JP2647369B2 - Output device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to an output device, and more particularly, to a print output device capable of operating a plurality of mechanism movable units with one drive device.

[Related Art] In recent years, computerization of printing devices such as typewriters has been advanced, and printing devices having high functionality and high reliability have been born. In general, these printing apparatuses are provided with individual driving devices for a plurality of independent movable units, and are often controlled by one or several microprocessors. . However, if a plurality of driving devices are provided, cost reduction of equipment cannot be achieved. In recent years, one driving device is provided for a plurality of movable parts, and one driving device is provided via a power transmission switching mechanism. Printing devices that are operated by switching between two driving devices are becoming widespread.

However, in such a print output device, if the power transmission switching device does not operate normally, one of the movable portions may not be able to operate.
It is necessary to provide a detector for recognizing the operating state in the power transmission switching device or each movable part. However, if many detectors are provided, the mechanism and the circuit become complicated, resulting in an increase in cost.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to operate one of the plurality of movable units normally by a position detector provided in one of the plurality of movable units. Not only can it be determined whether the state is abnormal or abnormal, but also the operation of the power transmission switching device that transmits power to the other movable part can be detected, and the number of detectors can be reduced. Another object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight and highly reliable output device which does not require a circuit.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the output device of the present invention comprises:
An output device capable of selectively driving one of the plurality of movable mechanisms from a plurality of movable mechanisms by a single drive device via a power transmission switching device, comprising: An operating position detecting means capable of outputting a detection signal, and when the operating position detecting means outputs the detection signal, the drive device is operated to operate the other of the plurality of movable mechanisms. Determining means for determining that the power transmission switching device is abnormal.

[Operation] In the output device configured as described above, a plurality of independent movable mechanisms, which are operated by switching and driving the power from one drive device via the power transmission switching device, are controlled by the power transmission device. Whether the operation of the transmission switching device is normal or abnormal, and whether the driving of the movable mechanisms by the drive device is normal or abnormal,
Is determined by one of the plurality of movable mechanisms.
The operation is performed based on detection signals from the two operating position detectors. That is, the operating position detecting means is provided in one of the plurality of movable mechanisms, and when the driving device is operated by a predetermined amount in order to operate one of the plurality of movable mechanisms, the operating position of the one movable mechanism is detected. A signal is output, and when the drive signal is operated by a predetermined amount to operate the other of the plurality of movable mechanisms when the detection signal is output, the power is switched to the other movable mechanism. The operation of the power transmission switching device is determined to be normal or abnormal. This eliminates the need to provide a detector for each of the plurality of movable mechanisms and determine whether the operation is normal or abnormal.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail and specifically with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a print output device to which the present invention can be applied.

Here, 1 is a platen for holding the printing paper 2 wound, 3 is a gear attached to the platen rotation shaft 1A, 4 is a platen knob, and 5 is a coaxial platen detent gear. A spring member 6 is engaged with the detent gear 5, so that the platen 1 does not rotate unnecessarily even if the rotating shaft 1A is separated from the driving mechanism by a clutch mechanism described later. When the paper is fed, the platen can be rotated at a constant interval.

The character 7 is driven to rotate by a character wheel motor 8 whose character is arranged on a petal-shaped arm, and the selected character can be printed on the paper 2 by a print hammer 9. A ribbon cassette 10 is mounted on the carriage 11 together with the wheel motor 8 and the hammer mechanism, and stores a ribbon 13 via the control rod 12 as described later. The carriage 11 is slidably supported by a guide shaft 14 and a guide portion 15A provided at an end of the frame main body 15. The carriage 11 is driven by a carriage motor 16 via a drive belt 17.
Can be reciprocated along the platen 1.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a feed motor that performs both paper feeding and ribbon operation.During printing operation, a driving force from the motor 18 is transmitted to the control rod 12 via a gear train 19 and a belt 20, and a gear (described later) in the carriage 11 is provided. , The winding of the ink ribbon 13 and the shifting in the vertical direction, and the control of the ink ribbon for correcting the printed characters can be performed. Here, the gear 19A of the gear train 19 is movably pivotally supported so as to be able to mesh with the platen shaft gear 3, and by setting the clutch solenoid 21 to the "ON" state, the operating rod
By moving the gear 19A via the gear 22 and meshing with the platen shaft gear 3, the platen 1 can be rotated to feed the paper.

