JP3115777B2 - Serial recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a serial recording apparatus, and more particularly to a serial recording apparatus for dividing print information and printing the divided print information on a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a serial recording apparatus which uses a recording head having a specific width to receive print information sent from a host device and repeat scanning of the recording head and paper feeding to print on a recording medium. Stores printing information sent from the host device for one line, starts printing when a printing start command is sent from the host device, and prints printing information received up to that time when a paper feeding command is sent. A process of executing paper feed after printing is completed has been performed. When printing a print image that does not fit within the width of the recording head due to enlarged characters, the portion of the recording head that protrudes upward or downward is fed up or down in the reverse direction or forward direction of the recording head, respectively. And prints the protruding portion, and finally returns to the original recording head position.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state of characters printed by a conventional printing process. In FIG. 12, 1
Using a wire dot printer with a recording head width of 24 dots at 80 dpi, a vertically double character (requiring 60 dots vertically) of a block graphic character that requires 30 dots vertically while performing a line feed 24/180 inches by 3 characters at a time. This shows the case of line printing. The processing flow at this time is as follows. (1) The print information of three characters for one line is received and stored together with the vertical double attribute. (2) When a 24/180 inch line feed command is received, printing of the first line is executed by the following operations (3) to (7). (3) After performing a 24/180 inch reverse line feed, print the 20 dots protruding upward ([1] in FIG. 12).
Part). Here, the paper is fed once in the reverse direction and the head is scanned once. (4) After a line feed of 24/180 inches is performed, printing is performed for 24 dots of the width of the recording head ([2] in FIG. 12). Here, one paper feed and one head scan are performed. (5) After a line feed of 24/180 inches is performed, 16 dots protruding downward are printed (portion [3] in FIG. 12). Here, one paper feed and one head scan are performed. (6) Perform a 24/180 inch reverse line feed to return the recording head to its original position. Here, paper feeding in the reverse direction is performed once. (7) Execute the 24/180 inch line feed command received in (2). Here, paper feeding is performed once. (8) By repeating the processing of (1) to (7) twice, FIG.
Medium [4] to [6] and [7] to [9] are printed.

Since such processing is performed, the order of printing is as shown in [1] to [9] in FIG.
The number of scans of the recording head required to complete all printing is nine, and the number of paper feeds is fifteen (of which six is paper feed in the reverse direction).

[0005]

However, in the above conventional example, after printing the print information already sent from the host device, the print information to be printed above the recording medium (hereinafter, the print information located at a higher Is sent from the host device, or when an enlarged character exceeding the width of the recording head is specified, extra paper feed or paper feed in the reverse direction is frequently required. In addition, the number of scans of the recording head required for printing increases, which not only causes a decrease in throughput at printing speed, but also requires high precision in paper feeding, resulting in a very complicated apparatus configuration and a significant increase in cost. I was invited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a serial recording apparatus which can improve the throughput at the printing speed and can reduce the cost.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a serial recording apparatus in which print information sent from a host device is divided in a direction perpendicular to a scanning direction of a recording head having a predetermined width. Receiving as print information, scanning of the recording head and paper feeding of the recording medium in the paper feeding direction are performed to divide the first print information in the scanning direction of the recording head to perform printing on the recording medium. A serial recording device, wherein an absolute position in the paper feeding direction on the recording medium where the recording head is located in the paper feeding direction is set to a second position.
And the actual head position counter for storing the position information of the front
The absolute position in the paper feed direction on the recording medium on which the first print information is printed in the paper feed direction is a third position.
A virtual head position counter for storing the position information of
Character data indicated by print information sent from the host device
Storage means for storing the
If an instruction to execute paper feeding is sent,
Stored in the virtual head position counter without performing
Updating the location information according to the paper feed amount;
The character data sent from the device is
According to the position to be printed in the paper feed direction,
Control means for storing in the storage means, the control means
The step is such that, in printing by the recording head, the recording medium
The actual head position counter is stored according to the paper feed of the body.
While updating the location information,
From the storage means, corresponding to the position in the paper feed direction
Read and scan the recording head to print on the recording medium.
Printing is performed.

[0008] The storage means includes a print information storage means for a first predetermined number of stored lines and the fourth printing information obtained by adding the attribute information of the character data for each predetermined number of print information to the first printing information, Third position information is added to each of the fourth print information, and the fifth print information is added to the fifth print information.
Position information storage means for storing, for each predetermined number of lines, sixth print information to which the attribute information of the line of the print information is added.

