JPH0263781A - Printer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make possible printing without the deterioration of printing quality or the breakage of a printing head by detecting the section, which requires adjustment of a gap, of paper with a thickness which varies with spots before printing and performing adjustment of the gap in such a spot during printing. CONSTITUTION:When paper with a thickness which varies with spots is used, a learning mode is designated by a command from a host device 28. If this mode is designated, CPU 21 obtains a printing area on paper as indicated by an oblique line on printing data from the host device 28, and performs adjustment of a gap per certain division while moving a carriage 11 in printing directions(Arrows X,Y) to said area. Consequently, the thickness in each section is detected and it is stored in RAM 24. Then a printing mode is designated by a command from the host device 28. If this mode is designated, CPU 21 performs adjustment of the gap in a section which requires adjustment of the gap according to a table prepared in RAW 24 while moving the carriage 11 in the printing directions (arrows X,Y).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a printer device that is most suitable for printing on sheets of paper having different thicknesses depending on the location.

(Prior art) Dot impact printers have a function that adjusts the gap between the tip of the print head and the platen to a value that corresponds to the paper thickness. It is possible to print using paper of different thickness as desired.

By the way, for example, envelopes, paper with labels, slips with different numbers on the left and right sides, etc., have different paper thicknesses depending on the location, so
Gap adjustment is required during printing. However, since the conventional configuration has been such that gap adjustment is performed before printing, when the above-mentioned paper is used, there are areas where the gaps do not match, and the print quality at those areas is degraded.

In addition, in dot impact printers, the printing pin built into the print head protrudes toward the paper, so the printing pins may catch on areas where the paper thickness changes and be damaged.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, conventionally, when paper with different thicknesses depending on the location is used, such as envelopes, paper with labels, and slips with different numbers on the left and right sides, printing quality deteriorates and head damage occurs. There was a drawback that led to

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer device that can print without degrading print quality or damaging the head even when paper having different thicknesses is used depending on the location. purpose.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problem) That is, the printer device according to the present invention is a printer that performs printing by adjusting the gap between the tip of the print head and the platen to a value corresponding to the paper thickness. The apparatus is configured to detect locations where gap adjustment is required on sheets of paper having different paper thicknesses depending on the location before printing, and perform gap adjustment at the locations where gap adjustment is required during printing.

(Function) According to the above configuration, gap adjustment is performed during printing. Therefore, even when paper having different thicknesses is used depending on the location, printing can be performed while maintaining a gap corresponding to the paper thickness.

(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 thereof.

First, before explaining this circuit configuration, let us first explain the circuit configuration shown in Figures 2 and 3.
The gap adjustment mechanism will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the configuration of the printing mechanism section.

In FIG. 2, a carriage 11 is slidably supported by a shaft 12, and is moved on the shaft 12 by driving a carriage motor (not shown). A print head 13 is mounted on this carriage 11.

The print head 13 includes a plurality of print pins, and as the carriage 11 moves, the necessary print pins are made to protrude toward the platen 14.

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.

Here, the shaft 12 is supported by an eccentric cam or the like so as to be slidable in the gap adjustment direction (arrow direction), and the gear 16 is driven by the gap adjustment motor 15.
The shaft 12 rotates through the shaft 12 and moves in the gap adjustment direction (in the direction of the arrow). As the shaft 12 moves, the tip of the print head 13 mounted on the carriage 11 and the platen 14
The gap between

In addition, the print head 13 due to such a change in the gap
In order to detect the position of the shaft 12, a timing disk 17 as shown in FIG. 3 is attached to the shaft 12.

This timing disk 17 rotates together with the shaft 12, and the rotational speed at that time is detected by a sensor 18.

Next, the circuit configuration of FIG. 1 will be explained.

A ROM 23, a RAM 24, an interfuniary circuit 25, a motor drive circuit 26, and an I10 port 27 are connected to the CPU 21, which controls the entire device, via a system bus 22.

The ROM 23 stores various data necessary for printing, including programs. The RAM 24 stores data necessary for gap adjustment, which will be described later.

The interface circuit 25 sends and receives data to and from the host device 28. This host device 28 transfers a command specifying a learning mode and a print mode, which will be described later.

The motor drive circuit 26 drives the gap adjustment motor I5 under the control of the CPU 21.

