JPH06270473A - Control method of serial printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately set and align paper without performing trial printing by preliminarily receiving printing data to be printed to move a printing head to the endmost position on a printing start side before actual printing. CONSTITUTION:Operation switches 12a1, 12a2, 12a3 being the mode indicating means connected to a CPU 1 being a control means indicating a mode moving a printing head 11 to each printing end are arranged to an operator panel 12. When each of the operation switches is selectively pushed down, the printing head 11 is moved in a non-printing state on the basis of the range of paper to be printed before actual printing, that is, a printing start position end, the max. terminal position in each printing line or the max. width both-end positions of each printing line in the whole of one page and an operator can know the moving range of the printing head 11. By this constitution, the operator can perform the resetting of paper, the selection of the optimum printing paper or the resetting of a printing form.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a serial printer,
In many cases, the operator decides the approximate position based on experience while considering the position where the printing paper should be set, that is, the print start position, the print limit position in the width direction (horizontal direction), and the like.

[0003]

In setting the printing paper in such a conventional serial printer, the position of the printing paper is determined based on the experience of the operator.
As a matter of course, it is difficult to set it to the correct position the first time, so try to find the correct setting position after repeating trial and error, such as correcting the print paper position after trial printing. I often do it.

Specifically, first, since the endmost position on the start end side is unknown, the set position of the printing paper cannot be specified in either the feed direction or the print width direction.

Second, since the maximum end position in the print width direction is unknown, printing may exceed the maximum width of the paper.

Thirdly, since the maximum width ends of each print line on one page of the paper are unknown, the print lines may be overprinted or marginally printed.

For this reason, it is often the case that the correct set position is finally found by repeating such test printing many times, and there is the disadvantage that the paper is wasted each time and it is uneconomical. Such work is time-consuming and labor-intensive, is a heavy burden on the operator, and has a drawback that work efficiency is extremely low.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides an economical and improved work efficiency serial printer capable of accurately performing sheet setting position alignment without performing test printing. The purpose is to provide a control method.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a print head which is movable in a direction intersecting a feed direction of a print sheet and in a direction parallel to a print surface of the print sheet. A method of controlling a serial printer comprising: first, when setting a print sheet for printing by the serial printer, the serial printer receives the print data to be printed in advance, and thereby the print head is activated. A method of controlling a serial printer, which is characterized in that the serial printer is moved to the end position on the printing start side before the actual printing. Secondly, when the printing paper is set to perform printing by the serial printer, the serial printer does not print. By receiving the print data to be printed in advance, the print head is moved to the end position of the print start line before the actual printing, Control method for a serial printer, characterized in that moving the respective distal extreme position of the start line, when performing printing by the serial printer to the third,
The serial printer sets the printing paper, then
By receiving in advance all the print data to be printed on one page of the print sheet, the print head can be moved to each position of the maximum width of each print line on the page before the actual printing. This is achieved by a characteristic serial printer control method.

[0010]

In the control method of the serial printer according to the present invention, before the actual printing, the range of the paper to be printed, that is, the position end on the print start side, the maximum end position on each print line, each print on the entire page Move the print head to each position on both ends of the maximum width of the line without printing.

With this, it is possible to inform the operator of the range of movement of the print head, which enables the operator to reset the paper, reselect the optimum print paper, or reset the print format. .

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of a serial printer control method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a main part of the serial printer in the control method of the serial printer according to the present invention.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU (central processing unit) as a control means, which is a general microcomputer.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a host interface for interfacing with an external device such as a personal computer or a word processor.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a storage device for storing a program for controlling the serial printer. In this embodiment, a program ROM (read-only memory) is used.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a character generator for generating a character font.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a space motor for moving the carriage on which the print head 11 of the serial printer is mounted in the width direction.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a space motor control circuit which is means for controlling the space motor 6.

