JPH05336324A - Recorder and facsimile equipment using the recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to record a black isolated point and a white isolated point, etc., for instance, with high definition by repeatingly changing recording data by a recording head in accordance with the pattern of recording data. CONSTITUTION:The frequency of a transfer clock transferring recording data to a thermal head 13 is made 5MHz, the data length of one line to be recorded by the thermal head 13 is made maximum 2048 dots and the time required for the transfer of one line is 1048/5MHz=0.4096 (ms). When the data of a super fine one line is recorded, a head driving control circuit 134 transfers this line information to the thermal head 13 by dividing it into 5 times and performs the heat control for every dot depending on how many times the transfers are heated in these 5 times data transfers. In this case, the thermal head 13 is normally heated 4 times and is 5 times when a black isolated dot is detected, and the surrounding black information is heated 3 times when a white isolated point is detected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus for driving a recording head based on recording data to record an image on a recording medium and a facsimile apparatus using the recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional recording device such as a thermal printer, no matter what pattern the recording data to be recorded on a recording sheet, a predetermined recording control is performed to record an image regardless of the pattern. Was there. Therefore, for example, when recording an isolated black dot or the like, since the temperature of the heating element of the thermal head has dropped, the same amount of applied energy to the thermal head as when recording another continuous black dot is applied to the thermal head. Even if it is given, the normal recording density cannot be obtained.

[0003]

This has been explained with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. These figures show the recording dots in the fine mode, and the black isolation as shown in FIG. When dots are recorded, there is a drawback that the recording area of isolated dots becomes small as shown in FIG.

On the contrary, as shown in FIG. 9A, when recording the record data including the white isolated point, the temperature of the heating element is generally high because the surrounding black dots are recorded. Therefore, if the same applied energy as that used when recording other dots is applied to the thermal head, (B) in FIG.
As shown in (1), the recording area of black information around the isolated point becomes large, and the area of the white isolated point in the middle becomes small.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and by changing the repetitive recording data by the recording head according to the pattern of the recording data, for example, a black isolated point and a white isolated point are of high quality. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus capable of recording in a recording medium and a facsimile apparatus using the recording apparatus.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the recording apparatus of the present invention has the following constitution. That is,
A recording device that drives a recording head based on recording data to record an image on a recording medium, and determines whether or not the target pixel is a pixel within a predetermined pattern based on peripheral pixels of the target pixel. Determining means, a recording means for driving and recording the recording head a plurality of times per one line, and when the determining means determines that the pixel is within the predetermined pattern, the recording means determines the data according to the pixel of interest. And a control unit that drives the recording unit by changing the recording data of the target pixel or the peripheral pixels of the target pixel.

In order to achieve the above object, the facsimile apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a facsimile apparatus that drives a recording head based on an image signal to record an image on a recording medium, and determines whether the pixel of interest is a pixel within a predetermined pattern based on peripheral pixels of the pixel of interest. Determination means for determining the number of lines, a recording means for driving the recording head per line for a number of times according to the facsimile communication mode, and recording, and when the determination means determines that the pixel is within the predetermined pattern, And a control unit that drives the recording unit by changing the recording data of the target pixel or the peripheral pixels of the target pixel according to the pixel data.

[0008]

In the above structure, it is determined whether or not the target pixel is a pixel in the predetermined pattern based on the peripheral pixels of the target pixel, and the target pixel is determined to be a pixel in the predetermined pattern. At this time, the recording data of the pixel of interest or the peripheral pixels of the pixel of interest is changed according to the data of the pixel of interest, and the recording head is driven a plurality of times per line for recording.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. <Description of Facsimile Machine (FIGS. 1 to 7)] FIGS. 1 to 7
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example in which a thermal transfer printer using an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a facsimile device. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an electrical connection between a control unit 101 and a recording unit 102 of the facsimile device, and FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the apparatus, FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a facsimile apparatus, and FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a transport mechanism for a recording paper and an ink sheet.

First, the schematic construction of the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 5, a reading unit 100 photoelectrically reads a document and outputs it as a digital image signal to the control unit 101, and includes a document feeding motor and a CCD image sensor. Next, the configuration of the control unit 101 will be described. Reference numeral 110 denotes a line memory that stores image data of each line of image data. Image data for one line from the reading unit 100 is stored when a document is transmitted or copied, and is decoded when image data is received. One line data of the received image data is stored. And
Image formation is performed by outputting the stored data to the recording unit 102. An encoding / decoding unit 111 encodes image information to be transmitted by MH encoding or the like, and decodes the received encoded image data to convert it into image data. Further, 112 is a buffer memory for storing the coded image data transmitted or received. Each unit of the control unit 101 is controlled by a CPU 113 such as a microprocessor.
In addition to the CPU 113, the control unit 101 includes a CPU 11
ROM storing the control program of 3 and various data
114, a RAM 115 for temporarily storing various data as a work area of the CPU 113, and the like.

Reference numeral 102 denotes a recording section which has a thermal line head and records an image on a recording sheet by a thermal transfer recording method. This structure will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 103
Is an operation unit including various function instruction keys for starting transmission, a telephone number input key, and the like, 103a is a switch for instructing the type of ink sheet 14 to be used, and when the switch 103a is on, the multi-print ink sheet is When it is off, it means that a normal ink sheet is attached. A display unit 104 is usually provided adjacent to the operation unit 103 and displays various functions and the state of the device. Reference numeral 105 is a power supply unit for supplying electric power to the entire apparatus. Further, 106 is a modem (modulator / demodulator), 107
Is a network control unit (NCU), and 108 is a telephone.