That is, the clutch solenoid 21 is a power transmission switching mechanism. When the clutch solenoid 21 is in the "off" state, the control of the ink ribbon system can be performed by the meshing state of the gear train 19 as shown. is there.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the inside of the carriage 11, wherein 31 and 32 are bevel gears provided on the control rod 12, and 33 is a bevel gear.
A bevel gear for meshing with 31 and driving the cam 34, and a bevel gear for ribbon 35 for meshing with the bevel gear 32 and driving the ribbon system. 36 and 37 are ribbon guides, and 38 is a guide boulder. The ribbon guides 36 and 37 can be moved up and down via a link mechanism described later. Furthermore, reference numeral 39 denotes a hammer case, which separates the ink ribbon from the type wheel 7 while sliding the ink ribbon, thereby preventing the ribbon from becoming entangled.

Next, a configuration for operating the ribbon lift system by the cam 34 will be described with reference to FIG. Where 41 and
Reference numeral 42 denotes a ribbon blade rotatably supported by the front seat plate 43 via the shaft 41A. The ribbon blades 41 and 42 mesh with the involute toothed portions 41B and 42B formed at the respective ends, thereby enabling the cam 34 to open and close in directions opposite to each other due to the rotational movement of the cam 34. Reference numerals 44 and 45 denote ribbon blades rotatably supported on a shaft 46 provided on the front seat plate 43, and the right ribbon blades 42 and 45 are connected to the ribbon guide 37 via pin shafts 42C and 45C, respectively. The left and right ribbon blades 41 and 44 are connected to pin shafts 41C and 4C, respectively.
The link mechanism is configured by being connected to the ribbon guide 36 via the 4C, and the ribbon guides 36 and 37 can be moved up and down in conjunction with the rotational movement of the cam 34.

Note that the left and right ribbon guides 36 and 37 are configured to be always kept at the same symmetrical height. Also ribbon feather
41 is biased upward by a spring 47 to reduce the load due to gravity of these link mechanisms.

Furthermore, the inclination θ 91 of the surfaces of the ribbon guides 36 and 37 that abut on the ribbon is set in relation to the type wheel 7, and the ribbon 13 naturally extends along the path where the ribbon 13 is pulled out from the cassette 10 in FIG. Give a curve,
One-sided slack is not generated. Also, by operating the link mechanism while being held at θ91,
The length of the ribbon 13 drawn out of the cassette 10 (also in the case of the correction ribbon) can be kept almost constant regardless of the height of the ribbon guides 36 and 37. If the length of the ribbon to be pulled out is changed depending on the height of the ribbon guides 36 and 37, a mechanism for absorbing the slack is necessary, but in this example, it is not necessary.

Reference numeral 36A denotes a shaft portion provided on the ribbon guide 36. An operating member 48 for a down sensor is rotatably held by the shaft portion 36A, and receives a biasing force in the clockwise direction by a spring 49, and the ribbon blades It is biased toward a pin boss 41D protruding from 41. When the ribbon guides 36 and 37 are located at the lowest point, the operating member 48 causes the contact point of the down sensor 50 to act on the lever 50A to turn the down sensor 50 on and output an "on" signal. be able to.

