JPH06166242A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect automatically the using condition or the like with simple construction and low cost by providing printing control means for setting printing mode in accordance with the using embodiment through the detected output of using embodiment detecting means for member. CONSTITUTION:In the case of employing a tractor 1 as a push tractor, a Mylar ribbon 6 is moved in the direction of arrow A, and a carrier 10 having a sensor 12 comprising a printing head 11 and a photo-interrupter mounted thereon is moved integrally. While permitting the printing head 11 to move in the direction of arrow C, D, printing is carried out on a recording medium 14 such as recording paper or the like positioned between it and a platen 13. Since the sensor 12 is provided on the carrier 10, when a sensor interrupting plate 9 is situated as shown in drawing, i.e., the tractor 1 is used as a push tractor, the output of the sensor 12 becomes '0' because an emitting element light of the sensor 12 is interrupted by the sensor interrupting plate 9 and thus never reaches the emitting element.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional printer, detection and setting of a usage state such as which tractor capable of push / pull switching is set, whether an optional cut sheet feeder is installed, and the like are described. The user manually sets the dip switch, or a sensor for detecting the use state is provided for each function so that the function is automatically detected.

[0003]

However, if the use state is manually set as described above, the operation becomes complicated, and if a sensor is provided for each function, the sensor and its signal reading control are performed. There has been a problem that the number of input ports of the circuit increases and the cost increases.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple structure and a low use condition such as which tractor capable of push / pull switching is set or whether an optional cut sheet feeder is installed. It is to detect automatically at cost.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided print control means for setting a print mode according to a usage mode by a detection output of a detection means for detecting a usage mode of a member usable in a plurality of modes. , Achieves the above objectives.

In a printer that prints by moving a print head in a direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction, a setting means set to any one of a plurality of positions in the printer and a setting position of the setting means. A detection means which moves in response to the print head, a detection means which moves in conjunction with the print head and detects the position of the detection means, and a print control means which sets a print mode according to the detection result of the detection means. By providing it, the above-mentioned object is achieved.

Further, the above-mentioned object is achieved by providing the printer with a detection means for detecting the mounting state of the detachable addition means and a print control means for setting the print mode in accordance with the detection result of the detection means. There is.

Further, in a printer for performing printing by moving a print head in a direction perpendicular to the paper feeding direction, an addition means detachably attached to the printer and an object to be moved when the addition means is attached to the printer. By providing a detection unit, a detection unit that moves in conjunction with the print head and detects the position of the detected unit, and a print control unit that sets the print mode according to the detection result of the detection unit, You have achieved your purpose.

Further, in a printer that prints by moving a print head in a direction perpendicular to the paper feeding direction, a mounting portion for selecting and mounting one of a plurality of types of mounting bodies, and the mounting portion Detected means that moves according to the type of the mounted body that has been mounted, detection means that moves in conjunction with the print head and that detects the position of the detected means, and printing according to the detection results of the detection means By providing the print control means for setting the mode, the above object is achieved.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be specifically described below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a tractor which is a member that can be used in a plurality of modes, and is provided with a movable shaft 5 which is movable along a fixed shaft 2 and a guide portion 4 provided on a frame 3 and is pushed. It can be used as both a tractor and a pull tractor. In this example, when the movable shaft 5 is at the lower end of the guide portion 4 as shown in FIG. 1, it is used as a push tractor, and when it is at the upper end of the guide portion 4 as shown in FIG. Reference numeral 6 denotes a mylar ribbon, which is guided by a mylar guide portion 7, one end of which is attached to a mylar attachment portion 8 provided on the movable shaft 5, and the other end of which is provided with a sensor blocking plate 9 which constitutes a detected means. is there. Therefore, when the tractor 1 is used as a push tractor, the mylar ribbon 6 moves in the direction of arrow A, and when the tractor 1 is used as a pull tractor,
The mylar ribbon 6 moves in the direction of arrow B as shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 10 denotes a carrier on which a print head 11 and a sensor 12 including a photo interrupter are mounted, and these move integrally. In this example, it is assumed that the home position of the carrier 10 is the end in the direction of arrow C and the home position detection circuit (not shown) detects the home position. The print head 11 has arrows C and D.
Printing is performed on the recording medium 14 such as a recording sheet arranged between the platen 13 and the platen 13 while moving in the direction of. Since the sensor 12 constitutes the detecting means and is provided at the position shown in the figure on the carrier 10, when the sensor blocking plate 9 is in the position shown in FIG. 1, that is, the tractor 1 is used as a push tractor. At this time, the light of the light emitting element of the sensor 12 is blocked by the sensor blocking plate 9 and does not reach the light receiving element, so that the output of the sensor 12 becomes "0". When the sensor blocking plate 9 is in the position shown in FIG. 2, ie when the tractor 1 is used as a pull tractor, the sensor 1
The light of the second light emitting element reaches the light receiving element without being blocked by the sensor blocking plate 9, so that the output of the sensor 12 becomes "1".

FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram of the printer. The same numbers as in FIG. 1 are the same.
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 15 is a mode storage circuit, which is composed of a ROM or the like and stores mode setting content data of push tractor mode data and pull tractor mode data.
The content of each mode setting is, for example, to operate the paper park function in the push tractor mode and disable the paper park function in the pull tractor mode. A driving circuit 16 drives a carrier motor 17 for moving the carrier 10, a line feed motor 18 for rotating the platen 13, and a printing element 19 such as a printing pin in the printing head 11. Reference numeral 20 denotes a carrier position storage circuit, which is composed of a ROM or the like. In this example, the drive circuit 16 causes the carrier circuit 10 to move from the home position to the position where the sensor blocking plate 9 is provided as shown in FIG. The drive pulse number data output to 17 is stored. Reference numeral 21 is a print control circuit which constitutes a print control means, and comprises a CPU, a ROM, a RAM and the like, and controls various operations. Reference numeral 22 is a counter, and 23 is an online switch.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG.

When the printer is powered on by operating a power switch (not shown), the print control circuit 21 outputs a carrier motor drive signal to the drive circuit 16 to operate the carrier motor 17 to set the home position. The carrier 10 is moved in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 1 until the carrier is detected by a detection circuit (not shown).

When the carrier 10 is detected at the home position (step 4a), the print control circuit 21 clears the counter 22 and outputs a carrier motor drive signal to the drive circuit 16. The drive circuit 16 sends a drive pulse to the carrier motor 17 to move the carrier 10 in the direction of arrow D (step 4b).

At this time, the counter 22 indicates the carrier motor 1
The number of drive pulses input to 7 is counted, and the count value is output to the print control circuit 21. The print control circuit 21 uses the count value of the counter 22 and the carrier position storage circuit 20.
The drive pulse number data stored in (the drive pulse number data output from the drive circuit 16 to the carrier motor 17 by the time the carrier 10 reaches the position where the sensor blocking plate 9 is provided from the home position) is compared. .

When a match between the count value of the counter 22 and the drive pulse number data stored in the carrier position storage circuit 20 is detected, the print control circuit 21 causes the sensor 12 to reach the position where the sensor blocking plate 9 is arranged. It is determined that the output has been made (step 4c), and the output of the sensor 12 at this time is determined (step 4d).

When the output of the sensor 12 is "1", the light of the light emitting element of the sensor 12 is not blocked by the sensor blocking plate 9, so the print control circuit 21 determines that the tractor 1 is set as the pull tractor. Then, the pull tractor mode data is read from the mode storage circuit 15, and the read pull tractor mode, for example, the mode setting for invalidating the paper park function is performed (step 4e).

