JPS6297867A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To lower the noise of an apparatus and to improve the durability and the quality of recording, etc. by a method wherein the impact force of a recording member which strikes a recording medium through the intermediary of an ink ribbon is controlled in accordance with the kind of the ink ribbon being employed. CONSTITUTION:In ROM 11, time tables for excitation of a magnet coil 18 in accordance with separate types, which are matched with the transferring properties of ink ribbons of various kinds, are stored in addition to a control program, and an ink ribbon information 14 indicating the kind of an ink ribbon is inputted to CPU 12 through an input-output port 13. CPU 12 selects an excitation time table 19A or 19B in ROM 11 to be employed in accordance with the kind of an ink ribbon 3. An exciting signal having a pulse width corresponding to excitation time data which are read out is generated and delivered to a hammer driving circuit 16. This circuit converts the level of the exciting signal into a level required for driving a transistor Tr 7, the transistor Tr 7 is thereby turned ON, the magnet coil 18 is electrified and excited, and a plunger of a printing hammer 6 strikes the seat 5 of a wheel 4 for printing.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a recording device, and more particularly to an impact-type recording device that performs recording by hitting a recording medium with a recording member such as type through an ink ribbon. It is something.

[Prior Art] A daisy-wheel printer is known as an example of this type of recording device, and in this printer, a petal-shaped type wheel (daisy-wheel) is created by a printing hammer whose plunger is driven by the excitation of a magnetic coil. Printing is performed by striking the base of the type and hitting the recording medium via the ink ribbon with the struck type.

In this case, since the area of the striking part of the type differs for each type, in order to make the printing density uniform by keeping the striking pressure per area constant, conventional daisy-wheel printers print/XX mama impact depending on the type of type. The impact force of the type is controlled by controlling the force.

Excitation time (energization time) of the printing hammer magnet coil
The above-mentioned impact force control is carried out by controlling the excitation time of the magnet coil, since the longer the time, the higher the speed of the plunger of the printing hammer, and the greater the impact force of the printing hammer. A table of excitation time data corresponding to each type of type is stored in the ROM (read-only memory) that constitutes the control section of the printer, and the CPU (central processing unit) of the control section refers to this table to excite the magnet coil. Generates an excitation signal to

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In recent years, various types of ink ribbons have been used in daisy-wheel printers.For example, carbon is coated on the ribbon base, and once used for recording, There are ribbons whose parts cannot be used again, and ribbons whose ribbon bases are impregnated with fluid ink so that the same parts can be used multiple times. When the same printing type is used and the same impact force is used, the quality of transferability differs depending on the type of ink ribbon.

Therefore, when using a ribbon with good transferability, such as a ribbon impregnated with the above-mentioned fluid ink, the striking force of the type should be weakened, and when using a ribbon with poor transferability, such as a ribbon coated with carbon, It is necessary to increase the striking power.

However, as mentioned above, although the conventional daisy-wheel printer controls the impact force according to the type of type, it is not configured to control it according to the type of ink ribbon.
That is, there is only one type of excitation time table mentioned above, and the data in that table is generally data suitable for ribbons with poor transferability.

For this reason, when using a ribbon with good transferability, the striking force of the type is too large, which may increase the noise generated by the impact, reduce the durability of the type and platen, and deteriorate the recording quality. There was a problem.

Such problems are common not only to daisy-wheel printers but also to other impact type recording devices such as wire dot printers.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a method for use in a recording device that performs recording by hitting a recording medium with a recording member such as type through an ink ribbon. Means is provided for controlling the striking force of the recording member depending on the type of ink ribbon to be used.

[Function] According to such a configuration, the striking force of the recording member can be controlled depending on the type of ink ribbon used, that is, depending on the transferability of the ink ribbon. When using a ribbon with good transferability, reducing the impact force reduces noise, improves the durability of the recording member, platen, etc., and improves the recording quality.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, details of embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings.

111 FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a printing mechanism of a daisy-wheel printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the same figure, near the front of the platen l on which the printing paper 2 is wound, there is a petal-shaped type wheel 4, which has a large number of pedestals 5 radially arranged on the tip of the rear side that support type, and a motor that rotates the type wheel 4. 7 and is mounted on a carriage (not shown), and is sent along the platen l by driving the carriage. Further, a printing hammer 6 is mounted on the carriage, and a plunger 6a of the printing hammer 6 is driven by exciting a built-in magnetic coil (not shown). Furthermore, an ink ribbon cassette (not shown) containing an ink ribbon 3 stretched between the type wheel 4 and the printing paper 2 is mounted on the carriage.

