JPS6266945A - Shuttle type rpinter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a shuttle type printing head capable of being made small- size and low-cost and also printing a sharp image, by a method wherein spaces between a printing portions in each adjacent printing portion groups are set according to the travel distance of the shuttle type printing head. CONSTITUTION:A shuttle type printing head 10 is provided with, for example, four heating element groups each consisting of 27 heating elements 12 being arranged at predetermined spaces in the paper width's direction. The heating element groups are so disposed that the heating elements therein can be spaced at a predetermined distance. The time-division printing is so controlled by an electronic controller 20 as to be conducted by each heating element group in sequence, first by the last one in the running direction of the shuttle type printing head 10. Therefore, even with use of the shuttle type printing head 10 which has a number of heating elements arranged in the paper width's direction to allow printing on a large-width paper used longitudinally, printing can be perfectly conducted by using a power unit of relatively small power capacity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Object of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a shuttle-type printing device that prints image information on paper.

[Prior Art] A device for printing image information on paper includes a shuttle-type print head in which a plurality of printing units for printing are arranged across the paper width direction at intervals greater than a preset printing tone, A shuttle-type printing device has been proposed in which printing is performed by reciprocating the shuttle-type print head in the M1 width direction. Conventionally, the shuttle-type print head like the one mentioned above is
For example, it includes a plurality of heating elements that function as printed parts formed on the surface of a ceramic substrate by Fi film wave technology, and a conductive path that conducts electricity to the heating elements. The conductive path has one end connected to the heating element connected to a selection electrode that outputs a signal corresponding to image information instructing the heating element to generate heat or not, and the other end connected to the heating element connected to one common electrode. is connected to. Then, when the selection electrode outputs a signal corresponding to black image information, the heating element is energized and printing is performed by the heat generated by the heating element.

[Problems to be Solved by FE Ming] The following problems existed in the shuttle type printing device equipped with the shuttle type print head as the prior art. (1) For example, if a shuttle-type print head is installed g1 that prints on paper with a paper width of approximately B5 paper, the width of the shuttle-type print head will also be expanded accordingly, and the printing section will be expanded accordingly. It is also necessary to provide a large number of heating elements.A shuttle-type print head with such a large number of heating elements is conventionally configured with one common electrode and selective electrodes provided corresponding to the heating elements. When performing a printing operation using There was a problem in that printing operations could not be performed unless it was used.

(2) Furthermore, since it is necessary to simultaneously output signals corresponding to image information to a large number of heating elements, drive circuits and print latch drivers for driving the heating elements are also required for the number of heating elements, making this device larger. There was also the problem of doing so.

(3) Furthermore, in connection with the problems (1) and (2> above, the wiring to the common electrode also needs to be the same as the number of people per day, and on the other hand, the wiring for the head drive circuit also increases, so the equipment There was also the problem that the number of parts, manufacturing man-hours, and manufacturing costs of the device increased.

The present invention aims to solve each of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a shuttle-type printing device equipped with a shuttle-type print head that can be miniaturized, manufactured at low cost, and provides clear printed images. do.

Structure of the Invention [Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following structure. That is, the present invention includes a shuttle-type print head in which a large number of printing units for printing image information on paper are arranged across the width of the paper at intervals greater than a preset printing density for printing the image. , control means for reciprocating the shuttle type print head in the paper width direction and causing the printing unit to perform a printing operation each time the printing unit reaches a printing position corresponding to the printing density. In the shuttle type printing device, in the upper two shuttle type print heads, the plurality of printing parts are divided into a plurality of printing part groups each consisting of printing parts continuous in the width direction of the paper at regular intervals, and each printing part group The control means is configured to perform a printing operation for a time of υ1 every time, and the interval between adjacent printing section groups corresponds to the time difference in printing operation between each printing section group caused by the time division. This is set in accordance with the moving distance of the sittle type print head.

[Function] The shuttle-type printing device of the present invention, which has a shuttle-type print head in which a large number of printing sections are arranged across the paper width direction, divides the printing section into a plurality of printing section groups each consisting of consecutive printing sections. , a time-division printing operation is performed for each printing unit group. However, the printing section in the above printing section group is
They are arranged at equal intervals, and on the other hand, the interval between adjacent printing unit groups is set to a predetermined interval that corrects the time difference in printing operations caused by time division of the printing unit groups.

