JP2995766B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing a dot matrix pattern.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printing apparatus of this type has a print head provided with one or two rows of printing elements for printing on paper in the paper feeding direction.
Printing is performed by driving the printing elements as follows.

In the case where the printing elements are arranged in one line, a control device for driving and controlling each printing element after a single delay time elapses according to the moving speed of the print head, for example, a microcomputer is provided. It is driving. In the case of two columns, one microcomputer drives each printing element in the column after the elapse of two types of delay times different for each column.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above-mentioned conventional printing apparatus has the following problems.

For example, for the sake of arranging the printing wires constituting the printing elements in one or two rows in the printing head, the printing wires extend over a long distance from each armature arranged in a substantially circular shape in the printing head to the printing surface. It is arranged to be greatly curved by a plurality of guides. Therefore, the driving cycle cannot be increased due to the friction generated between the printing wire and the guide and the inertial force of the printing wire, and as a result, an increase in the printing speed is hindered.

Further, since the number of printing elements that can be arranged in one row in the paper feed direction is limited by the size of the print head and the like, improvement in print quality based on an increase in the number of dots in the paper feed direction cannot be expected.

By arranging the printing elements on the print head in a large number of columns extending in the printing row direction, the printing wires can be arranged substantially linearly without largely curving, so that the length can be shortened and the frictional force and inertia force can be reduced. Although the printing speed can be increased and the printing quality can be improved, the control device (microcomputer) calculates the printing timing for each column according to the printing speed, and the printing pitch (dot pitch) It is necessary to calculate such printing timing every time it changes, taking into account the delay time of each column which is different for each printing pitch, so that the control becomes complicated and a large load is applied to the control device.

That is, simply increasing the number of columns of the print elements on the print head in the print row direction cannot cope with the increase in the print pitch, and is not an essential solution.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and realizes, with a simple configuration, multiple columns of print elements and multiple print pitches in the print line direction which provide higher performance of a print function, with a simple configuration. Aim.

Means for Solving the Problems Means adopted by the present invention in order to achieve the above object are as follows. As shown in the block diagram of FIG. A plurality of printing elements provided on the head M1 are arranged in a plurality of printing element columns in a printing line direction.
Deployed and arranged as IR, the print head M1 in the print line direction
A printing device that drives each of the printing elements based on a dot matrix of print data to perform printing in accordance with the movement of the printing data, and print lines in the plurality of printing element columns as the printing head M1 moves. Each time the reference column at the head of the direction moves from the column position which is the starting point of movement in the printing line direction to the designated printing dot pitch, the printing to be driven according to the dot matrix pattern for one column in the printing data. Drive signal generating means M2 for generating a drive signal corresponding to the element
And the reference column, a printing reference signal generating means M3 for generating a printing reference signal each time the designated printing dot pitch moves from the starting column position, and printing from the reference column to each printing element. The gap in the row direction,
By dividing by the designated print dot pitch, a delay value consisting of an integer value and a decimal value, a calculating means M4 for calculating each of the print elements, and the reference column, from the column position serving as the starting point Each time the designated print dot pitch is moved, the drive signal generating means M2 drives the drive corresponding to the print element to be driven in accordance with the dot matrix pattern for one row to be recorded at the column position reached at that time. At the time when the number of the printing reference signals issued by the printing reference signal generating means M3 reaches the integer value of the delay value calculated by the calculating means M4 from that time. A first delayed signal generating means M5a,
From the time when 5a emits the first signal, to the time when the time corresponding to the decimal value of the delay value calculated by the calculating means M4 has elapsed, the second delay signal generating means M5b for emitting the second signal And a delay driving means M5 for driving the printing element to be driven by the second signal from the second delay signal generating means M5b.

[Operation] The printing apparatus of the present invention having the above-described configuration, by arranging a plurality of printing elements in a printing line direction as a plurality of printing element arrays IR, performs printing in the paper feed direction of the paper in a dot matrix of print data. This leads to a higher dot count.

