JPS6116632B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Technical Field The present invention relates to a serial printer, and in particular,
By changing the carriage feed amount in accordance with the width of the type to be printed, the arrangement of a series of printed "words" looks neat and easy to read, and ribbons can be used effectively. Regarding serial printers.

Conventional technology Conventionally, a typewriter type printer selects type based on a printing character code such as an ASCII code or JIS code, and prints by pressing the type provided on a rotating wheel or cylinder onto paper via a ribbon. In printers, that is, serial impact printers, the carriage feed rate is generally fixed for all types.
For example, uppercase letters, lowercase letters, periods, etc. in alphabetical letters were controlled at the same feed amount for each print, regardless of the width of the type.

Therefore, when "words" are printed as a series of print strings, the spacing between the words becomes irregular depending on the shape of the preceding and following characters, which is not only unsightly but also difficult to read. This point also applies to well-known dot printers.

As a method to solve this problem, it has been proposed to provide a carriage movement amount code separately from the print character code and control the movement amount from the outside for each print, but this method does not This has the disadvantage that it becomes complicated and the operation becomes complicated.

Another possible method is to change the typeface itself. However, in this case, although the "words" are arranged continuously, the printed letters become unnatural and undesirable.

Purpose The printer of the present invention solves these problems and provides high-quality printing in which the arrangement of a series of printed words is visually clear and easy to read. The first purpose.

Furthermore, a second objective is to improve the efficiency of using expensive printing ribbons such as carbon film ribbons.

Configuration For this purpose, the serial impact printer of the present invention uses a ribbon for printing and type holding means such as a rotary wheel or a rotary cylinder having type.
a storage means for storing information regarding the width of the type; a movable carriage having the type holding means; a carriage feed control means for controlling the feed of the carriage; and a carriage for controlling the feed of the ribbon. Ribbon feed control means is provided, and the carriage feed control means controls the carriage feed based on information regarding the width of printed characters stored in the storage means, and the ribbon feed control means is also stored in the storage means. Information about the width of the printed characters is used to feed the ribbon according to the characters.

In addition, in response to printed character codes such as ASCII codes, position address codes that indicate the location of type on a rotating wheel or cylinder, etc., and type that can control the carriage feed amount depending on the type of type are also available. Select the width information in advance,
The typeface is selected based on the position address code, and the carriage feed amount is controlled based on the typeface width information.

In a serial impact printer that uses a rotary wheel or a rotary cylinder holding type as a type holding means, the position of the type is selected by inputting a print character code such as an ASCII code, and then storing the type in a fixed storage device, e.g. Reads the position address code indicating the location of the type on the type wheel from ROM (read-only memory), counts up or down the contents of the counter for each type on the wheel, and outputs the counter. The current position code of the type wheel is used as the current position code of the type wheel, the position address code read from the ROM is compared with the current position code of the type wheel, and the rotation of the type wheel is controlled until the two match to select the type. Are known. Since such a method for selecting printed characters is not a direct object of the present invention, a detailed explanation of conventionally known methods will be omitted.

Next, embodiments of the printer of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing character width information of three examples of characters having different print widths, for explaining the carriage feed amount control operation in the printer of the present invention. In the drawings, 2x, 2y, 2z represent the uppercase letter "A", the uppercase letter "I", and the lowercase letter "b".
Each represents the type width.

When printing "words" using a series of typefaces with different widths, as shown in Figure 1, it is possible to change the area (width) on the paper according to the shape of the typefaces to be printed. This allows for clear and easy-to-read printing.

Therefore, in the printer of the present invention, the type width information is determined in advance according to the type of type type to be printed, and when printing a series of characters, the type width information of the type printed immediately before and the type width information of the next printed type are used. The width information of the printed characters is added each time or calculated in advance, and the carriage feed amount is controlled for each print based on the resulting number.

For example, if the minimum unit of movement of the carriage is approximately 1/48 cm (1/120 inch), then x in Figure 1 is approximately 5/48
cm (5/120 inch), y approximately 2/48 cm (2/12 inch)
0 inch), select z to approximately 3/48 cm (3/120 inch), and set the letter spacing to approximately 2/48 cm (2/120 inch).
shall be.

First, if you want to print "I" after printing "A", set the carriage feed amount to (x+
y + 2) / 48 = 9/48 cm (9/120 inch), and the carriage feed amount when printing "B" after printing "A" is (x + z + 2) /
Specify 48 = 10/48 centimeter (10/120 inch).