Therefore, there is no misalignment of the printing position between adjacent printing unit groups due to time-sharing printing operation, and printing is performed by keeping the current simultaneously applied to the shuttle-type print head low while maintaining high printing quality. work to accomplish this.

[Example] Next, a preferred example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the shuttle type printing device 1 has a left
A platen 2 and a head guide shaft 3 are installed between the six frames 1a and lb. Print paper 2a, which is thermal paper, is mounted on platen 2, and platen 2 is rotationally driven by a transport mechanism 4, which will be described later, to transport the print paper 2a in the direction indicated by arrow A in the figure. The transport mechanism 4 includes a transport unit drive motor 4a, a drive pulley 4b, and a toothed belt 4.
It is composed of C0 and driven pulley 4d, and power is transmitted in the above order.

On the head guide shaft 3 described above, a shuttle type print head 10, which is provided parallel to the platen 2 described above over almost the entire width of the printing paper 2a, is slidably attached in the axial direction of the head guide shaft 3. It is numbered. The shuttle-type print head 10 includes a heating element 12 that is pressed against the printing paper 2a described above and performs printing thermally, and a substrate 1 on which the heating element 12 is mounted.
The heating element 12 includes a heat sink 10b on which the heating element 0a is placed and dissipates the generated heat, and a flexible cable 10C for transmitting image information and the like from an electronic control device 20, which will be described later, to the heating element 12.

A cam follower 10d, which will be described later, is disposed on one end side of the heat sink 10b of the shuttle-type print head 10. On the other hand, on the outside of the left frame 1a mentioned above, there is a head transport mechanism 1 for transporting the shuttle type print head 10 in the paper width direction.
6 is provided.

The head transfer mechanism 16 includes a head transfer motor 16a, a drive gear 16b attached to the shaft of the head transfer motor 16a, a driven gear 16C that meshes with the drive gear 16b, and a substantially elliptical groove that rotates integrally with the driven gear 16c. The motive power is transmitted in the above order. The above-mentioned cam follower 10d is engaged with the above-mentioned grooved cam 16d, and as the above-mentioned grooved cam 16d rotates, the above-mentioned shuttle type print head 1
0 is reciprocated in the directions indicated by arrows B and C in FIG. The head transfer mechanism 16 is equipped with a rotary encoder 17 that detects a print position corresponding to a predetermined print density during the above-mentioned reciprocating movement. The rotary encoder 17 rotates integrally with the grooved cam 16d and is composed of a disk 17a in which slits are formed corresponding to each printing position, and a detector 17b for detecting the slits.

In the shuttle-type printing apparatus 1 configured as described above, the shuttle-type print head 10 reciprocates by the rotation of the head transfer motor 16a, and the shuttle-type print head 10 moves back and forth based on the timing signal of the rotary encoder 17, m2a
Print on. Then, when the printing of the - line is completed, the conveyance section drive motor 4a is driven, and the printing paper 2a is conveyed in the six directions of the arrows.

In the shuttle-type print head 10 described above, as shown in FIG. 2, 108 heating elements 12 are formed in rows on one end side on the surface of a ceramic substrate 10a by thick film technology. On the other hand, a connecting portion 11a connected to the flexible cable 10c is provided on the other end side of the substrate 10a. The connecting portion 11a is connected to common electrodes 13a and 13b.
, 13c.

13d and selection electrodes 14an, 14bn, 14cn
.

Each heating element 12, which is driven independently of each other,
A first group of heating elements 12an(n
-1 to 27) 0 heating element second group 12bn (n-1 to
27), heating element third group 12an (n-1 to 27)
, and a fourth heating element group 12dn (n-1 to 27
> is divided into four groups, and each group is controlled to perform a time-division printing operation. Each of the above heating element groups 12an
, 12bn, 12cn, and 12dn are all similar in structure, so only the first heating element group 12aO will be described here.

The heating element pitch L1 provided between two heating elements in the first heating element group 12an is equal to the number of dots D printed while one heating element moves in the directions of arrows B and C.
It is determined by the following equation (1) from T and print density M.