When the output of the sensor 12 is "0", the light of the light emitting element of the sensor 12 is blocked by the sensor blocking plate 9, so that the print control circuit 21 determines that the tractor 1 is set as the push tractor. Then, the push tractor mode data is read from the mode storage circuit 15, and the read push tractor mode, for example, the mode setting for activating the paper park function is performed (step 4f).

When the mode is set, the print control circuit 21
Stops the output of the carrier motor drive signal and the carrier 10
Is stopped (step 4g).

Then, the printer is in the online processing state,
That is, the print data is input from the terminal A to the print control circuit 21 and is printed (step 4).
h).

When the online switch 23 is operated in the online processing state (step 4i), the offline processing state is set (step 4j).

Here, when the online switch 23 is operated again (step 4k), the operations after step 4a are performed before returning to the online processing state.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically detect the usage mode of a member that can be used in a plurality of modes with a simple structure and at low cost, so that the printing mode can be set according to the usage mode, for example.

In the above, the usage mode of the tractor 1 is detected by moving the mylar ribbon 6 according to the usage mode of the tractor 1 and controlling the output of the sensor 12 by the sensor blocking plate 9 provided at one end of the mylar ribbon 6. However, next, the Mylar ribbon is moved depending on whether or not the detachable addition means is connected to the printer, and the sensor cutoff plate provided at one end of the Mylar ribbon controls the output of the sensor for addition. An example of automatically detecting whether or not the means is attached and setting the print mode according to the detection result will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the printer according to the present invention showing a state in which the adding means is attached or not attached. The same numbers as in FIG. 1 are the same.
In FIG. 5, reference numeral 24 is a cut sheet feeder that constitutes an adding means, has a protrusion 25, and is detachably attached to the printer of the present invention. In the figure, the tip of the end E of the mylar ribbon 6, which is omitted, has the same configuration as that of FIG. 1, and the sensor blocking plate 9 is provided as in the above-described embodiment, and the mylar ribbon 6 is provided. Sensor 12 according to the movement of
Is designed to control the output of.

FIG. 6 is a block circuit diagram of the printer. The same numbers as in FIG. 3 are the same.
Reference numeral 26 denotes a mode storage circuit, which is composed of a ROM or the like and stores mode setting content data such as cut sheet feeder mode data and manual feed mode data.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG.

When the power is turned on in the same manner as described above, the print control circuit 21 moves the carrier 10 to the home position (step 7a), clears the counter 22 and drives the drive circuit 16.
The carrier motor drive signal is output to. The drive circuit 16 sends a drive pulse to the carrier motor 17,
In the direction of arrow D (see FIG. 1) (step 7).
b).

The counter 22 counts the number of drive pulses input to the carrier motor 17 as in the above, and outputs the count value to the print control circuit 21. Print control circuit 2
1 is the count value of the counter 22 and the drive pulse number data stored in the carrier position storage circuit 20 (carrier 10
When the drive circuit 16 compares the drive pulse number data output to the carrier motor 17) from the home position to the position where the sensor cutoff plate 9 is provided, the print control circuit 21 detects the coincidence. 12 is a sensor blocking plate 9
Is determined to have arrived (step 7
c) The output of the sensor 12 at this time is determined (step 7d).

At this time, when the cut sheet feeder 24 is mounted, the projection 25 pushes the mylar ribbon 6 in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 5, and the mylar ribbon 6 moves in the direction of arrow A. The output of the sensor 12 becomes "0".

When the output of the sensor 12 is "0", the print control circuit 21 determines that the cut sheet feeder 24 is installed, reads the cut sheet feeder mode data from the mode storage circuit 26, and reads the cut sheet. The sheet feeder mode is set (step 7e).

At this time, if the cut sheet feeder 24 is not attached, the mylar ribbon 6 returns to the state shown in the figure by its own restoring force, and the mylar ribbon 6 moves in the direction of the arrow B. The output becomes "1".

When the output of the sensor 12 is "1", the print control circuit 21 determines that the cut sheet feeder 24 is not installed, reads the manual feed mode data from the mode storage circuit 26, and sets the read manual feed mode setting. Is performed (step 7f).

