JPH10114089A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a printer in which print quality is prevented from deterioration without requiring any temperature sensor by sustaining an appropriate print density even if the ambient temperature is dropped. SOLUTION: The printer comprises a paper thickness detecting section for detecting the thickness of a slip sheet, a RTC(real time clock) outputting a calendar day, and a dip switch for setting validity/invalidity of a function for switching the printing conditions depending on the date and the moths for starting and ending the switching interval of that function. When the slip sheet is thicker than a preset thickness and the date comes within a switching interval, moving speed of a carriage is decreased and conduction time of an impact pad is prolonged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus having a print head and performing printing operation control including control of the print head to perform printing on predetermined paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is known a printing apparatus having an impact head for printing on a slip sheet in which a plurality of sheets are stacked. The slip sheet has an ink layer applied on the back surface of each sheet, or a transfer carbon paper with an ink layer formed between each sheet is inserted, and printing is performed on the top surface. By doing so, exactly the same printing is performed on all the sheets stacked underneath.

As an impact head, a plurality of printing elements are constituted by magnets, solenoids, wires (pins), and the like. By controlling the energization of the solenoids, the wires fly out and collide with paper with an ink ribbon sandwiched therebetween. Thus, printing is performed by transferring the ink of the ink ribbon to paper. The impact force (impact force) between the wire and the paper at this time determines the density of the print.

By the way, the hardness (viscosity) of the ink layer or the ink layer applied to the back side of each sheet of the slip paper and the ink layer of the carbon paper changes depending on the temperature, and is printed with the same impact force by the impact head. However, when the ambient temperature is high, the ink hardness is low and the transferability is high, and the print density is high. When the temperature is low, the ink hardness is high and the transferability is low, and the print density is low. Become. The impact force of the impact head is also slightly increased or decreased depending on the use environment temperature, for example, because lubricating oil or grease is used to reduce the sliding resistance of the wire. In addition, in other print heads, for example, thermal heads, the print density changes depending on the use environment temperature.

[0005]

As described above, in the printing apparatus, when the use environment temperature changes, the print density slightly changes, especially when printing on a slip sheet in the winter season. There is a problem in that the copy characters on the lowermost position of the slip sheet are thin and difficult to see. In general, in a printing apparatus, there has been a problem that when the use environment temperature in the winter season is lowered, the print density is reduced and the print quality is reduced. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-55150 describes that the temperature of the impact head is detected to optimally vary the energy applied to the drive coil of the impact head.
The document describes that the temperature of the printing mechanism is detected and the stop position of the carriage of the print head is corrected, but there is a problem that a temperature sensor needs to be provided in each case. Furthermore, since the temperature sensor detects the temperature of the print head, in order to solve the above problem more accurately, a separate temperature sensor for detecting the operating environment temperature must be provided at a position away from the print head. There was a problem that had to be.

Accordingly, the present invention does not require a temperature sensor, and can maintain a proper print density even when the use environment temperature is lowered, thereby preventing a print quality from deteriorating. It is intended to provide a device.

[0007]

The invention corresponding to claim 1 is:
In a printing apparatus having a print head and performing printing operation control including control of the print head to perform printing on paper, month and day information generating means for generating month and day information, and a month generated by the month and day information generating means And a printing operation control changing means for changing the printing operation control based on the day information so as to maintain the same printing state with respect to the environmental change due to the month and day.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an impact head, and a carriage for transporting the impact head in a main scanning direction orthogonal to a transport direction of a slip sheet on which a plurality of copy sheets are stacked, and the transport is controlled. In a printing apparatus for printing on a slip sheet by controlling an impact head and a carriage, a date information generating means for generating date information, and a date based on the date information generated by the date information generating means. Impact printing operation control changing means for changing and controlling the energizing time to the impact head and the moving speed of the carriage so as to maintain the same printing state with respect to a change in the ambient temperature.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an impact head and a carriage which transports the impact head in a main scanning direction orthogonal to a transport direction of a slip sheet on which a plurality of sheets are stacked, and the transport is controlled. In a printing apparatus that performs printing by controlling an impact head and a carriage on a sheet, a date information generating unit that generates date information, a sheet thickness information generating unit that generates thickness information of a slip sheet,
The impact printing operation control changing means is required to change the ambient temperature according to the date and the thickness of the slip sheet based on the date information generated by the date information generating means and the thickness information generated by the sheet thickness information generating means. Impact printing operation control means for changing and controlling the power supply time to the impact head and the moving speed of the carriage so as to maintain the same printing state with respect to the change in the impact force.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a slip issuing apparatus 1 to which the present invention is applied. This slip issuing device 1
Has a function of creating and editing character data. The created character data can be printed on a slip sheet and issued. 2 is the slip image (format image)
) Is a display (liquid crystal display) that displays input or created character data, and displays various messages as necessary.