L1=DT/M=...(1) In this example, the number of dots DT printed while one heating element moves in the directions of arrows B and C is 16, and the printing density fffM is 8 [dots/mmml]. Therefore, the heating element pitch L1 in the heating element group 12an is 2[1
1m]. The heating element first group 12an
Terminals on one end side of the heating elements inside are each connected to the common electrode 13a, and terminals on the other end side are connected to the corresponding selection electrodes 14an (n-1 to 27), respectively.

When a printing operation is performed, a signal that causes a heating element to generate heat is transmitted to one of the common electrodes 13a to 13b in advance, and one of the heating element groups 12an to 12dn is selected, and then a corresponding one of the heating element groups 12an to 12dn is selected. By transmitting a signal corresponding to image information to the selection electrodes 14an to 14dn, the heating element is energized and printing is performed.

This time-division printing operation is repeated in order from the first heating element group 12an to the fourth heating element group 12dn, and the printing period T [sec/dot] is determined by the preset movement of the shuttle-type print head 10. In this embodiment, the printing density M is 8E dots/U.

The shuttle type print head movement speed V is 62.5 [mgm/
sea], so the printing cycle is 0.002 [se
C/dot]. Within this printing cycle T, there are four heating element groups 12an, 12bn, and 12cn.

12dn is subjected to time division printing operation. In this case, as the shuttle-type print head 10 is transported in the direction of arrow C, the first group 12an of heating elements located at the rear in the direction of movement are moved from time T1 to time T2 as shown in FIG. The printing operation is performed during this period. Next, the second heating element group 12bn performs a printing operation between time T2 and time T3. Thereafter, similarly, between time T3 and time T4, the third heating element group 12Cn is heated from time T4 to time T4.
5, each of the fourth heating element groups 12dn performs a printing operation. Further, when the shuttle-type print head 10 is transported in the direction of arrow B, the fourth heating element group 12dn located at the rear in the direction of travel is activated at time T11.
The printing operation is performed between the time TI2 and the time TI2. Below, time T
12 to time T13, the third group of heating elements 12
cn performs a printing operation, the second heating element group 12bn performs a printing operation from time T13 to time T14, and the first heating element group 12an performs a printing operation from time T14 to time T15. In addition, each heating element 12
Time required for printing from an to 12dn Printing cycle T)/
It becomes 4.

Incidentally, the distance between printing points on the paper surface is always a distance corresponding to the printing density, that is, 1/M[lll1]. Therefore, if each heating element group is operated in a time-divided printing operation, the time difference between the printing operations between each group will cause the time difference between the time when one heating element group performs the printing operation and the time when the next heating element group performs printing. Meanwhile, the shuttle printhead 10 is moving. Therefore, 1! between the heating elements between adjacent heating element groups shown in FIG. If [12 is set to be the same as the spacing L1 between the heating elements in the heating element group, the printing position will be misaligned at the boundary between the heating element groups, and the printing quality will deteriorate. Here, during the printing period T, the shuttle type print head 10 moves by TxV. Therefore, from equation (2), the moving distance is 1/M. From this, from the time when one heating element group performs a printing operation to the time when the next heating element group performs a printing operation,
This means that the shuttle print head 10 has moved by 1/(MXI). Here, 鵠 is the total number of heating element groups. Therefore, it is necessary to correct the spacing L2 of the heating elements between the heating element groups by the above movement distance. Therefore, in this embodiment, the printing operation is performed in order from the first heating element group located at the rear in the direction of movement of the shuttle-type print head 10, and the heating element group is divided into four. Distance 11 that the shuttle-type print head 10 moves during the time difference of time-divided printing operations between body groups
111GL[in+] is illuminated as shown in the following equation (3), and the distance L2 between the heating elements between the heating element groups is set by the distance GL.
has been corrected. That is, GL-1/ On xM)---<3>However, m...
Total number of heating element groups M...Print density In this embodiment, m is 4. Since M is 8 [dots/ma+:1], the distance GL is approximately 0.03 [1111].

Therefore, the distance L2 between the heating element groups shown in FIG. 2 is determined by the following equation (4).

L2-11-GL...(4) In this embodiment, as mentioned above, the interval L1 is 2[0III
], the interval L2 is set to 1.97 [u+].

Shuttle type print head 1 with 4 heating element groups
As shown in FIG.
ROM 20b in which various control programs and initial data are stored in advance.