When the print information sent from the host device is a command to execute the paper feed , the control means adds the paper feed amount to the virtual head position counter without executing the paper feed and sets the third position. The information is sequentially updated, and when actually performing paper feeding, the second position information can be updated according to the updated third position information.

The control means determines that the print information sent from the host device has been interrupted, or that it has received an instruction to execute a page break, or that the print information storage means has no unused area. The sixth print information is printed on the recording medium when the unused area has been exhausted in the position information storage means when it is determined that the unused area has been exhausted.
Can be executed .

[0011] control means, sometimes the process for printing the sixth printing information on a recording medium is performed, the third position information from the sixth print information of picked out smallest, sixth printing was picked The paper is fed by the amount of the difference between the third position information and the second position information of the information, and the amount of paper feed is added to the second position information, and the print image is obtained from the selected sixth print information. Can be repeated.

[0012] At this time, when selecting the one having the smallest third position information from the sixth print information , the control means, if there are a plurality of lines having the smallest third position information, a plurality of lines are set. And the print processing of the sixth print information of a plurality of lines can be executed at a time by developing the sixth print information of the line at the same time into a print image.

[0013] In the serial recording apparatus of the present invention, the recording head may include an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy for ink ejection.

In this case, in the serial recording apparatus according to the present invention, the recording head discharges the ink from the discharge port by using the film boiling generated in the ink by the thermal energy applied by the electrothermal transducer. Can be.

[0015]

The present invention has the following functions. (1) A real head position counter, a virtual head position counter, a storage unit, and a control unit. When a paper feed command is sent from the host device, the amount of paper feed is added to the virtual head position counter and the third position is calculated. Since the information is updated and the print information is stored in the storage unit by the control unit instead of executing the print every time the print start command is sent from the host device, it is possible to store the print information for a plurality of lines. It becomes possible. (2) The control means controls the actual head according to the paper feed of the recording medium.
Updating the position information stored in the position counter
Then, the print information stored for a plurality of lines is read out from the storage unit in accordance with the position of the character data in the paper feed direction , and recorded.
Since printing is performed on the recording medium by scanning the head, it is possible to reduce the number of printing processes. (3) Since print information stored for a plurality of lines is always printed starting from the uppermost position, printing of enlarged characters having a size exceeding the width of the recording head or higher position than the already received print information is performed. Even when the print information is sent later, printing can be performed without performing paper feeding in the reverse direction as much as possible. (4) Since print information having the same print position among print information stored for a plurality of lines is simultaneously developed into a print image and printing of a plurality of lines is completed in one printing operation, a recording head required for printing is used. Scan times can be reduced. (5) From the above, not only the throughput at the printing speed is improved, but also the storage capacity to be used can be reduced, and the paper feeding device configuration can be realized relatively easily, so that the cost is reduced. Down becomes possible.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the internal configuration of a serial recording apparatus (inkjet recording apparatus in the illustrated example) according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an electrical configuration of FIG. FIG.

First, the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described. The head cartridge 10 integrates a recording head H and an ink tank serving as an ink supply source. The head cartridge 10 is fixed on a carriage 12 by a holding member 11, and these can be reciprocated in a longitudinal direction along a shaft 13. The recording head H is supplied with an ink ejection signal corresponding to image data from an appropriate data supply source via a cable 16 and a terminal coupled thereto. The ink ejected from the recording head H has a minute interval with the recording head H, and the recording medium 1 whose recording surface is regulated by the platen roller 14.
5 and an image is formed. Head cartridge 10
One or more (two in the illustrated example) can be provided according to the ink color or the like to be used.

The carriage motor 17 scans the carriage 12 along the shaft 13, and reciprocates the recording head H in the scanning direction. The wire 18 is the carriage motor 1
7 is transmitted to the carriage 12. The feed motor 19 is coupled to the platen roller 14 to convey the recording medium 15. A home position (hereinafter referred to as HP) sensor 20 detects the HP of the carriage 12 and
For example, when the carriage 12 is located in the forward direction (the carriage motor 17 side in FIG. 1) with respect to the HP sensor 20, it is configured to be turned off.

Next, the configuration of FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. The host device 21 sends the print information to the carriage 12
And print information for each line is sent to the serial recording device 1 together with a character modification command, a paper feed command, and the like. The MPU 22 is configured by a microprocessor or the like, and controls the serial recording device 1. R
The OM 23 is a control program for the MPU 22 and
The control procedure, data, and the like shown in the flowchart of FIG. The timer 24 measures time according to an instruction from the MPU 22, and outputs an interrupt signal to the MPU 22 when the instructed time is measured. The I / O port 25 inputs and outputs various data and control signals. The image buffer memory 26 stores the print information sent from the host device 21 for at least the print elements (for example, 64 lines) of the print head. The recording head H prints the print image created in the image buffer memory 26.

