing.

  However, in recent thermal printers, the fluctuation width of the head strobe signal and the fluctuation amount of the printing speed in the head drive control increase as the printing speed is increased and the power supply voltage / power supply capacity and the environmental temperature are widened. ing. For this reason, as in Patent Document 1, in order to drive the physical block in a time-sharing manner, it has become difficult to cope with only the method of shifting from high-speed printing to low-speed printing.

  In controlling a thermal printer motor (paper feeding motor, for example, a stepping motor), deceleration may be required depending on the pulse width condition of the head strobe signal.

  Also, a head strobe signal for a predetermined number of steps is predicted, and the longest head strobe among them is compared with the current motor pulse width, and the current motor pulse width is shorter than the pulse width of the longest head strobe signal. In this case, a control method that does not cause problems such as motor step-out due to sudden deceleration may be required by performing deceleration control at a predetermined rate.

  In the thermal printer of Patent Document 1, the driving motor decelerates at the same rate of deceleration width regardless of the position (time) within the predetermined number of steps at the longest head strobe. In the case of this method, it is necessary to set the deceleration range in consideration of the presence of the longest head slope at a closer position (time). There was a problem that the ratio of motor drive in the system increased and the total speed slowed down.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to control the optimum deceleration gradient based on the print contents of the line data to be printed and the print position information in the motor control of the thermal printer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal printer and a printing speed reduction control method capable of reducing the printing speed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and a thermal printer according to the present invention presses a thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged in a line shape against thermal paper, and the plurality of heating elements. A thermal printer that performs pulse energization on a heating element selected and specified from among the above, and performs printing by alternately repeating the pulse energization and paper feeding by the thermal paper motor, and a plurality of lines to be printed by the thermal head A multi-line data storage unit for storing data, and a head strobe signal for generating a head strobe signal for driving the heating element of the thermal head for each line data based on the line data held in the multi-line data storage unit Based on the head strobe signal generated by the generator and the head strobe signal generator, the head When there is a printing speed that is lower than the current printing speed among the printing speed calculation unit that calculates the printing speed corresponding to the trobe signal and the printing speed of each line data calculated by the printing speed calculation unit, A deceleration inclination calculating section that calculates a deceleration inclination for decelerating from the current printing speed toward a printing speed lower than the current printing speed, and controlling the speed of the motor according to the deceleration inclination calculated by the deceleration inclination calculating section. A motor control unit.
In the thermal printer of the present invention configured as described above, a plurality of line data to be printed by the thermal head is stored, a head strobe signal is obtained for each line data, and a printing speed corresponding to the head strobe signal is calculated. When the calculated printing speed of each line data includes a printing speed lower than the current printing speed, the deceleration for decelerating from the current printing speed toward the printing speed lower than the current printing speed. An inclination is calculated, and the speed of the motor is controlled in accordance with the calculated deceleration inclination. In other words, since the printing speed varies in various ways according to the head strobe signal (pulse width, number of divisions by physical block, etc.), the deceleration width required when shifting from the current printing speed to the low-speed printing speed, and the deceleration The deceleration gradient is calculated based on the line position that requires
Thus, the optimum deceleration gradient can be obtained based on the print contents and the print position information, and the printing speed can be reduced by this deceleration gradient.

Further, in the thermal printer of the present invention, the head strobe signal generation unit pulses the heating element of the thermal head based on the number of print data that becomes on dot for each line data held in the multiple line data storage unit. It is configured to obtain the pulse width of the head strobe signal that is driven by energization, and the printing speed calculation unit corresponds to the head strobe signal based on the pulse width of the head strobe signal obtained by the head strobe signal generation unit. It is configured to calculate the printing speed to be performed.
In the thermal printer of the present invention configured as described above, a plurality of line data to be printed by the thermal head is stored, the pulse width of the head strobe signal corresponding to the line data is obtained, and the print corresponding to the pulse width of the head strobe signal is obtained. Calculate the speed. When the calculated printing speed of each line data includes a printing speed lower than the current printing speed, the deceleration for decelerating from the current printing speed toward the printing speed lower than the current printing speed. An inclination is calculated, and the speed of the motor is controlled in accordance with the calculated deceleration inclination. That is, since the printing speed changes according to the pulse width of the head strobe signal, the printing speed is decelerated based on the deceleration width required when shifting from the current printing speed to the low-speed printing speed and the line position that requires deceleration. Calculate the slope.
Thus, the optimum deceleration gradient can be obtained based on the print contents and the print position information, and the printing speed can be reduced by this deceleration gradient.

