JPS6339348A - Printing line feed system of serial printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the feed time of printing paper when special characters are printed and thereby secure high printing quality by changing a printing position which is to be the uppermost character position of special characters in a following line to the uppermost dot position to be printed by a printing head and later feeding a paper to the uppermost dot position to which the printing position of the uppermost general character is changed. CONSTITUTION:When it is judged that there exists no special character in printing data of the second line, a printing paper 3 is normally fed to a line feed value of 48/288 inches simultaneous with the end of printing operation. On the other hand, when it is judged that there exists a vertically enlarged character, the paper is nor mally fed to a line feed value of 20/288 inches after printing, and the upper dots d8-d14 of a vertically enlarged character 'A' and the upper dots of a super-script character '2' which falls within the range of the former dots. Then the paper is nor mally fed to a line feed value of 28/288 inches. If the existence of the super-script character is judged, the paper is normally fed to a line feed value of 36/288 inches after printing, and the upper dots of the super-script character '2' are printed by a printing head 2 as the first pass of printing data in the second line. After this, the paper is forwardly fed to a line feed value of 12/288 inches.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printing line feed system in a serial printer, and particularly when there is a special character that protrudes above normal characters in the next line of data to be printed. This is related to the printing line feed method.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing an example of a printing mechanism in a serial printer. In the figure, 1 is a platen, and 2 is a wire dot type print head with its tip facing the platen 1. While moving along the axial direction of the platen 1, printing is performed based on print data.

3 is a printing paper, 4 is a sheet guide, 5a and 5b are pressure rollers, and 6 is a tractor feed mechanism.Here, the printing paper 3 passes between the platen 1 and the sheet width 4, and the printing paper 3 passes between the platen 1 and the pressure roller 5a. , 5b, and is guided to the position of the tractor feed mechanism 6, and is set to be capable of printing by being engaged with the tractor feed mechanism 6 through a sprocket hole and a sprocket pin.

In this configuration (C), normally the print head 2 prints one line of print data on the print paper 3, and then when the next line of print data is sent, the line feed motor drives the shifter 1 and the tractor. The feed mechanism 6 rotates forward to feed the printing paper 3.
is forwarded by a certain amount in the direction of the arrow α, so that a line feed is performed by a preset line feed amount, and then the print data of the next line is printed on the print paper 3 by the print head 2. It has become.

On the other hand, with this type of printer, there may be cases in which one line of print data contains special characters that protrude above normal characters, such as vertically enlarged characters that are omitted from vertically long characters, or letters such as sou-script characters. Since there are cases where these special characters cannot be printed in one pass, a method is adopted in which the print data is divided into two passes and printed.

The conventional printing line feed system in this case is shown in Figure 4 along with Figure 3 above.
This will be explained using FIG.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between normal characters and special characters to be printed, and shows the case where a vertically enlarged character uA" and a superscript character 2" are present in the second line. .

Furthermore, Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the arrangement of printing wires and the positional relationship of printing dots on the front end surface of the printing head 2. Here, a case is shown in which a printing head in which nine printing wires are arranged in a vertical line is used. ing.

By the way, in order to make the explanation easier to understand, the first
Taking as an example the case where the normal characters uA, B, C'' in the first line are printed, and then the vertically enlarged characters TI A lj -1 in the second line are printed, first, the normal characters in the first line in Figure 4 are printed. '
After printing A, B, C'' with print head 2, print paper 3
is forwarded in the direction of arrow α by a preset line feed amount.

As a result, the position of the print head 2 for the vertically enlarged character "A" to be printed on the second line becomes the position (I) shown in FIG. d8~d], it is impossible to print 4K.

Therefore, this time, the printing paper 3'f: is fed backward by a certain amount in the direction of the arrow β, so that the print head 2 is at the position (■) shown in FIG.
4 k Print as the first pass print data 0 After that, the printing paper 3 is fed forward again in the direction of the arrow α so that the print head 2 is at the position (I) above, and here the dots d1 to d7 are By printing as the second pass print data, a vertically enlarged character uA'' is formed.

Note that the printing paper 3 is reversely fed in the direction of the arrow β by rotating the platen 1 and the tractor feed mechanism 6 in the reverse direction in FIG. 3 (C).

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 9] As explained above, in the conventional printing line feed method, when printing vertically enlarged characters or superscript characters, that is, special characters that protrude above normal characters, only the normal line feed amount is printed once. Because the procedure is to feed the printing paper forward, then reverse the printing paper, and then print the first pass, it takes time to feed the printing paper, and due to mechanical factors, errors in line feed amount may occur. There is a problem in that it is difficult to obtain high printing quality due to this.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and is a serial printer that can shorten the feeding time of printing paper when printing special characters and ensure high printing quality. The purpose is to fully realize the printing line feed system.

