JP5782696B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer capable of performing appropriate preheating on a thermal head while reducing damage caused by heat.

  This type of printer using a thermal head is roughly classified into a thermal printer and a sublimation printer.

  As shown in FIG. 11A, the thermal printer performs printing by pressing a thermal head 1 energized from a printer body (not shown) against a special paper (thermal paper) 4 that changes color when heat is applied. Mainly used for receipts and movie ticketing machines.

  As shown in FIG. 11B, the sublimation printer presses the thermal head 1 against the ink ribbon 5 coated with the dye or pigment, and the dye or pigment of the ink ribbon 5 is applied to the paper 4 by the heat of the thermal head 1. The image is transferred to a recording medium such as an image to form an image, and is used for photographic printing.

  In any case, the printing density of the two types of thermal printers is greatly affected by the temperature of the thermal head 1. That is, when the head temperature is high, the density of the printing result is high, and when the head temperature is low, the density of the printing result is low.

  However, the thermal head 1 does not maintain a sufficient temperature immediately after the printer power is turned on or immediately after the printing interval is left, so printing is performed in the head region n of the image as shown in FIG. Immediately after the start, the print result is light, and the print result gradually becomes darker.

  In order to cope with this problem, preheating processing has been conventionally performed. This is because the temperature of the thermal head 1 is monitored by a temperature sensor (not shown) during standby before the start of printing, and the heater provided at a required location of the thermal head 1 is energized if it falls below the temperature for obtaining a normal printing result. This is a process of warming the thermal head 1 in advance. As a result, as shown in FIG. 13, it is possible to obtain a normal print result without gradation of the print result immediately after the start of printing.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for controlling the amount of heat related to preheating to the thermal head, although it is not a direct reference because the purposes are different.

JP 2007-230206 A

  By the way, during printing, printing is performed with the thermal head 1 shown in FIG. 11 pressed against the paper 4, and a part of the heat of the thermal head 1 can be released to the paper 4, but the preheating process does not print the paper. Since the thermal head 1 is heated, the thermal head 1 is headed up, and is energized (energized without contacting the paper). For this reason, heat cannot be released to the paper 4, and heat more than necessary is stored in the thermal head 1 and is easily damaged by heat. In this case, in order to reduce damage to the thermal head 1, current is supplied with a relatively weak current when idling, but in this case, a preheating time for reaching a sufficient temperature, ie, This leads to an inconvenience that the print standby time is extended.

  An object of the present invention is to newly provide a thermal printer that effectively solves such problems using a simple method.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention takes the following measures.
That is, the printer according to the present invention includes a thermal head provided with a heating resistor, a transport mechanism that transports paper for printing, and accepts image data together with a print command from the outside to receive the image data along with the paper transport by the transport mechanism. In a printer comprising a control unit for inputting a print signal corresponding to the image data to a heating resistor of a thermal head and executing a printing process, the control unit performs simulated printing using dummy data together with paper conveyance When the control unit accepts a print command, the dummy print processing unit is activated prior to executing the print processing for the image data, and the dummy print processing unit , enter a print signal corresponding to the dummy data to the heating resistor of the thermal head with the sheet transport While configured to perform a dummy printing process in a predetermined area of the paper by, detecting that the control unit is, print command during a predetermined time after printing based on the printer startup or after the image data is not input Then, the pre-heating process for the thermal head is executed, and when the pre-heating process is continued a predetermined number of times, the dummy print processing unit is activated regardless of the presence or absence of the print command .

  With such a configuration, compared to the conventional preheating function, preheating is performed by dummy printing by actually contacting the paper instead of energizing, and the necessary heat is quickly given to the thermal head, and more than necessary. The heat can be released to paper. For this reason, it is possible to effectively shorten the print standby time by preheating while reducing the thermal damage to the thermal head.

In addition, there is no print command because it is configured to detect that a print command is not input during a predetermined time after starting the printer or after printing based on image data, and to perform preheating processing to the thermal head. The thermal head can be appropriately preheated in the state. Therefore, even if there is a gap before the print command, the thermal head can be returned to an appropriate temperature in a short time by dummy printing at the time of the next print command, and the print time can be further shortened.

