JPH08230256A - Printing recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To accurately print data by providing a means counting the number of pulses corresponding to use quantity and a means sampling the pulse count value at the time of the reception of a sampling command signal. CONSTITUTION: A pulse counter 2 counts the number of pulses proportional to the use quantity sent out of a meter 20 such as a wattmeter. Therefore, the count value of the pulse counter 2 becomes the integrated value measured by the meter 20. A timer 4 sends a time signal to a controller 6 at every predetermined time and, when this signal is received by the controller 6, a sampling command signal is sent to a sampling means 3. When this signal is received, the sampling means 3 samples the count value from the pulse counter 2 to send the same to the controller 6. A printer 18 prints the data on the basis of the printing command from the controller 6 to output the same.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print recorder for printing and recording the amount of electric power and the amount of water used at predetermined intervals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as shown in FIG. 7, a print recorder 1 counts metering pulses sent from a meter 20 with a transmitting function, for example, an electric power meter or a water meter, and a predetermined time (for example, 1 hour or 1 day). ), The integrated value is printed and recorded and output.

A print recorder 1 of this type is often incorporated in an instrumentation board. Then, the user often collects the print output every one week or one month. If the printing paper output there is left dripping, the atmosphere of the monitoring room where the instrumentation board is placed will be spoiled, so the printing paper may be rolled up or may be stored in the recorder using folding paper 5. It is normal.

When a roll-up type paper is used as the print sheet, a mechanism other than the printer is required as the wind-up mechanism, and the paper is set in the wind-up mechanism after being mounted in the printer. Folding paper is widely used because it is awkward and unexpected. After printing, the folding paper is naturally dropped and folded.

[0005]

When this folding paper 5 is used, the folding portion has perforations 5a as shown in FIG.
There is a step, so there is a step in this folding part. On the other hand, since the print dots of recent dot matrix type printers are becoming finer, if there is a step on the paper, the print will be disturbed as shown in FIG. 9 and the data cannot be read accurately. There is. For example, in FIG. 9, although "CH3" is printed, "C11"
There is a risk of being read as "3".

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a print recorder capable of printing data that can be accurately read.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A print recorder according to the present invention comprises a pulse counter for counting the number of pulses sent from the meter according to the amount used, and a count for the pulse counter when a sampling command signal is received. Sampling means for sampling a value, a time limit signal generating means for generating a time limit signal every first predetermined time, a fold detecting means for detecting a fold of a folded sheet, and a first time shorter than the first predetermined time. 2, a timer interrupt signal generating means for generating a timer interrupt signal every predetermined time, a printing means for printing data on the folding paper, a line number counter for counting the number of lines of the folding paper, and the timer interrupt signal. When the fold signal is received, the fold detecting means checks whether or not the fold is detected, and when the fold is detected, the line number counter is set to a first value. When the time limit signal is received, a sampling command signal is sent to the sampling means to sample the count value of the pulse counter, and the sampled count value is printed on the folding sheet by using the printing means and the number of lines is counted. Control means for changing the count value of the counter by a predetermined value, and feeding the folding paper by a predetermined number when the count value of the line number counter reaches a second value. .

[0008]

According to the print recorder of the present invention constructed as described above, every time the control means receives the timer interrupt signal, it is inspected whether or not the fold of the folded sheet is detected, and the fold is detected. If so, the control means sets the row number counter to the first value. Each time the time limit signal is received, the count value of the pulse counter is sampled by the sampling means, and the sampled count value is printed and output by the printing means. At this time, at the same time, the count value of the line number counter is changed by a predetermined value, and when the count value of the line number counter reaches the second value, the folding paper is fed by a predetermined line.

As a result, it is possible to avoid printing on the folds, and the printed data can be read accurately.

[0010]

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of a print recorder according to the present invention. The print recorder 1 of this embodiment includes a pulse counter 2, a sampling unit 3, a timer 4, folding paper (not shown), a controller 6, a fold detector 8,
A row number counter 10, a timer interrupt signal generation circuit 12,
A memory 14, an operation unit 16, and a printer 18 are provided.

The pulse counter 2 counts the number of pulses, which is sent from a meter 20 such as a power meter or a water meter, and which is proportional to the amount used. Therefore, the pulse counter 2
The count value of is the integrated value measured by the meter 20. The timer 4 has a predetermined time (for example, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or 1
(1) every day, a time limit signal is sent to the controller 6, and when the time limit signal is received by the controller 6, the sampling means 3
Send a sampling command signal to. When the sampling means 3 receives the sampling command signal, the pulse counter 2
The counter value is sampled and the sampled count value is sent to the controller 6.

The fold detector 8 detects the fold of the folded sheet and sends a detection signal to the controller 6. The row number counter 10 is set to a predetermined value by the controller 6 when a fold is detected, and decrements the count value by 1 when receiving the subtraction command signal from the controller 6.
The timer interrupt signal generation circuit 12 generates a timer interrupt signal having a cycle of 10 ms and sends it to the controller 6 to check whether the fold of the folded sheet is detected by the fold detector 8.

