JP2906150B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial application field> The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for performing two-line printing in parallel, and more specifically, to a printing head main body with dots corresponding to one-line printing. The present invention relates to a printing apparatus provided with dot printing elements of a number greater than twice the number of printing elements at a predetermined pitch in the digit direction.

<Prior Art> One method of improving printing speed is to divide a line into two groups, a first half and a second half, for each line to be printed, and print the first half and the second half of the line in parallel. There is. However, in this method, there is a possibility that a division point between the first half and the second half of the line may be shifted, and a seam may be formed in an underline or the like, so that a high-precision mechanism is required, which is not practical. Was.

To solve this problem, a method of printing two lines in parallel has been proposed. More specifically, a first prior art (Japanese Patent Application No. 2-3996) in which two carriers each independently movable in the row direction are provided, and a print head is provided for each carrier.
No. 0). A second prior art in which two print heads are provided on a single carrier in the column direction and separated from each other (JP-A-51-66020), or a pair of print heads whose print positions are different from each other in the column direction. A third prior art (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-182144) in which one carrier is provided has been proposed. In addition, using a multi-pin print head such as a 20-pin or 24-pin print head, a part of the multi-pin is allocated to the printing of the first line, and a part of the remaining pins is allocated to the printing of the second line. A fourth prior art (JP-A-59-24392) has been proposed.

<Problem to be solved by the invention> However, when the first conventional technique is used,
In order to move each of the two carriers in the row direction, two sets of drive mechanisms for the carriers are required, and there has been a problem that the overall configuration of the printing apparatus is complicated.

Since the second and third prior arts have one carrier, they have a configuration that solves the problem of the first prior art. However, since the second and third prior arts do not mention changes in line spacing, it is unclear how to deal with various line spacings. For this reason, practical printing, which requires printing at various line intervals, is not practical.

Further, in the fourth prior art, the change of the line spacing is described as follows. 20 because there is actually space between lines
Multi-pin heads such as pins and 24-pins are required. ], But merely mentions a change in the number of pins. For this reason, when the number of pins is fixed, it is difficult to arbitrarily change the line spacing, and there is a problem that the practicality is also poor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide only one print head main body having a fixed number of dot printing elements, and to provide a print head having an arbitrary line spacing.
An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of printing lines in parallel.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the printing apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
More than twice the number of the dot printing elements corresponding to the printing of the row, the number of the dot printing elements is such that the printing head body provided at a predetermined pitch in the column direction is moved in the row direction to print two rows. First dot printing corresponding to one of the two lines from among the dot printing elements provided in the print head body, based on a set line interval, applied to a printing device that performs in parallel. An element group, a printing element group determining means for determining a second dot printing element group corresponding to the other of the two rows, and a first printing element group determined by the printing element group determining means. By using the second printing element group, a printing execution means for printing the two lines in parallel is provided.

<Operation> More than twice the number of dot printing elements corresponding to the printing of one line are provided in the print head main body. Accordingly, only by moving the print head body in the row direction, the dot printing element group required for printing two rows moves integrally in the row direction.

Further, based on the set line spacing, the printing element group determining means includes a first dot printing element group corresponding to one of two lines from among the dot printing elements provided in the print head body, and And a second dot printing element group corresponding to. Therefore, even when the line interval is changed, the dot printing element group corresponding to the changed line interval is determined. Then, the printing execution means performs two-line parallel printing using the determined dot printing element group. For this reason, two lines at an arbitrary line interval are printed in parallel without changing the total number of dot printing elements.

<Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a side view showing a configuration around a print head in an embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view when the print head shown in FIG. 1 is viewed from a printing paper side. It is a front view showing a state.

A carrier 19 that moves along an axial direction of a platen roller (not shown) (a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1 and a row direction described in the claims) by a drive belt, a guide shaft, and the like (not shown). A print head main body 11 having a thin and flat substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape is attached to an upper portion near one side surface. In front of the print surface 12 of the print head body 11, a rectangular print paper receiving plate 14 long in the traveling direction of the carrier 19 is provided. The print head main body 11 is moved in the direction of arrow H by a driving device (not shown) built in the carrier 19.

On the printing surface 12 of the print head main body 11, the number of dot printing elements (heat elements in detail) 31 that is more than twice the number of dot printing elements corresponding to one line of printing is set in the digit direction (direction of arrow I). Are provided at a predetermined pitch. Specifically, the number of the dot printing elements 31 (31a,..., 31c) is 1
This is about three times the number of dots required to print a line.
Further, the predetermined pitch in the digit direction is a pitch that makes the interval between all the dot printing elements 31 constant.

Note that “provided at a predetermined pitch in the column direction” means that the relationship in the direction of arrow I is a predetermined pitch when the print head body 11 is viewed in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. Means that Therefore,
Regarding the positional relationship between the dot printing elements in the row direction, it is possible to adopt a configuration using an arbitrary positional relationship suitable for printing. For this reason, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the dot printing elements are arranged in one row or two rows, but in this embodiment, in order to simplify the electrical control, the dot printing elements 31 are arranged in an array. , One column arrangement in which the positional relationship in the row direction is the same as each other.