FIG. 4 shows the details of the mechanism for detecting the above-mentioned lowermost state (standby state) by the operating member 48. When the ribbon guide 36, and therefore the guide 37, also descends to the lowermost point, the outer peripheral portion of the rotary cam 34 Formed on the lever 48A of the operating member 48 to rotate the down operating member 48 in the counterclockwise direction. Thus, the lowermost state can be accurately detected when the operating portion 48B of the operating member 48 pushes down the contact lever 50A of the down sensor 50 and turns on the sensor switch. In the state where the cam 34 is rotated by α degrees in the counterclockwise direction from the state in which the down sensor 50 is “on”, the convex portion 34A of the cam 34
Is released, the operating member 48 is rotated clockwise, and the contact switch 50A of the down sensor 50 is raised to the original state, thereby turning the sensor switch to the "OFF" state.

That is, these operations are performed by the rotation of the cam 34. During the normal printing operation, the clutch solenoid 21 shown in FIG. 1 is in the "OFF" state, and the rotation of the feed motor 18 is controlled by the control rod 12 Is transmitted to and rotates this. Thus, since the rotation of the control rod 12 is transmitted to the cam 34 via the bevel gears 31 and 33 shown in FIG. 2, when the feed motor 18 is rotated by a predetermined amount, the cam 34 can be rotated by a corresponding amount.

On the other hand, when the clutch solenoid 21 is turned on, a predetermined amount of rotation of the feed motor 18 is transmitted to the platen 1 by sliding of the gear 19A, and the platen 1 can be rotated by a predetermined amount. In such a state, the power of the feed motor 18 is not transmitted to the control rod 12, and the cam 34 is not rotated. Conversely, if the clutch solenoid 21 is in the "off" state, the meshing state of the gear train 19 is maintained as shown in FIG. 1, and the power of the feed motor 18 is not transmitted to the platen 1. .

The present invention utilizes the ribbon down sensor 50 described above to determine whether the operation of the ribbon mechanism, which is one of the movable mechanisms provided with the ribbon down sensor 50, is in a normal state or an abnormal state, and a power transmission switching device. A certain clutch solenoid 21
And an abnormal operation of the gear train 19, that is, an abnormal operation of the platen mechanism which is the other movable mechanism. The clutch solenoid 21 is operated by, for example, a drive circuit described later, but if the drive circuit is damaged, the clutch solenoid 21 does not operate. Therefore,
In such a failure state, even if the clutch solenoid 21 is turned on to operate the platen 1, the gear train 19 is moved toward the platen gear 3 while maintaining the state shown in FIG. The ribbon is in a normal down state, and thus the ribbon down sensor 50 is in an "on" state.

That is, in this state, even if the feed motor 18 is rotated to rotate the platen 1, the platen 1 does not rotate.
The cam 34 is rotated via the control rod 12, and the down sensor 50 changes from the "on" state to the "off" state. Originally, if the clutch solenoid 21 and the gear 19A were operating normally, the rotation of the feed motor 18 would cause the platen 1 to rotate, but the cam 34 would not rotate, so the output of the down sensor 50 would be " It must be maintained in the "ON" state, and when the clutch solenoid 21 is turned "ON" and the feed motor 18 is rotated, the down sensor 50 is searched and if the sensor is "OFF". For example, it can be determined that the clutch solenoid 21 and / or the gear train 19, which is a power transmission switching device, is abnormal, and it is possible to detect that the movable platen 1 does not operate.

In the present embodiment, the above-described abnormality detection is performed only at the time of initialization. However, it goes without saying that the abnormality detection may be performed every time the platen 1 is driven.

Next, the operation of such a print output device will be described.

FIG. 5A shows the configuration of the control circuit, and FIG. 5B shows the configuration of the control logic circuit.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the control logic circuit 201 includes an MPU (micro processing unit) 230, a ROM (read only memory) 231, a RAM (random access memory) 232, a timer 233, and an input / output expansion circuit. 234, each connected by an MPU bus 235.

