JPS63118264A - Printing control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance printing efficiency,. by a method wherein the reversal operation of a printing unit is once stopped when a paper feed time is longer than the reversal time of the printing unit and printing is restarted from a printing start position when paper feed is finished. CONSTITUTION:When a paper feed time and the reversal time of a printing unit are equal, the forward printing in the right direction is finished and, when the printing unit reaches a forward printing finish position (backward reverwsal start position). Q, a reverwsal stop control part 21 is not operated and the backward reversal operation of the printing unit is performed while positioin R. The control means 20 controls backward printing operation regardless of the presence of the output of a printing reopening control part 22. When the printing unit reaches a backward printing finish position (forward reverwsal start position) T, the forward printing operation of the printing unit is performed. At the point of time when paper feed opoeration is finished, the printing unit also reaches a forward reversal finish position U. When the paper feed time is longer than the reversal time of the printing unit, the forward printing in the right direction is finished and, when the printing unit reachess th4e position Q, the control part 21 informs this state to the control means 20 to stop the reversal operation of the printing unit. The control part releases the reversal stop control of the control means 20 in relation to a paper finish time and reopens forward printing from a forward printing start position S. By this method, printing efficiency can be enhanced.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] In a line printer print control system in which the reversing operation of the printing unit is performed in synchronization with the paper feeding operation, when the paper feeding time is longer than the reversing time of the printing unit, the printing The reversing operation of the unit is temporarily stopped so that printing is resumed from the printing start position when paper feeding is completed. Thereby, printing efficiency can be improved.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a print control method for a line printer, and more particularly to a print control method improved to improve the printing efficiency of a line printer in which a reversal operation of a print unit is performed in synchronization with the paper feeding operation of printing paper.

[Conventional technology]

In line printers, a printing unit performs back-and-forth printing in order to speed up printing.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a printing control system for a line printer that prints using a wire dot system. In the figure, 3
Reference numeral 1 denotes a printing paper, and 32 a paper feeding mechanism unit that feeds the printing paper up to a predetermined number of lines.

Reference numeral 33 denotes a magnet unit that drives a plurality of printing units (not shown) each of which performs printing using a wire dot method to perform printing.

Reference numeral 34 denotes a shuttle mechanism section that reciprocates each printing unit over a section corresponding to the printing unit interval. Each printing unit prints one line each on the outward and return passes.

35 is a platen, and 36 is an ink ribbon.

Next, the operation shown in FIG. 5 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 6. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the printing and reversing operations of the stamp unit, and FIG. 6 is an operation timing chart of the printing and reversing operations of the printing unit.

In Figure 2, point P is the forward print start position, Q point is the forward print end position, N point is the printing unit stop position, R point is the return reversal end position, S point is the return print start position, and T point is the return print start position. The printing end position, point M, is the stop position of the printing unit, and point U is the end position of forward reversal. A backward reversal operation is performed in the QNS section. Therefore, point Q is also the homeward reversal start position. Further, a forward path reversal operation is performed in the TMU section. Therefore, point T is also the forward path reversal start position. The right direction is the forward printing direction, and the left direction is the backward printing direction. The time from when the printing unit starts reversing until it stops (Q-N, T-M) and the acceleration from the stop position to 1
Time until the reversing operation is completed (N-R, M-U)
Assuming that t is the inversion time, the inversion time is 2tb.

In a line printer, the paper feed time for one line of printing paper is configured to be equal to this reversal time of 2tb. Therefore, when the paper feeding operation for one line is completed, the reversing operation of the printing unit is also completed, and the next line can be printed. However, if there is a skip over multiple lines, the paper feed end time and the printing unit reaction time generally do not match, so a printing process different from that in the former case is performed. Printing operations in both cases will be described below with reference to FIG.

(2) When the printing unit reversal time and the paper feeding time are equal In the case (2), the paper is fed line by line and continuous printing is performed as shown in FIG. 6(A). Figure 6 (A
), when printing of the first line is started at time t, the printing unit is driven rightward by the shuttle mechanism 34 and performs outward printing from the outward printing start position P.

When the printing unit reaches the forward printing end position Q at time t2, printing of the first line is completed, and the next printing operation is performed according to printing control data sent from a host (not shown).

The print control data specifies the next line to be printed, and in the case of ■, continuous printing is performed, so printing of the second line is instructed. According to this instruction, paper feed control for one line is performed, and in synchronization with this, the backward reversal operation of the printing unit is performed.

