JPH07112747B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal transfer printer having an ink film cassette, or a printing apparatus applied to a Japanese word processor or the like incorporating the thermal transfer printer.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional printing apparatus of this type, the present inventor has proposed Japanese Patent Application No. 62-59740
JP-A-63-224983 has already been proposed.

According to the present invention, when the ink film cassette projects to the outside of the machine body, the side cover having a protective function opens outward, but the opening / closing operation of the side cover and the printing operation are not linked.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

Therefore, the printing operation is performed even if our side cover is closed or the side cover hits an obstacle during printing operation after the side cover is opened and the side cover is closed or semi-closed. Is to continue.

As a result, the ink film cassette may hit the side cover, impairing the printing quality or damaging the printing mechanism.

As one means for solving this, Japanese Patent Application No. 1-288252 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-147874) related to the prior application of the present invention has been proposed. In the invention of this earlier application, the power switch cannot be seen unless the lid (6) is slid, or the power cord (2
It is an invention that makes it impossible to draw out 0). However, according to the present invention, when the lid is slid, the power switch is turned on, or the power cord is pulled out and the printing operation is performed, the apparatus is erroneously moved and the lid is closed or in a semi-closed state. However, the printing operation is continuously performed, and as a result, the printing mechanism abuts against the side cover, impairing the printing quality and damaging the printing mechanism.

Focusing on the above, the present invention may forget to make the cover wide, or the device may be inadvertently moved after shifting to the printing operation, or the cover may be closed or semi-closed due to an external obstacle. However, the purpose of the invention is to prevent the printing mechanism from hitting the cover, disturb the printing quality, and prevent the printing mechanism from being damaged.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The purpose is to mount a carriage on which a printing mechanism is mounted, a case in which the carriage is reciprocally movable in the left and right directions, a platen provided in the case for carrying printing paper, and at least a part of the printing mechanism on the machine side. In a printing apparatus having an opening that allows the opening to project toward one side and a cover that opens and closes the opening, a sensor that detects the open state of the cover, and the printing operation is invalid if this sensor does not detect the open state of the cover. And a control circuit for activating the printing operation when the open state is detected.

[Action]

In the above configuration, a sensor that detects the open / closed state of the cover is provided, and the print operation is disabled when the sensor does not detect the open state of the cover, and the print operation is enabled when the open state is detected. Therefore, if the cover is open, the printing operation will be performed, and if the cover is closed, the printing operation will not work. If the cover is opened unexpectedly during the printing operation, Since the printing operation is stopped, the printing mechanism prevents the printing mechanism from hitting the cover and impairing the printing quality or damaging the printing mechanism both during the initial printing and during the printing.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which the configuration of the present invention is applied to a Japanese word processor.

Reference numeral 1 is the main body case of the Japanese word processor, and this main body case is also the case of the printing device. A keyboard 2 and a liquid crystal display unit 3 are provided. The case 1 is internally provided with a platen 4 for winding and carrying printing paper and a carriage that reciprocates left and right. The carriage has a print head 5 and an ink film cassette 6
Is mounted and configured together with the carriage to form a printing mechanism unit. 7 is a paper cover that can be flipped upward for maintenance and inspection of the printing mechanism and replacement of the ink film cassette, 8 is a printer cover that protects the printer from dust when the printing operation is not performed, and 9 is It is a side cover that opens and closes in conjunction with the operation of the printer cover 8.
The side cover 9 is provided on the side surface of the main body case 1 and has an opening that allows the printing mechanism to project. The opening is opened and closed. That is, during printing, the cover 9 is opened to allow the printing mechanism to project, and when printing is not performed, the cover is closed to allow dust to enter the printing mechanism portion, which causes an obstacle to the printing mechanism portion. Is to prevent.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which the printer cover 8 is opened and the printing paper 10 is set to perform a printing operation. The print head 5 and the ink film cassette 6 can move a maximum of l1 from positions 5 and 6 to positions 5'and 6 ', and at the right end, can project from the opening by a maximum of l3 to the outside of the machine. It is said. A side cover 9 having a length l4 sufficient to protect the protruding ink film cassette 6'is provided on the outside so as to be openable and closable.
Note l2 is the distance from the left end in an ink film cassette maximum movement to the right, w is the width of the main body 1, t ₁ denotes the distance between the body left and ink film cassette left. The inventor of the present invention has a general construction of Japanese Patent Application No. 62-59740 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2249830/1988).
However, in the present invention, a sensor for detecting the opening / closing operation of the side cover 9 is provided to obtain a safe and high-quality printed matter, and the side cover 9 is used as a printer cover. The configuration for opening / closing in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of 8 is added.

