JP2995990B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer capable of adjusting the distance between a print sheet and a print head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a printer is configured to include a platen for supporting a print sheet and a print head for printing on the print sheet. The print head prints while being moved in the direction parallel to the platen, but the thickness of the print paper is not always constant, and the distance between the print paper and the print head is required to obtain beautiful and high-quality prints. Needs to be constant or a condition appropriate for the thickness of the printing paper.

For this reason, various types of interval adjusting means for adjusting the interval between the printing paper and the print head have been reported, and in recent years, a method of automatically adjusting the interval has been generally used. The interval adjusting device for automatically adjusting the interval can be roughly classified into two types. One type is a printer which measures the thickness of a printing paper by some method, such as a printer described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-33118. It is a method of recognizing and adjusting to an appropriate interval. The other is JP-A-60-183.
As in the printer described in JP-A-77-77, a method of transmitting paper thickness data from a host computer to the printer, and adjusting the printer to an appropriate interval based on the received data.

[0004]

However, the former method can surely obtain an appropriate interval, but has the disadvantage that the processing speed is slowed down because measurement or recognition operation of the printing paper is performed every time the paper is sucked. is there.

The latter method has a disadvantage that the processing speed is high, but the system including the printing paper and the host computer is limited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer capable of improving the processing speed and adjusting the interval between the print surface and the print head by a simple operation. And

[0007]

As shown in FIG. 1, a printer according to the present invention comprises a print head (a) and a platen (b) provided opposite to the print head. ), An interval adjusting unit (c) for adjusting the interval between the print head and the platen, and a storage unit (d) for storing a plurality of sets of data of a printing style and data for controlling the interval adjusting unit. )) And a selection unit (e) for selecting a desired set from a set of a plurality of print style data stored in the storage unit and data for controlling the interval adjustment unit.
And operating the interval adjusting means in accordance with the data for controlling the interval adjusting means in the desired set selected by the selecting means, and performing printing in accordance with the data of the printing style in the selected set. Control means (f) for performing control as described above.

[0008]

The operation of the present invention having the above configuration is as follows.

When printing is performed on the printing paper, when a set of printing format data and data for controlling the interval adjusting means (c) is selected by the selecting means (e), the controlling means (f) Storage means (d) for storing a set of data of the selected printing style and data for controlling the interval adjusting means (c)
Then, the interval adjusting means (c) is operated in accordance with the read data, and the printing is controlled in accordance with the data of the printing style.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, in FIG. 2 showing a schematic configuration of a main part of a printer, a carriage 1 is slidably mounted on a guide bar 3 provided along a platen 2. Also, a slide groove 1a provided on the near side in the drawing of the carriage 1.
A fixed bar 4 provided in parallel with the guide bar 3
Is inserted. The carriage 1 is moved along the guide bar 3 by a well-known carriage driving mechanism including a pair of pulleys, a belt, and a driving motor (not shown). The platen 2, the guide bar 3, and the fixing bar 4 are supported at both ends by side plates (not shown) provided on the main body of the printer.

The carriage 1 includes a print head 8.
Are provided so as to face the platen 2, and an ink ribbon cassette (not shown) is exchangeably mounted. Further, a ribbon mask 9 for preventing the printing paper 6 from being stained by an ink ribbon is attached to a leading end portion of the carriage 1. As is well known, the print head 8 is provided with a large number of vertically arranged print wires at the tip end thereof. The print wires are protruded toward the platen 2 so that the ink ribbon is pressed forward through the notch 9 a of the ribbon mask 9. Has become. This allows the print head 8
Is configured to perform printing by striking the ink of an ink ribbon on the paper surface of the printing paper 6 while moving in parallel with the printing paper 6 set on the platen 2 with the movement of the carriage 1. . The printing paper 6 is fed by a paper feeding device 34 (see FIG. 3) for rotating the platen 2 and the like.

Next, a description will be given of an interval adjusting apparatus according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, eccentric shaft portions 3a (only one side is shown) are integrally provided at both ends of the guide bar 3 at positions eccentric from the axis thereof. This eccentric shaft 3a
Is rotatably supported by the side plate, whereby the guide bar 3 is rotatable in directions indicated by arrows X and Y about an axis eccentric from its axis. Thus, the carriage 1 moves in a direction in which the carriage 1 comes into contact with the platen 2 and a direction in which the carriage 1 moves away from the platen 2. The eccentric shaft portion 3a is connected to the contact / separation mechanism 11, and the guide bar 3 is rotated by the contact / separation mechanism 11 in the directions of arrows X and Y. In this case, the rotational force of the step motor 12 is reduced and transmitted to a drive gear 14 rotatably provided on a shaft 13.
4 is transmitted via a pin 16 to a driven gear 15 rotatably provided on the shaft 13, and the driven gear 15
Gear 17 fixed to the end of the eccentric shaft 3
It is configured to be transmitted to. At this time, the pin 16
Has one end fixed to the driven gear 15 and the other end inserted into a long hole 18 formed in the drive gear 14 so as to extend in the circumferential direction, and a torsion coil spring provided in the drive gear 14 together therewith. 19, the one end 18 of the elongated hole 18
It is pressed against the a side.

