JPS61123572A - Printing-controlling system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent dot misregistration from occurring when a ribbon is re placed during the process of printing a character, by a system wherein the distance from printing data being presently printed to the next break in printing is detected when a ribbon end is detected, and a printing-stopping timing is determined on the basis of the result of comparison of the detected distance with a set point. CONSTITUTION:A main controlling part 9a does not output a printing-stopping command immediately on receiving a ribbon end signal from a ribbon end sensor S, but continues printing while monitoring a break in printing data (a column in which none of pins are operated for printing), and a function is provided for outputting the printing-stopping command on finding a break in printing pulses fed from a pirnting-controlling part 13 or at a break in printing at a position near the residual length of an ink ribbon 4 detected by a counter 18.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to serial printer devices such as wire tod printers and thermal transfer thermal printers, and in particular, the present invention relates to serial printer devices such as wire tod printers and thermal transfer thermal printers. The present invention relates to a print control method that can prevent dot misalignment and ensure print quality.

In recent years, with the advancement of office automation, various computer terminals and word processors have become popular.

Wire tod printers and thermal printers have been developed and put into practical use as print output devices for facsimiles and the like.

Ink ribbons commonly used in wired-nod printers are often fabrics impregnated with ink that are used repeatedly, but carbon ribbons are used when particularly high print quality is required.

Further, a thermal transfer type thermal printer uses a film ribbon coated with a heat-soluble carbon ink.

These ribbons usually need to be replaced after one use, and may need to be replaced during printing, but a method that does not cause misalignment of printed dots in this case is desired.

[Conventional technology]

Figure 3 is a plan view illustrating the main parts of a thermal transfer thermal printer, Figure 4 is a control block diagram of Figure 3, and Figure 5 (a).
and mountains) are explanatory diagrams of FIG. 4. The same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the figures.

As shown in FIG. 2, the thermal head 1 mounted on the carrier 5 contacts the printing paper 3 placed on the platen 2 via the ink ribbon 4 and presses the printing paper 3 with a constant pressure.

The carrier 5 is slidably fitted into a guide shaft 6 arranged parallel to the platen 1, and is also fixed to a feed belt 7 parallel to the platen 2, which is connected via a pulley (not shown). connected to the space motor,
The thermal head 1 can be moved back and forth in the directions of arrows A and B in the figure by forward and reverse rotation of the motor. The thermal head 1 is provided with a heat generating section composed of a plurality of resistance heating elements (hereinafter referred to as heat generating elements) 1a in order to form prints using dots.

The printing paper 3 is transported in the direction of arrow C by a transport mechanism (not shown).

The ink ribbon 4 is housed in a ribbon cassette 4a mounted on a carrier 5. For example, one side of a polyester film tape is coated with a heat-melting ink containing carbon, and the heating element 1a of the thermal head 1 in contact with the ink ribbon 4 is coated with a heat-melting ink containing carbon. When heat is generated, the ink is thermally transferred to the printing paper 3.

Further, in FIG. 3, the interface circuit 8 has a function of receiving print information a and sending it to the main control section 9.

The main control unit 9 outputs print data b from input print information a.
If the control data is a print start command, a print start signal C is sent to the space control unit 10, and if the control data is a line feed command, a line feed signal d is sent to the line feed control unit 11. In the case of print data b, it is temporarily stored in the buffer 12 and sent to the print control unit 1 during printing operation.
3 sequentially. It also has a function of instructing the space control unit lo to stop driving immediately upon receiving the ribbon end detection signal S from the sensor S.

The space control unit 10 has a function of starting the spacing operation of the thermal head 1 according to the printing position when a printing start signal is input manually, and sending out a printing timing signal e when the thermal head 1 reaches the printing position.

The line feed control unit 11 has a function of performing a line feed operation when a line feed signal d is input.

The print control section 13 has a function of sending out a print pulse f of a print character pattern in response to a print timing signal e from the space control section 10, and controlling the printing performance of the thermal head 1.

The sensor S is a photo sensor that detects the ribbon end of the print ribbon 4.