When the paper feeding operation for one line ends at time t4 (point S), the return reversing operation of the printing unit also ends at that point, and the second line is printed. In this case, the printing unit is driven leftward by the shuttle mechanism 34 to perform return printing.

When the printing unit reaches the return printing end position T at time t6, the printing of the second line is completed, and the printing operation of the next third line is controlled in accordance with the printing control data sent from the host.

That is, the paper feed control for one line of the printing paper 31 is performed, and the forward path reversal operation of the printing unit is performed. time t
, when the paper feeding operation for one line is completed at (point P),
At that point, the forward reversing operation of the printing unit is completed, and the third
The row is printed.

Below, the aforementioned forward printing operation, paper feeding and return reversing operation,
The backward printing operation, paper feeding, and forward reversing operation are repeated to perform continuous printing.

■ If the paper feed time is longer than the print unit reversal time In the case of ■, two or more lines are skipped as shown in Figure 6 (B), and the paper feed time becomes longer than the print unit reversal time. This is the case.

In FIG. 6(B), at time t, (point P), the first
The printing of the first line is started, the printing unit moves to the right and forward printing is performed, and the operation until printing of the first line is completed at time tz (point Q) is the same as in the case of ■. be.

When the printing of the first line is completed at time t (point Q), the paper feed operation and the return reversal operation of the printing unit are performed according to the print code already sent from the host and the print control data instructing the next print line. will be held. Now, assume that the fifth line (skip 4 lines) is specified as the next print line.

The backward reversing operation of the printing unit is performed in synchronization with the paper feeding operation, and the backward reversing operation ends at time t4 in the same manner as in case (2). When the return reversal operation is completed, the printing unit reaches a steady speed and travels to the left.

On the other hand, the paper feeding of the printing paper 31 skips 4 lines, so it does not end at time t4, but at time t (point V in Figure 2).
It ends at . Therefore, during the period 87, the printing paper 31 is controlled so that no return printing is performed by the printing unit.

At time t (point V), when the paper feeding operation for four lines is completed, printing on the fifth line is performed using the following two methods.

(i) As shown in FIG. 6 (B), the return printing starts immediately at time t (point V), and when the return printing ends at time t6 (point T), printing is performed in the same way as in the case of ■. The forward path reversal operation of the unit is performed.

When the forward reversing operation is completed at time ts (point UsP), the printing unit moves rightward, but no printing is performed until it reaches point W, which corresponds to point V on the return trip. time t,
When the printing unit reaches point W, forward printing is started, and the remaining portion of the fifth line that was not printed in the above-mentioned backward printing is printed at time t. At (point Q), all printing of the 5th line is completed.

(ii) In Fig. 6 (B), printing is not performed until the time ts (point P) when the forward reversing operation ends, and from time ts (point P), all lines of the 5th line are printed by the forward printing operation. Perform printing.

In both cases (i) and (ii), the time tlO(
At point Q), printing of the fifth line ends.

Thereafter, the printing process for the next print line specified by the print control data is performed in the same manner.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In the conventional wire dot line printer, if the paper feeding time of the printing paper is longer than the reversal time of the printing unit, the paper feeding ends in the middle of the printing path as described above, so printing of a part of the paper ends. However, the printing time required for two routes, an outbound pass and a return pass, was required.

For example, if printing is performed at 300 lines per second, the forward printing time and return printing time (<2tb) should be approximately 175ms.
c, the forward reversal time and return reversal time t are approximately 25
The printing time for one line is 200 m5ec.

The paper feeding time of the printing paper is the printing unit reversal time (25m).
s e c), the time required to finish printing one line is longest when the paper feed is close to the return printing start position S, approximately 387.5 msec (175 mSeC x 2
+25m5eC+25/2m5ec). As you approach the return printing end position, the time required to finish printing a portion approaches 200 msec, but on average, the average printing time is 200 msec.
It becomes larger than c.

In normal printing, skip printing is performed more often than continuous printing. Therefore, according to the conventional printing control method, there is a problem that the skip printing end time is longer than the normal printing time, and the printing efficiency is reduced.

The above problem also occurs when printing is performed in only one direction instead of reciprocating printing.

The present invention provides a line printer in which the reversing operation of the printing unit is performed in synchronization with the paper feeding operation of the printing paper, and even when the paper feeding time is longer than the reversing time of the printing unit, the printing after the paper feeding is completed is still possible. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing method that improves printing efficiency by improving printing so that it can be performed as quickly as a normal one-line printing operation.