If one unit is approximately 1/48 centimeter (1/120 inch), the above two examples are expressed as 9 units and 10 units, respectively. Also, x is 5 units, y is 2 units, z
can be shown as 3 units.

Therefore, such type width information is expressed as a binary code and stored in a fixed storage device such as ROM, in the same way as the target position address code that indicates the position of the type on the rotating wheel, so that it can be used to determine the type of type to be printed. The carriage feed amount is calculated according to the arrangement, and control corresponding to the type width is performed for each print.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the main structure of an embodiment of the printer of the present invention. In the drawing, 1 is ROM, 2 is 3-bit buffer,
3 is an adder, 4 is a counter, 5 is a rotating wheel control circuit, L1 is an ASCII code print character code input line, L2 is a ROM switching command input line, and L3 is ROM1 1 to 3 outputs. L4 is the input/output line for outputs 4 to 7 of ROM1, and L5 is the output line for 3-bit buffer 2.
6 is an output line of the adder 3.

To control the carriage feed amount in the case of Fig. 2, an adder 3 is used to calculate the result number from the type width information of the type printed next and the type width information of the type printed immediately before. is used.

Further, the type width information is composed of, for example, 3 bits of a binary code, and can be output in 8 units from 0 to 7. Furthermore, in the case of Alphabet, the printed character code and target position address code must contain 26 uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers 0 to 9, and other symbols.
It consists of a 7-bit binary code that allows up to 128 different codes.

A printed character code in ASCII code is input to the ROM1 from the input line L1.

This ROM1 has a storage capacity of 256 x 8 bits, and uses two addresses for each of up to 128 possible print character codes, and a 7-bit target position address code. ,
3-bit type width information corresponding to the type is stored. One bit out of the eight bits is used for a ROM switching command to switch between the target position address code and type width information.

The ROM switching command given from the input line L2 is given, for example, as a logic "0" when reading the type width information, and the type width information corresponding to the input print character code is stored.
Specify the address of ROM1. The 3-bit type width information read from ROM1 is sent to input/output line L3.
The signal is sent to the 3-bit buffer 2 and the adder 3 through the 3-bit buffer 2 and the adder 3.

The 3-bit buffer 2 is a buffer for storing type width information of the character code printed immediately before. Further, the adder 3 adds the type width information printed immediately before and stored in the 3-bit buffer 2 to the type width information currently input and printed, and outputs the resulting number via the output line L6. It is held on counter 4. The contents of this counter 4 are used as control information for the carriage feed amount.

The contents of counter 4 obtained in this way are
Each time the carriage on which the type wheel is mounted moves one unit, it is subtracted and the content becomes "0".
control to stop the carriage when the

Further, when printing the first character of a line, if the contents of this counter 4 are cleared to "0", the carriage is not moved and printing can be performed at that position. At the same time, the 3-bit buffer 2 stores the width information of the currently printed type.

Next, the ROM switching command applied from the input line L2 is changed to logic "1", the address of the ROM1 is changed, and the target position address code corresponding to the inputted print character code is read out.

The 7-bit target position address code is applied to the rotary wheel control circuit 5 from input/output lines L3 and L4, and the type wheel is rotated by a motor or the like. When the wheel reaches the target position, rotation is stopped. At this time, the ROM switching command is changed to logic "0" again.

In this way, when the selection of the type on the type wheel has been made and the carriage movement has been completed, the hammer is activated by the hammer command.
Printing ends.

Then, when the next new print character code is input, the same operation is performed to print from ROM1.
The type width information and the target position address are read out, and the type width information is added to the type width information of the type printed immediately before, which is stored in the 3-bit buffer 2. The resulting number indicates control information for the carriage feed amount immediately before printing.

In addition, when selecting the character spacing in 2 units of about 2/48 cm (2/120 inch), you can add 1 unit to the type width information in advance and store it in ROM1, or adder 3 ``2'' may be automatically added to .

In this way, for each print, the type width information of the type currently being input and printed is added to the type width information of the type printed immediately before, and the carriage feed amount is controlled based on the resulting number. , a "word" formed by a series of letters will always be spaced approximately 2/48 centimeter (2/120 inch) apart, regardless of typeface.

