JPH09307711A - Dot printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the dot printer on which an image scanner offering excellent operation convenience is mounted without malfunction such as accidental recording on an original or accidental reading of a recording medium. SOLUTION: The dot printer is provided with a controller so as to prevent malfunction, which controls start of reading of an original by an image scanner 9 after confirming it that a carried object is the original by reading an identification marker formed on the original toward an upper stream in the feeding direction by the image scanner in the case of reading, and controls start of recording by a recording head 5 after confirming it that a carried object is a recording medium through the reading by the image scanner 9 in the case of recording.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dot printer for performing desired recording on a recording medium by selectively driving the recording head while moving a carriage carrying the recording head along a platen. The present invention relates to a dot printer provided with an image scanner which is an image reading means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a predetermined recording medium is sandwiched between a conveying roller and a rotatable pressing roller which is brought into pressure contact with the conveying roller, and the conveying roller is rotated so that a space between the platen and the recording head is increased. Dot printers that perform desired recording on the recording medium by transferring the ink by selectively driving the recording head while moving the carriage carrying the recording head along the platen are often used. There is.

In recent years, an image scanner is attached to such a dot printer together with a recording head, and the document is conveyed between the platen and the image scanner by the conveying roller and the pressure contact roller, and a carriage equipped with the image scanner is mounted. While moving along the platen,
A dot printer has been proposed in which image information of the original is read by scanning an image scanner, and a print head is driven based on the read data to print on a predetermined print medium.

In such a dot printer, a user installs an original or a recording medium, and sequentially sets whether the medium to be used is the original or the recording medium by a selection switch or the like, and this setting is made. Depending on the operation, if it is set as a document, the image scanner is scanned to read the document, and if it is set as a recording medium, the recording head is driven and printing is controlled. Was there.

[0005]

However, in the dot printer described above, it is only necessary to successively set whether the medium used by the user is a document or a recording medium, and the user makes a mistake in setting. In that case, there is a problem in that the recording medium in a blank state is read, and conversely, the document is printed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and when a medium different from the medium set by the user is conveyed, it is processed as an error to provide a dot printer without malfunction. It is intended.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the dot printer according to the present invention is characterized in that, when a reading operation is performed, an identification marker formed on the upstream side in the document feeding direction is used. After confirming that the original has been conveyed by the conveyance mechanism by reading with the image scanner, control is performed to start reading the original with the image scanner, and when performing the recording operation, the recording medium is read by the image scanner. After confirming that, a control device for controlling the recording operation by the recording head is provided.

The dot printer according to the present invention is characterized in that the original has an identification marker formed on the upstream side in the feeding direction and the original is identified when the original is selected by the selecting means. After confirming that the original has been conveyed by the conveying mechanism by reading the marker with the image scanner, start reading the original with the image scanner and perform error processing when the identification marker cannot be read. The point is that a control device for controlling is provided.

Furthermore, the feature of the dot printer of the present invention according to claim 3 is that the identification marker is an original document in the image scanner when the medium is a recording medium selected by the selecting means. The above-mentioned control device is in the point of performing error processing, when it is confirmed that there is.

Further, the dot printer of the present invention adopts the above-mentioned configuration, so that the image scanner performs the reading operation of the identification marker portion after the carrying operation, and when the identification marker is read, the document is read. If it is determined that the medium has been conveyed, the image scanner is scanned to read the original, and if the identification marker cannot be read, it is determined that the medium is a recording medium, and if a medium different from the medium selected by the user is conveyed. Since error processing is performed, even if the user's setting and the conveyed medium are different, printing on the original or reading the recording medium,
Such an erroneous operation can be prevented, and the reading operation of the original or the printing operation on the recording medium can be surely performed.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a dot printer according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

1 to 4 show an embodiment of a thermal transfer printer as a dot printer according to the present invention, in which a frame 1 of the printer is provided with a plate-shaped platen 2 extending in the longitudinal direction. A carriage shaft 3 which is disposed between the both side surfaces of the frame 1 and which is located in front of the platen 2 and extends parallel to the platen 2.
Is supported. A carriage 4 is reciprocally attached to the carriage shaft 3 along the carriage shaft 3, and a thermal head 5 as a recording head is provided at the tip of the carriage 4 so as to face the platen 2. Is attached to the platen 2 so that it can be moved in and out of contact with the platen 2. An ink ribbon (not shown) is housed on the upper surface of the carriage 4, and a ribbon cassette 6 for guiding the ink ribbon between the thermal head 5 and the platen 2 is detachably mounted. Further, a winding bobbin 7 for winding the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette 6 is provided on the upper surface of the carriage 4.
And a delivery bobbin 8 for delivering the ink ribbon.

