JPS6266980A - Ribbon feed system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the irregularity in printing density, by controlling the feed quantity of a ribbon by detecting the continuous typing of a specific character. CONSTITUTION:Printing information is extracted from a buffer 3 and a ribbon feed quantity increment table 16 is searched to refer to whether the extracted printing information is a specific character. When said information is not the specific character, a ribbon feed quantity table 6 is refered to set the feed quantity of the ribbon. In case of the specific character, the buffer 3 is searched to calculate the continuous number of the same printing information and, at the time of a predetermined number or less, the ribbon feed quantity entered in the ribbon feed quantity table 6 is set and, at the time of the predetermined number or more, the increment quantity of the ribbon feed quantity increment table 16 is added to the ribbon feed quantity entered in the ribbon feed quantity table 6 to set the feed quantity of the ribbon. The ribbon feed quantity set as mentioned above, a type moving quantity and printing pressure are set to control parts to order practice. After the completion of the above mentioned command execution, a typing command is sent to a hammer control part 7 to perform printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Summary] In a multi-strike method in which the ribbon is fed in one direction with a feed amount based on the width of printed characters, when specific characters such as underlines are consecutive, shading occurs in the printed characters.

The present invention provides a ribbon feeding method that detects the continuous specific characters and corrects them by adding a predetermined amount to the normal ribbon feeding amount.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an improvement in a ribbon feeding method in a serial printer.

Serial printers such as type printers use film ribbons that can print multiple times, and employ a multi-strike method in which the ribbon is fed narrower than the width of the printed character and the same location is printed multiple times.

However, in the above method, there is a problem in that when the ribbon is often printed in the same position as the previous ribbon, as in the case of continuous underline printing, ribbon blur becomes noticeable and clear printing is not possible.

Therefore, the ribbon feeding method that solves the above problems [Conventional technology] A conventional example will be explained with reference to FIG.

Figure 3 (al is an explanatory diagram of the multi-strike system, (1)
indicates the printing condition on the ribbon, (2) indicates the printing result,
FIG. 3 (bl is a block diagram of a type printer).

In a type printer, a carriage equipped with a print wheel and a hammer is used to feed the ribbon while spacing it, and the selected type is impacted by the hammer to transfer the ribbon ink onto the paper, thereby printing.

A film ribbon that can be printed multiple times and is housed in a cartridge is used as the ink ribbon, and a multi-strike is performed in which the ribbon is fed in one direction by setting a ribbon feeding amount narrower than the character width.

FIG. 3 (al-(11) shows the state of the ribbon printed by this multi-strike method with the ribbon feed amount set narrower than the printed character width.

The above operation will be explained below using FIG. 3(b).

In the figure, 3 is a buffer that stores the print information received through the interface 2, and 5 is a buffer that stores the number of type selection steps and the printing pressure for controlling the printing pressure of the hammer 8a, etc. in correspondence with the character code. 6 is a ribbon feed amount table which is a tabular representation of the ribbon feed amount (for example, the number of steps of the ribbon feed motor M3) corresponding to the character width; 12 is a ribbon feed control unit; , which drives and controls the ribbon feed motor M3 based on the ribbon feed amount sent to the main control unit 4; and also controls the rotation of the hammer control unit 7, which drives the hammer solenoid 8, and the print wheel 10. It is comprised of a print wheel control section 9, a space drive section 11 for spacing the carriage, and the like.

Print information received through the interface 2 is stored in a buffer 3, and printing is started after receiving at least one line of print information.

First, the print information to be printed is extracted from the buffer 3, and the ribbon feed amount and printing pressure are sent to each control section by referring to the ribbon feed amount table 6 and type selection/print pressure table 5. Once selected, a printing command is issued, and the hammer 8a rotates to impact the selected type and print.

In the ribbon feed amount table 6, a feed amount narrower than the character width is set in accordance with the character code, and multi-strike is performed.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The amount of ink on the ribbon decreases each time a character is printed, making the print lighter, but as shown in Figures 3(a)-(2), the area that is printed on the same spot is usually smaller than that of the printed characters. The lightness is not noticeable.

However, when underlines are printed continuously,
Many of the characters are printed in the same areas as before, overlapping each other, and the printing result is noticeably shaded, making it difficult to print clearly.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a ribbon feeding method that solves the problems of the multi-strike method.