The RAM 27 is a storage area used as a work area. The RAM 27 has a real head position counter 71, a virtual head position counter 72, a control pointer 73, a data pointer 74, and a buffer of a text control unit. It has an area 75 and a buffer area 76 for a text data section.

The real head position counter 71 stores the absolute position of the recording medium 15 where the recording head H is actually located in the paper feeding direction. The virtual head position counter 72 stores the absolute position in the paper feed direction of the recording medium 15 on which the print information divided in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the recording head H sent from the host device 21 is printed. . The control pointer 73 stores the number of the text control section currently selected in the buffer area of the text control section. Data pointer 74
Stores the number of the text data part currently selected in the buffer area 76 of the text data part. The buffer area 75 of the text control section stores the print head and the attribute information of the character stored in the buffer area 76 of the text data section with the virtual head position counter 72.
Is added to the information of the absolute position of the recording medium 15 in the paper feed direction of the recording medium 15 stored therein, and furthermore, the attribute information of the line is added and the area is stored for each line. The buffer area 76 of the text data section stores print information divided from the host device 21 in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the recording head H and attribute information of the characters for a plurality of lines in units of one character. This is the area to keep.

Next, the configuration of a buffer area for storing a plurality of lines of print information sent from the host device will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of attribute information for one character in the buffer area of the text data portion of FIG. FIG.
, Attribute information (attributes 1 to 3) representing character attributes, left space amount, font box size, actual expansion box size, right space amount, expansion start position in image buffer memory 26, character R that stores the bitmap pattern of
A pointer indicating the font storage address on the OM 23, a pointer indicating the address of the buffer area of the text data section storing the previous character information, and a pointer indicating the address of the buffer area of the text data section storing the next character information. And a configuration having: Each information is
Only the font storage address is 4 bytes, and all other information is 2 bytes, for a total of 24 bytes. The first embodiment has an area in which character information of about several hundred characters can be stored.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of one line of attribute information in the buffer area of the text control unit of FIG.
In FIG. 4, attribute information indicating a line attribute, a printing vertical position indicating an absolute position in the paper feed direction when printing the line, a pass position for next printing, and the number of remaining passes required for printing are shown. , The printing start position in the scanning direction,
The print end position in the scanning direction, the number of text data sections registered in the text control section (hereinafter referred to as links), the pointer of the text data section storing the character information of the head of the line, and the like. , And a pointer to a text data section in which the last character information is stored. Each piece of information is 2 bytes, and is 16 bytes in total. First
Has an area for storing several tens of lines of line information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the buffer area of the text control section and the buffer area of the text data section in FIG. 2, and shows a state in which print information sent from the host device 21 is stored for 10 lines. . The text control section is newly assigned when the storage of new line information is started, and the text data section is linked thereto. As shown in FIG. 5, the text data portions or the text data portion and the text control portion are linked by a pointer indicating the address on the RAM 27 of the area where the respective information is stored.

Next, the control flow of the present invention will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 corresponding to the configurations of FIGS. 6 and 7 show the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for storing one line of print information in the embodiment of FIG.
3 is a flowchart showing a flow of a process for printing the print information stored in the printer.

First, referring to FIG. 6 and FIG.
A flow of processing for storing the print information from one line for one line will be described. In FIG. 6, when the operation of the serial recording apparatus 1 is started, the following processing is performed. First, initialization of the MPU 22, the carriage motor 17, and the feed motor 19,
Various initializations such as clearing of the RAM 27 are performed. Next, "0" indicating that the text control unit is not currently selected is stored in the control pointer 73 which stores the number of the currently selected text control unit. Further, the recording medium 1 where the recording head H is actually located
0 is stored in the actual head position counter 71 that stores the absolute position in the paper feed direction of No. 5. Also, a virtual head position counter 72 for storing the absolute position in the paper feeding direction of the recording medium 15 on which the printing information divided in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the recording head H sent from the host device 21 is printed. Is stored as 0 (S1).

Next, the process waits for reception of print information from the host device 21 (S2), and checks whether or not there is received data (S3). If there is no received data or if print information has not been sent even after the specified time has elapsed, the character information sent from the host device 21 is stored in units of one character as the 24-byte information described in FIG. The printing process of the print information already stored in the buffer area 76 of the text data section, which is the area for the printing, is executed (S4). If the received data exists, the data is analyzed (S5), and it is checked whether the received data is a control command (S6) or a character code (S7).