In the thermal printer of the present invention, the heating element of the thermal head is divided into physical block units driven by one head strobe signal, and the printing speed calculation unit is Depending on whether the head strobe signal is simultaneously applied to all the physical blocks and simultaneously driven, or the physical block is sequentially or dividedly selected and the head strobe signal is applied and selectively driven, the print speed is changed. It is configured to be calculated.
In the thermal printer of the present invention configured as described above, when the heat generating element of the thermal head is divided into a plurality of physical blocks, all of the physical blocks are driven simultaneously, or the physical blocks are driven sequentially or dividedly. Accordingly, the printing speed is calculated.
Thereby, even when the printing speed needs to be reduced according to the driving method of the physical block, the optimum inclination of the deceleration can be obtained.

The thermal printer according to the present invention is characterized in that the deceleration gradient calculation unit is configured to convert the deceleration gradient into a deceleration curve corresponding to the structure of the printer and the characteristics of the thermal head.
Thus, finer deceleration control can be performed by converting the deceleration gradient into a deceleration curve suitable for the printer mechanism of the thermal printer.

In the printing speed reduction control method of the present invention, a thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged in a line shape is pressed against thermal paper, and a pulse energization is applied to the heating element selected and specified from the plurality of heating elements. And a printing speed reduction control method in a thermal printer for performing printing by alternately repeating the pulse energization and the paper feeding by the thermal paper motor, and printing by the thermal head by the control unit in the thermal printer. Based on the multiple line data storage procedure for storing a plurality of line data and the line data held by the multiple line data storage procedure, a head strobe signal for driving the heating element of the thermal head is generated for each line data. Generating a head strobe signal to be generated and a head strobe signal generating procedure Based on the print strobe signal, the print speed calculation procedure for calculating the print speed corresponding to the head strobe signal, and the print speed of each line data calculated by the print speed calculation procedure, are greater than the current print speed. When a low printing speed exists, the deceleration slope calculation procedure for calculating the deceleration slope for decelerating from the current printing speed toward the printing speed lower than the current printing speed, and the deceleration slope calculated by the deceleration slope calculation procedure In response, a motor control procedure for controlling the speed of the motor is performed.
In the printing speed deceleration control method of the present invention including the above procedure, a plurality of line data to be printed by the thermal head is stored, a head strobe signal is obtained for each line data, and a printing speed corresponding to the head strobe signal is calculated. . When the calculated printing speed of each line data includes a printing speed lower than the current printing speed, the deceleration for decelerating from the current printing speed toward the printing speed lower than the current printing speed. An inclination is calculated, and the speed of the motor is controlled in accordance with the calculated deceleration inclination. In other words, since the printing speed varies in various ways according to the head strobe signal (pulse width, number of divisions by physical block, etc.), the deceleration width required when shifting from the current printing speed to the low-speed printing speed, and the deceleration The deceleration gradient is calculated based on the line position that requires
Thus, the optimum deceleration gradient can be obtained based on the print contents and the print position information, and the printing speed can be reduced by this deceleration gradient.

In the thermal printer of the present invention, the optimum deceleration gradient (or deceleration curve) can be obtained based on the information on the printing contents and the printing position, and the printing speed can be reduced by this deceleration gradient.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a thermal printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and shows portions related to the present invention.

  In the thermal printer shown in FIG. 1, the main control unit 11 is composed of a computer system including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. The control unit realizes the processing function of each processing unit and controls the operation of each unit in the thermal printer.

  The print control unit 21 generates print data (dot data for turning on / off the heating element) to be output to the head drive circuit 25 based on image data input from the outside. In addition, drive control of the motor 52 is performed.

  A print data generation unit 22 for printing in the print control unit 21 generates print data (line data) to be printed by the thermal head 41 based on image data input from the outside, and outputs the print data to the n-line data storage unit 23. To do.