The width of the ink ribbon 15 supplied from an ink ribbon cassette (not shown) mounted on the upper portion of the carrier 19 is a length from the uppermost dot printing element 31a to the lowermost dot printing element 31c. It is wider than K. The printing paper 13 is positioned between the printing paper receiving plate 14 and the ink ribbon 15 so as to be movable in the direction of arrow I.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of one embodiment of the present invention.

The driving device 21 includes a driving mechanism for moving the print head body 11 in the direction of arrow H, a driving mechanism for moving the printing paper 13 in the direction of arrow I, a driving mechanism for moving the carrier 19 in the row direction, and the like. It is a block consisting of
The operation according to the instruction from the print control unit 23 is performed.

The print control unit 23 to which an output 28 indicating print character data, print character size, line spacing, and the like is derived is a block that controls main operations as a printing device.
That is, the control unit controls the feed of the printing paper 13 and controls the movement of the carrier 19 in the row direction via the driving device 21. In addition, the print character data for a plurality of lines is stored in the memory 24, and when printing is performed, the print character data stored in the memory 24 is sent to the character generator unit 25 in units of two lines.

Further, the print control unit 23, based on the data such as the size of the print character and the line interval given by the output 28, out of a plurality of dot print elements 31 provided in the print head body 11, A first dot printing element group corresponding to one row (for example, a dot printing element group 32d in a range between a broken line 91 and a broken line 92) and a second dot printing element group corresponding to the other row.
(For example, the dot printing element group 32e sandwiched between the broken lines 93 and 94). Then, the character generator unit 25 is notified of the determined dot printing element groups 32d and 32e.

The character generator unit 25 includes a print control unit 23.
This is a block that expands the given print character data into dot data for each pattern of print characters. Then, the first dot printing element group (for example, 32
By driving d) and the second dot printing element group (for example, 32e), printing of two lines on the printing paper 13 is performed in parallel.

As described above, the print element determination unit described in the claims is constituted by the print control unit 23, and the print execution unit is constituted by the character generator unit 25.

The operation of the embodiment having the above configuration will be described below.

When the mounting of the printing paper 13 is completed and printing starts, the printing control unit 23 controls the driving device 21 to move the printing head main body 11 in the direction of arrow H. Therefore, the print paper receiving plate 14, the print paper 13, the ink ribbon 15, and the print surface 12 of the print head main body 11 come into close contact with each other.

On the other hand, the print control unit 23 includes a group of dot printing elements having the dot printing element 31a as the top element in order to simplify the control regardless of the line spacing set. The group is determined as a dot printing element group (first dot printing element group) for printing the first row. That is, the dot printing element group 32d in the range between the broken lines 91 and 92 is determined as the first dot printing element group (the number of the dot printing element groups 32d depends on the size of the printing character. It is determined).

Next, when the line interval between the first line and the second line is set to the standard interval, the print control unit 23
The dot printing element group 32e in the range between
The dot printing element group corresponding to the row (second dot printing element group) is determined. Specifically, a dashed line 93 that specifies the uppermost element of the second dot printing element group is determined according to the line spacing. Next, a broken line 94 is determined according to the size of the character to be printed.

As described above, the first and second dot printing element groups 32d and 32e to be used for the two-line parallel printing are determined, so the print control unit 23 sets the first dot printing element group 32d on the first line. The character generator unit 25 is notified that the second dot printing element group 32e corresponds to the second row.

Next, the print control unit 23 converts the print character data of the first line and the print character data of the second line into a character generator unit.
Send to 25. For this reason, the character generator 25
Develops the print character data of the first line into a dot pattern and stores the developed dot pattern internally as data for driving the first dot print element group 32d. Further, the print character data in the second line is developed into a dot pattern, and the developed dot pattern is stored internally as data for driving the second dot print element group 32e.

When a print start instruction is given from the print control unit 23, the character generator unit 25 starts the first dot printing element group.
The transmission of dot data corresponding to the first character of each line is started to 32d and the second dot printing element group 32e. As a result, the first character of the two lines is printed in parallel (in this printing operation, the print control unit 23 moves the carrier 19 to a distance corresponding to the horizontal length of the character). Control to move).

Then, the print control unit 23 further controls the movement of the carrier 19, thereby positioning the first and second dot printing element groups 32d and 32e at the character positions of the second character in each line. Then, the character generator section 25
To print the second character. When the printing of the second character is completed, the character is moved to the third character position, and the same operation is repeated.

In the repetition of the above operation, when the lengths of two lines that are simultaneously printing in parallel are different from each other,
Although the printing of one line is completed quickly, the above operation is repeated until the printing of the other line is completed (the dot printing element group corresponding to the line on the side where the printing is completed is not printed).

When printing of both lines is completed, the print control unit 23 controls the printing paper 13 to move upward by a distance corresponding to the two lines, and moves the print head body 11 to the first character of the line. Control to move to the position and prepare for the next printing. Hereinafter, the same is repeated.

The operation when the line interval is set to be wider than the standard interval will be described below.