[Means for solving problems]

The solution taken by the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration block diagram of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes printer mechanism means, which constitutes a mechanical part of a line printer in which the reversing operation of the printing unit is performed in synchronization with the paper feeding operation of the printing paper. Reference numeral 20 denotes a printer control means that controls the line printer mechanism means 10 to perform a line printer operation.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a reversal stop control section, which notifies the printer control means 20 to stop the reversing operation of the printing unit when the paper feeding time is longer than the reversing time of the printing unit.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a printing restart control unit which cancels the reversal stop control of the printer control means 20 in relation to the end of paper feeding of the printing paper, and resumes printing from the printing start position.

Note that the reversal stop control section 21 and the printing restart control section 22 are as follows:
It may also be provided inside the printer control means 20.

[For production]

The operation shown in FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to FIG. 2, taking as an example the case where reciprocating printing is performed.

■ When the paper feeding time and the reversing time of the printing unit are equal When the forward printing in the right direction is completed and the forward printing end position Q is reached, the paper feeding time and the reversing time are equal, so the reversing stop control section 21 does not operate; Under the control of the printer control means 20, the paper feeding operation of the printing paper and the backward reversing operation of the printing unit are performed in synchronization with the paper feeding operation. Since the operating time for both is equal, the printing unit also completes the backward reversing operation and reaches the printer reversing end position R when the paper feeding operation ends.

Since the reversal stop control unit 21 is not operating, the printer control unit 20
controls the backward print operation in the left direction in the same way as the forward print operation.

When the return printing end position T is reached, the printing paper is fed and, in synchronization with this, the printing unit is reversed. At the time when the paper feeding operation is completed, the printing unit also ends the forward reversal operation and reaches the forward reversal end position U.

Thereafter, in the same manner, the above-described forward and backward printing operations, reversing operations, and paper feeding operations are repeated to perform continuous printing.

■ If the paper feeding time is longer than the reversing time of the printing unit When the forward printing in the right direction is completed and the forward printing end value WQ is reached, the reversing stop control section 21 , and notifies the printer control means 20 to stop the reversing operation of the printing unit. On the other hand, the paper feeding operation of the printing paper continues as is.

In relation to the paper feeding end time of the printing paper, the printing restart control section 22 cancels the reversal stop control of the printer control means 20, and restarts the backward printing from the backward printing start position S. The reversal stop control of the printer control means 20 is canceled by directly controlling the printer control means 20 or by stopping the operation of the reversal stop control section 21.

As a result, when the paper feeding of the printing paper is completed, the return printing is restarted from the return start position S.

If printing is performed only on one side, for example, outward printing in the right direction, Q
When the print reversal operation from point P returns to point P, the print reversal operation is similarly stopped, and when the paper feeding of the printing paper is completed, the outward printing is restarted from the outward printing start position P.

By doing the above, even if the paper feeding time of the printing paper is longer than the reversal time of the printing unit, printing will be resumed quickly after the paper feeding ends, and the printing time will be shortened to the same length as the normal printing time for one line. It becomes possible to perform printing after restarting in a short period of time, and printing efficiency can be improved.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a processing flowchart of the embodiment.

This embodiment is an example in which forward printing and backward printing are performed.

(A) Structure of Embodiment In FIG. 3, the printer mechanism means 10, printer control means 20, reversal stop control section 21, and printing restart control section 22 are as described in FIG.

In the printer mechanism means 10, 11 is printing paper, 12
is a paper feeding mechanism unit that feeds the printing paper to a predetermined line.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a magnet unit that drives a plurality of printing units (not shown) each printing using a wire dot method.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a shuttle mechanism section that reciprocates each printing unit over a section corresponding to the printing unit interval.

Each printing unit prints one line each on the outward and return passes.

15 is a platen, and 16 is an ink ribbon.

A position sensor 17 detects a print start position, a reversal end position, a print end position, and a reversal start position in the forward and backward passes.

The printer mechanism means 10 constitutes a line printer that performs reciprocating printing using a wire dot method.

In the printer control means 20, a shuttle control section 23 controls the operation of the shuttle mechanism section 14. Output signals from the position sensor 17, print restart control section 22, and reversal stop control section are sent to the shuttle control section 23.

24 is a print control section that controls the operation of the magnet unit 13. A paper feed control section 25 controls the operation of the paper feed mechanism section 12. The output signal of the paper feed control section 25 is applied to the print restart control 22. -26 is a printer control unit that controls the operations of each of the above-mentioned units and the printer control means 20 as a whole.

