JPH11254790A - Serial recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent fluctuation of the print starting position or the label coordinate due to erroneous function of a switch by providing means for enabling paper feed operation through the switch only when opening of a cover is detected by an open/close detecting means. SOLUTION: A paper feed control means 34 drives a paper feed motor 36 forward or reversely upon depressing a switch 4 to carry a recording sheet to a desired position. When a cover is closed and a print data is delivered from a host upon finishing positioning of the recording sheet, printing is started by means of a recording head. When the paper feed switch 4 is depressed erroneously during pause of printing, no signal is delivered from an AND gate 33 because the cover is closed and an open/close detecting switch 32 is turned off. Consequently, the paper feed control means 34 does not actuates a paper feed sequence and the recording sheet is held at an initial set position. Under normal state, the switch is disabled by the closed cover.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a serial recording apparatus that conveys a recording sheet and performs printing by reciprocating a recording head in the width direction of the recording sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a serial recording apparatus, printing is started with the leading end of a recording sheet positioned at a predetermined position with respect to a recording head. A paper feed switch is provided at a position where it is easy to operate, and the recording paper can be fed by a predetermined amount each time the paper feed switch is operated once.

The paper feed switch is also used as input means for inputting coordinates of a label position of a label paper having a label attached to a mount.

[0004]

For this reason, if the paper feed switch is erroneously pressed, an error occurs in the paper feed sequence and the printing start position, and in the label coordinate input sequence and the coordinate position of the label. There is a problem. Also, when label paper is loaded in the recording device,
Since floating occurs due to the shape and diameter of the platen, even if the platen gap is adjusted based on the thickness input as the specification data, it is not always possible to print in an optimum state, and there is a problem that a printing defect occurs. Further, since the next area is printed after adjusting the platen gap in each of the label area and the non-label area, the printing speed is reduced. The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and the object thereof is to:
An object of the present invention is to provide a serial recording apparatus capable of reliably preventing a paper feed operation and a change in label coordinates due to an inadvertent pressing of a paper feed switch.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a serial recording apparatus in which the position of the leading end of a recording sheet can be adjusted by a switch of a case body. Open / close detection means for detecting the opening / closing of the cover, and means for enabling the paper feed operation by the switch only when the opening / closing detection means detects that the cover is opened.

[0006]

[Function] When the print start position is finely adjusted, the switch for paper feed is enabled by the cover that is opened, and the switch is disabled by the cover that is closed in the normal state to prevent careless data changes. To prevent.

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which a box 2 accommodating a printing mechanism 1 is shown.
A control panel 3 is provided at an easy-to-operate position, for example, on the front side, a paper feed switch 4 is disposed here, and an area where the print head is easily exposed, in this embodiment, an opening is formed on the upper surface to form a cover. 4 are provided.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an embodiment of a printing mechanism and a paper feeding mechanism. A carriage 6 on which a recording head 5 is mounted and which reciprocates in the width direction of recording paper is provided with a guide shaft 7. , 8 so that the relative gap length with the platen 10 can be adjusted by the platen gap adjusting lever 9.

The carriage 6 has one end of the idle roller 1.
It is connected to a carriage drive motor 13 via a timing belt 12 held by the motor 1 and is configured to be able to reciprocate in the direction of the axis of the platen 10 while maintaining the gap adjusted by the platen gap adjustment lever 9.

The carriage 17 guides the recording paper and forms a reference line for determining the position of the leading end of the recording paper.
Alternatively, a paper edge detector 30 for detecting a difference in reflectance between recording media is provided. In addition, the code | symbol 31 in a figure shows an ink ribbon.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the control device according to the present invention. The signal from the open / close detection switch 32 driven by the arm 8 is transmitted through the AND gate 33 together with the signal from the paper feed switch 4. When the input is input to the paper feed control means 34 and the open / close detection switch 32 is on, that is, when the cover 7 is open, the paper feed control means 34 can control the paper feed motor 36 via the motor drive circuit 35. It is configured.

A signal from the paper edge detector 30 is input to a page length detecting means 37 and a paper width detecting means 38 each constituted by a counter to count pulses from the motor drive circuit 35 or the encoder 28. And is used as a signal for measuring the length of one page of the recording medium and the paper width.

