JPH01301353A - Printer apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To dispense with the indication operation of a printing mode and to perform printing according to the optimum printing mode corresponding to the line feed pitch at the time of the execution of printing, by indicating the line feed pitch becoming the selection standard of both printing modes and the line feed pitch at the time of the execution of printing. CONSTITUTION:When an apparatus power supply is turned ON, a CPU 11 sets respective initial values as the line feed pitch A becoming the selection standard of both printing modes in a single direction and in both directions and the line feed pitch B at the time of the execution of printing on the basis of the line feed pitch indicated before the power supply is turned ON. For example, when 28/180 inch is indicated as the line feed pitch A becoming the selection standard of both printing modes and 1/8 inch is indicated as the line feed pitch B at the time of the execution of printing, printing is executed according to the printing mode in the signal direction. For example, when 1/6 or 1/4 inch is indicated as the line feed pitch B at the time of the execution of printing, printing is executed according to the printing mode in both directions. Further, when the min. value is indicated as the line feed pitch A becoming the selection standard of both printing modes, both-direction printing is always set and, when the max. value is indicated, single-direction printing is always performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a printer device that prints selectively using both unidirectional and bidirectional printing modes.

(Prior Art) For example, a serial dot impact printer receives print data transferred from a host device and sequentially prints characters in the horizontal direction. By the way, this type of printer device generally has two printing modes, unidirectional and bidirectional. Unidirectional printing mode is 1
This is a mode in which the characters in a line are printed one by one, for example from left to right, and then the carriage is returned to the left and the next line is similarly printed from left to right. On the other hand, the bidirectional printing mode is
This is a mode in which characters in one line are printed one by one, for example from left to right, and then the next line is printed from right to left without returning the carriage.

In this case, the unidirectional printing mode can provide high precision printing position in the vertical direction, but at the same time, it is slow, so
For example, it is suitable for printing with a small line feed pitch that requires printing position accuracy, such as printing vertical lines (ruled lines) drawn over several lines or printing double-height characters. On the other hand, although the bidirectional printing mode is high-speed, it cannot obtain high printing position accuracy, so it is suitable for printing with a large line feed pitch that requires high-speed processing.

Conventionally, a configuration has been adopted in which both such unidirectional and bidirectional printing modes are selectively used, for example, by designation using a command from a host device. According to this, it is possible to print by specifying the optimum printing mode according to the line feed pitch at that time.

However, if the configuration is such that the print mode is selected by external specification as described above, once a certain print mode is specified, that print mode will be executed regardless of the line feed pitch at the time of printing until it is specified again. be done. Therefore, when printing in the optimal print mode according to the line feed pitch at the time of printing, it is always necessary to specify the print mode according to the line feed pitch, which has the disadvantage of placing a burden on the operator. Ta.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, conventionally, when printing in the optimal print mode according to the line feed pitch during printing, it is necessary to always specify the print mode, which places a burden on the operator. There were such drawbacks.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a printer device that can print in an optimal print mode according to the line feed pitch at the time of printing, without requiring an operation to specify the print mode. purpose.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In other words, the printer device according to the present invention has a unidirectional printing mode and a bidirectional printing mode, in which the line feed pitch is specified by the first and second line feed pitch specifying means, respectively. Compare the line feed pitch that is the standard for selecting both print modes and the line feed pitch at the time of printing, and if the line feed pitch at the time of printing is larger than the line feed pitch that is the standard for selecting both print modes, the print mode for both directions is selected. When the line feed pitch at the time of printing is smaller than the line feed pitch that is the standard for selecting both print modes, printing is performed in the unidirectional print mode.

The first line feed pitch specifying means specifies a line feed pitch that is a reference for selecting the two printing modes.

Further, the second line feed pitch specifying means specifies the line feed pitch at the time of printing.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, by specifying the line feed pitch and the line feed pitch at the time of printing, which are the criteria for selecting both printing modes, printing is performed in the optimal print mode according to the line feed pitch at the time of printing. executed.

Therefore, printing can be performed in the optimal print mode according to the line feed pitch at the time of printing, without requiring any operation to specify the print mode.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, a printer device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of, for example, a serial dot impact printer having unidirectional and bidirectional printing modes, and a CPU that controls the entire device.
The program ROMI is connected to the program ROMI via the system bus 12.
(, font ROM 14, interface circuit 15,
A reception buffer 1G, a print buffer 17, a head drive circuit 1B, a carriage motor drive circuit 19, and a paper feed motor drive circuit 20 are connected to each other.

The program ROM 13 stores programs such as unidirectional and bidirectional print mode processing.

The font ROM 14 stores character patterns.

The interface circuit 15 sends and receives data to and from the host device 21 . The reception buffer 1B stores print data. The print buffer 17 stores character patterns taken out from the font ROM 14 according to print data. Head drive circuit 18 drives print head 22 . Carriage motor drive circuit 19 drives carriage motor 23 . The carriage motor 23 is a motor for driving a carriage (not shown), and is composed of, for example, a pulse motor. The paper feed motor drive circuit 20 is
Drive the paper feed motor 24. The paper feed motor 24 is a motor for driving a paper conveyance mechanism such as a platen (not shown), and is composed of, for example, a pulse motor.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, when the device power is turned on, the CPU II uses the line feed pitch A, which is the standard for selecting both unidirectional and bidirectional printing modes, based on the line feed pitch specified before the power is turned on.
and each initial value as the line feed pitch B at the time of printing execution is set (step Sl).

