JPH01225576A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform overlap recording and multicolor recording on a recording medium by one scanning, by mounting a means outputting a timing signal in response to the scanning of a plurality of recording heads and a means for driving a plurality of the recording heads corresponding to recording data in synchronous relation to said timing signal. CONSTITUTION:After a recording start switch 21 is pushed down, the moving quantity of an apparatus main body A is detected on the basis of the pulses of the pulse signal 12 inputted from a photosensor 11 and the moving speed thereof is detected on the basis of the pulse cycle of said signal. The recording data in a memory 26 is read corresponding to the detection result and recording heads 18, 18' are driven corresponding to various data. By this constitution, in the case of overlap recording, the transfer recording P due to the recording head 18 coming later is superposed on the transfer recording P' due to the preceding recording head 18' to perform recording. When the recording colors of the respective recording heads are made different, multicolor printing can be performed by one scanning.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that manually records an image on a recording medium.

[Prior Art] Today, document processing devices such as word processors are widely used, and as a simple output device of these document processing devices, a recording medium such as paper is manually scanned and numbers, characters, etc. Recording devices that record images have been commercialized.

Such a manual recording device includes a recording head that records on a recording medium, a movement detector that detects a scanning distance, a recording switch that issues a recording command, and the like.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, since the manual recording device shown in the above conventional example has a single recording head, it is not possible to perform, for example, overlapping recording with one manual scan. Ta. Theoretically, such overlapping recording can be achieved by performing a second recording scan over the recorded information after one manual scan, but because of manual scanning, two It is very difficult to match the first scan record exactly with the first scan trajectory.

In addition, such overlapping recording is performed using inks of different colors and materials, for example, in order to perform multicolor recording, etc., but in conventional recording devices of this kind, for example, in order to perform two overlapping recordings, In this case, ink must be replaced between the first and second printing scans, or at least two printing apparatuses capable of printing in different colors are required. However, in any case, it is extremely difficult to make the first scanning locus and the second scanning completely coincide.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recording device that is provided with a plurality of recording heads in the manual scanning direction and can perform overlapping recording on a recording medium in one manual scan. purpose.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a recording device that can perform multicolor recording on a recording medium in one manual scan by providing multiple color recording heads in the manual scanning direction and changing the recording color of each recording head. [Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the recording apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a printing apparatus that performs printing by manually scanning a printing medium, comprising a plurality of printing heads arranged in the scanning direction;
instruction means for instructing to start recording; signal output means for outputting a timing signal in response to the scanning after the start of recording;
and driving means for driving the plurality of recording heads in accordance with recording information in synchronization with the timing signal -.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, a recording device of another invention has the following configuration. That is, it is a printing apparatus that performs printing by manually scanning a printing medium, and includes a plurality of printing heads each capable of printing in a different color and arranged in the scanning direction, and an instruction means for instructing to start printing. After starting recording,
The apparatus includes a signal output means for outputting a timing signal in response to the scanning, and a driving means for driving the plurality of recording heads in accordance with recording information in synchronization with the timing signal.

[Operation] In the above configuration, the instruction means for instructing the start of recording instructs the start of recording, and after the start of recording, a timing signal is output in response to scanning. This timing signal is used to drive a plurality of recording heads according to the recording information, thereby operating so that overlapping recording can be performed in one manual scan.

According to another configuration, a plurality of recording heads each capable of recording in different colors are provided, the recording start is instructed by the instruction means for instructing the start of recording, and after the start of recording, a timing signal is output in response to scanning. do. This timing signal is used to drive a plurality of recording heads according to the recording information, thereby operating so that multicolor recording can be performed with one manual scan.

[Example] Hereinafter, preferred real 2i color examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Description of Recording Apparatus (FIGS. 2 and 3)] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the recording section of the recording apparatus of the embodiment.

In the figure, A is the main body of the device, in which an upper case 1 and a lower case 2 are integrally fixed with screws, etc.
A lid body 3 is rotatably hinged to the. Locking claws 3a are provided on both sides of the lid body 3, each of which is attached to the upper case 1.
It is adapted to engage with locking recesses 1a provided on corresponding both sides of. In the upper case 1, there are provided cassette storage sections 6 and 6' which can accommodate ribbon cassettes 4 and 4'(4' is not shown), respectively.

