JPS61175068A - Output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the cost of operations by omitting wasteful parts by providing a detector to detect the early-period position of a carriage during the early period operation and also to detect upper and lower operating positions of output unit mounted on the carriage during the output operation. CONSTITUTION:When the power source of a printer is made or the reset switch is turned on for initial operation, a carriage 2 is moved to home position by the initial operation. When a position arm 16 goes into the detection groove 13A of a sensor 13, the sensor 13 is turned off and the situation is detected. It is judged that what is detected by the groove 13A by the initial operation at first is position arm. After printing action is entered, no enter of the position arm 16 into the groove 13A of the sensor 13 occurs. Each time the printing ribbon 9 is pushed up by printing, only the sensor arm 12 to be operated with the vertical movement of the cassette enters the groove 13A.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Technical field] The present invention relates to an output device.

[Prior Art] In electronic typewriters, computer system output devices, etc., which are equipped with a carriage that reciprocates with respect to printing paper, in order to control the reciprocating movement of the carriage, it is necessary to set the starting point of the reciprocating movement. It is important to determine the leftmost home position. For this reason, conventionally,
At least one dedicated sensor was provided to detect whether the carriage was in such a home position.

Furthermore, in the case of a printing device, a print ribbon for printing, a collect ribbon for erasing, etc. are mounted on the carriage, but normally the character line on the printing paper where the user of the printing device is currently typing characters. The printing ribbon is positioned below this character line so that it can be seen visually, and when the characters are transferred to the printing paper, the printing ribbon is shifted to the height of the character line. On the other hand, the collection ribbon is placed, for example, below the print ribbon and parallel to the print ribbon.
When erasing characters, the correct ribbon is first shifted to the height of the character line currently being printed. Therefore, in order to control the series of operations related to printing and erasing mentioned above, it is necessary to know the vertical position of the ribbon at that time, and for this purpose at least one dedicated sensor is required.
More than one is required.

However, the home position detection sensor of the carriage provided in such conventional printing devices is only necessary to detect the home position at the time of initial printing, and is useless during other operation sequences. Since the frequency of use is low, if there is no need to provide a sensor dedicated to detecting the home position of the carriage, the number of parts can be reduced and costs can be reduced accordingly.

[the purpose] The present invention has been made in view of the above points.

Instead of providing a dedicated home position sensor for the carriage that is rarely used, for example, the ribbon vertical position detection sensor can also be used as the carriage home position sensor, and the functions of the sensor can be used differently depending on the operation sequence of the output device. The aim is to eliminate unnecessary parts and reduce costs by reducing the number of parts.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below in detail and specifically based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an electronic typewriter to which the present invention is applied, in which 1 is a keyboard on which character keys and function keys are arranged, 2 is a carriage, and 3 is a platen on which printing paper 4 is wound and held. , the user uses keyboard 1
By pressing the upper key, the printing characters placed around the daisy wheel 5 mounted on the carriage 2 in this example are pressed against the printing paper by the printing hammer mechanism 6, and are printed on the paper 4. Records can be obtained.

Thus, in the electronic typewriter according to the present invention, the portions related to the carriage 2 are constructed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 7 denotes a scale rail that moves the Kigiridge 2 parallel to the platen 3. A ribbon cassette 8 of the carriage 2 stores reels (not shown) for winding and feeding the print ribbon.
A print ribbon 9 stretched between these reels via a roller (not shown) is exposed between the back side of the type wheel 5 and the print hammer mechanism 6.

Further, the ribbon cassette 8 is rotatably supported on the main body of the carriage 2 together with its support shaft 10.
The gear 10A provided on the support shaft 10 meshes with the gear 11A of the interlocking shaft 11 provided in a direction perpendicular to the support shaft 10. 12 is an L-shaped sensor arm fixed to the interlocking shaft 11; 13 is a sensor; in this example, the sensor 13 is a transmission type photointerrupter type optical sensor; both the shaft support of the interlocking shaft 11 and the sensor 13 are It is attached to the main body side of the carriage 2.

In the carriage 2 configured in this way, the rail 7
When the ribbon cassette 8 is guided to a predetermined printing position along the arrow mark 1 and a printing operation is performed, the ribbon cassette 8 is rotated together with its support shaft 10 by a plunger (not shown) attached below the lower ridge 23, and the printing ribbon 9 is guided to a predetermined printing position. is lifted so that the exposed portion of the daisy wheel 5 is interposed between the back surface of the type body and the printing position on the printing paper 4.

