JPS6241076A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance operability, by providing a means for indicating information on the number of printing digit places. CONSTITUTION:After a carriage 35 is moved rightward by a one-step amount, a detection signal from a paper presence/absence sensor 55 is checked, and the rightward movement is repeated until the presence of the paper is detected. The carriage position at the moment the presence of the paper is detected is made to be a paper left-end position, and is stored into a predetermined address in a RAM 84. Then, the carriage 35 is again moved rightward by a one-step amount, the detection signal from the sensor 55 is checked, and the rightward movement of the carriage 35 is repeated until the absence of the paper is detected. The carriage position at the moment the absence of the paper is detected is made to be a paper right-end position, and is stored into a predetermined address in the RAM 84. Then, the paper width is discriminated based on the paper left-end position and the paper right-end position stored. The maximum number of characters which can be printed on a paper, namely, the maximum number of printing digit palces is calculated, is stored into a predetermined address, and a numeral '0' indicative of that the current number of printing digit palces is zero is indicated on a status indicator 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 1. This invention relates to a printer, and particularly to displaying information regarding the number of printed digits.

For example, type printer, dot impact printer,
For various printers such as thermal printers, thermal transfer printers, and inkjet printers, the number of characters that can be printed on the set paper (maximum number of printing digits), low number of printing digits, or number of remaining printing digits can be determined by the operator using a case provided on the cover, etc. I try to read and judge.

However, for example, when paper sheets of different widths are used continuously, it is difficult to accurately judge the number of digits to be printed, and there are disadvantages in that the operability is not good.

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

! - Precepts In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is provided with a display means for displaying information regarding the number of printed digits.

Hereinafter, a detailed explanation will be given based on one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 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 mechanical section and the control section, and a cover 3 that can be opened and closed for replacing type wheels, ribbon cassettes, etc. is equipped with character scale 4. Note that this character scale 4 may not be provided.

In addition, the operation panel 5 attached to the front of the upper case 2 has
PAUSE switch 6 and line feed (
LF) switch 7, a status display 8 consisting of two 7-segment numeric displays used to display various printer statuses and the number of printed digits, and an automatic insertion switch that instructs automatic paper setting; A power lamp 10 is also attached.

FIGS. 2 and 3 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 is rotatably mounted between frames 21 and 21, which wraps and feeds paper to be printed.

This platen 22 is moved by a motor gear 24. An idle gear 25, an idle gear 26 that moves together with the idle gear 25, and a platen gear 2
7 to automatically feed paper.

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

Further, in front of this platen 22, a pail roller 30 is provided.
The paper pail 31 equipped with the paper pail 31 is urged toward the platen 22 and is swingably disposed.

On the other hand, a carriage 35 is mounted on a rod 33 and a stay 34 fixed between the frames 21 and 21 so as to be movable parallel to the platen 22 in its axial direction.

This carriage 35 has a cassette type type wheel 36.
A selection motor 37 consisting of a stepping motor equipped with a printing hammer 38 for hitting the type on a type wheel 36, a ribbon cartridge 41 loaded with an ink ribbon 40, etc. are provided.

Further, a paper guide 42 is installed on the front side of the carriage 35 to guide the paper to the platen 22 when inserting paper, and when automatically inserting paper or ejecting paper, the carriage 35 is moved to the left hand position [(LHM) and right hand position. The printing paper is moved to a substantially central position with respect to the hand position (RH'M), and the printing paper is guided by the paper guide 42.

1. A space motor 45 consisting of a stepping motor is attached to a sub-frame (not shown), and a space pulley 46 is fixed to its rotating shaft.
Two pulleys 47, 4B are attached to a support plate (not shown) fixed to the
These pulleys 46, 47.4
8 is stretched with a space wire 4, the space wire 4 is fixed to the bottom of the carriage 35, and the carriage 35 is moved by a space motor 45.

Further, a carriage home sensor 50 consisting of a transmission type photosensor is attached to the rear surface of the carriage 35, while
A sensor plate 51 is attached to the right frame 21, which enters the gap between the carriage home sensor 50 when the carriage 35 is located at the home position.

In addition, the selection motor 37 and the space motor 45
may be driven by servo control using a DC motor, or may be driven by closed control by adding an encoder to the stepping motor.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing details of the carriage 35.

A carriage block 52 of this carriage 35 is slidably fitted on the guide rod 4, and a carrier frame 53 is fixed onto this carriage block 52.

