JPH01262169A - Ticket printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To suppress the consumption amount of a printing ribbon to a large extent, by providing a printing position counter and bringing a platen into contact with a printing head under pressure at the point of time when the printing position of a ticket arrives slightly on this side of an actual printing position to feed a printing ribbon. CONSTITUTION:When the leading end of the ticket 1 inserted in a feed path 7 reaches the opposed position of a printing head 4, a printing position counter starts the counting of the printing position on the ticket 1. When the count value reaches a platen applying position present on this side by a predetermined preparation position from the printing start position of a predetermined region to be printed, a platen 5 is brought into contact with the printing head 4 under pressure and a printing ribbon 6 is fed. In this state a character is printed within the predetermined region. When a printing position reaches a platen opening position behind by a predetermined allowance distance after the printing output operation of a character is finished, the platen 5 is separated from the printing head 4 and the feed of the printing ribbon 6 is stopped. That is, the feed section of the printing ribbon 6 consists only of the predetermined region and the sections containing the preparation distance and allowance distance before and behind said region.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a ticket printing device that prints out new characters in a predetermined area of a ticket, such as an airline ticket, on which necessary information is printed in advance.

[Prior Art] For example, an airline ticket 1 purchased at a travel agency or an airport has a rectangular shape with perforations 2 as shown in FIG. The boarding section, date of boarding, and flight number (flight location) are printed on the front of the ticket 1. In addition, the ticket stub on the right side of perforation 2 includes the boarding gate number, seat number, smoking seat (Y) or non-smoking seat (N).
Columns 3a, 3b, and 3c for entering the distinction are printed. Then, when actually boarding a plane at the airport, the person hands the airline ticket 1 to the staff member at the boarding procedure counter. Upon receiving the ticket 1, the staff member asks the passenger whether he/she prefers a seat, a smoking seat or a non-smoking seat, inputs the desired conditions into the host computer using the keyboard, and then connects the ticket 1 to the host computer. Insert the airline ticket 1 from the longitudinal end 1a into the ticket insertion slot of the ticket printing device.

The airline ticket 1 inserted into the ticket insertion slot of the ticket printing device is transported at a constant speed along a transport path communicating with the ticket insertion slot by disposed transport rollers. and,
The boarding gate number and seat number assigned to each of the fields 3a, 3b, and 3c of the airline ticket 1 by the host computer are printed by a printing unit including a platen, a print head, a printing ribbon, etc. arranged in this conveyance path. , a symbol indicating whether the seat is a smoking or non-smoking seat will be printed.

The airline ticket 1 with the necessary characters printed in each column 3a, 3b, and 3c is discharged from the discharge port. Then, the staff member hands the ticket 1 to the customer.

In the printing unit incorporated in such a ticket printing device, as shown in FIG. 8, a thermal print head 4 having a length slightly wider than the width W of the airline ticket 1 is used as a print head. Then, with the thermal print head 4 fixed and the airline ticket 1 pressed against the thermal print head 4 via the printing ribbon 6 by the platen 5, the airline ticket 1 is moved at a constant speed in the sub-scanning direction. , each character in the width direction is printed at once. With this configuration, necessary information can be printed in each column 3a, 3b, and 3c at once without stopping the movement of the airline ticket 1, thereby reducing printing time.

Therefore, the printing ribbon 6 inserted between the thermal print head 4 and the airline ticket 1 must also have a width equal to or greater than the width W of the airline ticket 1.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, even in the ticket printing device having the printing section shown in FIG. 8, there are still problems to be solved as follows.

That is, generally when the leading end 1a of the airline ticket 1 reaches the position of the thermal print head 4, the platen 5, which is being rotated at a constant speed by a drive motor, is pressed against the thermal print head 4 by the action of a solenoid or the like (not shown). However, although the paper for ticket 1 is not fed on platen 5, each column 3a, 3
b, 3cl=Character is printed. In this case, platen 5
It is necessary to feed the printing ribbon 6 at the same time that the printing ribbon 6 is brought into pressure contact with the thermal printing head 4.

However, as shown in FIG. 7, since characters have already been printed from the tip 1a of the airline ticket 1 to the second perforation, there is no need to newly print characters in this area. Therefore, the printing ribbon 6, which moves simultaneously with this airline ticket 1 while in contact with this area, is not used at all. As mentioned above, since the printing ribbon 6 has a width equal to or larger than the width W of the airline ticket 1, the printing ribbon 6 has a width greater than the width W of the airline ticket 1.
.

In order to print each character in 3b and 3c, this airline ticket 1
The same area of printing ribbon 6 is consumed.