Further, at the time of printing, with the movement of the print head M1, every time the reference column reaches a column position of the designated print dot pitch interval, the drive signal generating means M2,
A drive signal corresponding to a print element to be driven is issued according to a dot matrix pattern for one row in the print data. Here, the “printing element to be driven” is a printing element to be driven corresponding to a dot matrix pattern for one row.
At the point in time when the drive signal corresponding to the printing element to be driven is issued (that is, when the reference column reaches a certain column position), not all the printing elements to be driven are driven immediately, but are driven. Only the printing elements included in the reference row among the printing elements to be driven are driven.

Then, after the drive signal generating means M2 issues a drive signal, the number of printing reference signals emitted by the printing reference signal generating means M3 is an integer value of the delay value calculated by the calculating means M4 for each printing element. When the first delay signal generation means M5a emits the first signal at the time point when the first delay signal generation means M5a emits the first signal, the delay value calculated by the calculation means M4 is reduced to a decimal value. When the corresponding time has elapsed, the second
The delay signal generation means M5b emits a second signal, and the second signal from the second delay signal generation means M5b causes the delay drive means M5
Drives the printing element to be driven.

That is, the timing at which each printing element is driven is delayed by a period from when the drive signal generation unit M2 issues a drive signal to when the second delay signal generation unit M5b issues a second signal.

Thus, when a plurality of printing elements are developed and arranged as a plurality of printing element columns IR in the printing line direction, and at the time when the reference column reaches a certain column position, the driving signal generation unit M2 is driven. Despite issuing drive signals corresponding to all print elements to be printed, the drive timing of each print element is delayed by delay drive means M5 to an appropriate timing corresponding to the distance from the reference row, and the drive signal generation means One row of dot matrix patterns recorded according to the drive signal emitted by M2 is recorded at the same column position, and the intended printing is performed.

Example Next, an example of the printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the dot impact type printer according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view for explaining the arrangement of the leading ends of the print wires in the print head.

As shown in FIG. 2, a carriage 2 provided with a print head 1 is movable along a guide shaft 3 by a driving force of a carriage driving motor 4 via a roller 5 and a belt 6. The print head 1 includes therein a plurality of printing elements including an electromagnet, an armature that is attracted to the electromagnet and swings, and a printing wire that strikes a printing surface of a sheet by the swing of the armature, as shown in FIG. As shown from the rear end side of the print head 1, the print wires W1, W2, W3.
The tips of 4 are arranged in a rhombic shape over 12 wire rows in the printing row direction. Each row has two print wire tips and the pitch of each row is 4/180 inches. And
The print head 1 uses the wire row to which the print wires W11 and W13 belong as a reference row, and starts with this reference row as an arrow A in FIG.
Prints while moving normally in the direction indicated by.

A frame (not shown) is provided in front of the print head 1.
Is provided with a platen 7 which is rotatably supported.
The sheet 8 is supported by the platen 7. Further, the printer is provided with an encoder 18 as a sensor for detecting the moving position of the carriage 2 and the like, which can detect the moving position and the moving speed of the carriage 2 in conjunction with the carriage driving motor 4.

The detection signals of these sensors are processed by the electronic control unit 20 shown in FIG. This electronic control unit 20 is a well-known electronic control unit.
A register group R1, R2 composed of well-known shift registers SR1, SR2... SRi for temporarily storing and transmitting data, in addition to a bus for interconnecting the CPU 21, the ROM 22, the RAM 23, the input interface 24, the output interface 25, the CPU 21, and the like. … R24
Selectors S1, S2... S24 for selecting a data input shift register based on print data and the like, and minute delay circuits T1, T2.
Driving time of printing wire (excitation time of electromagnet not shown)
, And drive time timers K1, K2,..., K24 for each printing element (printing wires W1, W2,..., W24).

When the same print wire is driven continuously, the drive time timer makes the excitation time for the second and subsequent times shorter than the excitation time of the electromagnet at the time of the first drive, and reduces the impact force at the time of driving each print wire. Make it uniform. The ROM 22 stores, in addition to programs such as a printing routine to be described later, a printing head configuration (wire row pitch of printing wires, correspondence between each printing wire and a wire row to which the printing wire belongs) in the print head 1 shown in FIG. ) Is stored in advance.