The RAM 20C stores various signal data input to the electronic control device 2o, control programs, and each ff! It is composed of a CPU 20a, etc. that performs various processes based on signal data, and each of these elements is connected to each other via a common bus, and also to external mechanisms via an input port 20e and an output port 20i. ing.

The image information transmitted from the external device 30 and the print timing signal output from the low-resolution encoder 17 that has been shaped by the waveform shaping circuit 20d are input to the CPU 20a via the input port 20e, and are stored in the RAM 20c by the CPU 20a. be done. On the other hand, a print latch driver 2Of that latches the image information of the shuttle-type print head 1o and causes the heating element 12 of the shuttle-type print head 10 to perform a printing operation, a head transfer motor 16a, and a conveyance section drive motor 4a are each driven. The drive circuits 20o and 20h that supply current are each controlled by the CPU 20a via the output port 20i. In this case, the print latch driver 2Of only needs to be able to latch the image information of one heating element group and energize the heating elements 12 in one heating element group.

Further, the electronic control device 20 is equipped with a power supply device 22 having a relatively small δ peak, which supplies a current to drive the heating elements 12 in one heating element group via the print latch driver 20''.

The printing process executed by the electronic control unit 20 will be described below based on the flowchart shown in FIG. This process stores print data as image information sent from the external device 30 in the RAM2Oc,
This is executed after the printing paper 2a is conveyed to a predetermined position.

First, in step 100, the shuttle type print head 10
Is it moving in the direction of arrow C)? II (movement in the direction of arrow B) is determined based on the signal from the rotary encoder 17. If you are on the move,
That is, if the vehicle is moving in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 2, the process advances to step 110. Here, the value of a group counter N for setting the heating element group to perform the printing operation is set to 1. That is, first, the first heating element
A printing operation is performed starting from group 12an.

In the following step 120, by the Nth group of heating elements,
The data to be printed is latched. At the first time, since N=1, the print data printed by the first heating element group 12an is latched by the print latch driver 20r. The process then proceeds to step 130, where it is determined based on the signal from the rotary encoder 17 whether or not the print position has been detected.

If the printing position is still not detected, it waits.

On the other hand, if the printing position is detected, step 140
Proceed to. Here, the enable signal to the print latch driver 20f is activated. As a result, the heating elements of the first group of heating elements corresponding to the print data latched in step 120 are energized, and printing is performed by 12an.

In the following step 150, the print latch driver 20f is disabled, and printing by the first group of heating elements is completed. Next, proceeding to step 160, RAM2
Based on the data of 0c7, it is determined whether printing for one line has been completed or not.

If one line of printing has not yet been completed,
Proceed to step 170.

In step 170, it is determined whether the value of group counter N is 4 or not. That is, it is determined whether or not the time-division printing operation has been performed in one cycle from the first heating element cylinder group 12an to the fourth heating element group 12dn. If the printing operation has not been performed yet, that is, if N is 4 or less, the process proceeds to step 18°0, the value of the group counter N is incremented by 1, and the process returns to step 120. A printing operation is performed using the next adjacent heating element group. If the printing operation has already been performed repeatedly, the process returns to step 110 and the printing operation using the first group of heating elements is started again.

On the other hand, if the shuttle type print head 10 is moving WI, steps 205, 220, 230° 240.25
Each process of 0,260,265.275 is performed. These processes are the same except that the time-division printing operation is performed from the fourth group of heat generating elements to the first group of heat generating elements in the reverse order to that described above, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, when the time-division printing operation in the reciprocating motion is performed and printing of one line is completed, that is, when the determination at step 160 or step 260 is rYEsJ, the process proceeds to step 290. Here, the conveyance unit drive motor 4a is driven to convey the printing paper 2a by one line. In the following step 295, RAM2
It is determined whether or not there is any print data that has not yet been printed among the print data stored in 0c.

If all of the print data in the RAM 2Oc has not been completely printed, the process returns to step 100 and the above-described printing operation is repeated again. On the other hand, if all the print data stored in the RAM2Oc has been printed, the process can proceed to NEXT and the process ends.

In this embodiment, the one-line printing process executed by the head drive mechanism 16, the low recoder 17, the electronic control device 1120, and the electronic 11J control device 1i120 functions as a control means.