Next, the configuration of the recording unit 102 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The same parts as those in FIG. 5 are indicated by the same drawing numbers.

In FIG. 6, 10 is a roll paper obtained by winding a recording paper 11 which is a plain paper around a core 10a. The roll paper 10 is rotatably accommodated in the apparatus so that the recording paper 11 can be supplied to the thermal head portion 13 by rotating the platen roller 12 in the direction of the arrow. In addition, 10b is a roll paper loading unit, and the roll paper 10 is removably loaded therein. Further, 12 is a platen roller which conveys the recording paper 11 in the direction of the arrow b, and between the heating paper 132 of the thermal head 13 and
The ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11 are pressed.
The recording paper 11 on which an image is recorded by the heat generated by the thermal head 13 is conveyed toward the discharge rollers 16 (16a, 16b) by the further rotation of the platen roller 12,
When the image recording for one page is completed, the cutter 15 (15a, 1a
It is cut into page units by the engagement of 5b).

Reference numeral 17 denotes an ink sheet supply roll around which the ink sheet 14 is wound, and 18 denotes an ink sheet take-up roll, which is rotationally driven by an ink sheet conveying motor 25 described later to move the ink sheet 14 in the direction of arrow a. It is to be rolled up. The ink sheet supply roll 17
The ink sheet take-up roll 18 is removably loaded in the ink sheet loading section 70 in the main body of the apparatus. Further, 19 is a sensor for detecting the remaining amount of the ink sheet 14 and the conveyance speed of the ink sheet 14. Further, 20 is an ink sheet sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the ink sheet 14, and 21 is a spring, which presses the thermal head 13 against the platen roller 12 via the recording paper 11 and the ink sheet 14. Also, 2
Reference numeral 2 is a recording paper sensor for detecting the presence or absence of recording paper.

Next, the structure of the reading unit 100 will be described.

In FIG. 6, 30 is a light source for illuminating the original 32, and the light reflected by the original 32 is an optical system (mirror 5).
0, 51, lens 52) is input to the CCD sensor 31 and converted into an electric signal. The original 32 is a conveyance roller 53 driven by an original conveyance motor (not shown),
By 54, 55, 56, the original 32 is conveyed at a reading speed. Reference numeral 57 denotes a document stacking table, and the plurality of documents 32 stacked on the stacking table 57 are separated one by one by the cooperation of the conveying roller 54 and the pressing separation piece 58, and the reading section 100 is provided. Be transported to.

Reference numeral 41 denotes a control board which constitutes a main part of the control section 101, and various control signals are outputted from the control board 41 to each section of the apparatus. Further, 106 is a modem board unit, and 107 is an NCU board unit.

Further, FIG. 7 is a view showing the details of the transport mechanism for the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11.

In FIG. 7, 24 is the platen roller 12.
Is a rotation motor to convey the recording paper 11 in the direction of arrow b, which is opposite to the direction of arrow a. The reference numeral 25 indicates the ink sheet 14 and the capstan roller 7
1. An ink sheet conveying motor for conveying the sheet in the arrow a direction by the pinch roller 72. In addition, 26,
Reference numeral 27 is a transmission gear that transmits the rotation of the recording paper transport motor 24 to the platen roller 12, and 73 and 74 are transmission gears that transmit the rotation of the ink sheet transport motor 25 to the rotary shaft 71. Further, reference numeral 75 is a slip clutch unit.

Here, the ratio of the gears 74 and 75 is set so that the length of the ink sheet 14 wound around the take-up roll 18 by the rotation of the gear 75a becomes longer than the length of the ink sheet conveyed by the capstan roller 71. By setting the above, the ink sheet 14 conveyed by the capstan roller 71 is surely wound up by the winding roll 18. Then, the ink sheet 14 by the take-up roll 18
The slip clutch unit 75 absorbs the amount corresponding to the difference amount between the winding amount of the ink sheet 14 and the difference amount of the ink sheet 14 sent by the capstan roller 71. As a result, it is possible to suppress fluctuations in the transport speed (amount) of the ink sheet 14 due to fluctuations in the winding diameter of the winding roll 18.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the electrical connection between the control unit 101 and the recording unit 102 in the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment, and the portions common to the other drawings are designated by the same reference numerals.

The thermal head 13 is a line head. Then, the thermal head 13 is
A shift register 130 for inputting serial recording data 43a and shift clock 43b in which information for one line of super fine is divided into 5 lines, a latch circuit 131 for latching data in the shift register 130 by a latch signal 44, A heating element 132 including a heating resistor for one line is provided. Here, the heating resistor 132 is driven by being divided into m blocks indicated by 132-1 to 132-m. Further, reference numeral 133 denotes a thermal head 13 attached to the thermal head 13.
Is a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the. The output signal 42 of the temperature sensor 133 is output from the A / D converter in the control unit 101.
It is converted and input to the CPU 113. As a result, the CPU 113 detects the temperature of the thermal head 13 and changes the pulse width of the strobe signal 47 or changes the driving voltage of the thermal head 13 in accordance with the temperature, depending on the characteristics of the ink sheet 14. The energy applied to the thermal head 13 is changed. Reference numeral 116 is a programmable timer, which starts time counting when the time counting time is set by the CPU 113 and the start of time counting is instructed. Then, it operates so as to output an interrupt signal, a time-out signal, or the like to the CPU 113 at each designated time.