If the received data is a control command in S6, it is checked whether it is a page break command (S8). If the command is a page feed command, a print process of the print information already stored is executed (S4). If it is not a page break command, CR (return), LF
It is checked whether the command is a print start command such as (line feed), VT (vertical tab), ESC J (execute paper feed), etc. (S9). If the command is a print start command, the storage of the print information in the currently stored line buffer is terminated without starting printing, and as a preparation for storing the print information from the next time in a new line buffer, The value 0 indicating that the text control unit is not currently selected is stored in the control pointer 73 (S10).
Further, when the command is a command accompanied with paper feed, the paper feed amount is added to the virtual head position counter 72 and updated without actually performing the paper feed (S11). If it is not a print start command, the processes in S10 and S11 are not performed. After that, processing necessary for various commands is performed (S12), and the process waits for reception of print information from the host device 21 again (S2).

On the other hand, if the received data is not a control command in S6, it is checked whether it is a character code (S7). If the received data is neither a control command nor a character code, the process returns to a state of waiting for reception of print information from the host device 21 (S2). If it is a character code, a currently unused text data part is searched from the buffer area 76 of the text data part (S13), and it is checked whether an unused text data part exists (S1).
4). If there is no unused text data,
The print process of the print information stored in the buffer area 76 of the text data section is executed (S15), and after the unused area is secured, the search for the buffer area 76 of the unused text data section is performed again (S13). . If there is an unused text data part, the number of the text data part obtained by the search is stored in the data pointer, and the in-use flag of the text data part obtained to indicate that it is currently used is set. (S16). Further, the character attribute information described in FIG. 3 is stored in the text data section (S17).

Next, in FIG. 7, a process of linking the text data portion acquired in S16 to a buffer region 75 of the text control portion, which is an area for storing information of one line of print information, is performed. First, the value of the control pointer 73 is checked (S18). If the value of the control pointer 73 is 0, it indicates that the text control unit is not currently selected. Therefore, the text control unit is searched from the buffer region 75 of the text control unit for the currently unused text control unit (S19). It is checked whether an unused text control section exists (S20). If there is no unused text control section, a print process of print information stored in the buffer area 75 of the text control section is executed to secure an unused area (S21). After securing, the unused text control section is searched again (S19). If there is an unused text control part, the number of the text control part obtained by the search is stored in the control pointer 73, and the number of text data parts linked to the text control part is changed to the newly obtained text control part. 0 is stored to indicate that the section is a newly acquired text control section (S22). If the value of the control pointer 73 is not 0 in S18 (if the text control section has already been selected),
The processing from S19 to S22 is not performed.

Next, the number of text data sections linked to the text control section is checked (S23). If the number of text data portions is 0, the text control portion is a newly acquired text control portion, and the use flag in the attribute provided in the text control portion is set to indicate that the text control portion is currently in use. The contents of the virtual head position counter 72 at that time are stored in the vertical printing position, and the contents of the current data pointer 74 are stored in the pointer indicating the address of the buffer area of the head text data portion (S24). ). S23
If the number of text data parts is not 0 in
The processing of S24 is not performed.

Next, in order to print the print information of the text control unit, the pass position for the next printing and the number of remaining passes are stored in the print pass position and the number of remaining passes provided in the text control unit. (S25). Also, the content of the current data pointer is stored in the pointer indicating the address of the buffer area of the last text data section,
The text data section is linked to the text control section, and the number of text data sections is incremented by 1 (S26).
Further, the attribute information of the line described in FIG. 4 is stored in the text control unit (S27), and the host device 21
It is in a state of waiting for reception of print information from the printer (S2).

As described above, the print information from the host device 21 is stored in the RAM 27 of the serial recording device 21 for a plurality of lines by repeatedly performing the processes shown in FIGS.

Next, with reference to FIG. 8, a description will be given of the flow of processing when print information stored for a plurality of lines is actually printed.

First, it is checked whether or not there is a text control unit currently in use (S30). If the text control unit does not exist, it indicates that there is no stored print information, and the printing process ends.

If there is a text control section currently in use, all of the text control sections having the smallest print vertical position stored therein are selected (S31). The selected number is stored in an array of PrintCue, which stores the number of the text control unit waiting to be printed, and the print vertical position at that time is PrintPos.
It is stored in a storage area called “tion” (S32). Next, of the text control units indicated by the numbers stored in the PrintCue, the one with the smallest print start position is stored in PrintStart, and the one with the largest print end position is stored in PrintEnd (S3).
3).

