JPS61261073A - Self-controlled movable type printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable characters and figures with arbitrary size to be printed out on a paper with an arbitrary size through remote control, by providing a main body of a printer with a processing circuit for radio data, an arm part mechanism having a degree of freedom of 3 and controlled by the circuit, and a base part mechanism. CONSTITUTION:An interface part 3 is connected to a slot 2, and a controller 1 is connected to the interface part 3 by a bus line. Optical data are transmitted from an IR light-emitting element 2 to a main body part 11 of the printer. The received signal is sent to an MPU16 through an amplifying circuit 13, a detection circuit 14 and a wave-shaping circuit 15, to be processed by the MPU16. While reading data from a ROM17, the X-direction position, Y-direction position and UP/DOWN movement of a pen 26 is controlled through a motor- driving circuit 19, thereby printing out. Not only characters but figures can be written in arbitrary size, controlling a pen-supporting arm or wheels 23a, 23b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an autonomous mobile printer used as a terminal for a personal computer (hereinafter abbreviated as a personal computer), a microcomputer (hereinafter abbreviated as a microcomputer), or the like.

[Prior Art and its Problems] Conventionally, dot printers and X-Y plotters using thermal heads and the like are known as printers used as terminals for personal computers, microcomputers, and the like. These are all connected to a personal computer or microcomputer by a cable via an interface such as Centronics, and data from the personal computer or microcomputer is sent to the printer through this cable and printed out. In addition, the printer itself is a stationary type, and in the case of a dot printer, roll paper is used as printing paper, and it is automatically fed each time one line is printed to print out sequentially. Basically, it is printed out using paper of a size that is allowed by the movable distance in the two-dimensional X-Y direction. Therefore, conventional printers have been unsatisfactory in meeting the demand for printing on paper of arbitrary size. Furthermore, since the printer is connected to a controller such as a personal computer via a cable, the controller and printer basically have to be placed adjacent to each other, which poses a problem in terms of space.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides an autonomous mobile printer capable of printing out characters and figures of any size on paper of any size by remote control. The purpose is to

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention includes a wireless transmission circuit in an interface section with a controller such as a personal computer or a microcomputer, and enables remote control of the printer body by wirelessly transmitting data.
The printer body has a wireless data processing circuit, an arm mechanism with 3 degrees of freedom controlled by this circuit, and a leg mechanism driven by a motor, making it possible to print out any characters or graphics on any size of paper. This is what I did.

[Embodiment of the Invention] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an autonomous mobile printer. In FIG. 1, 1 is a controller, for example, an MS
X personal computer is used.

The controller 1 is provided with a slot section 2, into which an interface section 3 is attached. By connecting the interface section 3 to the slot 2, the controller 1 and the interface section 3 are connected by a path line.

The interface section 3 includes a ROM4,
MPtJ5, a light emitting element drive circuit 6, an oscillation circuit 7, and an infrared light emitting element 8 are provided, and the ROM4 and MPL described above are provided.
I5 is connected to the internal circuit of the controller 1 from the slot section 2 via a pass line 9. Control program data for a CPU (not shown) inside the controller 1 is stored in the ROM 4 in advance, and data on a pass line connecting the CPU and the slot section 2 is controlled by this control program data. Data read from the controller 1 under control of the ROM 4 is input from the slot section 2 to the MPU 5 via the pass line 9. This MPU 5 converts the input data into P, P, M method (pulse position modulation method) data, inputs it to the light emitting element drive circuit 6 together with the reference pulse from the oscillation circuit 7, and the light emitting element drive circuit 6 The external light emitting element 8 is driven to emit light.

Then, optical data is transmitted from the infrared light emitting element 8,
It is sent to the printer main unit 11. This printer body part 1
1 is equipped with a light receiving element such as a photodiode 12 that receives optical data transmitted from the infrared light emitting element 8, and the signal received by the photodiode 12 is transmitted to an amplifier circuit 13, a detection circuit 14, and a waveform shaping circuit 15. Via M.P.
Sent to U 1B.

Connected to the MPU 16 is a ROM 17 that stores code data such as a character generation code for generating preset characters and figures. Furthermore, the above M P
A motor drive circuit 18.19 is connected to LJ 16.

The motor drive circuit 18 is controlled by a control command from the MPU 16, and is controlled by the motor 2 for moving the printer main body.
1a and 21b. And this motor 21a1
21b connects the right wheel 23 via gear mechanisms 22a and 22b.
The a1 left wheels 23b are each rotated. Above motor 2
1a, 21b, gear mechanism 22a, 22b1 wheel 23a.

23b and the like constitute a foot mechanism. Further, the motor drive circuit 19 includes motors 24a, 24b, 2
Drive 4c. These motors 24a, 24b124
c causes the pen 26 to perform X-direction movement, Y-direction movement, and up/down (two-direction) movement via gear mechanisms 25a, 2Sb, and 25c, respectively.