Further, 14 to 16 are drivers, 17 is a sensor amplifier, and 41
indicates a space motor, and M2 indicates a line feed motor.

With such a configuration and function, the print start signal C is sent from the main control unit 8, the space control unit 9 is activated, and the print data b sent from the buffer 12 by the print timing signal e is sent to the print control unit 12. sent to. The print pulse f sent out from the print control unit 12 is sent to the driver 14.
The heating element 1a of the thermal head 1 is selectively heated by the heating element 1a of the thermal head 1. That is, when the thermal head 1 operates, dot printing is performed on the printing paper 3 on the platen 2, and the space signal g sent from the space control section 10 is sent to the driver 1.
5 rotates the space motor M1, and the thermal head 1 prints on the printing paper 3 while moving in the direction of arrow A together with the carrier 5. The ink ribbon 4 is wound up in conjunction with the movement of the carrier 5.

When one line of printing is completed, a line feed signal d is sent to the line feed control unit 1.
1, the thermal head 1 is retracted from the surface of the printing paper 3 together with the ink ribbon 4 by an evacuation mechanism (not shown), the line feed motor 12 is rotated, the transport mechanism is driven, and the printing paper 3 is line-feeded in the direction of arrow C. sent. The thermal head 1 moves in the direction of arrow B and returns to the home position.

Here, when the sensor S detects the ribbon end of the ink ribbon 4, a command is sent from the main controller 9 to the space controller 1.
Immediately after being sent to 0, space feeding stops, and at the same time, printing by the thermal head 1 stops. Even if the detection timing of this sensor S is in the middle of printing one character or in the middle of image printing, it immediately stops.

The operator then replaces the printing ribbon 4.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

According to the above conventional method, when the ribbon end is detected, 1
Since printing is stopped immediately even in the middle of character printing or image printing, if the carrier 5 is moved when the operator replaces the printing ribbon 4, there will be a "shift" back and forth when printing is restarted. As shown in Figures 5(a) and (b), which show examples of character printing and image printing, the printing quality deteriorates due to gaps and overlaps due to the deviations α and β. There is a point.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention includes a detection means for detecting the distance to the next print break when the ribbon end is detected, and a comparison means for comparing the distance detected by the detection means with a set value, and the comparison means makes a comparison. This is a printing control method that determines the printing stop point based on the results of , and thereby the above-mentioned problems can be solved.

That is, the distance between the sensor S that detects the ribbon end and the thermal head 1 is the printable part of the ink ribbon 4, and by focusing on the fact that printing can be continued within this distance, control to print up to Here, the printing break is the break between characters in the case of character printing, and in the case of image printing, it is the column (Column) where all pins included in the image are not printed. T: Al.

[Effect]

According to the present invention, instead of the conventional method of stopping printing immediately when the ribbon end is detected, when a ribbon end detection signal is output, the distance to the next printing break is detected by the detection means, and the setting is made. By comparing the value and the detected distance using a comparison means, if the distance is smaller than the set value, print out that distance and stop, and if the distance is larger than the set value, print up to the set value and stop. In the case of character printing, the "misalignment" of dots is eliminated, and in the case of image printing, the frequency of occurrence of "misalignment" is reduced, so that printing quality can be improved.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the main block diagram of FIG. The same symbols as in FIG. 3 indicate the same objects.

In FIG. 1, the main control section 9a has the printing execution control function of the main control section 9 described in the conventional example, and also does not immediately issue a printing stop command when the ribbon end is detected by the sensor S. It has a function of continuing printing while monitoring data breaks, and instructing to stop printing when a break is found or the remaining distance of the ink ribbon 4 is exhausted based on the count result by the counter 18.

The counter 18 is set with a set value based on the remaining distance of the ink ribbon 4, and is activated by a command from the main control unit 9a based on the ribbon end detection signal S, and is activated to detect the next break in the character or image being printed. distance to the clock signal k
It has a function of counting by and sending a signal i to the main control unit 9a when this distance L2 has not reached the set value or exceeds the set distance L1, and compared with the above-mentioned detection means. It has the function of a means.

