JPH03254970A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate a printing format data input operation by storing format data corresponding to printing paper in a memory card. CONSTITUTION:A header control part 20 receives a code corresponding to paper from a paper information input part 19 and writes this code in a paper header area 25a in a memory card 25. Format data stored in an X axis data conversion part 17 and a Y axis data conversion part 18 are written in a data area 25b in the memory card 25 by a writing control part 21. When printing is made on standardized-format paper with use of the format data in the memory card 25, the format data (converted data) in the memory card 25 are sequentially read by a reading control part 22. The X axis data are transmitted to a space motor control part 23 and the Y axis data to a line feed motor control part 24. In this manner, while a printing head and the printing paper are moved by predetermined amounts, printing is made within a predetermined area of the standardized-format paper.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a printer, and particularly to a printer that prints on standard format paper such as slip paper.

(Prior Art) Printers sometimes print on standard format paper such as slip paper.

One example of this is a method in which a host computer (e.g., an Eva personal computer) sends print data and print format data for specifying a print position to the printer.

Another method is to connect a dedicated print format input device to the printer and use this print format input device to store print format data in advance in the printer.

As an improved method of this method, the applicant's patent application
Since there is No. 2-54209, its outline will be explained below.

This uses a tablet as a print format input device, and FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the tablet and the configuration of the printer system. In the figure, 1 is a tablet, 2 is a printer, 3 is a host converter, 4 is standard format paper, and 5 is a transparent portion of the tablet 1. Next, a method of inputting a print format for this printer system will be explained.

First, prior to inputting, the transparent portion 5 of the tablet 1 is placed over the fixed form paper 4. Next, the printer system is brought into a state in which a print format can be input. In this state, the printing start position within the printing frame of the standard form paper 4 is pressed down with a pen from above the transparent portion 5 of the tablet 1. As a result, the control section of the tablet 1 reads the coordinates of this pressed point and transfers the coordinates to the printer 2. On the other hand, Nori/Ri2
converts this coordinate data into print position data and stores it internally. If the fixed form paper 4 has a plurality of printing frames, the pen is repeatedly pressed to store a plurality of printing position data in the printer 2.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, conventional printers of this type have not taken into account consideration for handling multiple types of standard format paper with different printing frames. In other words, it was necessary to re-enter the print format data into the printer each time the paper was changed. This has caused a problem in that the input work is cumbersome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the problem of the tedious input work and to provide a printer that facilitates the input work of print format data.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention drives the space motor to move the print head under the control of the space motor control section, and drives the line feed motor under the control of the line feed motor control section. In a printer that is driven to move printing paper and prints on standard format paper such as slip paper, a memory card slot into which a memory card is inserted and removed, and a control unit of the printer are connected to the memory card. means for inputting format data indicating a print start position; means for converting the input format data into a drive amount of the space motor; and means for converting the input format data into a drive amount of the line feed motor. and means for writing the drive amount of the space motor and the drive amount of the line feed motor in pairs in the memory card in the order in which they are to be printed, and the drive amount of the space motor and the drive amount of the line feed motor from the memory card. It is provided with means for reading out the data in pairs and outputting them to the space motor control section and the line feed motor control section (5), respectively.

(Function) According to the above means, the memory card is inserted into and removed from the printer through the memory card entrance. When the memory card is inserted into the memory card slot prior to inputting the format data, the memory card and the control unit of the printer are connected by the connecting means. When writing format data, the format data is input to the input means, and the data is converted by the two conversion means into one driving amount of the space motor and one driving amount of the line feed motor. Then, these driving amounts are written in pairs by the writing means to the memory card in the order of printing.

On the other hand, when reading format data, the reading means reads out the driving amounts of the space motor and line feed motor in pairs from the memory card, and outputs them to the space motor control section and the line feed motor control section, respectively. . By this (6), the print head is positioned at a predetermined position, and printing is started from there.

(Example) FIG. 3 shows the external appearance of the printer according to the present invention.

As can be seen from the figure, this printer 6 has an entrance/exit for a memory card 25 on the front side, and the memory card 25 is connected to the control section of the printer 6 through this entrance/exit.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the printer 6, in which 7 is a CPU that controls the entire printer, 8 is a spacer that moves the print head 10 in the width direction of the printing paper, and 9 is a space that drives this space motor 8. Motor driver 1
0 is a print head, 11 is a print head driver that drives this print head 10, 12 is a line feed motor that moves the printing paper and changes lines, 13 is a line feed motor driver that drives this line feed motor 12, 14 is the operating procedure of CPU 7 15 is a ROM that stores (programs), and a RAM that stores printing buttons and the like.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the printer control circuit shown in FIG. 4, and particularly shows the parts related to the present invention. Next, the operation of the printer of the present invention will be explained using FIG.

