JP5223801B2 - Dot line printer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a dot line printer, and more particularly, a hammer mechanism that reciprocates along a digit direction, a shuttle mechanism that reciprocates the hammer mechanism, and counts the number of printed dots before printing. The present invention relates to a dot line printer provided with a printing dot number counting means capable of printing.

  A dot line printer is a typical printing apparatus that performs dot printing. An example of a schematic configuration of the printing mechanism in this dot line printer is shown in FIG.

  The hammer mechanism unit 10 reciprocates in the digit direction by the shuttle mechanism unit. The hammer mechanism unit 10 is disposed in a state where the ink ribbon 11 is sandwiched between the printing paper 12 and the platen 13 for supporting the printing force, and the hammer mechanism unit 10 is cooled by the cooling fan 14. .

  As shown in FIG. 4, the hammer mechanism unit 10 includes a plurality of printing hammers 210 arranged at a predetermined pitch in a direction perpendicular to a printing row in a hammer bank 200, and the printing hammers 210 are usually permanent magnets 220. Is held and held at the non-printing position by the magnetic attraction force. A hammer release coil 230 is provided above the permanent magnet 220 so as to correspond to each printing hammer 210.

  The hammer bank 200 reciprocates along the row direction by a shuttle mechanism (not shown) made of, for example, a cam or a linear motor. When the hammer bank 200 moves in one direction, the hammer release coil 230 is excited when it reaches a predetermined dot position, thereby releasing the printing hammer 210 from the standby state and hitting the printing paper 12 via the ink ribbon 11. Then, the ink contained in the ink ribbon 11 is transferred to the printing paper 12 and printed.

  In the process, the printing paper 12 is conveyed in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the timely digit by a paper feeding mechanism unit 20 including a tractor 21 and a paper feeding motor 22.

 When high-density printing is continuously performed in a dot line printer having such a printing mechanism section, the hammer releasing coil 230 of the hammer mechanism section 10 generates heat, and the hammer mechanism section 10 is configured by the thermal influence. There is a problem that the life of the parts is reduced.

 For this reason, in the conventional printing control method, a unit time is set in advance, and each hammer and a plurality of adjacent hammer driving times (= number of printing dots) within that time are counted, and the count value is preset. Compared to the specified value, if any of the specified values is exceeded, printing is interrupted until the unit time, or the print data for one shuttle is divided into several times to prevent overheating of the hammer release coil. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

 However, in the print control method that simply counts the number of dots printed for each hammer printed during a unit time and compares it with a specified value to stop printing, the hammer release coil is cooled by a fan or blower. The number of printed dots and the heating of the hammer release coil are not necessarily in a proportional relationship.

 FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between increase / decrease in print data and hammer temperature (hammer release coil temperature). When a pattern is printed in which the number of print dots gradually increases for each one-stroke printing within a unit time t as shown in FIG. 10A, and when one stroke is generated within a unit time t as shown in FIG. In the case of printing a pattern in which the number of printing dots gradually decreases with each printing, the number of printing dots per unit time is the same, but the temperature of the hammer release coil is not the same. If it is assumed that the number of printing dots in FIG. 5 exceeds the specified value, even in the case of FIG. 5B, the temperature of the hammer release coil is still limited, but printing is limited. .

 Further, in the conventional print control method, as shown in FIG. 6, if the unit time is divided into t1 and t2, the total number of print dots is equal to or less than the specified value, but if the unit time is divided into t3, t1 The total number of printed dots at t3 is increased compared with the total number of printed dots at t2, and the temperature of the hammer release coil may be heated. For this reason, it has been necessary to strictly monitor the print restriction by setting the specified limit value to a small value.

 From the above, in the conventional printing control method, although the temperature of the hammer release coil has not increased so much, the printing speed may be reduced due to printing restrictions.

 In the conventional printing control method described above, even if the number of hammer driving times per unit time is the same, the heating of the hammer release coil differs depending on the pattern to be printed. In addition, since it varies depending on the timing of starting measurement of unit time, it is not possible to accurately determine the print restriction.

 For this reason, there is a method of accurately detecting the temperature of the hammer release coil by attaching a thermistor in the vicinity of the hammer release coil, but the number of parts increases, the structure becomes complicated, and the cost is inevitable.

 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a dot line printer that eliminates the disadvantages of the prior art and can maximize the performance of the line printer hammer without increasing the cost.

