JPH09286143A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to house printing data in a printing range desired by a user by a method wherein a recording means for printing image on the medium to be recorded and a storing means of image information are equipped so as to carry out printing after being process by processing means so that the image information is housed on a printing range. SOLUTION: When a printing range size is imputted by a user, the orienting range size is compared with the printing size of printing data stored in a storage part 16. When the printing range size is larger than the printing size of the printing data, a controlling part 14 transfers the printing data to a driving part 17, which drives a recording head 45 in order to carry out printing. When the printing range size is smaller than the printing size of the printing data, the controlling parts calculates a reduction magnification so as to house the printing data in a printing range in order to apply reduction treatment to the printing data stored in the storage part 16 and transfer data to the driving part 17 for carrying out printing through a recording head 45. Thus, even when the printing range is limited, the printing result desired by a user is easily obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus which prints by manually, automatically or semi-automatically scanning a recording medium, and is particularly preferable when a printing area on the recording medium is limited. The present invention relates to a printing device capable of selecting various printing results.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a manually scanned printing apparatus, the speed of movement on a recording medium is not constant. A displacement detecting device for detecting a change in relative position with respect to the medium is provided. In this displacement detection device, a change in the relative position caused by the print head moving on the recording medium is performed by rotating a roller that moves together with the print head on the recording medium. That is, by detecting the rotation angle of the roller, the relative position change between the print head and the recording medium is detected, and the position of the print head is detected.

As described above, in the conventional printing apparatus, the displacement detecting device detects a change in the relative position between the print head and the recording medium, and controls the print head in synchronization with the detection result, whereby the moving speed is not constant. In this case, good printing can be performed. Further, the printing apparatus having such a configuration can easily print on an arbitrary position on the recording medium, and can print on, for example, a thick book or a document that has been bound or a large-sized sheet. it can.

[0004]

However, while the above-mentioned printing apparatus can print at an arbitrary position on the recording medium, the size of the area occupied by the data to be printed on the recording medium is large. Since the size is not known to the user in advance, the print result often overflows the area to be printed. Therefore, in order to obtain a print result that fits in the print area desired by the user, test printing is performed on another paper in advance, and the character size is adjusted so that the print result fits in the print area. As a result, there was a problem that it became a very troublesome work. Further, in the conventional printing apparatus, there is only a method of reducing the character size in order to fit in the printing area, and when the printing area is considerably small with respect to the printed image, the reduction ratio of the character becomes large. As a result, there is a problem that the character size becomes unreadable even if it fits in the print area.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a printing apparatus capable of printing so that print data can be contained within a print area on a recording medium desired by a user. Is intended to provide.

[0006]

To achieve this object, in a printer according to claim 1 of the present invention, recording means for printing an image on a recording medium and an image forming the image. A storage means for storing information and a print area setting means for setting a print area on the recording medium are provided so that the processing means can store the image information in the print area set by the print area setting means. Since the printing is performed by applying the processing to (1), the printing result desired by the user can be easily obtained even when the printing area is limited.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the second aspect, the processing means has at least two kinds of processing so that the image information stored in the storage means fits within the printing area set by the printing area setting means. Since the processing means is provided with a selecting means capable of selecting at least one or more kinds of processing methods from the kinds of processing in the processing means, a processing method desired by the user can be selected from a large number of kinds of processing. An easy-to-read print result can be easily obtained in the designated print area.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, one of the processing methods in the processing means is provided with processing for reducing and printing the image information, so that the printing area setting means stores it in the storage means. Even if a considerably small print area is set for the obtained image information, it is possible to obtain a print result that fits within the print area.

In the printing apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the invention, one of the processing methods of the processing means is provided with a process of dividing the image information into a plurality of lines and printing the image information. It is possible to obtain a print result that fits within the set print area while maintaining an appropriate size without reducing the size more than necessary.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view showing the external appearance of the printing apparatus of this embodiment. The body 1 of the printing apparatus has a cylindrical shape and is configured to be easily supported by a user with his or her hand. The roller 42 is rotatably provided at the tip of the body 1. The surface of the roller 42 is made of an elastic material such as rubber. An inkjet recording head 45 is arranged beside the roller 42. The inkjet recording head 45 constitutes the recording means of the present invention. At the other end of the body portion 1, an interface portion 3 for infrared communication for transmitting / receiving print data to / from an external device (not shown) such as a PC is provided. Further, on the side surface of the body portion 1, a mode selection switch 4 for switching the operation mode (data input mode / printing mode) of the printing apparatus, and the size of the printing area on the recording medium (paper) are set. Print area setting switch 5 and display section 6 for confirming the setting status
Is provided. The mode selector switch 5
Also serves as a power switch for turning on / off the power of the printing apparatus. The print area setting switch 5 constitutes the print area setting means of the present invention.