Furthermore, a recording mechanism including a detection mechanism for detecting the amount of movement of the apparatus main body A, a conveyance mechanism for the ink ribbon 17, and a recording head 18.18' is housed between the upper and lower cases 1.2. As shown in the figure, it is configured so that predetermined recording can be performed by pressing the recording medium (paper, plastic sheet, etc., hereinafter referred to as "recording paper") 5 and manually moving it in the direction of arrow F.

Here, the detection mechanism that detects the B movement of main body A is composed of a light source, a photo sensor, and a rotary slit encoder plate placed on the optical path of these. The accompanying rotation of the rotating member 7 is transmitted to the encode plate by a gear mechanism or the like. Therefore, when the main body A is moved, the rotating member 7 rotates, the rotation is transmitted to the encode plate, and the photo sensor generates a pulse. By counting these pulses, the moving distance of the main body A can be detected.

The conveyance mechanism for the ribbon 17 uses a clutch mechanism or the like to wind the ribbon 1li according to the amount of movement obtained from the movement detection means described above.
This is done by rotating dl16 and 16'. When the ink ribbon cassette 4 is loaded into the upper case 6, the feed reel 4a of the cassette 4 is rotatably supported by the support shaft 15, and the take-up reel 4b is fitted to the take-up shaft 16 so as not to rotate. There is. Similarly, when the ink ribbon cassette 4' is loaded into the upper case 6', its feeding reel and take-up reel are connected to the support shaft 15', respectively.
It is fitted onto the winding shaft 16'.

In the ink ribbon cassette 4, an ink ribbon 17, which is a transfer medium, is wound around a feed reel 4a and a take-up reel 4b, and when the take-up reel 4b rotates, the ink ribbon 17 is sequentially fed out from the feed reel 4a to the take-up reel 4b. It will be done.

Further, although the illustration of the ink ribbon cassette 4' is omitted, it has the same structure, and the same members are indicated by the same number with a suffix "'".

The ink ribbon 17, 17' is made by coating a base film made of polyethylene terephthalate film or the like with an ink that melts or becomes less viscous when heated, and is inked from the base film side by a recording head 18 or 18', which will be described later. It is pressed and loaded so that the ink-applied surface can come into contact with the recording paper. Note that guide rollers 30a and 30b for guiding the eight movements of the main body A are rotatably attached to the front and rear sides of the main body A of the apparatus in the scanning direction.

Next, the jetting of the head θ will be explained. Head board 18a
and 18a', a plurality of heating elements 18b, 18b' that individually generate heat when energized are arranged in a line perpendicular to the scanning direction to form a recording head 18, 18'. are brought into pressure contact with the base film surface of the ink ribbons 17 and 17', respectively.

[Description of control circuit (Figs. 1 to 3)] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the recording device of the embodiment, and the processing of recorded data in the main body A is controlled by the control device 31 shown in Fig. 1. be done.

The main body A and the control device 31 are constructed as shown in FIG. 1, and the control device 31 surrounded by a dashed line is a circuit such as a word processor. In the control device 31, the power source 24 is C
PU25. The memory 26, the photosensor 111 and the driver 28, 28' are supplied. Mesori 26 is a ROM that non-volatilely stores control programs and various data for the CPU 25.
It also includes a RAM, etc., which is used as a work area in conjunction with the operation of the CPU. Furthermore, recorded information input manually from the keyboard 27 is stored in the memory 26 under the control of the CPU 25.

Then, when the recording start switch 21 to the main body is pressed and the main body A moves eight times over the recording paper 5, the rotating member 7 rotates to rotate the encode plate 10, and the pulse signals 12 are sequentially sent from the photosensor 11 to the CPU 25. is input. This CPU
25 reads recorded information previously stored in the memory 26 in synchronization with the signal 12 from the photosensor 11;
A driver 28 for driving the recording head 18.18'.
A recording signal is output to 28'. As a result, recording head 1
The heating elements 18b and 18b' of 8.18' are made to generate heat corresponding to the image pattern, and the ink ribbon 17.1 is heated respectively.
The ink 7' is transferred and recorded onto the recording paper 5. .