In order to achieve the above object, the first means of the present invention comprises:
A hammer mechanism having a plurality of printing hammers and a plurality of hammer releasing coils provided corresponding to the printing hammers to drive each printing hammer in a standby state or release;
A shuttle mechanism for reciprocating the hammer mechanism,
An engine control unit for controlling the driving of the printing hammer in the process of reciprocating movement of the hammer mechanism unit;
The engine control unit
A printing dot number counting means for counting the number of printing dots from the printing data for one stroke before printing,
A printing dot number storage memory for storing the number of dots counted by the printing dot number counting means;
A print control buffer for storing print data and outputting the print data to the hammer mechanism;
For each time required for one stroke, one print dot number for each stroke for the unit time for which the number of print dots for the next stroke is the latest, which is stored in the print dot number storage memory , is 1 The print dot number is updated by multiplying by a certain constant less than and stored in the print dot number storage memory, and the total print dot number calculated by adding the updated print dot numbers is set in advance. When the total print dot number exceeds the print limit specified value, the print control buffer is not updated until the total print dot number becomes equal to or less than the print limit specified value. And a judging means for outputting an interrupt command signal for interrupting printing or a divided print command signal for performing printing in a plurality of times.

  The second means of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first means, the coefficient less than 1 is a coefficient when the temperature of the hammer release coil is assumed to drop to a predetermined temperature after a predetermined time. Is.

 An object of the present invention is to provide a dot line printer that has the above-described configuration and can maximize the performance of a line printer hammer without increasing the cost.

It is a block diagram of the engine control part which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the detail of the printing dot number storage memory used for the engine control part. It is a schematic block diagram of the printing mechanism part in a dot line printer. It is a schematic block diagram of the hammer mechanism part of the printing mechanism part. FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the number of printed dots per unit time and the hammer release coil temperature in a dot line printer. It is a figure for demonstrating the conventional printing control method.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an engine control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of a print dot number storage memory used for the engine control unit.

 In FIG. 1, 1 is an engine control unit, 2 is a print data receiving buffer, 3 is a printing dot number counting means, 4 is a printing control buffer, 5 is a judging means, 6 is a printing dot number storage memory, and 7 is a printing hammer (see FIG. 1). 4 corresponds to the printing hammer 210 of 4), 8 is a host device, and has a connection relationship as shown in the figure. The determination unit 5 includes a memory unit that stores a print restriction regulation value and a comparison unit that compares the number of print dots with the print restriction regulation value.

 As shown in the figure, the print data transferred from the host device 8 is stored in the print data reception buffer 2. By transferring the print data for one stroke from the print data receiving buffer 2 to the print control buffer 4 via the print dot number counting means 3 before printing, the print dot number counting means 3 allows the number of print dots (hammer). The planned number of driving times) is counted.

 The determination unit 5 reads the print dot number from the print dot number count unit 3 and stores it in the print dot number storage memory 6. The total number of print dots for a unit time read from the print dot number storage memory 6 is compared with a predetermined print limit specified value in the determination means 5, and if the comparison result indicates that printing is possible, the print control buffer 4. Is output to the printing hammer 7 (hammer mechanism unit 10) to perform printing.

A specific example of comparing the total number of print dots for the unit time with the print limit regulation value will be described with reference to FIG.
In this example, as shown in the figure, one printing stroke is 100 mS, the printing restriction unit time t is 3 seconds, the weighting coefficient is less than 1, 0.98, the printing restriction regulation value is 22,000 dots, and the number of printing dots per stroke. Shows a case where it is assumed that a 1000-dot print pattern is continuously printed.

 The weighting coefficient of 0.98 is a coefficient when the temperature of the hammer release coil is assumed to drop by 2% after 100 mS, and this weighting coefficient uses a value obtained by a temperature evaluation test of the hammer release coil.

 The left side of FIG. 2 shows an example of X: printing restriction, and the right side of Y: printing restriction release. First, in the case of X: printing restriction on the left side, when the print dot number d0 (1000 dots) of one stroke is received, all the data in the print dot number storage memory 6 (see FIG. 1) are shifted by one address, and the latest Is stored (d1) at address n1 of the print dot number storage memory 6.