With such a circuit configuration, the MPU 230 executes arithmetic control according to micro-instructions stored in the ROM 231 in advance, exchanges data with the input control circuit 202, and controls input and output with the feed motor control circuit 200. Under the control of the MPU 230, the timer 233 generates reference time information, measures elapsed time, or generates an interrupt request (INT2) in accordance with the control conditions of the timer 233, and controls the control logic circuit 201 in real time.

The ROM 231 stores individual programs represented by a control flowchart described below. Further, the input control circuit 202 may be, for example, a keyboard input device, recognizes a keyboard operation, and provides microcoded keyboard operation information to the control logic circuit 201, and the control logic circuit 201 uses the input information. The feed motor control is executed via the input / output extension circuit 234 according to a preset control procedure.

Also, in FIG. 5A, the feed motor driving circuit 205
Are signals corresponding to each of the first to fourth phases of the feed motor 18.
The clutch solenoid drive circuit 210, which is controlled by FM1 to FM4 and supplies a predetermined drive current required for exciting the feed motor 18, is controlled by a CL signal (CL
When CL = 1, the clutch solenoid 21 is turned on, and when CL = 0, the clutch solenoid 21 is turned off. A) a constant current circuit for supplying a predetermined current to the clutch solenoid 21;
The constant current operates so as to have a high level at the beginning of energization (during clutch attraction) and to have a low level after initial energization (clutch holding period).

The waveform shaping circuit 219 sets the “on” and “off” states of the ribbon down sensor 50 to the input signal RS (R
When S = 1, ribbon down sensor 50 is in “ON” state, RS = 0
In this case, the ribbon down sensor 50 indicates an “off” state) and converts the voltage to an appropriate voltage level.

The RAM 232 of the control logic circuit 201 has a register area indicated by C1.

Next, a procedure for controlling the operation control in the output device configured as described above by the above-described hardware configuration will be described.

FIG. 6 shows an outline of the control procedure. First, the execution of the program is started by turning on the power or resetting. At step S1, the register in the RAM 232 and the input / output circuit 234 are started.
And so on. Next, in step S2, wait until the input information as described above is input from the input control circuit 202, and if the input information is recognized in step S2, analyze the information input in step S2 in steps S3 to S5. In accordance with the input information, the process proceeds to steps S6 to S9, where each process described later is executed.

That is, it is determined whether or not the input information is an initialization request in step S3. If the determination is affirmative, the ribbon mechanism is initialized in step S7, and simultaneously, it is determined whether the ribbon mechanism and the platen mechanism can be operated. .

If a negative determination is made in step S3, the process proceeds to step S4, where it is determined whether or not the input information is a platen drive request. Is done. If a negative determination is made in step S4, the process proceeds to step S5, where it is determined whether the request is a ribbon drive request. If an affirmative determination is made, the ribbon mechanism is driven in accordance with the ribbon drive process in step S9. If a negative determination is made in step S5, there is no request for the ribbon mechanism or the platen mechanism, and other conventional processing is performed in the next step S6.

If the corresponding process is completed in any of steps S6 to S9, the process returns to step S2, waits for input information, and if the input is recognized, each process is executed in the same manner as described above.

Next, the procedure in the initialization processing in step S7 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

First, in steps S10 to S11, initialization of the ribbon mechanism is executed, and an operation test of the ribbon mechanism is performed. Here, in step S10, the feed motor 1
The maximum rotation amount of 8 is set in the register C1. Then
In step S11, register C
While driving the rotation amount of the feed motor 18 designated by 1, the ribbon down sensor 50 is searched, and the waveform shaping signal RS from the down sensor 50 is 1, that is, the sensor 50 is in the "ON" state, or the register C1 = 0. Then, the process of step S11 is terminated, and it is determined in step S12 whether or not the process is abnormally terminated. If the process is abnormal, in step S20, an abnormal process is notified as an abnormal process by means of a warning or display to notify the device of the abnormality. Thus, an abnormality of the ribbon mechanism can be detected.

