JPS58167174A - Multicolor printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To transfer data at a high speed and print in multiple colors with a simple construction, by a method wherein dot pattern data for one line on a color basis are received and stored, and predetermined mixed-color printing is conducted concurrently with the movement of heads. CONSTITUTION:A multicolor printer is provided with the printing heads 40-43 (ink-system wire dots or an ink jet system) respectively for four colors including three primary colors of yellow Y, magenta M and cyan C and black (b). Printing data inputted from the exterior of a computer 1 or the like are stored in line buffers 20-23 as dot pattern data in amounts for one line and on a color basis. The data read from the line buffers 20-23 with predetermined delays while moving a group of the printing heads in a horizontal direction, and simultaneously, the heads 40-43 are driven, thereby enabling to print in the form of dot matrices in multiple colors.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a multicolor printer, in particular, for printing figures, patterns, etc.
The present invention relates to a multicolor printer that prints by a set of dots containing n number of colors.

In general, in an information processing system using a combiator, output data such as characters and figures sent from a burying device is often displayed in color on a display device such as a CRT display so that the operator can understand and understand the data.
It has become an essential method, especially for double image processing techniques used in tomography and the like. For such color data, there has long been a strong desire to not only display the color data on a display, but also to record and preserve a hard copy of the color data so that it can be viewed repeatedly as visual data when necessary. In order to achieve this request, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-1-2009 has been used. ! -82
As shown in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 524, the printing mechanism is equipped with a plurality of increments for each color, and the ink ribbon is appropriately moved relative to the rear head or type piece to select a color. A printer has been proposed in which the platen is divided into a plurality of parts, each of which is impregnated with a plurality of colored inks, and the color is selected by rotating the platen relative to the type piece.

However, in such conventional technology, since the printing color is selected mechanically, the operation is slow and when changing the color for each dot as in graphic data, it takes a lot of time and the printing mechanism is severely worn out. This has the disadvantage that the product's lifespan is shortened.

The present invention has been made in view of the drawbacks of the prior art, and is equipped with a dot-type print head for each color and number of colors, thereby eliminating the time required for color selection and reducing mechanical wear and tear on parts. By receiving and storing color-specific dot pattern data for fit, :, - lines and performing predetermined mixed color printing in accordance with the movement of the head, it is possible to achieve high-speed data transfer and high-speed data with a simple configuration. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a multicolor printer capable of printing in various colors.

The present invention has a plurality of dot type print heads provided for each of the five primary colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan, and stores dot pattern data for one line to be printed for each color in correspondence with each of these print heads. It has a plurality of line buffers, and a plurality of head drive circuits that individually drive the print heads based on the output data of the line buffers, and each color is input as picture elements separated into three primary colors from the outside.

Equipped with data selector means for selectively outputting one line of dot pattern data accompanied by color information to a predetermined line buffer specified by the color information, the data selector means is equipped with data selector means for selectively outputting one line of dot pattern data accompanied by color information to a predetermined line buffer specified by the color information, and the print head is moved integrally to output a predetermined line buffer. The purpose is to achieve the above object by driving at the right timing and performing multicolor printing.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 6.

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of a multicolor printer according to the present invention. This multicolor printer has five primary colors of yellow (■, magenta, cyan (Q) and four color-specific print heads of black (BL) located in the same line on the paper surface.
(ink chip, wire dot, or inkjet type), the print data inputted from the outside of the computer 1, etc. is stored and held in the line buffers 20 to 25 for each color one line at a time as dot pattern data, and the print head group is moved in the horizontal direction. While moving, pattern data is read from the line buffers 20-25 at predetermined delay intervals, and at the same time the heads 40-45 are driven to enable multicolor printing in a dot matrix.

To explain in detail, received data sent from, for example, a combination tool 1 or the like according to the data format shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 is first inputted to the human power section 2.

This input section 2 receives (a mode signal according to the mode (graphic or text) of one data, and print data of dot pattern data or character data including legal information (color code data) or print data that does not read color information. It has the function of transmitting the data to the mode switching circuit 3 connected to the output side of the human power section 2, and outputting necessary signals to the printer control section 4 based on various control information, etc. of the received data.