With this configuration, during printing, the type wheel 4 is rotated by the drive of the motor 7 in accordance with print data, and the pedestal 5 of the desired type is placed in front of the brassiere 6a of the printing hammer 6. Then, the plunger 6a is driven by the excitation of the magnetic coil of the printing hammer 6 and hits the pedestal 5 of the target type, and the type on the pedestal 5 hits the printing paper 2 via the ink ribbon 3, so that the ink ribbon 3 The ink is transferred in the pattern of the type, and the print is made.

In this embodiment, during such printing, the striking force of the printing hammer 6, that is, the striking force of the printed characters, is controlled according to the type of printed characters and the type of ink ribbon used. The configuration of the control system that performs this control is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, the reference numeral 12 is a CPU (central processing unit) that controls the entire printer, and is a known RO.
M (read only memory) 11, input/output board 1
It is connected to the outside via ROMI 3, performs overall control according to the control program stored in ROMI 1, and responds to print information 15 input from an external host system (not shown) via input/output port 13. print. The drive control of the printing hammer 6 mentioned above is controlled by the input/output capo)
This is done by controlling the ON/OFF state of a transistor Tr7 which controls the supply of electricity to the magnet coil 18 of the printing hammer 6 via a hammer drive circuit 16 connected to the printing hammer 13.

The above-mentioned impact force control is performed by controlling the excitation time (energization time) of the magnet coil 18.
This is done by controlling the pulse width of the excitation signal outputted by the input/output port 12 to the hammer drive circuit 16.

For this control, in addition to the control program, the ROMII has an excitation time table, which is a table of data on the excitation time of the magnet coil 18 corresponding to each type of type, as shown by reference numerals 19A and 19B, for transfer of various ink ribbons. Multiple types are stored depending on gender. Although only two types of ink ribbons are shown here, the present invention is not limited to two types, and any number of types of ink ribbons used in this printer may be used.

Further, ink ribbon information 14 indicating the type of ink ribbon is input to the CPU 12 via an input/output port 13.

This ink ribbon information 14 is.

Although not shown, a detection means such as a changeover switch that is switched depending on the type of ink ribbon used or a switch that is switched depending on the type of ink ribbon cassette is provided, and the information is obtained based on an input signal from this detection means.

In addition to the above configuration, the CPU 12 is of course connected to control systems of other mechanisms of the printer, various sensors, etc. via the input/output board 13.

Next, the control operation during printing by the control system shown in FIG. 2 will be explained with reference to FIG. 3.

Note that FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the control procedure by the CPU 12 in FIG. 2.

Before starting the operation, the CPU 12 first inputs the ink ribbon information 14 to the input/output port 1 in step S1 of FIG.
Import from 3.

Next, in step S2, the excitation time tables 19A and 19B to be used in the ROMII are selected according to the type of ink ribbon 3 according to the above-mentioned ink ribbon information 14.

Next, in step S3, the print type information 15 is taken in, and in step S4, the type wheel 4 is rotated to print the print type information 1.
5, position the desired type at the striking position of the printing hammer 6.

In addition, in step S5, the excitation time tables 19A and 19 have previously selected the excitation time data of the magnet coil 18 corresponding to the target type according to the printed type information 15.
Read from one side of B.

Next, in step S6, an excitation signal having a pulse width corresponding to the excitation time data read out is generated and outputted to the hammer drive circuit 16 via the input/output port 13. Hammer drive circuit 1
6 converts the level of the excitation signal to the level required to drive the transistor Tr7, this signal turns on the transistor Tr7, the magnet coil 18 is energized and excited, and the plunger of the printing hammer 6 is driven by the wheel as described above. Printing is performed by striking the base 5 of No. 4.

Next, the CPU 12 proceeds to other processing routines such as moving the carriage by one digit, feeding the ink ribbon 3, returning the carriage, and feeding the printing paper 2. After these processes, the process returns to step S1 and performs the following operations. repeat.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the impact force of the printing hammer 6 is controlled depending on the type of ink ribbon used.

That is, the impact force of the type is controlled in accordance with the transferability of the ink ribbon used.

Therefore, in the case of a ribbon with good transferability, the impact force on the type is reduced, so the noise generated by the impact is reduced, and the durability of the wheel 4, printing hammer 6, platen 1, etc. containing the type is improved, and the entire printer is As a result, durability is improved. Furthermore, printing quality can be improved.

