JPH0263776A - Printer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To determine a reference printing position and thereby increase the accuracy of a printing position by moving a carriage to a specified position by the second movement value obtained by adding a preset movement value to the first movement value after allowing the carriage to a stopper member, and then setting the carriage to the reference printing position. CONSTITUTION:Movement values (c', d') obtained when a carriage 12 moves from a specified position (a position set for a margin sensor 16) to a frame 15 are added to obtain a movement value L required for the carriage 12 to move the frame 15 to a reference printing position. This movement value L is stored in the data storage area 4a of RAM 24 in CPU 21. Then if the carriage 12 is set to the reference printing position, following the closing of a printer cover after paper setting, for the initialization due to the occurrence of an error, CPU 21 moves the carriage 12 by the movement value (c') in an arrow direction X to allow it to come into contact with the frame 15. Then CPU 21 allows the carriage 12 to move by the movement value L to a specified position and thereby sets the carriage at the reference printing position. In this case, a position for setting the frame 15 which is not likely to change is a reference for determining the reference printing position. Therefore, it is possible to stop the carriage 12 at the same position constantly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a printer device suitable for setting a carriage on which a print head is mounted to a printing reference position.

(Prior art) For example, in a serial printer, the position of the print head is uncertain when the power is turned on, during initial settings after an error occurs, or when the printer cover is closed after setting paper, so the carriage with the print head It is necessary to set the print reference position (home position).

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of conventional printing reference position setting.
is slidably supported on the guide rail 13, and the guide rail 13 is driven by a carriage motor (not shown).
move on. Further, the guide rail 13 is connected to the platen 1.
It is attached to the frame 15 in parallel with 4.

Here, when setting the carriage 12 to a printing reference position as shown by the dotted line, a margin sensor (home position sensor) 16 is used. The margin sensor 16 is, for example, a photo sensor, and is a sensor that detects that the carriage 12 has passed a specific position (the installation position of the margin sensor 16) when the carriage 12 is moved.

That is, conventionally, when setting the carriage to the printing reference position, such as when turning on the power, during initial settings after an error occurs, or when closing the printer cover after setting paper, the movement of the carriage 12 in the arrow X direction is started. do,
When the carriage 12 passes a specific position (the installation position of the margin sensor 16), a constant ff
Move the carriage 12 by 1a, then start moving the carriage 12 in the direction of the arrow Y, and again move the carriage 12 to a specific position (the installation position of the margin sensor 16)
, the carriage 12 is set at the printing reference position by moving the carriage 12 by a constant Qb from this specific position.

However, this method uses a specific position that may vary depending on the accuracy of the margin sensor 16 as a reference for determining the print reference position, so even if the carriage 12 is moved a certain amount from this specific position, There is a drawback that the stopping position is not always the same. That is, there is a drawback that the printing reference position cannot be determined. In this type of printer device, since printing is started after setting the carriage 12 at the printing reference position, there is a problem in that if the printing reference position cannot be determined, the printing position accuracy will decrease.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, there has conventionally been a drawback that the printing reference position cannot be determined, leading to a decrease in printing position accuracy.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer device that can improve printing position accuracy by determining a printing reference position.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) That is, a printer device according to the present invention is a printer device that sets a carriage on which a print head is mounted at a printing reference position and starts printing, in which the carriage is moved to a stopper. After making contact with the member, it is moved in a specific position direction by a second movement amount, which is the sum of a preset movement amount to the first movement amount, and is set to a printing reference position.

The specific position is detected by the detection means when the carriage is moved. The stopper member is a member disposed near this specific position to stop the movement of the carriage, and is, for example, a frame for supporting the carriage.

Further, the first movement amount is the movement amount when the carriage is moved from a specific position to the stopper member.

(Function) According to the above configuration, the installation position of the stopper member, which is unlikely to change, is used as a reference for determining the printing reference position, so the carriage is moved by a certain amount (second movement amount) from this position. Even if the carriage is moved, the carriage can always be stopped at the same position. Therefore, the printing reference position can be determined, thereby improving the printing position accuracy.

(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, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the configuration of the printing mechanism section. Note that the configuration of the printing mechanism section is the same as that in FIG. 3, so a description thereof will be omitted, and the circuit configuration will be described here.

In FIG. 1, a CPU 21 that controls the entire device is connected to a ROM 23 and a RAM 2 via a system bus 22.
4. Motor drive circuit 25, head drive circuit 26, I10
Ports 27 are connected to each.

The ROM 23 is a memory that stores data such as programs, and has previously stored in a data storage area 23a a movement amount cSd necessary for a printing reference position setting operation, which will be described later. R
AM24 is a memory that stores various data necessary for printing, and stores in a data storage area 24a a movement amount cL necessary for a printing reference position setting operation, which will be described later. Motor drive circuit 25 drives carriage motor 28 . This carriage motor 28 is, for example, a step motor, and is a motor for driving the carriage 12 shown in FIG. 2.