The n line data storage unit 23 stores a plurality of line data to be printed by the thermal head. The one line buffer 24 holds dot data for one line to be printed.
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, 14 line data L1 to L14 are held in the n line data storage unit 23. Then, when the line data L1 in the n-line data storage unit 23 is transmitted to the 1-line buffer 24, the line data L2 to L13 are shifted to the upper blocks, and become line data L1 to L13. Thereafter, one new line data is input from the print data generation unit 22 for printing, and becomes line data L14.

  The head drive circuit 25 includes head drive blocks DST1 to DST4. The head drive blocks DST1 to DST4 are connected to the physical blocks 1 to 4 in the thermal head 41, respectively. Then, by applying the head strobe signal STB1 from the energization pulse control unit 27 to the head drive block DST1, the heating elements R1 to R64 in the physical block 1 correspond to the dot data held in the 1-line buffer 24. Driven. That is, the output voltage Vp of the thermal head drive power supply 26 is applied to the heating element that is turned on. Similarly, by applying the head strobe signal STB2 to the head drive block DST2, the heating elements in the physical block 2 are driven, and by applying the head strobe signal STB3 to the head drive block DST3, The heating element is driven. Further, the heating element in the physical block 4 is driven by applying the head strobe signal STB4 to the head driving block DST4.

  The energization pulse control unit 27 generates head strobe signals STB <b> 1 to STB <b> 4 based on an instruction signal from the head strobe signal generation unit 28 and applies it to the head drive circuit 25.

  The head strobe signal generation unit 28 generates a head strobe signal for driving the heating element of the thermal head by applying a pulse to each line data held in the n-line data storage unit 23 based on the number of print data to be on dots. Find the pulse width. Further, it is determined whether the physical blocks 1 to 4 are driven simultaneously or time-divisionally (sequentially or dividedly). When driving in a time-division manner, the overall head strobe signal width is increased as a result.

  The printing speed calculation unit 29 calculates the printing speed corresponding to the head strobe signal based on the pulse width of the head strobe signal obtained by the head strobe signal generation unit 28. Also, when the heating element of the thermal head is divided into multiple physical blocks, the printing speed is calculated according to whether all of the physical blocks are driven simultaneously, or whether the physical blocks are driven sequentially or dividedly. To do.

  Note that the printing speed means a printing cycle including a paper feeding operation time by a motor and a printing operation time by a thermal head when printing one line. High printing speed (high-speed printing) means that this printing cycle is short. Slow printing speed (low speed printing) means that this printing cycle is long. Note that the printing speed decreases as the pulse width of the head strobe signal increases. In addition, the printing speed decreases as the physical block is finely divided and driven.

  When there is a printing speed lower than the current printing speed among the printing speeds of the respective line data calculated by the printing speed calculating section 29, the deceleration inclination calculating section 30 is lower than the current printing speed. A deceleration gradient for decelerating toward the printing speed is calculated.

  The motor control unit 31 controls the rotation speed of the motor 52 in accordance with the deceleration gradient calculated by the deceleration gradient calculation unit 30.

  The motor driver 51 is a motor drive control device that rotationally drives the motor 52 based on a control command sent from the motor control unit 31. The rotation of the motor 52 is transmitted to the platen 53, and the thermal paper 42 is fed by the rotation of the platen 53.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the deceleration control operation in the thermal printer of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, in order to decelerate the current printing speed F1 (position T0) to the printing speed F1 required when the position (time) T1 is reached, the speed difference “F0− The necessary deceleration slope Ka is obtained from the difference “T1−T2” between “F1” and the position (time).

  As shown in FIG. 3B, in order to decelerate to the necessary printing speed when the position (time) of T1 is reached, the printer is not a linear deceleration as shown in FIG. You may make it obtain | require the deceleration curves Kp and Kc according to a mechanism (a printer mechanism and a thermal head characteristic). You may make it perform deceleration along these deceleration curves Kp and Kc.

  FIG. 3C shows the case of the conventional example, and also when the current printing speed F1 (the position of T0) is decelerated to the necessary printing speed when reaching the position (time) of T1. Since the deceleration is performed with a constant deceleration gradient Ks, the speed becomes low at the position T2, and the total printing speed becomes slow. That is, the total printing speed is reduced due to the speed in the portion surrounded by the oblique lines.