Next, the external configuration of the printer main body 11 will be explained with reference to FIG. 2. In Figure 2, 31 is the case body;
The right wheel 23a and the left wheel 23b shown in FIG. 1 are provided at the bottom of the case body 31, and the printer body 1
1 can be moved in any direction. The photodiode 1 is mounted on the upper part of the case body 31.
2 is placed. This photodiode 12 is housed in a diffuse reflection tube 32, and an optical signal sent from the infrared light emitting element 8 of the interface section 3 is transmitted to the diffuse reflection tube 3.
When entering photodiode 2, it is diffused and diffusely reflected and passes through photodiode 1.
It is designed to be incident on 2. That is, no matter which direction the optical signal from the infrared light emitting element 8 is sent from, it is diffused and diffusely reflected by the diffuse reflection tube 32, and the light signal is reflected from the photodiode 1.
It is configured so that it is input on the front of 2. Further, a slit 33 is provided in the lower part of the front surface of the case body 31, and an arm 34 is led out from this slit 33. This arm 34 is connected to the gear mechanisms 25a, 25b, and 25c shown in FIG. . A pen support section 35 is provided at the leading end of the arm 34, and the pen 26 is attached to the pen support section 35 by a screw 36.
is now supported.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained. When performing a printing operation, first place the printer main body section 11 at a desired position on the printing paper, and then transfer print data from the interface section 3 to the printer main body section 1 by operating keys on the controller 1.
1 to send. Now, suppose that, for example, a 3ASIC program list as shown in the third factor created in the controller 1 is to be printed out. Controller 1 to 3
A control program shown in the figure for outputting program data to the MPU 5 of the interface section 3 via the pass line of the slot section 2 is stored in the ROM 4 in advance.

Therefore, by key operation of the controller 1, the interface section 3 is transferred from the controller 1 through the slot section 2.
The print data sent to , that is, the program data shown in FIG. 3 above, is taken into the MPU 5 from the slot section 2 via the pass line 9 in the 8-bit ASCII code shown in FIG. In MPU5, the first data of the program,
In other words, the high-order digit "1" in line number "10" is the ASCII code "ooll 0001 J (31)"
The 8-bit code is output to the light emitting element driving circuit 6 as a serial data signal as shown in A of FIG. 5 using the P, P, M system. At this time, the oscillation circuit 7 outputs a reference pulse as shown in 8 in FIG.
is being sent to. Therefore, the signal shown in C in FIG. 5 is sent from the light emitting element drive circuit 6 to the infrared light emitting element 8 as a drive signal, and is transmitted from the infrared light emitting element 8 as optical data. Thereafter, the program data shown in FIG. 3 is sequentially transmitted from the infrared light emitting element 8 to the printer main body 11 as optical data.

The optical data output from the infrared light emitting element 8 is received by the photodiode 12 of the printer main body 11, amplified by the amplifier circuit 13, and then sent to the detection circuit 14. This detection circuit 14 detects whether the received signal is modulated by the reference pulse, outputs only the signal modulated by the reference signal to the waveform shaping circuit 15, and converts it into the signal shown in A in FIG. and output to M P LJ 16. When a signal is input from the waveform shaping circuit 15, the M P tJ 1G executes processing operations according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 below. That is, M P U 16
In step A1 of FIG. 9, the system constantly checks whether or not a transmission signal is being sent from the interface unit 3, and when a signal is input from the waveform shaping circuit 15, it proceeds to step A2 and inputs the signal. Converts the signal to ASCII code. Next, proceed to step A3, and R the Caragiene code data corresponding to the above ASCII code.
Read from OM17. The above-mentioned Carage Encode data is composed of a bit indicating the direction and a bit indicating the amount of displacement. For example, as shown in Fig. 6, 3 bits specify 8 directions (directions 0 to 7), and , 5 bits constitute the displacement amount, and one step is 1 byte (8 bits) of data.

Therefore, for example, the data "A" is composed of a character change code as shown in FIG. 8, and consists of a total of 11 steps. The MPU 16 provides a control signal to the motor drive circuit 19 using the above-mentioned carriage energy code, and controls the movement of the pen 2B via the arm 34.

FIG. 7 shows Ben 26's movements when writing the character 11 A IT. “FE” of the 1st and 8th steps, and
, "'F D" in the 10th step is a special code,
ii F E +t indicates pen down, and "FD" indicates pen up. The MPU 16 automatically determines the above code in step A4, and selects "FE" and "F D
``If it is determined that it is not a code, the process proceeds to step A5 and the motors 24a and 24b are connected via the motor drive circuit 19.
to control the X and Y directions of the pen 26. Also, in step A4, the Charagiene code is “FE”.
, FD”, proceed to step 80,
The pen 26 is moved up and down by controlling forward and reverse rotation of the motor 24c via the motor drive circuit 19.

