JPS59162078A - Controlling method of thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent replacement of a paper, overlap printing or disturbance of context from being generated and enhance efficiency in using a film, by a method wherein information for enabling to continue a printing operation is stored at a moment immediately after interruption of printing when a trouble occurs so that after resetting from the trouble, the printing operation can be continued from a restarting position. CONSTITUTION:Occurrence of a used-up condition or breakage of a film in a sequence of printing actions is detected by a sensor 18, and a signal is taken into a controlling part 28A. By this, the controlling part 28A stores a current printing position and printing data position information into a memory 28B. Simultaneously, the printing operation is interrupted, a signal is outputted to a driving and indicating part 29, while a carriage 8 is moved to a position for replacing the film, and a film-replacing instruction is issued. When the film is replaced and a printing-restarting instruction is inputted from an operation-instructing part 26, a sensor 25 decides that the replacement of the film is completed, and the carriage 8 is skipped from a home position to the printing interruption position stored in the memory 28B.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a method of controlling a thermal transfer printer, and in particular,
Even if a fault that interrupts the printing operation due to the thermal transfer printer itself occurs during the execution of the printing operation, it will be dealt with at the time of occurrence, and after the fault is removed, the printing will resume from the printing position immediately after the interruption. The present invention relates to a method of controlling a thermal transfer printer that allows continuous operation.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, when a failure occurs due to the thermal transfer printer itself, there is no method that allows reprinting after the printing operation is interrupted, and the printing operation can be continued immediately after the interruption, and the printing operation must be terminated or page.

Methods include reprinting from the beginning of the line, or comparing the amount of print and the remaining amount of film before printing, and replacing it with a new film if it seems insufficient.

However, with these methods, paper replacement, duplicate printing, and confusion of context occur, making the document unusable or
Alternatively, there is a drawback that the efficiency of using the film is reduced.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention solves the drawbacks of the above-mentioned prior art, and makes it possible to continue the printing operation from immediately after the printing interruption position in the reprinting operation after the failure of the printing interruption occurs. Its purpose is to provide.

[Summary of the invention]

A method for controlling a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention includes a transfer film winding mechanism, a film sensor that detects the presence or absence of the transfer film, a print head, a carriage that moves the print head, and a control that controls the operation thereof. In a thermal transfer printer having a device, when the transfer film ends or is cut during the printing operation and a printing impossible state occurs, the end or cut of the transfer film is detected by a film sensor, and the printing interruption is detected (3) Based on the knowledge, the current print position at the time of interruption and the relevant print data position information are stored for use in restarting and continuing the printing operation immediately after the printing interruption, and after immediately interrupting the printing operation and returning the carriage to the home position, The film is controlled to move to the film exchange position.

It should be noted that in the present invention, as soon as the occurrence of a failure is detected, the print position and print data at the time of occurrence, etc.
Information that allows the printing operation to continue immediately after printing is interrupted is stored, and after the failure is recovered, the restart position and the position of the reprint data are determined based on the stored information, and the printing operation is continued from that printing position. It was made so that it could be done.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of a method for controlling a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Here, FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a thermal transfer printer used for carrying out a method for controlling a thermal transfer printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an internal configuration diagram of the transfer film cassette, FIG. 4 is a control circuit diagram of the thermal transfer printer, and FIG. 5 is a printing operation control flowchart of the controller section. 6A and 6B are print result diagrams related to printing interruption during printing of a - character and execution of reprinting.

First, in FIGS. 1 to 3, 1 is a controller, 2 and 2 are side plates, 3 is a carriage motor, 4 is a paper feed knob, 5 is a carriage drive belt, 6 is a metal fitting, 7 is a frame, 8 is a carriage.

9 is a timing belt for winding, 10 is a transfer film cassette for color, etc., 11 is a line feeding gear, 12
is a paper IJ 9-slever, 13 is a line feed motor, 14 is a print head, 15 is a platen, 16 is a motor frame, and 17 is a shaft.

Further, 18 is a film sensor, 19 is a film drive pulley, 20 is a guide pin, 21 is a transfer film, 22 is a film winding rubber, and 23 and 23 are film winding pulleys.

That is, in FIG. 1, the side plates 2, 2 are tightened and fixed to the motor frame 16 related to the main frame with screws, and the side plates 2, 2 are tightened and fixed with screws.
, 2, the frame 7 and the shaft 17 are tightened and fixed between them, and the line feeding motor 13 is fixed to the side plate 2, and the carriage motor 3 is fixed to the motor frame 16 by tightening with screws.

Furthermore, after the line feed gear 11 and paper feed knob 4 are attached to the platen 15, they are rotatably fixed between the side plates 2, 2.

Further, a carriage 8 is attached to the shaft 17 so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and a print head 14 is attached to the carriage 8.
And a transfer film cassette 10 is attached.