  As described above, in the thermal printer of the present invention, the optimum deceleration gradient is obtained based on the contents of the line data to be printed and the printing position information, and the printing speed is decelerated by the optimum deceleration gradient. it can

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of deceleration control processing in the thermal printer of the present invention, and shows the above-described deceleration control operation of the printing speed. Hereinafter, the flow of the process will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, a plurality of line data is acquired from the n line data storage unit 23 (step S1). The multiple line data is data that is updated every time one line is printed.

  Next, the head strobe signal generation unit 28 predicts the pulse width of the head strobe of each line, and the printing speed calculation unit 29 calculates the upper limit value of the printing speed (step S2).

  Subsequently, the deceleration inclination calculation unit 30 initializes the deceleration calculation step position: X to 1 and the deceleration inclination: a to 0 (step S3). Then, at step position: X, it is determined whether or not it is necessary to decelerate from the current speed (step S4).

  If it is necessary to decelerate from the current speed (step S4: Yes), the deceleration gradient is obtained from the difference between the current speed and the speed after deceleration: y and the step position x where deceleration is required (step S5). ).

The deceleration slope a in this case is
a = max {(Y−Yn) / Xn}, n = 1, 2, 3,...
Here, Xn (1 to the specified number of lines) is the step position, Y is the current speed, and Yn (1 to the specified number of lines) is the upper speed limit at each printing position.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S4 that it is not necessary to decelerate (step S4: No), the process proceeds to step S6.

  Then, it is determined whether or not the deceleration slope obtained this time is larger than the currently held deceleration slope: a (step S6). If the held deceleration slope is larger than a (step S6: Yes), the value of the held deceleration slope: a is updated to the current deceleration slope (step S7). On the other hand, when the deceleration gradient held is smaller than a (step S6: No), the process proceeds to step S8.

  Next, if 1 is added to the step position x, it is determined whether or not the number of multiple lines is exceeded (step S8). When exceeding (step S8: Yes), since it processed about all the line data, the deceleration control process is complete | finished. When not exceeding (step S8: No), it returns to step S4 and processes about the next line data.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of the deceleration control in the present invention. The example shown in FIG. 5 is an example of the prescribed number of lines (n = 14), and is an example in which 14 line data are monitored to determine the deceleration slope. In FIG. 5, the vertical axis indicates the drivable print speed for the line data (L1 to L14), and the horizontal axis indicates the print position (or time) of the line data (L1 to L14).

  FIG. 5A shows an example in which the drivable printing speed corresponding to the line data L1 to L13 is a and the drivable printing speed in the line data L14 is decreased to b. In this case, the printing speed from L1 to L14 and the printing speed b from the printing speed a are lowered stepwise by the deceleration inclination indicated by the symbol K1.

  FIG. 5B shows an example in which the line data is updated and the printing speed in the line data L14 is further reduced to c. In this case, the deceleration gradient K1 is changed to a deceleration gradient K2 having a larger gradient.

  FIG. 5C shows an example in which the initial deceleration slope is K1, and then the speed is reduced to the drivable print speed d in the line data L14 when the deceleration slope K2 is changed to the deceleration slope K2. In this case, the newly determined deceleration slope is K3, but since the deceleration slope K2 that is already decelerating is larger than the deceleration slope K3, deceleration is performed while maintaining the deceleration slope K2 as it is until the line data L5. . Thereafter, from the line data L5, the deceleration inclination toward L5 to L14 is recalculated, and deceleration is performed by this deceleration inclination.

  FIG. 5D shows a comparison between the case of the present invention and the case of the prior art. In FIG. 5D, in the case of the prior art, when it is detected that the printing speed in the line data L14 decreases to the printing speed b, the printing speed is reduced to the low-speed printing speed d by the unique deceleration slope K4. Operates to On the other hand, in the case of the present invention, the vehicle is first decelerated by selecting the deceleration gradient K1, then the deceleration gradient K2, and further the deceleration gradient K3.