Signals from the first encoder 22 and the end position detecting means 23 are input to a platen gap detection control means 39, and the signals from the position at which the carriage 17 contacts the end position detecting means 23 are detected by the first encoder 22. The pulse motor 24 is operated while counting the output pulses to bring the carriage 17 into contact with the platen 9 or the recording medium, and the time difference between the drive pulse of the pulse motor 24 due to the step-out of the pulse motor 24 and the output pulse of the encoder 22 is calculated. The counting is stopped when the integrated value becomes constant, the distance between the end position detecting means 23 and the contact point is detected based on the counted value, and the encoder 22 is used to control the platen gap G. The signal from the platen gap detection control means 39 is
It is also used for measuring the thickness of recording paper.

The read / write control means 41 includes a part of the label paper specification transmitted from the host and the paper thickness detection means 40.
Is stored in the label specification storage means 42, and the data in the label specification storage means 42 is output to the platen gap detection control means 39 and the label specification determination means 43.

At the beginning of label paper printing, the label specification judging means 43 writes data from the page control means 37 and the paper width detecting means 38 and the label specification storing means 4 at the beginning.
2 is compared with the data stored in 2 and if they match, the carriage control means 44 can control the carriage drive motor 26 via the motor drive circuit 45.

In this embodiment, to execute printing,
One of the tractors 11 is selected and the recording paper is transported to the printing area. When the leading edge of the recording paper is located near the paper guide 29, the cover 7 is opened and the paper guide 29 is opened.
The paper feed switch 4 is operated until the leading edge of the recording paper moves to a predetermined position with reference to.

Thus, the paper feed control means 34 drives the paper feed motor 36 to rotate forward or backward in response to the pressing of the switch 4, and conveys the recording paper K1 to a desired position.

At the stage where the positioning of the recording paper is completed, the cover 7 is closed and print data is output from the host, so that the recording head 10 starts printing.

On the other hand, if the paper feed switch 4 is erroneously pressed during the printing pause, the cover 7 is closed and the open / close detection switch 32 is turned off.
3 does not output a signal, and therefore the paper feed control means 34
Does not activate the paper feed sequence and the recording paper is held in the default position. Also, even when the paper feed switch 4 is used as the label coordinate input means, label coordinates are not rewritten.

By the way, a serial recording device, particularly a wire dot printer, has a function corresponding to the thickness of recording paper, that is, a platen gap adjusting function. It is also used for printing on paper. In printing on label paper, the position where the label is affixed is registered as a relative position from the home position by a signal from a switch of the recording apparatus, for example, a signal from a paper feed switch, or registered as a signal from the host, and the position of the carriage is Printing is executed by adjusting the movement and the platen gap. In this case, when printing on a recording medium to which label paper has been attached, it is necessary to print not only in the area of the label but also in the area where no label is attached. Two types of platen gap amounts are required so as to be able to cope with the set thickness and the thickness of the recording medium alone.

That is, as shown in FIG.
In the case where printing is performed on a sheet to which one label 51 is affixed to 0, the thickness is d in each of the areas a and c of the recording medium 50 alone and the area b where the label 51 is affixed.
1 and d2, which are different from each other, so that there is a problem that the platen gap adjustment time is required every time the area is switched and the printing speed is reduced.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are flowcharts showing the operation for solving such a problem. When the label 51 is attached to the recording medium 50 in this manner, usually,
The position of the label 51 is specified as a relative position from the home position in a state where the recording medium 50 is set at a regular position, and can be input and registered by the paper feed switch 4 or the like. Based on the print data from the host, the print start position is the area a and the print end position is the area c (FIG. 8).
Step a), whether the printing start position is the b region and the printing end position is the c region (step b in FIG. 7), whether the printing start position is the a region and the printing end position is the b region (step c in FIG. 8), Both the position and the print end position are a
Area (step d in FIG. 7), whether the print start position and print end position are both area b (step d in FIG. 7),
It is judged whether it is other than the above (Step E in FIG. 7), and in each case, there is a print in the areas a, b, and c (Step G in FIG. 7), and a print in the areas b, c ( (Fig. 7 Step h), printing is performed in the area a and b (Fig. 7 Step Re), printing is performed only in the area a (Step n in Fig. 7), printing is performed only in the area b (Fig. 7 Step), and c There is printing only in the area (Fig. 7
Judgment).