An image scanner 9 is disposed on one side of the carriage 4, and an opening 10 is formed on the surface of the image scanner 9 facing the platen 2 as shown in FIG. Has been done. Further, inside the image scanner 9 and on both sides of the opening 10,
A light emitting member 11 such as an incandescent lamp is arranged so as to be directed toward the opening 10. Further, inside the image scanner 9, the reflected light of the light emitted from the light emitting member 11 to the document is reflected. A sensor unit 12 including a lens unit for narrowing down, a light receiving element for receiving the light narrowed down by the lens unit, and the like is provided.

On the lower side of one end of the frame 1,
A carriage drive motor 13 is arranged such that its output shaft penetrates the upper surface of the frame 1. The output shaft of the carriage drive motor 13 has a drive pulley 14 rotatably driven by the carriage drive motor 13. Is provided. A driven pulley 15 is rotatably arranged on the upper surface of the other end of the frame 1, and a part of the driven pulley 15 is connected to the lower surface of the carriage 4 between the drive pulley 14 and the driven pulley 15. The carriage drive belt 16 is suspended. Then, the carriage drive motor 13 is rotationally driven to drive the carriage drive belt 16 via the drive pulley 14,
The carriage 4 is reciprocated along the carriage shaft 3 in parallel with the platen 2.

A transport roller 17 for transporting a predetermined medium is disposed below the rear portion of the platen 2,
Below the carrying roller 17, a plurality of pressure contact rollers 18 capable of being brought into pressure contact with the carrying roller 17 are rotatably arranged. Further, a medium paper feed unit is formed behind the frame 1, and the medium fed from the paper feed unit is rotated by a transport motor (not shown) to rotate the transport roller 17 to cause the transport roller to move. It is configured so that it is conveyed between the thermal head 5 and the platen 2 by means of 17 and a pressure contact roller 18. Further, above the platen 2, there is disposed a paper discharge roller 19 which conveys a recording medium after printing or a document after reading.

Further, a positioning marker 20 is formed on one side of the platen 2 of the frame 1, and the reference position of the carriage 4 is recognized by reading the positioning marker 20 by the image scanner 9. Has been done.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a control device for a thermal transfer printer as a dot printer according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the CPU 21 has a function depending on the type of recording medium used. Also connected are a ROM 22 in which printing conditions such as a thermal head energization condition and the like and a RAM 23 in which various data are stored are connected.
Then, the CPU 21 has the image scanner 9
The image information read by is sent, and the sent image information is processed by the CPU 21 into recording data and stored in the RAM 23. Further, from the CPU 21, a thermal head drive circuit 24 for controlling energization of the thermal head 5, a thermal head contact / separation operation circuit 25 for contact / separation operation of the thermal head 5 with respect to the platen 2, and an image scanner 9 are provided. An image scanner drive circuit 26 for performing drive control,
Control signals are respectively sent to the carriage drive motor drive circuit 27 and the transport roller drive circuit 28. The CPU 21 has a selection switch 35.
Is connected, and the user can select either the original or the recording medium by the selection switch 35.

6 to 8 show an embodiment of a document holder 29 used in the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, in which one side of a plate-shaped holder base 30 is made of a transparent plastic film or the like. A holder cover 31 made of a material is integrally formed by being bonded to the upper end portion of the holder base 30 with an adhesive. Furthermore, a weak adhesive portion 33 that gives a weak adhesive force between the holder base 30 and the holder cover 31 is formed on the one surface of the holder base 30. Then, the holder cover 3 is turned up against the adhesive force of the weak adhesive portion 33 to turn the holder cover 3
The holder cover 31 can be opened and closed with respect to 0, and is configured to hold a predetermined document between the holder base 30 and the holder cover 31. Further, in the present embodiment, a barcode-shaped identification marker 34 indicating the original holder 29 is formed on one side of the upper portion of the original holder 29, and the identification marker 34 is the image scanner. 9 can be read.