When the mode is set, the print control circuit 21
Stops the output of the carrier motor drive signal and the carrier 10
Is stopped (step 7g).

Then, similar to the above, the online processing state is set (step 7h). Thereafter, the same operation as above is performed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the mounting state of the cut sheet feeder 24 that can be freely attached to and detached from the printer can be automatically detected, so that the printing mode can be set according to the mounting state of the cut sheet feeder 24, for example.

In the above example, the cut sheet feeder is used as the adding means, but the adding means is not limited to this and can be changed as appropriate.

Next, an example of automatically detecting the type of print paper as a recording medium will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, 27 is a paper thickness detecting roller, one end of which is fixed to a roller bearing 28 as shown in the drawing. One end of the roller bearing 28 is swingably fixed to a mounting shaft 30 which is a fixed shaft. One end of an arm portion 29 formed integrally with the roller bearing 28 is fixed to one end of the mylar ribbon 6, and the other end of the mylar ribbon 6 is provided with a sensor blocking plate 9 as in the above embodiment. . The sensor blocking plate 9 is provided with a coil spring connecting portion 31, and the coil spring connecting portion 31 is connected with a coil spring 33 whose one end is fixed to the frame 3 by a coil spring fixing portion 32. Therefore, the arm portion 29 is pulled in the arrow J direction via the mylar ribbon 6 by the spring force of the coil spring 33, and the roller 27 is pressed against the lower surface side of the platen 13. Therefore, the paper thickness detection roller 27 is interposed between the platen 13 constituting the mounting portion and the arrow indicating the mounting shaft 30 as a center according to the thickness of the recording medium 14 (print paper in this example) constituting the mounting body. Since the arm 29 is moved in the direction G or arrow H and this movement displacement is amplified and the arm 29 is amplified and moved in the direction arrow I or arrow J, the sensor blocking plate 9 is moved.
The position of moves. The same numbers as in FIG. 1 are the same.

FIG. 9 is a block circuit diagram of the printer. The same numbers as in FIG. 3 are the same.
In the figure, reference numeral 34 denotes a mode storage circuit, which is composed of a ROM or the like and stores mode setting content data of normal print mode data and copy mode data. Reference numeral 35 denotes a carrier position storage circuit, which is composed of a ROM or the like. In this example, the carrier 10 is a home position and copy paper (a carbon paper sandwiched between a plurality of recording papers) is a paper thickness detection roller 27 and a platen 13. Before reaching the position of the sensor blocking plate 9 (the position of the broken line in FIG. 9) when it is interposed between
Stores the drive pulse number data output to the carrier motor 17.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG.

When the power is turned on in the same manner as described above, the print control circuit 21 moves the carrier 10 to the home position in the same manner as described above (step 10a), clears the counter 22 and sends the carrier motor drive signal to the drive circuit 16. Is output.
The drive circuit 16 sends a drive pulse to the carrier motor 17 to move the carrier 10 in the direction of arrow D (step 10).
b).

The counter 22 counts the number of drive pulses input to the carrier motor 17 and outputs this count value to the print control circuit 21 in the same manner as described above.

Here, when the output of the sensor 12 becomes "0", that is, when the sensor 12 reaches the position of the sensor blocking plate 9 (step 10c), the print control circuit 21 drives the drive stored in the carrier position storage circuit 35. The pulse number data is read, and the read drive pulse number data and the counter 22
Is compared with the count value of (step 10d).

When the count value of the counter 22 is equal to or larger than the drive pulse number data, the print control circuit 21 causes the recording medium 14
Then, the copy mode data is read from the mode storage circuit 34, and the print speed is made slower than the standard, the drive pulse width of the print head is increased to increase the print pressure, and The copy mode is set so that a clear copy can be obtained (step 10e).