Therefore, due to the rotational movement of the support shaft 10 at this time, the gear 11A is rotated via the gear 10A.
By rotating in the direction of the arrow 1A, the tip end 12A of the sensor arm 12 is inserted into the detection groove 13A of the sensor 13. On the other hand, the sensor 13 is provided with a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element such as light-emitting diodes (not shown) on both sides of the sensor 13 via the detection groove 13A, so unless there is a light shielding object in the detection groove 13A, light from the light-emitting element will not be transmitted. The light is detected by the light receiving element and turns on the phototransistor, but if a light shield is present, the phototransistor is turned off because the light is not detected.

Therefore, when the tip arm 12A is inserted into the detection groove 13A, the phototransistor is turned off, and when printing is completed and the ribbon cassette 8 is lowered by the plunger, the When the sensor arm 12 is rotated in the opposite direction, its tip 12A is removed from the detection groove 13A, turning on the phototransistor, and in this way the vertical position of the ribbon cassette 8 is detected.

In addition, in FIG. 2, 1B indicates that the carriage 2 is on the rail 7.
This is a position arm provided to notify the home position when the robot moves to the left side of the figure. That is, when the carriage 2 moves to the left, the position where the position arm 16 enters the detection groove 13A of the sensor 13 provided on the carriage 2 to the right again by a predetermined amount of movement, for example, is the position of the carriage 2. Set it to the home position.

With this setting, even if the sensor arm 12 rotates when the ribbon cassette 8 is rotated to start printing from the home position, the tip 1
2A engages with the position arm 1B in the detection groove 13A, thereby preventing them from interfering with each other.

Next, we will discuss the operation for erasing printed characters. In the case of 0 and above, the ribbon 9 was lifted by rotating the ribbon cassette 8 around the rotation axis lO, but in the case of erasing, the same procedure is used. Then, the shift arm 17 is rotated about its rotation axis 18 by the plunger 15 shown in FIG. 3, and the erasing ribbon 19 is lifted to the erasing position.

Furthermore, due to this lifting operation, the ribbon cassette 8 is also rotated around its rotation axis 10, so that the sensor arm 12 enters the detection groove 13A of the sensor 13 in the same manner as described above, and the erase ribbon 19 is detected to be lifted to the erase position. Furthermore, after erasing, the shift arm 17 is returned to its original position by retraction of the plunger 15, and along with this return, the sensor arm 12 is removed from the detection groove 13A, and the erasing ribbon 13 is removed.
The sensor 13 detects that the sensor 13 has lowered.

FIG. 3 shows a device for shifting the use position of the erasing ribbon 19 in conjunction with the operation of the plunger 15. Here, 21A and 21B are guide rollers for the erasing ribbon 18, 22A is its feeding reel, and 22B is the take-up reel.

Of the feed reel 22A and the take-up reel 22B, the rotation shaft of the take-up reel 22B passes through a hole provided in the lower stand 23, and a sawtooth pawl gear 24 is attached to the tip thereof. This pawl gear 24 is moved to the lower base 2 by the plunger 15.
3, the take-up reel 22
Rotate B to wind up the erasing ribbon 19 and move it by one character.

The presser spring 26 engaged with the pawl gear 24 serves to prevent the gear 24 from reversing and to raise the teeth on its periphery each time it rotates by one tooth. In addition, the feeding reel 22A
A ribbon presser 27 is attached to the ribbon presser 27, and the ribbon presser 27 is biased by a coil spring 28 attached to a shaft 27A, and constantly presses the coil surface of the reel 22A in the direction of the arrow. Due to the pressing force of 27,
This prevents the erasing ribbon 18 from being undone or sagging when being fed one character at a time.

Note that the feeding reel 22A and take-up reel 22B of the printing ribbon 9, and a device that operates them to shift the position where the ribbon 9 is used for printing are not shown, but are almost the same as described above. A similar device is provided, and there is no particular change in its operation, so a description thereof will be omitted.

Next, a procedure for distinguishing and detecting the home position of the carriage 2 and the vertical position of the ribbon cassette 8 using the sensor 13 will be explained with reference to FIG.

First, in step S1, when the printing device is powered on or its reset switch is turned on and an initial operation is performed, the carriage 2 moves toward the home position in this initial operation, but until it moves to the home position, In this case, no printing operation is performed, and therefore no detection signal is generated from the sensor 13 during this period.

In this way, the carriage 2 moves toward the home position, and the position arm 1B is inserted into the detection groove 13A of the sensor 13.
When the vehicle enters the vehicle, the sensor 13 turns off for the first time and detects this. That is, in step S2, it can be determined that the object first detected by the sensor detection groove 13A during the initial operation is the position arm.