The space motor control circuit 5 and the space motor 6 constitute space driving means for driving the above-mentioned carriage to reciprocate the print head 11.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a line motor for driving the platen device to feed the printing paper.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a line motor control circuit which is means for controlling the line motor 8.

The line motor control circuit 7 and the line motor 8 constitute line feed driving means connected to the platen device for driving the above-mentioned platen device in order to feed the printing paper.

Reference numeral 9 indicates a line buffer for temporarily storing a character font for one line.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a print head of the serial printer.

Reference numeral 10 is the output content from the line buffer 9,
That is, it shows a printing unit of the print head 11, for example, a print head control circuit that drives each head pin according to the type of character font.

Reference numeral 12 denotes an operator panel for the operator to operate.

The operator panel 12 includes a print head 1
There are provided operation switches 12a1, 12a2, 12a3 as mode designating means connected to the CPU 1 as control means for designating the mode of movement of the print head 1 to each print end.

Each of these switches 12a1, 12a2,
By pressing 12a3 selectively, as described above, before the actual printing, the range of the paper to be printed, that is, the print start position edge, the maximum end position in each print line, the print line in each page The operator can know the range of movement of the print head 11 by moving the print head 11 at each position on both ends of the maximum width in a non-printing state.

As a result, the operator can reset the paper, reselect the optimum print paper, reset the print format, or the like.

The operator panel 12 is also provided with a display section 12b for displaying the state of each mode selected by each of the switches 12a1, 12a2 and 12a3.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a reception buffer for receiving character data to be printed and temporarily storing it.

The state in which the print head 11 is actually placed on the carriage will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the print head 11 is mounted on the carriage 21.

A head pin 24 as a printing unit is attached to the tip of the print head 11.

The carriage 21 is provided with a paper retainer 23 arranged parallel to the surface of the platen device 22 and configured to hold the print paper.

The head pins 24 are arranged so as to print on the surface of the platen device 22.

The carriage 21 is mounted on a pair of rail devices 26 arranged in parallel.
The upper part is movable in the direction of arrow 27, that is, in the width direction of the printing paper.

In the present embodiment, the direction of the arrow 28 is defined as the feed direction of the print sheet with respect to the width direction of the print sheet, which is the direction of the arrow 27.

As described above, in the serial printer according to the present embodiment, the carriage 21 on which the print head 11 is placed so as to move the print head 11 in the width direction indicated by the arrow 27 and the print paper are moved. Arrow 28
Platen device 22 for feeding in the direction indicated by
A space driving means for driving the carriage 21 to reciprocate the print head 11 along a direction 27 intersecting the direction of feeding the printing paper by the platen device 22, and a platen device for feeding the printing paper. A line feed driving means connected to the platen device 22 for driving the space driving means 22, and a control means connected to the space driving means and the line feed driving means, respectively, for controlling the drive states of the space driving means and the line feed driving means. And a mode designating means connected to the control means for designating a mode of movement of the print head 11 to each print end.

Based on the above, the control method of the serial printer according to the present invention will be described below.

First, the first control method will be described with reference to FIG.

When the control operation is started, the serial printer sequentially reads and receives print data to be printed (step S1), and the received print data is received by the reception buffer 1
3 is written (step S2), it is checked whether all the print data for one page of the printing paper has been read (step S3). If the reading is not completed yet, the process returns to step S1 and the reading is completed. If so, the process proceeds to the next step S4.

The step S4 is a step for checking the print protrusion at both ends in the width direction of the print paper by using the subroutine of "maximum left end / right end position setting process" which will be described in detail later, and by this, a large amount of paper setting is performed. The gap can be corrected first.

Next, the switch 1 as the mode designating means
By depressing SW-A which is 2a1 (step S5), the print head 11 moves to the print start side most end position, that is, the maximum left end position (step S6).

At this point, the operator determines whether to set the printing paper, that is, whether to press the paper suction switch (SW) (step S7).

When the paper suction switch (SW) is pressed, the printing paper is sucked into the serial printer and set (step S8).