As a result, the rotation of the drive gear 14 in the direction of arrow Y 'due to the forward rotation of the step motor 12 is transmitted to the driven gear 15 as it is, and the guide bar 3 is rotated in the direction of arrow Y. 2 is retracted in a direction away from the second.

On the other hand, the rotation of the drive gear 14 in the direction of the arrow X 'due to the reverse rotation of the step motor 12 is transmitted to the driven gear 15 via the torsion coil spring 19, and the guide bar 3 is rotated in the direction of the arrow X. The carriage 1 moves forward in a direction approaching the platen 2. At this time, the movement of the carriage 1 in the forward direction is regulated by the ribbon mask 9 at the leading end of the carriage 1 abutting on the platen 2 or the printing paper 6 set on the platen. When the load torque of the gear 15 exceeds a predetermined value, the torsion coil spring 19 is deformed so that the rotation is not transmitted to the pin 16 and the driven gear 15 stops.

The contact / separation mechanism 11 includes a driven gear 15
Disk 20 having a number of slits mounted on it
And an encoder 22 comprising a photointerrupter 21 for detecting the transmission and blocking of light from the rotating disk 20. The encoder 22 is provided on the platen 2 of the carriage 1.
Alternatively, to detect that the driven gear 15 has stopped when pressed against the printing paper 6, and at a predetermined position where the carriage 1 is sufficiently separated from the platen 2 (hereinafter referred to as an origin o).
The output of the controller 23
(See FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 23
PU (Central Processing Unit) 24, ROM 25 in which a program for controlling the operation of the entire printer is written, RAM 26 for temporarily storing various data, non-volatile erasable for storing print format and paper thickness data and erasing and rewriting EEPR
It comprises an OM 27 and a bus 28 interconnecting them. The control device 23 controls the stepping motor 12
By counting the number of drive pulses required from the start of driving to the stop of the driving, the moving distance from the origin o can be calculated.
Detected as the number of drive pulses of the step motor 12. That is, when the stop of the driven gear 15 when the carriage 1 is pressed against the platen 2 or the printing paper 6 is detected by the encoder 22 provided in the contact / separation mechanism 11, the moving distance from the origin o, that is, the printing paper 6 The value corresponding to the paper thickness is recognized as the number of drive pulses of the step motor 12.

In the printer having the above configuration, in this embodiment, the printing style and the interval adjustment can be arbitrarily set and selected. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the operation panel 31 provided on the outer surface of the printer main body (not shown) has change keys B1 to B3 for changing the printing style and paper thickness data, and setting keys for setting various changed data. C, a registration key D for storing changed data in the EEPROM 27, and a liquid crystal display panel A for displaying various information (see FIG. 3).

The operation of each key will be described with reference to the explanatory diagram of FIG. 4 showing the display on the liquid crystal display panel A and the flowchart of FIG.

First, when the power of the printer is turned on and the printer is set to the off-line state, the printing mode can be set.

In step 101, the target print style number n is displayed on the liquid crystal panel A. Next, in step 103, the state of the change key B1 is detected, and if the state is the pressed state, the target print style number n is changed. Further, in step 105, the setting key C
It is determined whether or not is pressed. If not, the process returns to step 101. That is, this step 10
Through the loop of 1 to 105, the target print style number n is sequentially displayed each time the change key B1 is pressed. The operator presses the change key B1 until the desired number is displayed, and then presses the setting key C in that state, whereby the number of the print style can be selected.

When the number of the print style to be set is set in this way, next in step 107,
The contents m and data 1 of the print format already registered in the target format number are displayed on the liquid crystal display panel A. In this state, in step 109, the change key B
The pressed state of 2 and the change key B3 is determined. If the pressed state, the corresponding data is changed, and the process proceeds to step 111. If the button has not been pressed, the process proceeds to step 111 without performing any operation. Then, in a step 111, it is determined whether or not the setting key C is in a pressed state, and if not, the process returns to the step 107.