Next, when proceeding to the printing operation stage in step S3, the carriage 2 moves to the right on the scale rail 7 every time one character is printed and moves away from the position arm IB. , the position arm 1B does not enter the detection groove 13A of the sensor 13,
Each time the printing ribbon 9 is pushed up for printing, a sensor arm 12 that moves up and down the cassette moves into the detection groove 1.
Only entering 3A occurs.

Therefore, in step S4, it can be determined that the arm that entered the detection groove 13A of the sensor 13 during the printing operation is the sensor arm 12.

The printing operation continues in this way, and when the carriage 2 reaches the right end of the printable range, that is, the right margin of carriage movement, the system control unit issues a command to return the carriage to the left margin. At the limit position of leftward movement in left-right reciprocating motion,
It is located at the same position as the home position of the carriage 2 or to the right of the home position of the carriage 2.

Therefore, when carriage 2 reaches the left margin, even if the left margin position matches the home position,
As mentioned above, the home position arm 16 is designed not to reach the sensor detection groove 13A, so the sensor arm 12 is the first arm to enter the detection groove 13A after the control section issues a carriage return command. be judged.

In this way, the position arm 1 is placed in the sensor detection groove 13A.
Since B enters only when the home position of the carriage 2 is recognized at the initial stage, the system control section only receives the first detection signal received from the sensor 13 after turning on the power or turning on the reset switch to detect the carriage 2.
The detection signal from the sensor 13 thereafter can be considered to be a signal indicating the vertical position of the cassette 7.

Although the above embodiments are applied to electronic typewriters, the present invention can also be applied to printing devices that require a carriage home position sensor and a ribbon cassette vertical direction sensor for control, such as output devices such as computers. Needless to say, it is applicable to
Although a transmission type photointerrupter was used as the sensor used in the embodiment, the sensor is not limited to this type, and any type of sensor that can detect both the home position and the cassette vertical direction may be used. It may be.

[Effect] As explained above, according to the present invention, a carriage is provided that reciprocates parallel to printing paper, the initial position of the carriage is detected during initial operation, and during printing operation, the carriage is mounted on the carriage and rotates up and down. The upper and lower operating positions of a freely movable output section such as a print ribbon cassette can be detected with one sensor. In addition, there is one sensor provided on the carriage, a first detected object provided on the same carriage and linked to the vertical movement of an output section such as a ribbon cassette, and a first detected object provided in relation to the initial position. According to the operation sequence, the initial position is detected by the second detected object being detected by the sensor during the initial operation, and the first detected object is detected by the sensor during the printing operation. Since the vertical position of the printing ribbon cassette is detected by detecting the vertical position of the printing ribbon cassette, it is no longer necessary to have both a sensor for detecting the vertical position of the ribbon cassette and a sensor for detecting the initial position of the carriage, as was the case in the past. Since only a sensor is required, not only the number of parts can be reduced, but also the cost can be reduced due to simplification.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a perspective view showing an example of an electronic typewriter to which the present invention can be applied; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a carriage provided in the output device of the invention; FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the carriage; FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for detecting the initial position and the vertical position of the ribbon cassette using a sensor according to the operation sequence in the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Keyboard, 2... Carriage, 3... Platen, 4... Printing paper, 5... Dizzy wheel, 6... Printing hammer mechanism, 7... Scale rail. 8... Ribbon cassette, 9... Printing ribbon. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Support shaft, 10A, IIA... Gear, 11... Interlocking shaft, 12... Sensor arm, 12A... Tip part, 13... Sensor, 13A... Detection groove, 15 ...Plunger, 16...Position arm, 17...Shift arm, 18...Rotation shaft, 19...Erasing ribbon, 21A, 21B...Roller, 22A...Feeding reel, 22B... Take-up reel, 23... Lower stand, 24... Pawl gear, 25... Arm, 2B... Spring, 27... Ribbon holder. 28...Coil spring. Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) The apparatus includes a carriage that reciprocates along an output medium, an output section that is mounted on the carriage and is movable up and down, and a detection means that detects the initial position of the carriage at the time of initial operation. 2. An output device according to claim 1, wherein during an output operation, the detection means is capable of detecting a vertical operating position of a vertically movable output section mounted on the carriage. 2) In the output device according to claim 1,
An output device, wherein the output section has a print ribbon cassette. 3) In the output device according to claim 1,
The carriage is provided with one sensor; a first detected object of the sensor is provided on the carriage and is linked to the vertical movement of the output section; and the sensor is provided in relation to the initial position. a second detected object, the sensor detects the second detected object during the initial operation, and the sensor detects the first detected object during the printing operation.
An output device characterized by detecting an object to be detected.