JPH10166670A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accelerate lowering of a temperature of a motor without lowering a printing speed and to lower an inner temperature of a printer. SOLUTION: When printing on a piece of paper is executed, energization of a stepping motor is stopped after the printing (S14) and when printing on pieces of paper is executed continuously, the energization of the motor is only stopped after the printing thereon (S17) is completed, then the energization of the motor is stopped during the standby time for the printing (S11). As a result, lowering of a temperature of the motor is accelerated and an inner temperature of the printer can be lowered. Since energization of the motor is not stopped in the way of printing when printing on pieces of paper (S112-S115 after YES at S12), it is unnecessary to perform a phase matching operation for the motor so that the printing speed is not lowered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer using a stepping motor as a driving source for feeding a sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a printer in which a sheet is conveyed along a paper passing path and printing is performed by a printing unit in the process,
Generally, a stepping motor is used as a driving source for feeding the paper. In such a printer,
Regardless of whether it is a line type or a serial type, printing is performed on paper in accordance with print data by repeating a paper feeding operation and a printing operation in order. At this time, a microcomputer in which an operation program is installed (hereinafter, abbreviated as a microcomputer) drives and controls each unit such as a stepping motor and a printing unit, and causes each unit to perform a desired operation.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing, as an example of the related art, the flow of processing after power-on of a line thermal printer for printing on roll paper. First, when the power is turned on, a stepping motor for feeding paper (hereinafter, referred to as
After a weak current (for example, about 0.1 A) is passed through the motor (abbreviated as a motor) (step S101), an initialization process is performed (step S102). At this time, since the rotor of the motor is held and does not rotate, the paper is not fed. Thereafter, a strong current (for example, about 0.8 A) is supplied to the motor (step S103), the motor is matched (step S104), and the driving of the motor is continued (step S105). At this time, when the number of pulses for driving the motor reaches an arbitrary number (step S1).
06), and a motor stop process is performed (step S10).
7), and waits again for the application of a weak current to the motor (step S108). Therefore, steps S105-1
After the predetermined amount of paper has been fed by the process of step 07, the motor is held in step S108, and a print command waiting state is set (step S109).

When a print command is sent in this state (step S109), a strong current is applied to the motor (step S1).
10) After the matching of the motors (Step S111), the driving of the motors is continued (Step S112), and the printing operation is performed (Step S113). When the printing operation is completed, a motor stop signal is issued (step S11).
4) As a result, the current supply to the motor is switched to a weak current (step S115). If there is the next print data, the process returns to step S110 to perform the printing process. If there is no next print data, the process returns to step S108. The printer will wait for a print command.

Here, in the printer which executes the processing shown in FIG. 4, the power supply to the motor becomes a weak current when waiting for a print command (step S108). As a result, power consumption is reduced, the heat generation of the motor is reduced, and the internal temperature of the printer is reduced accordingly. Further, in other conventional printers, for example, in a printing process as shown in step S113, when the motor is not driven, the current to the motor is set to a weak current to reduce power consumption and the like. .

[0006]

However, in order to promote a decrease in the heat generation of the motor and an accompanying decrease in the internal temperature of the printer, it is not sufficient to control the motor to only supply a weak current. For this reason, for example, in a printer without a blower fan, the internal temperature becomes too high, causing various inconveniences.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer capable of accelerating a reduction in heat generation of a motor without lowering a printing speed, thereby lowering an internal temperature.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a printer comprising: a paper passing path for guiding a sheet to a predetermined path; a printing unit disposed in the paper passing path for performing printing on the sheet in accordance with print data; A paper transport unit that transports the paper disposed in the paper passing path, a stepping motor serving as a driving source of the paper transport unit,
Power supply control means for generating a signal for controlling energization of the stepping motor; and print state determination means for determining, based on print data, whether printing to be performed is a plurality of prints or a single print. Generates a signal to stop the energization of the stepping motor after printing is completed when printing one sheet is performed, and after printing is completed when printing is performed on a plurality of sheets according to the determination result of the printing state determination unit. Only a signal for stopping the power supply to the stepping motor is generated.

Therefore, after the printing of one sheet and after the printing of a plurality of sheets, the power supply control means generates a signal for stopping the power supply to the stepping motor, thereby stopping the power supply to the stepping motor. That is, the power supply to the motor is stopped during the printing standby. As a result, a decrease in heat generation of the motor is promoted, and accordingly, the internal temperature of the printer decreases. When printing a plurality of sheets, the power supply control unit generates a signal for stopping the energization of the stepping motor only after the end of the printing of a plurality of sheets. In addition, the printing of a plurality of sheets is completed without the need for the stepping motor alignment process during the printing of the plurality of sheets. Therefore, the printing speed does not decrease.