When the count value of the counter 22 is smaller than the drive pulse number data, the print control circuit 21 determines that the recording medium 1
It is determined that the normal recording paper is loaded as No. 4, the normal print mode data is read from the mode storage circuit 34, and the normal print mode is set (step 10).
f).

Thereafter, the same operation as described above is performed.

As described above, according to this example, the type of the recording medium 14 can be automatically detected from the thickness of the recording medium 14 mounted in the printer, so that the print mode can be set according to the type of the recording medium.

Next, an example of automatically detecting the type of the loaded ink ribbon cassette will be described with reference to FIG.
In this example, the present invention is applied to an impact printer in which the ink ribbon cassette is mounted on the carrier of the print head and printing is performed while operating the ink ribbon cassette and the print head together.

In the figure, reference numeral 36 is a thin steel plate having a spring property, and its peripheral portion is cut out in a U shape with one side left, and the inside thus cut out is used as the sensor blocking plate 9. In addition, the central portion of the steel plate 36 is provided with a hole to be inserted into the protrusion 3a protruding from the frame 3 and also has a tongue piece 37 that functions as a leaf spring. The steel plate 36 has a hole at the center of the projection 3a.
And is elastically fixed by the tongue piece 37. On the other hand, the peripheral portion 37a of the steel plate 36 is bent upward by the shoulder portions 3b, 3b of the frame 3, and both corner portions are cut out. Reference numeral 38 denotes an ink ribbon cassette forming a mounting body, which is provided with a protrusion 39 and is mounted on the carrier 10 forming the mounting portion. This carrier 10
A print head (not shown) around which an ink ribbon (not shown) of the ink ribbon cassette 38 is wound is also mounted on the top, and a sensor 12 is fixed to the carrier 10 at a position shown in the figure. . Ink ribbon cassette 3
In addition to the so-called standard product as shown in FIG. 8, there is a low-priced version in which the ribbon is shortened and the location where the protrusion 39 is provided is different (the protrusion 39 is provided in the direction of arrow N in the figure). By the way, the steel plate 36 is fixed outside the moving range of the carrier 10 during normal printing, but when determining the type of the ink ribbon cassette, the carrier 10 can move further to the right from the position shown in the drawing, and at this time Part 3
The step portion 9 is engaged with the cutout portion of the peripheral portion 37a of the steel plate 36, and the steel plate 36 moves in the direction of the arrow M. When the standard ink ribbon cassette 38 is attached to the carrier 10, when the carrier 10 reaches the position Q shown in FIG.
Since it does not engage with the step portion of 9, the blocking plate 9 enters between the sensors 12, and the output of the sensor 12 becomes "0". on the other hand,
As shown in FIG. 13, an inexpensive ink ribbon cassette 38
When the carrier 10 is mounted on the carrier 10, when the carrier 10 reaches the position Q shown in the figure, the peripheral portion 37a engages with the stepped portion of the protrusion 39, and the steel plate 36 moves in the direction of the arrow M, so the cutoff is performed. The plate 9 does not enter between the sensors 12,
Output is "1". Note that FIG. 12 and FIG.
It is a front view and a side view of FIG. Below, Carrier 1
An example in which the type of the ink ribbon cassette is detected by the output of the sensor 12 when 0 reaches the position Q will be described.

The same numbers as in FIG. 1 are the same.

FIG. 14 is a block circuit diagram of the printer. The same numbers as in FIG. 3 are the same. In the figure, reference numeral 40 denotes a mode storage circuit, which is composed of a ROM or the like and stores mode setting content data of normal print mode data and economic print mode data. Reference numeral 41 denotes a carrier position storage circuit, which is composed of a ROM or the like. In this example, the drive circuit 16 causes the carrier motor 17 to move until the carrier 10 moves from the home position in the direction of the arrow N and reaches the position Q.
The drive pulse number data to be output to is stored.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG.

