JPH0470994B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] When stopping the carriage moving motor after completing a predetermined printing operation in a printer device, it is determined whether the carriage stop position is within the home position area, and when the carriage enters the printing area. If it is determined, the motor is continuously operated and the carriage is controlled to stop in the next home position area, and the carriage is always stopped in the home position area, so that the printer can wait until the next print command arrives. This speeds up printing by eliminating the time loss required to return the carriage to the home position area before printing starts.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention is a printer device that controls the carriage so that the stop position after completing a predetermined printing is always within a home position area in order to speed up printing. With the expansion and development of information processing systems, various printer devices have been developed, and with the advancement of the times, it has become desirable for printer devices that have been used in the past to be able to print faster.

[Problems to be solved by conventional technology and invention]

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional example, FIG. 5 is a control diagram of a conventional printing bed motor, and FIG. 6 is an external view of the printer device.

The printer device 1 shown in FIG. 4 is connected to a host device 2 that sends line feed commands and print commands, and inside the printer device 1 is a control section 1 that controls and monitors various operations within the device 1.
1 (hereinafter referred to as CPU 11), a printing port part 12 that is located between the CPU 11 and the printing part 13 and provides an interface, a motor for printing data, a carriage,
A printing unit 13 consisting of a printer mechanism unit 131 such as a platen, a sensor 132 that detects the position of the carriage, a memory 14 that temporarily stores data to be exchanged with the host device 2, and an interface with the host device 2. It is composed of an interface section 15 and the like.

To instruct the printing unit 13 to perform a printing operation, the host device 2 issues a print command (issued in line units), and this print command is sent to the interface unit 15.
When input to the via CPU 11, printing is performed under the control of the CPU 11. Similarly, when a line feed command is issued from the host device 2, the platen rotates and paper is fed.

FIG. 6 shows an external view of the printing section 13 within the printer device 1. As shown in FIG. In response to a print operation instruction from the CPU 11, predetermined characters or figures are printed on the paper 113c by the print head 131d. This printing head 131d
is mounted on a carriage 131a, and this carriage 131a is moved by the rotation of a lead screw.By rotating this lead screw in one direction via a motor 131f under the command of the CPU 11, the carriage 131a performs reciprocating movement. The print head 131d prints on the paper 131c.

In FIG. 6, when a print command is given and the carriage 131a moves to the right while printing and reaches the right end of the printing area, the carriage 131a
A tongue piece of a predetermined length added to the bottom surface of the sensor 13
2a, the sensor 132a sends an on signal, and the CPU 11 confirms that the carriage 131a has finished printing one line.
Feed a into the rightmost home position area. The length of the tongue is determined so that the sensor 132a transmits an ON signal while the carriage 131a is in the home position area. While the carriage 131a is within the home position area,
In preparation for the next printing, a line feed command is issued to rotate the platen 131b and advance the paper 131c by one line.
It is given to CPU11.

When a print command is subsequently given, the carriage 131a moves to the left while printing, and when it reaches the left end of the print area, the tongue piece attached to the carriage 131a crosses the sensor 132b, and the sensor 1
32b sends an on signal, the CPU 11 confirms that the carriage 131a has finished printing one line, and feeds the carriage 131a into the home position area at the left end.

Conventionally, when printing one line with the print head 131d, a print command is received as shown in FIG. 5A,
Even when printing is completed and a print command is issued continuously after a line feed, the motor 1 normally remains for a certain period of time.
The operation of 31f was turned off.

In the example shown in FIG. 5A, the processing speed during continuous printing is slow, so as shown in FIG.
During this period, the motor 131f continues to operate, and only when the next print command is not issued within a predetermined time t, the motor 131f is turned off.

The predetermined time t is stored in the memory of the CPU 11 as one of the elements for controlling the stop position of the carriage 131a to be within a predetermined area when the operation of the motor 131f is turned off.

Now, if an instruction to perform a line feed for several lines is received from the host device while the carriage 131a is in the home position area, a line feed command for the number of lines and a line feed command for the number of lines,
Due to the insertion of a predetermined waiting time (command monitoring time) between commands and the rotational inertia of the motor, the stop position of the carriage 131a may exceed the home position area and enter the printing area. be.

If the carriage 131a stops at the position where it enters the printing area, the printing operation will be delayed because the feed control must be performed after the next printing command is issued, and the carriage must be set in the home position area before printing can be started. I had a problem with it being late.

[Means for solving problems]

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the principle of the present invention.