[0010]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view showing an internal mechanism of the printer. The printer 1 includes a hopper 3 for storing and holding roll paper 2 as a sheet. A paper passage 6 from the hopper 3 to the roll paper cutter 5 via the printing unit 4 is formed in the printer 1. The printing unit 4 includes a roll paper printing unit 7 composed of a line-type thermal head, and a platen roller 8 disposed at a position where a heating element array (not shown) of the roll paper printing unit 7 is in contact with the roll paper printing unit 7 via the paper passing path 6. And a drive motor 9. Platen roller 8
Also functions as a paper transport unit. As the drive motor 9, a stepping motor is used. Roll paper cutter 5
Although various types can be used regardless of the type, a rotary cutter is used in the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the electrical connection of each part. The printer 1 includes a plurality of ROMs and RAs in a CPU 10 that executes various arithmetic processes and centrally controls each unit.
An M memory 11 includes a microcomputer 13 connected to a bus via a bus line 12. ROM in memory 11
Is a medium for storing an operation program of the printer 1, and
Control according to this operation program is performed by the microcomputer 13. Various fixed information is recorded in the ROM in addition to the operation program. The RAM in the memory 11 has a registration function, and temporarily stores various variable information.
Further, a part of the RAM is used as a print buffer or an image memory, and is used as various counter areas.
In FIG. 2, only one memory 11 is provided, but this is only a conceptual illustration, and the memory 11 is actually configured by a plurality of ROMs and RAMs.

With respect to such a microcomputer 13, the bus line 12 is interposed, the roll paper printing unit 7 is via a printing unit controller 14 which is its driver, and the drive motor 9 of the platen roller 8 is a transport which is its driver. The roll paper cutting unit 16 is connected via a unit controller 15 via a cutting unit controller 17 as a driver. The roll paper cutting unit 16 includes the roll paper cutter 5 and a cutter sensor (not shown). The cutter sensor monitors the position of the movable blade of the roll paper cutter 5, and is used to determine whether the movable blade has returned to the initial position. An external interface controller 18 is also connected to the microcomputer 13 via the bus line 12. These units are placed under the overall control of the microcomputer 13.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing after power-on. First, when the power is turned on, a weak current (for example, about 0.1 A) to the drive motor 9 is supplied.
Is supplied to the transport controller 15 (step S1), and an initialization processing command is issued (step S2). At this time, since the rotor (not shown) of the drive motor 9 is held and does not rotate, the sheet is not fed. Thereafter, as one of the initialization processes, a signal instructing the drive motor 9 to supply a strong current (for example, about 0.8 A) is supplied to the transport unit controller 15 (step S3), whereby the rotor of the drive motor 9 rotates. Begin to. At this time, the phase matching processing of the drive motor 9 is performed (step S4), and the drive of the drive motor 9 is continued as it is (step S5). At this time, the memory 11
A part of the counter area set in the partial area is used as an area for counting motor drive pulses transmitted from the microcomputer 13 to the transport controller 15 to drive the drive motor 9. . Therefore, the microcomputer 13 sends the transfer controller 15 of the drive motor 9.
Each time a motor drive pulse is transmitted, the motor drive pulse count value in the counter area in the memory 11 is incremented, and the CPU 10 pulse-manages the transport amount of the roll paper 2 based on the count value in this counter area. Then, when the motor driving pulse counted by the counter function of the CPU 10 reaches an arbitrary pulse number (step S6), a motor stop signal is issued (step S6).
7), the energization of the drive motor 9 becomes a weak current (step S8), and after 1.5 seconds (step S9), the signal to stop the energization of the motor 9 is transmitted to the transport controller 15
(Step S10). Therefore, after a predetermined amount of paper has been fed by the processing in steps S5 to S7, the drive motor 9 is held in step S8, and the drive motor 9 is stopped in step S10 thereafter to wait for a print command. Here, the reason why the standby time in step S9 is 1.5 seconds is that the printer 1 of the present embodiment
This is because it takes about 1.0 second to print one line. That is, after the motor stop signal is generated (step S
7) If the driving motor 9 is not held by applying a weak current to the driving motor 9 for the printing time for one line or more,
This is because the printing quality is impaired.