The mode switching circuit 3 consists of AND circuits 5 and 6 that manually input the print data sent from the manual section 2 in parallel,
Furthermore, a mode signal is manually input to the AND circuit 5 directly and to the AND circuit 6 via an inverting circuit 7.

The human power section 2 normally sends a mode signal "1" indicating the text mode to the mode switching circuit 5, and sends a mode signal "1" indicating the graphics mode to the received data 7J1 from the outside. However, as soon as the sending of print data in the graphic mode is completed, the mode is switched to the text mode. That is, it receives graphic data separated into three primary colors as shown in Figure 2 from the outside.
Then, first, based on the graph mode information, the human power section 2 sends the mode 1d number "1" to the mode switching circuit 5, and then sends the color code data (yellow, magenta, cyan 5w, color or black) to the 1g circuit 5. The dot row number signal 2-A is output from 2-A and is also represented by distance data.
After outputting to the printer control 1Is4, the printed dot pattern is sent to the A+iD circuit 5 or b. Then, when the printing dot pattern has been sent out by the distance data, the mode signal is automatically switched to "0" as the text mode.

Apart from this, when receiving text data from the outside as shown in Figure @5, the input section 2 sends the mode signal "0" to the mode switching circuit 3 in advance. Red tFQ, green side, blue (8
1, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black) and character code data is output from the AND circuit 6 side.

The output 01 of the mode switching circuit 3 is equipped with data selector means 8. This data selector means 8 includes graphic color designation s9. It consists of a text color designation section 10 and a gate section 11. The output of the AND circuit 5 is sent to the identification circuit 12 and latch circuit 13 of the graphic color designation section 9, and is also sent to the game N11. The Seibetsu circuit 12 has the function of detecting color code data among the print data inputted from the ANL circuit 5, and immediately sends out a Heratistrope signal to the latch circuit 13 upon detecting the color code data. The latch circuit 13 sends the latched color code data to the decoder 14 connected to the output @. This decoder 14
is from the latch circuit 13.

When color code data is not input, only the output line Ds is set to ``Moon'' and the other output line Do is held at rOJ.
When the latch circuit 13 inputs color code data for four colors, yellow, magenta, cyan, or black, a 1A output line L corresponding to the color code data is generated.
) i (i = 0 to 3) has the function of setting the "month" level and the others as "0" level. The phase output of each output line Do-D represents the color designation of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, respectively.The latch state of the latch circuit 1s is as follows.
As soon as the printed dot pattern related to the designated color is inputted into a predetermined line backer 7, the printer control section 4 controls the release.

The output lines Do"lJ3 of the decoder 14 are
-) AN provided in gate circuits 15 to 18 in section 11
I) Circuit 15λ to 18 people (other than ISA are not shown)
The output of the AND circuit 5 of the mode switching circuit 5 is further input to each AND circuit 15A to 18A. Therefore, the print dot pattern data outputted from the A+qD1g path 5 is transmitted to the corresponding ORN path 150 to 150 by any one of the AND circuits 15A to 18A whose color is specified by the decoder 14.
18C (of which, other than 15C are not shown) will be outputted through one. On the output side of each gate circuit 15 to 18, there are four lines/(offers 20 to 2) provided for each color.
3 is connected. Each line Hara 7720-26 is
- It has a capacity to store and hold dot patterns for rows, and is provided with line buffer control circuits 24 to 27 and write clock gate circuits 28 to 61, respectively. The write lock gate circuits 28 to 61 are individually connected to the outputs 1IADo to D3 of the decoder 14, respectively, and AND circuits 28A to 28A to commonly input the clock signal CL which is the output of the printer control # section 4. 51A (including 28A
(other than that not shown) and this ANulrJ path 28A to 31
The output of A is used as one human power, and the output of the ANIJ circuit S5, which is generated by manually inputting the clock signal CL and the output signal of the inverting circuit 7, is used as the other human power. 1tli! l road 2BB~61B
(Other than 28B are not shown).