Reference numeral 134 denotes a head drive control circuit which detects an isolated dot, and when a black isolated dot is detected, the energy applied to the thermal head 13 is increased to prevent the area of the black dot from becoming small. On the contrary, when the white isolated point is detected, the applied energy for recording the surrounding black dots is reduced to prevent the area of the isolated white dot from becoming small. The configuration of the drive control circuit 134 will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS.

The type (characteristic) of the ink sheet 14
May be determined by detecting the switch 103a of the operation unit 103 described above, a mark printed on the ink sheet 14, or the like, and a mark, a notch or a protrusion attached to the ink sheet cartridge may be detected. It may be determined and performed.

Reference numeral 46 denotes the thermal head 1 from the control unit 101.
3 is a drive circuit which inputs the drive signal of No. 3 and outputs a strobe signal 47 for driving the thermal head 13 in each block unit. The drive circuit 46 can change the voltage applied to the thermal head 13 by changing the voltage output to the power supply line 45 that supplies a current to the heating element 132 of the thermal head 13 according to an instruction from the control unit 101. A drive circuit 36 drives the cutter 15 by engaging with it, and includes a motor for driving the cutter. Reference numeral 39 denotes a paper discharge motor that rotationally drives the paper discharge roller 16. Three
5, 48 and 49 respectively correspond to the discharge motor 39,
This is a driver circuit that rotationally drives the recording paper transportation motor 24 and the ink sheet transportation motor 25. The paper discharge motor 39, the recording paper transportation motor 24, and the ink sheet transportation motor 25 are stepping motors in this embodiment, but the invention is not limited to this, and may be a DC motor, for example. Is also good.

Next, the structure of the head drive control circuit 134, which is a feature of this embodiment, will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

Before explaining the outline of the head drive control circuit 134, the frequency of the transfer clock for transferring the recording data to the thermal head 13 is set to 5 MHz, and the thermal head 1
The maximum data length of one line recorded by 3 is 2048.
Dot. Then, the time required to transfer one line (consider both the time required to transfer data from the control unit 101 to the head drive control circuit 134 and the time required to transfer data from the head drive control circuit 134 to the thermal head 13). Is 1048 / 5MHz = 0.40
It is 96 (ms). Then, when recording the data of one line of super fine, the line information is transferred to the thermal head 13 in five times, and the heat control for each dot is performed depending on how many times of the five times of data transfer are heated. Shall be done. Here, usually the thermal head 1
When 3 is heated 4 times and a black isolated dot is detected, it is heated 5 times, and when a white isolated point is detected, surrounding black information is 3
It shall heat up twice.

2 and 3, the signal line on the left side shows a signal input from the control unit 101, and the signal line on the right side is an output signal from the head drive control circuit 134 to the thermal head 13.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, the clock 220 is a clock signal having a frequency of 5 MHz, and the data 222 from the control unit 101 is input in synchronization with the clock 220 and the data of one line is divided into five times. The data 43a is output to the thermal head 13.

In the super fine mode, the control unit 10
For one line of data input from 1, the data is output to the thermal head 13 five times. In the fine mode, for one line of data input from the control unit 101, one line corresponding to the super fine mode is input twice.
That is, the data is output to the thermal head 13 ten times.
Further, in the standard mode, for one line of data input from the control unit 101, one line equivalent in the super fine mode is output four times, that is, one line data is output to the thermal head 13 20 times. Here, the number of times corresponding to the line in the super fine mode is output to LS0 and LS1. That is, when the number of times corresponding to the line of the super fine mode is the first time, "0" is output to both LS0 and LS1, and at the second time corresponding to the line of super fine, "10" is output to the LS0 and LS1. Output,
At the third time, which corresponds to the line of Super Fine,
"01" is output to LS0 and LS1, and to the LS0 and LS1 at the fourth time corresponding to the line of super fine,
Both output "1". That is, "0" is always output to LS0 and LS1 during line recording in the super fine mode, and (LS) during line recording in the fine mode.
(0, LS1) outputs (0, 0) and (1, 0), which is (LS0, LS) during line recording in the standard mode.
1) includes (0,0), (1,0), (0,1),
(1,1) is output.

Further, when the line corresponding to the line in the super fine mode is recorded once, the data is output to the thermal head 13 five times.
Counted by 0, SLS1, SLS2. That is, 1
When outputting the second data (SLS0, SLS1,
(0,0,0) is output to (SLS2) and the second data is output (SLS0, SLS1, SLS2)
(1,0,0) is output to (0,0), and when outputting the third data, (SLS0, SLS1, SLS2) is output to (0,0).
1,0) is output, (1,1,0) is output to (SLS0, SLS1, SLS2) when the fourth data is output, and (SLS0, SLS1, SLS2) is output when the fifth data is output (SLS
(0, 0, 1) is output to 0, SLS1, SLS2).