If the operation is normally completed in step S12, the process proceeds to steps S13 to S16 one after another to perform an operation test of the platen mechanism. That is, first, in step S13, the rotation amount of the angle α shown in FIG. 4 is set in the register C1, and in step S14, the clutch solenoid 21 is turned “on” to operate the platen mechanism. Is rotated forward by the amount specified by the register C1. Here, the rotation amount set in the register C1 in step S13 changes the ribbon down sensor 50 from “ON” to “OFF” by rotation of the feed motor 18 when the clutch solenoid 21 and the gear 19A do not operate. Is the minimum amount of rotation required.

Thus, as a result of the processing in steps S13 to S15, it is determined in step S16 whether or not the input signal RS from the ribbon down sensor 50 is “0”. If RS = 0, the ribbon down sensor 50 is “off” In this state, it is determined that the platen mechanism is abnormal, and when it is determined in step S12 that the process is abnormally terminated, a similar process is performed in step S20. If RS = 1 in step S16, it indicates that the platen mechanism has operated normally, and the platen 1 has rotated by the rotation amount designated in step S13. Since the position may be shifted, this rotation amount is corrected in steps S17 to S18.

That is, in step S17, a value equal to the rotation amount specified in S13 is set in the register C1, and the feed motor 18 is stepped by the specified amount in the direction opposite to that in step S15.
The above correction is executed by rotating in S18. Normally, the clutch solenoid 21 must be in the "off" state, so the clutch solenoid 21 is turned off in step S1.
The state is returned to “OFF” in 9 and the initialization processing is ended.

Next, the procedure of the platen driving process shown in step S8 in FIG. 6 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. First, in step S21, the rotation amount of the feed motor 18 required to rotate the platen 1 by a predetermined amount is set in the register C1, and in step S22, the clutch solenoid 21 is turned “ON”.
That is, CL = 1 is set, and the routine proceeds to step 23, where the feed motor 21 is driven by the rotation amount set in the register C1. When the platen 1 is rotated by a predetermined amount,
At S24, the clutch solenoid 21 is turned off, ie, CL =
The value is set to 0, and the platen driving process ends.

Next, the ribbon driving process shown in step S9 in FIG. 6 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

First, a predetermined rotation amount of the feed motor 18 required for ribbon lift-up or ribbon feeding is set in the register C1 in step S25, and the feed motor 18 is driven by the rotation amount set in the register C1 in step S26, The ribbon driving process ends.

Next, the ribbon down detection processing shown in step S11 in FIG. 7 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

Since the register C1 stores the predetermined rotation amount of the feed motor 18, the drive of the feed motor 18 having the rotation amount specified by the register C1 is terminated in step S27 in this process. Until the ribbon down sensor 5
The input signal RS of 0 is searched, and if RS = 1, that is, if the ribbon down sensor 50 is turned "ON", the rotation of the feed motor 18 is stopped and the process is terminated normally. That is, in step S27, it is determined whether or not the register C1 is 0. At first, since the predetermined value is stored in the register C1, a negative determination is made.
And if RS = 1, it is determined that the ribbon down sensor 50 is “ON”, and the ribbon down detection process is normally terminated.

If RS = 0 in step S28, since the ribbon down sensor 50 is "OFF", the flow advances to step S29 to drive the feed motor 18 in the reverse direction by one step in order to continue the ribbon down detection. In step S30, -1 is subtracted from the register C1.

Step S27 until the state of RS = 1 is detected.
Steps S30 to S30 are repeated, but when the rotation amount of the feed motor 18 first reaches the rotation amount specified in the register C1, since the register C1 is 0 in the determination of step S27, the result of the ribbon down detection processing is abnormal. Is determined.

Next, the feed motor normal rotation process shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 11A.

Here, since the rotation amount of the predetermined feed motor 18 is stored in the register C1 in advance, in this process, the feed motor 18 is not rotated until the rotation amount feed motor 18 specified by the register C1 is driven. Drives forward.

