JP2792652B2 - Serial printer - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a serial printer used for a word processor or the like.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a serial printer in which a motor is shared and paper is fed at the time of carrier return to improve throughput. However, since the characteristics required for each mechanism are different, it has been difficult for one motor to satisfy the required characteristics. Therefore, two motors adapted to the characteristics of each mechanism were used. As described above, when the paper feed motor and the carrier moving motor are separately provided, the control of simultaneously driving these two motors is not performed due to the relationship between the power supply capacities for driving these motors. Had become.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, there is a problem that the simultaneous driving of the paper feed motor and the carrier moving motor, that is, the paper feed and the carrier movement are not performed at the same time, so that the entire recording throughput (time from the start to the end of the recording) is long. there were.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and has as its object to reduce the recording throughput by enabling two motors to be driven at the same time. An object of the present invention is to provide a serial printer which does not require a large increase in power supply capacity even when driven at the same time.

[Means for solving the problem]

Therefore, in the present invention, in a serial printer having a carrier motor and a paper feed motor as shown in FIG. 1 and performing paper feed at the time of carrier return, the carrier drive and the paper feed drive instruction are performed based on the carrier drive command and the paper feed drive command. Calculation means 101 for calculating one constant speed drive time and the other total drive time of the paper feed drive, comparison means 102 for comparing the constant speed drive time with the full drive time, and comparison means 102 When the constant-speed driving time is long, a driving control means 103 for executing a driving command relating to the entire driving time during the constant-speed driving is provided.

[Action]

According to the configuration described above, the time required for paper feeding and the movement of the carrier is calculated before execution, and if there is time during which one of the constant-speed driving can perform the other driving, the driving is performed.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of control according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration for executing the control shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a serial diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a printer.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body side computer in a personal computer, a word processor or the like;
A CPU executes overall control of the printer 20 while transmitting and receiving control signals, recording data signals, and the like to and from a host computer. The CPU 2 has a RAM 2A used as a work area for the control processing and a ROM 2B for storing a control procedure shown in FIG. Reference numeral 3 denotes a carrier motor control circuit that determines a drive current or a drive voltage of the carrier motor 5 based on a control signal from the CPU 2, and 4 denotes a paper feed motor control circuit that similarly determines a drive current or a drive voltage of the paper feed motor 6. .

The CPU 2 controls, of course, the driving of a thermal head described later.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 7 also serves as a transfer path for the thermal paper 9,
A platen 8 for regulating the recording surface of the thermal paper 9, a carrier 8 movable in the directions of arrows A and B in FIG. This is a thermal recording head to be performed. Here, A indicates the carrier moving direction during recording, and B indicates the carrier moving direction during return.

A control process at the time of carrier return according to the present embodiment based on the above configuration will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. First, a paper feed command is received from the host 1 in step S1, and a carrier movement command is received in step S2. Next, in step S3, the time required for the carrier 8 to move at a constant speed and the time required for paper feeding are calculated based on the paper feed amount received in steps S1 and S2 and the carrier movement amount.
In S4, it is determined whether or not the predetermined paper feed can be completely executed during the movement time obtained in step S3. If an affirmative determination is made here, the acceleration of the carrier 8 is started in step S5, and it is determined in step S6 whether the acceleration is completed. When it is determined that the acceleration has been completed, that is, when the vehicle enters the constant speed state, the process proceeds to step S7A to start paper feeding. During this time, the carrier 8 is moved even during paper feeding in order to perform the constant speed movement of the carrier 8 in the interrupt processing in step S7B.

Next, when the end of paper feeding is detected in step S8, and the start of deceleration of the carrier 8 is detected in step S9, the carrier 8 is decelerated in step S10, moved to a position in accordance with the command, and the processing ends.

Also, as a result of the calculation in step S3, when it is determined in step S4 that simultaneous driving is impossible, paper feeding and carrier movement are sequentially performed in steps S11 and S12 and steps S13 and S14, and the present process is performed. finish.

With the above-described control, the recording throughput can be reduced by the time for executing the paper feeding. Further, since the two motors do not accelerate and decelerate at the same time, there is no need to greatly increase the power supply capacity common to the two motors. This is because the energy (current or the like) consumed by the motor is larger during acceleration / deceleration than during constant-speed driving.

In the above-described embodiment, the paper is fed while the carrier is moving at a constant speed. However, the same effect can be obtained by moving the carrier while moving the paper at a constant speed.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the time required for paper feeding and the movement of the carrier is calculated before execution, and if any one of the constant-speed driving can perform the other driving, The drive is performed.

As a result, the effects of reducing the throughput in recording and preventing a large increase in the power supply capacity due to simultaneous driving of the motors were obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a configuration for executing the control shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the printer according to the embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Host computer, 2 ... CPU, 3 ... Carrier motor control circuit, 4 ... Paper feed motor control circuit, 5 ... Carrier motor, 6 ... Paper feed motor, 7 ... Platen, 8 ... Carrier, 9 ... Thermal paper, 10 ... Thermal recording head, 20 ... printer.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A serial printer having a carrier motor and a paper feed motor for feeding paper at the time of carrier return, wherein a constant speed of one of the carrier drive and the paper feed drive is based on a carrier drive command and a paper feed drive command. Calculating means for calculating the driving time and the other total driving time; comparing means for comparing the constant speed driving time with the total driving time; and the constant speed driving time being longer based on the comparison of the comparing means. And a drive control means for executing a drive command for the entire drive time during the constant-speed drive. 2. The serial printer according to claim 1, wherein said calculating means calculates a constant speed driving time of said carrier driving and a total driving time of said paper feed driving. 3. The serial printer according to claim 1, wherein said calculating means calculates a constant drive time of said paper feed drive and a total drive time of said carrier drive.