Reference numeral 223 is a clear signal. When the signal 223 becomes low level, the address counter 20
2, flip-flop 201, shift register 203,
204, 205, 206 and 207 are cleared. Further, when the latch signal 44 is output from the control unit 101,
The signal 44 is directly used as a latch signal for the thermal head 13. 200 is a memory for 5 lines (5 ×
The recording data of 2048 bits) is stored therein and is addressed by an 11-bit address signal output from the 11-bit address counter 202. I1-I
Reference numeral 5 is an input terminal of the memory 200, and O1 to O5 are output terminals. From each of these output terminals,
The dot data designated by the address from the address counter 202 is serially output. Output terminal O here
The data output to 2 is older line data than the output terminal O1.

The data of these 5 lines is stored in the memory 200.
Will be described with reference to the timing diagram of FIG.

In FIG. 10, the address counter 202
Counts the clock signal 43b, and when the data is stored in the memory 200, the clock signal 43b is
The clock signal is output from the clock signal 220, and is not the clock signal output from the clock generation circuit 211. First, the value of the address counter 202 is incremented in synchronization with the rising of the clock signal 43b. Then, the data of 5 lines stored in the memory 200 is output to the output terminal O1 according to this address.
One bit is output from each of O5. here,
The line data stored in the memory 200 immediately before is output to the output terminal O1.

At the falling edge of the clock signal 43b, the flip-flop 201 latches the data 222, and the data is output to the output terminal 1Q of the flip-flop 201 as indicated by 901 in FIG. At this timing, data from the output terminals O1, O2, O3, and O4 of the memory 200 are simultaneously input to the input terminals 2D to 5D of the flip-flop 201, and the work of shifting into the memory 200 line by line is performed. In addition, the clock generation circuit 21
When the low-level pulse signal is output as the output signal of 0 and the low-level signal is output from the OR circuit 214, the memory 200 is I1, I2, I3, I.
4, information of I5 is input, and the data is written to the addresses designated by the addresses A0 to A10. In this way, each line data is serially written into the memory 200 starting from bit 1 of the data.

Data is written in the memory 200 when one line of data is input from the control unit 101 in each mode (standard, fine, superfine), that is, LS0, LS1, SLS0, SLS1. , SL
This is when S2 is all "0". Also, this memory 2
At the same time when writing data to 00, the data of each line output from the output terminals O1 and O2 of the memory 200 is
The corresponding shift registers 203, 204, 20
5, 206, 207, and the data generation circuit 208
Inputs 5-bit data from these shift registers 203 to 207 and creates data for five times.

This operation will be described below.

2 and 3, as outputs from the memory 200, O1 is the data one line before, O2 is the data two lines before, O3 is the data three lines before, and O4 is the data before. The data four lines before and the data five lines before are output to O5 one bit at a time. Here, the shift register 203 inputs data from the output terminal O1 of the memory 200 in synchronization with the clock signal 223 and sequentially shifts the data. Then, the shift register 203
It outputs a 5-bit parallel signal to the output terminals Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5. Therefore, (d
+4) dots, (d + 3) dots for Q2, (d + 2) dots for Q3, (d + 1) dots for Q4, and d dots for Q5. That is, the information from the d-th dot to the (d + 4) th dot of the (n + 4) th line is output to the output terminals Q5 to Q1 of the shift register 203.

Similarly, the output terminals Q5 to Q1 of the shift register 204 output the information of the dth dot to the (d + 4) th dot of the (n + 3) th line. Similarly, the output terminals Q5 to Q1 of the shift register 205 are (n
Information on the (d + 4) th to the (d + 4) th dots is output, and similarly, on the output terminals Q5 to Q1 of the shift register 206, the (n + 1) th to the (d + 4) th dots are output. Eye information is output. Further, the output terminals Q5 to Q1 of the shift register 207 output the information of the dth dot to the (d + 4) th dot of the nth line.

The data generation circuit 208 records the line corresponding to the super fine mode of this dot with the central dot as the pixel of interest, based on the 5 × 5 bit data input from the shift registers 203 to 207. It is a circuit that determines whether to heat five times, four times, or three times. When recording one line equivalent in the super fine mode, the data is divided into five times, but the first data is 1/5, the second data is 2/5, and the third data is 3/5. , The fourth data is output to 4/5, and the fifth data is output to 5/5. The data of 5 times is switched by the selector 209 and output as the data 43a. The selector 209 outputs (0, SLS0, SLS1, SLS2 to (0,
When 0, 0) is output, 1/5 of the data is selected and output as the data 43a. Also SLS0, SL
When (1, 0, 0) is output to S1 and SLS2, 2/5 data is selected and output as data 43a. In addition, SLS0, SLS1, and SLS2 have (0,
(1, 0) is output, 3/5 data is selected and output as data 43a. Also SLS0, SL
When (1, 1, 0) is output to S1 and SLS2, 4/5 data is selected and output as data 43a. In addition, SLS0, SLS1, and SLS2 have (0, 0,
When 1) is output, 5/5 data is selected and output as data 43a.

Here, the data 43a of the line data after the second time in the recording in the super fine mode is output by the clock start signal 2 for each number of times.
This is performed by outputting a low pulse to 21. When a low pulse is input to the clock start signal 221, the clock generation circuit 211 outputs 2048 clocks. The frequency of this clock is 5MHz,
It has the same frequency as the clock 220. At this time, OR
The output of the circuit 214 is at a high level, and no data is written to the memory 200, and only data is read from the memory 200. In this case, the data for 5 lines is output to the output terminals O1 to O5 of the memory 200, and the shift registers 203, 204, 205, 20 are output.
6, 207 and the data generation circuit 208 output data for five times, and the selector 209 selects the number of times. When recording data in super fine mode, LS0 and LS2 are both "0", and SLS
0, SLS1, SLS2 are (0, 0, 0), (1, 0,
0), (0,1,0), (1,1,0), (0,0,
1), the data for 5 times is generated, and this operation is repeated.

