JPH02171268A - Printing command signal issuance controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform printing even in an accelerating or decelerating area to prevent the production of a large-size device by a method wherein a printing time is determined so that a printing can be equidistantly conducted in an area having a printing head carrier speed fluctuation, and an auxiliary pre- printing command signal is issued before the printing time in order to improve the frequency characteristics of a printing hammer. CONSTITUTION:The quantities of state (position, speed, acceleration) of a printing head carrier detected by a printing head carrier state quantity detector 2 are received into a printing time signal generator 3, and a printing time is determined. In a pre-printing time signal generator 4, a pre-printing time signal is determined by subtracting a minimum impact-to-impact time, which depends on a predetermined frequency response in the impact of a printing hammer, from a printing time signal obtained in the printing time signal generator 3. Then, this obtained pre-printing time signal is received in a timer 5. When the timer 5 counts the time represented by the signal, a printing signal generator 6 is triggered, and a normal printing signal is imparted from the printing signal generator 6 to a printing head 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a device for controlling the generation of print command signals in a printer that performs serial printing.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional serial printers employ printing means that moves a print head carrier at a constant speed and generates a print command signal at regular intervals to perform printing. this is,
This type of printing means is used due to the frequency characteristics of the printing hammer of the printing head. In other words, in order to increase the printing speed, printing is performed using the printable area that appears in the region twice the resonance frequency of the printing hammer, so printing command signals can only be generated at fixed intervals, and In order to perform printing at regular intervals, means are used to move the print head at a constant speed and print at regular intervals, and printing is performed only in a constant speed range.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Conventional printing means cannot print at irregular time intervals as described above. In other words, since the time interval between firing of the printing hammer is limited by electrical and mechanical physical conditions, printing may not be possible even if a printing command signal is issued outside the time interval. Alternatively, even if printing is performed, the printing may occur at a position shifted from the predetermined position. These can lead to missing prints and printing errors, so when controlling the print position of a serial printer, move the print head carrier at a constant speed as much as possible, generate a print command signal at regular intervals, and print at regular intervals. An attempt is made to do so.

However, as the printing speed increases, the acceleration/deceleration range of movement of the print head carrier increases, so printing only in a constant speed range deteriorates printing efficiency. therefore,
It is required to print even in the acceleration/deceleration range where the speed fluctuates. Therefore, there is a need for a printing means that can enable printing intervals.

[Means to solve the problem]

The printing command signal generation control device according to the present invention detects the state quantity of the print head carrier at fixed time intervals with a print head carrier state quantity detector of a serial printer, and generates a state quantity signal of the print head carrier in a printing time signal generator. A preliminary print time signal generator generates a print time signal according to the print time signal, and further subtracts a printable time predetermined from the print time signal generated by the print time signal generator in a preliminary print time signal generator based on the print frequency characteristics of the print head. A timer is used to count the time, and when the count value reaches the preliminary print time, a print signal generator is triggered to output a preliminary print signal. The present invention is characterized in that when the count value reaches the printing time, the printing signal generator is triggered to output a printing signal.

[Effect]

The present invention determines the printing time so that printing is done at equal intervals in a region where the moving speed of the print head carrier is fluctuating,
Further, in order to improve the frequency characteristics of the printing hammer, a preliminary printing command signal is generated in advance of the printing time.

When this preliminary printing command signal is issued, for example, in the case of an electromagnetic print head, the excitation of the electromagnet of the printing hammer is made smaller than the strength of normal printing, and printing is not performed, but the printing hammer is struck out a little. This puts the printing hammer in an optimal state for striking out at the printing time in accordance with the frequency characteristics of the original striking of the printing hammer.

The above-mentioned auxiliary print signal allows the time interval between printing command signals to be made variable in a region where the speed of the print head carrier is fluctuating.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

An embodiment of the printing command signal generation control device of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a print command signal generation control device according to the present invention. In a serial printer, printing is performed by striking a printing hammer at a predetermined position while the print head carrier is moving. In the present invention, it is necessary to detect a predetermined position where printing is to be performed. In this example, a linear sensor is used to detect the amount of shape R of the print head carrier of the print head carrier moving mechanism 1. The state quantity B (position, velocity, acceleration) of the print head carrier detected by the print head carrier state quantity detector 2 is taken into the printing time signal generator 3;
Determine the printing time. The printing time here is indicated by the time from the state quantity detection time. In addition, the printing time is determined in advance by determining the time from the time of detection to the printing time according to various state quantities of the print head carrier and storing it in a memory such as a ROM. decide.