Then, in order to move the recording head H to a position where printing is actually performed, paper feeding is performed with a difference obtained by subtracting the content of the real head position counter 71 from PrintPosition storing the printing vertical position in S32 (S34). ). Thereafter, the content of the real head position counter 71 is changed to PrintPos, which is the position of the new printhead H.
It is updated to “Ition” (S35).

Next, the text data section linked to the text control section indicated by the number stored in PrintCue is changed from the text data section indicated by the pointer indicating the address of the buffer area of the head text data section to the number of text data sections. Only the portion where the bitmap data exists at the current print path position of the text control unit is developed in the image buffer memory 26 while following the number indicated by (S36). The print pass position provided in the developed text control unit and the number of remaining passes are subtracted by one, and the print vertical position is added by 60 (S37). Thereafter, the number of remaining paths is checked (S3
8). If the number of remaining passes is 0, the in-use flag of the expanded text control unit is reset (S3).
9) The in-use flag of the text data section linked to the expanded text control section is also reset (S40), and the unused state is set. If the number of remaining paths is not 0, the processes of S39 and S40 are not performed.

It is checked whether or not the processing from S36 to S40 has been performed for all the text control units indicated by the numbers stored in the PrintCue (S41).
If the processing has not been performed for all the text control units, the processing after S36 is performed again. If you go to all text control parts, PrintS
The contents of the image buffer memory 26 are printed from the position indicated by “start” to the position indicated by “PrintEnd” (S4).
2).

As described above, by performing the processing shown in FIG. 8, the print information stored for a plurality of lines is printed in ascending order of the print vertical position.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the print path position, the number of remaining passes, and the print vertical position of the text control unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The print pass position indicates the scan position of the pattern to be printed when the print head scans next. As shown in FIG. 9, printing of a character having a standard height is completed by one scanning, and the scanning position at this time is represented by a numerical value 2 as a middle pass. In addition, a character such as a double-width character of a block graphic character (requiring 120 dots vertically) is represented by a numerical value 3 as a high-pass scanning position for printing the 40 dots protruding to the upper portion and protruding to the lower portion. A scanning position for printing 20 dots is represented by a numerical value 1 as a low pass.

If the characters in the text data section linked to the text control section are all characters of the standard height, the contents of the virtual head position counter at that time are stored in the print vertical position, and the print path position , The numerical value 2 is stored as a middle pass, and 1 is stored in the number of remaining passes since printing ends in one scan. At the time of actual printing, only the character data bit map pattern in the middle path position from the text data portion is developed in the image buffer memory 26, and printing is performed at the position indicated by the printing vertical position. Therefore, subtracting 1 from the number of remaining passes gives 0
, And there is no remaining print path, so that printing of the print information linked to the text control section ends, and all the in-use flags of the text control section and the text data section used are reset.

If the text data section linked to the text control section contains even one character that requires a plurality of scans, such as a vertically double character of a block graphic character, printing is performed. The vertical position is 1 based on the contents of the virtual head position counter at that time.
The value obtained by subtracting the width of 60 dots required for each scan is stored as V, the value 3 is stored as the high pass in the next print pass position, and the remaining pass count requires three scans for printing. Therefore, 3 is stored.

At the time of actual printing, only the character data bitmap pattern at the high-pass position in the text data portion is developed in the image buffer memory 26, and the V position indicated at the printing vertical position is obtained. Print on. Therefore, when the number of remaining passes is subtracted by 1, the print pass position is subtracted by 1 so that the next print pass position is 2, indicating the middle pass, and the print vertical position is also scanned by 1 scan. Because it decreases, add 60 (V
+60). Then, at the time of printing the next pass, only the text data portion in which the bitmap pattern of the character exists at the position of the middle pass is expanded in the image buffer memory 26 and is indicated at the print vertical position (V + 60). Print at the position. Therefore, when the number of remaining passes is subtracted by 1, the print pass position is subtracted by 1 in order to set the next print pass position to 1 indicating the low pass, and the print vertical position is also scanned by 1 scan. Therefore, 60 is added and updated to (V + 120). At the time of printing the last pass, only the text data portion in which the bitmap pattern of the character exists at the low pass position is developed in the image buffer memory 26 and is indicated at the print vertical position (V + 120). Print at the position. Therefore, when the number of remaining passes is subtracted by 1, the result becomes 0, and the remaining print passes do not exist. Therefore, printing of the print information linked to the text control section is completed, and the text control section and the text data section which have been used are deleted. Reset all in-use flags.