The head drive circuit 26 drives the print head 11.

The print head II is mounted on a carriage 12 as shown in FIG. 2, and moves together with the carriage 12 in the axial direction of the platen 14. A plurality of printing pins are built into the printing pad 11, and these printing pins protrude toward the platen 14 as the carriage 12 moves. The protruding printing pin contacts the paper set on the platen 14 via an ink ribbon (not shown). Due to this contact of the printing pin, ink from the ink ribbon is applied onto the paper, forming dot characters.

The I10 port 27 is connected to the margin sensor 16 shown in FIG.
Performs signal input control. This margin sensor 16 is
For example, it is composed of a photo sensor, and detects when the carriage 12 passes a specific position (the installation position of the margin sensor 16) when the carriage 12 is moved.

Next, the printing reference position setting operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

That is, at the time of initial setting when the power is turned on, the CPU 21 first starts moving the carriage 12 in the direction of the arrow X. Then, the CPU 21 controls the margin sensor 1
6, when it is detected that the carriage 12 has passed a specific position (the installation position of the margin sensor 16),
The carriage 12 is moved by a moving amount C from this specific position. The above movement fac moves the carriage 12 from a specific position (the installation position of the margin sensor 16) to the frame 15.
The number of pulses is set to be larger than the number of pulses that should be given to the motor drive circuit 25 necessary to move the motor to the point where it moves, and is stored in advance in the data storage area 23a of the ROM 23.

As a result, the carriage 12 comes into contact with the frame 15 within this moving IC and stops. At this time, the CPU 21 determines the movement f when the carriage 12 moves from a specific position (the installation position of the margin sensor 16) to the frame 15.
f1c (number of pulses) is counted and stored in the data storage area 24a of the RAM 24.

Next, the CPU 21 starts moving the carriage 12 in the direction of arrow Y. Then, when the CPU 21 detects through the margin sensor 16 that the carriage 12 has passed a specific position (the installation position of the margin sensor 16), the CPU 21 moves the carriage 12 by the movement id from this specific position. The movement ff1d is a constant value, and the carriage 12 is moved to a specific position (the installation position of the machine sensor 16).
This is the number of pulses to be applied to the motor drive circuit 25 necessary to move the motor drive circuit 25 to a position a preset distance from the motor drive circuit 25, and is stored in advance in the data storage area 23a of the ROM 23.

As a result, the carriage ■ is moved by the distance specified by the above movement ff1d in the Y direction from the installation position of the margin sensor 16.
The position to which 2 is moved is set as the printing reference position. At this time, the CPU 21 adds the movement ff1d to the movement mc- to obtain the movement mL (number of pulses) necessary to move the carriage 12 from the frame 15 to the printing reference position, and stores this in the data storage area of the RAM 24. 24a.

Therefore, when actually setting the carriage 12 to the printing reference position other than the initial setting operation when the power is turned on, such as during initial setting after an error occurs or when closing the printer cover after setting paper, the CPU 21 12 at a specific position (installation position of margin sensor 16)
HC-take is moved in the direction of the moving HC-take frame 15 (direction of arrow Set to the reference position.

In this case, since the installation position of the frame 15, which cannot be changed, is used as the standard for determining the printing reference position, when the carriage 12 is moved a certain amount (movement mL) from this position, the carriage I2 always remains at the same position. can be stopped. Therefore, printing can be started by determining the printing reference position and setting the carriage 12 at this position, thereby improving printing position accuracy.

In this embodiment, the frame 15 for supporting the carriage 12 is used as a member for stopping the movement of the carriage 12, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a margin is used separately from the frame 15. sensor 1
A stopper member for stopping the movement of the carriage 12 is provided near the carriage 12.
It is also possible to have a structure in which the movement of the two parts is stopped by bringing them into contact with each other, and in this case, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the installation position of the stopper member, which cannot be changed, is used as the standard for determining the printing reference position.
Since the movement of the carriage is controlled to stop, it is possible to determine the printing reference position and improve the printing position accuracy.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of setting the printing reference position in the same embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the conventional printing reference position setting. FIG. 11... Print head, 12... Carriage, 13.
...Guide rail, 14...Platen, 15...Frame, 16...Margin sensor, 21...CPU
, 22... system bus, 23-ROM, 23
a---Data storage area, 24-=RAM. 24a...Data storage area, 25...Motor drive circuit, 26...Head drive circuit, 27...I10 port, 28...Carriage motor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a printer device that starts printing by setting a carriage mounted with a print head at a printing reference position, detecting that the carriage has passed a specific position when the carriage is moved. a stopper member disposed near the specific position to stop the movement of the carriage, and detecting a first movement amount when the carriage moves from the specific position to the stopper member. means for bringing the carriage into contact with the stopper member, and then moving the carriage in the direction of the specific position by a second movement amount obtained by adding a preset movement amount to the detected first movement amount. , and setting means for setting a printing reference position.