JPH0678020B2 - Test pattern printing method - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a test pattern printing method for a printing apparatus including a print head configured by arranging a plurality of print elements forming one dot on a recording paper.

[Prior Art] In dot matrix printers such as dot impact printers, thermal printers, and inkjet printers that have a plurality of dot-type print elements on a print head, the print quality is improved when some print elements cannot be printed. Cause worse.

For example, in an inkjet printer, ink may not be ejected due to clogging of ink.
In that case, the printing function is restored and then printing is performed again. Therefore, if it is possible to know in advance whether or not all printing elements are normally printed before reprinting, it is possible to use the printer efficiently without wasteful printing. Further, when there is a print element that cannot be printed, it is convenient for maintenance of the print head if the element can easily know the number of the element.

However, since characters are printed in the test printing by the conventional printer, there is a drawback that it is difficult to determine at a glance whether or not there are unprinted dots. In particular, recently, since the number of dots per character is increasing in order to improve the printing quality, it is difficult to determine whether there is a dot drop or not by a conventional test pattern printing method.

[Object] The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, and provides a test pattern printing method for determining whether or not there is a print element that cannot be printed and, if there is a print element that cannot be printed, which element is at a glance. The purpose is to do.

[Examples] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a normal print test pattern based on the test pattern printing method of the present invention. The print head (not shown) used in this print test is composed of eight print elements arranged in the vertical direction (sub-scanning direction), and the print head facing the recording paper is set in the horizontal direction (main scanning direction). Direction) and the recording paper moves up and down, characters and symbols are printed on the recording paper.

In the print test based on the method of the present invention, first, the numbers 1 to 8 in FIG. 1 are printed by one scan of the print head. next,
After feeding the recording paper, the pattern 9 on the second line is printed. The horizontal line 9'in this pattern 9 is obtained by sequentially driving only one print element in a pixel unit or in a predetermined dot unit as the print head moves in the horizontal direction. The numbers of the formed elements (arrangement order) correspond to the numbers printed above the horizontal line 9 '. For example, the horizontal line below the number "1" was printed with the top print element. The vertical line 9 ″ in the pattern 9 is obtained by driving all the printing elements at once, and the vertical line 9 is intermittently printed in a unit of one pixel or a predetermined dot (for example, 8 dots).

FIG. 2 shows an example of printing when there is an abnormality obtained on the recording paper as a result of printing the test pattern of FIG. Second
In the case of the figure, since the horizontal line under the numeral 6 is not printed, it can be seen at a glance that the sixth print element from the top on the print head is unprintable.

As described above, according to this example, if there is a print element that cannot be printed, it is possible to easily know the order of the print element.

1 and 2 show the test pattern when the number of print elements is eight, the number of elements is not limited to this, and even when the number of dots is 24, for example, 24 dots, there is no problem. Of course, the print test can be performed in the same manner. In particular, when the number of dots is large, it is difficult to see the unprinted dots, so the printing test method of the present invention is an extremely effective means. Further, the present invention can be applied to a wire dot printer, a spool printer, etc. in addition to the inkjet printer.

[Effects] As described above, according to the present invention, a print head is provided which arranges a plurality of print elements for forming dots on the recording paper, and the print head is scanned relative to the recording paper. In a test pattern printing method of a printing apparatus for performing printing by using a predetermined printing element selected sequentially from a plurality of printing elements of the printing head, the printing head is relatively scanned with respect to the recording paper. Since a line in a direction different from the direction of the array obtained by printing for a fixed length and a pattern indicating the printing order of the sequentially selected print elements corresponding to the line are printed, all the print elements are printed. It is easy to see if there are any print elements that cannot be printed. Furthermore, by printing the pattern indicating the printing order of the printing elements, it is possible to easily know the order of the unprintable printing elements among all the printing elements.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a normal print test pattern based on the test pattern printing method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is obtained on a recording paper when printed using the print test pattern of FIG. It is a top view showing an example of printing in the case of abnormal. 1 to 8 ... Number, 9 ... Pattern, 9 '... horizontal line, 9 "... vertical line.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A test pattern for a printing apparatus, comprising a print head for arranging a plurality of print elements for forming dots on a recording paper, and scanning the print head relative to the recording paper for printing. In the printing method, the print head is obtained by printing the print head for a certain length while relatively scanning the print head with respect to the recording paper by a predetermined print element that is sequentially selected from a plurality of print elements of the print head. A test pattern printing method comprising: printing a line in a direction different from an array direction and a pattern corresponding to the line and indicating a printing order of the sequentially selected printing elements. 2. The test pattern printing method according to claim 1, wherein the print head discharges ink to form dots on the recording paper.