A floppy disk drive 3 is disposed on the right side of the display 2, a keyboard 4 is disposed on a lower front portion of the display 1, and a printer unit 5 is disposed on the back side of the display 2. I have. The entrances 6 and 7 for the slip sheet to the printer unit 5 are provided at two places, that is, a lower part and an upper part of the back surface of the display 1, and can be carried in by any method depending on the application. In addition, a knob 8 for moving the loaded slip sheet to a printing position is provided on the right side of the slip issuing apparatus 1.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the main circuit configuration of the slip issuing device 1. Reference numeral 11 denotes a CPU (central processing unit) constituting the control unit body. This C
R storing the program data of the processing performed by the PU 11
OM (read only memory) 12, RA in which various memory areas used when the CPU 11 performs processing are formed.
M (random access memory) 13, VRAM (visual RAM) for expanding data to be displayed on the display 2
) 14, a CG (character generator) 15 for developing a character code into a dot image, an NVRAM (non-volatile RAM) 1
6. Various settings are made, and a dip switch 17 that is read when the power is turned on, and a paper thickness detection unit 18 as a paper thickness information generating unit that detects the thickness of the paper carried in from the entrances 6 and 7 of the slip paper. A connected I / O (input / output) port 19 and an RTC (real time clock) 20 as a month / day information generating means for measuring the year, month, day, and time having a calendar function and outputting calendar data are provided. Are connected to the CPU 11 via a system bus 21, respectively. Further, the CPU 11 is connected via the system bus 21 to a hard disk drive 22 in which various data are stored.
, A floppy disk controller 24 for controlling the floppy disk device 3, a keyboard controller 25 for controlling the keyboard 4, a display controller 26 for controlling the display 2, and data transmission with the printer unit 5. It is connected to a printer interface 27 for controlling.

The paper thickness detecting section 18 comprises a pressing member, a pressure sensor, a torque limiter and the like used when adjusting the gap between the impact head and the slip sheet. That is, to adjust the gap, the rotational movement of the motor is changed to a linear movement so that the pressing member comes into contact with the slip sheet, and the pressure (torque) received by the pressing member from the slip sheet
Is detected by the pressure sensor. The position of the front surface of the slip sheet can be determined from the position of the tip of the pressing member at the moment when the detection output (torque) from the pressure sensor exceeds the upper limit set by the torque limiter. The position (height) of the carriage is adjusted so that the tip of the impact head is located at a position separated by a predetermined distance from this position. Therefore, at this time, if the position of the upper surface of the guide of the transport path supporting the slip sheet is used as an absolute reference, the distance from this absolute reference to the position of the leading end of the pressing member is detected as the thickness of the slip sheet.

When a floppy disk 3-1 storing program data for a printing condition setting process described later is set in the floppy disk device 3, the floppy disk controller 24 controls the floppy disk device 3 to The program data stored in the floppy disk 3-1 is read and transferred to the RAM 13.