In addition, when the preheating process is continued a predetermined number of times, it is configured to activate the dummy print processing unit regardless of the presence or absence of the print command. Can be prevented .

  When there is a margin area between the print areas of the paper, in order to suppress the waste of the paper due to the dummy print as much as possible, the dummy print processing unit performs dummy control with respect to the margin area of the paper along with the conveyance control of the paper. It is desirable to be configured to execute a print process.

When the print target is a thermal paper or thermal plate with a page cut, and the margin area cannot be used, the dummy print processing is performed on the assumption that the dummy data is included in the control unit. It is preferable that the gradation of the print signal corresponding to the dummy data when the unit performs dummy printing is set to a gradation value at a level at which the sheet is not printed.

  In a sublimation type using an ink ribbon, in order to enable dummy printing without using an unused portion of the ink ribbon, the dummy print processing unit rewinds the ink ribbon and uses the ink ribbon. It is desirable that the control is performed so that the area is a use area at the time of dummy print processing.

The present invention employs the dummy print processing unit described above, and is configured to execute the dummy print process and the preheat process at a predetermined timing, thereby avoiding thermal damage of the thermal head and shortening the print standby time. Good printing results can be obtained while suitably satisfying the above. For this reason, it is possible to provide a useful printer with good print quality, short print time, and improved reliability and durability.

The block diagram which shows the control element of the thermal printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the outline | summary of the process by the control part of the embodiment. The figure which shows the roll-shaped paper which is printing object with a margin area | region. The schematic diagram which shows the printing result of the embodiment. The figure which shows the cut paper which is the printing object in other embodiment of this invention. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure when the control unit performs rewinding control of the ink ribbon as an embodiment other than the above of the present invention. The flowchart which shows the procedure at the time of performing control which performs a preheat when the state where there is no printing instruction | command continues as embodiment other than the above of this invention. The flowchart which shows the procedure at the time of performing control which a control part performs dummy printing according to the frequency | count of preheating as embodiment other than the above of this invention. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure when a control unit performs control to execute dummy print processing immediately after power is turned on as an embodiment other than the above of the present invention. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure when the control unit controls processing for reducing the feeding speed of a sheet or an ink ribbon during dummy printing as an embodiment other than the above of the present invention. The figure which shows the general structure of a thermal printer. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a printing result when preheating is not performed on the thermal head. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a printing result when preheating the thermal head.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the thermal printing plate printer in this embodiment includes a thermal head 1 having a heating resistor 11, a transport mechanism 2 that transports paper 4 to be printed on the thermal head 1, And a controller 3 for inputting an energization pulse P, which is a print signal, to the heating resistor 11 of the thermal head 1 in synchronization with the transport mechanism 2 based on image data input from the outside.

  On the thermal head 1, a platen roller 21 that is appropriately pressed against the heating resistor 11 of the thermal head 1 is disposed so as to face the paper 4, thereby constituting a printing position.

  The transport mechanism 2 includes a pair of pinch rollers 22 and a feed roller 23 that are arranged at a predetermined distance from the platen roller 21, and the paper 4 is sandwiched between the pinch roller 22 and the feed roller 23 so that the feed roller 23 is inserted. The paper 4 is conveyed by being driven to rotate. The feed roller 23 is driven by a pulse motor 25 via a gear mechanism 24 shown in FIG.

  The control unit 3 is constituted by a normal microcomputer unit having a CPU, a memory, an interface, and the like. An appropriate control program is stored in the memory, and the CPU sequentially reads the control program, 1 is controlled. The input buffer 31, the energization pulse generator 33, the motor driver 34, and the like shown in FIG.

  The input buffer 31 temporarily stores image data input from the outside.

  The energization pulse generation unit 33 receives the control signal from the control unit 3 and generates an energization pulse P corresponding to the gradation value (density) included in the print signal. That is, in the energization pulse generation unit 33, the reference pulse is supplied from the pulse generator 33a, and the reference pulse is converted into a pulse pattern corresponding to the gradation value held in the pulse pattern holding unit 33b, and the energization pulse P Is generated. The energization pulse P is supplied to the heating resistor 11 of the thermal head 1.

