JP2790387B2 - Serial printer space control method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control method for a serial printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional space control method for a serial printer, a state of a cover open sensor is sensed only before a spacing operation is started, and it is detected whether or not a cover of a printing unit is open. At the time of detection before the start of the spacing operation, if the cover is open, sensing is repeated until the cover is closed, the spacing operation is suspended, and if the cover is closed, the spacing is set. The operation was being performed.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional space control method, it is checked whether or not the cover is opened only before the spacing operation is started. Even if the cover is opened, the spacing operation is continued until the current line is completed. Therefore, when the user puts his hand in the open printing section, there is a possibility that the user will be caught by the moving print head, and in addition to having a danger, especially in recent years, the printing speed has been reduced. Due to the user's request for improvement, the spacing operation of the print head is moved at a high speed, so that the risk is further increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when the cover is opened, the spacing operation is immediately stopped, and when the cover is opened during printing, the cover is closed. An object of the present invention is to provide a space control method for a serial printer that can continue printing from the position before stopping by closing the space, thereby improving safety and operability.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a space control method for a serial printer according to the present invention comprises a print head for performing printing, and first and second print heads arranged along a line direction. A spacing means for reciprocating in a direction, a current position detection circuit for detecting a current position of the print head, and a cover open detection means for detecting an open / close state of a cover covering the print head. A space control method used in a serial printer that performs printing while reciprocating in a line direction, wherein the printing head performs a printing operation while spacing in a first direction from a printing start position to a printing end position. When the cover open detection means detects that the cover has been opened, the printing by the print head is stopped and The position of the print head when printing is stopped is stored as a print interruption position, and then the spacing of the print head by the spacing means is immediately stopped, and then the cover is closed. When the open detection means detects the current stop position of the print head, the position detection means detects the current stop position, and the detected current stop position is located closer to the traveling direction in the first direction than the printing end position. And performing a printing operation from the print end position to the print interruption position while spacing the print head in the second direction.

[0006]

When the cover is opened during the printing operation while spacing in the first direction, the cover open state is detected by the cover open detecting means, and the printing by the print head and the printing by the spacing means are performed. The head spacing is stopped, and the print interruption position at that time is stored. Thereafter, when the cover in the open state is closed, the cover open state is detected by the cover open detecting means, and the interrupted printing is resumed. At this time, if the current stop position of the print head detected by the position detecting means is located on the advancing direction in the first direction from the print end position at which printing before the interruption should be ended, the second It is determined that the printing head moving distance is shorter when printing while spacing in the direction of, and printing is restarted in the second direction from the printing end position to the printing interruption position. That is, the first direction and the second direction are determined based on the relationship between the print interruption position, the print end position, and the current stop position of the print head.
It is determined which direction the printing head moves is smaller in the direction of printing. If printing is resumed according to the result of the determination (moving direction), printing interrupted by opening the cover will be the shortest time. Will be restarted.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the serial printer space control method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an apparatus for performing the serial printer space control method according to the present invention. The receiving circuit 1 is a circuit for receiving data transmitted from the host, and the received data is read by the microprocessor 3. The microprocessor 3 reads a program stored in the program ROM 5 and controls the entire apparatus according to the contents of the program. Also,
The CG ROM 7 stores bit map data, and the bit map data expands the received data (character code) into a corresponding bit map image.
The RAM 9 includes a work area for storing information necessary for the microprocessor 3 to control the apparatus, an image buffer for storing one line of a bit map image developed from received data (character code), and the like. .

The I / O control circuit 11 is a circuit for controlling input / output with the microprocessor 3, the space motor 13, the print head 15, and the like. Motor 13,
The print head 15 is controlled. The print head 15 prints one column at a time in accordance with the bit map data for one column sent from the microprocessor 3 from the bit map image for one line developed in the image buffer on the RAM 9. I do.

