JPS61211050A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the number of parts and save the manufacturing cost of the entire unit by providing a constitution which allows control of the position and speed of a recording head and also control of recording timing by using a single timer. CONSTITUTION:When a recording head has moved to a recording start position, clock data corresponding to the moving speed of the recording head is written into a timer 5, and an interrupt request through the signal line 5a of the timer 5 is masked. Then data to be recorded is transferred to a latch 7, and in the meantime, if the recording head 3 moves to a prearranged position, MPU 1 controls the speed of the recording head upon an interrupt request by a sensor 4 and writes a count value corresponding to a delay time for the correction of dot shift into the timer 5, thus enabling an interrupt processing by the timer 5. When an interrupt request has been made by the timer 5 through the signal line 5a, MPU 1 applies a recording timing signal to the latch 7 through the signal line 1a, and transmits the latched data to the recording head 3 to allow recording action.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and particularly to a printing apparatus that performs a printing operation by reciprocating a printing head with respect to a printing medium.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, wire dot printers, inkjet printers, and the like are well known as devices of this type. This type of device has a configuration as shown in FIG.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of a conventional device of this type. In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 1 indicates an MPU (microprocessor) that controls the operation of the entire device.
1 is designed to output recording data to be sent to the latch 7 for the rad 3 to be recorded. The recording head 3 reciprocates left and right along the recording medium via the motor 2 as indicated by symbols p and q.

The recording head 3 performs recording operations according to various methods such as inkjet and wire dot matrix according to the recording data sent from MPtJl.The recording timing (recording time width) is given from the timer 6 via the signal line 1a. . The position of the recording head is detected by scanning a slit plate 4b provided in the scanning area of the head with a sensor 4 provided on the recording head 3 and comprising a light source, a phototransistor, and the like. Recording head 3
The position signal is transmitted to the MPUI via the interrupt signal line 4a.

Timer 5. The timer 6 is used by the MPUI to control recording, the timer 5 is used to control the carriage speed of the recording head 3, and the timer 6 is used to control recording timing. The MPUI controls the motor 2 according to the timing of the timer 5.6.

In the recording apparatus with the conventional configuration as described above, recording control is performed by the MPU 1 as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
It is carried out by

First, in step S1, the MPU 1 drives the motor 2 to move the recording pad 3 in the direction of the arrow p in FIG.

Next, in step S2, it is detected whether the recording head 3 has reached the position where recording should start by checking the signal input from the interrupt signal line 4a mentioned above.

When the head reaches the recording start position, time data to be counted is written into the timer 5 in step S3, and the timer 5 is started. The value of this time measurement data corresponds to the time required for the recording pad 3 to move from one recording position to the next recording position.

Next, in step S4, the MPU 1 writes recording data to be recorded by the recording head 3 into the latch 7.

Next, in step S5, the MPUI checks whether the print head 3 has moved to the next print position in response to an interrupt request from the sensor 4. When movement to the next recording position is detected by an interrupt, the process enters the interrupt process shown at the lower left of FIG.

In the interrupt processing, it is first checked in step S6 whether the timer 5 has timed out. Here, if the timer 5 has timed out, the time required for the actual head movement is longer than the recording head movement speed determined by the value of the clock data written to the timer 5 in step 53 (step S9 from the second time onwards). Since it was longer, MP
U1 moves to step S7 and drives the motor 2 so that the rad 3 accelerates toward recording.

On the other hand, if the timer 5 has not timed out, the time required for the actual movement was shorter than the predetermined movement speed, so the process moves to step S8 to move the motor 2 to the recording head 3.
control so that the speed is reduced.

Then, in step S9 again, a predetermined value is written into the timer 5 and the timer 5 is started.

Subsequently, clock data is written into the timer 6 in step SIO. This action causes timer 6 to start counting, and if this times out, a signal is sent to latch 7.
As a result, the recording data written in step S4 is sent to the recording pad 3 for the necessary time and a recording operation is performed.

The interrupt processing ends as described above, and the processing returns to step Sll.

In step Sll, it is checked whether all the data for 1 life has been recorded, and if it has not been recorded, step Sll is checked.
Move to step 4 and repeat the above operations to complete recording of one line.

If the recording of one line has been completed, the process moves to step S12 and the next line is recorded. In step 312, the MPU 1 moves the recording head in the direction of arrow q in FIG. 1 via the motor 2, and repeats the same movement 'A' as in steps S2 to Sll to perform recording operations in both directions.

In the conventional configuration as described above, the timer 6 is used to count the delay time for correcting the deviation of recorded dots during bidirectional printing and to ensure the distance between the strobe surfaces of the head during recording. Therefore, since the recording operation is controlled by hardware control using interrupts from the sensor 4, although the timer 5 is provided for carriage control, a timer 6 is additionally required for the above purpose, resulting in a lot of waste in the configuration of the device. There was a drawback. Of course, this complicates the configuration of the device and increases the manufacturing cost of the entire device.