lIJ Note 7 When the printer control unit 4 receives a dot row number signal from the human power unit 2 @2 people and 4 human powers in the graphic mode,
A write signal is sent to each line buffer control circuit 24 to 27, and clock pulses corresponding to the number of dot rows are sent out from the input section 2 via the AND Igl path 5 and the gate section 11 to send out the dot pattern data. It is designed to be output as a clock signal CL in synchronization with the timing. This clock signal CL is applied to the decoder 14.
The corresponding line buffer control circuit 24-2 via any one of the clock gate circuits 28-51 specified by
Sent to 7. This line balance control circuit 24 to 27
is the timing buffer 720 based on the clock signal CL.
25, the addresses of the buffers designated by the colors are sequentially incremented to sequentially store the dot pattern data sent out from any one of the gate circuits 15 to 18 one column at a time. At this time, nothing is written to the line buffers for the other colors not selected by the decoder 14. In the graphic mode, when the printing dot patterns have been received and stored in a predetermined line buffer for the number of dot rows represented by the distance data related to the colors, the printer control section 4 outputs four pulses. At the same time, the latch circuit 16 sends a latch release signal to the decoder 14. Only the line is set to output "1", while the human power section 2 sets the mode signal to "0". #13
As shown in the figure, when graphic mode dot pattern data for multiple colors is received in succession, each dot pattern is stored in the predetermined line buffers 20 to 25 designated by the color by the same operation as described above. or stored.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
The data is stored in the exploit line buffer 25 specified in advance. Therefore, printing is possible even when normal graphic dot pattern data without color hood data is received, and the versatility of the printer with respect to transmitted data becomes extremely large.

Next, the text color designation section 10 of the data selector means 8 relating to the text mode will be explained. The AND circuit 6
The output is sent to the edge circuit 35 and latch circuit 56 of the text color designation section 10. The identification circuit 55 selects among the print data sent from the AND circuit 6,
When the color code F data is manually generated, the latch circuit 56
When the character code data is manually generated by sending out the Heratistic Strope signal, it has a function of outputting the character code data to the character generator 57 and sending a character code detection signal to the printer control section 4. On the other hand, the latch circuit 36 is configured to send the latched color code data to a decoder 38 connected to the output side. When the color code data is not input from the latch circuit 36, this decoder 58 sets only the output 1118a to "1" and outputs the other outputs! I8~D! is held at "0", and the latch circuit 36 outputs red, green, blue, which is a combination of yellow, magenta, and cyan as five primary colors.
When the color code data of 7 colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are entered manually, one output corresponding to the color code data, 1jDl (lid = 0 to 3) or two output lines 'JJ, Dk (Jp button) =0~2.j~k)'s ``1
” and set the others to the “0” level. The "1" outputs of each output, ID/~Dl, are yellow and magenta, respectively.

Represents the color designation of cyan and black, 8~l)! By setting two appropriate output lines to "1", red,
Green and blue colors are now available. Also, to specify the color of black, all of Do-Da are "1"
This is done by setting only Da to ``1'' instead of setting it to ``1''. The latch state of the latch circuit s6 is released under the control of the printer control section 4 as soon as the dot pattern corresponding to the character code associated with the specified color is input to the line buffer.

Output lines D. to 8 of the decoder 3B are each connected to a gate section 11.
AND circuit 15 provided in gate circuits 15 to 18 in
B to 18B (among them, all but 15B are not shown), and the output of the character generator 17 is also manually inputted to each AND circuit 15B to 1813. This character generator 37 has a function of generating a character dot pattern when character code data is input from the identification circuit 55. On the other hand, the printer control unit 4 which receives a character code detection signal from the SL separate circuit 55 , sends a read timing signal to the character generator 57, and sets the character dot pattern to 1.
It is designed to output one column at a time.

This character dot pattern has one color specified by the decoder 58 (yellow, magenta, cyan).