When the power is turned on in the same manner as described above, the print control circuit 21 moves the carrier 10 to the home position in the same manner as described above (step 15a), clears the counter 22 and sends the carrier motor drive signal to the drive circuit 16. Is output.
The drive circuit 16 sends a drive pulse to the carrier motor 17 to move the carrier 10 in the direction of arrow P (step 15).
b).

The counter 22 counts the number of drive pulses input to the carrier motor 17 as in the above, and outputs the count value to the print control circuit 21.

When the count value of the counter 22 reaches the value stored in the carrier position storage circuit 41 (step 15c), the print control circuit 21 reads the output of the sensor 12 (step 15d).

At this time, if the output of the sensor 12 is "0",
The print control circuit 21 determines that the so-called standard ink ribbon cassette 38 is mounted as shown in FIG. 12, reads the normal print mode data from the mode storage circuit 41, and sets the normal print mode ( Step 15e).

When the output of the sensor 12 is "1", the print control circuit 21 determines that the low-priced ink ribbon cassette 38 is installed as shown in FIG. Data is read and, for example, an economic printing mode is set in which the driving pulse width of the print head is shortened to reduce the printing pressure to thin the printing to reduce the ink consumption and sacrifice the printing quality to prioritize the economy ( Step 15f).

Thereafter, the same operation as described above is performed.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the type of the ink ribbon cassette 38 mounted on the printer can be automatically detected, the print mode can be set according to the type of the ink ribbon cassette 38.

The sensor blocking plate 9 is at the end of the moving range of the carrier 10, and is in a position where the carrier 10 does not move during printing. Further, this example may be applied to the discrimination between the monochrome ribbon and the color ribbon, and the color mode and the monochrome mode may be switched.

Although the above description is divided into four examples, these functions can be simultaneously incorporated by providing a plurality of sensor blocking plates at different positions. At this time, the sensor can also have these detection functions.

[0064]

According to the present invention, various usage states of the printer are automatically discriminated, and the control mode according to the status is automatically selected. Operation becomes simple. Further, it is possible to discriminate various usage states with one sensor, and only one input port of the control means is required, so that low cost can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing another usage mode of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram showing the circuit configuration of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a block circuit diagram showing the circuit configuration of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a block circuit diagram showing the circuit configuration of FIG.

10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a front view and a side view of FIG.

13 is a front view and a side view of FIG.

14 is a block circuit diagram showing the circuit configuration of FIG.

15 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Member 9 Detected means 10 Mounting part 11 Print head 12 Detecting means 13 Mounting part 14 Mounting body 21 Printing control means 24 Addition means 38 Mounting body

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A member that can be used in a plurality of modes, a detection unit that detects the usage mode of the member, and a print control unit that sets a printing mode according to the usage mode by the detection output of the detection unit. A printer characterized by the above. 2. A printer which prints by moving a print head in a direction perpendicular to a paper feed direction, a member which can be used in a plurality of modes, and a detection means which moves according to the usage mode of the member. A printer comprising: a detection unit that moves in conjunction with the print head and detects the position of the detection target unit; and a print control unit that sets a print mode according to the detection result of the detection unit. 3. A printer comprising: a detachable addition means, a detection means for detecting a mounting state of the addition means, and a print control means for setting a print mode according to a detection result of the detection means. Characteristic printer. 4. A printer for performing printing by moving a print head in a direction perpendicular to a paper feeding direction, and an addition unit detachably attached to the printer, and an object to be moved when the addition unit is attached to the printer. It is provided with a detecting means, a detecting means for moving in conjunction with the print head and detecting the position of the detected means, and a print control means for setting a print mode according to the detection result of the detecting means. And a printer. 5. In a printer for performing printing by moving a print head in a direction perpendicular to a paper feeding direction, a mounting part for selecting and mounting one of a plurality of types of mounting bodies, and the mounting part. Detected means that moves according to the type of the mounted body that is mounted, detection means that moves in conjunction with the print head and that detects the position of the detected means, and prints according to the detection results of the detection means. A printer comprising: a print control unit that sets a mode.