External devices 26 such as a keyboard and a host computer, and an encoder 18 are connected to the input interface 24,
The output interface 25 has shift registers SR1, SR
2 ... SRi, selectors S1, S2 ... S24, minute delay circuits T1, T2 ... T24, and a motor drive circuit 29 for driving the carriage drive motor 4. And each shift register, selector,
The minute delay circuit and the drive time timer are connected for each corresponding print wire, and each drive time timer is a driver for each print wire that drives the print wire.
D1, D2 ... D24 are connected.

Next, a print reference signal output routine, a print routine, and the like executed by the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

The print reference signal output routine shown in FIG. 5 is an interrupt process performed at predetermined time intervals. First, the output of the encoder 18 is read (Step 100; hereinafter, the steps are simply referred to as S). It is determined whether or not it is the output timing of the printing reference signal IK based on the moving speed of the head (S1
05).

That is, it is determined whether or not the print head 1 has moved by a print dot pitch (column), which will be described later, designated by the external device 26. If an affirmative determination is made in S105, the print reference signal IK is determined.
The output is provided to each shift register SR1, SR2,... SRi of each of the register groups R1, R2,... R24 shown in FIG. 4, and if a negative determination is made in S105, the process is terminated and the above process is repeated.
Thus, each time the print head 1 moves one column, the print reference signal IK is output, and each shift register transmits the stored data to the shift register connected to the lower stage every time the print reference signal IK is output.

The printing routine shown in FIG. 6 is repeatedly executed after the power is turned on, and is executed after initial processing such as clearing of an internal register when the electronic control unit 20 is started.

First, it is determined whether or not there is an input from the external device 26 such as a keyboard (S205), and the process waits until an input is made. If there is an input from the external device 26, the print dot pitch (column) in the print line direction is read from the input data (S21).
0) Then, the configuration of the print head 1, that is, the arrangement state of the print wires (the wire row pitch of the print wires, etc.) is read from the ROM 22 (S220).

Next, a delay time for each printing element (printing wire) is calculated based on the read printing dot pitch and the printing head configuration (S230).

That is, L / P is divided from the read print dot pitch P and the distance L from the reference row in the print head to the wire row to which each print wire belongs, and the quotient is calculated as the delay time. Then, the calculated delay time for each print wire, the number of the integer part thereof to each of the selectors S1, S2,... S24 corresponding to the print wire, and the small number of the small part thereof to the minute delay circuit T1 corresponding to the print wire. , T2,..., T24, respectively (S240). For example, the print dot pitch is 1/160
If the inch and the print wire are W1, the distance from the reference row to the row to which the print wire W1 belongs is 5 × (4/180) inches, so the delay time for the print wire W1 is 17.78 (S230), and this delay The integer 17 of the time is allocated to the selector S1, and the number 0.78 of the decimal part is allocated to the minute delay circuit T1 (S240).

Delay time of each selector thus obtained (number of integer parts)
Is obtained by dividing the gap L by the print dot pitch P, and thus represents the number of print dot pitches (the number of columns) when the print head 1 moves by the gap L. Printing reference signal IK for each column movement
Registers that shift data from the first-stage shift register SR1 to the next and subsequent shift registers based on the
It also corresponds to the number of stages of the shift register in R1, R2 ... R24.

Such assignment of the delay time is performed for the selector and the minute delay circuit for every print wire.

Next, the moving speed of the print head corresponding to the read print dot pitch is set (S250), and the print head 1 is moved at that speed (S260). Next, following the reading of the print data (S270), it is determined whether the output of the print data to be printed to each register group is completed (S275). If the output of the print data is completed, the process proceeds to S205. And repeat the process. On the other hand, if the print data is not completed, the following processing is performed to output the print data to each register group.

The output of the encoder 18 is read (S280), and based on the moving speed of the read print head, it is determined whether or not it is the print data output timing, that is, the print dot pitch (column) read by the print head 1 from the external device 26. ) It is determined whether or not it has moved (S285). Thereafter, at the output timing, the print data is transferred to the first-stage shift register SR in each of the register groups R1, R2... R24 shown in FIG.
1, and to each of the selectors S1, S2,..., S24 (S290), and if not the output timing, the processing from S260 is repeated.

When outputting print data, the dot matrix pattern based on the print data is regarded as a set of dot rows for each print dot pitch in the print row direction, and the CPU 2
Reference numeral 1 denotes the first stage shift register SR1 and the selector of the register group corresponding to each print wire constituting each dot row, and print data (print wire data) from the first dot row in the print row direction in dot row units. ) Is output.