If the above steps (g) to (g) are determined, the pulse motor 24 is driven by the platen gap detection control means 39 so that the platen gap can correspond to the thickness d2 obtained by adding the thickness of the label 51. Adjust (Fig. 7 Step W) and step (N) to (E)
Is determined, it is determined whether the current carriage 17, that is, the recording head 10, is present in the same area (step f in FIG. 7). If it is located in the same area, the adjustment of the platen gap is not executed, and if the area is moved from this area to another area, the platen gap detection control means 39 is based on the data in the label specification storage means 42. To adjust the platen gap (step w in FIG. 7).

At the time of printing, it is determined whether the print start position is located in the area a, the area b, or the area c (step a in FIG. 8). If the printing start position is in the area a, the carriage control means 44 moves the carriage 17 to the area a (step b in FIG. 8), and the platen gap detection control means 39 sets the platen gap only for the recording medium 50. The thickness is adjusted to a value suitable for d1 (step c in FIG. 8). Printing proceeds (Fig. 8 Step
D) Before arriving at the area b, it is determined whether or not there is print data in the area b. If no print data exists (step E in FIG. 8), then it is determined whether or not there is print data in the area c (FIG. 8). Step f) If there is no print data in the area c, the process returns to step (a) without adjusting the platen gap.

On the other hand, when print data exists in the area b (step E in FIG. 8), the platen gap is adjusted to a platen gap suitable for printing the label d2 with the thickness d2 (step 8 in FIG. 8). Is moved to the print start position (step 8 in FIG. 8). As printing progresses (step 8 in FIG. 8), the presence or absence of print data in area c is determined before reaching area c. If print data does not exist (step n in FIG. 8), the platen gap is adjusted. Without returning to step (a).

As a result of judging the presence or absence of the print data in the area c (step No in FIG. 8), if the print data also exists in the area c, the print data is moved to the print start position in the area c (FIG. 8).
8) adjusting the platen gap to a value suitable for the thickness d1 of the recording medium 50 (FIG. 8
E) Printing is performed (step w in FIG. 8).

On the other hand, if the print data exists in the area c in the judgment in step (f), the platen gap is adjusted to a platen gap suitable for printing the thickness d2 to which the label 51 is attached (step f in FIG. 8). Then, go to the above-mentioned step (l).

Before printing the line to which the label 51 is attached, the area to which the label 51 is attached is:
It is distinguished that the label 51 is not attached,
If the print data exists only in the area where the label 51 is affixed or only in the area where the label 51 is not affixed, printing is performed without going through the adjustment operation of the platen gap. As a result, unnecessary adjustment of the platen gap can be eliminated to improve the printing throughput.

[0029]

As described above, in the present invention,
Since the opening and closing detecting means for detecting the opening and closing of the cover provided on the case body and the means for enabling the paper feeding operation by the switch only when the opening and closing detecting means detects that the cover is opened are provided. When the print start position is finely adjusted, the switch for paper feed is enabled by the cover that is opened, and the signal from the switch can be disabled by the cover that is closed in the normal state. It is possible to prevent a change in the print start position and label coordinates due to an erroneous operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of a serial recording apparatus according to the present invention with a cover opened.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a recording paper transport path of the above device.

FIG. 3 is a view showing one embodiment of a platen gap adjusting mechanism in the same device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a printing mechanism in the above device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a control device in the above device.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating an example of a recording medium to which a label is attached, respectively.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation for determining a print area when printing on the recording medium.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a printing operation on the recording medium.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 printing mechanism 4 paper feed switch 5 label detection switch 7 cover 8 arm of open / close detection switch 9 platen 10 recording head 11, 12 tractor 17 carriage 18 carriage guide shaft 22, 28 encoder 24 pulse motor for platen gap adjustment 26 carriage drive Motor 29 Paper guide 30 Paper edge detector 36 Paper feed motor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A serial recording apparatus in which the position of the leading end of a recording sheet can be adjusted by a switch of a case main body, wherein: an open / close detecting means for detecting opening / closing of a cover provided on the case main body; Means for enabling the paper feeding operation by the switch only when it is detected that the cover is opened.