JPS60212363A - Thermal recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain more legible prints with higher speeds than the conventional recorders by a method in which the speed of a carriage is switched to a speed corresponding to a shorter electrifying period than electrifying periods necessary for keeping printing quality normal. CONSTITUTION:Electrifying STB width to a thermal recording head 1A is set to a shorter time T3 than a time T1 on the usual printing mode by a high-speed printing mode command, and the electrifying period is set to a shorter period T4 than the usual period T2, Pulse rate to the carriage pulse motor 7 is switched to T2/T4 timse correspondingly to shortened electrifying periods, and main routine is restored to make high-speed printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a thermal recording device, and particularly to a thermal recording device suitable as a serial printer.

[Background of the invention]

For heat-generating recording in which a plurality of heat-generating elements are arranged in a straight line, a RAD is brought into contact with the recording medium directly or via a transfer film, and the heat-generating recording head and the recording medium are moved relative to each other in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the heat-generating elements are arranged. A heat-sensitive recording apparatus has been proposed that records dots forming an information image on a recording medium by energizing a heating element to generate heat according to an information signal to be recorded while moving the element.

An example of such a thermal recording device will be explained with reference to FIG. 1.

That is, FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a thermal transfer type serial printer.

In the figure, 1 is a heat generating recording head, 2 is a transfer film, 3 is a recording paper, and 4 is a platen roller.

5 is a film cassette that stores the transfer film 2, and 6 is a solenoid for releasing the contact force of the heat-generating recording head 1. Reference numeral 8 denotes a guide shaft, which is provided parallel to the platen roller 4, and is connected to the heat generating recording head 1. Nyobo film cassette 5. It guides a carriage equipped with a solenoid 6 and a carriage pulse motor 7.

The carriage pulse motor 7 drives the carriage along the guide shaft 8 in parallel with the platen roller 4, and the pulse motor 9 rotates the platen roller 4 and drives the recording paper 3 every time recording of a - line is completed. It is something to do.

12 is a paper detector that detects the presence or absence of recording paper 3 and its size; 13 is a film detector that detects the presence or absence of transfer film 2; and 14 is a home position detector that detects that the carriage is located at the home position. The detected information is input to the overall control circuit section 11.

15 is an operation 2 display section, 16 is an interface circuit section,
17 is a power supply section.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the heat generating element array 19 of the heat generating recording head 1. FIG. In this example, the heating element 19a.

19b, . . . , 19g are arranged linearly in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the carriage.

In the case of such a heating head 1, the carriage is continuously driven in parallel with the platen roller 4, and the energization cycle is as shown in FIG. The heating element 19a is energized and heated in accordance with the information signal to be recorded.
,..., 19g is shown in Figure 3 (b).
).

That is, the ink coated on the transfer film 2 is melted at the temperature generated when electricity is generated, and is transferred onto the recording paper 3 to form recording dots. The recording speed in this case is limited by the thermal characteristics of the heat-generating recording head 1 and the thermal characteristics of the transfer film 2, and for one recording (, one dot), the recording speed is 0.6~
A current application time of 0.8 m5ec and a cooling time 2 to 3 times that time are required.

Heat-sensitive recording devices have the disadvantage that high-quality printing cannot be performed at high speed due to this cooling time.

On the other hand, when using a Japanese word processor, etc., in order to check how the layout of the text will actually be printed on paper, print it out at high speed with a print quality that is readable, and then check the layout by looking at the results. After correcting the text, there is a request to print the final text with regular print quality.

This high-speed printing mode is generally called draft mode.

Conventionally, as a method for realizing this draft mode, there has been a method of thinning out dots, which is used in wire dot printers and inkjet printers, for example.

Figure 4 A22B and C show these methods.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the dot structure of the letter A when it is normal and when it is thinned out.

For the normal dot character structure of the letter A (A in Figure 4), there is a method of thinning out the even number dots (the opening in Figure 4) and odd number dots (not shown), or by thinning out the dots using a predetermined algorithm ( There is a method (c) in Figure 4. Note that D in the figure represents a heating dot, and H represents the temperature of the heating element.

This method uses the dot information after these thinnings to form predetermined dots for printing, and as the number of dots decreases,
This increases printing speed.

However, when the method shown in Figure 4 is applied to the conventional thermal recording method, the printing speed is 1.4 times that of the conventional method, but the print quality deteriorates and characters with a small number of dots become unreadable. have. In addition, in the case of No. in Fig. 4, it is necessary to energize one of the heat generating elements of the head for the dots in the head movement direction, and the number of dots decreases, so the cooling time of the heat generating element is reduced. Since the length becomes shorter, the printing speed shown in the figure becomes faster, but the disadvantage is that the printing speed of the paper printing does not increase.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal recording device that is easier to read than conventional printers and can print at a higher speed, although the print quality deteriorates when printing at normal speed.

[Summary of the invention]

The configuration of the thermal recording apparatus according to the present invention is such that the overall control circuit section brings a heat-generating recording head in which a plurality of heat-generating elements are arranged in a straight line into contact with a recording medium, and the heat-generating recording head and the recording medium are connected to each other as described above. While moving the heating elements relatively in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the heating elements, the heating elements are energized and generate heat according to the information signal to be recorded.