The configuration will be described below together with the operation based on the drawings.

2 is an overall side view, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG. 2, showing the side cover 9 in a closed state. FIG. 8 and FIG. 8 also show a state in which the side cover is opened.

FIG. 5 is an external view showing a state in which the printing operation is not performed. The printer cover 8 is closed and the side cover 9 is closed at the same time. In this state, the ink film cassette 6 is at the left home position. Similar to FIG. 1, FIG. 6 shows a state in which the printing paper 10 is set and the printing operation is in progress, and the ink film cassette is at the position of the right end 6 '.

The side cover 9 is opened to the right in conjunction with the opening operation of the printer cover 8 so that the ink film cassette 6'can be projected to the outside of the machine.

In FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the side cover 9 is rotatably attached to the body case 1 by the right shaft 11 and the left shaft 12, and is further opened by a torsion spring 14 at all times. Being energized.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a printing sequence of the printing device configured as described above, and FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the printing device.

In FIG. 10, a central processing unit 51 (hereinafter, abbreviated as CPU) comprises a main memory 52, a keyboard 53, a liquid crystal controller 54, a graphic memory and a liquid crystal display unit 5.
5, external storage device 57 (FD
D) controls various memories via the memory controller 58, and controls the printer via the printer controller 59 and the print data controller 60.

Further, the printer controller 59 has a port for taking in a signal from an open / close sensor (switch) 16 for detecting the open / closed state of the side cover 9, and the CPU monitors the open / closed state of the side cover 9 through this port. .

Next, create a document with the Japanese word processor, or read the print data from an external storage device,
A case where this is printed out will be described.

Initially, the printer cover 8 is closed as shown in FIG. 3, and the side cover 9 is also closed by being pushed by the printer cover. That is, the side wall 17 of the printer cover 8 pushes down the outer surface 18 of the side cover 9 when the side cover 9 is closed.
Is kept "closed". Next, when the printer cover 8 is opened upward, the torsion spring 14 constantly urges the side cover 9 to open outward with the interposition of the printer cover 8, so that the side cover 9 as shown in FIG. Opens laterally around the central shaft 13 so that the ink film cassette can project to the outside of the word processor body 1 as shown by 6'as shown in FIG. In this state, the printing paper 10 is wound around the platen 4 and set, and the preparation for starting printing is completed.

Then, when a command to start printing is issued from the keyboard 2 (53), a carriage having a printing mechanism including a printing head 5 and an ink film cassette 6 is installed at a left reference position according to the sequence shown in FIG. Drive the carriage motor (CR motor) until moves, move the carriage to the left, and determine the left reference position of the carriage. Next, the carriage turn motor is driven in the reverse direction by the specified amount to move the carriage to the home position and clear the character number counter to zero.

Printing is repeated character by character from this point as a starting point, but if the side cover 9 is not "open" by the signal of the switch 16 that monitors the open state of the side cover 9 during the loop, An error is displayed on the display unit 3 and the operation is stopped.

When the obstacle is removed and the side cover 9 becomes "open", printing is resumed.

In this way, it is possible to prevent the ink film cassette 6'from hitting the side cover 9 to impair the printing quality or damage the printing mechanism. When all the printing is completed, the carriage returns to the home position where the ink film cassette 6 fits inside the main body case 1 and stops there.

Finally, when the printing paper 10 is pulled out and the printer cover 8 is closed, the side wall 17 of the printer cover 8 becomes the outer surface 18 of the side cover.
Is pressed to keep the side cover 9 in the closed state in conjunction with the closing operation of the printer cover 8 (FIG. 5). As a result, it is possible to prevent the side cover 9 from being opened carelessly and dust or foreign matter from entering the main body case incorporating the printing mechanism.