The I10 port 27 controls the signal input of sensor B.

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

Here, explanation will be given assuming that sheets of paper consisting of one copy and six copies as shown in FIG. 4 are used.

Gap adjustment is performed by advancing the print head 13 and retracting it a predetermined distance from the position where its leading end abuts the paper set on the platen 14. That is, first, the gap adjustment motor 15 is driven to move the print head 13 forward from the reference position toward the platen 14 . As a result, when the print head 13 moves forward a certain distance, the tip of the print head 13 comes into contact with the paper, and the movement of the print head 13 is stopped.

Here, print head 1 at this time is detected through sensor IB.
By detecting the amount of movement No. 3, the paper thickness of the paper can be obtained from the difference between this amount and the amount of movement obtained when there is no paper. Then, the gap adjustment motor 15 is driven again from the position where the tip of the print head 13 contacts the paper, and by retracting the print head 13 by a predetermined distance, an appropriate gap corresponding to the paper thickness can be obtained.

Here, as shown in Figure 4, paper is placed in places.

When using sheets of different thickness, perform gap adjustment as follows.

First, a learning moto is designated by a command from the host device 28.

FIG. 734(a) is a diagram for explaining the operation in the learning mode state. When this mode is specified, the CPU 21 prints the image on the paper as indicated by diagonal lines based on the print data from the host device 28. By setting the printing area to j94 and moving the carriage 11 in the printing direction (arrow X, Y direction) with respect to this printing area, performing the above-mentioned gap adjustment operation at the positions indicated by black circles at regular intervals,
The paper thickness at each position is detected and stored in the RAM 24. As a result, the paper thickness at each position on the paper to be printed can be known, and if the paper thickness differs by more than a certain value, the CPU 21 can determine the location where the gap Wa is required for printing. A table showing this is created in the RAM 24.

Next, the print mode is designated by a command from the host device 28.

FIG. 4(b) is a diagram for explaining the operation in the print mode state. When this mode is specified, the CPU 21
Printing is performed while moving the carriage 11 in the printing direction (arrow X, Y direction).
According to the table created in step 4, perform gap adjustment at the locations indicated by white circles that require gap adjustment. As a result, even if the paper thickness changes during printing, such as from 1 copy to 6 copies, or from 6 copies to 1 copy, printing can be performed while maintaining an appropriate gap.

In this way, gap adjustment is performed during printing, so even when paper with different thicknesses is used depending on the location, such as envelopes, paper with labels, or slips with different numbers on the left and right sides, the gap can be adjusted while maintaining the appropriate gap. , it is possible to print without deteriorating print quality or damaging the head.

In this embodiment, the mode is specified by a command from the host device, but for example, a switch for specifying moto is provided, and the learning mode and the print mode are specified by operating this switch (8-mode may also be used).

In addition, if a non-volatile memory is used and the memory stores the areas that require gap adjustment detected in the learning mode, when using the same type of paper, the areas that require gap adjustment obtained last time can be used. It is possible to improve the processing speed by omitting the learning mode.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the gear 1 is
Since adjustments are made, even if paper with different thicknesses is used depending on the location, printing can be performed without degrading print quality or damaging the print head.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing the configuration of the printing mechanism section of the same embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4(a) is a diagram for explaining the operation in the learning mode state in the same embodiment, and FIG. 4(b) is a diagram for explaining the operation in the print mode state in the same embodiment. It is. 11... Carriage, 12... Shaft, 13...
・Print head, 14...Platen, 15...Gap adjustment motor, 16...Gear, 17...Timing disk, 18...Sensor, 21...CPU, 22
...System Has, 23...ROM. 24...RAM, 25...Interfnis circuit, 2
6...Motor drive circuit, 27...I10 port, 2
8...Host device. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue (a) (b)

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a printer device that performs printing by adjusting the gap between the tip of the print head and the platen to a value according to the paper thickness, there is provided a printer device that prints by adjusting the gap between the tip of the print head and the platen to a value that corresponds to the paper thickness, and the above-mentioned paper before printing. What is claimed is: 1. A printer device comprising: a detection means for detecting a location requiring gap adjustment; and a gap adjustment control means for performing gap adjustment at a location requiring gap adjustment detected by the detection means during printing.