[Means to solve all problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is designed to detect, after receiving all of the print data of the next line during printing of a certain line, a special character that protrudes above normal characters in the received print data of the next line. Let the serial printer decide for itself whether or not
If there is, after the above printing is completed, feed the printing paper so that the topmost printing position of the next line's special character is at the topmost dot printed by the print head, and then start a new line. , then performs the first pass printing, and then feeds the printing paper so that the topmost printing position of the normal character is at the topmost dot printed by the print head to perform a line feed. This is to print the first pass.

[For production]

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned means, when printing special characters, it is possible to print the special characters together with the normal characters by two-pass printing while feeding the printing paper with the shortest line feed amount and performing DK, which is different from the conventional method. Since it is no longer necessary to completely reverse feed the printing paper, it is possible to shorten the feeding time of the printing paper when printing special characters, and to ensure high printing quality by eliminating line feed amount errors caused by mechanical factors. It becomes possible to do so.

〔Example〕

Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the printing line feed method in a serial printer of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a serial printer implementing the printing line feed method of FIG. 1.

First, to explain the configuration of Fig. 2, 1 is C in the figure.
PU (microprocessor); 8, ROM (read only memory) in which programs and pattern data such as characters and symbols are stored; 9, RAM (random access memory) to temporarily store received printouts etc. from the outside; 1;
0 is an I/Q driver, 11 is an interface circuit for sending and receiving takes with an external device (not shown), 12 is a line feed motor that rotates the platen 1 and tractor feed mechanism 6 shown in FIG. 3, and 13 is a print head 2 platen 1
The CPU 7, ROM 8, and RA
M9 and (1) driver 10 are connected to each other.

In this configuration, the CPU 7 receives print data (character code) and control data (control take) from an external device via the interface circuit 11 and address path line 14 based on the program stored in the ROMB.
The received print data is temporarily stored in the tRAM 9, and the character dot pattern is read out from the ROM 8 using the data converted based on the print take as an address, and is sent to the 1.10 driver 10 via the address bus line 14. In addition to outputting to the I10 driver 10, a signal k for instructing operations necessary for printing is output.

Therefore, the print head 2, line feed motor 12, spacing motor 13, etc. are all controlled by the CPU 7 via this 1/10 driver.

It also has a function to determine whether special characters such as vertically enlarged characters or superscript characters exist in each line of print data received by the CPU 7, and if they exist, the print data is processed in two passes. It also has the function of dividing into print takes.

Next, the printing line feed system of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. 1 as well as all of the above-mentioned figures.

However, the movement of the print head 2 and its printing operation are controlled by the CPU.
7 is controlled by the head drive circuit and spacing motor 12 via the I10 driver 10, and the feeding of the printing paper 3 is also controlled by the I/Q driver 10 by the CPU 7.
By controlling the line feed motor 12 through the platen 1
and the tractor feed mechanism 6, so their details will be omitted.

Also, the normal number of line feeds per line is 4 as shown in Figure 4.
8/288-1/6 inch, normal character length is 24
/288 inches, and vertically enlarged characters u A
The 'j' shall extend 28/288 inches above the top of the regular character, and the superscript character "2" shall extend 12/288 inches above the top of the regular character.

Furthermore, the number of printing wires in the print head 2 is 9 as shown in FIG. 5, and the tips thereof are arranged in a vertical line, and the interval between each printing wire is 4/288-1/72 inch. shall be.

Now, when printing now, the first
The first line contains only normal characters such as ``A, B, and C'', and the second line contains normal characters ``D, E, and F,'' as well as vertically enlarged characters ``A t9 and Sue G-sprict characters.'' Consider the case where one or both of 2'' exists.

In this case, first, the print head 2 prints 'A, B' on the first line.
, C'', etc. are printed on the printing paper 3.

During printing shown at 5l (S is a step) in Figure 1, the first line is being printed, and during this printing, the next line of print data, that is, the second line, is usually printed. The print data is received and temporarily stored in the RAM 9.

1, S2. Processes S3 and S4 are performed.

That is, in S2, the CPU 7 determines whether the print data of the next line, that is, the second line, has been received, and in S3, it is determined whether or not vertically enlarged characters exist in the print data of the second line. <The CPU 7 determines whether or not a superscript character exists in the print data of the second line in step S4.

If the print data for the second line has not been received in S2, the process in S2 is repeated; however, if it is determined in S3 that no vertically enlarged characters exist after the data has been received, the process in S4 is repeated. In 1984, Sue
If it is determined that there are no script characters, that is, if it is determined that there are no special characters in the print data on the second line, wait for the end of printing in S5, and then move the print paper 3 with the arrow at 86. After normal feeding in the α direction so that the line feed amount is 787,288 inches, the process moves to S13 and the print head 2 prints the characters on the second line on the print paper.