The carrier frame 53 is provided with a selection motor 37 for rotationally driving the type wheel 36 as described above. Printing hammer 38. Card guide 42. A ribbon cassette 41 etc. is mounted.

A mounting plate 54 is fixed to the front surface of the carrier frame 53, and a paper presence/absence sensor 5 comprising a reflective photosensor consisting of a light emitting element and a light receiving element is attached to the tip of the mounting plate 54.
5 is the installation.

The paper presence/absence sensor S5 is mounted in the axial direction of the platen on the right side of the impact position of the printing hammer 38, as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, a deflector 56 arranged at a predetermined interval on the lower surface side of the platen 22 is formed with a through hole S6a corresponding to the paper presence/absence sensor 55.

As a result, when there is paper on the platen 12, the paper presence/absence sensor 55 detects that the light emitted from the light emitting element is reflected by the paper P and enters the light receiving element, and detects the presence of paper. For example, since the platen 12 is black and does not reflect the light emitted from the light emitting element, the light emitted from the light emitting element is not incident on the light receiving element, and it is detected that there is no paper.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing the paper pail drive mechanism.

Both ends of the paper pail 31 are fixed to the paper pail arm 62 and the pail arm shown.

The paper pail arm 62 is attached to the right side plate 21 of the frame 21. It is pivotably supported by a shaft 61 installed in the platen 22, and is biased to swing in the direction of contacting the platen 22 by a spring 63 interposed between it and the right side plate 21a.

Also, a cam portion 6 is located in the middle of this paper pail arm 62.
2a, and a locking tent portion 62b is formed at the lower end.

Then, the plunger magnet 64 is fixed to the right side plate 21a, and an abbreviated drive piece 66 whose one end faces the cam part 62a of the paper pail arm 62 is attached to the right side plate 21a.
．． The driving piece 66 is rotatably supported on a shaft 65, and the other end of the driving piece 66 is rotatably attached to the plunger 64a of the plunger magnet 64 through a pin 67.

In addition, in order to restrict the swing range of this drive piece 66, an upper stopper 68. Lower stopper 6th is installed.

This stopper 68 is formed by fitting a rubber ring 71 to a cylindrical post 70, as shown in FIG. It is fixed to an eccentric shaft 73 attached with a nut 72 to make it movable.
6 swing range can be adjusted.

In addition, the lock detent portion 6 of the paper pail arm 62
A leaf spring 75 is disposed opposite to the paper pail arm 62, and when the paper pail arm 62 rotates by a predetermined amount θ2, it engages with the triangular groove of the lock detent portion 62b and locks in the current state.

Note that the manual operation range of the paper pail arm 62 is an angular range θ1, and the operating range of the plunger magnet 64 is an angular range θ2.

Further, although not shown in the drawings, a pail opening/closing switch made of, for example, a microswitch for detecting opening/closing of the paper pail 31 is provided.

This pail opening/closing switch is activated when the paper pail 31 is rotated in the direction away from the platen 22 by the manual operation range θ, and when it is rotated by the plunger magnet 64 by the operation range θ2, it is activated. It is placed in a position where it is in an inactive state.

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

The main controller 80 includes a mask microprocessor 81, a slave microprocessor 82, and an RO
It consists of M83, RAM84, Ilo85-88, display driver/controller 89, etc.

The mask microprocessor 81 is, for example, an 8-bit C
This circuit consists of a PU, ROM, RAM, Ilo, etc., and is in charge of controls other than line feed and space control of this printer.

The slave microprocessor 82 is composed of, for example, an 8-bit CPU, ROM, RAM, Ilo, etc., and is a circuit that controls the line feed and space control of this printer.

The ROM 83 includes a program area for storing, for example, a control program, a conversion table area for storing a code conversion table for converting character codes from the host into type position data, printing pressure data, ribbon feed amount data, etc., and a movement speed of the carriage 35, etc. A speed table area for storing tables and other areas for storing other fixed data are configured.

The RAM 84 constitutes a reception buffer area for temporarily storing data received from the host, a user area for downloading data such as programs from the host, a working area for program execution, a data area, and the like.

The master microprocessor 81 then prints character data transferred from the host to the l1085.

It takes in various data such as space data that instructs the amount of carriage movement and line feed data that instructs line feed, and performs processing based on the received data.