  Therefore, in the case of the present invention, it is possible to execute a printing operation without performing deceleration more than necessary (without reducing printing speed more than necessary), and by appropriately changing the deceleration slope. Therefore, it is possible to avoid sudden deceleration of the motor, and it is possible to avoid applying a sudden load on the motor and related mechanical parts.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the thermal printer of the present invention is not limited to the above illustrated example, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Of course.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the thermal printer concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of an n line data storage part. It is a figure for demonstrating the deceleration control operation | movement in the thermal printer of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process of the deceleration control in the thermal printer of this invention. It is a figure which shows the specific example of deceleration control. It is a figure which shows the general structure of a thermal printer. It is a figure for demonstrating a thermal head and a heat generating element.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Main control part, 21 ... Print control part, 22 ... Print data generation part for printing, 23 ... N line data storage part, 24 ... 1 line buffer, 25 ... Head Drive circuit, 26... Thermal head drive power supply, 27... Energization pulse control section, 28... Head strobe signal generation section, 29... Print speed calculation section, 30. ... Motor controller, 41 ... thermal head, 42 ... thermal paper, 51 ... motor driver, 52 ... motor, 53 ... platen

Claims (5)

A thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged in a line is pressed against thermal paper, and pulse energization is performed on the heating element selected and specified from the plurality of heating elements, and the pulse energization and the thermal paper motor are performed. A thermal printer that performs printing by alternately repeating paper feeding by
A plurality of line data storage units for storing a plurality of line data to be printed by the thermal head;
Based on the line data held in the plurality of line data storage units, a head strobe signal generating unit that generates a head strobe signal for driving the heating element of the thermal head for each line data;
A printing speed calculation unit that calculates a printing speed corresponding to the head strobe signal based on the head strobe signal generated by the head strobe signal generation unit;
When the printing speed of each line data calculated by the printing speed calculation unit includes a printing speed lower than the current printing speed, the current printing speed is reduced toward the printing speed lower than the current printing speed. A deceleration inclination calculating unit for calculating a deceleration inclination for
A motor control unit for controlling the speed of the motor in accordance with the deceleration gradient calculated by the deceleration gradient calculation unit;
A thermal printer comprising: The head strobe signal generator is
Based on the number of print data that becomes on-dot for each line data held in the multiple line data storage unit, the pulse width of the head strobe signal that drives the heating element of the thermal head by pulse energization is obtained. ,
The printing speed calculation unit calculates a printing speed corresponding to the head strobe signal based on the pulse width of the head strobe signal obtained by the head strobe signal generation unit.
The thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein the thermal printer is configured. The heating element of the thermal head is divided into physical block units driven by one head strobe signal.
The printing speed calculation unit
The print speed is calculated depending on whether the head strobe signal is simultaneously applied to all the physical blocks and driven simultaneously, or the physical blocks are sequentially or dividedly selected and the head strobe signal is applied and selectively driven. Like
The thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein the thermal printer is configured. In the deceleration gradient calculation unit, the deceleration gradient is converted into a deceleration curve corresponding to the printer structure and the characteristics of the thermal head.
The thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein the thermal printer is configured. A thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged in a line is pressed against thermal paper, and pulse energization is performed on the heating element selected and specified from the plurality of heating elements, and the pulse energization and the thermal paper motor are performed. A printing speed deceleration control method in a thermal printer that performs printing by alternately repeating paper feeding by
By the control unit in the thermal printer,
A plurality of line data storage procedures for storing a plurality of line data to be printed by the thermal head;
A head strobe signal generation procedure for generating a head strobe signal for driving the heating element of the thermal head for each line data based on the line data held by the multiple line data storage procedure;
A printing speed calculation procedure for calculating a printing speed corresponding to the head strobe signal based on the head strobe signal generated by the head strobe signal generation procedure;
When the printing speed of each line data calculated by the printing speed calculation procedure includes a printing speed lower than the current printing speed, the current printing speed is reduced toward the lower printing speed than the current printing speed. A deceleration inclination calculation procedure for calculating a deceleration inclination for
A motor control procedure for controlling the speed of the motor according to the deceleration gradient calculated by the deceleration gradient calculation procedure;
A printing speed reduction control method characterized in that:

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