On the other hand, the bit code for the amount of displacement can be varied depending on the size of the character, but in this embodiment, for example, it is made to correspond to a displacement of about Q, 5 mm per 1 bit, and in the example of FIG.
Achieves a font size of nX5mm. When the process in step A5 or step 80 is completed, it is determined in step A7 whether or not the process for one character has been completed, and if it has not been completed, the process returns to step A3 and the same process is repeated. Let's do it.

As described above, the program in FIG.
16, the data is read out from the ROM 17 and sent to the motor drive circuit 19 to control the pen 26 in the X direction and Y direction.
The direction and up/down are controlled and printed out. If the MPU j6 determines in step A7 that one character has been written, it proceeds to step 88 and shifts the printer main body 11 by one digit to the right by controlling the wheels. That is, the above M P U
16 outputs a control signal to the motor drive circuit 18 every time one character of the program example in FIG. 3 is written, and the motors 21a,
By driving wheel 21b, wheels 23a, 23b
to shift the printer main body 11 to the right by one digit.

After that, proceed to step 80 to determine whether to change the line or not,
If there is no line change, return to step A1 and repeat the same process. In the case of a line change, the process proceeds to step AIO, where the wheels 23a and 23b are driven by the motors 21a and 21b to execute the line change process, and then the process returns to step A1.

Thereafter, printing operations are similarly performed by controlling the pen 26 in the X, Y, up/down directions and controlling the movement of the printer main body 11.

In addition, in the above example, the size of the characters is 7 mm x 5 mm.
Although the font size is set in this example, it is of course possible to set the font size to other font sizes. In addition, the pen part, that is, the arm 34
When writing letters of a size that exceeds the X-Y movable distance of
By controlling step A5 in FIG. 9 by wheel control, it is possible to write characters of any size. Furthermore, by simply changing the Carage Encode data, not only characters but also figures of any size can be written by controlling the arm 34 or the wheels 23a, 23b.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a wireless transmission circuit is provided in the interface section with a controller such as a personal computer or a microcomputer, and the printer body can be remotely controlled by wirelessly transmitting data. The main body is equipped with a wireless data processing circuit, an arm mechanism with 3 degrees of freedom (X-Y-Z) controlled by this circuit, and a foot mechanism consisting of a motor, wheels, etc., so it can process paper of any size by remote control. It is possible to provide an autonomous mobile printer capable of printing out characters and figures of any size.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall circuit configuration, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the external configuration of the printer main body, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the appearance of the printer body. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an 8-bit ASCII code, FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the interface section, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a program list.
The figure is a diagram for explaining the print direction designation code, Figure 7 is a diagram showing the movement of the pen when writing the character "A", and Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of the bit configuration for the character code "A". , FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the printing operation. 1... Controller, 2... Slot section, 3...
Interface section, 4...ROM, 5...MPU
. 6... Light emitting element drive circuit, 7... Oscillation circuit, 8...
- Infrared light emitting element, 9... Pass line, 11... Printer main body, 12... Photodiode, 13...
Amplifier circuit, 14... Detection circuit, 15... Waveform shaping circuit, 18... MPU, 17-ROM, 18.19
・+-data drive 1111 circuit, 21a 121b, 24
a to 24c...motor, 22a, 22b,
25a ~ 25cm...Gear mechanism, 26...Pen, 31...Case body, 32...Reflector tube, 33...
- Slit, 34... Arm, 35... Pen support, 36... Screw. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue 2nd diagram - 1 - ■ - - - - - - - - - - - - J
Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 A,
---He-yj' 00 1
1 000 1B,
----- Figure 7 Figure 8 Bit code Hexadecimal code 1 step
111111110 (FE)4step 0O
101'l11 (2F) 7step 00110+
010 (32)=8step 1111110 (FE)9step
01010'lOO(54)■ 10step 11111.101 (FD)11s
tep 0O110+110 (36) 41 amount
method

Claims (1)

[Claims] An interface section consisting of a controller that outputs printing data, a data processing means that converts the data from this controller into data for wireless transmission, and a wireless transmission means that wirelessly transmits the converted data from this data processing means, and a printer main body. This printer body includes a receiving means for receiving data from the wireless transmitting means, a storage means for storing code data for generating preset characters and figures, and a printer body that receives data from the wireless transmitting means based on the signal from the receiving means. A control means for reading appropriate code data from the storage means and outputting a control signal based on the read code data, and a mechanism controlled by the control signal from this control means include an X-Y-Z An autonomous mobile printer comprising an arm mechanism having three degrees of freedom and a foot mechanism having wheels driven by a motor.