JPH0223411Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea]

This invention relates to a printer controller that can control a plurality of printers with different drive systems. Conventionally, printer controllers output print control signals specific to the printers connected to them, so it has been impossible for one printer controller to control a plurality of printers with different drive systems. For example, Table 1 shows the printer drive system.
As shown in the figure, there are three types, each with different specifications.

[Table] For example, the printer's timing pulse TP output method, head ON signal, etc. are different. Here, for example, the printer may be a wire impact dot printer, the printer may be a thermal printer, and the printer may be a discharge destruction printer. This idea was made in view of the above points,
The purpose is to provide a printer controller that can control a plurality of types of printers with different drive methods by selecting the drive method using a signal from an external input terminal. An embodiment of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the main parts of a printer controller, which is constructed of, for example, a one-chip LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit). In the figure, signals outside the broken lines α or β are signals input from external input terminals. Signals A and B are specified by printers I to C as shown in Table 1 above. Signal A is NOR circuit 11, inverter 12
through the AND circuit 13 and the AND circuit 14
are input respectively. Further, the signal B is sent to the NOR circuit 11, the AND circuit 13, and the inverter 1.
5 to the AND circuit 14. Further, the timing pulse signal TP output from a printer (not shown) is output from AND circuits 16 and 17.
are input respectively. Further, the reset pulse signal RP output from the printer is input to the set terminal S of the flip-flop 18. and,
The Q output of flip-flop 18 is input to AND circuit 17. Further, the output signal of the NOR circuit 11 is input to AND circuits 16 and 19, respectively. Furthermore, the output signals of the AND circuits 13 and 14 are passed through an OR circuit 20 to an AND circuit 17.
is input. The output signal of the AND circuit 13 is input to an AND circuit 21, and the output of the AND circuit 14 is input to an AND circuit 22. Further, the output signals of the AND circuits 16 and 17 are outputted to an OR circuit 23, respectively.
are input to the AND circuit 19, the T-type flip-flop 24, the AND circuit 21, and the n-ary counter 25, respectively. The output of the OR circuit 23 is sent as a timing pulse signal TP to a timing signal generating section (not shown). Further, the output signal of the AND circuit 21 is inputted to the set terminal S of the flip-flop 26. The outputs of the AND circuits 19 and 22 and the Q output of the flip-flop 26 are input to the gate 42 via the OR circuit 27, respectively. High level signals are sequentially sent to the n output lines of the n-ary counter 25 to the decoder 251 in response to the input of the timing pulse signal TP. This decoder 251 has 6
It has a book output line, and the output line m1~
The m3 signal turns the motor OFF via the OR circuit 29.
It is sent as a signal to a printer (not shown) and is also input to the reset terminal R of the flip-flop 18. Further, the signals on the output lines P1 to P3 of the decoder 251 are input to an OR circuit 30, and the output of the OR circuit 30 is sent as a print end signal to a print drive section (not shown). Furthermore, the output of the NOR circuit 11 is transferred to the transfer gate T.
3 and T6, the output of the AND circuit 13 is connected to transfer gates T2 and T5, and the output of the AND circuit 14 is connected to transfer gates T1 and T6.
4 is input. Thus, data input from a key input section (not shown) is input to the buffer 32. The data stored in buffer 32 is input to exclusive OR circuits 34-37 via transfer gate 33. The outputs of the exclusive OR circuits 34 to 37 are inputted to the reset terminal R of the flip-flop 26 via a NOR circuit 38. The output of the flip-flop 26 is input to the reset terminal R of the hexadecimal counter 39. This hexadecimal counter 39 is clocked by an external clock signal.
Counted up by CK. The four output signals of the hexadecimal counter are connected to the exclusive OR circuit 34.
~37 is input. A gate control signal G is input to the transfer gate 33. Signals a to d are sent to the exclusive OR circuits 34 to 37 via a transfer gate 40. Thus, the gate control signal G is input to the transfer gate 40 via the inverter 41. Print data sent from a CPU (not shown) is input into a buffer 43 having a predetermined number of digits, for example, 30 digits. The print data stored in this buffer 43 is sent to a character generator 44 and converted into a character pattern. Data in the column direction of the character pattern output from the character generator 44 is inputted via the gate 42 to a print drive section (not shown). Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained. For example, when selecting a drive system suitable for the printer shown in Table 1, the signal A
=B=0. As a result, a "1" signal is output only from the NOR circuit 11. This causes the timing pulse signal TP sent from the printer to
is input to the n-ary counter 25 via the AND circuit 16 and the OR circuit 23. timing pulse signal
Upon input of TP, the n-ary counter 25 starts counting operation. Also, "1" from the NOR circuit 11
Since the signal is output, AND circuit 19 and transfer gates T3 and T6 are opened. As a result, the output of the decoder 251 is passed through the transfer gate T3 and the OR circuit 29 to turn off the motor.
It is output as a signal. in this way,
In the printer drive system, n-ary counter 2
The operation No. 5 is started in synchronization with the timing pulse signal TP. Furthermore, the timing pulse signal TP outputted via the OR circuit 23 is output from the AND circuit 1.