Then, from the normal printing mode in which an information image is formed on the recording medium, the period of electricity supply to the heat-generating recording head in the normal printing mode is shortened, and the speed of the carriage carrying the heat-generating recording head is decreased as described above. The printer is equipped with arithmetic and control means for programmably controlling and switching to a high-speed printing mode by switching to a speed corresponding to the energization cycle.

Additional information is as follows.

The present invention increases the number of recording dots per unit time by increasing the number of recording dots per unit time and shortening the head energization cycle by making the energization time shorter than the energization time to the heat-generating recording head set to maintain normal printing quality. The printing speed is increased by correspondingly increasing the carriage speed.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the thermal recording device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the respective figures.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a heat-generating recording head of a thermal recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is an electrical circuit diagram thereof, and FIGS. When printing.

8 is a block diagram of the overall control circuit section showing related parts, FIG. 9 is a control flowchart, and FIG. 10 is an operation timing chart during high-speed printing.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of printing according to the embodiment.

In the figure, the same reference numerals as those in the previous figures 1 to 4 indicate the same parts, IA is the heat-generating recording head, and 11 is the overall control circuit section, which is related to the thermal recording apparatus of this embodiment. teeth,
As shown in FIG. 1 above, the heat-generating recording head 1 has the same configuration as IA, and the overall control circuit section 11 has the same configuration as 11A.

First, in FIG. 5, 18 is a ceramic substrate, 19 is the heating element array described above, and heating elements 19a formed of thin film resistors,
..., 19g are arranged vertically in a straight line.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a driving IC which receives power, control signals, dot information signals, etc. from an overall control circuit section 11A, which will be described later, through a tangential section 21, and operates the heating elements 19a, . . . , 19.
g is used to control energization and heat generation.

Note that there is no hindrance to forming the above-mentioned heating element rows into a plurality of rows.

FIG. 6 is an electrical circuit diagram of the heat generating recording head IA of FIG. 5, showing the heat generating elements 19a of the heat generating element array 19.

..., each side of 19g is connected in common, and the tangent part 2
1, and each other side is connected to the drive IC 20ONAND driver 22a, .
..., connected to 22g.

Further, one input of the NAND drivers 22a+ and 22g is connected in common to the strobe (STB) signal terminal 25 of the tangential portion 21, and the other input is connected to the drive IC 20 of the driver. The parallel output terminals of the shift register 23 are connected to the parallel output terminals of the shift register 23.

The data input terminal of the shift register 23 is connected to the dot information (DATA) signal terminal 26 of the tangential section 21, and the clock input terminal thereof is connected to the clock (CLK) signal terminal 27 of the tangential section 21. It is something that

Figures 7(a) and 7(b) are operation timing charts of the electrical circuit shown in Figure 6 above during normal printing and high-speed printing, respectively, and reference numbers indicate corresponding components in both figures. It shows.

As is clear from the figure, the dot information signal of the dot information signal terminal 26 is the clock signal applied to the clock signal terminal 27. It is a number relative to a number.)′
are stored in the shift register 23 and output in parallel according to the strobe signal at the strobe signal terminal 25, thereby energizing the heating elements 19a, . . . , 19g to generate heat.

Heating element 1 in normal printing mode in Figure 7 (a)
The time applied to the strobe signals 9a, . . . , 19g is given by the time Tl during which the strobe signal at the strobe signal terminal 25 becomes valid. The optimum values for the time T1 and the illustrated application period T2 are determined through experiments based on the characteristics of the heating elements in the heating element array 19 and the like.

Furthermore, in order to obtain high print quality, the above-mentioned time TI,
The period T2 can also be programmably controlled based on printing history and the like.

In this embodiment described below, the time 'r1 is Q, 8
m 36C, and the period T2 is 2m5eC.

Further, the time T3 during which the strobe signal becomes effective during high-speed printing in FIG. 7(b) and the application period T4 will be detailed in the description of the next embodiment, but T3 is 9
．． 5 m 38C,,'l' 4 is 1.25 m 56
C.

As already mentioned, FIGS. 8 and 9 are block diagrams showing the overall control circuit section of the means for switching between the normal printing mode and the high-speed printing mode, and a flowchart of its operation, according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is.

That is, the overall control circuit section 11A includes an MPU 2 that performs calculations and controls according to a program written in the ROM 30.
9, l1028 which transmits commands and data from the outside and information from the overall control circuit section 11A side, l1032 which distributes signals for driving the carriage pulse motor 7, etc., and l1032 which distributes signals for driving the carriage pulse motor 7, etc. RAM 31 for temporarily storing data, the above-mentioned MPU 29, ROM 30. RAM3
1 constitutes calculation and control means.

Then, the speed of the carriage pulse motor 7 is
It is programmably controlled by the pulse rate given from 9 to 11032.

Furthermore, a strobe signal that determines the duration of current application to the heat-generating recording head IA is programmably given from the MPU 29.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart when switching and transitioning between the high-speed printing mode and the normal printing mode, as described above.