When recording data in the fine mode,
First, the data recording operation in the super fine mode is performed, then (1, 0) is output to LS0 and LS1, and SL
S0, SLS1, SLS2 are (0, 0, 0), (1,
0,0), (0,1,0), (1,1,0), (0,
0, 1) are sequentially output to generate data for 5 times, and these two operations are repeated. Furthermore, when recording data in the standard mode, the fine data recording operation is performed first, and then
Output (0,1) to LS0 and LS1 and then SLS
0, SLS1, SLS2 are (0, 0, 0), (1, 0,
0), (0,1,0), (1,1,0), (0,0,
1) are sequentially output to generate data for 5 times. next,
Output (1,1) to LS0 and LS1 and then SLS
0, SLS1, SLS2 are (0, 0, 0), (1, 0,
0), (0,1,0), (1,1,0), (0,0,
1) are sequentially output to generate data for 5 times.

Next, the operation of the data generation circuit 208 will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the nth line is set to 1
Line 2, line (n + 1) to line 2, (n +
2) The 3rd line, the (n + 3) th line is the 4th line, the (n + 4) th line is the 5th line, the d dot is the A dot, the (d + 1) dot is the B dot, and the (d + 2) ) The dot dot is the C dot, the (d + 3) dot is the D dot, and the (d + 4) dot is the E dot.

In FIG. 4A, the pixel of interest at the position 3C is black (3C = 1), and the surrounding pixels 3B,
Pixels located at 2C, 3D, and 4C are all white (2C +
3B + 3D + 4C = 0), and when the black dot of the pixel of interest does not form an isolated point of a white dot in another area (1C / 2B / 2D + 2B / 3A / 4B +).
4B, 4D, 5C + 2D, 3E, 4D = 0), and increase the applied energy when recording the pixel of interest located at 3C. Specifically, information corresponding to one line in the super fine mode is recorded 5 times, but all black information is recorded. This logical condition is shown in [1] of FIG.

The pixel of interest located at 3C is black (3C = 1), and the surrounding positions 3B, 2C, 3
When at least one dot of the pixels located at D and 4C is black (2C + 3B + 3D + 4C = 1), and the black dot of the pixel of interest forms an isolated point of a white dot in another area (1C / 2B).・ 2C / ・ 2D + 2B ・ 3A
・ 3B / ・ 4B + 4B ・ 4C / ・ 4D ・ 5C + 2D ・ 3
D / · 3E · 4D = 1: However, / indicates inversion) 3C
When recording the pixel of interest located at, the applied energy is reduced. Specifically, the information corresponding to one line in the super fine mode is recorded in five times, but the first three times are recorded as black information and the remaining two times are white information (not recorded). .. This logical condition is shown in FIG.
It is shown in [2] of (B).

At times other than the above, when the pixel of interest located at 3C is black, the applied energy is not particularly changed.
Specifically, the information corresponding to one line in the super fine mode is recorded in five times, but the first four times are recorded as black information, and the remaining one time is white information (not recorded).

A specific example of recording image data of 13 dots in the main scanning direction and 4 lines in the sub scanning direction in the super fine mode is shown in FIGS.

FIG. 11A shows 13 dots in the main scanning direction,
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing print data of four lines in the sub-scanning direction.

Further, FIG. 11 (B) shows 5 shown in FIG. 11 (A).
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a recording timing by the thermal head 13 when recording data for a line, and a hatched portion in the drawing shows a heating element portion which is recorded in black.

As shown in FIG. 11B, when data of one line of super fine is recorded, it is divided into data for five times (for example, in the case of the first line, rows a, b,
Recording is performed (divided into c, d, and e). And these 5
By changing each data to be recorded in a divided manner as shown in FIG. 11B, energization control is performed for each dot (heating element). Similarly, the second line includes rows f, g,
It is divided into h, i, j, and the third line is the row k, l, m,
In n and o, the fourth line is divided into rows p, q, r, s, and t, and each line is recorded 5 times. Here, since the pixel indicated by A in FIG. 11A is white as an isolated point, each of the black pixels B, C, D, and E around it is black for three times as shown in FIG. 11B. It is recorded in. Further, F, which is a black isolated pixel, is recorded every time, and is recorded as black for a total of 5 times. Further, the heating element 132 of the thermal head 13 includes, for example, four blocks (m
= 4) is divided and is energized to perform recording.

A concrete example of this is shown in FIGS. Recording in super fine mode is shown in Figure 12.
Recording in the fine mode is shown in FIG. 13, and recording in the standard mode is shown in FIG. Where STB0
Information on dots 1 to 5 is energized, and information on dots 513 to 1024 is energized by STB1.
1025 to 1536 dots by 2 and STB3
Information of 1557 to 2048 dots is energized.