As explained above, in this embodiment, the shuttle type print head 10 is arranged at intervals of 2 [111 m] in the paper width direction.
There are four heating element groups formed by arranging seven heating elements 12, and the interval between the heating elements between each heating element group is 1.97.
[ul], and the electronic υ control device 20 controls the time division printing operation to be performed sequentially for each heating element group starting from the heating element group located at the rear in the direction of movement of the shuttle-type print head 10. be done. For this reason, in order to print on the paper width (216 (ul)) when wide paper, for example No. 4 paper in row A of the Japan Industrial Standards, is used in portrait orientation, the heating element is placed across the width of the paper. Even when using a shuttle-type print head 10 in which a large number of power supplies are arranged, it is sufficiently possible to perform printing operations with a power supply device 22 having a relatively small power supply capacity.

In addition, since the time-division printing operation is performed by dividing into four heating element groups, the print latch driver 2Or that outputs print data to the shuttle-type print head 10 and drives it can also be small. It is possible to reduce costs and improve the reliability of printing operations.

Furthermore, the heating element is made of ceramic substrate 1 using thick film technology.
Since it is formed on the substrate 10a, there is also an advantage that even if the interval between the heating elements is changed between groups, the manufacturing process of the substrate 10a is hardly affected.

In addition, in this embodiment, the heating elements are divided into four heating element group 1.
2an, 12bn, 12cn, l 2dnk: Although divided, the heating elements within each heating element group are equally spaced, and the drive circuit that performs the printing operation is the same as before within each heating element group. It is the composition. Therefore, it is only necessary to change the interval between each heating element group and modify the program for performing the time-division printing operation for each heating element group, which has the advantage of shortening the development period.

Furthermore, as described above, the adjacent heating element group 12an
, 12bn, 12cn, and 12dn in a time-sharing manner, it is possible to make the intervals between the heating element groups the same, and the manufacturing of the thermal head 10a is facilitated.

In this embodiment, the time-sharing printing operation was performed from the heating element group located at the rear in the direction of movement of the seat-type print head 10 to the heating element groups adjacent to each other in sequence. There is no problem even if the configuration is such that the time-sharing printing operation is performed sequentially from the heating element group located at the front to the adjacent heating element groups. In this case, the spacing L2 between adjacent heating element groups is determined by adding the distance G also mentioned above to the heating element spacing L1 within the heating element group described above.
It is necessary to correct it. That is, the spacing L2 between adjacent heating element groups is determined by the following equation (6).

L2-L1+GL...(6) In the case of this embodiment, it is set to 2.03 [1111. Even with this configuration, the same effects as in the previously described embodiments can be achieved.

Effects of the Invention As detailed above, the shuttle type printing [f is
Even if a time-division printing operation is performed on a plurality of printing section groups, the excellent effect of simplifying the drive circuit and reducing the capacity of the power supply is achieved while maintaining the printing quality at a high level.

Moreover, along with the above effects, it is possible to reduce the number of parts of the device, the number of man-hours for manufacturing the LIT, and the manufacturing cost.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a shuttle type printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view of the shuttle type print head, and Fig. 3 is a timing chart showing an example of the υJtlD timing. Similarly, FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the electronic control device, and FIG. 5 is a flow chart not showing the processing executed by the electronic control device in one embodiment of the present invention.゛1...Shuttle type printing device 10...Shuttle type print head 16...Head transport mechanism 20...Electronic control device 20a ---CPtJ

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A shuttle-type printing unit in which a large number of printing units for printing image information on paper are arranged across the width of the paper at intervals greater than a printing density preset for printing the image. a print head; and a control means for reciprocating the shuttle-type print head in the paper width direction and causing the printing unit to perform a printing operation each time the printing unit reaches a printing position corresponding to the printing density; In the shuttle-type printing device, the shuttle-type print head is configured such that the plurality of printing sections are divided into a plurality of printing section groups each consisting of printing sections continuous in the width direction of the paper at regular intervals, and The control means is configured to perform a time-sharing printing operation for each printing section group, and the interval between the printing sections between adjacent printing section groups is adjusted to the time difference in printing operation between each printing section group caused by the above-mentioned time division. A shuttle type printing device characterized in that the setting is made in accordance with the moving distance of the corresponding shuttle type print head.