That is, the unused area of the printing ribbon 6 is many times larger than the area actually used, which is very uneconomical.

In particular, the printing ribbon 6 used in such a ticket printing device
In many cases, the printing ribbon 6 cannot be used repeatedly, such as a carbon ribbon, so the amount of printing ribbon 6 consumed increases, and the maintenance cost of the entire ticket printing device increases.

The present invention is provided with a printing position counter that counts the printing position from the tip of the ticket where characters are printed, and when the printing position on the ticket reaches a little before the actual printing position, the platen is moved and the printing ribbon is removed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a ticket printing device that can greatly reduce consumption of printing ribbon by feeding the ribbon.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a conveyance roller, a platen, a print head, and a print ribbon arranged along a conveyance path, and during conveyance within the conveyance path.
In a ticket printing device that prints out new characters input from the outside in a specified area on a ticket having a predetermined shape on which necessary information is printed in advance, a ribbon feed motor is used to feed the printing ribbon. a paper sensor that detects when the leading edge of the ticket reaches the print head position; a print position counter that counts the printing position on the ticket facing the print head in response to the detection of the leading edge of the paper sensor; means for detecting that the count value of the position counter matches a platen application position set a predetermined preparatory distance from the printing start position in the predetermined area; a print ribbon feed start control means for bringing the print ribbon into pressure contact with the print head via the ticket and the print ribbon and starting to feed the print ribbon; and a platen whose count value of a print position counter is set a predetermined distance from the print end position in a predetermined area. means for detecting that the platen has reached the open position; and print ribbon feed stop control means for releasing the platen from pressure contact with the print head and stopping print ribbon feed in response to detection of the platen open position by the means. It is something.

[Operation] With the ticket printing device configured in this way, when the leading edge of the ticket inserted into the conveyance path reaches the position facing the print head, the print position counter starts counting the print positions on the ticket. . When the count value reaches the platen application position, which is a predetermined preparation position before the print start position of a predetermined area where characters are to be printed, the platen is pressed against the print head and the print ribbon is fed. Then, in this state, characters are printed within the predetermined area. When the printing position reaches the platen open position a predetermined distance after the end of the character printing operation, the platen separates from the print head and ribbon feeding of the print ribbon stops.

That is, the section in which the printing ribbon is fed is only the section that includes the predetermined area and the preparation distance and grace distance before and after the predetermined area. Therefore, consumption of printing ribbon is suppressed.

[Example] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of main parts of a ticket printing device according to an embodiment. The same parts as in FIGS. 7 and 8 are given the same reference numerals. A paper sensor 8. Conveyance roller 9a, platen 5. Thermal print head 4. A printing ribbon 6 and a conveyance roller 9b are provided. Each conveyance roller 9a, 9b and platen 5 are rotated synchronously by a paper feed (PF) motor 10. That is, when the paper feed motor 10 rotates, the airline ticket 1 is conveyed at a constant speed in the direction of the arrow 11. Furthermore, when the solenoid 12 is energized, the platen 5 is pressed against the thermal print head 4 via the print ribbon 6.

Further, the distance between the position of the paper sensor 8 and the position of the thermal print head 4 approximately corresponds to the length of the airline ticket 1 in the longitudinal direction (sub-scanning direction) shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 4. That is, when the paper sensor 8 detects the leading edge of the ticket 1 and turns on, the ticket 1 is conveyed, and the trailing edge 1b of the ticket 1 is detected and turns off, the leading edge 1a of the ticket 1 turns off. The thermal print head has reached position 4.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the ticket printing device. CP013, which executes various calculation processes, is the path line 1
4, a ROM 15 that stores a control program, a RAM 16 that stores various variable data, a head control circuit 17 that drives the thermal print head 4, and the paper feed (PF)
) A paper feed control circuit 18 that drives the motor 10; a timer 19 that sets the unit time ΔT required to print one dot (one line) to 31 o'clock; an input board 21 to which information is input from the paper sensor 8 and the operation panel 20; Said solenoid 1
2, a ribbon feed control circuit 24 that drives a ribbon feed (RB) motor 23 that feeds the printing ribbon 6, and an I/R to which characters to be printed are input from an external host computer 25. Controls the F transmission circuit 26, etc.

In the RAM 16, as shown in FIG. 3, an editing memory R1 having the same format as the printing format of the airline ticket 1 shown in FIG. 4 is formed. That is, although 72 characters can be printed in the longitudinal direction on the airline ticket 1, it is made up of E dots in dot units. Each column 3a is where characters are printed by this ticket printing device.