For example, if the first dot row is composed of dots driven by the print wires W1, W2, W21, and the next dot row is composed of dots driven by the print wires W5, W10,
Each time the print head 1 moves by the print dot pitch (column), the print wire data for each of the print wires W1, W2, and W21 is transferred to each shift register SR1 of the register group R1, R2, and R21 and each selector. The output is performed to S1, S2, and S21, and then the print wire data for each of the print wires W5 and W10 is output to each shift register SR1 of the register group R5 and R10 and each of the selectors S5 and S10.

Thus, every time the print head 1 moves the print dot pitch (column), the print data (print wire data)
Is output, the first-stage shift register SR1 stores the print data, and for each output of the print reference signal IK,
Each shift register including the first-stage shift register SR1 executes transmission of print data to the lower-stage shift register.

In response to the output of the printing reference signal IK and the printing data (printing wire data), the printing apparatus of this embodiment drives each printing wire by each register group, selector, minute delay circuit, driving time timer, and the like. .

Next, a description will be given of how characters such as a 24 × 24 dot matrix (print dot pitch = 1/160 inch) are printed by the register group and the like. In the description, as shown in FIG. 7A, the print dot matrix is formed by dots (d1) of the print wires W1, W2, W3.
1, d12... D63) will be described as an example.

In this case, the reference row to which the print wires W11 and W13 belong (third row)
From the distance between the column to which each of the printing wires belongs and the printing dot pitch (1/160 inch), see S230,
Since the delay time for each of the print wires W1, W2, W3 calculated by 240 is 17.78, 21.33, 14.22, respectively, the selector S1,
S2 and S3 have their integer parts 17, 21, and 14 as small delay circuits T1, T
2,2 and T3 are assigned the minority parts 0.78, 0.33, and 0.22, respectively.

The print reference signal IK is output from the output interface 25 of the electronic control unit 20 every time the print head reaches the column (n1, n2. Are output to the respective shift registers SR1, SR2,... SRi of the register group R1, R2,.

On the other hand, when the print head 1 reaches the column n1, from the output interface 25, the print wire data IW1 for the print wires W1, W2, W3 corresponding to the dots d11, d12, d13 constituting the leading dot row, respectively. IW2 and IW3 are output to the first-stage shift registers SR1 and the selectors S1, S2 and S3 of the register groups R1, R2 and R3 by the processing of the printing routine. Similarly, when the columns n2, n3, n4, n5, and n6 are reached, each time the print wire data IW1, IW2, and IW3 are sent to the corresponding shift register SR1 and each selector, as shown in FIG. ) Are sequentially output.

Print wire data IW when column n1 of print head 1 arrives
Each shift register SR1 of the register group R1, R2, R3 to which 1, IW2, IW3 is input stores the print wire data IW1, IW2, IW3 and receives the print reference signal IK when the print head 1 reaches column n2. The print wire data I is stored in the next-stage shift register SR2.
Deliver W1, IW2, IW3. Thus, the print wire data IW1, IW2, IW3 when the print head 1 reaches the column n1 are represented by n
Each time the print head 1 reaches the second and subsequent columns, it is sequentially shifted to each shift register of the register group R1, R2, R3.

Similarly, the print wire data IW1, IW2, and IW3 when the print head 1 reaches the columns n2, n3, n4, n5, and n6 also have the register groups R1, R
The shift is sequentially shifted from each of the shift registers SR1 of R2 and R3 to the shift registers of the next and subsequent stages. At the time of arrival at the column, only the corresponding print wire data is sequentially shifted. For example, when column n2 is reached, print wire data IW1 and IW3
Are sequentially shifted.

Output interface when print head 1 reaches column n1
Each of the selectors S1, S2, S3, which have input the print wire data IW1, IW2, IW3 from 25, operate in response to this data input and are pre-assigned to each selector as shown in FIG. 7 (C). At the timing delayed by the delay time 17, 21, 14 respectively,
The print wire data IW1, IW2, IW3 are received from the shift registers of the register groups R1, R2, R3.