In general, since a large number of data exist as a printing format, step 1 until the setting key C is pressed is performed.
By the loop from 07 to step 111, the printing style and the data of the paper thickness are sequentially changed.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the change key B2 is depressed, examples of the print style contents m are "Indio Soku" (print speed), "Atamadashi" (cue out), and "Kamiatsu" (paper thickness). Etc. are displayed sequentially,
For example, when the change key B3 is depressed in a state where "Insokudo" is displayed, "Seion" (silent), "Komits" (high density), "Kosoku" (high speed), etc., which are examples of the data 1 of "Insokudo", are displayed. Are sequentially displayed. By depressing the change key B3 at the display of the desired data l, the contents m of the next printing style and the data l are displayed, so that other data such as paper thickness data is changed in the same manner. As the data of the paper thickness, "1" is designated for printing on plain paper, and the number of sheets (for example, "3" for 3-parts paper) is designated for printing on copy paper. If the thickness is unknown, specify "Auto".

If it is determined in step 111 that the setting key C has been depressed, it is determined that the setting of the printing format of the printing format number n to be processed has been completed, and the process proceeds to step 113.

In step 113, various data are stored in the EEPROM by depressing the registration key D.
The data is written in the storage area of the print style number n of 27, and the process returns to step 101.

In this state, the contents of other print style numbers can be changed.

Next, processing for printing will be described.

When the mode is changed to the online state, the printable state is set.
In the case of the loop statuses of Nos. To 105, the printing style of the printing style number displayed at the time of mode change is selected as the printing style in the printing state. In the case of the loop of steps 107 to 111, the contents being set are forcibly written into the EEPROM, and the written data becomes the printing format.

The CPU 24 converts the data of the various print styles and the paper thickness data of the set print style number into the EEPR.
The print data read from the OM 27 is controlled to control the carriage transfer device 35, the paper feed device 34, the print head driving device 33, the interval adjusting device 36, etc., and print the print data received from the host computer in accordance with the selected print format.

At this time, if a numeral is set as the paper thickness data, the number of driving steps of the step motor 12 from the origin o caused by a proper head-paper interval at the number of papers indicated by the numeral is: It is read from the ROM 25. Then, a drive pulse resulting from the difference between the number of drive steps from the origin o stored in the RAM 26 to the current position of the print head is applied to the step motor 12.

As a method for automatically adjusting the interval, for example, the following method is known. First, the print head 8 is moved to the position of the origin o, and thereafter, is advanced until the ribbon mask 9 comes into contact with the paper set on the platen 8. When the print head 8 stops due to the contact, that is, when there is no change in the output of the encoder 22, the thickness of the sheet is calculated from the number of drive steps of the step motor 12 required until the contact. Then, according to the thickness of the paper, the step motor 12 is driven to drive the print head 8.
Is retracted to obtain a desired proper distance between the print head 8 and the sheet.

By setting the paper thickness data to "auto" in the above embodiment, the burden on the operator is not increased even for paper of unknown thickness. That is, for a sheet having a clear thickness, the processing speed of the job can be improved by setting the sheet thickness data by a number according to the sheet thickness. For paper of unknown paper thickness, the paper thickness data is set to "auto" so that the spacing adjuster 36 automatically adjusts the spacing, thereby preventing printing errors.

A mode in which data is not specified as the printing mode and "Auto" is specified as the data of the paper thickness, ie, a state in which the same operation as a general printer in which the printing mode cannot be specified in advance is performed. Can also be handled as a set of data relating to the printing style and paper thickness in the present invention. Also, this mode is stored in non-rewritable memory,
This mode may be set in a state where no designation is made (default).

In addition, as the storage means, a large number of IC cards storing a single print format and paper thickness data are prepared, and only one of them can be set as the selection means. The selection may be made by reading an IC card in which a desired print format and paper thickness data are stored using a reading device.

In addition, without departing from the spirit of the present invention,
Various modifications are possible.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, when changing the printing paper, the operator simply operates the switch panel, and simultaneously sets the printing style and sets the printing paper and the print head together. It is possible to adjust the interval of the paper, and the processing speed of business is improved compared to the method of detecting the thickness of the printing paper and adjusting the interval each time the printing paper is sucked, and the data is stored inside the printer Therefore, the system such as the host computer is not limited.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of a printing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control device of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram used to explain the operation of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart used to explain the operation of one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 a print head b platen c interval adjusting means d storage means e selecting means f control means 2 platen 11 contact / separation mechanism (interval adjusting means) 18 print head 23 control device (control means) 27 EEPROM (storage means)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A print head, a platen provided to face the print head, an interval adjusting means for adjusting an interval between the print head and the platen, and control of data of a printing style and the interval adjusting means. Means for storing a plurality of sets of data to be performed, and a selection for selecting a desired set from a set of a plurality of print style data and data for controlling the interval adjusting means stored in the storage means. Means for operating the interval adjusting means in accordance with the data for controlling the interval adjusting means in the desired set selected by the selecting means, and performing printing in accordance with the data of the printing style in the selected set. And control means for controlling the printer.