Each time printing of one line is completed, the printer control unit 26 receives print information in which print control data including information indicating the next line to be printed, a print code, etc. are set, from a host (not shown). The printer control unit 26 creates predetermined print data based on the print code. Further, print control data is sent to the reversal stop control section 21.

(B) Operation of Embodiment In this embodiment, it is assumed that the paper feed time for one line and the reversal time of the printing unit are equal. Therefore, when paper is fed by two or more lines, the paper feeding time becomes longer than the reversal time of the printing unit, so the reversal stop control section 21 determines whether or not the paper is fed by two or more lines. , outputs a reversal stop signal for the printing unit when there are two or more lines.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the operation of the embodiment will be described according to the processing steps of the processing flowchart of FIG. 3.

(Step SI, S2) The printer mechanism means 10 and the printer control means 20 are powered on, necessary initial settings are made, and printing is started (step S1). The shuttle control unit 23 determines whether printing for one line has been completed based on the detection signal from the position sensor 17, and notifies the printer control unit 26 when the printing has been completed (step SZ). It is now assumed that the forward printing in the right direction has been completed and the printing unit / ) has reached the forward printing end position Q (see FIG. 2).

■ Steps Sx and Sa - When the printing of one line is completed, the printer control unit 26
Interrupts the host and determines whether there is paper feed control data from the next print information received while printing is already in progress (
Step S3). If there is paper feed control data, the paper feed control data is sent to the reversal stop control section 21, and
The paper feed control unit 25 is instructed to start paper feed control (step S4).

If the paper feed of the printing paper is one line, the host may not send print control data that instructs the next line, so if no paper feed control data is detected in step S3, immediately proceed to step S6. Then move on to perform the reversal process of the printing unit.

(2) Step SS The reversal stop control unit 21 determines whether the number of lines indicated by the print control data is two or more lines (step Ss).

If the paper feed is one line, the following ■ (steps 86 to S
1°), normal printing unit inversion processing and printing of the next line are performed as in the conventional method.

If the paper feed is two or more lines, ■ (Step S, ~SI6
, 59 to S1°), the printing unit reversal process and printing process according to the present invention are performed.

(2) When Paper Feeds by One Line The printer control section 26 instructs the shuttle control section 23 to start the backward reversing operation of the printing unit (step si).

Upon receiving this instruction, the shuttle control section 23 decelerates and stops the printing unit, and accelerates it rightward. As a result, when the printing unit stops at point N, it is accelerated in the right direction (return printing direction) and reaches the return reversal end position R (see FIG. 2). At this time, the printing unit is at a steady printing speed. The shuttle control unit 23 controls the position sensor 1
It is detected by the detection signal from 7 that the backward reversing operation of the printing unit is completed (step S, ), and when the printing start position Q is detected, it is notified to the printer control section 20 (step Ss).

Upon receiving this notification, the printer control unit 26 confirms that the preparation of the print data is completed (step S), and
Printing of the next line, that is, return printing is started (step S1°).

Thereafter, the above-described processes are repeated to perform continuous printing with -line feed.

Note that if print data is not created in step S9, this means that all printing has been completed or a failure has occurred, so the shuttle control unit 23 is instructed to stop.

■ If the paper feed is two or more lines In step S, if the paper feed specified by the paper feed control data is two or more lines, the reversal stop control section 21 generates a reversal stop signal and the shuttle control section 23 In addition, the shuttle mechanism section 14 is temporarily stopped to stop the reversing operation of the printing unit (step S, 2).

On the other hand, the paper feeding control of the printing paper continues, and the printing control section 25 notifies the printing restart control section 22 when the paper feeding of a predetermined line is completed (step S, 3).

Upon receiving this notification, the printing restart control section 22 sends a printing restart signal to the shuttle control section 23, and releases the temporary stoppage of the shuttle mechanism section 14 (step S, 4). In addition, as shown by the dotted line in FIG.
Alternatively, the reverse stop signal may be turned off.

The shuttle control unit 23 accelerates the shuttle mechanism unit 14 in the left direction (return printing direction) when the stop is released, so that the printing speed reaches a steady printing speed when the printing unit reaches the return reversal end position R. Control (Step S+s) - Furthermore, the shuttle control unit 23 determines whether the printing unit is in the return printing direction based on the detection signal from the position sensor 17. When it is detected that ZQ (see FIG. 2) has been reached, the printer controller 26 is notified (step S3).

