JP2563857B2 - Method for controlling printer spacing mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling a spacing mechanism that moves a printing mechanism of a serial printer in a direction orthogonal to a paper feed direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows the entire structure of a spacing mechanism for moving a printing mechanism 11 of a serial printer.

The printing mechanism 11 is attached to a toothed belt 12 having flexibility. This toothed belt 12 is stretched over a drive pulley 13 and an idle pulley 14,
Teeth are provided on the contact surfaces of the belt 12 and the two pulleys 13 and 14 so as to mesh with each other.
The drive pulley 13 is coaxially fixed to the drive shaft of the drive motor 15, and when the drive motor 15 rotates in the normal and reverse directions, the toothed belt 12 also rotates in the normal and reverse directions.
Also moves left and right on the paper. As described above, by using the toothed belt 12 and the two pulleys 13 and 14 around which the teeth meshing with the toothed belt 12 are provided, the driving force of the drive motor 15 is reliably transmitted to the printing mechanism without slipping. That is,
The rotation angle of the drive motor 15 and the horizontal position of the printing mechanism 11 uniquely correspond to each other, and the position and the moving speed of the printing mechanism 11 can be controlled by controlling the rotation angle and the rotation speed of the driving motor 15. it can.

The rotation control of the drive motor 15 is performed by the control circuit 16 which receives the operation command operating the motor drive circuit 17. The control circuit 16 includes a CPU 21,
Upon receipt of an operation command, the CPU 21, including the ROM 22, the RAM 23, and the interface 24, reads the control pattern indicating the movement of the printing mechanism 11 stored in the ROM 22 in advance, edits the data by the RAM 23, and the motor drive circuit 17 via the interface 24. Operate.

The movement of the printing mechanism 11 is stopped from one end to an acceleration section for accelerating until the printing speed is reached, a constant speed section moving at the printing speed, and stopped from the printing speed to the other end. It consists of a deceleration section.

FIG. 7 shows a control pattern of a conventional spacing mechanism, where the horizontal axis represents the position of the printing mechanism 11 and the vertical axis represents the moving speed of the printing mechanism 11. In this figure, the printing mechanism stopped at the left end L ₁ is accelerated until it reaches the printing speed in the section A, moves at a constant speed in the section B, decelerates in the section C, and stops at the right end R. When moving to the left, the vehicle accelerates in the section C from the right end R, moves at a constant speed in the section B, decelerates in the section A, and reaches the left end L ₁ .

In the conventional spacing mechanism, the speed in the constant-velocity section B is the same when moving rightward or leftward, and the accelerations in the acceleration section and the deceleration section are equal to each other. The lengths of A and section C are equal.

[0008]

The conventional spacing mechanism is constructed as described above, and the length of the belt for transmitting the driving force of the motor 15 differs depending on the moving direction of the printing mechanism. That is, when the printing mechanism 11 moves to the right in FIG.
3 is the distance K between the printing mechanism 11 and the belt length is two pulleys 13 when moving leftward.
It is the sum of the distance N between 14 and the distance M between the idle pulley 14 and the printing mechanism 11.

As described above, in the case of the leftward movement, the belt length to which the tension is applied becomes longer and the expansion and contraction of the belt becomes larger. For this reason, the load of the motor fluctuates, and a large load is applied as compared with the case of moving to the right. Further, when the tension of the belt 12 is applied to the idle pulley 14, a radial force is applied to the bearing that axially supports the idle pulley 14, and the friction load is also increased.

As described above, in the conventional spacing mechanism, the load varies depending on the moving direction of the printing mechanism 11,
The drive torque of the motor 15 is set so as to generate a sufficient torque when the load is in the moving direction. Therefore, when the load is in the moving direction, there is a problem that the drive torque has a margin and is not used up sufficiently.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a spacing mechanism capable of shortening the printing time by fully utilizing the ability of the drive motor.

[0012]

In order to solve the problem] was the accomplishment of the foregoing
In order to control the spacing mechanism of the printer according to the present invention,
The printing method is that the printing mechanism starts from the drive pulley side.
When moving to the first side, move the printing mechanism to the first speed.
Movement control with the printing mechanism from the idle pulley side to the front.
When moving to the drive pulley side, the printing mechanism
Is controlled to move at a second speed higher than the first speed.
It is.