After confirming that the printing paper is properly set, the operator depresses SW-C, which is a switch for executing printing (step S
9) Then, the printing is accurately started at a desired position on the printing paper (step S10), and the processing ends when there is no print data.

Next, the second control method will be described with reference to FIG.

When the control operation is started, the serial printer sequentially reads and receives print data to be printed (step S1), and the received print data is received in the reception buffer 1
3 is written (step S2), it is checked whether all the print data for one page of the printing paper has been read (step S3). If the reading is not completed yet, the process returns to step S1 and the reading is completed. If so, the process proceeds to the next step S4.

Step S4 is a step for checking the print protrusion at both ends in the width direction of the print paper by using a subroutine of "maximum left end / right end position setting process" which will be described in detail later, and by this, a large amount of paper setting is performed. The gap can be corrected first.

Next, the switch 1 as the mode designating means
By depressing SW-A which is 2a1 (step S5), the print head 11 moves to the print start side most end position, that is, the maximum left end position (step S6).

If this SW-A is not pressed, the print head 11 does not move to the print start side end position, that is, the maximum left end position, and step S6 is skipped and the process skips to step S7.

Further, the switch 1 as a mode designating means
By depressing SW-B which is 2a2 (step S7), the print head 11 is moved to the print end side most end position, that is, the maximum right end position (step S8).

At this point, the operator determines whether to set the printing paper, that is, whether to press the paper suction switch (SW) (step S9).

When the paper suction switch (SW) is pressed, the printing paper is sucked into the serial printer and set (step S10).

After confirming that the printing paper has been set properly, the operator depresses SW-C, which is a switch for executing printing (step S1).
1) The printing is accurately started at a desired position on the printing paper (step S12), and is ended when there is no print data.

Next, the third control method will be described with reference to FIG.

When the control operation is started, the printing paper is first sucked into the serial printer and set (step S1).

Next, the serial printer sequentially reads and receives print data to be printed (step S2), writes the received print data in the reception buffer 13 (step S3), and prints all print data for one page of print paper. Check if the file has been read (step S4),
If the reading is not completed yet, the process returns to step S2, and if the reading is completed, the next step S2 is performed.
Go to 5.

Step S5 is a step for checking the print protrusion at both ends in the width direction of the print paper by using a subroutine of "maximum left end / right end position setting process" which will be described in detail later, and by this, a large amount of paper setting is performed. The gap can be corrected first.

Next, the switch 1 as the mode designating means
By depressing SW-A which is 2a1 (step S6), the print head 11 moves to the print start side most end position, that is, the maximum left end position (step S7).

If the SW-A is not pressed, the print head 11 does not move to the print start side end position, that is, the maximum left end position, and step S7 is omitted and the process skips to step S8.

Further, the switch 1 as the mode designating means
By depressing SW-B which is 2a2 (step S8), the print head 11 is moved to the print end side most end position, that is, the maximum right end position (step S9).

If SW-B is not pressed, step S9 is skipped without moving the print head 11 to the extreme end position on the printing end side, that is, the maximum right end position, and the process skips to step S10.

The next step S10 is as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-1370370 filed by the present applicant.
The printing paper is finely adjusted and set at the printing start position, that is, the printing start position fine adjustment mode processing.

After confirming that the printing paper has been finely adjusted and set properly, the operator depresses SW-C, which is a switch for executing printing (step S11), to set the desired position of the printing paper. The printing starts accurately (step S12), and ends when there is no print data.

Here, the subroutine of the "maximum left end / right end position setting process" in step S5 described above is shown in FIG.
And FIG. 7 will be described.

This subroutine has a function of determining the maximum print left end position and the maximum print right end position, respectively.

In order to determine the maximum print left end position and the maximum print right end position, first, it is necessary to receive print data for one page of paper.

The received print data for one page of paper is written in the reception buffer 13 after code analysis. By this code analysis, data can be fetched until a page end code (page break, discharge command, etc.) is detected, so that print data for one page can be fetched.