The print start position of the predetermined area consisting of 3b and 3c is indicated by m in dot units, and the print end position of the predetermined area is indicated by dot n in units of dots.

Then, a platen application position A (-m-j) is set a predetermined preparatory distance jtN from the print start position m, and a platen release position B (-n+k) is set a predetermined preparatory distance Mk from the print end position n. Ru.

The reason why the predetermined preparation distance j and the predetermined margin distance k are provided is that the printing start operation and the printing end operation within the predetermined area need to be smoothly executed with a margin.

Further, the print start position m is stored in the RAM 16.

Print end position n, platen application position A, platen.

Memories R2 to R5 each storing the open position B are formed. Further, a print position counter R6 is formed to count the print position C in the sub-transport direction of the editing memory R1 in units of dots.

Furthermore, a PF momo flag and a counter flag.

A flag area R7 is formed to store the RB momo flag and the print flag.

When the device is powered on, the CPU 13
The program is configured to print out characters on the airline ticket 1 inserted into the conveyance path 7 according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the flowchart is started and print data of characters to be printed in each column 3a, 3b, 3c of the airline ticket 1 is input from the host computer 25, it is stored in the corresponding area of the editing memory R1 of the RAM 16. Then, the print start position m and print end position n of the print data of the manually inputted characters in the editing memory R1 are searched and stored in the respective memories R2 and R3. Then, a predetermined preparation distance j from the printing start position m and the printing end position n
.

Using the predetermined margin distance k, the platen application position A and the platen release position B are calculated and stored in the respective memories R4 and R5.

When the above print preparation process is completed, the paper is fed via the paper feed control circuit 18 at Pl, and the (PF) motor 10 is started. Then, the PF momo flag in the flag area R7 is set to 1.

When the airline ticket 1 inserted into the conveyance path 7 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow 11 in FIG. Since the print head has reached the 4th position, the print position counter R6 is cleared to 0. Then, the counter flag in the flag area R7 is set to 1. At P3, wait until the count value C of the print position counter R6 reaches the platen application position A. When the count value (print position) C reaches the platen application position A at P3, the solenoid 12 starts to be energized via the platen drive circuit 22. Then platen 5
is urged in four directions of the thermal print head. At the same time, the ribbon feed (RB) motor 23 is activated via the ribbon feed control circuit 24, and the RB momo flag is set to 1.

Then, at P4, the count value of the print position counter R6 (
Print position) Wait for C to reach the print start position m,
Set the print flag to 1. The actual printing operation starts from this point.

Then, at P5, the count value C of the print position counter R6
When reaches the print end position n, the print flag is reset to 0. Furthermore, when the count value C of the printing position counter R6 reaches the platen open position B at P6, the solenoid 12
Cut off the energized state. As a result, the platen 5 separates from the thermal print head 4. At the same time, feed the ribbon (
RB) Stop the motor 23 and clear the RB momo flag to 0.

Furthermore, count value C of print position counter R6 at Pl
is the rear end 1b of the ticket 1 in the final position E of the editing memory R1.
When the ticket reaches the value (E+α), which is the sum of the distance α required to pass the conveyance roller 9b, it is determined that the airline ticket 1 has been ejected from the conveyance path 7 of this ticket printing device, and the paper feed (P
F) Stop the motor 10 and clear the PF MOMO flag to O.

This completes the character printout process for one airline ticket 1.

The printing operation of each of the motors 10, 2B and the thermal print head 4 is controlled by the timer 19 at every unit time T.
This is executed in the timer interrupt process shown in FIG. 6 in response to the timer interrupt signal sent to U1B.

If the flowchart of FIG. 6 is started and the PF MOMO flag is set to 1, the printout is ready, and the paper feed motor 10 is rotated by one step corresponding to one dot. If the counter flag remains reset to 0, the leading edge 1a of the airline ticket 1 has not yet reached the position of the thermal print head 4, so the timer interrupt processing is terminated.

If the counter flag is set to 1, the tip 1a of the airline ticket 1 has passed the thermal print head 4 position, so the count value (print position) C of the print position counter R6
Increase by 1.

Then, in P8, the setting state of the RB momo flag is checked. If the value remains reset to 0, either the printing position on the ticket 1 has not yet reached the platen application position A, or the printing position has exceeded the platen release position B, so this timer interrupt processing is not performed. finish. If it is set to 1, the printing position exists between the platen application position A and the platen release position B, and the platen 5 is in pressure contact with the thermal head 4, so the ribbon feed (RB)
The printing ribbon 6 is rotated by rotating the motor 23 by one step.
Feed the ribbon by one dot.