When printing enlarged characters or the like that require a plurality of scans in this way, the information of the path located at the top at that time is always stored in the text control section, and the print path position and the remaining By managing information such as the number of passes, printing can be performed by one text control unit, so that the storage capacity used can be reduced. By performing such processing, it is possible to greatly reduce the number of paper feeds and the number of scans of the recording head required to complete printing as compared with the conventional example.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the state of characters printed by the printing process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 10, the recording head width is 6 at 360 dpi.
Shows a case where a double dot character (requiring 120 dots vertically) of a block graphic character that requires 60 dots vertically is printed three lines at a time with a 1/6 inch line feed by three characters on a wire dot printer with 0 or more dots. ing.
The processing flow at this time is as follows. (1) The information of three characters for one line is received and stored together with the vertical double attribute. (2) (1) is repeated twice, and when there is no more print information sent from the host device, printing is performed by the following operation. (3) Search the stored three rows for the one with the smallest value of the virtual head position counter, and select the row [1] in FIG. (4) Since the actual head position counter is in the row [3] in FIG. 10, a line feed of (−−１) inch corresponding to the difference from the virtual head position counter in the row [1] in FIG. 10 is performed. .
Here, paper feeding in the reverse direction is performed once. (5) The print information of the line [1] in FIG. 10 is developed in the image buffer and printed. Here, the head is scanned once. (6) The value of the real head position counter is subtracted by 1/3 inch, so as to indicate the row [1] in FIG. By adding the value of the virtual head position counter by 1/6 inch, FIG.
Show the middle [2] row. (7) Search the stored three rows for the one with the smallest value of the virtual head position counter, and select the row [2] in FIG. (8) Since the real head position counter is on the line [1] in FIG. 10, a line feed of 1/6 inch of the difference from the virtual head position counter on the line [2] in FIG. 10 is performed. Here, paper feeding is performed once. (9) The print information of the line [2] in FIG. 10 is developed in the image buffer and printed. Here, the head is scanned once. At this time, the value of the virtual head position counter is the smallest among the three rows stored at that time for both the second pass part of the first row and the first pass part of the second row. At the same time, the data is developed in the image buffer, and printing is completed by one scan of the recording head. (10) The value of the actual head position counter is added by 1/6 inch to indicate the row [2] in FIG. By adding the value of the virtual head position counter by 1/6 inch, FIG.
Show the middle [3] row. (11) The same processing as (7) to (10) is repeated three times, and printing of [3] to [5] in FIG. 10 is performed.

By performing such processing, the order of printing is as shown in [1] to [5] in FIG. The number of paper feeds required to complete all printing is five (including one paper feed in the reverse direction), and the number of scans of the recording head is five, which is smaller than that of FIG. Thus, the number of paper feeds and the number of scans of the recording head can be greatly reduced.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, information on the path located at the top at that time is always stored in the text control section even when printing enlarged characters that require a plurality of scans. In this case, one text control unit is used, but here, a method of allocating one text control unit to each pass in the case of printing enlarged characters or the like requiring a plurality of scans will be described.

FIG. 11 shows the print pass position, the number of remaining passes, and the number of passes of the text control unit in the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between the vertical position and a print vertical position. As shown in FIG. 11, when the text data section is linked to the text control section and data that requires a plurality of scans, such as a double character of a block graphic character, is received, the current virtual head position counter is set. Is V ′, (V′−60) and (V ′ + 6), respectively.
A new text control unit having the value of 0) as the printing vertical position is secured. At this time, if there is no unused text control section, printing is started and an empty area is secured as in the first embodiment. Then, a text data portion storing information that a character of a protruding high-pass portion is present at the upper part of the vertically double character is printed at a vertical printing position (V'-6).
Link to the text control section of 0), link the text data section storing the information that there is a character in the middle path part of the double letter to the text control section at the print vertical position V ', and further extend below the double letter. The text data section storing the information that there is a character in the low-pass portion is linked to the text control section at the print vertical position (V '+ 60).

At the time of actual printing, the text control section at the printing vertical position (V'-60) is printed first assuming that the printing vertical position is the minimum, and then the text control section at the printing vertical position V 'is printed. Finally, since the text control section at the print vertical position (V '+ 60) is printed, the same result as that of the first embodiment can be obtained.

When printing enlarged characters or the like that require a plurality of scans in this manner, one pass is required for each pass.
Since one text control unit is allocated, a larger storage capacity is required as compared with the first embodiment. But,
Since the printing of the print information linked to one text control unit is always completed by one scan, there is no need to manage information such as the print pass position and the number of remaining passes as in the first embodiment. Minutes of storage capacity and software processing load.