The transfer film 21 is wound by a gear mechanism provided on the carriage 8 and a timing belt 9 for winding. Film pulley 19, which will be described later. Guide pin 20. Rubber for film winding 22. The film winding pulley 23 and the like are related to the film winding mechanism.

Here, for convenience of explanation, printing is performed only when the unidirectional printing printer (carriage 8 moves from left to right in the figure).

), and the transfer film 21 is wound up only when the carriage 8 moves from left to right.

The timing belt 9 mentioned above is fixed to the side plate 2 with a metal fitting 6.

Further, the carriage motor 39, the line feed motor 13, the print head 14, etc. are controlled by the controller 1 as indicated by the arrows in FIG. This print head 14 has heating elements arranged in one row (24 dots).

As shown in FIG. 2, when the carriage 8 integrally attached to the carriage drive belt 5 moves from left to right due to the rotation of the carriage motor 3, the transfer film 21 of the transfer film cassette 10 is wound up. When moving in the reverse direction, the transfer film 21 is not wound up.

Next, in FIG. 3, the winding power is applied from the film drive section of the carriage 8,
This is transmitted to the film drive pulley 19.

As shown in the figure, the transmitted power is applied to the film winding rubber 22 which is pressed against the transfer film 21 on both sides.
It is used as a winding force for the transfer film 21 via. Further, the film winding rubber 22 is stretched between the film winding pulley 23 and the film driving pulley 19, and the transfer film 21 is stretched with the guide pin 20 as a guide.

Therefore, when the film drive pulley 19 rotates,
The transfer film 21 is wound up, and while the transfer film 21 is moving, a film sensor 18 constantly checks whether the transfer film 21 is finished or cut.

Next, in FIG. 4 showing a control circuit diagram of a thermal transfer printer, 24 is a host, 25 is a sensor related to human power, 26 is an operation instruction section for inputting operation instructions, 27 is a microcomputer, and 28A is its control section. (CP
Similarly, 28B is a memory for storing print data, position information, etc. (hereinafter referred to as information memory) related to the RAM.

), 28C is the same ROM, and 29 is a drive/display section to which drive/display outputs are input.

Thus, the host 24 is, for example, an input unit such as a word processor.

The input from the sensor 25 is, for example, a
Input from a sensor that detects the presence/absence of paper corresponding to the width of paper such as 4 size or B5 size, transfer film 21
Inputs from the film sensor 18 related to the presence/absence of the platen 15, and inputs related to the position from a home position sensor (not shown) provided on the left side of the platen 15.

The operation instruction section 26 is, for example, an operation switch section (not shown) provided on the front panel of the entire cover (not shown) in FIG.

The microcomputer 27 includes a control unit 28A related to a CPU, an information memory 28B related to a RAM, and a ROM2.
It is composed of 8C, and the control section 2 is in ROM28C.
A program to control the information memo IJ 28A is written, and the control section 28A performs arithmetic processing while importing external data or exchanging data with the information memo IJ 28B according to this program. The data processed accordingly is output to the drive/display unit 29, and these are stored in the controller 1 mentioned above.

With the above configuration, when print control information, print data, line feed instruction data, etc. are sent from the host 24, the control unit 28 of the microcomputer 27
A is for taking in that information into the information memory 28A.

Further, the status of the thermal transfer printer, such as the presence/absence of the transfer film 21, the presence/absence of paper set, the home position, etc., can be known (10) through input from the sensor 25.

Further, the control unit 28A receives instructions such as online/offline switching, paper feeding operation, test printing, and printing restart operation based on input from the operation instruction unit 26.

The output from the drive/display section 29 controls the printing operation and the display of the status of the printer. This is done by lighting up the lights.

The control unit 28A performs control according to the printing operation control flow shown in FIG. 5, which shows the program written in R, 0M28C.

When the print control information and print data are received from the printer 24, the sensor 25 inputs information such as the presence/absence of the copy film 21, the presence/absence of paper set, and the home position of the thermal transfer printer. Capture the status and check whether a failure has occurred.

(11) If it is possible to operate, immediately write the information memo IJ 28 outside the print data row (24 dots) to be printed at that print position.
At the same time, the applied voltage necessary for transfer is applied to the drive/display section 29 for a certain period of time (500μ in the specifications of this embodiment).
s) to appear.

Next, it is determined whether printing is completed for the number of digits of print data sent from the host 24.

During this printing operation sequence, when the end of the film or cutting occurs, the film sensor 18 detects the end or cutting of the film.
The sensor power is input to the control unit 28A to detect the occurrence of the above-mentioned failure.

When the control unit 28A detects the failure, it changes the flow of processing and records the current print position and print data position information (print data, print data position information) as an information memo!
J 28 Store in B.

At the same time, the printing operation is immediately interrupted, and the drive/display unit 2
9, the carriage 8 is returned to the leftmost home position, and then moved to the film exchange position (center position) where the photographic film cassette 10 can be freely inserted and removed.
9, a film replacement instruction lamp (not shown) is turned on.