With this configuration, when there is an obstacle on the right side of the word processor main body 1 and the side cover 9 cannot be fully opened, or when the side cover 9 is open, the side cover 9 can be opened.
It is possible to avoid the risk that the ink film cassette 6 collides with the side cover 9 due to an obstacle such as pushing down the ink, the printing operation is disturbed, and the printing mechanism is broken.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 7 and FIG.
A cam 15 is provided at the tip of the left side shaft 12, and the switch 16 is turned ON / OFF in conjunction with the opening / closing of the side cover 9, and when the side cover 9 shown in FIG. 8 is open, the switch turns ON. It is designed to be. 16A is an actuator for the switch 16, and 16B is a lever for operating the actuator 16A by the cam 15. This "ON" signal is monitored by the CPU 51 via the printer controller 59 as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 10, and the "OFF" indicating the "closed" state of the side cover 9 is displayed.
When a signal is detected, the carriage turn motor and line feed motor are stopped via the printer controller 59 and motor driver, and the print data controller
Stop sending print data from 60 and stop printing operation.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the present invention includes a carriage equipped with a printing mechanism, a case in which the carriage is reciprocally movable in the left and right directions, a platen which is also provided in the case and holds a printing sheet, and the printing mechanism. In a printing apparatus having an opening that allows at least a part to project to the side of the machine and a cover that opens and closes the opening, a sensor that detects the open state of the cover, and this sensor does not detect the open state of the cover. When the print operation is invalid, the control circuit that enables the print operation when the open state is detected is provided, so forget to open the cover that opens and closes the opening in the preparation stage of printing, or print operation The device moves after the transfer, or the cover is closed due to an external obstacle,
Alternatively, the printing operation can be stopped when it is in the semi-closed state, so it is possible to prevent the printing mechanism from hitting the cover and prevent the printing mechanism from being damaged regardless of the beginning of printing and the printing operation. In addition to that, it is possible to obtain a printed matter of high print quality without disturbing the print quality.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall external view with a printer cover and a side cover opened, FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a II in FIG.
I-III sectional view, Fig. 4 is a state view with the side cover open,
FIG. 5 is an external view with the printer cover and side cover closed, and FIG. 6 is an external view with the printer cover and side cover similarly opened, FIG.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 2 showing the switch portion, FIG. 9 is a flow diaphragm showing the sequence of the printing operation, and FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the entire circuit. 1 ... word processor main body, 2 ... keyboard, 3 ...
… Display surface, 4 …… Platen, 5 …… Print head, 6 ……
Ink film cassette, 7 …… Paper cover, 8 ……
Printer cover, 9 ... Side cover, 10 ... Printing paper, 11 ... Right axis, 12 ... Left axis, 13 ... Central axis, 14 ...
… Torsion spring, 15 …… Cam part, 16 …… Switch, 17
…… Printer cover side wall, 18 …… Side cover outer surface.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A carriage having a printing mechanism mounted therein, a case in which the carriage is reciprocally movable in the left and right directions, a platen provided in the case for carrying printing paper, and at least a part of the printing mechanism as a machine body. In a printing apparatus having an opening that allows lateral projection and a cover that opens and closes the opening, a sensor that detects the open state of the cover, and a printing operation when the sensor does not detect the open state of the cover. A printing device having a control circuit that disables the printing operation and enables the printing operation when an open state is detected. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover is attached to the case while being constantly urged by an urging force in the opening direction, and the cover is rotated on the case. A printing device configured such that the cover is pushed by the printer cover, which is freely attached to the printer cover, and the opening is closed against the biasing force. 3. A case equipped with a carriage equipped with a printing mechanism, a keyboard and a display unit, and an interior in which the carriage is reciprocally movable left and right, a platen which is provided in the case and holds a printing sheet, An opening that allows at least a part of the printing mechanism to project to the side of the machine,
In a printing device having a cover that opens and closes this opening, a sensor that detects the open state of the cover, and disables the printing operation when the sensor does not detect the open state of the cover, and prints when the open state is detected. And a control circuit for enabling the printer. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the sensor does not detect the open state of the cover, the printing operation is invalidated and an error is displayed on the display unit. Printing device.