The space motor 13 is a DC motor on which the print head 15 is mounted. By rotating the space motor 13 left and right, the print head 15 also moves left and right. Slit sensor 1 for space motor 13
7, the slit sensor 17 converts the rotation of the space motor 13 into a displacement amount by the current position detection circuit 19, and detects the current position of the print head 15. Then, the current position of the print head 15 is read by the microprocessor 3. In addition, slit sensor 1
The output of 7 causes the microprocessor 3 to interrupt and send one column of data to the print head 15. That is, the timing for printing one column is created. The cover open detection sensor (cover open detection means) 21 is a sensor for detecting the open / closed state of the cover, and the state is read by the microprocessor 3. The LF motor 23 is a motor for feeding a sheet, and performs a line feed operation by rotating the LF motor 23.

Next, an outline of the processing of the space control method according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a space control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Initial processing (part a in FIG. 2)
Then, initialization is performed in a work area on the RAM 9 (see FIG. 1) necessary after the power is turned on. Reception processing (Fig. 2
In part (b), the microprocessor 3 (see FIG. 1) reads the data received by the receiving circuit 1 (see FIG. 1). In the expansion processing (part c in FIG. 2), bit map data corresponding to the read data (character code) is read by the CG ROM 7 (see FIG. 1),
9 to the image buffer above. Then, the receiving process and the developing process are repeated until one line of image data is completed (d part in FIG. 2).

When one line of image data is completed, a cover open flag which will be described later, which is a part of the work area on the RAM 9, is turned off (e in FIG. 2).
The cover open flag indicates that the space is being processed (see FIG. 2).
This flag indicates that the cover has been opened in the middle part (f) and the processing has been interrupted. Then, if the cover open flag is ON after the space processing, the space processing is repeated (g in FIG. 2). If the cover open flag is OFF, it is determined that one-line printing is completed, a necessary line feed operation is performed in a line feed process (h section in FIG. 2), and the above-described process is repeated from the reception process.

Here, the work area on the RAM will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a memory use state of a work area on the RAM. The cover open flag 31 is a flag indicating that the cover open was detected during the space processing and the space processing was interrupted. The stop flag 33 is set to the space motor 13 from the slit interrupt processing to the space processing (see FIG. 1).
This is a flag for notifying that is stopped. The movement mode flag 35 is a flag indicating whether the spacing operation is for moving the head before the start of printing or for printing. The printing flag 37 is a flag indicating that printing is currently being performed. The left and right flags 39 are flags indicating whether to move the print head 15 (see FIG. 1) to the left or right. A print start position 41 is a position at which the print head 15 starts printing, a print end position 43 is a position at which printing ends, and a stop position 45 is a value at which a current applied to the space motor 13 for stopping the print head 15 is zero. The print left end 47 is an area for holding the leftmost data position in the image buffer, and the print right end 49 is an area for holding the rightmost data position in the image buffer.

FIGS. 4 to 7 show a space control method according to the present embodiment for performing such a device configuration and a schematic process.
This will be described in more detail based on FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the print area and the head position, FIG. 5 is a space process flowchart, and FIG. 6 is a space initial process flowchart.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart for connection to A, B, C, and D in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart for slit interrupt processing. As shown in FIG. 4, the leftmost column position of the print data in the image buffer is the print left end, and the rightmost column position of the print data is the right print end. Space motor 1
3 (see FIG. 1) is assumed to be a distance required for acceleration and constant speed. When the current head position is in the s section in FIG. 4, the printing direction is rightward, and the printing start position (printing left end)
Then, printing is started, printing is ended at the printing end position (printing right end), and an operation for stopping (current OFF of the space motor 13) is performed at the stop position (printing right end). When the current position of the head is at the portion t in FIG. 4, the printing direction is the left direction,
Printing starts from the print start position (print right end), ends at the print end position (print left end), and stops at the stop position (print left end) as described above.