Next, in P9, the state of the print flag is checked. If it remains cleared to 0, the print position is within the predetermined preparation distance j before the print start position m, or within the predetermined grace distance after the print end position n, so this timer interrupt continues. Finish the process. In addition, if it is set to 1, the print position exists between the print start position m and the print end position n in the predetermined area, so the print data (dots) for one line (main scanning direction) in the editing memory R1 is data) is printed out in the predetermined area (columns 3a to 3c). Then, this timer interrupt processing ends.

In the ticket printing device configured as described above, when the leading end 1a of the airline ticket 1 inserted into the conveyance path 7 reaches the position of the thermal print head 4, the paper counter 8 is activated and the print position counter R6 is set to the position of the airline ticket 1. Start counting the print position C on 1. When the airline ticket 1 is further conveyed and the printing position C indicated by the count value reaches the platen application position A, which is a predetermined preparation distance j before the printing start position m of the predetermined area where characters are to be printed, the platen 5 is brought into pressure contact with the thermal print head 4, and the printing ribbon 6 starts to be fed. Then, in this state, column 3a as a predetermined area
, 3b, and 3c, the characters [201[5A][Y] input from the host computer 25 are printed. 1 for a predetermined delay from the printing end position n after the character printing operation is completed.
When the printing position C reaches the platen open position B after 171, the platen 5 separates from the thermal print head 4,
Also, the ribbon feeding operation of the printing ribbon 6 is stopped.

That is, the section in which the printing ribbon 6 is fed is a section (A
-B) only. Therefore, on ticket 1 (
Compared to the conventional ticket printing device in which it was necessary to feed the printing ribbon 6 over the entire area of 1 to E), the consumption amount of the printing ribbon 6 can be significantly suppressed.

Therefore, maintenance costs for the ticket issuing device can be reduced. Furthermore, the frequency of replacing the printing ribbon 6 is also reduced.

Furthermore, since the thermal print head 4 does not come into contact with the airline ticket 1 via the print ribbon 6 during the period when it is not printing, it is possible to extend the durability life which is limited by wear and the like.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the ticket printing device of the present invention, a printing position counter that counts the printing position from the leading edge of the ticket where characters are printed is provided, so that the printing position on the ticket is determined from the actual printing position. The platen is pressed against the print head and the print ribbon is fed (2. Therefore, the amount of printing ribbon consumed can be significantly reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 6 show a ticket printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the main parts, and FIG.
Figure 3 is a block diagram, Figure 3 is a diagram showing the main memory of the storage section, Figure 4 is a diagram showing an airline ticket, Figures 5 and 6 are flowcharts showing operations, and Figure 7 is a diagram showing columns. FIG. 8, which shows an airline ticket with no characters printed inside, is a schematic diagram showing the main parts of a general ticket printing device. 1...airline ticket, 1a...tip, 1b...rear end, 3
a. 3b, 3c... Column, 4... Thermal print head, 5
...Platen, 6...Print ribbon, 7...Conveyance path, 8...Paper sensor, 9a, 9b...Conveyance roller,
10... Paper feed motor, 12... Solenoid, 13
...CPU, 16...RAM, 19...Timer,
23... Ribbon feed motor, 25... Host computer, R1... Edit memory, R6... Print position counter, m... Print start position, n... Print end position. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (1)

[Claims] Along the transport path, transport rollers, platens, print heads,
A printing ribbon is provided, and new characters input from the outside are printed in a designated area on the ticket, which has predetermined shapes and has necessary information printed on it, and is being conveyed through the conveyance path. The ticket printing device includes a ribbon feed motor that feeds the printing ribbon, a paper sensor that detects when the leading edge of the ticket reaches the print head position, and a paper sensor that detects when the leading edge of the paper sensor reaches the print head position. a printing position counter that counts printing positions on the ticket facing the;
means for detecting that the count value of the printing position counter coincides with a platen application position set a predetermined preparatory distance before the printing start position of the predetermined area; printing ribbon feeding start control means for bringing the platen into pressure contact with the printing head via the ticket and the printing ribbon and starting feeding the printing ribbon; and a count value of the printing position counter is a predetermined grace distance from the printing end position in the predetermined area. means for detecting that the platen is in contact with a platen open position set later than the time; and a printing ribbon for releasing the pressure contact of the platen against the print head and stopping feeding of the printing ribbon in response to the detection of the platen open position by the means. 1. A ticket printing device comprising a feed stop control means.