  The motor drive unit 34 generates a drive pulse when the drive pulse generation unit 34a receives a control signal synchronized with the control signal to the energization pulse generation unit 33, and supplies the drive pulse to the pulse motor 25 to feed it. The roller 23 is driven and the paper 4 is conveyed. In this embodiment, the feed roller 23 is driven in the forward and reverse directions so that the paper 4 can be conveyed in the forward and reverse directions as indicated by arrows in FIG.

  In this configuration, the present embodiment further includes a dummy print processing unit 3a in the control unit 3 and stores dummy data together with the input buffer 31 at a position where data can be input to the energization pulse generation unit 33. When the unit 32 is newly arranged and a print command is received, the dummy print processing is performed based on the simulated data stored in the dummy data storage unit 32.

  The dummy print processing unit 3a operates the transport mechanism 2 in synchronism with the input of the print signal to the energization pulse generation unit 33 in the same way as during normal print control, but from the dummy print storage unit 32 as the print signal at that time Use the extracted dummy data. Further, control for specifying the area for performing dummy printing as a predetermined area of the paper 4 is also performed.

  That is, the paper 4 to be printed in the present embodiment is a roll paper as shown in FIG. 3, and the paper 4 supplied from the roll is cut after the printing is completed, so that the page is between the print area and the print area. A margin area m necessary for cutting is set, and the control unit 3 normally does not perform printing in the margin area m.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the dummy print processing unit 3a controls the feeding of the paper 4 so that a dummy image is printed on the margin area m while the paper 4 is conveyed in the X direction.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure performed by the control unit 3 including the dummy print processing unit 3a. Hereinafter, the flow of the process will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, it is determined whether the printer has received a print command (step S21).

  If it is determined that a print command has been received (step S21: Yes), the dummy print processing unit 3a is activated to read dummy data from the dummy data storage unit 32 (step S22), and a print signal is generated based on the dummy data. Then, the print signal is input to the heating resistor 11 of the thermal head 1 while the margin area m of the paper 4 is conveyed to the printing position, and a dummy image is printed on the margin area m to perform dummy print processing. Is finished (step S23). Thereafter, the control unit 3 reads the original image data (step S24) and prints the image (step S25). Thereafter, the margin area m subjected to the dummy print is sent to the page cut position and separated from the print area.

  As described above, the printer of this embodiment includes the thermal head 1 provided with the heating resistor 11, the transport mechanism 2 that transports the paper 4 used for printing, and the transport mechanism by receiving image data together with a print command from the outside. 2 is provided with a control unit 3 that inputs a print signal corresponding to the image data to the heating resistor 11 of the thermal head 1 under the sheet conveyance by 2 and executes print processing. Then, the control unit 3 is provided with a dummy print processing unit 3a for performing simulated printing using dummy data along with paper conveyance. When the control unit 3 receives a print command, the control unit 3 executes print processing for image data. In advance, the dummy print processing unit 3a is activated, and the dummy print processing unit 3a inputs a print signal corresponding to the dummy data to the heating resistor 11 of the thermal head 1 under paper conveyance.

  According to this configuration, compared to the conventional preheating function, the thermal head 1 is actually brought into contact with the paper 4 instead of being energized and dummy printing is performed, so that necessary heat is quickly given to the thermal head 1 and Excess heat can be released to the paper 4. For this reason, while reducing thermal damage to the thermal head 1, the print standby time is effectively shortened by preheating, and the thermal head 1 is heated to an appropriate temperature to obtain a normal printing result immediately before printing. be able to. Therefore, the printer can be put to practical use as a useful printer with good print quality, short print time, improved reliability and durability.

  In addition, the printing target of the present embodiment is the paper 4 fed out from the roll, and a printer using this type of paper 4 normally sets the margin area m between the print areas of the paper 4 by the control unit 3. In view of this, since the dummy print processing unit 3a is configured to execute dummy print processing on the margin area m of the paper 4 together with the conveyance control of the paper 4, dummy printing is performed. Accordingly, the waste of the paper 4 can be eliminated, and an increase in running cost can be effectively suppressed.