[Other Embodiments] The present invention provides an excellent effect particularly in an ink jet recording head and a recording apparatus in which a flying droplet is formed by utilizing thermal energy and recording is performed among ink jet recording methods. Things.

The typical structure and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to recorded information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding film boiling to an electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to a sheet or a liquid path in which This is effective because heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, causing film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, and as a result, air bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding one-to-one to this drive signal can be formed. It is. By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of the liquid (ink) having particularly excellent response can be achieved.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination configuration of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,558,333 and 44, which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is disposed in a bending region.
A configuration using the specification of Japanese Patent No. 59600 is also included in the present invention.

In addition, JP-A-59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, or absorbs pressure waves of thermal energy. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration in which an opening corresponds to a discharge unit.

Further, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, the length is determined by a combination of a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above specification. The present invention can exhibit the above-mentioned effects more effectively, though it may be either a configuration that satisfies the above requirements or a configuration as a single recording head that is formed integrally.

In addition, the print head is replaceable with a print head of a chip type which is electrically connected to the main body of the apparatus and can be supplied with ink from the main body of the apparatus, or is integrated with the print head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge type recording head provided with an ink tank is used.

It is preferable to add recovery means for the print head, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like provided as components of the printing apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If you list these specifically,
Capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means for the recording head, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof, and a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection different from recording Is also effective for performing stable recording.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, and the recording head may be formed integrally or by combining a plurality of recording heads. The present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of full colors by color mixture.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above,
Although the ink is described as a liquid, it is an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower, and softens at room temperature, or is a liquid, or in the inkjet method described above, the ink itself is heated to 30 ° C to 70 ° C. Generally, the temperature is adjusted within the range and the viscosity is controlled so that the viscosity of the ink is in the stable ejection range. Therefore, it is sufficient that the ink is in a liquid state when the use recording signal is applied.

In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the ink is solidified in a standing state for the purpose of preventing evaporation of the ink. Either ink may be used, or in any case, the ink may be liquefied by application of heat energy according to the recording signal and ejected as a liquid ink, or may already start to solidify when reaching the recording medium. The use of an ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time by thermal energy is also applicable to the present invention. In such a case, the ink is disclosed in JP-A-54-5684.
No. 7 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-71260, in which the porous sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter while being held in a liquid or solid state in the concave portions or through holes of the porous sheet. It may be. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as a form of the recording apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to those provided integrally or separately as image output terminals of information processing equipment such as a word processor and a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader and the like, May take the form of a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function.

[0067]

As described above, the present invention has the following effects. (1) A real head position counter, a virtual head position counter, a storage unit, and a control unit. When a paper feed command is sent from the host device, the amount of paper feed is added to the virtual head position counter and the third position is calculated. By updating the information and storing the print information in the storage means by the control means without starting printing when a print start command is sent from the host device, it is possible to store the print information for a plurality of lines. It has the effect of becoming. (2) The control means controls the actual head according to the paper feed of the recording medium.
Updating the position information stored in the position counter
Then, the print information stored for a plurality of lines is read out from the storage unit in accordance with the position of the character data in the paper feed direction , and recorded.
By scanning the head and printing on the recording medium ,
This has the effect that the number of times of printing processing can be reduced. (3) The print information stored for a plurality of lines is always printed from the upper position, so that enlarged characters exceeding the width of the recording head are printed, or the print information that has already been received is positioned higher than the print information already received. Even if print information to be sent is sent later, it is possible to perform printing without performing paper feeding in the reverse direction as much as possible. More specifically, as described in the first embodiment, when printing enlarged characters or the like that require a plurality of scans, information on the path located at the top at that time is always sent to the text control unit. By managing the stored information such as the print pass position and the number of remaining passes, printing can be performed by one text control unit, so that the storage capacity used can be reduced. By performing such processing,
Compared with the conventional example, the number of paper feeds and the number of scans of the recording head required to complete printing can be greatly reduced. (4) Recording information required for printing by simultaneously developing printing information having the same printing position from among the printing information stored for a plurality of lines into a print image and ending printing of a plurality of lines in one printing operation. This has the effect that the number of times of scanning of the head can be reduced. More specifically, as shown in the second embodiment, when printing enlarged characters that require a plurality of scans, one text control unit is assigned to each pass. Although a larger storage capacity is required as compared with the example, the print information linked to one text control unit is always one.
Since printing is completed in each scan, it is not necessary to manage information such as the print pass position and the number of remaining passes as in the first embodiment, and the storage capacity and the load of software processing can be reduced accordingly. (5) From the above, not only the throughput at the printing speed is improved, but also the storage capacity to be used can be reduced, and the paper feeding device configuration can be realized relatively easily, so that the cost is reduced. There is an effect that down becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the internal configuration of a serial recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of one character in a buffer area of a text data part in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of one line of a buffer area of a text control unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a buffer area of a text control section and a buffer area of a text data section in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing for storing one line of print information according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for storing one line of print information according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for printing the print information stored in FIGS. 6 and 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a relationship among a print pass position, the number of remaining passes, and a print vertical position of the text control unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a state of a character printed by a printing process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a print pass position, the number of remaining passes, and a print vertical position of the text control unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state of a character printed by a conventional printing process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 H Recording Head 1 Serial Recording Device 10 Head Cartridge 11 Pressing Member 12 Carriage 13 Shaft 14 Platen Roller 15 Recording Medium 16 Cable 17 Carriage Motor 18 Wire 19 Feed Motor 20 HP (Home Position) Sensor 21 Host Device 22 MPU 23 ROM 24 Timer 25 I / O port 26 Image buffer memory 27 RAM 71 Real head position counter 72 Virtual head position counter 73 Control pointer 74 Data pointer 75 Text control part buffer area 76 Text data part buffer area