In this case, the delay time corresponds to the number of stages of the shift register in each register group, as described above.
The selector S1 is a shift register SR17 of the 17th stage of the register group R1.
, The selector S2 is from the shift register SR21 of the 21st stage of the register group R2, and the selector S3 is from the shift register SR14 of the 14th stage of the register group R3, and the print wire data IW1, IW2,
Upon receiving IW3, the data is output to the corresponding minute delay circuits T1, T2, T3 as shown in FIG. 7 (C).

That is, the reference row of the print head 1 (print wires W11, W13
(See FIG. 3) to the column n14 from the selector S3 to the minute delay circuit T3, and the reference column to the column n17.
From the selector S1 to the minute delay circuit T1 when it reaches the column n21, and from the selector S2 to the minute delay circuit T2 when it reaches the column n21.
Then, the print wire data IW1, IW2, IW3 are respectively output.

Then, each of the minute delay circuits T1, T2, T3 to which the print wire data IW1, IW2, IW3 are inputted, as shown in FIG. Each of the print wire data IW1, IW2, IW3 is output after being delayed by a delay time 0.78, 0.33, 0.22 assigned to each minute delay circuit. The drive time timers K1, K2, and K3 individually determine the drive times based on the drive history of the print wires up to that time, and drive signals for the determined drive times of the print wires are output to the drivers D1, D2 for each print wire. , D3.

As a result, each driver D1, D2, D3 for each print wire is
Sum of delay time in corresponding selector and micro delay circuit,
In other words, it operates with a delay of 17.78, 21.33, 14.22 each,
Only for the drive time determined by each of the drive time timers K1, K2, K3 above,
Each printing wire W1, W2, W3 is driven to perform printing.

That is, in the first dot row consisting of d11, d12, and d13 to be printed at the position of the column n1, the dot d11 becomes the print wire W1 when the print head 1 reaches the position of the 17.78 column.
Dot D12 is hit by the driver D2 when the dot d12 reaches the position of 21.33 column,
When the dot d13 reaches the position of the 14.22 column, the dot is hit by the driver D3, and the dot row composed of d11, d12, and d13 is printed.

The second and subsequent dot rows to be printed at each column position (n2 ... n6) (dot rows consisting of d21 and d23, each dot row consisting only of d32, d41, d52, and d63) are also delayed in the same manner as described above. Printing is performed by the driving drivers D1, D2, and D3.

When the dots d21 and d23 are hit, it is necessary to continuously drive the print wires W1, W2, and W3 continuously from the previous hit. Therefore, the drivers D1 and D3 are driven by the drive time timers K1 and K3.
The driving time of 3 is shortened.

As described above, according to the printing apparatus of the present embodiment, the arrangement of the print wires in the print head 1 (the distance from the reference row to the wire row to which the print wire belongs) and the print head 1
Based on the column arrival status (moving speed), the generation and selection of the delay time for each print wire is performed using a simple electronic device, and the drive control required for driving each print wire is performed by the electronic device. It can be performed independently of the delay time generation / selection processing. Moreover, this drive control
Since the print reference signal IK is generated only when the print head 1 reaches each column and the print wire data relating to the print wire to be driven is generated, a large number of print wires can be arranged in the print line direction and the print pitch with a simple configuration. And the printing function can be improved in performance.

More specifically, by increasing the number of rows of printing wires to shorten the wire length, reducing the occurrence of resonance in the printing wires during continuous driving, and increasing the printing speed by increasing the driving cycle of the stamping wire. Can be planned. In addition, since the configuration of the print head (the distance between the respective wire rows, the pitch thereof, and the like) is taken into consideration, it is possible to cope with the case where the print wire arrangement is multi-rowed in any shape.

Further, in the present embodiment, when determining the drive time of the print wire, since the drive history up to that time is considered for the print wire, at the time of continuous drive of the same print wire,
The driving time after the second time is shortened, and the impact force of the printing wire during each driving is made uniform. For this reason, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of print shading.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments at all, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, in the present embodiment, the arrangement of the print wires is diamond-shaped, but the present invention is not limited to such a shape, and the print wires can be arranged in a large number of rows such as a circle or a polygon.
In this case, the control may be performed as described above according to the distance between the reference position (reference row) of the print head and the row to which the print wire belongs.