Next, the operation of this embodiment having the above-mentioned structure will be described.

First, a predetermined document is sandwiched between the holder base 30 and the holder cover 31 of the document holder 29. At this time, the document is reliably held between the holder base 30 and the holder cover 31 by the adhesive force of the weak adhesion portion 33 between the holder base 30 and the holder cover 31 described above, and the holder base 30 and the holder cover 31 are held together. Cover 3
1 and 1 are closely held.

Next, the original is read by the thermal transfer printer. In this case, the original holder 29 holding the above-mentioned original is set in the paper feeding section. And
When the document is selected by the selection switch 35,
The original document holder 29 holding the original document is conveyed between the carriage 4 and the platen 2 by rotating the conveying roller 17 according to a control signal from the CPU 21. At this time, since the holder base 30 and the holder cover 31 are in close contact with each other due to the weak adhesive portion 33, the deviation does not occur, and the document can be reliably fed.

When the original document holder 29 is conveyed, the image scanner 9 is driven while moving the carriage 4 to read the identification marker 34 of the original document holder 29. If the identification marker 34 is recognized, the original document holder 29 is correctly detected. Recognizing that the document has been conveyed, the operation shifts to a document reading operation. If the identification marker 34 cannot be recognized, it is determined that the document holder 29 is not conveyed correctly, and the CPU 21 performs error processing.

Subsequently, the carriage drive motor 13 is driven by a control signal from the CPU 21 to move the carriage to cause the image scanner 9 to scan the document in the lateral direction, and the light emitting member 11 irradiates the document with light. At the same time, the reflected light from the original is received by the image sensor unit 12 to read the image information of the original, and this image information is transmitted to the CPU 21. CPU
Reference numeral 21 creates a record data by performing an operation based on this image information, and stores this record data in the RAM 2
Store it in 3.

When the scanning for one scan is completed, the conveying roller 17 is driven to convey the original by the reading width of the image scanner 9, and the above operation is repeated again to read the next line, and the created recording data is obtained. RAM23
To memorize. By repeating such an operation, all the image information of the entire document is read, and the record data created based on the read image information is stored in the RAM 23. Then, the document holder 2 is moved by the paper discharge roller 19.
By discharging 9, the reading operation is completed.

Next, the recording medium is placed in the paper feeding section, and the selection switch 35 selects the recording medium. Then, the recording medium is conveyed between the thermal head 5 and the platen 2 by rotationally driving the conveying roller 17 according to a control signal from the CPU 1.

When the recording medium is conveyed, the image scanner 9 is driven while moving the carriage 4 to read the upper part of the recording medium. If nothing can be read, it is confirmed that the recording medium has been conveyed correctly. Recognize and perform the recording operation on the recording medium. In addition, the identification marker 34
When it is recognized, it is determined that the document is conveyed instead of the recording medium, and the CPU 21 performs error processing.

When the recording medium is correctly conveyed, CP
While the thermal head 5 is pressed against the platen 2 in response to a control signal from U21, the carriage driving motor 13 is driven to move the carriage 4, and the winding bobbin 7 is rotationally driven to wind the ink ribbon. By selectively heating the heating elements of the thermal head 5 based on the recording data stored in the RAM 23, desired recording can be performed on the recording medium.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the image scanner 9 causes the identification marker 34 after the carrying operation.
If the identification marker 34 is recognized and the identification marker 34 is recognized, it is determined that the document has been conveyed, the image scanner 9 is operated to perform the document reading operation, and if the identification marker 34 cannot be recognized, the recording is performed. When the medium is conveyed, the thermal head 5 is driven to perform the recording operation on the recording medium, but when the selection switch 35 selects the original, the identification marker 34 indicating the original holder 29 is identified. If the identification marker 34 indicating the document holder 29 is recognized when the recording medium is not selected or when the recording medium is selected by the selection switch 35, the CPU 21 performs the error processing, and thus the conveyed recording. By automatically recognizing the medium, you can reliably read only the original or record on the recording medium. Come, since there is no possible to erroneous operation can significantly enhance the usability.