When the print data for one page is fetched, the data sending side automatically stops the data.

The fetched data is written in the line buffer, and the left end position and the right end position at that time are stored.

Further, the next line is written in the line buffer, the left end position of the previous line is compared with the current left end position, and the larger value is stored. (FIG. 6 MAX-LP).

Similarly, for the right end as well, the value of the preceding row is compared with the value of this time, and the larger value is stored. (Fig. 6 MA
X-RP).

By repeating this process up to the last line, the maximum left end position and the maximum right end position within the page can be determined (FIG. 7).

The determined value is notified to the print head movement control unit, and the print head is moved to the left end position and the right end position by the switch operation of the operator.

Depending on the position of the print head, the operator
By recognizing each of the maximum left end position and the maximum right end position of the print data, it is possible to set the paper more accurately.

[0079]

As described above, in the serial printer control method according to the present invention, first, since the maximum left end position on the print start end side is clearly indicated, the start position can be easily specified. Since the maximum right end position on the printing end side is clearly shown in 2, the portion protruding from the paper can be specified immediately, and the waste due to the protrusion printing can be eliminated in advance.
In addition, since it is possible to roughly understand the printing state of the entire page before printing, it is possible to simplify the paper setting work and reduce the burden on the operator.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for schematically explaining a control method of a serial printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a configuration of a printing unit of the serial printer in the control method of the serial printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a first control method of the serial printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a second control method of the serial printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a third control method of the serial printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a flowchart schematically showing maximum left end / right end position setting processing of the serial printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a serial printer control method according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 2 Host Interface 3 Program ROM 4 Character Generator 5 Space Motor Control Circuit 6 Space Motor 7 Line Motor Control Circuit 8 Line Motor 9 Line Buffer 10 Print Head Control Circuit 11 Head 12 Operator Panel 12a Switch 12b Display 13 Reception Buffer

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shuji Yaginuma 1405 Daimaru, Inagi-shi, Tokyo Inside Fujitsu Aisotec Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A control method for a serial printer, comprising a print head movable in a direction crossing a feed direction of a print sheet and parallel to a print surface of the print sheet. When the printing paper is set to be printed by the serial printer, the serial printer receives the print data to be printed in advance to move the print head to the end position of the print start side before the actual printing. A method for controlling a serial printer characterized by the above. 2. A method of controlling a serial printer, comprising a print head movable in a direction intersecting a feed direction of a print sheet and parallel to a print surface of the print sheet. When the printing paper is set to be printed by the serial printer, the serial printer receives the print data to be printed in advance, so that the print head causes the print head to be positioned before the actual printing and at the end position on the start end side of the print start line. And a method of controlling a serial printer, characterized in that the printing start line is moved to the endmost position on the end side. 3. A control method for a serial printer, comprising a print head movable in a direction intersecting a feed direction of a print sheet and parallel to a print surface of the print sheet. When printing with the serial printer, the serial printer sets the printing paper and then previously receives all the print data to be printed for one page of the printing paper, thereby A method for controlling a serial printer, further comprising: moving the print head to positions at both ends of a maximum width of each print line on the page. 4. The serial printer comprises: a carriage on which the print head is mounted to move the print head; a platen device for feeding the print paper; and a platen device for feeding the print paper. Space drive means for driving the carriage to reciprocate the print head along a direction intersecting the feed direction, and a platen device for driving the platen device for feeding the print paper Line feed driving means, and control means connected to the space driving means and the line feed driving means, respectively, for controlling the drive states of the space driving means and the line feed driving means.
4. A mode designating unit connected to the control unit for designating a mode of movement of the print head to each print end, The mode designating unit according to claim 1, further comprising: Control method for serial printers. 5. The mode designating means includes a switch corresponding to each mode, and when the switch is turned on, the print head can be moved to each print end according to the mode of the switch. The control method for a serial printer according to claim 4, wherein the control method is configured to occur.