When the current position of the head is in the u-1 section in FIG. 4, the print head 15 (see FIG. 1) is temporarily moved to the s section in FIG. For that purpose, it is moved to the left to perform an operation for stopping at a stop position (left end of printing-α). After that, it is the same as the case of the s part in FIG. When the current position of the head is in the u-2 section in FIG. 4, the print head 15 is temporarily moved to the t section in FIG. For this purpose, it is moved rightward to perform an operation for stopping at a stop position (right end of printing + α). After that, it is the same as the case of the t section in FIG.

The initial value is set based on the relationship between the current head position and the print area in the space initial process (a in FIG. 5), which is shown in more detail in FIG. It is a space initial processing flowchart of FIG. In the part a in FIG. 6, first, it is determined whether the cover is opened during the space operation and the processing is interrupted in the middle. If the processing is not interrupted, the image buffer in the part b in FIG. Examine the contents and keep the left and right edges of the print. When the operation is interrupted, that is, at the time of the re-space operation, the printing direction and the movement mode are checked again.
The print start position 41 and the print end position 43 are held at the print left end 47 and print right end 49 by c in FIG. D in FIG.
4, the values are set for each of s, t, u-1, and u-2 in FIG. 4 based on the relationship between the current head position and the left and right printing edges. The e portion in FIG. 7 is the s region in FIG. 4, the f portion in FIG. 7 is the t region in FIG. 4, the g portion in FIG. 7 is the u-1 region in FIG. 4, and the h portion in FIG. Is the case of the u-2 region in FIG. In the part i in FIG. 7, the common flags are turned off in each area.

In the part b in FIG. 5, when printing is performed,
It is checked whether the print head 15 needs to be moved, that is, it is the case of the u region in FIG. 4. If not, the portions c, d, e, f, and g in FIG. 5 are skipped. If necessary, the cover / open detection sensor 21 is set in the part c in FIG.
The state of FIG. 1 is checked, and if the cover is open, the detection is repeated until the cover is closed. D in FIG.
The I / O unit according to the value of the left / right flag 39 (see FIG. 3)
Space motor 1 via control circuit 11 (see FIG. 1)
3 is rotated, and the print head 15 is moved. When the space motor 13 is rotated, the microprocessor 3 is interrupted by the output of the slit sensor 17 (see FIG. 1), and the control shifts to the slit interrupt processing of FIG. FIG.
The slit interrupt processing in FIG. 8 is repeated until the stop flag 33 (see FIG. 3) is turned ON in the middle part e. When it is turned on, the current flowing to the space motor 13 is set to 0 at a portion f in FIG. 5, and the space motor 13 is stopped. Thereafter, the left and right flags 39 (see FIG. 3) are inverted at the g portion in FIG. 5 to prepare for printing.

The cover open flag 31 (see FIG. 3) determines whether or not the head movement has been interrupted during the head movement in the section h in FIG. 5 if the head movement has been interrupted. Skips the i, j, k, l, and m parts in FIG. If not interrupted, the value of the print end position 43 is newly set to the stop position 45 (see FIG. 3) in the i section in FIG. 5, and the stop flag 33 is turned off. In FIG. 5, j,
The processing of the k, l, and m parts is performed in the above-described c, d, e, and f in FIG.
This is the same as the processing of the section. If the cover open flag 31 is ON when exiting the space processing in FIG. 5, the space processing is repeated assuming that the cover open occurred during the space operation.

FIG. 8 shows a slit interrupt process generated by the space operation. In the part a in FIG. 8, it is determined whether the mode is the head movement mode before printing or the printing mode by the movement mode flag 35 (see FIG. 3). Figure 8 when in move mode
The parts b, c, d, e, f and g in the figure are skipped. In the print mode, the current position detection circuit 19 (see FIG. 1) is provided in a portion b in FIG.
When the current position detected in step (4) becomes the printing start position 41 (see FIG. 3), the printing flag 37 is turned on in the portion c in FIG. If the printing flag 37 is ON at d in FIG. 8 and the cover open flag is OFF, the current position from the image buffer on the RAM 9 (see FIG. 1) at e at FIG. Read column data, I /
The data is sent to the print head 15 via the O control circuit 11, and one-column printing is performed. When the current position becomes the print end position 43 in the f section in FIG. 8, the printing flag 37 is set to O in the g section in FIG.
FF. When the current position becomes the stop position 45 (see FIG. 3) in the h section in FIG. 8, the stop flag 33 is turned on in the i section in FIG. 8, and a request to stop is issued.