The preliminary printing time signal generator 4 determines the printable time of the printing hammer of the print head, which is determined in advance, or the minimum time from one printing until the next printing is normally performed, which is determined by the frequency response of the printing hammer. of,
A preliminary printing time signal is determined by subtracting from the printing time signal obtained by the printing time signal generator 3. First, the preliminary printing time signal obtained by the preliminary printing time signal generator 4 is input into the timer 5, and when the time indicated by the signal is reached, the printing signal generator 6 is triggered. At this time, the print signal generator 6 gives a print command signal to the print head 7, which is smaller than the normal print hammer ejection amount, that is, the print hammer is ejected by a small amount although no printing is actually performed. Thereafter, the print time signal obtained by the print time signal generator 3 is loaded into the timer 5, and when the time represented by the time has come, the print signal generator 6 is triggered. and,
A normal print signal is applied from a print signal generator 6 to a print head 7.

Next, each element in FIG. 1 will be explained in detail using figures.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a print head carrier moving mechanism of a serial printer to which the present invention is applied. The print head 20 is fixed to a print head carrier 25. Printhead carrier 25 moves on linear guide 27 parallel to the axis of platen 26 . This movement of the print head carrier 25 transfers the rotational force generated in the motor 21 to the motor pulley 22, idle pulley 24, and belt 23.
This is done by converting it into linear motion. During this movement, a print command signal is generated and serial printing is performed.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the state quantity detector of the print head carrier 25 of FIG. 2. As shown in FIG.

In this example, the state quantity of the print head carrier 25 is detected using a linear sensor 50. Although there are various types of linear sensors, an example will be given in which a two-phase signal output type optical linear sensor is used.

The two-phase signal is converted by the signal converter 57 into a movement signal that outputs pulses as the object moves.

This movement signal is transmitted to the position detector 51. The speed detector 52 and the acceleration detector 53 output a position signal 54 and a speed signal 56, respectively. It is converted into an acceleration signal 56.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the print time signal generator 3 of FIG. 1. The printing time signal is a digital signal whose time can be counted by a timer.

This signal is used to mark various positions of the head carrier.

The time is determined in advance according to the speed and acceleration, and is stored in the printing time storage section 60 configured with a memory such as a ROM. Then, the position signal 54. When the speed signal 55° acceleration signal 56 is detected, a printing time signal 60 is immediately output. still,
The printing time is determined geometrically using the difference between the position at the time of detection and the position at which printing is to be performed, and the speed and acceleration at the time of detection as parameters. Therefore, the speed signal 55. The acceleration signal 56 is used as it is as a memory access signal, but the position signal 54 is used as an access signal after calculating the difference from the position signal 62 stored in the print position storage section 61 and at which printing is to be performed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the preliminary print time signal generator 4 of FIG. 1. A preliminary print time signal 72 is obtained by subtracting the printable time 73 stored in the printable time storage section 70 from the print time signal 63 generated by the print time signal generator 3 shown in FIG. In this example, the printable time stored in the printable time storage section 70 is determined from the frequency response of the printing hammer, and is the minimum time from when the print hammer is punched out until the next printout is normally performed.

This is determined in advance and stored in the printable time storage section 70.

The above description regarding the print command signal generation control device for a printer of the present invention can be easily deduced by analogy to those skilled in the art.
A more detailed explanation will be omitted.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, when the print head carrier is moving while fluctuating at a speed lower than the speed during normal printing, such as in an acceleration/deceleration state, the frequency characteristics of the striking of the print hammer of the print head can be compensated. allows accurate printing. Compensation of frequency characteristics means outputting a preliminary print signal before outputting a print command signal, as described in the embodiment. This compensation solves the problem of the frequency characteristics of printing hammer ejection mentioned in the conventional problem,
Even if the speed is variable, printing can be performed according to the printing position. This makes it possible to print even in the acceleration/deceleration region, thereby preventing the device from becoming larger, whereas increasing the moving speed of the print head carrier increases the acceleration/deceleration region and increases the area where printing cannot be performed.

According to the present invention described above, it is possible to obtain a print command signal control device that solves the above-mentioned conventional problems.

7...Print head.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A print head carrier state quantity detector of the serial printer detects the state quantity of the print head carrier at regular intervals, and a print time signal generator receives the state quantity signal of the print head carrier and generates a print time signal accordingly. , further generating a preliminary printing time signal obtained by subtracting a printable time predetermined based on the printing frequency characteristics of the print head from the printing time signal generated by the printing time signal generator in a preliminary printing time signal generator; A timer counts time, and when the count value reaches the preliminary print time, a print signal generator is triggered to output a preliminary print signal, and when the count value of the timer reaches the print time, the print signal generator is triggered. A printing command signal generation control device characterized by applying a trigger to the printing signal generator to output a printing signal.