(or in the case of black) or two (in the case of red, green, blue) AND circuits 15B to 18B and the line buffer y'ak via the corresponding oa=paths 15C to 18C.
-1B force is applied. Further, when the printer control section 4 receives a character code detection signal from the identification circuit 55, it sends a stocking signal to each of the line balance control circuits 24 to 27, and also outputs the successive output timing to the character generator 57. The clock signal CL is output in synchronization with the clock signal CL. This clock signal CL is applied to the line balance control circuit 24 via the ANDIJ path s3 inputting the level rlJ in the text mode and each write clock gate circuit 28 to 51.
~27. Then, each line buffer control circuit 24 to 27 sequentially increments the address of each twin buffer 7 by a predetermined number based on the clock signal CL', and increments the address of each twin buffer 7 by a predetermined number. The character dot pattern for one character is stored, and the fin buffers for other colors that are not specified are configured to store space data other than the - character. When the storage of dot pattern data for one character with a specified color in the line buffer in the medium strike mode is completed, the printer control section 4 stops outputting clock pulses and sends a latch release signal to the latch circuit s6. Only Dsli of the C decoder 58 is set as a "phase output. However, the mode signal output of the input section 2 continues to be "0". As shown by arrows A and B in Figure 5, I
When character code data accompanied by text mode color code data related to several characters is received, the character pattern is stored in the color-specified line buffer 7 and in other line buffers by the same operation as described above. Space is stored in sequential parallel operations. Also, if a character code without a color code is received in text mode, &(
(See arrow C in FIG. 5) Character dot pattern data related to the character code is stored in the black line buffer 23 specified in advance by the decoder 581', and is stored in the other line buffer 77.
Space data is stored in 20 to 22. Therefore, even when normal text character code data without color code data is received, printing is possible, making the printer highly versatile for the transmitted data.

In the graphic mode or text mode, when the predetermined dot pattern data has been stored in each of the line buffers 720-23, the printer immediately begins printing. This printing operation is performed by human input from the outside to the human power section 2.
It starts with a print command such as B. That is, when a printing command is inputted to the human input unit 2, the input unit 2 sends a print start signal 2B to the printer control u4. The printer control section 4 is energized by the print start signal and sends a drive signal to a carriage moving pulse motor (not shown) of the printing mechanism.

The carriage is opened horizontally for a predetermined distance and yellow from the right side,! center. Four print heads 40 to 45 are fixedly mounted in the order of cyan and black, and are moved integrally in the row direction (from left to right) as the carriage moves. The print heads 40 to 4s are arranged in a vertical direction corresponding to the vertical width of each line. I! By simultaneously printing one row of several dots and repeating this horizontally, you can print characters, figures, and shapes in a dot matrix.
It is possible to print patterns, etc. As the carriage moves, a print timing signal is sent from the print timing signal generator 44 to each of the line buffer control circuits 24 to 2.
7.

Further, successive signals are sequentially input from the printer control section 4 to the line balance control # circuits 24 to 27 with a predetermined delay time determined by the traveling speed of the carriage and the interval between the print heads 40 to 45. This successive signal is outputted by the printer control section 4 immediately when the print start signal 2B is manually input from the human input section 2. Then, the line buffer control circuits 24 to 27 sequentially increment the addresses based on the print timing signal from the time when the successive signal is input from the print-low control unit 4, and update the corresponding line buffers 20 to 25^. The line buffers 720 to 25 sequentially output the pattern data one column at a time to the drive circuits 47 to 50 connected to the output sides of the line buffers 720 to 25, and also send drive timing signals to each of the drive circuits 47 to 50. These driving circuits 47-50 cause the pattern data stored in the line buffers 120-25 to be sequentially printed one column at a time by each print head 40-43. However, when no dot pattern data is stored in the line buffers 720 to 25, the line buffer control circuits 24 to 27 read data from the line buffers 2o to 25, drive amounts, and control circuits 47 to 25.
The drive timing signal is not sent to the print head 50, and the print heads 40 to 43 are not allowed to perform a printing operation. In addition to controlling the operation of the printing mechanism described above, the printer control section 4 has a function of controlling drives such as line feed, page break 0 paper feed, etc. based on control information such as LP received by the input section 2.