[Objective] The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and it reduces the number of hardware timers and also reduces the delay time for recording head position control and recording correction by bidirectional scanning. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that can control the driving time of a printing head using a single timer in exactly the same manner as in the past.

[Structure of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a single unit that controls the scanning speed and recording timing of the recording head in a recording apparatus that performs recording operations by scanning the recording head with respect to the recording medium. A configuration with a /\-ware timer was adopted.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the invention. In the following, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding parts as in the conventional example, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

The difference between FIG. 3 and FIG. 1 is that an interrupt request line 5a from timer 5 to MPUI is provided, and in this embodiment, timer 6 shown in FIG. 1 is omitted. . The following configuration is exactly the same as that in FIG. 1, so it will not be described in detail here.

The operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 will now be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

Step S13 in FIG. At SL4, the recording head is moved in the direction of the arrow p, as in the conventional example, and waits until the head moves to the recording start position.

When the recording head has moved to the recording start position, time measurement data corresponding to the moving speed of the recording head is written in the timer 5 in step S15, and an interrupt request via the signal line 5a of the timer 5 is masked.

Subsequently, in step S16, the data to be recorded is stored in the latch 7.
Transfer to. During this time, when the recording head 3 moves to a predetermined position, the MPU
I performs the interrupt processing shown in the upper left of FIG. 4, and controls the speed of the recording head.

That is, the count of the timer 5 is checked in step S20, and if a timeout has already occurred, the recording head is accelerated in step S22, as described in the conventional section, and if a timeout has not occurred, the recording head is accelerated. After performing a deceleration operation in step S21, the process moves to step S23.

In step S23, a count value corresponding to the delay time for correcting dot misalignment is written into the timer 5, and the interrupt request by the timer 5 is enabled, that is, activated, and the interrupt processing by the timer 5 is enabled. After that, the process returns from the interrupt processing.

Upon returning from interrupt processing, the MPUI will step S16.
The writing of recording data to the latch 7 continues. When all the recording data has been transferred to the latch 7, the process moves to step S17, cancels the interrupt mask set in step 315, and waits for an interrupt request from the timer 5.

When an interrupt request is received from the timer 5 via the signal line 5a, the interrupt processing shown in the lower left of FIG. 4 is performed.

In step 324 of the interrupt processing, the MPU 1 applies a recording timing signal to the latch 7 via the signal line 1a, and sends the latched data to the recording head 3 to perform a recording operation. That is, by sending a timing signal from the MPU 1 to the latch 7, the data held in the latch 7 is sent to the RAD 3 for recording only for the time required for recording.

Furthermore, in step S25, a count value corresponding to the time required for the preceding recording head to move a certain distance minus a delay time for correcting dot misalignment caused by bidirectional scanning is written into the timer 5, and the count value is written again. Masks the interrupt caused by timer 5 and returns from interrupt processing.

After returning from interrupt processing, MPU 1 returns to step 8.
The process moves to step S18 to check whether recording of one line has been completed, and if it has not been completed, the process returns to step S16 and the above-described operation is repeated. If the recording of one line has been completed, the process moves to step 319, moves the rad 3 in the direction of the arrow q, performs the same operations as steps 814 to 318, and continues recording while moving the recording head in the opposite direction. Perform the action.

As described above, the speed and position of the carriage as well as the recording timing can be controlled using only the single timer 5, and the entire recording operation can be controlled. Therefore, it is possible to omit one hardware timer, reduce the number of parts, and reduce the cost of the entire device.

In the above configuration, a recording head using various recording methods such as an inkjet method, a wire dot method, a thermal recording method, a thermal transfer method, etc. can be used.

[Effect 1] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, in a recording apparatus that performs a recording operation by scanning a recording head with respect to a recording medium, it is possible to control the position and speed of the recording head and control the recording timing. Since a configuration in which control is performed using a single timer is adopted, it is possible to provide an excellent recording device that reduces the number of parts and reduces the manufacturing cost of the entire device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the configuration of a conventional recording device, FIG. 2 is a flow chart diagram explaining the control operation of the MPU in the configuration of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a configuration of a recording device according to the present invention. Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing M in Fig. 3.
It is a flowchart figure which showed the control procedure of PU. l...MPU 2...Motor 3...
Recording head 4...Sensor 4a, 5a...Interrupt signal line 5...Timer 7...Latch Fig. 1 Fig. 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a printing apparatus that performs printing by reciprocally scanning a print head with respect to a print medium, scanning speed control of the print head,
1. A recording device comprising a single hardware timer means for controlling recording timing.