9. The signal is input to the gate 42 via the OR circuit 27, and the gate 42 is opened to send the output of the character generator 44 to the print control section. Therefore, the output of the OR circuit 29 is output as a motor OFF signal, but here the printer input
The difference in the waveform of the motor OFF signal with respect to C is the fourth
It is shown in the figure. In this way, the time it takes for the motor OFF signal to reach the high level state is longer for the printer than for the printer, and further for the printer than for the printer. This is because the time that can be printed on one line is longer in the following order: printer_<printer_<printer>. FIG. 4 also shows the difference in the waveforms of the print end signals for printers I to B. This print end signal indicates the output of the OR circuit 30. In addition, as shown in Table 1 above, in the case of a printer, signal A=0, signal B=
1, and in the case of a printer, signal A=1, signal B
=0 is input, but in the case of a printer, a high level signal is output from the AND circuit 13, and in the case of a printer, a high level signal is output from the AND circuit 14. Therefore, a motor OFF signal is outputted to the printer via the output line m3 of the decoder 251, and a print end signal is outputted to the printer via the output line P3. Also,
A motor OFF signal to the printer is sent to the output line P through the output line m2 of the decoder 251.
A print end signal is output to the printer via 2. Also, the output line m of the decoder 251
A motor OFF signal is output to the printer through line P1, and a print end signal to the printer is output through output line P1. In this way, the decoder 251 is configured to output a motor OFF signal or a print end signal as shown in FIG. By the way, in a state where a driving method suitable for the printer is selected, the timing pulse signal TP is sent to the head ON signal as shown in FIG. The signal is output to the gate circuit 42 as a signal. Therefore, this gate circuit 42 is turned on and off by the head ON signal. As a result, data in the column direction of the character pattern output from the character generator 44 is sent to the print drive unit and printed. Then, the print end signal is output at the fourth
The print head is driven by the output of gate 42 until it is output as shown in the figure, but the print head is not driven after the print end signal is output. After printing is completed, a motor OFF signal as shown in FIG. 4 is outputted via the OR circuit 29 at the timing when the print head is returned to the carriage.
As a result, flip-flop 18 is reset. Next, when selecting a drive method suitable for the printer, signal A=0 and signal B=1 are sent. As a result, only the AND circuit 13 outputs a "1" signal. However, although the timing pulse signal TP is input to the AND circuit 17, it does not pass through the AND circuit 17 because the flip-flop 18 has been reset. That is, only after the reset pulse RP is input to the flip-flop 18 and the flip-flop 18 is set as shown in FIG.
Timing pulse TP is sent to n-ary counter 2 via
5, and the n-ary counter 25 starts counting. Thereafter, a print end signal is outputted from the OR circuit 30 at the timing shown in FIG. When the print end signal is output, the carriage is returned, and a motor OFF signal is output via the OR circuit 29 at the timing shown in FIG. However, as shown in Table 1 above, the printer head ON signal is shorter than the TP. That is, when a high level signal is output from the AND circuit 13, the flip-flop 26 is set. As a result, the head ON signal begins to be output to the gate circuit 42 via the OR circuit 27, but when the flip-flop 26 is reset, the output of the head ON signal stops. In other words, the value preset in the buffer 32 or the signal a
The reset timing can be adjusted by the values preset by ~d. Next, when selecting a driving method suitable for the printer, signal A=1 and signal B=0 are sent. As a result, only the AND circuit 14 outputs a "1" signal. However, although the timing pulse signal TP is input to the AND circuit 17, it does not pass through the AND circuit 17 because the flip-flop 18 has been reset. That is, only after the flip-flop 18 is set by inputting the reset pulse RP to the flip-flop 18 as shown in FIG. 25, and the n-ary counter 25
starts counting operation. Thereafter, a print end signal is output from the OR circuit 30, and when the print end signal is finished, the carriage is returned and the motor is output via the OR circuit 29 at the timing shown in FIG.
OFF signal is output. Therefore, as shown in Table 1 above, the head ON signal of the printer is
The period is twice that of TP. That is, when the timing pulse signal TP is output from the OR circuit 23, the trigger type flip-flop 24 is inverted and set. As a result, the head ON signal begins to be output to the gate circuit 42 via the AND circuit 22 and the OR circuit 27, but when the flip-flop 24 is reset, the output of the head ON signal stops. Since the flip-flop 24 repeats setting and resetting at the rising edge of the timing pulse TP, the frequency is divided to double the period as shown in FIG. As described above, in the above embodiment, by simply changing the levels of signals A and B, the timing pulse signal can be
TP count operation, head ON signal, motor
Driving methods with different timings such as OFF signal and print end signal can be selected. The printer controller related to this application is a 1-chip LSI.
For example, it may be incorporated into the LSI of an electronic desktop calculator. As described in detail above, according to this invention, specifications can be easily changed by simply manipulating external input signals, and a printer controller with excellent versatility can be provided. Furthermore, it is very economical because there is no need to prepare multiple types of printer controllers for different printers.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawing shows one embodiment of this invention.
The figure is a block diagram of the main parts of the printer controller, and FIGS. 2a and 2b, 3 and 4 are timing charts, respectively. 24, 26...flip flop, 25...n
Advance counter, 39...Counter, 42...Gate circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a printer controller that is connected to a printer and controls the operation of the printer, an external input terminal and a signal applied to this external input terminal select one of a plurality of drive methods for individually driving different types of printers. and a printer control circuit that outputs various control signals to the printer according to the drive method selected by the selection circuit.