That is, this mask microprocessor 81
A hammer drive pulse is outputted to the hammer driver SO via the hammer driver SO to drive and control the hammer magnet 38A constituting the print hammer 38, thereby causing the hammer 38B to hit the type characters on the type wheel 36.

Further, this mask microprocessor 81 is l10
Selection drive data is output to the selection driver S1 via the selection driver S1 to control the rotation of the selection motor 37, rotate the type wheel 36 in a predetermined direction by the required amount, and print the desired type using the printing hammer! Position it to be hit by +8.

Furthermore, this mask microprocessor 81 has T1
A ribbon feed drive pulse is output to the ribbon feed driver S2 via the ribbon feed driver S2 to drive and control the ribbon feed motor S3, which is a stepping motor, to feed the ribbon 40 by a predetermined amount.

Furthermore, this mask microprocessor 81
The aforementioned pail opening/closing switch S4 detects the opening/closing of the paper pail 31 via l1087, the carriage home sensor 50 detects the carriage home, and the cover open switch (not shown) and ribbon end sensor (not shown) detects the opening/closing of the cover 3. Input the signal.

Moreover, this mask microprocessor 81 is
1087 and magnet driver S5, the plunger magnet 64 is driven and controlled to swing the paper pail 31.

Furthermore, this mask microprocessor 81
Each state signal is inputted from the pause switch 6, line feed switch 7, and reset switch 8 attached to the operation panel (front panel) 5 through the 088, and the cell test switch, baud rate switch, and protocol attached to the rear panel (not shown) are input. Status signals from various functional switches such as switches are inputted, and a paper presence/absence detection signal from the paper presence/absence sensor 5S is inputted.

Furthermore, this mask microprocessor 81
The status of this printer and the number of printed digits are determined based on input signals from these switches and sensors, and drive data is displayed via the l1088 in accordance with the display data indicating information regarding the error status and the number of printed digits. driver/
Output to the controller on the 8th.

This display driver/controller displays characters (numbers, symbols, etc.) according to the input display data on the status display 8.
to be displayed.

I did. This mask microprocessor 81.

Line feed data and carriage movement data are sent to slave microprocessor 82.

On the other hand, the slave microprocessor 82.

Line feed drive data is output to the line feed driver 96 to drive and control the line feed motor 23 to control rotation of the platen 22.

Controls line feed and back line feed.

The slave microprocessor 82 also outputs space drive data to the space driver 97 to drive and control the space motor 45 to move the carriage 35 in a predetermined direction by a required amount.

Here, the display mode of the status indicator 8 will be explained.

This status display 8 has two display driver/controller 8.
Depending on the function of the day, for example, as shown in Figure S, the numbers 0~
9 and 4 types of symbols and 16 types of display modes with no display, or the number O as shown in Figure 10.
~9 and the letter A.

It is also possible to display 16 types of display modes: b, C, d, E, and F.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained with reference to FIG. 11 and subsequent figures.

When the main controller 80 is powered on, the 11th
When the process shown in the figure is started, initialization is performed to reset the registers and import setting information such as baud rate, character pitch, line pitch, code system, etc. from each function switch on the rear panel.

Then, the carriage 3S is returned to the home (left end position), the type wheel 36 is positioned at the home, and a store operation is performed.

Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the automatic insertion switch S has been pressed, and if the automatic insertion switch S has not been pressed, the pail opening/closing switch S4 is checked to determine whether or not the paper pail 31 has been manually opened (pail open). However, if the pail is not open, the process returns to the process of determining whether the automatic insertion switch date has been pressed again.

Then, when the automatic insertion switch 9 is pressed, the process moves to the main routine after executing the process from paper autocellar 1 to automatically set the paper.

Also, the automatic insertion switch S is not pressed.

When the paper pail 31 is manually operated to open the pail, it can be determined that paper is to be set manually, so check the pail open/close switch S4 and wait until the pail is closed, and when the pail is closed, the paper Executes position detection processing and then shifts to the main routine.

Next, the one-sheet position detection process will be explained with reference to FIG. 12.

In this paper position detection process, first, the carriage 35 is moved one step to the right, and then the detection signal of the single paper presence/absence sensor 55 is checked to determine whether or not paper is present. Repeat the movement to the right.

When there is one paper, the carriage position at that time is stored at a predetermined address in the RAM 84 as the paper leading edge position.