The specification of the above-mentioned line feed pitch will be described later.

In this case, for example, in a 24-dot serial dot impact printer, for example, a line feed pitch of 24/180 inches is specified as line feed pitch A, which is the standard for selecting both print modes, before the power is turned on. 1
The value of 80 inches is set as the initial value of the line feed pitch A. Furthermore, as the line feed pitch B when printing is executed before power is turned on, any line feed pitch among, for example, 1/8 inch, 1/6 inch, or 1/4 inch is specified. The value of the line feed pitch determined is set as the initial value of the line feed pitch B. The line feed pitch of 24/180 inches is the pitch when printing lines adjacent to each other. Further, the line feed pitch of 1/8 inch is the pitch when printing lines overlapping each other.

Next, the CPU II compares the line feed pitch A and the line feed pitch B, and as a result of this comparison, the CPU II compares the line feed pitch A and the line feed pitch B.
When , the bidirectional printing mode is set, and when the line feed pitch A≧line feed pitch B, the unidirectional printing mode is set (step S2). Then, upon receiving the print data from the host device 21, the CPU 11 interprets the print data (step S3) and determines line feed pitch A or line feed pitch B.
The presence or absence of a pitch designation is confirmed (step S4). Confirmation of the presence or absence of this pitch designation will be described later.

Here, for example, if line feed pitch A and line feed pitch B are not specified, the CPU II executes printing in the print mode set in step S2 above (step S5).
.

In this case, in step S1, the line feed pitch A, which is the standard for selecting both print modes, is set to 24/1, for example.
If an initial value of 80 inches is set and, for example, an initial value of 178 inches is set as the line feed pitch B during printing, printing will be performed in unidirectional printing mode. Also, if the initial value of line feed pitch B during printing is set to, for example, 1/6 inch or 1/4 inch,
Printing is performed in bidirectional print mode °.

On the other hand, in step S4, for example, line feed pitch A
Or, if line break pitch B is specified, CPU II
compares specified line feed pitch A and line feed pitch B (step S6). The line feed pitch A is specified by, for example, a command or switch of the host device 21. If a command is used, in step S4, cptrti checks whether the line feed pitch A has been specified based on the pitch specification command transferred from the host device 21. If a switch is used, in step S4, the CPU 11 reads the contents of the switch, and based on the contents of the switch, checks whether the line feed pitch A has been specified. Above line break pitch B
The designation is made by a command from the host device 21, and in step S4, the CPU II checks whether the line feed pitch B has been designated based on the pitch designation command transferred from the host device 21.

Therefore, as a result of the comparison in step S6, the CPU II sets the bidirectional printing mode when the line feed pitch A is larger than the line feed pitch B (step S7), and sets the unidirectional printing mode when the line feed pitch A≧line feed pitch B (step S7). (Step S8)
, execute printing.

In this case, if, for example, 24/180 inch is specified as line feed pitch A, which is the standard for selecting both printing modes, and e.g. 1/8 inch is specified as line feed pitch B during printing, then Printing is executed in print mode. In addition, for example, the line feed pitch B when printing is 1
/6 inch or 1/4 inch is specified,
Printing is performed in bidirectional print mode.

Furthermore, the line feed pitch A, which is the standard for selecting both printing modes, is
If you specify the minimum value, it will always print in both directions, and if you specify the maximum value, it will always print in one direction.

In this way, by specifying the line feed pitch A and the line feed pitch B at the time of printing, which are the criteria for selecting both printing modes, printing is executed in the optimal print mode according to the line feed pitch at the time of printing. It is. Therefore, there is no need to specify a print mode according to the line feed pitch, and the burden on the operator is reduced.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, there is a configuration in which printing is performed in a printing mode according to the comparison result between the line feed pitch, which is a reference for selecting both specified printing modes, and the line feed pitch at the time of printing. Therefore, there is no need to specify the print mode.
You can print in the optimal print mode according to the line feed pitch when printing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of a printer device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment. 11...CPU, 12...System bus, 13...
・Program ROM, 14...Font ROM, 15
... Interface circuit, 16... Reception buffer, 17... Print buffer, 18... Head drive circuit, 19... Carriage motor drive circuit, 20... Paper feed motor drive circuit, 21...・Host device, 22...
・Print head, 23... Carriage motor, 24...
・Paper feed motor. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue; Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a printer device having unidirectional and bidirectional printing modes, a first linefeed pitch specifying means for specifying a linefeed pitch serving as a reference for selection of both printing modes, and a linefeed pitch specifying means for specifying a linefeed pitch when printing is executed A pitch for comparing the line feed pitch at the time of printing with the line feed pitch that is the reference for selecting both print modes specified by the second line feed pitch specifying means and the first and second line feed pitch specifying means, respectively. Comparison means: As a result of the pitch comparison means, when the line feed pitch at the time of printing is larger than the line feed pitch that is the standard for selecting both printing modes, printing is performed in the bidirectional printing mode, and the line feed pitch at the time of printing is set to the two direction printing mode. 1. A printer device comprising: printing control means for printing in a unidirectional printing mode when the line feed pitch is smaller than a line feed pitch serving as a selection criterion.