In FIG. 12, the first data is recorded by 1100 (for example, the data of row a in FIG. 11B is recorded), and the second data is recorded by 1101 (for example, FIG. 11B). B) data is recorded), the third data is recorded 1102 (for example, the c line data in FIG. 11B is recorded), and the fourth data is recorded 1103 (for example, FIG. The data of the d-th row in 11 (B) is recorded, and finally, the data of the fifth time is recorded in 1104 (for example, the data of the e-row in FIG. 11B is recorded). Further, according to the temperature information detected by the thermistor 133 of the thermal head 13, FIG.
Strobe signals (STB0 to STB3) shown in FIG.
Pulse width is controlled.

FIG. 13 is a timing chart showing the energization timing in the fine mode.
With respect to the line data input, the line corresponding to the super fine mode is recorded twice, that is, the data of one line is recorded by energizing 10 times.

FIG. 14 is a timing chart showing the energization timing in the standard mode, where 4 lines correspond to one line data input in the super fine mode.
Data of one line is recorded by energizing 20 times. 15 to 19 are flowcharts showing a recording process for one page in the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment. The control program for executing this process is the control unit 10.
1 is stored in the ROM 114.

This process is started when the image data for one line to be recorded is stored in the line memory 110 and the recording operation can be started. At the start of this process, the multi-ink sheet 14 is mounted. It is assumed that it is determined by the control unit 101 by the switch 103a or the like.

First, in step S1, the clear signal 2
23 is set to the low level, and the flip-flop 201, the address counter 202, and the shift registers 203 to 207
To clear. As a result, a low level signal is output to the output terminals 1Q to 5Q of the flip-flop 201. Next, in step S2, the clock start signal 221 is output at a low level. This allows the memory 2
Information (0) in which all five lines are white is stored in 00, and the contents of the memory 200 are all cleared to zero. Next, in step S3, in order to record the trailing three lines,
"3" is set to the pointer k. Next, in step S4, LS0, LS1, SLS0, SLS1, SLS2.
Are all set to "0" and output. Next, in step S5, the data 222 for three lines is serially output to the head drive control circuit 134 in synchronization with the clock signal 220. As a result, three lines of data are shifted into the memory 200, and the pixel of interest and peripheral pixels for the pixel of interest are stored. And step S6
And the latch signal 44 is output.

As a result, the print data for three lines is stored in the memory 200 of the head drive control circuit 134, and the print data for the first line itself is set in the latch circuit 131 of the thermal head 13. Further, when the data of the second line is input, the data of the first line is shifted in to the shift register 203, and when the data of the third line is input, the second line of the shift register 203 is input. Data of the first line is shifted into the shift register 204.

Next, in steps S7 and S8, the current facsimile mode is checked. If it is the super fine mode, the process proceeds to step S9, if it is the fine mode, the process proceeds to step S25, and if it is the standard mode, the process proceeds to step S35. In the super fine mode, the ink sheet is (1/5) × (1/1) in step S9.
5.4) To start the conveyance of mm, the excitation phase of the ink sheet conveyance motor 25 is switched. Next in step S10
Then, in order to convey the recording paper 11 by (1 / 15.4) mm, the excitation phase of the recording paper conveyance motor 24 is switched.
Next, proceeding to step S11, when recording one line in the super fine mode, the recording is divided into five times, and "1" is set to the counter n for counting the number of times. Next, in step S12, (SLS0, SL
Increment the value of (S1, SLS2) by 1,
Let (1,0,0). Then, in step S13, the clock start signal 221 is output. As a result, the clock generation circuit 211 is activated and 2048 pulse signals are output. At this time, since the output of the OR circuit 214 is at the high level, writing to the memory 200 is not performed. At this time, the data generation circuit 208 sequentially inputs the data from the shift registers 203 to 205 to create output pixel data and outputs the output pixel data to the output terminals 1/5 to 5/5, and the selector 209 outputs 2/5. Output is selected and transferred to the thermal head 13.

Next, in step S14, strobe (STB) 0, strobe (STB) 1, strobe (STB) 2, strobe (STB) 3 are sequentially output, and the number of times indicated by the value of counter n is reached. Record the data. Next, in step S15, the latch signal 44 is output, and the line data transferred to the thermal head 13 in step S13 is latched in the latch circuit 131. In step S16, the value of the counter n is incremented by 1, and in step S17 it is determined whether or not the value of the counter n is "4" or less. When it is 4 or less, the recording of five times in the super fine mode is completed. If not, the process returns to step S12 to execute the above-described operation, and if "4" is exceeded, step S1
Go to 8.

Since recording of one line is completed in step S18, LS0, LS1, SLS0, SLS1, SL
All of S2 are set to "0" and output, and the process proceeds to step S19. In step S19, it is determined whether or not there is print data for the next line. If yes, the process proceeds to step S20.
If not, the process proceeds to step S21. In step S20, at the same time as the recording of the nth data, the recording data of the next line is synchronized with the clock signal 220 and the serial data 2
It is output as 22 to the head drive control circuit 134 and the process proceeds to step S6.

Steps S21 to S23 show the processing for recording the remaining three lines of data stored in the memory 200 when there is no more data on the next line. In step S21, it is determined whether or not the value of K is "0". If it is "0", the process proceeds to step S24 to end the process. If it is not "0", the process proceeds to step S22.
Simultaneously with the recording of the n-th data, the data of the white line (data of all 0s) is output to the head drive control circuit 134 as serial data 222 in synchronization with the clock 220. Then, in step S23, the value of the counter K is decremented by one (-1), and the process proceeds to step S6.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S8 that the mode is the fine mode, the process proceeds to step S25 and LS
Both 0 and LS1 output "0". Then step S2
In step 6, the control shown in steps S9 to S17 is executed to perform recording corresponding to one line in the super fine mode. Next, in step S27,
The latch signal 44 is output. Then, in step S28, "0" is output to SLS0, SLS1, and SLS2. Next, in step S29, (LS0, L
S1) is incremented by 1 (+1). Next, in step S30, it is determined whether or not (LS0, LS1) is "2" or more. If it is "2" or more, step S3 is performed.
If it is less than "2", the process proceeds to step S26.