After recording, the ink ribbon 17, 17' is taken up by the take-up reel 46, 46' by transmitting the rotational force of the rotating member 7 to the take-up lIh 16, 16' via the friction clutches 29, 29', respectively. It is configured so that

Next, an example using the recording apparatus configured as described above will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 2, a control device 31 for inputting recording information, such as a word processor or an electronic typewriter, is electrically connected to the apparatus main body A by a cord 33.

For example, when recording input information input using the keyboard 27 of the control device 31 and displayed on the display unit 32, first, the ink ribbon 17.17 is placed on a recording paper 5 such as a notebook.
Press the main body A of the device so that the ink surfaces of ' are in contact with each other. As a result, the recording head 18, 18' presses the ink ribbon 17, 17' against the recording paper 5.

In this state, when the main body A of the apparatus is manually moved in the direction of the arrow F while pressing the recording start switch 21, the rotating member 7 in contact with the recording paper 5 rotates, and the rotation amount and rotation speed are adjusted to the encode plate 10 and the photo frame 5. Detected by sensor 11.

That is, the amount of movement of the apparatus body A is detected by the number of pulses of the pulse signal 12 input from the photosensor 11 after the recording start switch 21 is pressed, and this pulse signal 1
The moving speed is detected by the second pulse period. Recording information stored in the memory 26 is read out in accordance with this detection result, and the recording heads 18, 18' are driven in accordance with the information.

Therefore, even if the moving speed of the main body A of the apparatus changes, image recording is always performed in accordance with the moving speed.

Further, as mentioned above, the winding shaft 16, 16' rotates due to the rotation of the rotating member 7 accompanying the rotation of the device main body A.
The ink ribbon 17, 17' after recording is taken up on the take-up reel 4b.
, 4b', respectively, but as the ink ribbon 17, 17' is wound, the take-up reel 4
b, 4b' The diameter of the ink ribbon 17 wound up changes. For this reason, it is necessary to change the amount of rotation of the take-up reels 4b and 4b' with respect to the amount of movement of the device main body A in accordance with their diameters. A rotational torque corresponding to the amount of rotation of the rotation member 7 is transmitted through the rotation member 7 . Therefore, the ink ribbons 17, 17' are wound onto the take-up reels 4b, 4b' by an amount corresponding to the amount of rotation of the rotating member 7, regardless of the change in the diameter of the take-up reel on which the ink ribbon is wound. It turns out.

C. Explanation of operations during transfer recording (FIGS. 4 to 6) Next, operations during transfer recording will be explained according to FIGS. 4 to 6. .

The image pattern to be transferred and recorded is displayed on the display section 32 shown in FIG. 6, the image pattern 43 to be recorded by the transfer head 18' is displayed in the upper stage, and the image pattern 43 to be recorded by the transfer head 18 is displayed in the lower stage. An image pattern 44 is displayed.

FIG. 4 shows the transfer operation caused by the movement of the main body A. Move the main body A shown by the broken line onto the recording paper S, align the mark 40 indicating the position of the transfer head 18' with the transfer start position K, and move the main body in the direction of the arrow F while pressing the recording start switch 21! 3, the transfer recording onto the recording paper 5 is started. The transfer record P' is recorded by the recording head 1 whose position is indicated by the mark 40.
8', and the transfer recording P is performed by the recording head 18 whose position is indicated by the mark 41. Therefore, the transfer record P' by the recording head 18' which is leading in the moving direction is overlaid with the transfer record P' by the recording head 18 that comes after. This recording result is shown in Figure 5,
If, for example, black and red ink ribbons are used in the ink cassettes 4 and 4', black characters will be transferred and recorded on the red diagonal lined base, making multicolor recording possible.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 4, the recording head 18 is at a distance L 1ffif from the recording head 18' in the moving direction F.
It is arranged f. Therefore, the recording head 18.1
Control is required to align the transfer positions of 8', which will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