That is, in the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the user holds the body 1 by hand with the print data or the like input from an external device such as a personal computer and contacts the roller 42 on the recording medium (paper or the like). It is a device for printing on a recording medium by manually scanning while rotating.

FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram for explaining the internal configuration of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The internal configuration of the printing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.

At the tip of the body portion 1, a roller 42 is constructed so as to be rotatable around the shaft 8. An inkjet recording head 45 is arranged beside the roller 42. The ink jet recording head 45 is arranged such that the front end portion of the recording medium (paper) has a constant gap.

An ink tank 7 for supplying ink to the ink jet recording head 45 is arranged above the ink jet recording head 45. Roller 42
A pulley 9 is arranged on the rotation center shaft 8 so as to rotate with the rotation of the roller 42. The belt 10 is drawn around the pulley 9, and the rotational force of the pulley 9 that rotates with the rotation of the roller 42 is applied to the encoder 1 described later.
It is configured to transmit to one rotating disc 12. The encoder 11 is arranged near the center of the body 1. The rotating disk 12 is provided with slits 12a and 12b on the circumference at predetermined intervals, and the rotating disk 12 is rotated by the photo interrupter 13 of the encoder 11 which is turned on / off by the rotation of the slits 12a and 12b.
Is converted into an electric pulse signal and input to the control unit 14 described later. Slit 12b
Are formed with a 90 ° phase shift with respect to the slit 12a.

On the side opposite to the roller 42 of the body 1, the above-mentioned ink jet recording head 45, the electric pulse signal of the photo interrupter 13, and the interface section 3 and the like provided for receiving print data from the outside, which will be described later, etc. A control unit 14 for controlling is arranged.
Further, a power source 15 for supplying electric power to each functional block described later is arranged in the vicinity thereof. The power supply 15 is composed of a power supply unit such as a small primary battery or a secondary battery and a device for stabilizing the power.

Next, a method of detecting the amount of movement and the direction of movement of the encoder 11 when the printing apparatus of this embodiment is manually scanned will be described with reference to FIG.

The roller 42 is rotated by scanning the recording medium with this printing apparatus. FIG. 3 is for explaining the detection waveform of the photo interrupter 13 when the roller 42 is rotating in the right direction and the left direction, and in the case of the right rotation, as shown in the figure, the slit 12b is formed. The detected waveform is detected with a 90 ° phase delay with respect to the slit 12a. In the case of counterclockwise rotation, the detection waveform of the slit 12b is detected with the phase advanced by 90 degrees from the detection waveform of the slit 12a. Therefore, the rotational direction of the roller 42 can be detected by detecting the phase shift between the two waveforms. Further, by counting the number of pulses of the detection waveform of the photo interrupter 13, the movement amount of the printing device can be detected. That is, the present printing apparatus drives the ink jet recording head 45 based on the signal detected as described above to always perform normal printing even if the change in the moving speed on the recording medium changes. You can

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the electrical construction of the printing apparatus of this embodiment. In the figure, a control unit (microcomputer) 14 is connected to a storage device 20 (ROM) containing a control program for controlling each functional block according to a predetermined program. The control unit 14 is connected to the interface unit 3, the mode changeover switch 4, the print area setting switch 5, and the display unit 6 described above. The signal after the rotation speed of the encoder 11 is converted into the electric pulse signal is input to the control unit 14.
Further, a storage unit (RAM) 16 for storing print data input from the interface unit 3 and a drive unit 17 for driving the inkjet recording head 45 are similarly connected to the control unit 14. Each of these functional blocks is built in the body 1 of the manual scanning printer shown in FIG. The storage unit 16 is a storage unit of the present invention, and the control unit 14 constitutes a processing unit of the present invention.

Next, a method of setting a print area in the printing apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged external view of a print area setting switch 5 and a display unit 6 provided on the body 1.

First, the interface unit 3 from the external device
The print data input through the storage unit 16 is stored in the storage unit 16, and the print length when the print data is printed is shown in FIG.
Is displayed on the display unit 6 as shown in. This allows the user to know the print length of the print data that is intended for printing. When the user specifies the print area on the recording medium, the UP / DOWN switches 5a and 5b are used.
By pressing, the size of the desired print area is input and set. The print area size set in this way is temporarily stored and held in a register in the storage unit 16 or the control unit 14. If the print area desired by the user is 50 mm, the user sets the print area by continuously pressing the DOWN switch 5b until the print length displayed on the display unit 6 reaches 50 mm.

The operation of the printing apparatus of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described with reference to the schematic diagram of the printing result shown in FIG. 6 and the flowchart of FIG.