Further, whether the printing mechanism is on the idle pulley side
From the drive pulley side to the acceleration section
Longer than the acceleration section when the printing mechanism moves in the opposite direction to
Comb control can also be performed.

[0014]

The present invention has the above-mentioned configuration,
The printing mechanism has idle drive pulley side
From this direction to the drive pulley side
Can increase the speed, fully pull the driving force of the driving motor, it may be shortened the time required for reciprocating the printing mechanism.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a control pattern of the movement operation of the printing mechanism 11 of one embodiment to which the present invention is applied. Section A, B, C
Is equal to the section of the conventional mechanism. Control circuit 16
Each component except for is the same as the conventional mechanism shown in FIG. 6, and the control circuit 16 is only changed in the content of the program for controlling the moving speed of the printing mechanism 11.
Further, although a stepping motor which is widely used at present as the drive motor 15 will be described, the present invention is not limited to this.

In this embodiment, the drive force of the drive motor 15 has a margin when the printing mechanism moves to the right as described above. Therefore, when moving to the right, it is possible to increase the traveling speed to v ₁ . When moving to the left, there is no margin in the driving force, so the conventional traveling speed (v ₀ ) is set. In this way, the average printing speed becomes faster than the conventional running speed (v ₀ ) and the printing time can be shortened.

As an example of setting the traveling speed (v ₁ ) in the right direction, a case where the conventional constant traveling speed (v ₀ ) is 153 cm / sec and the driving force has a margin of 20% will be described. To do. The section in which the largest drive torque is required is the acceleration section, and is the section A when the printing mechanism 11 moves to the right and the section C when the printing mechanism 11 moves to the left. As described above, when moving rightward, there is a margin in the driving force, and the acceleration can be increased in the section A. The driving torque in the acceleration section of a certain distance is proportional to the acceleration,
It is proportional to the speed at the end of the acceleration section, that is, the square of the speed during constant speed running. Therefore, as described above, when the driving force has a margin of 20%, the speed ratio (v ₁ / v ₀ ) during constant speed traveling can be set to about 1.1 which is the square root of 1.2. Therefore, the right running speed (v ₁ ) is 168 cm.
Can be set to / sec.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for implementing the above operation.
Shown in When the CPU 21 receives the operation command, the CPU 21 determines which of the moving directions (S11). If it is to the right, the constant traveling speed is set to v ₁ (S12). First, a command for accelerating the section A is issued (S13). At this time, the drive pulse is sent based on the acceleration unit table stored in the ROM 22.
In this acceleration table, the numbers of drive pulses are associated with their intervals, and this example is shown in FIG. As shown in this accelerating unit table, the drive pulse interval gradually decreases from 5 msec (millisecond) to 0.5 msec, and the drive motor 15 is accelerated.

In the section B, the vehicle travels at a constant speed at v ₁ (S1
4). At this time, the drive pulse is transmitted according to the constant speed table (FIG. 3B). In section C, deceleration is performed according to the deceleration unit table (S15), and the movement in the right direction ends. Further, it is judged whether or not the printing operation continues (S16), and if it continues, the process returns to step 11 (S11).

When moving to the left, the constant traveling speed (v ₀ ) is set (S17), and the section C is accelerated to travel (S).
18), the section B is driven at a constant speed (S19), and the section A is decelerated (S20). At this time, as in the case of moving to the right, the drive pulse is transmitted based on the table corresponding to each section.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, and shows the control pattern of the spacing mechanism shown in FIG. 6 as in the case of the first embodiment described above. In the first embodiment, the acceleration is increased so that the performance of the drive motor 15 can be fully used in the section A, but the driving force still has a margin in the constant speed section. That is, since the driving torque required during constant speed traveling is almost proportional to the traveling speed, if there is a margin of 20% as in the first embodiment, it is approximately 183 cm / sec (=
The running speed can be increased to 153 cm / sec × 1.2), and there is still room for v ₁ (= 168 cm / sec). In the acceleration section, there is already no margin in the torque, so it is not possible to increase the acceleration anymore. Therefore, the acceleration section is lengthened to 183 cm / sec (v ₂ ) and the constant speed traveling speed is further increased (v ₂ > v ₁ > v ₀ ).