Although the identification marker 34 is not formed on the recording medium in the above-described embodiment, the identification marker 34 different from the original holder 29 is formed on the recording medium. Recording medium identification marker 34
The original and the recording medium may be recognized by reading the identification marker 34 of the original holder 29 and the identification marker 34 of the original holder 29, respectively.

In the above-described embodiment, the read image information is calculated by the CPU 21 inside the printer to create recording data and stored in the RAM 23. However, the printer and an external computer are connected by an interface. It is also possible to create print data based on the image information in the computer, store the print data combined with other print data in the RAM 23, and perform printing based on the print data.

Further, the selection of the medium is performed by the selection switch 35.
Instead of using, the selection may be made by a signal from a computer to which the printer is connected.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the thermal transfer printer is used as the dot printer has been described, but the present invention can be applied to other types of dot printers such as an inkjet printer. is there.

[0033]

As described above, in the dot printer according to the present invention, the image scanner reads the portion corresponding to the identification marker after the feeding operation, and when the identification marker is recognized, it is determined that the original has been fed. The image scanner is operated to read the original, and if the identification marker cannot be recognized, the thermal head is driven as if the recording medium was conveyed and the recording operation is performed on the recording medium. When the identification marker indicating the original holder is not identified when the original is selected, or when the identification marker indicating the original holder is recognized when the recording medium is selected by the selection switch Since the CPU performs error processing, it automatically recognizes the medium to be conveyed and Only a read operation or a recording operation on the recording medium can be performed, so that no one can be erroneous operation, an excellent effect that can significantly enhance the usability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a main configuration of a thermal transfer printer which is an embodiment of a dot printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a configuration of a carriage portion of the thermal transfer printer shown in FIG.

3 is a plan view showing a configuration of an image scanner portion of the thermal transfer printer shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a main part of the thermal transfer printer shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a controller of a thermal transfer printer as a dot printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a holder cover of a document holder used in the dot printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a holder base of a document holder used in the dot printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional structural view of a document holder used in the dot printer according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Frame 2 Platen 4 Carriage 5 Thermal Head 9 Image Scanner 13 Carriage Drive Motor 16 Carriage Drive Belt 17 Conveyor Roller 21 CPU 22 ROM 23 RAM 29 Original Holder 35 Selection Switch

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A platen, a carriage reciprocally movable along the platen, a recording head and an image scanner mounted on the carriage, and a platen, a recording head and an image scanner for a desired document or recording medium. And a transport mechanism for transporting between
The original image is read by the image scanner, print data is created based on the read image information, and the print head is selectively driven based on the created print data to print on the print medium. When performing the reading operation, the dot printer is configured to read the identification marker formed on the upstream side in the feeding direction of the document with the image scanner, and the document is conveyed by the conveyance mechanism. After the confirmation, the image scanner is controlled to start reading the original document, and when the recording operation is performed, the recording head is confirmed by the recording head after confirming that the recording medium is read by the image scanner. Dot plot equipped with a control device that controls to start the recording operation. Linta. 2. A platen, a carriage reciprocally movable along the platen, a recording head and an image scanner mounted on the carriage, a desired document or recording medium, the platen, the recording head and the image. It has a transport mechanism for transporting between the scanner and the scanner, and selection means for selecting whether the medium transported by the transport mechanism is a document or a recording medium. A dot printer configured to create print data based on read image information and selectively drive the print head based on the created print data to print on the print medium. The identification marker is formed on the upstream side in the feeding direction, and the original is the original by the selecting means. When selected, the identification marker is read by the image scanner to confirm that the original is conveyed by the conveyance mechanism, and then the reading of the original by the image scanner is started and the identification marker is read. A dot printer equipped with a control device that controls to perform error processing when it is not possible. 3. The control device performs error processing when the selection means selects the recording medium as the recording medium and when the image scanner confirms that the identification marker is the original. The dot printer according to claim 2.