[Description of control operation (Figs. 7 to 10)] VRAM0. VRAMI is an image memory provided in the RAM of the memory 26, and VRAM0 stores an image pattern 43 to be recorded by the transfer head 18'.
An image pattern 44 is recorded on the MI by the transfer disk 18.
is the element, and it is set to 0. , MAOO~MAOX, MAI
O~MA1x respectively indicate the addresses of VRAMOlVRAMI, MAOO~MAON, MAI Q~MAI
Image patterns 43 and 44 to be transferred are respectively stored in S, and MAON+1 to MAOX% MAIS+1 to MAI
There is no data to be transferred in X, and all "0°°" is stored. Here, N and S are arbitrary integers of 0≦N≦X20≦S≦X, and X is VRAM01V, RAM1 ( 7
) is the final address. Therefore, to find N and S,
Decrement each address sequentially from MAOx%MAIX and verify whether the data at that address is "O°" 3. If an address is found whose data is not "°O", that address is determined as MAON and MAIS. .

The transfer head 18' sequentially records data from address MAOO of VRAM0, and records data up to address MAON. Similarly, in the transfer head 18, the VR
Data is sequentially recorded from address MAIO of AMI, and data is recorded up to address MAIS. This will be explained in detail using the control flowchart shown in FIG.

Note that a control program for executing this control is stored in the ROM of the memory 26.

In step S1, recording data to be transferred and recorded is stored in the memory 2.
Preprocessing such as storing the image in 6,
Find AON, MAIS.

Next, in step S3, the process waits until the recording start switch 21 is pressed, and when the switch 21 is pressed, the process advances to step S4, and waits until scanning of the main body A is started and the pulse signal 12 is input manually. When the pulse signal is input, step S5
Then, the recording data is output to the driver 28', the recording head 18' is driven, and the data stored in the VRAM0 is recorded. Then, in step S6, the main body A
The scanning distance from the recording start position is between the recording heads 18 and 18.
' is equal to the distance 1iL based on the count of the pulse signal 12, and if it is less than L, return to step S4,
The recording data of VRAM0 is transferred and recorded P' in sequence according to the 6th shift of main body A.

As the recording progresses and the 8-motion distance reaches L or more, step S
7, the recording head 18 is driven based on the VRAMI data to perform transfer recording P.

Therefore 1. When the moving distance exceeds L, the recording heads 18 and 18' are simultaneously driven to perform recording.

In step S8, it is verified whether the recording start switch 21 is turned off, and if it is turned off, the process proceeds to step S12 as a recording stop command.
If remains pressed, the process advances to step S9, and the VRA
Whether recording of data of M0 is completed, that is, address MA
Check whether even the ON data has been recorded. If the data recording of VRAM0 is not completed, the process returns to step S4, and the recording heads 18 and 18' record data in VRAM0 and VR.
Continue recording AMI.

When the data output from VRAM0 is completed in step S9, the recording operation by the recording head 18' is stopped, and step SI
Is the data output of VRAMI completed at O?
It is checked whether the data at address MAIS of AMI has been read out, and if it has not been read out, step S11 and step S7 are performed.
The recording head 18 records VRAMI data. In this manner, when recording of all data in VRAM0 and VRAMI is completed, the process advances to step S17.

When the recording start switch 21 is turned off in step S8, the process advances to step S12, and after stopping the recording operation by the recording head 18', the recording start switch 21 is turned off in step S13.
The moving distance of the main body A after the head 18 and the head 1 are turned off is
Check to see if the distance between 8′ is equal. If it is less than the distance, the process proceeds to step 314, and when the pulse signal 12 is input manually, the process proceeds to step 515, where the recording head 18 executes a recording operation.

In step S13, 8 of the main body A from the recording stop command position.
When the moving distance becomes equal to or greater than the distance 11i1L between the recording heads 18, 18', the process proceeds to step S16, where the driving of the head 18 is stopped and the transfer recording P is completed.