At this time, when print data is transmitted from the host computer 19 through the external interface controller 18, the microcomputer 13 recognizes this (step S11), and first determines whether or not to print a plurality of sheets (step S12). Whether or not to print a plurality of sheets is easily determined by status information included in the transmitted print data. Here, whether the printing to be performed is a multiple
The function of the print state determining means for determining whether to print on the sheet based on the print data is executed.

If it is determined in step S12 that printing is not being performed on a plurality of sheets, the same processing as steps S110 to S115 shown in FIG. 4 is performed as an example of the related art. Therefore, the details are omitted here, and the same processes as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same step numbers in the flowchart in FIG. Here, steps S110 to S11
Printing on the paper 6 is performed by the processes up to 5, and in step S115, the current supplied to the drive motor 9 is a weak current. Therefore, in the present embodiment, step S
As a process subsequent to 115, after a wait of 1.5 seconds (step S13), a signal to stop energizing the motor 9 is given to the transport controller 15 (step S14).
The print command waits in step S11. here,
The reason why the standby time in step S13 is 1.5 seconds is as follows.
This is the same as the meaning of 1.5 seconds in step S9.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S12 that a plurality of sheets are to be printed, the same processing as steps S110 to S115 shown in FIG. 4 is performed as an example of the related art. Therefore, the details are also omitted here, and FIG.
The same processes as those described above are denoted by the same step numbers in the flowchart of FIG. Here, steps S110 to S1
By the processing up to 15, printing on the paper 6 is performed,
In step S115, the current supplied to the drive motor 9 is a weak current. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not printing is completed as a process following step S115 (step S15). Whether the printing is completed or not is determined by sending a printing end command included at the end of the print data to the CPU 1.
It is easily found by recognizing 0. in this case,
The processing of steps S112 to S115 is continued until it is determined that the printing is completed, whereby printing of a plurality of sheets is performed. If it is determined in step S15 that the printing has been completed, after a standby time of 1.5 seconds (step S16), a signal to stop energizing the motor 9 is output to the transport unit controller 15.
(Step S17), and waits for a print command in step S11. Here, the reason why the standby time in step S16 is set to 1.5 seconds is as follows in step S9.
This is similar to the meaning of 5 seconds.

Therefore, in the printer 1 of the present embodiment, when the print command is awaited (step S11), the drive motor 9 is not energized. The temperature drops. Then, during printing of a plurality of sheets (processing from step S110 to step S15 after affirmation of step S12 in FIG. 3)
In step S11, the power supply to the stepping motor is not stopped by repeating the strong current and the weak current, and the drive motor 9 is adjusted during the printing (step S11).
1) is not required. Therefore, the printing speed does not decrease.

Here, in the present embodiment, a signal for controlling the energization of the drive motor 9 is given from the microcomputer 13 to the transport controller 15, and the energization of the drive motor 9 is controlled by the transport controller 15. Therefore, the function of the power supply control means is executed by such power supply control processing for the drive motor 9 performed in many steps in FIG.

[0020]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the power supply to the stepping motor is stopped after printing when one sheet is printed, and only after the printing is completed when a plurality of sheets are printed. Since the power supply to the motor is stopped, the power supply to the motor is stopped at the time of printing standby, thereby promoting a decrease in heat generation of the motor,
Accordingly, the internal temperature of the printer can be reduced.
In addition, when printing a plurality of sheets, the energization of the stepping motor is not stopped during the printing of a plurality of sheets, so that the step of aligning the stepping motors during the printing of a plurality of sheets can be omitted, thereby preventing a reduction in printing speed. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view showing an internal mechanism of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of electrical connection of each unit.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing after power-on.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process flow after power-on in a conventional printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 paper 4 printing section 6 paper passing path 8 paper transport section 9 stepping motor step S12 printing state determination means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sheet passing path for guiding a sheet to a predetermined path, a printing unit disposed in the sheet passing path and performing printing on a sheet in accordance with print data, and a sheet disposed in the sheet passing path , A stepping motor serving as a drive source for the sheet transporting unit, a power supply control unit for generating a signal for controlling energization of the stepping motor, A print state determining unit that determines whether or not printing is to be performed on the basis of print data, wherein the power supply control unit is configured to perform the printing after the end of printing if one-sheet printing is performed according to a determination result of the printing state determining unit. Generates a signal to stop energizing the stepping motor,
A printer characterized in that when printing a plurality of sheets, a signal for stopping energization of the stepping motor is generated only after printing of the plurality of sheets is completed.