JPH09327946A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To fall an image within a printing area desired by a user by measuring a scanning distance at the time of scanning a printer before scanning printing, calculating the area on a medium to be recorded in response to the distance, and processing so that an image falls within the area. SOLUTION: First, a manual operation type printer is scanned so that a roller 42 is brought into contact with a medium to be recorded. At this time, a printing area set switch 5 is set at starting and ending positions of a desired printing area. A controller 14 calculate a desired printing area from an output signal of an encoder 11 at a set section distance. Then, a printing area size is compared with a print size of print data stored in a memory. The controller 14 calculates a reducing magnification so that the data falls within the printing area, contracts the data stored based on the magnification, and prints it. Thus, the area can be simply set.

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 that can obtain 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 it in the printing area, and when the printing area is considerably small with respect to the printed image, the character reduction rate is 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 to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a printing apparatus capable of printing so that an image fits within a printing area on a recording medium desired by a user. It is intended to be provided.

[0007]

In order to achieve this object, in a printing apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention, an image is printed on a recording medium by scanning the recording medium. In the printing apparatus, the print area calculation means for measuring the scan distance when the scan is performed prior to the print scan and calculating the print area on the recording medium according to the measured distance, and the print area A processing unit for processing the image so that the image fits within the print area calculated by the calculation unit, and the processing unit performs processing so that the image fits within the print area calculated by the print area calculation unit and performs printing. Therefore, even when the print area is limited, the print result desired by the user can be easily obtained.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the second aspect, the processing means has at least two kinds of processing so that the image fits within the printing area set by the printing area calculating means. Since there is provided a selection means capable of selecting at least one processing method from among various kinds, it is possible to select a processing method desired by the user from among various kinds of processing, and read in a limited printing area. Easy printing results can be easily obtained.

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

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, one of the processing methods of the processing means is provided with a process of dividing the image into a plurality of lines and printing the image. 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.

[0011]

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 changeover switch 4 for switching the operation mode (data input mode / printing area calculation mode / printing mode) of the printing apparatus, and the size of the printing area on the recording medium (paper). A print area setting switch 5 for setting the height and a display section 6 for confirming the setting status are provided. The mode changeover switch 4 also serves as a power switch for turning on / off the power of the printing apparatus.

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 the present printing device. 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 control unit 14 constitutes the processing means of the present invention.

Next, a method of calculating the print area in the printing apparatus of this embodiment will be described. When the user calculates the print area on the recording medium, first, the mode changeover switch 4 is set to the print area calculating mode, and scanning is performed so that the roller 42 contacts the recording medium. At this time, the print area setting switch 5 is set at each of the start position and the end position of the desired print area. Control unit 14
Is the encoder 1 at the set interval distance
The desired print area is calculated from the output signal of 1.
The print area size calculated in this way is temporarily stored and held in the storage unit 16 or a register in the control unit 14. Here, the print area setting switch 4, the encoder 11 and the control section 14 constitute the print area calculating means in the present invention. As described above, in the present embodiment, the print area can be easily set by scanning a desired distance.

The operation of the printing apparatus of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described based on the schematic diagram of the printing result shown in FIG. 5 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: Y, 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 It waits for an infrared signal from an external device to be 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 (S3). 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.

When a print area calculation mode other than the input mode is designated in S1 (S1: N, S4:
Y) As described above, the operator scans the print area on the recording medium to calculate the print area (S5).

When the print mode is designated (S1:
N, S4: N, S6: Y), the control unit 14 determines whether or not the print data is already stored in the storage unit 16 (S).
7). When the print data is stored in the storage unit 16, the control unit 14 calculates the print length of the print data and displays the value on the display unit 6. Further, it is determined whether or not the print area has been calculated (S8).

When the print area is set by the user, the print area size is compared with the print size of the print data stored in the storage section 16 (S9). If the print size of the print data is smaller than the print area size (S9: 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 (S12). Note that S
When it is determined by 8 that the print area is not set, the stored print data is printed in the same print size.

On the other hand, when the print size of the print data is larger than the set print area size (S9: Y), the controller 14 calculates the reduction ratio so that the print data fits in the print area (S10). Reduction processing is performed on the print data stored in the storage unit 16 based on the reduction ratio (S
11), data is transferred to the drive unit 17 and printing is performed via the inkjet recording head 45 (S12).

That is, as shown in FIG.
If the print length of the print data stored in 6 is 100 mm, and the user sets the print area size in S5 and a value of 50 mm is calculated, the control unit 14 is stored in the storage unit 16. The image information is subjected to a reduction process of 50% so that the print length is within 50 mm and printing is performed. 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 in the designated print area has been described. However, the print data is divided into a plurality of lines and printed. FIG. 7 shows the case of performing the processing
This will be described with reference to FIG. Note that, in FIG. 7, the same steps as those in FIG. 6 are omitted and the description thereof is omitted.

First, in S9, 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. Then, when the user operates the selection switch 50 (see FIG. 4) to select the column processing (S13: Y), the control unit 14 calculates the number of lines so that the print data fits in the print area (S14). , The print data stored in the storage unit 16 is divided based on the number of lines (S15), the data is transferred to the drive unit 17, and the inkjet recording head 4
Printing is performed via 5 (S12). 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.

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

[0034]

As is apparent from the above description, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the scanning distance is measured when scanning is performed prior to the printing scanning, and the measured distance is set to the measured distance. In accordance with the print area calculation means for calculating the print area on the recording medium, the processing means performs processing so that the image information stored in the storage means falls within the print area calculated by the print area calculation means. Since printing is performed, even when the printing area is limited, the printing area can be easily set and the printing result desired by the user can be easily obtained.

In the printing apparatus 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.

In the printing apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, one of the processings in the processing means is provided with processing for reducing and printing the image, so that the printing area calculation means is considerably smaller than the image. Even when the print area is calculated, it is possible to obtain a print result that fits within the print area.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, one of the processings in the processing means is provided with the processing of dividing the image into a plurality of lines and printing, so that an image such as a character string is required. It is possible to obtain a print result that fits within the set print area while maintaining an appropriate size without reduction.

[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 a schematic diagram showing a printing result of the printing device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a print control operation of the printing device.

FIG. 7 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 11 encoder 16 storage unit 42 roller 45 inkjet recording head 14 control unit 50 selection switch

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. In a printing device for printing an image on a recording medium by scanning the recording medium, the scanning distance is measured when scanning is performed prior to the printing scanning, and the measurement is performed. A print area calculating unit for calculating a print area on the recording medium according to a distance; and a processing unit for processing the image so that the image fits within the print area calculated by the print area calculating unit. A printing device characterized by being provided. 2. The processing means has at least two kinds of processing for accommodating the image in the print area, and for selecting at least one kind of processing method from among the processing of the processing means. 2. The printer according to claim 1, further comprising a selection unit. 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein one of the processes in said processing means is a process of reducing and printing said image. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the processes in the processing means is a process of printing the image by dividing the image into a plurality of lines.