In this way, when the switch 21 is turned off,
Recording by the subsequent recording head 18' is performed up to the final recording position by the preceding recording head 18. In addition, if the switch 21 remains pressed down, VRAMOLVR
Each AMI read address is MAON%MAIS
In other words, it is verified whether the output of all recorded data has been completed. In this way, when all the data in VRAM0 is output, driving of the head 18' is stopped. Similarly,
When all data of VRAMI is output, driving of the head 18 is stopped.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, the recording head 1
8, the distance to the recording head 18' is 11 fL.
, that is, with a delay of the distance in the direction of movement of the main body. This allows recording while correcting the difference in position of the recording head. Further, even if recording is stopped midway, the recording stop positions of transfer recording P and P' are made to coincide.

[Other Embodiments (FIGS. 8 and 9)] Next, other embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 9.

Reference numeral 81 indicates a discharge nozzle of an inkjet printer, and in this embodiment, eight nozzles are sparsely arranged in a vertical line. 82 is
This is a transfer recording head such as a thermal head similar to that of the first embodiment, and has 12 dots closely arranged in a vertical row. The scanning detection mechanism for scanning these heads is also provided in the main body, control equipment, etc., as in the first embodiment. thus,
The nozzle 81 and the transfer head 82 are arranged on the main body at a distance in the recording scanning direction 83.

During the recording operation, the nozzle 81 first records the horizontal line 84 shown in FIG. When the character 85 moves tL8, the transfer head 82 starts recording the character 85. Therefore, the horizontal line 84 and the character 85 are recorded, and the character 85 is recorded on the horizontal line 84 in the overlapping recording portion.

In this way, by using, for example, red ink in an inkjet printer and blue ink as the cassette ink for transfer recording, overlapping recording of blue characters on a red background can be performed in one scan of the main body.

Also, the memory 26 does not store image patterns;
Character codes, character fonts, etc. may be used. During transfer recording, character codes may be sequentially read out from the memory 26 as the main body moves, and recording may be performed according to the character font corresponding to the character code. Furthermore, if a special code indicating the end of recording is added to the end of the character code to be recorded and stored in the memory 26, during the transfer recording operation,
The character codes may be sequentially read and recorded, and after the last character is recorded, the end of transcription recording may be detected when the special code is read.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by providing a plurality of recording heads in the scanning direction, overlapping recording and multicolor recording can be performed with one manual scan.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, by providing a plurality of recording heads in the scanning direction, there is an effect that, for example, overlapping recording can be performed in one scan.

Furthermore, by printing different colors in each print head, there is an effect that multicolor printing can be performed in one scan.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the hand printer of the embodiment, Fig. 2 is an external view of the hand printer of the embodiment, Fig. 3 is an external perspective view of the main body of the embodiment, and Fig. 4 is the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a printing result; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display on a display unit. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the recording operation process of this embodiment, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the recording head arrangement of another embodiment, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a recording example of another embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a recording example of another embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of recorded data in a video RAM of a memory. In the figure, 1...upper sheet, 2...lower sheet, 3...
Lid, 4.4'... Ink ribbon cassette, 5... Recording paper, 7... Rotating member, 10... Encoding plate, 1
1... Photo sensor, 12... Pulse signal, 16.
16'... Winding shaft, 17.17'... Ink ribbon, 18.18'... Recording head, 21... Recording start switch, 24... Power supply, 25... CPtJ,
26...Memory, 27...Keyboard, 29.29
'...Clutch, 31...Control equipment, 32...
Display section, 33... code, 40.41... mark. Patent applicant: Canon Co., Ltd.: 1 Agent: Patent attorney Yasunori Inuzuka (and 1 other person): 7th
Figure (B) Low-L-1111 Figure 8 Figure 9

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A recording device that performs recording by manually scanning a recording medium, comprising a plurality of recording heads disposed in the scanning direction, an instruction means for instructing to start recording, and A recording apparatus comprising: a signal output means for outputting a timing signal in response; and a drive means for driving the plurality of recording heads in accordance with recording information in synchronization with the timing signal. (2) A recording device that performs recording by manually scanning a recording medium, comprising a plurality of recording heads each capable of recording in a different color and arranged in the scanning direction, and an instruction means for instructing to start recording. , comprising a signal output means for outputting a timing signal in response to the scanning after the start of recording, and a driving means for driving the plurality of recording heads in accordance with recording information in synchronization with the timing signal, 1 A recording device characterized by being capable of multicolor recording with one manual scan.