JPS62198462A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify a constitution to enhance a function, by detecting the home position of a carriage and the existance of a type wheel according to the result detected by a single sensor. CONSTITUTION:Unless a detection signal S from a space home wheel sensor is 'H', i.e. if a reflector 62 in a carriage 37 is opposed to a photosensor 64, a tabbing (TAB) operation is carried out by a predetermined amount. When an output from the space home wheel sensor turns to 'H', i.e. the reflector 62 in the carriage 37 goes outside the detection range of the photosensor 64, a CR operation is conducted to shift the carriage 37 leftward until the output from the space home wheel sensor turns to 'L', and a back space operation for the number of steps corresponding to the distance between the reflecter 62 and a reflecter 60 of a cassette wheel 38 is carried out to travel the carriage to a position B at which the reflector 60 faces the photosensor 64. The position B is defined as a space home position.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] skin cover The present invention relates to a printing device equipped with a carriage.

In general, in printing devices such as receive-only (R/○) printers and electronic typewriters that use type wheel type printers, the type wheel mounted on the carriage can be replaced depending on the type of characters to be printed. There is something.

Conventionally, in such a printing device, sensors are individually provided to detect the home position of the carriage and to detect the presence or absence of a type wheel, which has the disadvantage of complicating the configuration.

Purpose This invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to improve the functions of a printing device.

Structure In order to achieve the above object, the present invention detects the home position of the carriage and the presence or absence of a type wheel based on the detection results of one sensor.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be explained in detail.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

In this printing device, the detection means A detects the home position of the carriage B and the presence or absence of the type wheel C based on the detection result of one sensor.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing an example of a type wheel type printer embodying the present invention.

The outer casing of this printer consists of a lower case 1 and an upper case 2 that house the structure and control section, and a cover 3 that can be opened and closed for replacing the type wheel, ribbon force set 1, etc. A character scale 4 is attached to the cover 3.

The front panel 5 attached to the front of the upper case 2 also includes a pause indicator 6Δ consisting of a PAUSE switch 6 and an LED that displays the status of the PAUSE switch 6, a line feed (LF) switch 7, and an LED. A printer ready indicator 8, a type wheel error indicator 9, and a power indicator 10 are attached.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are a schematic plan view and a front view showing an example of the mechanism of this printer.

In this mechanical section, a platen 22 for winding and feeding paper to be printed is rotatably mounted between frames 21 and 21 fixed to an il1 portion of a subframe (not shown).

This platen 22 is moved by a motor gear 24. Idle gear 25. It is driven via an idle gear 26 and a platen gear 27 that move together with this idle gear 25, and automatically feeds the paper.

Furthermore, manual operation knobs 28.28 are fixed to both ends of the platen 22, and by turning the knobs 28.28, paper can be manually loaded or removed.

Further, in front of this platen 22, a pail roller 30 is provided.
2, 3! 1, and is biased toward the platen 22 by a pail drive mechanism (not shown) so that it can swing freely.

On the other hand, on the rods 35 and 36 fixed between the frames 21 and 21, the carriage 37 can be moved parallel to the platen 22 in its axial direction. It is location.

As shown in FIG. 5, this carriage 37 includes a selection motor 3 which is a stepping motor equipped with a cassette wheel 38 in which a type wheel 38a is housed in a wheel cassette 38b, and a cassette wheel 3.
Printing hammer 41 that hits the type on the type wheel 38a in 8
A ribbon cassette (ribbon cartridge) 43 in which a ribbon (such as a multi-strike ribbon or one-time ribbon) 42 is mounted, and a ribbon feed mechanism for feeding the ribbon 42 are mounted.

and 2 a mounting plate 45 fixed to the subframe (not shown).
A space motor 4S consisting of a stepping motor is attached to the frame 21.21, and a space pulley 4S having a gear 48 meshing with a motor gear 47 fixed to the rotating shaft of the space motor 46 is rotatably supported.
Mounting plates 50 and 51 fixed to the shaft are rotatably supported.

A space wire 52 is stretched between these space pulleys 49 and pulleys 50 and 51, and this space wire 5
2 is fixed to the front bottom surface of the carriage 37, and the carriage 37 is moved parallel to the platen 22 by a 5 space motor 46.