  The specific configuration of each unit is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the printing target is thermal paper or the like has been described, but the same applies to a sublimation type using an ink ribbon.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, in a printer that conveys print paper 4a that has been page-cut in advance instead of roll paper one by one, there is no margin area m. Is totally wasted.

  Therefore, in such a case, a relatively low gradation value at a level at which the sheet 4 is not printed is input in advance to the dummy data storage section 32 of the control section 3 shown in FIG. . Alternatively, a program for converting a print signal related to the dummy print processing into a relatively low gradation value at a level at which the paper 4 is not printed is added to the dummy print processing unit 3a. Then, the dummy print processing unit 3a executes the procedure shown in FIG. 2 so that the dummy print processing is finished without printing the paper 4, and the image data is continuously printed according to the original control. In this case, when the dummy printing is completed while transporting the paper 4 by a predetermined feed amount in step S23, the paper 4 is returned by the same feed amount until the start of step S25, and the control unit 3 originally starts the paper 4 from the beginning. If the control is started, printing can be appropriately performed at a predetermined position on the paper 4. According to the above, it is possible to appropriately perform original printing on a predetermined position of the paper 4 after preheating the thermal head while releasing the heat using the paper 4 without changing the paper 4. Become.

  Further, in the case of a sublimation type printer using the ink ribbon 5, the peripheral portion of the thermal head 1 is a feeding-side ink ribbon for supplying the ink ribbon 5 to the upper surface side of the paper 4 as shown in FIG. A roll 26 (unused part), an ink ribbon guide roll 27, and a take-up ink ribbon roll 28 (used part) are arranged in this order. The ink ribbon 5 fed out from the ink ribbon roll 26 is guided by the ink ribbon guide roll 27 so as to be superimposed on the paper 4 and conveyed between the thermal head 1 and the platen roller 21, and then the ink ribbon core. 28 is wound up.

  Therefore, the dummy print processing unit 32 included in the control unit 3 controls the motor driving unit 34 at the time of dummy printing, and performs control to rewind the used area of the ink ribbon 5 to the printing position of the thermal head 1 again.

  Specifically, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not a dummy print command is first received (step S71). If it is determined that the dummy print command has been received (step S71: Yes), the ink ribbon 5 is rewound (step S72), and the used area of the ink ribbon is used to move to the margin area m of the paper 4 as shown in FIG. Dummy printing is performed according to the procedure shown in S22 and S23 (step S73). In this way, since dummy printing can be performed without wasting the ink ribbon wastefully, the ink ribbon can be saved and an increase in running cost can be effectively suppressed.

  In these cases, the present invention is not intended to exclude any conventional preheating process. For example, when the print command is not input to the control unit 3 for a long time, the dummy print is not performed, so that the temperature of the thermal head 1 also decreases.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7A, the control unit 3 is provided with a preheat processing unit 3b that has been conventionally performed together with the dummy print processing unit 3a, and the control unit 3 starts up the printer or based on image data. It may be configured to detect that a print command is not input during a predetermined time after printing, and to control to energize a heater provided at an appropriate part of the thermal head 1.

FIG. 7B is a flowchart showing an outline of a procedure executed by the control unit 3 at that time. The control unit 3 determines whether the printer has been activated or has completed printing (step S81), and if yes, activates the timer (step S82) and determines whether a print command has been issued (step S83). If there is a print command (step S83: Yes), step S22 and the subsequent steps in FIG. 2 are executed. If there is no print command (step S83: No), then whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the timer operation. Is determined (step S84). If the predetermined time has elapsed (step S84: Yes), the preheating process is executed and the process ends. If the predetermined time has not elapsed (step S84: No), the process returns to the position before step S83.
With this configuration, the temperature of the thermal head 1 can be maintained at a certain level or higher, so that even if there is a gap before the print command, the thermal head 1 can be used for a short time with a dummy print at the time of the next print command. It is possible to return to an appropriate temperature.

  Also regarding this preheating, if there is a circumstance such that a part of the temperature decrease cannot be compensated only by the preheating, the control unit 3 shown in FIG. You may comprise so that control which performs printing may be performed.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an outline of the control executed by the control unit 3 at that time.