The print control unit 23 determines the dot printing element group located at the uppermost position as the first dot printing element group regardless of the set line spacing. Therefore, even when the line interval becomes wider than the standard interval, the print control unit 23 determines the dot print element group 32d sandwiched between the broken lines 91 and 92 as the first dot print element group. . Next, the print control unit 23
A dashed line 95 for specifying a dot printing element is determined at the top of the second dot printing element group corresponding to the widened line spacing. Then, the broken line 96 is determined from the size of the character to be printed. That is, the print control unit 23 determines the dot printing element group 32f sandwiched between the broken lines 95 and 96 as the second dot printing element group. Then, the determined first and second dot printing element groups 32d and 32f are notified to the character generator unit 25. Therefore, the character generator unit 25 includes the first dot printing element group 32d and the second dot printing element group 32f.
, Two lines are printed in parallel.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and in the above description, the case where two lines are printed in parallel has been described.
The same can be applied to a case where more lines (for example, 2.5 lines or 3 lines) are printed in parallel.

Further, the case where the present invention is applied to a thermal transfer type printing device has been described, but as a printing device in other methods,
For example, the present invention can be applied to a heat-sensitive type printing apparatus.Furthermore, by using a dot printing element as an ink ejecting element, it is possible to apply the present invention to an ink jet type printing apparatus, By using an impact pin, the present invention can be applied to a dot impact type printing device and the like.

Further, the present invention can be similarly applied to a configuration in which dot print elements corresponding to each of the three primary colors are provided in the print head body.

Also, the case has been described where the dot printing element group 32d starting from the uppermost side of the print head main body 11 is determined to be the first dot printing element group corresponding to the first row. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which the printing element group is determined as the first dot printing element group.

Further, in the case where printing is performed only in one direction of the forward path or the return path in the reciprocating movement of the print head main body, the printing accompanying the one reciprocal movement of the print head main body is referred to as one printing process. In the case of performing printing, if the printing accompanying the movement of the print head body in one direction is referred to as one printing process, the present invention can be applied to the following configuration.

That is, every time one printing process is completed, the first dot printing element group and the second dot printing element group are changed (however, the first dot printing element group and the second dot printing element group are changed). The same can be applied to the case of a configuration in which the interval is a constant interval corresponding to the row interval. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, in the P-th first printing step, the first dot printing element group is set to m2
The second dot printing element group is used as a dot printing element group in the range indicated by n2, and two lines of parallel printing are performed as the dot printing element group in the range indicated by n2. Then, the feed amount of the printing paper 13 after the completion of the Pth first printing process is set to be larger than the amount corresponding to two lines, and in the (P + 1) th first printing process, the first dot printing element group Is a dot printing element group in a range indicated by m1, and a second dot printing element group is a dot printing element group in a range indicated by n1.
The feed amount of the printing paper 13 after the printing process is completed is made smaller than the amount corresponding to two lines, and in the (P + 1) -th first printing process, the first dot printing element group is indicated by m3. The present invention can be similarly applied to a configuration in which two lines are printed in parallel by setting the second dot printing element group as a dot printing element group in a range and the dot printing element group in a range indicated by n3. (The intervals r1, r2, and r3 are equal to each other).

<Effect of the Invention> In the printing apparatus according to the present invention, the print head body is provided with the dot printing elements in a number greater than twice the number of the dot printing elements corresponding to the printing of one line at a predetermined pitch in the digit direction. ing. Further, based on the set line spacing, two of the dot printing elements provided in the print head body are used.
A printing element group determining means for determining a first dot printing element group corresponding to one of the rows and a second dot printing element group corresponding to the other, and the determined first printing element group And a printing unit for performing two-line parallel printing using the second printing element group and the second printing element group. Therefore, even when the line spacing is changed in the setting at the time of printing, the dot printing element group corresponding to the changed line spacing is determined, and two lines of parallel printing are performed using the determined dot printing element group. Will be For this reason, it is possible to print two lines at an arbitrary line interval in parallel only by providing one print head main body having a fixed number of dot printing elements.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a configuration around a print head in an embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state when the print head shown in FIG. 1 is viewed from a printing paper side. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a change in a dot printing element group corresponding to each of two rows. 11 ... print head body, 13 ... print paper, 15 ... ink ribbon, 19 ... carrier, 23 ... print control unit constituting print element group determination means, 25 ... character generator constituting print execution means Part, 31 ... dot printing element, 32d,
32e, 32f: dot printing element group.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 2/255 B41J 2/51

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A print head main body in which the number of dot printing elements, which is more than twice the number of dot printing elements corresponding to one line printing, is provided at a predetermined pitch in the column direction, is moved in the line direction. In a printing apparatus that performs two lines of printing in parallel according to a set line spacing, a dot corresponding to one of the two lines from among the dot printing elements provided in the print head main body. A first dot printing element group and a second dot printing element group corresponding to the other of the two rows, and a first dot printing element group determined by the printing element group determination means. A printing apparatus comprising: a printing element group and a second printing element group, and a print execution unit that prints the two lines in parallel.