FIG. 3A shows the DIP switch 17.
It is a figure showing arrangement of. The dip switch 17 is
The first group 17-1 and the second group 17-2 each include eight switches. No. 1 of the first group 17-1. No. 1 to No. The switches up to No. 7 are provided for performing various settings, respectively. The switch 8 is provided for setting whether the function of switching the printing condition according to the date is invalid (OFF) or valid (ON). The second group 17-2 is provided for setting a switching period in a function of switching printing conditions according to the date. That is, No. No. 1 to No. The switch 4 is used to form a 4-digit binary number and the end month of the switching period is set.
o. 5 to No. 5 The switch 8 sets a four-digit binary number and sets the start month of the switching period. For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the second group 17-2 is set, the end month of the switching period is March, and the start month of the switching period is December. That is, from December to March, the printing conditions are set by increasing the impact force as described later.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a printing condition setting program transferred from the floppy disk 3-1 to the RAM 13 or the hard disk drive 22.
The program data for the print condition setting process is installed in the
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow of a printing condition setting process performed by the CPU 11 based on a printing condition setting process program transferred to the CPU 13. First, based on the data output from the paper thickness detection unit 18, it is determined whether or not the set slip paper has a thickness of four or more standard papers (thick paper). here,
If it is determined that the paper is not thick paper, the printer interface 2
7, a carriage speed of 1800 pps (pulse / se) stored in a designated area (first printing condition area, not shown) of the hard disk drive 22 to the printer unit 5.
c) The print condition setting data of the head energization time of 230 μsec is output, and the print condition setting process is terminated.

If it is determined that the paper is a thick paper, the DIP switch 17 of the first group 17-1 has the No. Based on whether the switch 8 is ON or OFF, it is determined whether or not the function of switching the printing conditions according to the date is enabled. Here, the No. of the first group 17-1 of the DIP switches 17 is set. If the switch of No. 8 is OFF and it is determined that the function of switching the printing conditions according to the date is not validated (invalid), the process proceeds to step 1 (ST1) to the printer unit 5 via the printer interface 27. The carriage speed 1500p stored in a designated area (second printing condition area, not shown) of the hard disk drive 22
The print condition setting data of ps and the head energizing time of 250 μsec are output, and the print condition setting process is completed.

Further, the No. of the first group 17-1 of the DIP switches 17 is the same. When the switch of No. 8 is ON and it is determined that the function of switching the printing condition according to the date is valid, the switch is set based on the calendar data output from the RTC 20 and the switches of the second group 17-2 of the DIP switches 17. Calendar data is in the second group 17-2
It is determined whether or not it is within the switching period set by. Here, if it is determined that the calendar data is not within the switching period (outside the switching period), the process proceeds to the above-described step 1. If it is determined that the calendar data is within the switching period, the hard disk device 2 is sent to the printer unit 5 via the printer interface 27.
2 designated area (third printing condition area, not shown)
The print condition setting data of the print speed of 1200 pps and the head energization time of 270 .mu.sec stored in (1) is output (impact print operation control change means), and the print condition setting process is terminated.

Although not shown, the printer unit 5 includes an impact head, an energization control unit for controlling the energization of the impact head, a carriage having the impact head mounted thereon, and the carriage being orthogonal to the conveying direction of the slip sheet. A carriage motor for moving in the main scanning direction, a transport motor as a drive source for transporting the slip sheet, and the like are provided. The rotation speed of the carriage carriage motor is determined based on print condition setting data input from the printer interface 27. To control the amount of electric power supplied to the impact head by the power supply control unit.

In this embodiment having such a configuration, the N group of the first group 17-1
o. By turning on the switch No. 8 and setting the binary numbers 3 and 12 to the second group 17-2 as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the RTC 2
If the calendar data output from 0 is within the switching period from December to March, special printing conditions (carriage speed) with a higher impact force than the normal printing conditions (carriage speed 1500 pps, head energizing time 250 μsec) (Speed: 1200 pps, head energization time: 270 μsec)
Is set. That is, the moving speed of the impact head by the carriage is reduced, and the power supplied to the impact head is increased. Accordingly, the area of one dot by the wire is reduced, and the impact force of the wire against the slip sheet is increased, so that the impact force is increased.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the sheet thickness detector 18 for detecting the thickness of the slip sheet, the RTC 20 for outputting calendar data, and the validity / invalidity of the function for switching the printing condition depending on the date and time are determined. And a dip switch 17 for setting the end month and the start month of the switching period in the function. When the thickness is equal to or greater than a preset thickness and the date is in the switching period, the moving speed of the carriage is reduced to extend the energizing time to the impact head, thereby increasing the thickness of the cardboard during the switching period. The impact force can be increased more than usual.