  When the preheating process is executed (step S91: Yes), the number of preheating times is counted up (step S92). Next, it is determined whether or not the preheat has exceeded a predetermined number of times (step S93). If it is determined that the preheating process has not exceeded the predetermined number of times (step S93: No), the process returns to step S91, but if it is determined that the preheating process has exceeded the predetermined number of times (step S93: Yes), the dummy print process Is executed (step S94), the preheating frequency is reset (step S95), and the control is terminated.

  In this way, since the heating resistor 11 that is actually the main subject of printing can be intermittently preheated by intermittent dummy printing, if there is a problem due to continued preheating for a long time, this is used. It can be effectively resolved.

Further, considering that there is a high possibility that a print command is immediately issued when the power is turned on, the control unit 3 shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. Regardless of this, it is effective to set a program for executing the dummy print process in advance.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an outline of the control executed by the control unit 3 at that time, and the dummy print process is executed regardless of the presence or absence of a print command during the start-up operation when the power is turned on (step S101) (step S101). S102). In this way, the print start state can be entered promptly after the power is turned on.

  Furthermore, in order to reduce the waste of paper and ink ribbon for dummy printing as much as possible in the printing on the printing plate shown in FIG. 1 and the printing employing the ink ribbon shown in FIG. The dummy print processing unit 3a of the unit 3 may be configured to perform control to reduce the feeding speed of the paper and the ink ribbon at the time of dummy printing.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an outline of a procedure executed by the control unit 3 at that time.

  The controller 3 determines whether a dummy print command has been received (step S111). If no dummy print command has been received (step S111: NO), the process returns to step S111. If a dummy print command is received (step S111: YES), the control unit 3 then issues a command to reduce the feed speed of the paper 4 or the ink ribbon 5 to the motor drive unit 34 or the like constituting the transport mechanism 2 in FIG. None (step S112), while decreasing the feed speed of the feed roller 23 by the pulse motor 25, or while decreasing the feed speed and winding speed of the ribbon rolls 25 and 56 shown in FIG. Execute print processing. In this way, it is possible to effectively realize preheating of the thermal head 1 while suppressing the amount of paper 4 or ink ribbon 5 used during dummy printing.

  In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, such as generating dummy data in real time from image data or the like without using the dummy data in the dummy data storage unit.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Thermal head 3 ... Control part 3a ... Dummy print process part 4 ... Paper 5 ... Ink ribbon 11 ... Heating resistor 31 ... Dummy data storage part m ... Margin area

Claims (4)

A thermal head provided with a heating resistor, a transport mechanism for transporting paper for printing, and image data received from the outside together with a print command so that the heat resistance of the thermal head is transferred to the thermal resistor as the paper is transported by the transport mechanism. In a printer comprising a control unit that inputs a print signal corresponding to image data and executes print processing,
The control unit is provided with a dummy print processing unit for performing simulated printing using dummy data along with paper conveyance, and when the control unit receives a print command, prior to executing a print process for the image data. The dummy print processing unit is activated, and the dummy print processing unit inputs a print signal corresponding to the dummy data to the heating resistor of the thermal head as the paper is conveyed , thereby performing dummy print processing on a predetermined area of the paper. while configured to run,
When the control unit detects that a print command is not input for a predetermined time after starting the printer or after printing based on image data, and executes preheating processing to the thermal head, and continues the preheating processing a predetermined number of times. A printer configured to activate a dummy print processing unit regardless of whether there is a print command .   The printing target is paper fed out from a roll, and the control unit sets a margin area between the print areas of the paper, and the dummy print processing unit sets the margin area of the paper together with the conveyance control of the paper. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the printer is configured to execute a dummy print process. The printing target is paper such as thermal paper or thermal plate that has been cut to a predetermined size in advance, the control unit includes information on gradation in the dummy data, and the dummy print processing unit executes dummy printing. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the gradation of the print signal corresponding to the dummy data is set to a gradation value at a level at which the sheet is not printed.   In the sublimation type using an ink ribbon, the control unit also controls the feeding of the ink ribbon, and the dummy print processing unit rewinds the ink ribbon so that the used area of the ink ribbon is processed during the dummy print processing. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the printer is configured to perform control to be used area.

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