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/51 B41J 2/01

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] The printing apparatus receives print information sent from a host device as first print information divided in a direction perpendicular to a scanning direction of a print head having a predetermined width, and scans the print head and paper. in serial recording apparatus for printing information of the first divided in the scanning direction of the recording head by performing the paper feed of the recording medium along the feeding direction to print on the recording medium, in the paper feeding direction, the Before the recording head is positioned
A real head position counter for storing the absolute position on the recording medium as second position information; and a third position in the paper feed direction, the absolute position on the recording medium where the first print information is printed. a virtual head position counter for storing the information, character data indicating the printing information sent from said host device
And a command indicating execution of the paper feed is sent from the host device.
The virtual head position without performing the paper feed.
Position information stored in the position counter in accordance with the paper feed amount.
Character data sent from the host device
Is the character data printed in the paper feed direction.
Control means for storing in the storage means in accordance with the position to be
And a step, wherein the control means, in printing by the recording head,
The actual head position count according to the paper feed of the recording medium.
Update the location information stored in the
Character data corresponding to the position in the paper feed direction.
Memory, and scans the recording head to record the data.
A serial recording device for printing on a recording medium . 2. The printing device according to claim 1 , wherein the storage unit stores fourth print information obtained by adding attribute information of character data of the first print information to the first print information for a predetermined number of lines for each predetermined number of characters. Information storage means, and the third position information is added to each of the fourth print information to form fifth print information, and the fifth print information includes attribute information of a line of the fifth print information. 2. The serial recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: position information storage means for storing the added sixth print information for each predetermined number of lines. 3. The virtual head position counter according to claim 3 , wherein the print information sent from the host device is a command to execute a paper feed, and the virtual head position counter does not execute the paper feed. Is added, and the third position information is sequentially updated. When the paper feed is actually executed, the updated third position information is updated.
3. The serial recording device according to claim 1, wherein the second position information is updated according to the position information. 4. The control means, when it is determined that the print information sent from the host device has been interrupted, or when it has been determined that a command to execute a page break has been received, or when the print information storage means When it is determined that there is no more unused area, or when it is determined that there is no more unused area in the position information storage means, a process of printing the sixth print information on the recording medium is executed.
Wherein the row, the serial recording apparatus according to claim 2. Wherein said control means, sometimes the process for printing the sixth printing information on the recording medium is performed, the third position information from the print information of said 6 picks the smallest Executing a paper feed of an amount of a difference between the third position information of the selected sixth print information and the second position information, and adding the amount of the paper feed to the second position information; The serial recording apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein a process of creating and printing a print image from the selected sixth print information is repeated. 6. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the third position information is selected from among the sixth print information, a plurality of lines having the minimum third position information are present. 6. The printing method according to claim 5, wherein the sixth print information of the plurality of lines is simultaneously developed into a print image, and the print processing of the sixth print information of the plurality of lines is executed at a time. 2. The serial recording device according to 1. 7. The serial recording according to claim 1, wherein the recording head includes an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy for discharging ink. apparatus. 8. The recording head according to claim 7, wherein the recording head discharges the ink from a discharge port by utilizing film boiling generated in the ink by thermal energy applied by the electrothermal transducer. Serial recording device.