That is, if a command indicating high-speed printing mode is issued externally, for example, depending on a combination of characters,
Instructions are given to U29.

The MPU 29 identifies this command and transfers control to high-speed printing mode.

In the high-speed printing mode setting subroutine, the effective time of the strobe (STB) signal, which is the width of the energization to the heat-generating recording head IA related to the print head, is instructed to shorten the time setting number of the timer. Set to time T3, which is shorter than time T1.

Further, the period T4 is set to be shorter than the application period T2 in the normal printing mode in the same manner.

By similarly commanding the pulse rate to the carriage pulse motor 7 to shorten the timer hour setting number in response to the aforementioned shortened energization cycle, the rate can be changed to the rate in the normal printing mode. T2/T4=1.6 times.

Thereafter, the process returns to the main routine related to the same program as in the normal print mode, and high-speed printing is performed.

As described above, it becomes possible to perform high-speed printing by changing the application period T2 in the normal printing mode to the application period T4 in the high-speed printing mode.

In the above, time Tt is Q, f3 m 5'eC,
Period T2 is 2m5ec, time T3 is Q, 5m 38C
, the period T4 is 1.25 m 5ec, and the printing speed in the high-speed printing mode is 1.25 m 5ec.
This is a sixfold increase.

FIG. 10 shows an example of printing in this high-speed printing mode.

If we look at the example in Figure 10 from a microscopic perspective, we can see that since the width of current flow to each heating element is short and the cooling time is short, the amount of carbon in the transfer film that is melted is small, and the shape of the heating elements also varies. It doesn't transfer properly, the edges are chipped, and the edges are trailing.

However, since 70 to 80% of the heating element area was transferred, the dots were sufficiently recognizable.

On the other hand, when viewed from a macroscopic perspective, the lines were less dense and blurred compared to the normal case, but the letters were recognizable as letters.

Therefore, in the above embodiment, both the energization width and the energization period are shortened, and the pulse rate for the carriage pulse motor related to the carriage speed is increased. 2 of pulse rate
It can be configured so that the number of users can be shortened or increased.

Moreover, it is a general-purpose device that can be applied not only to serial printers but also to line printers.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, some changes can be made without major changes in the electric circuit.
Although the printing quality will be lower, since the number of printing beads can be increased and used more often than usual, it has the effect of making a trial print such as checking the layout of a text in a short time, making it an excellent invention for practical use. I can say that.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a thermal transfer type serial printer as an example of a thermal recording device, FIG. 2 is a front view of a heat generating element array of a heat generating recording head, and FIG. 3 (a). (b) is a diagram of the energization timing and temperature characteristics of the heating element, a diagram of the dot structure of A, B, and letter A in FIG. 4 when normal and thinned out, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a front view of the heat-generating recording head of the heat-sensitive recording device, and FIG. 7 (A) is its electrical circuit diagram. (B) is an operation timing chart during normal printing and high-speed printing; FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the overall control circuit section showing related parts; FIG. 9 is a control flowchart; FIG. is a diagram showing an example of printing according to the example. IA... Heat generating recording head, 2... Transfer film, 3
... Recording paper, 4... Platen roller, 5... Film cassette, 6... Solenoid, 7... Carriage pulse motor, 8... Guide shaft, 9... Pulse motor, 10. ...Drive circuit section, IIA...Overall control circuit section, 12...Paper detector, 13...Film detector,
14...Home position detector, 15...Operation instruction section, 16...Inter-7 Ace circuit section, 17...
- Power supply section, 18...Ceramic substrate, 19...Heating element row, 19a,..., 19g...Heating element, 20
...Drive IC, 21...Tangential portion, 22a,
22 g-NAND driver, 23...shift register, 24...recording power supply terminal, 25...speed rope signal terminal, 26...dot information signal terminal, 2
7... Clock signal terminal, 28.32... Ilo,
4th Senmuyu D Kikakumoho- 4th 5th item

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A heat generating recording head having a plurality of heat generating elements arranged in a straight line is brought into contact with a recording medium by the overall control circuit unit, and the heat generating recording head and the recording medium are connected to In a thermal recording device, the heating element is energized and generated to generate heat according to an information signal to be recorded while being moved relatively in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction, thereby recording dots constituting an information image on the recording medium, The overall control circuit section changes from the normal printing mode in which normal printing quality is maintained to shortening the energization period to the heat generating recording head in the normal printing mode, and changing the speed of the carriage on which the heat generating recording head is mounted. What is claimed is: 1. A thermal recording device comprising calculation and control means for programmably controlling and switching to a high-speed printing mode by switching to a speed corresponding to the energization cycle of the device. 2. In the thing described in claim 1, - from,
A thermal recording device configured to shorten the current supply width to the thermal recording head and shorten the current supply cycle. 3. In the device described in claim 1, a person who inputs commands and data from the outside and outputs information from the inside of the overall control circuit unit. The output section, the MPU that performs calculations and controls according to the program written in the ROM, the calculation and control means consisting of the R and AM that temporarily store data from the outside, and the signals for driving the carriage are distributed. and the person who drives the heat-generating recording head. A thermal recording device consisting of an output section and an output section.