First, a paper information write command (for example, an ESC command) is sent to a host device (for example, the host computer 3 in FIG. 2).
), and the paper information is input to the paper information input section 19. The header control unit 20 receives a code corresponding to the paper from the paper information input unit 19, and writes it in the paper header area 25a of the memory card 25.

Next, format data is input into the format data input section. Where to input the format data differs depending on the system, but in a system where Tablet 1 is connected as shown in Figure 2, it is sufficient to input from Tablet 1, and in a system where Tablet 1 is not connected, it is sufficient to input from host computer 3. . Here, the format data is data that indicates the printing start position, and is data expressed by X and Y coordinates from the reference position of the printing paper. Figure 5 shows a standard format printing paper 26.
．． A plurality of print start positions represented by .print start position data (xl, y,), (X2.Y2).

(x6. y3) and reference point A are shown. However, the horizontal direction of the figure is the Y axis, and the vertical direction is the Y axis, and the data of the print start position is expressed in XY coordinates with point A as a reference.

When the format data is input, the format data input unit 16 divides the format data into Y-axis data and Y-axis data.
The Y-axis data is transferred to the X-axis data converter 17, and the Y-axis data is transferred to the Y-axis data converter 18. This results in
The X-axis data converter 17 converts the distance from the home position (paper reference position) to the printing position in the X direction represented by the X-axis data into the drive amount of the space motor 8, and stores it. Further, the Y-axis data conversion unit 18 converts the distance from the home position (paper reference position) to the printing position in the Y direction represented by the Y-axis data into the driving amount of the line feed motor, and stores it.

When format data is input to the format data input section 16 again, - the formant data input section 16
is divided into Y-axis data and Y-axis data as before, and Y
The data on the axis is transferred to the X-axis data converter 17, and the data on the Y-axis is transferred to the Y-axis data converter 18. This results in
The axis data converter 17 and the Y-axis data converter 18 convert it into the motor drive amount in the same way as described above, and store it. In this way, all format data is converted and stored.

Note that the converted Y-axis data and Y-axis data are stored as a pair with the input data. In other words, if the input format data is (X1 + Yl) and the corresponding conversion data is (xl, yl), then (x,, y
l) and (xl, yl) are stored as a pair.

Next, the write control section 21 sequentially writes the paired data into the data area 25b of the memory card 25. At this time, they are written in the order in which they are printed. for example,
In the case of a serial printer, data is written in ascending order of Y-axis data and further in descending order of X-axis data.

Next, the operation when printing on standard format paper using the format data in the memory card 25 will be described.

In this case, the format data (conversion data) in the memory card 25 are sequentially read out by the read control unit 22. Then, the X-axis data is sent to the space motor control unit 23, and the Y-axis f-taha line feed motor control unit 24
will be forwarded to. As a result, the print head and the print paper move by a predetermined amount, and printing is performed within a predetermined frame of the standard format paper. If other format data is stored in the memory card 25, the next format data is read out. Then, printing is performed in other predetermined frames in the same manner as above.

Here, the memory in the memory card 25 uses RAM, and a built-in battery prevents erasure of data in the memory.

Note that when reading the format data, paper information may be read from the paper header area 25a and the paper type may be displayed on a display section (for example, a display section using a liquid crystal) of the operation section of the printer.

Furthermore, the type of paper may always be displayed on the display section.

Furthermore, it is also good to attach a label to the memory card 25 to clearly display the type of paper.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the format data corresponding to the printing paper is stored in the memory card, so even if the paper to be used is changed, the format data does not need to be re-entered. All you have to do is replace the memory card with one that is compatible with the paper. Therefore, since it is only necessary to replace the memory card, the operability for the operator is improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram of the printer according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the external appearance of the tablet and the configuration of the printer system, Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the external appearance of the printer according to the present invention, and Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the external appearance of the printer according to the present invention. A schematic block diagram of the printer according to the invention, FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating format data. 6: Printer, 25: Memory card.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A printer that moves a print head by driving a space motor under the control of a space motor control section, and moves printing paper by driving a line feed motor under the control of a line feed motor control section, the printer comprising: In a printer that prints on standard format paper such as, a memory card slot into which a memory card is inserted and removed, means for connecting the memory card to a control unit of the printer, and means for inputting format data indicating a print start position. , means for converting input format data into a driving amount of the space motor; means converting input format data into a driving amount of the line feed motor; and storing the driving amount of the space motor and the line feed motor in the memory card. means for reading out the drive amount of the space motor and the drive amount of the line feed motor as a pair from the memory card, and writing the drive amounts of the space motor control unit and the line feed motor in pairs, respectively; A printer characterized in that it has means for outputting to a control section.