The principle block diagram in Fig. 1 has already been explained.
It is determined whether the CPU 11, printing port section 12, printing section 13, memory 14, interface section 15, and the carriage can be stopped within the home position area. If it is not possible to stop, feed control is performed and the next step is performed. It is comprised of a print area control section 16 that sends a predetermined signal to the CPU 11 so as to stop at the home position area.

[Function] The print area control section 16 stores the length of the home position area in advance, and
The time from when 1a entered the home position area until the motor stopped was counted, and the remaining length of the home position area was calculated from the counted value, and as a result, it was determined that the stop position exceeded the home position area. In this case, the motor 131f is operated continuously to perform feed control, and after moving the carriage 131a to the next home position area, the motor 131f is stopped.

This operation is performed during the time interval T from when one line of printing is completed until the next print command is issued and printing starts, and whenever the next print command is issued, the carriage returns to the home position. Since it is located within the position area and printing can be started immediately, printing can be speeded up.

〔Example〕

The gist of the present invention will be specifically explained below with reference to embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a motor control operation diagram according to the present invention. Note that the same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the figures.

The print area control unit 16 shown in FIG. 2 stores the count value of a counter 163 that counts pulses from the pulse generator 162 after the carriage 131a enters the home position area, and the home position area at a predetermined value. The print area determination circuit 161 determines the stop position of the carriage 131a based on the difference between the print area determination circuit 161 and the determined value.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. For example, upon confirming the generation of one print command from the host device 2, the CPU 11 starts operating the motor 131f.
Accordingly, the carriage 131a starts moving leftward from the rightmost home position area in FIG. When the tongue attached to the bottom of the carriage 131a separates from the rightmost sensor 132a, the sensor 13
When the CPU 11 receives an off signal from the printer 2a, it causes the print head 131d to execute printing.

When the carriage 131a reaches the left end of the printing area 1
When printing for a line is completed, the tongue of the carriage 131a crosses the leftmost sensor 132b and the sensor 13
2b sends an on signal, and when the CPU 11 receives this, it controls the carriage 131a to move it to the leftmost home position area, maintains the operation of the motor 131f within a predetermined time t, and receives the command within a predetermined time t. If not, the operation of the motor 131f is stopped.

In order to stop the carriage 131a in the home position area, when the printing of one print command is completed, the print area determination circuit 161
The counter 163 is reset by a signal from 11 and starts counting.

In this embodiment, the interval T from the end of printing of one command to the start of the next printing is 80 pulses, the number of pulses until the motor 131f is turned off and stopped is 40 pulses, and the line feed command and The print command time is 10 pulses, and the waiting time between commands is 20 pulses.

For example, if a line feed command is received twice within a predetermined time t after printing ends, the result will be 60 pulses, and the difference from the counted value of interval T of 80 pulses will be 20 pulses, but the difference is less than 40 pulses. So motor 1
It is determined that the stop position of 31f enters the printing area, and a predetermined signal is sent to the CPU 11. CPU11
In response to this signal, the motor 131f is operated to feed the carriage 131a to the rightmost home position area, and if there is no command, the motor 131f is turned off.

Also, if the calculation result is 40 pulses or more remaining, it is determined that the stop position is within the home position area,
The operation of the motor 131f is turned off.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the print head is always within the home position area at the left end or right end when the next print command is issued, and therefore, there is an advantage that printing processing can be performed quickly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a principle block diagram of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram explaining an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a motor control operation diagram according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram explaining a conventional example. FIG. 5 shows a control diagram of a conventional print head motor, and FIG. 6 shows an external view of a printer device. In the figure, 1 is a printer device, 2 is a host device, 11 is a CPU, 12 is a print port section, 13 is a print section, 14 is a memory, 15 is an interface section, 16 is a print area control section, 131a is a carriage, 131b is the platen, 131c is the paper, 1
31d is a print head, 131e is a tongue piece, 131f
is a motor, 132a, 132b are sensors, 161
162 is a printing area determination circuit, 162 is a pulse generator,
163 indicates a counter.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. It has a print head mounted on a carriage that moves back and forth by the unidirectional rotation of a lead screw driven by a motor. When a print command is received from a host device, the print head prints a predetermined print area one line at a time. A printer device that prints predetermined data on a printer, and when printing is completed, stops a carriage in one of predetermined areas outside both ends of the printing area as a home position area, wherein after the completion of the predetermined printing, the carriage A printing area control unit is provided that determines whether the stop position of the carriage is within the home position area when stopping the motor that moves the carriage, and if it is determined that the carriage will enter the printing area, the carriage is moved to the next home position. A printer device characterized in that the printer is controlled to be stopped in a position area so that a kiritsuji is always stopped within a home position area.