The stop flag 33 is turned off at the j part in FIG.
Then, if the cover is currently open, the stop flag 33 is turned on at the k part in FIG. 8, a request to stop is issued, and
A cover open flag 31 (see FIG. 3), which indicates when a cover open is detected during spacing, is set. Also, it indicates that printing is being performed in the l section in FIG. 8,
If the printing flag 37 is ON, the printing start position 41 (FIG. 3)
), The current position, that is, the position where printing has already been completed is held (m in FIG. 8), and the process exits from the slit interrupt process.

As described in detail above, if cover open is detected during the slit interruption in FIG.
In addition to setting the cover open flag 31 indicating that, the stop flag 33 which is a stop request is set, and if printing is in progress, the position where printing has already been completed is prepared for the re-space processing, and the print start position 41 is set. Hold. In the space processing shown in FIG.
Since it is N, the space motor 13 is stopped, and the process is exited. As shown in FIG. 2, the cover open flag 3
When 1 is ON, the space processing is repeated. In the re-space processing, the space initial processing of the part a in FIG. 5, that is, the cover open flag 31
Since it is N, the process is repeated with the unprinted area held at the print start position 41 in the portion c in FIG. 6 as the print end. By performing such processing, if a cover open is detected during the spacing operation, the print head 15 is immediately stopped, and if the cover is closed, printing is continued from the point where printing has already been performed. It becomes possible.

[0021]

As described above in detail, according to the space control method of the serial printer according to the present invention, the cover open / closed state is detected by the cover open detecting means. The print start position when resuming the printing interrupted by this stop is stored, and when the cover is closed, the stored print start position, the corresponding print end position and the current print head position are stored. The printing direction is determined based on the relationship with the position, and the printing head is moved in accordance with the printing direction as a result of the determination to restart printing. Therefore, when the cover is opened, the spacing operation is immediately stopped, and by closing the cover, printing can be continued from the point before the stop.
As a result, the security at the time of printing on the serial printer can be remarkably improved, and printing can be continued at the same time when the cover is closed, so that there is no need to perform an extra operation, and the operability can be significantly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus configuration for performing a space control method according to the present invention.

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

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a memory use state of a work area on a RAM.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a relationship between a print area and a head position.

FIG. 5 is a space processing flowchart.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a space initial process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a space initial process connected to FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a slit interruption process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 15 Print head 19 Current position detection circuit 21 Cover open detection sensor (means)

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 29/13 B41J 19/18 B41J 29/38

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A print head for performing printing; a spacing means for reciprocating the print head in first and second directions along a row direction; and a current position detection circuit for detecting a current position of the print head. A space control method used in a serial printer that performs printing while reciprocating the print head in a row direction, comprising: a cover open detection unit that detects an open / close state of a cover that covers the print head. If the cover open detection unit detects that the cover has been opened while the print head is performing a printing operation while spacing in a first direction from a printing start position to a printing end position, the printing is performed. Stop printing by the head, and store the position of the print head when printing is stopped as a print interruption position. Stopping the spacing of the print head by the spacing means, and thereafter, when the cover open detection means detects that the cover is closed, the current stop position of the print head is detected by the position detection means. If the detected current stop position is located closer to the advancing direction in the first direction than the printing end position, the printing is performed from the printing end position while spacing the print head in the second direction. A space control method for a serial printer, which performs a printing operation up to an interruption position.