However, if it is determined in S3 that, for example, the vertically enlarged character "A" exists, the process moves to S7 after the printing in S5 is completed.

In this 87, the printing paper 3 is moved 20/2 in the direction of the arrow α.
The print head 2 feeds the line forward so that the line feed amount is 88 inches, and the print head 2 feeds the line so that the line feed is at the position (ID) shown in FIG. The line is broken so that it is at the topmost position printed by the print wire (■) of the print head 2) d 1.4.

After that, the process moves to S8, and in this S8, the RAM is
9, that is, the upper dots d8 to d14 of the vertically enlarged character "A" and the script character "P2" that falls within these dots.
The upper dot is printed on the print paper 3 by the print head 2, and after printing, the process moves to S9, and the print paper 3 is then forwarded normally in the direction of the arrow α so as to have a line feed amount of 28/288 inches.

As a result, the printing paper 3 has the first line of normal characters 'A, B,
A total of 48/288 inch line breaks have been made from the printing position of C', and the print head 2 is at the position (I) shown in Fig. 5, which means that the normal character "D" on the second line is printed.
A line break is made so that the topmost printing position of ``E, F'' is at the topmost dot d7 printed by the printing wire ■ of the print head 2, so in the next step 813, the print head 2 prints 2. The normal characters "D, E, F" on the second line shown in FIG. 4 are printed as the print data for the second row,
The dots d1 to d7 at the bottom of the vertically enlarged character uA" and the dots at the bottom of the so-and-so script character u2" are printed.

On the other hand, it is determined in S3 that no vertically enlarged characters exist,
If it is determined in S4 that a Sue script character exists, the process moves to SIO after printing in S5 is completed.

In this SIO, the line feed is forwarded in the direction of the arrow α so that the line feed amount is 36/288 inches, and as a result, the uppermost printing position of the Sue script character u2'' is moved to the print head 2.
A line break is made so that it comes to the position of the highest dot printed by the printing wire .

Then, in the next Sll, as the first pass of the print data of the second line, the print head 2 prints all the dots above the superscript character "'2", and then moves to SL2, and prints the print paper 3 x After normal feeding in the direction of arrow α with a line feed amount of 12/288 inches, the process moves to S1-3, where the print head 2 prints the 2nd and 5th print data, that is, normal characters "uD, E, F" and superscript characters. Print the dot If below “2”.

In the above-described embodiment, the number of printing wires (2) in the print head 2 is nine, but even if there are 18, line breaks and printing can be performed using the same procedure.

Of course, the print head 2 is not limited to a wire dot type print head, and for example, it is also possible to apply the present invention to an inkjet type print head.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention allows the printer itself to judge whether or not special characters exist in the print data of the next line received while printing a certain line, and if there are, Line feed is performed so that the highest printing position of the special character is at the position of the highest dot printed by the print head, and the entire first pass is printed, and then the highest printing position of the normal character is printed by the print head. Since the second pass is printed with a line break at the top dot position, it is possible to print vertically enlarged characters, squares, etc. without having to feed the printing paper all the way backwards as in the past. Special characters such as can be printed.

Therefore, this has the effect of shortening the feeding time of printing paper when printing special characters, and also eliminates errors in line feed amount caused by mechanical factors to ensure high printing quality. This also has the effect of making it possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the printing line feed system in a serial printer of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a serial printer implementing the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the printing mechanism of the serial printer. 4 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between normal characters and special characters, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the print head and print dots. 1...Platen 2...Print head 3...Print paper 6...Tractor feed mechanism?・CPU 8
...ROM 9...RAM Patent applicant Takashi Kanakura Patent attorney representing Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. Ni f = TJ'Th - 7 dots and ρ dots 5 Negative star relationship and diagram Country

Claims (1)

[Claims] When there is a special character that protrudes above normal characters in the print data of one line, the print data is divided into two passes, and the print data divided into these two passes is processed by the print head. This is a printing line feed method in serial printers when printing characters with the same line of dots on printing paper, and when a special character exists in the print data of the next line that is received while printing a certain line. If it exists, after the printing of the above line is completed, the print position of the special character on the next line will be at the position of the top dot printed by the print head. Feed the printing paper, print the first pass after the line feed, and then feed the printing paper so that the printing position, which would normally be the highest character, is at the position of the highest dot printed by the print head. After sending in the same direction as the above sending direction and starting a new line,
A printing line feed method in a serial printer that is characterized by performing a second pass of printing.