The printer 18 prints and outputs data based on a print command from the controller 6. Memory 14
Stores the data sent from the sampling means 3 to the controller 6 as daily report data or monthly report data. The operation unit 16 sends a command signal to the controller 6 and causes the printer 18 to output the daily report data or the monthly report data stored in the memory 14.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, the timer interrupt signal generation circuit 12 sends a timer interrupt signal to the controller 6 every 10 msec. When the controller 6 receives the timer interrupt signal, a timer interrupt is performed as shown in FIG. 4, and it is checked whether or not a fold is detected by the fold detector 8 (see step F21 in FIG. 2). If no fold is detected, the timer interrupt is terminated, and if a fold is detected, the number of lines from the printing section of the printer 18 to the fold is set in the line number counter 10 (see FIG. 2). See step F22). As shown in FIG. 4, the folding sheet 5 has a perforation 5a and a small hole 7a for perforation detection in addition to the perforation. This hole 7a is formed by, for example, a photoelectric detector. When the detector 8 detects it, it sends a detection signal to the controller 6. As shown in FIG. 5, the number of lines from the printing unit (not shown) of the printer 18 to the fold when the fold is detected by the fold detector 8 is determined by the structure of the print recorder 1 and the paper 5. It is a value that is set and is a constant value.

On the other hand, when a command signal is sent from the timer 4 to the controller 6, the controller 6 causes the sampling means 3 to sample the count value of the pulse counter 2 and obtain the count value to cause the printer 18 to print the count value. It is stored as daily report data and, if necessary, also as monthly report data. When printing on the printer 18, the controller 6 operates according to the flowchart of the printing process shown in FIG. First, the printer 18 is made to print one line (see step F31 in FIG. 3), and then it is checked whether the number of lines up to the fold is set in the line number counter 10 (see step F32). If it is not set, the printing process is ended, and if it is set, the process proceeds to step F33, and the count value of the line number counter 10 is decremented by 1. Next, it is checked whether the count value has become zero (step F
34), if the count value is not zero, the printing process is terminated, and if it is zero, the process proceeds to step F35, and the paper is fed for several lines (2 to 3 lines) to avoid printing at the fold.
Then, the count value of the line number counter is left unset (see step F36), and the printing process ends.

By operating the operation unit 16 by the operator to send an operation command signal to the controller 6, the data stored in the memory 14 can be output from the printer 18 as daily report data or monthly report data.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to avoid printing on the perforations, and it is possible to keep the quality of important record data such as a power supply and demand diary optimum.

In the above embodiment, the folding paper 5 is also used.
The paper jam can be detected by utilizing the fact that the hole 7a is always opened in the fold portion 5a. If the paper jams and becomes stuck, the controller 6 will
This is because the hole 7a cannot be detected even if the page equivalent is sent. Therefore, if the hole 7a cannot be detected even if the paper is fed for a certain length, the controller 6 may give an alarm as a paper jam.

In the above embodiment, the folding sheet 5 has the hole 7a formed in the fold portion 5a.
As shown in (a), corners may be cut off and cuts 7b may be provided in the folds 5a. Then, the cut 7b may be detected by the fold detector 8 including a photoelectric detector.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), the corners of the folding paper 5 are colored, and the folds 5a are provided with colored portions 7c.
The colored portion 7c may be detected by the fold detector 8 including an optical sensor.

The same effect can be obtained by storing the length of one page of the sheet 5 in the controller in advance without processing the sheet 5. When the paper is set on the recorder 1, the paper is fed to a specific position, the paper feed length is calculated each time the paper is fed thereafter based on the position at that time, and the paper is placed to avoid the fold at the fold position. Send it to the above specified position on the next page. In this case, the fold detector 8 becomes unnecessary.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to avoid printing on the fold portion, and the printed data can be accurately read.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a timer interrupt function of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a print processing function of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example in which a detection hole is provided in a fold portion of a folded sheet.

5 is a perspective view showing an overview of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example in which a detection mark is provided on a fold portion of a folded sheet.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an overview of a print recorder.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an overview of folding paper.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a problem of a conventional print recorder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 print recorder 2 pulse counter 3 sampling means 4 timer 5 folding paper 6 controller 8 fold detector 10 line number counter 12 timer interrupt signal generation circuit 14 memory 16 operation unit 18 printer 20 meter

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pulse counter for counting the number of pulses according to the amount of use sent from a meter, sampling means for sampling the count value of the pulse counter when a sampling command signal is received, and a first predetermined value. A time limit signal generating means for generating a time limit signal for each time, a fold detecting means for detecting a fold of a folded sheet, and a timer interrupt signal for each second predetermined time shorter than the first predetermined time. A timer interrupt signal generating means, a printing means for printing data on the folding paper, a line number counter for counting the number of lines of the folding paper, and a fold detecting means when the timer interrupt signal is received. It is checked whether or not a fold is detected, and when the fold is detected, the line number counter is set to a first value, and when the time limit signal is received, the support is performed. A sampling command signal is sent to the sampling means to sample the count value of the pulse counter, the sampled count value is printed on the folding sheet by the printing means, and the count value of the line number counter is set to a predetermined value. And a control means for changing and feeding the folding paper by a predetermined number when the count value of the line number counter reaches a second value. 2. A data storage means for storing the sampled count value as daily report data and monthly report data, and an operation command signal sent to the control means to convert the data stored in the storage means into daily report data or monthly report data. 2. The print recorder according to claim 1, further comprising: operating means for outputting from the printing means. 3. A fold detecting mark is provided on the fold portion of the folding paper, and the mark is one of a hole, a notch, or a colored portion provided in the fold portion. The print recorder according to claim 1, wherein the print recorder is provided.