In step S31, it is determined whether or not there is data in the next line. When there is data, the process proceeds to step S32, and in the same manner as in step S20 described above, recording of the nth data and data of the next line are performed. Output to the head drive control circuit 134 in synchronization with the clock 220. On the other hand, if there is no data for the next line in step S31, step S3
3, the process determines whether the value of K is "0". If it is "0", the process is terminated. If the value of K is not "0", the process proceeds to step S34. In step S34, the aforementioned step S
22 to the step S23, the nth data recording and the white line data (all “0”) are performed by the clock 22.
Output to the head drive control circuit 134 in synchronization with 0. Then, the value of the counter K is decremented (-1).

On the other hand, when it is the standard mode in step S7, the process proceeds to step S35, and 0 is output to LS0 and LS1. Next, in step S36, the control of steps S9 to S17 described above is executed, and recording corresponding to one line in the super fine mode is performed. Then, in step S37, the latch signal 44 is output. Next, in step S38, both SLS0, SLS1, and SLS2 are set to "0" and output. Next, in step S39 (LS
0, LS1) is incremented by 1 (+1), and it is determined in step S40 whether (LS0, LS1) exceeds "3". When it exceeds "3", the process proceeds to step S41, and when it is "3" or less, the process returns to step S36.

In step S41, similarly to step S19, it is determined whether or not there is data for the next line. If yes, the process proceeds to step S42, and the same process as in step S20 is performed. On the other hand, when there is no data on the next line, the process proceeds to step S43, and it is determined whether the value of K is "0" as in step S21. If the value of K is "0", the process ends, but K If the value of is not "0", step S44
In step S22, the same control as that in steps S22 and S23 described above is performed to record the nth data and synchronize the white line data (all "0" data) with the clock signal 220. Output to 134. And
Decrement the counter K by one.

[Explanation of Recording Principle (FIG. 20)] FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an image recording state when an image is recorded by reversing the conveying directions of the recording paper 11 and the ink sheet 14 in this embodiment.

As shown in the drawing, the recording paper 11 and the ink sheet 14 are sandwiched between the platen roller 12 and the thermal head 13, and the thermal head 13 is pressed by the spring 21 against the platen roller 12 with a predetermined pressure. There is. Here, the recording paper 11 is conveyed at a speed V _P in the direction of arrow b by the rotation of the platen roller 12. On the other hand, the ink sheet 14 is conveyed at a speed V _I in the direction of arrow a by the rotation of the ink sheet conveying motor 25.

Now, the heating resistor 1 of the thermal head 13
When the power is supplied to the power source 105 from the power source 105, the portion of the ink sheet 14 indicated by the hatched portion 91 is heated. Here, 14 a is a base film of the ink sheet 14, and 14 a
Reference numeral b indicates the ink layer of the ink sheet 14. Ink layer 9 heated by energizing heating resistor 132
The ink of No. 1 melts, and the portion indicated by 92 is transferred to the recording paper 11. The transferred ink layer portion 92 corresponds to approximately 1 / n of the ink layer indicated by 91.

At the time of this transfer, it is necessary to generate a shearing force on the ink at the boundary line 93 of the ink layer 14b and transfer only the portion indicated by 92 to the recording paper 11.

When the relative speed between the ink sheet 14 and the recording paper 11 is increased, the ink layer to be transferred is changed to the ink sheet 1
It can be reliably peeled off from No. 4.

[Explanation of Ink Sheet (FIG. 21)] FIG.
Is a cross-sectional view of an ink sheet used for multi-printing of this embodiment, and is composed of four layers here.

First, the second layer is a base film serving as a support for the ink sheet 14. In the case of multi-printing, since heat energy is applied to the same location many times, an aromatic polyamide film or capacitor paper having high heat resistance is advantageous, but a conventional polyester film can also be used. In terms of recording quality, it is advantageous in terms of recording quality that these thicknesses are as thin as possible due to the role of the medium.
8 μm is desirable.

The third layer is an ink layer containing an amount of ink capable of being transferred n times onto a recording paper (recording sheet). This component is a resin such as EVA as an adhesive, carbon black or nigrosine dye for coloring, carnauba wax as a binding material, paraffin wax, etc. as a main component and is mixed to withstand n times use at the same location. ing. The coating amount is preferably 4 to 8 g / m ^2, but the sensitivity and the density differ depending on the coating amount, and can be arbitrarily selected.

The fourth layer is a portion on which no recording is made and the third layer is formed on the recording paper.
It is a top coating layer for preventing pressure transfer of the ink of the layer, and is composed of transparent wax or the like. As a result, only the transparent fourth layer is pressure-transferred, and the background stain of the recording paper can be prevented. The first layer seems to be a heat-resistant coat that protects the base film of the second layer from the heat of the thermal head 13. This is suitable for multi-printing in which heat energy for n lines may be applied to the same place (when black information is continuous), but it can be appropriately selected whether or not to use. It is also effective for a base film having a relatively low heat resistance such as a polyester film.