Upon receiving this notification, the printer control unit 26 performs return printing in step S described above and the following process.

By doing the above, even when feeding two or more lines of paper, once the printing paper has finished feeding, a portion of the printing will start from the beginning, so printing will be done quickly and printing efficiency will be improved. I can do it.

(C) Other embodiments In the embodiments described above, after paper feeding of two or more lines is completed,
In steps SI4 and SI5, the printing unit is accelerated from the stop position in the printing direction. Therefore,
There is a delay between the time when paper feeding ends and the time when the printing unit reaches the printing start position by adding to the normal printing speed. For example, when printing is performed at 300 lines per second, the printing time (in Figure 2, the printing time between PQ or ST)
175 m5 e c, printing unit reversal time (second
In the figure, the reversal time between QNR or TMU is 25m5e.
c, a delay of approximately 12.5 msec occurs.

On the other hand, the specified number of paper feed lines and the paper feed time for - lines (
(equal to the reversal time) are known, so the time at which paper feeding ends can be easily determined before paper feeding ends.

Therefore, the paper feeding end time is calculated, and the temporary stop of the shuttle mechanism section 14 is released a little before the paper feeding ends, and when the paper feeding ends, the reversing operation of the printing unit is completed and steady printing is performed. If the speed is reached, printing can be resumed immediately without the aforementioned 12.5m5ec delay.

When implementing this printing control method, as shown by the dotted line in FIG.
Print control data is also sent to.

When the printing restart control unit 22 receives a notification of the start of paper feeding control from the paper feeding control unit 25, it calculates the end point of paper feeding from the number of paper feeding lines specified by the print control data and the paper feeding time for − lines. . Then, a printing restart signal is generated at a time required to accelerate the printing unit to the normal printing speed (this value corresponds to 1/2 of the reversal time) from the end of this paper feeding, and the shuttle control unit 23 generates a printing restart signal. (or the reversal stop control section 21).

When the shuttle control unit 23 receives this print restart signal,
The shuttle mechanism section 14 is temporarily stopped and the printing unit is accelerated in the printing direction.

As a result, since the reversing operation of the printing unit has already been completed at the end of paper feeding of the printing paper, printing is immediately started from the printing start position, and printing efficiency can be further improved than in the above-described embodiment.

Although the embodiment in which reciprocating printing is performed has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the case of reciprocating printing.
As already mentioned, this is also applied when printing is performed in only one direction.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, if the paper feeding time of the printing paper is longer than the reversal time of the printing unit, printing is promptly resumed after paper feeding ends, and the printing time for one line is normally It becomes possible to perform printing after restarting in a short time similar to that of , and printing efficiency can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1...Explanatory diagram of the basic configuration of the present invention, Fig. 2...
An explanatory diagram of the printing and reversing operations of the printing unit, Fig. 3... An explanatory diagram of the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 4.
...Processing flowchart of the embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 5...
・Print control method of conventional line printer FIG. 6: Operation timing chart of print control method of conventional line printer. 1 and 3, 10... Printer mechanism means, 12... Paper feeding mechanism section, 13... Magnet unit, 14... Shuttle mechanism section, 20... Printer control means, 21 . . . Reversing stop control section, 22 . . . Printing restart control section, 23 . . . Shuttle control section, 24 . The book is written by Ming N Jinan Geisei Figure 1 Wholesale Unit, L-Nomo 1F and 10,000 Reverse Raid Flute 9 M Dormitory Party Aη・10 Products/I Tsuji Class No A Shift 0 Linda's Seven v cicada bullets - 1 meter long (Figure 5) ↑1 ↑2 ↑4
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Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A printer mechanism means (10) and a printer control means (20) for controlling the line printer operation of the printer mechanism means (10), wherein the reversing operation of the printing unit is performed in synchronization with the paper feeding operation of the printing paper. (a) Reversal stop control that notifies the printer control means (20) and stops the reversing operation of the printing unit when the paper feeding time of the printing paper is longer than the reversing time of the printing unit. Department (
21); and (b) a printing restart control unit (22) that cancels the reversal stop control of the printer control means (20) in relation to the end of paper feeding of the printing paper and resumes printing from the printing start position. A printing control method characterized by: (2) The printing restart control unit (22) operates the printer control unit (22) at a point earlier than the end of paper feeding by the time required to bring the stopped printing unit into the inversion end state.
2. The printing control system according to claim 1, wherein printing is restarted by canceling the reversal stop control of ).