111j In the configuration of the first embodiment described above, other methods can be considered for processing the excitation time data. As an example, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the configuration of the control system according to this embodiment, the ROMII contains a standard excitation time table 20, which is a table of data of standard excitation times of the magnet coil 18 according to each type, and a transfer of various ink ribbons. A plurality of types of offset excitation time table 21 which is a table of data of the deviation time (hereinafter referred to as offset excitation time) of the excitation time of each type according to the character from the above-mentioned standard excitation time.
A and 21B are stored.

The configuration of other parts of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment.

With such a configuration, the CPU 12 shown in FIG. 4 performs the following control according to the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5.

First, in step Tl in FIG. 5, the ink ribbon information 14 is taken in in the same manner as in step Sl described above, and then step T2
An offset excitation time table 19A to be used in the ROMII according to the type of ink ribbon 3 based on this ink ribbon information 14.

Select 19B.

<Step T3. At T4, step S3 in FIG. S
Similarly to 4, the print character information 15 is taken in, and the target character is positioned at the striking position by rotating the character wheel 4.

Next, in step T5, the offset excitation time data corresponding to the target type is read from the previously selected offset excitation time tables 21A and 21B of the ROMII, and then in step T6, the reference excitation time data corresponding to the target type is read. Read from the reference excitation time table 20.

Next, in step T7, the excitation time of the magnet coil 18 is determined by calculation (addition or subtraction) from both of the above-mentioned read data.

Subsequently, in step T8, an excitation signal having a pulse width corresponding to the excitation time determined in step T7 is generated, and this is output to cause printing to be performed in the same manner as described above, after which the process proceeds to other processes described above.

As described above, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the striking force of the printing type can be controlled depending on the type of ink ribbon 3 used, and the same effects can be obtained.

In the above configuration, the impact force is controlled by the excitation time of the magnet coil 18, but it may be controlled by the current and voltage applied to the coil.

Further, as described above, the configuration of the present invention in which the impact force of the recording member that impacts the recording medium via the ink ribbon is controlled according to the type of ink ribbon used is not limited to daisy-wheel printers, but is applicable to wire dot printers, etc. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to other impact type recording devices.

[Effects] As is clear from the above description, according to the recording apparatus of the present invention, the impact force of the recording member that impacts the recording medium via the ink ribbon is controlled according to the type of ink ribbon used. Therefore, when using an ink ribbon with good transferability, the striking force of the type is reduced, which has the excellent effect of reducing device noise, improving durability, and improving recording quality. is obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the printing mechanism of a daisy-wheel printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system of the same printer, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control system according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the control procedure by the CPU in FIG.
It is a flowchart of four control orders by U. 2...Print paper 3...Ink ribbon 4...
・Type wheel 6...Printing hammer 11-,・RO
M 12・CPU14...Ink ribbon information 15...Printed type information 18...Magnet coils 19A, 19B...Excitation time table 20...Reference excitation time table 21A, 21B...Offset excitation time table Root diagram showing the structure of the Inka horse structure Diagram 1 I standing 11 Sea + - system @lp Half-throat support Kaze Diagram 3 Lim system 7 Yamarita Diagram 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) In a recording device that performs recording by hitting a recording medium with a recording member such as type through an ink ribbon, the impact force of the recording member is controlled depending on the type of ink ribbon used. A recording device characterized by being provided with means. 2) The striking force of the recording member is obtained by excitation of a magnetic coil, and the control means controls the striking force by controlling the excitation time of the coil. The recording device described in . 3) The control means has a storage means that stores data on a plurality of types of excitation times corresponding to the types of ink ribbons, and selects and uses the data according to the type of ink ribbon to be used. The recording device according to claim 2, characterized in that the striking force is controlled. 4) The control means has a storage means that stores data on the reference time of the excitation and data on a plurality of types of deviation time from the reference time corresponding to the type of ink ribbon, and the control means has a storage means that stores data on the reference time of the excitation and data on a plurality of types of deviation time from the reference time corresponding to the type of ink ribbon, and the control means has a storage means that stores data on the reference time of the excitation and data on a plurality of types of deviation time from the reference time corresponding to the type of ink ribbon, and the control means has a storage means that stores data on the reference time of the excitation and data on a plurality of types of deviation time from the reference time corresponding to the type of ink ribbon. Claim 2, wherein the impact force is controlled by calculating the excitation time based on data of the deviation time and data of the reference time selected according to the Recording device.