By controlling as described above, that is, based on the detection by the film sensor 18, the current printing position at the time of interruption and the relevant printing data position information are stored, which are used to continue restarting the printing operation immediately after printing interruption, and the printing By immediately interrupting the operation and moving the carriage 8 to the film exchange position, and by controlling to issue a film exchange instruction in response to the failure, the position immediately after printing is interrupted as described below. It is possible to continue the printing operation.

That is, the film is replaced in accordance with the above-mentioned film replacement instruction.

On the other hand, the presence/absence of a printing restart instruction is continuously checked based on the input from the operation instruction section 26.

If this printing restart instruction has been input, the presence/absence of film (13) is checked by input from the sensor 25, and if the presence of film is detected, it is determined that the film replacement is complete.

Based on this determination that the film exchange is complete, the output to the drive/display unit 29 is returned to the leftmost home position, and then the information memo IJ 28 is returned.
It is made to skip to the printing interruption position stored in B.

Next, the printing operation is restarted based on the interrupted printing data position information stored in the information memo IJ28B.

These operation sequences are repeated for one line of print data received from the host 24.

FIG. 6 shows that during one character printing when this embodiment is applied,
This shows the printing results when the previous failure occurred.

30 is the 13th column of the character "Tachi" (a character pattern consisting of 24 x 24 dots), and 31 indicates the state of the printed characters that were interrupted due to the occurrence of a fault, and 31 indicates the state of the reprinted characters after the fault has been recovered. As a result, as shown in 32, the character ``tatsu'' (14) does not have a disordered character shape even if printing is interrupted during printing, achieving the purpose.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the following effects can be expected.

(1) As shown in Figure 6, even if the printing operation is interrupted due to a failure occurring in the middle of the - character, the failure can be removed by itself, and if the printing operation is performed again, the printing No disturbance occurs, and the performance of the thermal transfer printer can be significantly improved.

(2) Even if the film is cut during the period from the detection of a failure to the end of the applied voltage output (500 μs according to the specifications of this embodiment), because this time is short, the character shape will not be distorted and it will not be noticeable. The performance of thermal transfer printers can be improved.

(3) It saves the trouble of replacing paper when a failure occurs, and at the same time
It is economical because paper during printing is not wasted.

(4) Since the transfer film can be used until the end, the film usage rate can be improved.

(15) However, in the above embodiment, the film replacement instruction lamp is turned on by the drive/display unit 29;
This can include other displays and warnings, such as flashing lamps or sounding a buzzer.
Also, place it in a position where you can recognize the occurrence of a failure due to printing interruption.
If there is a person handling them, please provide these replacement instructions and the control stand.
It is not necessarily necessary.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a control method for a thermal transfer printer that allows the printing operation to be continued immediately after the printing interruption position in the reprinting operation after the occurrence of a failure due to printing interruption, It can be said that this invention has excellent practical effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a thermal transfer printer used for carrying out a method for controlling a thermal transfer printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Fig. 3 is an internal configuration diagram of the transfer fin (16) and lum cassette, Fig. 4 is a control circuit diagram of the thermal transfer printer, Fig. 5 is a printing operation control flowchart of the controller section, and Fig. 6 is a , - is a print result diagram related to printing interruption during character printing and re-printing execution. 1...Controller, 3...Carriage motor, 8...Carriage drive belt, 8...Carriage, 9...
Winding timing belt, 11... line feeding gear,
13... Line feed motor, 14... Print head, 15
...Platen, 18...Film sensor, 19.
...Film drive pulley, 20...Guide pin, 2
1... Transfer film, 22... Rubber for film winding ~ 23... Pulley for film winding, 24...
Host, 25...Sensor, 26...Operation instruction unit,
27...Microcomputer, 28A...Control unit, 28B...Storage memory (RAM), 28C
... ROM, 29... Drive/display section. Agent Patent attorney Kosaku Fukuda (and 1 other person) (17) 0 Figure 5 Ondaime Ifν〉Print = 5Kishokokomachiroiri・ndau na86shi,hi,7tochi4th place1dred I had a photo shoot with Taira, and I had a photo shoot with him.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transfer film winding structure 9, a film sensor that detects the presence or absence of the transfer film, a print head, a carriage that moves the print head, and a controller that controls its operation. In a thermal transfer printer having a thermal transfer printer, when the transfer film ends or is cut during a printing operation and a printing impossible state occurs, the end or cut of the transfer film is detected by a film sensor, and the printing interruption is detected. The current print position at the time of interruption and the relevant print data position information are stored in order to continue restarting the printing operation immediately after the printing interruption, and the printing operation is immediately interrupted and the carriage is returned to the home position, and then the carriage is returned to the film exchange position. A method for controlling a thermal transfer printer, characterized by controlling the printer to move the printer. 2. A method for controlling a thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein a film replacement instruction is displayed or a printing failure is notified.