Therefore, if the switching period is set in the winter season when the use environment temperature is low, even if the use environment temperature is low, it is possible to reliably prevent the print density from being reduced without providing a temperature sensor, and to appropriately control the temperature. The density can be maintained, and a decrease in print quality can be prevented. As a result, there is no need to provide a temperature sensor and a circuit for processing an output signal from the temperature sensor, and there is no problem due to failure of those circuits. However, when thin paper is used and when the use environment temperature is high, power consumption can be reliably saved, and the effect of reliably preventing the print quality from being reduced with a simple configuration can be obtained.

In this embodiment, it is determined whether or not it is within the switching period in the function for switching the printing condition based on the date according to the calendar data from the RTC 20.
The present invention is not limited to this. For example, in this slip issuing device, since date data to be written on a slip is always input, the input date data (month data of)
May be used to determine whether or not it is within the switching period. Further, in order to check the thickness of the slip sheet (determining whether or not the sheet is thick), the sheet thickness detecting unit 18 for automatically detecting the thickness of the slip sheet is provided. 18
, The thickness of the slip sheet may be confirmed based on the number of slip sheets input from the keyboard 4.

In this embodiment, the switching period is set by the dip switch 17.
The valid / invalid flag of the printing condition switching function and the period data may be stored in a predetermined area of a VRAM (non-volatile RAM) 16 and the printing condition setting process shown in FIG. 4 may be performed by referring to this area. It is. Further, the period data is not limited to the one that sets the month data, but may be a period based on the literary calendar, for example, from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox day. Further, in this embodiment, the description has been given of the case where the printing conditions are set in three stages, but the printing conditions may be set in four or more stages.

Although the printing conditions include the power supply time to the impact head as the control of the print head and the moving speed of the carriage as another control included in the printing operation control, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, other printing conditions may be added, the moving speed of the carriage may be deleted from the printing conditions, or may be replaced with another printing condition. Further, in this embodiment, a slip issuing apparatus using an impact head has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to various printing apparatuses such as a printer using a thermal head. .

[0026]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
There is no need to provide a temperature sensor, and it is possible to provide a printing apparatus that can maintain the printing density at an appropriate level even when the use environment temperature is low, and can prevent a reduction in printing quality.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a slip issuing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a main part of the slip issuing device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of the arrangement and setting of DIP switches of the slip issuing apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a view showing a flow of a printing condition setting process performed by the slip issuing apparatus according to the embodiment based on a program read from a floppy disk.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 ... Floppy disk device, 3-1 ... Floppy disk, 4 ... Keyboard, 5 ... Printer part, 11 ... CPU, 13 ... RAM, 17 ... Dip switch, 18 ... Paper thickness detection part, 20 ... RTC (real time clock) .

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus comprising a print head and performing printing operation control including control of the print head to perform printing on paper, comprising: a date information generating means for generating date information; A printing operation control changing means for changing the printing operation control based on the date information generated by the means so as to maintain the same printing state with respect to the environmental change due to the date. . 2. An impact head, and a carriage for transporting the impact head in a main scanning direction perpendicular to a transport direction of a slip sheet on which a plurality of copy sheets are stacked, wherein the impact sheet is controlled to be transported. In a printing device that performs printing by controlling the head and the carriage, a month / day information generating unit that generates month / day information, and an ambient temperature change due to the month / day based on the month / day information generated by the month / day information generating unit. And an impact printing operation control changing means for changing and controlling a current supply time to the impact head and a moving speed of the carriage so as to maintain the same printing state. 3. An impact head comprising: an impact head; and a carriage for transporting the impact head in a main scanning direction orthogonal to a transport direction of a slip sheet on which a plurality of sheets are stacked. And a printing device for controlling the carriage to perform printing, wherein: month and day information generating means for generating month and day information; sheet thickness information generating means for generating thickness information of the slip sheet; and impact printing operation control change The means is based on a change in ambient temperature due to the date and the thickness of the slip sheet based on the date information generated by the date information generating means and the thickness information generated by the sheet thickness information generating means. The power supply time to the impact head and the moving speed of the carriage are changed to maintain the same printing state with respect to the change in the impact force. And an impact printing operation control changing means for controlling the printing operation.