First, in step S31, it is determined whether or not the rotation amount of the feed motor 18 is set, that is, whether or not the register C1 is 0. First, since a predetermined value is stored in the register C1, A negative decision is made. Therefore,
Proceeding to step S32, the feed motor 18 is driven one step in the normal rotation direction, and step S3 is performed to obtain the remaining rotation amount.
In step 3, -1 is subtracted from the register C1. Step S31
The processing from S33 to S33 is performed when the register C1 =
It continues until it becomes 0, and when the register C1 becomes 0, it means that the feed motor 18 is firstly driven forward by the rotation amount specified by the register C1, and the feed motor normal rotation process is ended. .

Next, the feed motor reverse rotation process shown in step S18 in FIG. 7 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 11B.

Here, a predetermined rotation amount of the feed motor 18 is stored in the register C1 in advance, and in this process, the feed motor 18 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction until the feed motor 18 is driven by the predetermined rotation amount.

That is, only the step S32 of the feed motor normal rotation process shown in FIG.
Steps S31 and S34 and steps S33 and S36 are the same, respectively. Similarly, in step S34, it is determined whether or not the register C1 is 0. Since a negative determination is initially made, the process proceeds to step S35 and proceeds to step S35. Is driven one step in the reverse direction, and in step S36, -1 is subtracted from the register C1. Thus, the processing of steps S34 to S36 is continued until the register C1 becomes 0 in step S34, and when the register C1 becomes 0, the feed motor reverse rotation processing ends.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the two movable mechanisms of the platen mechanism and the ribbon mechanism has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, power transmission switching between the carriage driving mechanism and the platen mechanism is performed. It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a device capable of performing the above. In general, the carriage driving mechanism is provided with a position detector for detecting a reference position of the carriage. Therefore, it is possible to detect an abnormal operation of the platen mechanism by using the position detector. As described above, the present invention can be widely applied to an output device having a power transmission switching device that is a trade-off, that is, a device that does not operate simultaneously.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, one driving device can selectively drive one movable mechanism from among a plurality of movable mechanisms via a power transmission switching device. In the output device, an operating position detecting means capable of outputting a detection signal of an operating position of any one of the plurality of movable mechanisms, and when the operating position detecting means outputs the detection signal, When the drive device is operated to operate the other, the power transmission switching device is provided with a determination unit that determines that the power transmission switching device is abnormal. It is possible to determine whether the operation of the power transmission switching device is normal or abnormal, so that all the individual movable mechanisms are provided with detection means for failure detection. It is not necessary to provide the output device in a part, and a small, lightweight, low-cost, and highly reliable output device can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view functionally showing an example of an output device to which the present invention can be applied. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the carriage in a see-through manner. FIG. 3 is a cam and ribbon in the carriage. FIG. 4 is a side view showing the relationship with the guide, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of turning on / off the ribbon down sensor by the cam shown in FIG. 3, and FIGS. 5A and 5B are control circuits according to the present invention. 6 to 11A and 11B are flowcharts each showing a control operation of the output device of the present invention. 1 ... platen, 3 ... platen gear, 7 ... type wheel, 10 ... ink ribbon cassette, 11 ... carriage, 12 ... control rod, 16 ... carriage motor, 18 ... feed motor, 19 ... gear Row, 19A gear, 21 clutch clutch, 31, 32, 33, 35 bevel gear, 34 cam, 36, 37 ribbon guide, 41, 42, 44, 45 ribbon blade, 48: Actuating member, 50: Ribbon down sensor, 200: Feed motor control circuit, 201: Control logic circuit, 202: Input control circuit

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An output device capable of selectively driving one movable mechanism from among a plurality of movable mechanisms by a single drive device via a power transmission switching device, wherein: Operating position detecting means capable of outputting a detection signal of one of the operating positions, and when the operating position detecting means outputs the detection signal,
A determination unit configured to determine that the power transmission switching device is abnormal when the drive device is operated to activate the other of the plurality of movable mechanisms.