Then, after moving the carriage 35 one step to the right again, the detection signal of the paper presence/absence sensor 55 is checked to determine whether or not paper is out, and the carriage 35 is moved to the right again until the paper is out. .

When one paper runs out, the carriage position at that time is stored at a predetermined address in the RAM 84 as the paper cloth end position.

After that, the paper width is determined based on the stored paper leading edge position and paper cloth edge position, and the maximum number of characters that can be printed on the paper, that is, the maximum number of printing digits, is calculated and stored at a predetermined address, The current number of printed digits (already printed digit number) is displayed on the status display 8.
The number "0" indicating that the number is "0" is displayed.

Note that as information regarding the number of print digits, the remaining number of print digits can be displayed instead of the current number of print digits, and in this case, the initial value becomes the maximum number of print digits.

Further, the current number of printed digits and the remaining number of printed digits can be selectively displayed using a changeover switch or the like.

On the other hand, even if the carriage 35 is moved to the right,
If there is no paper at all, it means that no paper has been set, so after displaying a number (letter) indicating paper end on the status display 8, the process returns to the initialization process.

Next, paper auto-setting processing will be explained with reference to FIG. 13.

In this paper autosetting process, first, the platen 22 is rotated by a predetermined amount to send the paper to a position where it can be detected by the paper presence/absence sensor 55.

Then, in this state, the paper position detection process shown in FIG. 12 described above is executed, and while moving the carriage 35 to the right, the right end position of the classmate end position 2 paper is sensed to determine the paper width, and the maximum number of printing digits is calculated and stored. After.

The current number of printed digits [0] is displayed on the status display 8.

Thereafter, the center position of the paper is calculated from the right end position of the classmate end position 2 paper obtained in this paper position detection process, and the gear ridge 35 is moved to the calculated center position.

Then, turn on the plunger magnet 64,
The vapor bail 31 is rotated by the drive piece 6 shown in FIG.
is separated from the platen 22 by an angle of 02, and then the paper is fed by a predetermined amount.

At this time, since the central portion of the paper is guided by the card guide 42 provided on the front surface of the carriage 35, the paper is fed along the platen 22, and the paper can be set reliably.

Thereafter, by turning off the plunger magnet 64, the paper pile 31 returns to a state in which it is pressed into contact with the platen 22 due to the restoring force of the spring 63.

Note that this is how the paper position is detected.

Even if the paper set position differs from set to set, it is possible to print reliably on the paper by setting the left margin and right margin based on the detected classmate edge position and paper cloth edge position. .

After the process related to paper setting is completed, the main controller 80 starts executing the main routine shown in FIG. 14.

Then, a sensor such as a ribbon end sensor is checked to determine whether or not there is an error. If there is an error, a number or the like corresponding to the content of the error is displayed on the status display 8, and then the process moves to error processing.

Further, if there is no error, after executing other switch monitoring processing, it is checked whether there is any unprocessed data in the reception buffer, and if there is no unprocessed data, the process returns to the error check again.

Then, if there is unprocessed data in the reception buffer, it reads that data, determines whether it is print data or not, and if it is print data, prints it, then increments the current print digit number by (+1) L, and so on. After displaying the value on the status display 8, the process returns to error checking.

Also, if the read data is space data, after performing space processing to move the carriage 35 by the specified number of characters N, the current number of printing digits is incremented N times (+N
) is displayed on the status display 8, and then returns to error checking.

Further, if the read data is line feed data, after performing line feed processing, the current number of printed digits is reset and "0" is displayed on the status display 8, and then the process returns to error checking.

Although not shown, if an automatic paper feeder such as ASF is provided, the paper autoset process shown in the first diagram above is executed when a paper feed command is received from the host side. automatically performs processes such as paper setting and paper position detection.

By the way, if you want to display an error display and information about the number of print digits on the same display like this.

It is desirable to distinguish between the two and display them to facilitate operator identification.

As a method for distinguishing and displaying this error display and information regarding the number of printed digits, the following is possible.

■ For error display, use the numbers "0 to 9" and set the display mode to "0", such as "roo, ot, ...09".
is added and displayed, and the information regarding the number of printing digits is left as is.
O, 1, 2...9. 1O...99".

(2) The error display uses numbers "0 to 9" and is displayed with one symbol other than numbers (see FIGS. 8 and 9), and the information regarding the number of printed digits is displayed as is.