In addition, if the reference row is set to the wire row to which the print wires W12 and W14 belong in addition to the wire row to which the print wires W11 and W13 in FIG. 3, it is possible to cope with printing in the opposite direction to the case described above. it can. Furthermore, if a plurality of reference columns are used, the distance between the reference column and the wire column to which the print wire belongs is reduced, so that the delay time of the print wires after the reference column reaches the column position is shortened, and each printing is performed. It is also possible to reduce the number of shift registers in the register group corresponding to the wire. For example, in the print wire arrangement shown in FIG. 3, if the wire row to which the print wires W2 and W24 belong is set as the second reference row, the distance from the second reference row to the wire row to which the print wire W10 belongs is printed. The distance from the first reference column to which the wires W11 and W13 belong is reduced by 24/180, and the number of shift registers can be reduced accordingly.

Effects of the Invention As described above in detail including the embodiments, according to the printing apparatus of the present invention, the number of printing dots in the paper feeding direction is increased, the printing quality is improved, and the printing speed is increased. Can be achieved.

In particular, according to the present invention, based on a column position determined according to a designated print dot pitch, a drive signal is issued each time a reference column reaches the column position,
For the reference column, the printing element is driven immediately at that column position, and for each printing element column that is separated from the reference column, from the time when the printing element of the reference column is driven,
Each printing element is driven with a delay by a timing corresponding to a different delay value for each printing element row. In particular, the delay driving means moves the print head by a distance corresponding to the number of columns corresponding to the delay value, based on the number of printing reference signals generated by the printing reference signal generating means each time the printing head moves by one column. Since the printing elements are driven in a delayed manner in consideration of the timing and the minute delay time by the second delay signal generating means, a plurality of printing elements are developed and arranged as a plurality of printing element columns in the printing row direction. In addition, when the reference row reaches a certain column position, the drive signal generating means issues drive signals corresponding to all the print elements to be driven, but one row recorded according to the drive signal. Is recorded at the same column position, and the desired printing is performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of a printer according to the present embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the electronic control unit of the embodiment, FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a print reference signal generation routine, FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a print routine, and FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the embodiment. 1 Printhead 2 Carriage 7 Platen 8 Paper 18 Encoder 20 Electronic control unit SR1, SR2 to SRi Shift register R1, R2 to R24 Register group S1, S2 to S24: Selector T1, T2 to T24: Small delay circuit W1, W2 to W24: Print wire

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-56-144170 (JP, A) JP-A-59-165661 (JP, A) JP-A-61-41559 (JP, A) JP-A-63-264362 (JP) JP-A-62-13362 (JP, A) JP-A-59-109378 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 2/51 B41J 2/55

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of print elements provided on a print head in a paper feed direction are developed and arranged as a plurality of print element rows in a print line direction, and the print head moves in the print line direction. A printing apparatus that drives each of the printing elements based on a dot matrix of print data to perform printing, and wherein a movement of the printing head causes a reference at a leading position in a printing row direction in the plurality of printing element rows. Each time the column moves from the column position, which is the starting point of the movement in the print row direction, to the designated print dot pitch, the drive corresponding to the print element to be driven is performed according to the dot matrix pattern for one column in the print data. A drive signal generating unit that emits a signal, and each time the reference column moves from the starting column position to the designated printing dot pitch, a printing reference signal The print reference signal generating means that emits, the distance in the print line direction from the reference column to each print element, by dividing by the specified print dot pitch, the delay value consisting of an integer value and a decimal value, Calculating means for calculating each of the printing elements; and each time the reference row moves from the starting column position to the designated printing dot pitch, the drive signal generating means sets the column reached at that time. A drive signal corresponding to a printing element to be driven is issued in accordance with a dot matrix pattern for one column to be recorded at a position, and the number of the printing reference signals issued by the printing reference signal generating means from that time is calculated by the calculation means. First delay signal generating means for emitting a first signal when the integer value of the delay value calculated by the first delay signal reaches the first delay value; A second delay signal generating means for emitting a second signal at a time when a time corresponding to the decimal value of the delay value calculated by the calculating means has elapsed from a time when the signal generating means has issued the first signal; And a delay driving means for driving the printing element to be driven by the second signal from the second delay signal generating means.