Line buffers 20-23. The drive circuits 47 to 50 and the print heads 40 to 43 are configured as described above. Therefore, for example, when dot pattern data relating to one color of yellow is received in the graphic mode, and subsequently a print command is input, - After the dot pattern is stored only in the yellow twin buffer 20, only the print head 40 is driven to print one line of yellow only. or,
When a print command is input after magenta dot pattern data is received following yellow dot pattern data, the dot pattern data of each color is stored in the line buffers 20 and 21, and then the print head 40.4
1 is driven. At this time, the yellow and magenta dots are printed in the same place □overlapping each other (see (1) in Figure 6) or in areas where they are placed next to each other (see (2) in Figure 6). Subtractive color mixture and juxtaposed color mixture occur to form red dots or groups of dots, respectively. The same applies to other colors. However, it is assumed that each of the print heads 40 to 45 is capable of printing a topact at the same position on the paper surface.

On the other hand, if dot pattern data without a color code is received from the outside, it will be printed in exactly the same way as a dot pattern with a black color code.

Separately, in text mode, if character code data with a color code (7 colors) is received, either character dot pattern or space data is stored in all line buffers 20 to 25. Therefore, all print heads 40 to 45 are driven during printing. However, if only space data is stored in the line buffer, no printing operation is performed by the print head. In this text code, for each - character, the dot pattern of the entire - character is printed in primary colors or in a subtractive color mixture in the color specified by the color hood. On the other hand, when character code data without a color code is received from the outside, it is printed in exactly the same way as dot pattern data with a black color hood.

Furthermore, it is also possible to print a mixture of graphic patterns and character patterns on the same line by transmitting print data from the outside in the graphic mode up to the middle of one line and then transmitting the print data in the text mode.

According to this implementation, it is possible to print multicolor graphics expressed in a 7° dot matrix at high speed based on one line of dot pattern data input for each color from the outside using a simple configuration. Both color mixing and side-by-side color mixing can be set freely. In addition, it is possible to print multi-color printing in a line, color-coded for each character, based on character data with color specification data input from an external device in text mode, and - to print graphics and text in a line. It is also possible to mix. Furthermore, even if print data without color information is input manually from an external source, it is possible to print in black like a normal printer, making it highly versatile and capable of multi-color or single-color printing regardless of the presence or absence of color codes. It can be a printer.

In the above embodiment, the graphic color designation section 9 and the text color designation section 10 are separately provided; however, it may be configured so that one color designation section is shared; The color information of the color mixture at the time may be provided by a combination of two five primary color code data.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a multicolor printer that has a simple configuration, can perform high-speed data transfer and high-speed multicolor printing, and has excellent features such as low product wear and tear. It will be done.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram showing the operation of a multicolor printer according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 2 to 4 are explanatory diagrams showing the data transmission format in graph mode; SWJ is an explanatory diagram showing the data transmission format in text mode, diagram (1) in Figure 6,
(2) is an explanatory diagram showing the color mixture of printed dots. 2... Input section, 8... Data selector means, 20
~23...Line buffer, 40~45...Print head, 47~50...Drive circuit as a head drive circuit. Patent applicant Bentel Co., Ltd. Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 (1) (r)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A plurality of dot-type print heads are provided for each of the three primary colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan, and dot pattern data for one line to be printed is stored for each color in correspondence with each of these print heads. Line buffer of number of nods,
It has a plurality of head drive circuits that individually drive the print heads based on the output data of this line buffer, and the print head is manually generated for each color as picture elements separated into five primary colors from the outside.
It is equipped with a dot pattern printer for one line with color information, a data selector means for selectively outputting to the predetermined line buffer specified by the color information, and a data selector means for selectively outputting the dot pattern to the predetermined line buffer specified by the color information. A multicolor printer is characterized in that it is driven at the timing of , and performs multicolor printing. (2) Multiple Cυ dot print heads provided for each of the six primary colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan and black, and corresponding to each of these print heads. It has a plurality of line buffers that store one line of dot pattern data to be printed for each color, and a plurality of head drive circuits that individually drive the print heads based on the output data of the line buffers. One line of dot pattern data with 0 color information inputted for each color as picture elements separated into 4 pixels is selectively outputted to the predetermined line buffer specified by the color information, and the dot pattern data with no color information is A multicolor printer characterized in that it is equipped with a data selector means for outputting pattern data to a black twin buffer, and drives each of the print heads at a predetermined timing while moving them integrally to perform multicolor printing.