 At this time, the number of print dots to be shifted is multiplied by a coefficient (0.98) for weighting the number of print dots with the passage of time from the start to end of unit time measurement, and the result is stored. . Therefore, 1000 dots × 0.98 = 980 dots are stored as d2 (980) at address n2, and 980 dots × 0.98 = 960 dots are stored as d3 (960) at address n3. Then, the dot number d30 of the address n30, which is the data three seconds before the end of the print dot number storage memory 6, is discarded.

 Therefore, the number of dots printed in one stroke (1000 dots) is actually 1000 dots printed, but by multiplying by a factor (0.98) for each printing, 556 dots (d30) after 3 seconds. Are treated as

 Next, a grand total (d1 + d2 + d3... + D30 = 22725 dots) in the print dot number storage memory 6 is calculated, and the calculated value is read out by the determination means 5 and stored in advance as a print limit regulation value (22000). Dot). As a result of the comparison, if the calculated value exceeds the print restriction regulation value, the interruption means signal is output from the judging means 5 to the print control buffer 4 to interrupt the transfer of the print data to the print hammer 7. Stop printing.

 At the next stroke (after 100 mSec = Y in the figure: print restriction is released), as shown in the right side of the figure, 0 dots are stored in d0 because printing is paused. In the same manner as described above, the number of print dots to be shifted is multiplied by the weighting coefficient (0.98) of the number of print dots as the time from the start to end of unit time elapses, and the result is stored. . Then, the dot number d30 of the address n30, which is the data three seconds before the end of the print dot number storage memory 6, is discarded.

 Next, a grand total (d1 + d2 + d3... + D30 = 21725 dots) in the print dot number storage memory 6 is calculated, and the calculated value is read by the determination means 5 and stored in advance as a print limit regulation value (22000). Dot). As a result of the comparison, since the calculated value is equal to or less than the print limit regulation value, the print data is transferred to the print hammer 7 and printing is resumed.

 If the calculated value exceeds the print restriction specified value, the printing is continued until the print limit specified value or less.

 In this embodiment, printing is paused until the print limit is exceeded when the print limit is exceeded, but printing for one stroke can also be performed by dividing the printing into a plurality of times. In this case, a division print command signal is output from the determination means 5 to the print control buffer 4, and the print data transfer to the print hammer 7 is output in a plurality of times, and accordingly, the printing is also divided into a plurality of times. Executed.

 As shown in FIG. 2, every time a print dot number is received, the new print dot number is heavier and the old print dot number is lightly weighted while updating the print dot number storage memory per unit time. By doing so, it becomes possible to detect the temperature of the hammer release coil more accurately.

 1: engine control unit, 2: print data reception buffer, 3: print dot number counting means, 4: print control buffer, 5: determination means, 6: print dot number storage memory, 7: printing hammer, 8: host device 10: Hammer mechanism, 11: Ink ribbon, 12: Printing paper, 13: Platen, 14: Cooling fan, 20: Paper feeding mechanism, 21: Tractor, 22: Paper feeding motor, 200: Hammer bank, 210: Printing Hammer, 220: permanent magnet, 230: hammer release coil.

JP 2000-118043 A

Claims (2)

A hammer mechanism having a plurality of printing hammers and a plurality of hammer releasing coils provided corresponding to the printing hammers to release and drive the printing hammers from the standby state;
A shuttle mechanism for reciprocating the hammer mechanism,
An engine control unit for controlling the driving of the printing hammer in the process of reciprocating movement of the hammer mechanism unit;
The engine control unit
A printing dot number counting means for counting the number of printing dots from the printing data for one stroke before printing,
A printing dot number storage memory for storing the number of dots counted by the printing dot number counting means;
A print control buffer for storing print data and outputting the print data to the hammer mechanism;
For each time required for one stroke, one print dot number for each stroke for the unit time for which the number of print dots for the next stroke is the latest, which is stored in the print dot number storage memory , is 1 The print dot number is updated by multiplying by a certain constant less than and stored in the print dot number storage memory, and the total print dot number calculated by adding the updated print dot numbers is set in advance. When the total print dot number exceeds the print limit specified value, the print control buffer is not updated until the total print dot number becomes equal to or less than the print limit specified value. A dot line printer comprising: a determination unit that outputs an interruption command signal for interrupting printing or a divided printing command signal for performing printing in a plurality of times.   2. The dot line printer according to claim 1, wherein the coefficient less than 1 is a coefficient when the temperature of the hammer release coil is assumed to drop to a predetermined temperature after a predetermined time.

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