In FIG. 4, the position of the left end L ₁ is moved to L ₂ and the acceleration section is extended from A to D. When accelerating with the same acceleration, the length of the acceleration section is proportional to the square of the terminal speed, so the terminal speed is changed from v ₁ (= 168 cm / sec) to v ₂ (=
183 cm / sec) to raise acceleration section D
About 1.2 times (= (183/168) ² ).

When the acceleration section D is determined as described above and the vehicle moves to the right, it accelerates in section D, travels at constant speed v ₂ in section B, decelerates in section C, and travels to the right end. Stop at R. When moving to the left, the vehicle accelerates in section C, travels at constant speed v ₀ in section B, decelerates in section D, and stops at the left end L ₂ . At this time, the braking torque in the deceleration section C when moving to the right becomes larger than the acceleration torque in the acceleration section A. However, since the braking torque is the sum of the friction torque and the torque of the drive motor, the braking torque does not become insufficient.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for implementing the above operation.
Shown in When the CPU 21 receives the operation command, the CPU 21 determines which of the moving directions (S11). If it is to the right, the constant traveling speed is set to v ₂ (S32). First, a command for accelerating the section D is issued (S33). At this time, the drive pulse is sent based on the acceleration unit table stored in the ROM 22.
In this acceleration table, the numbers of drive pulses are associated with their intervals, and this example is shown in FIG. As shown in this accelerating unit table, the drive pulse interval gradually decreases from 5 msec (millisecond) to 0.5 msec, and the drive motor 15 is accelerated.

In section B, constant speed traveling is performed at v ₂ (S3
4). At this time, the drive pulse is transmitted according to the constant speed table (FIG. 3B). In section C, deceleration is performed according to the deceleration unit table (S15), and the movement in the right direction ends. Further, it is judged whether or not the printing operation continues (S16), and if it continues, the process returns to step 11 (S11).

When moving to the left, a constant moving speed (v ₀ ) is set (S17), and the vehicle travels in an accelerated manner in section C (S).
18), the section B is driven at a constant speed (S19), and the section D is decelerated (S40). At this time, as in the case of moving to the right, the drive pulse is transmitted based on the table corresponding to each section.

[0028]

As described above, when the drive torque required by the drive motor varies depending on the moving direction of the printing mechanism, the moving speed of the printing mechanism is increased in the moving direction in which the drive torque has a margin. You can fully demonstrate the performance of the motor. Then, the time required for the printing mechanism to reciprocate is shortened, whereby the printing time can be shortened and efficient printing operation can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a drive control pattern of a printing mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a drive control method according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a drive motor control table,
(A) is a table for acceleration traveling, and (b) is a table for constant speed traveling.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another drive control pattern according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another drive control method according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a printing mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a drive control pattern of a conventional printing mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 printing mechanism 15 drive motor 16 control circuit

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A toothed drive driven by a motor for a printing mechanism of a printer that performs printing on the forward and backward paths.
A pulley and an idler located at the opposite end of the pulley
Through the toothed belt that is stretched between the
Printer spacing reciprocally driven by a motor
A method for controlling a mechanism, wherein the printing mechanism is configured such that the idling is performed from the drive pulley side.
When moving to the pulley side, the printing mechanism
The printing mechanism controls the movement from the idle pulley side to the dry
When moving to the pulley side,
A method for controlling a spacing mechanism of a printer , wherein movement control is performed at a second speed that is faster than the first speed . 2. A method of controlling a spacing mechanism of a printer according to claim 1 , wherein the printing mechanism further comprises:
Move from the idle pulley side to the drive pulley side.
The method for controlling a spacing mechanism of a printer is characterized in that the acceleration section when the printing mechanism moves in the opposite direction is longer than the acceleration section when the printing mechanism moves in the opposite direction.