The constitution of the ink sheet 14 is not limited to this embodiment, and may be, for example, a base layer and a porous ink holding layer containing ink provided on one side of the base layer. Alternatively, a heat-resistant ink layer having a fine porous network structure may be provided on the base film, and the ink may be contained in the ink layer. Also,
The material of the base film may be, for example, a film or paper made of polyamide, polyethylene, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, triacetyl cellulose, nylon or the like. Further, although the heat resistant coating layer is not always necessary, the material thereof may be, for example, silicone resin, epoxy resin, fluorine resin, etrocellulose or the like.

The heating method in the thermal transfer printer is not limited to the thermal head method using the above-mentioned thermal head, and for example, an energization method or a laser transfer method may be used.

In this embodiment, an example in which a thermal line head is used has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a so-called serial type thermal transfer printer may be used. Further, in the present embodiment, the case of multi-printing has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that it can be applied to the case of normal thermal transfer recording using a one-time ink sheet.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the thermal transfer printer is applied to the facsimile machine has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this, and the thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention can be applied to, for example, a word processor, a typewriter or a copying apparatus.

The recording medium is not limited to recording paper, but may be cloth, plastic sheet, or the like as long as the material allows ink transfer. Further, the ink sheet is not limited to the roll configuration shown in the embodiment, for example, a so-called ink sheet in which an ink sheet is built in a detachable casing of the recording apparatus main body and is detachably attached to the recording apparatus main body together with the casing. It may be a cassette type or the like.

In the above-described embodiment, the data output to the head drive control circuit 134 and the data output from the head drive control circuit 134 are each one signal line. n ≧ 2), for example, if n = 4, it is possible to generate data for one line in 1/4 time, and more detailed control is possible.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, when 1-bit data is input to the head drive control circuit 134, the head drive control circuit 134 outputs 1-bit data to the thermal head 13. However, in addition to the above configuration, a buffer composed of, for example, a 2048-bit × 1 RAM may be provided to independently perform data input and output to the head drive control circuit 134.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the data is created by paying attention to the 5 × 5 pixel matrix, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other matrix sizes can be applied.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program for implementing the present invention to a system or an apparatus.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the reproducibility of the black isolated point and the white isolated point is very good. In particular, this is very effective in multi-print recording in which the ink sheet conveyance speed is about 1 / n (for example, n = 5) with respect to the recording sheet conveyance speed, because it is difficult to reproduce isolated points. ..

[0087]

As described above, according to the present invention, by changing the repetitive recording data by the recording head according to the pattern of the recording data, for example, a black isolated point and a white isolated point can be made high quality. There is an effect that can be recorded.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an electrical connection between a control unit and a recording unit of a facsimile apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a head drive control circuit of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a head drive control circuit of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of peripheral pixels of the pixel of interest and energization control of the pixel of interest.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a facsimile apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a recording paper and ink sheet conveyance mechanism in the facsimile apparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a comparison between a conventional example and a present example when recording a black isolated point.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a comparison between a conventional example and a present example when recording white isolated points.

FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing the operation of the head drive control circuit of this embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing recording data of four lines and a data structure when the line data is recorded.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an energization timing when recording one line in the super fine mode.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing energization timing when recording one line in the fine mode.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an energization timing when recording one line in the standard mode.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a recording process in the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a recording process in the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a recording process in the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a recording process in the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a recording process in the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a state of a recording paper and an ink sheet at the time of recording by the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-ink sheet used in this example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Recording Paper 13 Thermal Head 14 Ink Sheet 24 Recording Paper Conveying Motor 25 Ink Sheet Conveying Motor 101 Control Unit 102 Recording Unit 113 CPU 114 ROM 115 RAM 132 Heating Resistor (Heating Element) 134 Head Drive Control Circuit 200 Memory 201 Flip Float 202 address counter 203-207 shift register 208 data generation circuit 209 selector 210 clock generation circuit 211 clock generation circuit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location B41J 2/36 B41J 3/20 114 A 115 C

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by driving a recording head based on recording data, wherein the pixel of interest is a pixel in a predetermined pattern based on peripheral pixels of the pixel of interest. Discriminating means for discriminating whether or not, a recording means for driving and recording the recording head a plurality of times per line, and when the discriminating means discriminates that the pixel is within the predetermined pattern, A recording device for changing the recording data of the pixel of interest or a peripheral pixel of the pixel of interest according to data, and driving the recording device. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines whether the pixel of interest is an isolated pixel. 3. The control means increases the number of times of recording of the target pixel by the recording means when the target pixel is black, and when the target pixel is white, the number of pixels around the target pixel by the recording means is increased. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of recordings is reduced. 4. A facsimile apparatus that drives a recording head based on an image signal to record an image on a recording medium, wherein the pixel of interest is a pixel within a predetermined pattern based on peripheral pixels of the pixel of interest. Discriminating means for discriminating whether or not, a recording means for recording by driving the recording head per line by driving the recording head a number of times according to the facsimile communication mode, and when the discriminating means discriminates to be a pixel in the predetermined pattern. And a control unit for changing the recording data of the pixel of interest or a peripheral pixel of the pixel of interest according to the data of the pixel of interest to drive the recording unit.