Next, the home position of the carriage 37 and the type wheel 3
A configuration for detecting the presence or absence of 8a will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

First, as shown in FIG. 6, a reflection ifi, 62 made of a material that reflects light, such as aluminum foil, is attached to the left end of the arm 61 fixed to the lower part of the carriage 37.
As shown in the figure, a reflecting plate 60 made of a material such as aluminum foil that reflects light is also attached to the back surface of the wheel cassette 38b on the third day of the cassette wheel. Each of these reflective plates 6
2.60 is attached at the same height position.

A reflective photosensor 64 consisting of a light emitting diode and a transistor is provided at the tip of the support plate 63 fixed to the left frame 21 to detect each of these reflecting plates 62 and 60.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of a control section of this printer.

The main controller 90 is a microcomputer (
(hereinafter referred to as "microcomputer") 91, ROM 52, and RA
M93, a 1-chip timer unit 94 containing three built-in timers which are programmable timers whose timer times can be set independently by the microcomputer 91, parallel interfaces 1/95, 11096-99, etc.

The microcomputer 91 has a built-in CPU, ROM, RAM, ■/○, etc., and controls the entire printer.

The ROM 92 stores, for example, a program area that stores control programs related to printing control of this printer, a printing pressure table that converts character codes into type positions (wheel addresses), and tables such as a proportional space table that converts into proportional space amounts. It constitutes a conversion table area where it is stored and other areas where other fixed information 1 such as a speed table is stored.

The RAM 93 includes a receive buffer for temporarily storing data received from a host (for example, a word processor, an office computer, a personal computer, etc.), a user area for downloading various user data from the host, and a working area for program execution.
(including data area) etc.

The microcomputer S1 then transfers character code and space (sp) data from the host side to its own serial interface terminal or ■/○95.

It takes in various data such as line feed (LF) data and carriage return (CR) data, and performs processing based on the received data.

That is, this microcomputer S1 outputs a line feed drive pulse to the line feed driver 101 to drive the line feed motor 23! Drive control and platen 22
Rotate to feed the specified amount of paper.

The microcomputer 91 also outputs a space drive pulse to the space driver 102 to drive the space motor 46.
The carriage 37 is moved by a predetermined amount in a predetermined direction and positioned at the printing position.

Furthermore, this microcomputer 91 has a selection driver 1.
A selection drive pulse is output to the type wheel 38.03 to drive and control the selection motor 39. is rotated to position the desired type at the impact position by the printing hammer 41.

Furthermore, this microcomputer 91 also controls the hammer driver 10.
4 outputs a hammer drive pulse to drive the hammer magnet 1-41A constituting the printing hammer 41, and causes the hammer 4111 to strike the type on the type wheel 38a.

Further, this microcomputer 91 has a ribbon feed driver 1.
05, a ribbon feed drive pulse is output to drive and control the ribbon foot motor 106, which is a stepping motor, to feed the ribbon 42 a predetermined distance.

Furthermore, this microcomputer S1 connects the space home wheel sensor 107. Cover open switch 108. Wheel home sensor 10th day 2 Detection signals from various sensors such as a ribbon end sensor, vapor end sensor, and carriage home sensor (not shown) are input.

The space home wheel sensor 107 is.

As shown in FIG. S, the output Va of the reflective photosensor 64
A comparator 65 compares the voltage Vb obtained by dividing the power supply voltage V with resistors R1 and R2, and outputs a detection signal S that becomes low level "I4" when the photosensor 64 detects the reflecting plate 62 or 60. do.

Furthermore, the microcomputer S1 receives operation signals from the pause switch 6 and line feed switch 7 attached to the front panel 5 via the l1098, and also receives operation signals from the pause indicator 6A, printer ready indicator 8. Controls the lighting of the type wheel error display.

Further, this microcomputer S1 has a baud rate (not shown) attached to the rear panel 110, and has a pro-I to full baud rate.

Retrieve each specified information from the DTP switch to set the code system, etc.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained with reference to FIG. 10 and subsequent figures.

The microcomputer 91 starts executing the process shown in FIG. 10 when the printer is powered on or when the cover 3 is opened or closed.

First, the reflection plate 62 of the carriage 37 is connected to the photosensor 64.
The carriage 37 is moved to the left to a position facing the , or performs a store operation.

Then, the detection signal S of the space home wheel sensor 107 is checked to determine whether or not the detection signal S is H''.
When the reflecting plate 62 and the photosensor 64 of No. 7 are facing each other, a predetermined amount of tab (TAB) operation is performed. this is,
The carriage 37 is connected to the reflector 62 and the photosensor 6 from the beginning.
There are cases where 4 and 4 are in opposite positions.