In this Figure 2, a commercially available standard 256 x 8-bit ROM is effectively used, but this is replaced with two ROMs, and one is used as the target position address code. To use,
It is also possible to use the other one for type width information.

Next, FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the main structure of another embodiment of the printer of the present invention. In the drawing, 6 is the ROM, 7 is a buffer for storing the immediately preceding printed character code, L1 is the input line for the printed character code as in Figure 2, L6 is the output line of ROM6, and L7 is the buffer for storing the immediately preceding printed character code. This is the output line of buffer 7.

The amount of carriage feed can be calculated based on the combination of characters before and after printing.
Therefore, in the case of Fig. 3, instead of adding the type width information of each type each time as shown in Fig. 2, the type width information for the combination of the preceding and following types is calculated in advance and the ROM 6 Let me memorize it.

Then, the address of the ROM 6 is designated by the currently inputted print character code and the print character code printed just before and stored in the buffer 7. From the designated address, the carriage feed amount corresponding to the type width information selected by these two print character codes is read out, and is applied to the carriage feed control circuit from the output line L6. Furthermore, since the type width information that determines the carriage feed amount is added in advance, it is made up of, for example, 4 bits.

Furthermore, FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing another embodiment of the printer of the present invention, which is a modification of the circuit shown in FIG. The same reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same parts as in FIG. 3, and
8 is the current position counter of the type wheel, and L8 is its output line.

In the case of FIG. 4, the current position address code of the type wheel is used to store the type of type printed just before. This current position address code can be easily known from the current position counter 8 provided for controlling the rotating wheel.

Therefore, the contents of this current position counter 8 are
If you use it as one input of ROM6 and then use the printed character code as the other input of ROM6, as in the case of Fig. 3,
One address in ROM6 can be specified. From the designated address, the carriage feed amount corresponding to the type width determined from the combination of the preceding and succeeding type characters is read out and given to the counter from the output line L6.

In the circuits of Figures 3 and 4, we have explained the case where the ROM 6 is configured with one piece, but by using a so-called microprocessor ROM, one input code is used for major classification, and the other input code is used for small classification. It is also possible to classify.

As described above, in the printer of the present invention, type width information corresponding to the character widths of the characters before and after being printed is added or calculated in advance, and the carriage feed amount is controlled based on the resulting number. That's what I do.

In addition, by having type width information for each character, the carriage is unconditionally sent by a certain amount after printing, and the actual character width information generated by the next print character code is used. It is also easy to adjust the carriage position when printing.

Furthermore, if the feeding amount of the printing ribbon is controlled using this resultant number, the printing ribbon can be fed by the necessary width depending on the type of type to be printed, thereby improving its usage efficiency. In this case, extra data will be sent for the character spacing, so for example, approximately 2/48 cm (2/120 inch) will be sent.
By subtracting 2 units, the usage efficiency can be further increased.

As described above in detail, the printer of the present invention is provided with feed information for controlling carriage feed according to the width of characters to be printed, and a ribbon feed control means for controlling ribbon feed based on the feed information. That's what I do.

Effects Therefore, according to the printer of the present invention, the arrangement of "words" formed by a series of print strings with different character widths is visually beautiful and easy to read.
High-quality printing can be obtained, and all that is required is to input a printing character code, just like with conventional printers.

Furthermore, since the amount of ribbon feed can also be controlled, many excellent effects can be obtained, such as improved usage efficiency of expensive printing ribbons such as carbon film ribbons.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing character width information for three examples of characters with different print widths for explaining the carriage feed amount control operation in the printer of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the main part configuration of another embodiment of the printer of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the main part structure of another embodiment of the printer of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, 1 is a ROM, 2 is a 3-bit buffer, 3 is an adder, 4 is a counter, and 5 is a rotating wheel control circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a serial impact printer using a ribbon for printing and a type holding means such as a rotary wheel or a rotating cylinder having type, a storage means for storing information regarding the width of the type and a movable type holding means a carriage having;
Carriage feed control means for controlling the feed of said carriage and ribbon feed control means for controlling the feed of said ribbon, said carriage feed control means having a width of type stored in said storage means. In addition to controlling the carriage feed based on the information, the ribbon feed control means also includes:
A serial impact printer characterized in that the ribbon is fed in accordance with the characters based on information regarding the width of the printed characters stored in the storage means.