Because it has such a configuration and function, it can be used for printing.

When the ribbon end is detected by sensor S on the way,
The counter 18 is activated by a command from the main control unit 9a,
The distance L2 to the next cut is counted, and when the print cut is equal to or less than the set value, a signal i is sent to the main control section 9a. Further, when there is no break in printing even when the count value reaches the set value L1, the signal i is sent to the main control section 9a at that point.

In either case, when receiving the signal i, the main control section 9a issues a drive stop command to the space control section 10, and printing is stopped.

A different embodiment is shown in a block diagram of main parts in FIG. The same parts as in FIG. 1 are indicated by the same symbols.

In the figure, in addition to having the printing execution control function of the main control unit 9 described in the conventional example, the main control unit 9b does not immediately issue a printing stop command when the ribbon end is detected by the sensor S, and controls the printing data. It has a function of continuing printing while monitoring the break and instructing to stop printing when a break in the printing pulse from the print control section 13a is discovered or when the remaining distance of the ink ribbon 4 is exhausted by the counter 19.

The counter 19 is set with a set value L1 based on the remaining distance of the ink ribbon 4, is activated by a command j from the main controller 9b based on the ribbon end detection signal S, and measures the distance L2 to the next cut using a clock signal k. Count this distance L
2 has a function of transmitting a signal m when it reaches a set value.

Further, 20 represents an OR circuit, and 21 represents an AND circuit.

Therefore, when the ribbon end is detected by the sensor S during printing, the counter 19 is activated by a command j from the main control section 9b and starts counting with a clock signal, and at the same time, a signal n is sent to the printing control section 13a at the end of printing. command to transmit.

When a signal n is generated at a print break, it is sent to an AND circuit 21 via an OR circuit 20, and a signal p is output from the AND circuit 21, and the main control section 9b instructs the space control section 10 to stop printing.
command to stop printing. Furthermore, when the counter 19 counts up to the set value without finding a break in the print, the signal m is sent to the AND circuit 21, and the signal m is sent to the AND circuit 21.
A signal p is output from 1 and sent to the main control section 9b, and printing is similarly stopped.

In this way, when the ribbon reaches the end in the middle of printing,
By not stopping printing immediately, but printing until the next printing break or a set value L1 close to the remaining distance of the ink ribbon 4 and then stopping, when printing characters, all printing is done at the next printing break. Since it can be stopped, it eliminates the "misalignment" of printed dots due to ribbon replacement, and when printing an image, it stops at a column where the image is not printed.

Alternatively, the printer will print until the set value L+ is reached and then stop. When printing reaches the set value L+, there is a possibility that "misalignment" of printed dots will occur due to ribbon replacement, but this can reduce the frequency of occurrence.

In the above example, as soon as the ribbon end is detected, the set value L
1 and the distance L2 to the printing break have been explained, and the printing stop point is determined based on the size of the difference. However, other methods may also be used. For example, after printing a predetermined length after detecting the ribbon end, A similar effect can be obtained by doing the following.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that printing quality can be improved by preventing misalignment of printing due to replacement of ink ribbons.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of main parts showing a different embodiment of the invention, FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating main parts of a thermal transfer thermal printer, and FIG. This figure is a control block diagram of FIG. 3, and FIGS. 5(a) and (1)) are explanatory diagrams of FIG. 4. In the figure, 1 is a thermal head, 4 is an ink ribbon,
8 is an interface circuit, 9 is a main control section, 10 is a space control section, 11 is a line feed control section, 12 is a buffer, 13 is a print control section, 14 to 16 are drivers, 17 is a sensor amplifier, 18.19 is a counter, 20 is an OR circuit, 21 is A
An ND circuit is shown. t5 l/l Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure S

Claims (1)

[Claims] Wind up the ink ribbon while printing dots,
In the printer device that stops printing upon detection of the ribbon end of the ink ribbon, a detection means detects a distance to a break in the next printing of print data being printed when the ribbon end is detected; 1. A printing control system comprising: comparison means for comparing the detected distance with a set value, and determining a printing stop point based on the comparison result by the comparison means.