The printing device of the present embodiment operates according to a predetermined program stored in the storage device 20 described above. First, when the switch 4 is set to the input mode (step 1, hereinafter referred to as S1; other steps are also the same), the control unit 14 sets the print data to be receivable from an external device such as a PC and the print data is transferred to the external device. It waits until the infrared signal is input to the interface unit 3 (S2). When the control unit 14 detects the input of print data, the print data is temporarily stored in the storage unit 16 (S
3). At this time, the control unit 14 converts the print data input from the external device into a format of data that can be easily printed by the inkjet recording head 45 and stores the data in the storage unit 16. It is possible to reduce the load of printing processing in.

Next, when the print mode is designated by the switch 4 in S1, the control unit 14 determines whether or not the print data is already stored in the storage unit 16 (S4).
When print data is stored in the storage unit 16, the control unit 1
Reference numeral 4 calculates the print length of the print data, displays the value on the display unit 6, and waits for the user to input the print area size from the print area setting switch 5 (S5).

When the user inputs the print area size, the print area size is compared with the print size of the print data stored in the storage unit 16 (S6). If the print size of the print data is smaller than the print area size (S6: N), the control unit 14 transfers the print data to the drive unit 17, and the drive unit 17 drives the inkjet recording head 45 to print. Is performed (S9).

On the other hand, when the print size of the print data is larger than the set print area size (S6: Y), the controller 14 calculates the reduction ratio so that the print data fits in the print area (S7). Reduction processing is performed on the print data stored in the storage unit 16 based on the reduction ratio (S
8) The data is transferred to the drive unit 17 and printing is performed via the inkjet recording head 45 (S9).

That is, as shown in FIG.
If the print length of the print data stored in 6 is 100 mm and the user specifies a value of 50 mm as the print area size in S5, the control unit 14
Prints the image information stored in the storage unit 16 by performing 50% reduction processing so that the print length is within 50 mm. In this way, the user can easily obtain a print result that fits within the print area simply by setting the desired print area on the recording medium.

In the above embodiment, the method in which the control unit 14 reduces the print data when the print data does not fit within the designated print area has been described. However, the print data is divided into a plurality of lines and printed. FIG. 8 for the case of performing the processing
This will be described with reference to FIG. Note that, in FIG. 8, the same steps as those in FIG. 7 are omitted from the illustration and description thereof.

First, in S6, when it is determined that the print size of the print data is larger than the set print area size, the control unit 14 displays a selectable processing method on the display unit 6 and uses it. Request the operator to select the processing method. When the user operates the selection switch 50 (see FIG. 4) to select the column processing (S10: Y), the control unit 14 calculates the number of lines so that the print data fits in the print area (S11). , The print data stored in the storage unit 16 is divided based on the number of lines (S12), the data is transferred to the drive unit 17, and the inkjet recording head 4
Printing is performed via 5 (S9). Therefore, the selection switch 50 constitutes the selection means of the present invention. In this way, even when the printing area is narrow, by performing column printing, it is possible to obtain a printing result in which the character size is appropriately maintained.

The number of lines to be divided here may be set by the user.

Further, not only one of the reduction process and the column process, but also both processes may be performed.

Further, processing for closing the space between characters may be performed.

[0033]

As is apparent from the above description, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the storage means for storing the image information and the printing area on the recording medium are set. The print area is limited because the processing means performs the printing so that the image information stored in the storage means fits within the print area set by the print area setting means. Even in this case, the printing result desired by the user can be easily obtained.

In the printer according to the second aspect, the processing means has at least two kinds of processing methods, and the selecting means can select at least one kind of processing from the processing of the processing means. Therefore, it is possible to make a selection desired by the user from various processes, and it is possible to easily obtain an easy-to-read print result in a limited print area.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the third aspect, one of the processings in the processing means is provided with processing for reducing and printing the image information, so that the printing area setting means stores it in the storage means. Even if a considerably small print area is set for the image information, it is possible to obtain a print result that fits within the print area.

In the printer according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, one of the processes in the processing means is provided with a process of dividing the image information into a plurality of lines and printing the image information. It is possible to obtain a print result that fits within the set print area while maintaining an appropriate size without being reduced more than necessary.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a method of detecting a movement amount and a movement direction of the printing device.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged external view of a part of the printing device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a printing result of the printing device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a print control operation of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining a print control operation of the printing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 print area setting switch 16 storage unit 42 roller 45 inkjet recording head 14 control unit 50 selection switch

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A recording unit for printing an image on a recording medium, a storage unit for storing image information for forming the image, and a printing region for setting a printing region on the recording medium. A printing apparatus comprising: a setting unit; and a processing unit that processes and prints the image information so that the image information fits in the printing area. 2. The processing means has at least two types of processing for storing the image information in the print area, and selects at least one type of processing method from the processing of the processing means. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a selection unit for selecting. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the processes in the processing means is a process of reducing and printing the image information. 4. The printer according to claim 1, wherein one of the processes in said processing means is a process of dividing said image information into a plurality of lines and printing.