This is a process for temporarily removing the reflection plate 62 of the carriage 37 from the detection range of the photosensor 64 to improve detection accuracy.

After that, when the output of the space home wheel sensor 107 becomes "", that is, when the reflection plate 62 of the carriage 37 is out of the detection range of the photosensor 64, CR operation is performed to move the carriage 37 to the space home.
Move to the left until the output of the wheel sensor 107 becomes L''.

In this way, when the reflection FL62 of the carriage 37 faces the photosensor 64 and the detection signal S of the space home wheel sensor 107 becomes L'', the carriage 37 is moved by a predetermined number of steps, that is, the carriage 3
A backspace operation is performed for a number of steps corresponding to the distance between the reflector 62 of the cassette wheel 38 and the reflector 60 of the cassette wheel 3, and the reflector 60 of the cassette wheel 38 is moved to the left so that the reflector 60 of the cassette wheel 38 faces the photosensor 64. I'll do it! ! Move it to B and make this position the space home position.

Therefore, it is determined whether the detection signal S from the space home wheel sensor 107 is −L or not, and as shown in FIG. '', the photo sensor 64
Since the reflecting plate 60 of the cassette wheel 38 does not face the cassette wheel 38, that is, the cassette wheel 38 is not mounted on the carriage 37, the type wheel error indicator S is turned on and the process is completed.

On the other hand, when the detection signal S of the space home wheel sensor 107 is L" as shown in FIG. wheel 38
Since the printer is installed, the printer ready indicator 8 is turned on and the process is completed.

In this way, in this printing device, the space home position and the presence or absence of the type wheel cassette are detected based on the detection results of one sensor, so the configuration is simplified and the functionality is improved.

In the above embodiment, a cassette-type type wheel is used as the type wheel, but a type wheel that is not housed in a cassette may also be used.

In this case, the type wheel 38 as shown in FIG.
．． If a ring-shaped reflective plate 60 is attached to the printer itself, the space home position and the presence or absence of the type wheel can be detected in the same manner as in the above embodiment.

In addition, when a reflector 60 is attached to a part of the type wheel 38a itself as shown in FIG. 13, the same process as shown in FIG. 10 of the above embodiment is performed to move the carriage 37 to the space home position. After positioning the selection motor 3
9 to drive the type wheel 38. The presence or absence of the type wheel 3B may be determined based on whether or not the reflective plate 60 is detected during one rotation of the type wheel 3B.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the reflection plate is attached to the carriage and the type wheel facing forward, and the first sensor is attached facing backward. The reflector 60 may be attached to the carriage 37 and the cassette wheel 38b so as to face backward (towards the platen 22), and the photosensor 64 may be attached to the lower part of the platen 22 so as to face forward.

-Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a type wheel type printer was explained as an example, but the present invention can be similarly applied to a printing device such as an electronic typewriter whose type wheel is replaceable.

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the functionality of the printing bag.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing an example of a printer embodying the present invention. Figures 3, 4, and 5 are schematic plan views, front views, and enlarged perspective views of the carriage showing the mechanism, and Figures 6 and 7 are for explaining the space home wheel presence/absence detection unit. FIG. FIGS. 8 and 9 are block diagrams showing an example of the control unit, and circuit diagrams showing an example of the space home wheel sensor, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are examples of the detection process executed by the microcomputer. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flowchart and an explanatory diagram for explaining the flowchart. FIGS. 12 and 13, and FIGS. 14 and 15 are explanatory views for explaining other embodiments of the present invention, respectively. 8... Printer ready indicator S... Type wheel error indicator 37... Carriage 38... Cassette 1 to wheel 38,... Type wheel 38b... Wheel cassette 60. Ei2...Reflector 64...Photo sensor SO...Control unit 1
07... Space home wheel sensor Figure 1 Date mark 2 Figure 8b Figure 6 N7 Figure 12 Figure 13 ゜, V+' Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 6.46260

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a printing device equipped with a carriage, a detection means is provided for detecting the home position of the carriage and the presence or absence of a type wheel mounted on the carriage based on the detection result of one sensor. A printing device featuring: 2. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein a reflective member is provided on each of the carriage and the cassette of the type wheel, and a reflective photosensor is provided on the frame portion.