(2) Numbers "0 to 99" are used for both error display and information regarding the number of printed digits, and the error display is a blinking display, and the information related to the number of printed digits is a lit display.

(2) Numbers "0 to 99" are used for error display, and information regarding the number of digits to be printed is displayed in symbols or letters every predetermined number of digits.

In this way, this printer displays information regarding the number of printed digits, making it easier to determine the number of printed digits and the remaining number of digits, improving operability.

Furthermore, if the error display and the information regarding the number of printed digits are displayed on the same display as in the above embodiment, there is no need to increase the number of displays.

Note that the printer in the above embodiment is a receive-only (R1
0), but it can be similarly applied to a printer included in an electronic typewriter, and is particularly effective in an electronic typewriter that prints while creating text.

Also, to display information about the number of printed digits.

In the above embodiment, an example was described in which two numeric displays were used, but a single numeric display may be used as long as information regarding the number of digits to be printed is displayed every predetermined number of characters. Similarly, there may be three or more.

Furthermore, in the above embodiments, an example in which the present invention is applied to a type wheel type printer has been described, but other examples include a dot impact printer, a thermal printer, and a thermal transfer printer.

The present invention can be similarly applied to various printers such as inkjet printers, optical printers, and light emitting diode printers.

Further, the present invention is not limited to printers, but can also be implemented in cases where the number of read digits is displayed in, for example, a reading device that reads characters serially.

As explained above, according to the present invention, operability is improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an example of a printer embodying the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are a schematic plan view and a front view of the mechanism thereof. 4 and 5 are a schematic side view and a schematic plan view of the carriage; FIGS. 6 and 7 are a side view of the paper pail drive mechanism and a side view of its essential parts; and FIG. 8 is a control section thereof. Block diagram showing. FIGS. 9 and 10 are explanatory diagrams showing examples of different display modes of the display, and FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of initialization processing executed by the control unit. FIGS. 12 and 13 are flowcharts showing an example of the paper position detection process and the paper autoset process. FIG. 14 is a flow diagram showing an example of the main routine executed by the control section. 5...Operation panel 8...Status display 35...
・Carriage 55...Paper presence/absence sensor 80...
Main controller 8th...Display driver S4...Pail opening/closing switch Figure 1 Figure 4 Figure 58 Figure 6 Figure 7 Procedural amendment (white side September 26, 1985 Director General of the Patent Office Michibu Uga) 1. Indication of the case Patent Application No. 181131/1982 2. Name of the invention Printer 3. Person making the amendment Relationship to the case Patent applicant 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo (674) Riko Co., Ltd.-4, Agent 1-20-5 Higashiikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo (1) Column 6 of the detailed explanation of the invention in the specification, contents of the amendment (1) "In the first line of page 2 of the specification" (2) Correct “this master” on page 12, line 18 of the same book as (i′ scale J).
rThis master” is corrected. (3) "Reset switch 8" in the 5th line of page 13 of the same number is corrected to "automatic insertion switch 9j". (4) "Sells test" in the 7th line of the same page of the same book is corrected to "r self test". . (5) "Status indicator 8" on the 20th line of the same page in the same book. ``Correct with 2-digit status indicator 8J consisting of 7-segment numeric indicators 9A and 8B.'' (6) ``Status indicator 8'' on page 14, line 17 of the same book. "Each 7-segment numerical display 8A, 8B of the status display 8
Correct it with J. (7) Same as jlf! 19th h(1) ``4 types of r'' is corrected to ``5 types of Ir''. (8) In the 9th line of page 22 of the same book, ``in the printer,'' is corrected to ``in the printer,''. (9) Correct "inkjet print" in line 10 of page 23 of the same book to 0' inkjet printer. (10) "Initial rationalization process" on page 24, line 11 of the same book. Correct it as "initialization processing". (11) "Figure 1", "Figure 3", and "Figure 6" of the drawings. "Figure 8" is amended as shown in the corrected drawing attached to this document. 7. Attached documents Corrected drawings (Fig. 1, Fig. 3, Fig. 6, Fig. 8) 1 copy Corrected drawing Fig. 1 Fig. 6 Corrected drawing

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A printer characterized by being provided with display means for displaying information regarding the number of printed digits. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the display means detects the paper width using a paper presence/absence sensor provided on the carriage when paper is set, and displays the maximum number of printing digits.