[Means for solving problems]

For the above purpose, the ribbon feeding method of the present invention, as shown in the principle explanatory diagram in FIG.
), means (14) for adding a predetermined correction amount to the set ribbon feed amount of the specific character, and adding the correction amount to the ribbon feed amount of the specific character that is continuously printed to the set ribbon feed amount. The correction is made by

[Effect]

That is, a plurality of pieces of print information are already stored in the buffer, and each time print information is extracted, the number of consecutive prints for a specific character is searched.

When a predetermined number of consecutive characters is reached, the ribbon is fed at a normal ribbon feeding amount, that is, a ribbon feeding amount obtained by adding a correction amount (hereinafter referred to as an increment amount) to the value in the ribbon feeding amount table for that specific character.

As described above, the number of times the specific character is printed on the same location on the ribbon due to continuous printing is reduced, and shading is prevented.

〔Example〕

The details of the present invention will be explained according to the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 2(a) is a block diagram of a printer implementing the ribbon feeding method of the present invention, and FIG. 2(b) is an operational flowchart.

In Figure 2 (al), 16 is a ribbon feed amount increment table that records the increment amount of ribbon feed for specific characters such as underlines that cause shading when printed continuously, and 17 is a ribbon feed amount increment table that records the ribbon feed amount by the operation described later. 15 is a main control unit that requests the ribbon feed amount processing unit 17 to process the ribbon feed amount and controls printing based on the value; They represent the same object.

Ribbon feed amount processing associated with printing will be explained with reference to FIG. 2(b).

(Extract 11 print information from the buffer 3, search the ribbon feed amount increment table 16, and search whether the extracted print information is a specific character.

(2) If the character is not a specific character, refer to the ribbon feed amount table 6 and set the ribbon feed amount.

(3) In the case of a specific character, search the buffer 3, find the number of consecutive pieces of the same printed information, and if it is less than a predetermined number (2 to 3), increase the ribbon feed amount listed in the ribbon feed amount table 6 to a value greater than or equal to the predetermined number. In this case, the ribbon feed amount is set by adding the increment amount in the ribbon feed increment table 16 to the ribbon feed amount described in the ribbon feed amount table 6.

(4) Set the ribbon feed amount, type movement amount, and printing pressure set above to each control section, and issue a command for execution.

(5) After the execution of the above command is completed, a printing command is sent to the hammer control section 7 to cause it to print.

Note that the ribbon feeding may be corrected from the second character of continuous printing.

As described above, by detecting consecutive specific characters and controlling the ribbon feed amount, it is possible to prevent printing shading due to continuous printing of the same character.

In FIG. 2(a), the ribbon feed amount processing section 17 can be integrated into the main control section 15, and each table can be combined into one set.

Although the above embodiments have been described with reference to a type printer, similar effects can be obtained even when implemented in a wire dot printer or the like.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention detects continuous printing of specific characters and controls the ribbon feeding amount, and is highly effective in preventing shading in printing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram explaining the principle of the present invention, FIG. Figure (b) is a block diagram of a conventional type printer. In the figure, 1 is the ribbon, 2 is the interface, 3 is the buffer, 4 is the main control unit, 5 is the type selection/print pressure table, and 6 is the ribbon feed. Amount table, 7 is hammer il+ splinter, 8 is hammer solenoid, 8a
1 is a hammer, 9 is a print wheel control section, 10 is a print wheel, 11 is a space control section, 12 is a ribbon feed control section, 13 is a specific character detection means, 14 is a ribbon feed amount calculation means, 15 is a main control section, 16 17 is a ribbon feed amount increment table, and 17 is a ribbon feed amount processing section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A ribbon feeding method for a serial printer in which a ribbon feeding amount corresponding to the width of a printed character is set and the ribbon is fed based on the feeding amount, comprising: means for detecting a specific character that is continuously printed a predetermined number of times; and (13
), means (14) for adding a predetermined correction amount to the set ribbon feed amount of the specific character, and adding the correction amount to the ribbon feed amount of the specific character that is continuously printed to the set ribbon feed amount. Ribbon feeding method is characterized by the following: