US3838250A - Control for a matrix printing assembly - Google Patents

Control for a matrix printing assembly Download PDF

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Publication number
US3838250A
US3838250A US00321177A US32117773A US3838250A US 3838250 A US3838250 A US 3838250A US 00321177 A US00321177 A US 00321177A US 32117773 A US32117773 A US 32117773A US 3838250 A US3838250 A US 3838250A
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United States
Prior art keywords
character
printout
carriage
recording media
printhead
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US00321177A
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English (en)
Inventor
D Nesbitt
H Naas
J Sutherland
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Singer Co
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Singer Co
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Priority to US00321177A priority Critical patent/US3838250A/en
Priority to NL7317440A priority patent/NL7317440A/xx
Priority to JP744693A priority patent/JPS5637589B2/ja
Priority to GB5981573A priority patent/GB1459816A/en
Priority to IT19109/74A priority patent/IT1006738B/it
Priority to CA189,470A priority patent/CA1022466A/en
Priority to DE2400444A priority patent/DE2400444C2/de
Priority to FR7400415A priority patent/FR2213170B3/fr
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Publication of US3838250A publication Critical patent/US3838250A/en
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J25/00—Actions or mechanisms not otherwise provided for
    • B41J25/22—Actions or mechanisms not otherwise provided for for aligning characters for impression
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J19/00—Character- or line-spacing mechanisms
    • B41J19/18—Character-spacing or back-spacing mechanisms; Carriage return or release devices therefor
    • B41J19/20—Positive-feed character-spacing mechanisms
    • B41J19/202—Drive control means for carriage movement

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT A control for a matrix printing assembly to determine 235/61'9 197/187 the character and spacing thereof in a data terminal [581 d 9 comprising the combination of a mechanical linear le 0 earc 5/6] 6 1 9 strobe and an electronic timing circuit accurately controlling and positioning the stroke of each rod or sty- [56] References Cited lus of the matrix printer.
  • This invention relates in general to the means for positioning and controlling a matrix type printer and is particularly directed to the means of positioning and controlling a matrix printer in data terminals commonly known as electronic cash registers.
  • This invention combines the mechanical and electronic aspects of a linear strobe bar and electronic circuitry cooperating in combination to precisely position and print characters on a record media for a point-ofsale data terminal.
  • the linear strobe bar accurately positioned on the data terminal, contains a plurality of slots of a selected size and location which cooperate with sensing devices movable with the matrix printer of the data terminal so that as the printer moves transverse the recording media, the sensing devices, according to the selected slot and required character, enable the electronic circuitry to strobe the wires of the matrix printers to print the character as required by the input to the data terminal.
  • the circuitry and slots on the mechanical strobe bar are designed to provide a correct spacing of the characters for the appropriate rows and columns to be printed on the record media as the latters drive incrementally moves the media in the data terminal.
  • FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a data terminal skeletonized and with the cover removed to illustrate the carriage for the matrix printers with the linear strobe bar positioned to position and control the spacing of the characters in rows and columns on the record media;
  • FIG. 2 is a schematized exploded view of the sensing devices mounted to move with the carriage relative to the linear strobe bar;
  • FIG. 3A is a plan view of the strobe bar enlarged as compared to FIG. 2 to show the details thereof;
  • FIG. 3B is a timing diagram for each of the light sensors in relation to the linear strobe bar channels
  • FIG. 4 is a schematic spacing and timing sketch illustrating the 9 X 7 printing matrix and nonprint space.
  • FIGS. 5A and 5B are simplified block diagrams of the electronic circuitry which coordinates with the linear strobe bar and enables the printout on paper media regardless of direction of carriage motion.
  • FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C illustrate various logic and timing functions of the system.
  • the data terminal 10 (with cover removed for purposes of clarity) is shown as comprising, overall, a carriage l2 movable laterally with respect to a frame 14, a work level surface 16 having three print stations 18, 20 and 22, and an appropriate keyboard 24.
  • the three print stations 18, 20 and 22 are, respectively, a receipt station where the customers receipt is printed (if a receipt is required), an audit station where the storekeepers record (audit trail) of all transactions are printed, and a form station where the customers order form or bill of sale is printed, if required.
  • the carriage 12 will move, not only from the printing position shown, viz., at the audit station and receipt station, but to the form station and audit station as well as traversing each pair of stations so that appropriate rows and columns of data entered into the data terminal at the keyboard 24 is appropriately printed out.
  • the carriage 12 is mounted on a pair of bars 26 and 28 to hold the carriage in parallel relationship with the platen 16 and the rest of the data terminal and transverse movement on the parallel bars is accomplished by a suitable drive mechanism 30 including a belt 32, attached to carriage 12, and pulley means 34 motivated by a reversible motor (not shown).
  • a receipt 36 if required, is printed in the receipt station 18 and an audit trail 38 is printed in the audit station 20 when the carriage 12 is in the position shown as the two record media (paper) are moved forward, i.e., in thhe direction of the keyboard 24, and forms a suitable supply, such as a roll of paper, by a suitable roller feed mechanism 40 driven by a motor and clutch means 42 coupled to shaft 44.
  • a form 46 such as a customer order form or bill of sale, is printed in station 22 at the same time the audit trail 38 is being printed.
  • the audit trail 38 is rolled onto a spool 48 partially shown in FIG. 1, while the receipt 36 is severed, when a complete transaction is recorded, by a suitable cutting mechanism, indicated in its entirety as 49.
  • the forms station is provided with a pair of electronic sensing means 50 and 52 which determine when a form 46 is properly located in the forms station, otherwise the terminal is inhibited from operating; suitable electronics being provided for this purpose.
  • Rollers 54 feed the form in a direction opposite from the direction of travel of the audit trail by suitable gearing to couple the rollers to shaft 42 which moves the form and audit trail or audit trail and receipt, or an audit trail alone, as the case may be, incrementally, in response to and in combination with printing mechanisms to form rows and columns of data as determined by the input to the keyboard 24.
  • the carriage 12 is also provided with a pair of matrix printers 56 and 58 capable of printing on two of the three stations at the same time, viz., the receipt station and the audit station, or (when the carriage is positioned to the left from that shown) on the form station and audit station.
  • Suitable ink supply means for the dual matrix printer are located in the carriage and are shown in FIG. 1 only schematically, since the ribbon, its novel inking supply arrangement and other details to improve the operation of the matrix printers and data terminals generally are described and claimed in a copending application.
  • the matrix printers 56 and 58 are capable of printing an audit trail and 'a receipt, an audit trail alone or on a form, an audit trail depending upon the mode determined in the keyboard 24.
  • the proper positioning and printing of the characters in rows and columns is dependent upon the combination of a mechanical strobe means 60 and electronic circuitry which cooperates therewith and it is this combination that will be described in detail hereinafter.
  • the mechanical positioning means in the embodiment shown is the linear strobe mask or bar 60 which is affixed to the frame 14 of the data terminal and is further illustrated in FIG. 3A in a much enlarged form over that shown in FIG. 1 for purposes of clarity.
  • the linear strobe 60 comprises a relatively thin, long, flat plate containing a plurality of apertures for slots through which sensing device such as phototransistors, LED's (light emitting diodes) or the like are provided to detect the absence or presence of a slot or aperture as the carriage 12 moves back and forth across the carriage bars carrying the sensing device along with it.
  • the linear strobe bar 60 is made of three horizontal areas or channels of slots or apertures.
  • the topmost channel, channel C has a long slot 61, at the center and a long slot 62, at the right.
  • the middle channel, channel B has long slots 63,, at the left and 64,, at the center.
  • the lowermost channel, channel A has a slot 65,, at the left, a slot 67,, in the center, and a slot 69,, at the right.
  • Between 65,, and 67, there is a series of small slots 66, which comprise 32 equally spaced slots.
  • a similar series of 32 slots which are designated 68, also appear between the larger slots 67,, and 69,, of channel A.
  • the carriage 12 carries with it a group of sensing devices 102, 104, 106, and 102', 104', and 106 which comprise a group of light emitters and light sensors which are aligned with the channels A, B, and C of the linear strobe bar 60.
  • the attached light sensing devices 102, 104, 106 and 102, 104', and 106' will convey a group of signals depending upon the location of the carriage along the linear strobe bar 60.
  • a means has been provided by which the carriage position in relationship to the linear strobe bar may be determined at any given time.
  • Certain indexing or HOME positions have been provided and these have been designated as the left- HOME position 70, the mid-HOME position 72, and the right-HOME position 74 which are used to provide certain indexing and other information when the dual matrix head carriage is located in one of these three positions.
  • a left print field 71 which allows space for the printing of 30 characters or spaces.
  • a print field-right 73 which provides for spaces permitting the printing of 30 characters or spaces.
  • FIG. 3B which illustrates the resultant effect of the motion of the sensing devices of the carriage as they move across the linear strobe bar 60
  • channel C will show that there is no positive or photosensitive output on channel C except for the area of the mid position and the area of the right HOME position 72 and 74.
  • channel B is in the On or photosensitive position at the left-HOME position 70, after which it turns off until it reaches the mid-HOME position 72 and again turns off and remains in a normal Off" position.
  • channel A of the linear strobe bar 60 which is scanned by sensing emitters and receivers 106 and 106', it will be seen that the light sensing devices are On for a portion of the left-HOME position after which they are turned off until they are again turned On at a portion of the mid-HOME position 72 and then remain off until they are again turned On" at the portion of the strobe bar at the right-HOME position 74.
  • the left HOME being defined as channel A on, channel B on, and channel, C off
  • the mid-HOME can be defined as all channels A and B and C, being on
  • the right-HOME can be defined as channel A on, channel C on, and channel B off
  • the print field can be designated as the situation where both channel B is off and channel C is off, while the strobe slots 66,, or 68,, provide strobe on pulses as the carriage and sensors move transversely.
  • the 32 small slots 66,, (print field 71) or the 32 slots of 68,, (print field 73) will cause a series of sharp on/off pulses to occur along specified portions of channel A.
  • These pulses are called character strobe pulses and provide as follows: when channel B is off and channel C is off, but channel A comes On, then there occurs the initiation of a space and time period which will permit the printing of an individual character, as will later be seen in connection with FIG. 4.
  • a dual matrix head assembly mounted on a carriage positioned to move left and right across the face of a linear strobe bar.
  • Light sensing means attached to the carriage and working in conjunction with the slots and apertures provided in the linear strobe bar provide sensing signals which tell the electronic circuitry the position of the carriage the areas in which the carriage may stop, and the time and space positions in which it is permissible to print data on the printout paper media.
  • each of the dual matrix heads are composed of seven wire rods or styli which can be actuated electromagnetically by means of output signals from a latch circuit 93 (FIG. 5).
  • the arrangement of the printable character head is such as that may be described as a nine by seven (9 X 7) matrix.
  • a matrix arrangement whereby there is pictured seven rows, each of which are spaced or separated by a distance L. Further, the matrix then further consists of nine columns which are separated by spaces equal to L/2; thus, there is provided a matrix of seven rows each separated by a space L and a series of nine columns, each separated by a space L/2 so as to provide the capability of the matrix dot printer which is programmed to print numerals and/or letters and having the capability of simulating curved areas.
  • the space allowable for a single individual character comprises 14 columns of which the first 9 columns are used for printing the wire matrix heads while the remaining 5 columns constitute a noprint area to provide spacing between individual characters.
  • the strobe pulses derived from the slots 66,, or 68,, (of FIG. 3A) are used to electronically define the start and finish of each individual character space.
  • the trailing edge of the strobe pulse (FIG. 4) is used to signal the end of one character space and the beginning of the next character space.
  • two alternate timing signals (15,, and qb (FIG. 4) are used to alternately enable" the activation of the first matrix head printer group and the second matrix head printer group during each individual column count of the first nine (print) columns.
  • the left print field 71 and the right field 73 of sections of the linear strobe bar are provided with thirty-two slots or apertures, each for purposes of locating the spaces and columns under which the printing of each individual character will take place on one or more of the record media.
  • attempts to print columns of characters utilizing electronic circuitry alone for locating and columnizing the print characters has often resulted in skewed columns, especially on long tape runs.
  • the present solution to the problem of skewed columns is considered to be a major improvement as provided for by this particular invention.
  • the problem of useless or wasted carriage return time has now been eliminated so that carriage motion in either direction is always utilized for printing.
  • the 32 slots of the slot sets 66,, and 68 precisely locate the columns into which any given character is to be printed, since the print heads will not be free to print unless the conditions of FIG. 3B are fulfilled such that the sensing devices of channel C are off, those of channel B are off, but those of channel A are being strobed by the 32 slots of print field 71 and/or print field 73.
  • the 32 slots or apertures of the two print fields provide a set of precisely located positions which can be sensed by the electronic circuitry, in regard to when and where it is permissible to print a given character on the printout tape, should such a character be waiting in memory for printout.
  • a reversible motor moves the carriage and the matrix printer heads back and forth transverse the record or printout media, such as the audit trail and the receipt form as shown in FIG. 1.
  • the sensing devices move from their HOME slots.
  • the sensing devices and the carriage 12 are aligned on the mid-HOME area.
  • the carriage and sensing devices will move either from the center mid- I-IOME toward the right or toward the left, and the carriage will move until it comes to either the right HOME area or the left HOME area at which time the carriage will stop.
  • the reversible motor and carriage will again move to traverse the printing media in order to printout the necessary information until such time as there is no more character information to be processed for printing.
  • the absence of a signal in the sensing devices of channel C and channel B and channel A indicates the beginning of the print field, such as 71 or 73.
  • the uncovering of the first slot of 66 causes the light sensing signal (known as the character strobe examples of which are shown in FIG. 38 as occurring in channel A) to initiate a series of short pulses, at and 80.
  • the character strobe 80 is amplified and used to activate a column skew one-shot multivibrator 81 which multivibrator has a pulse width of a selectable nature that is normally made to be about one-half the width of the character strobe pulse width.
  • the column skew one-shot 81 performs the function of positioning the character to be printed in coordination with the timing of the remainder of the circuitry regardless of which direction the print carriage is moving, that is to say, regardless of which edge of the particular slot is being uncovered; for example, the right edge of the slot 66,,, 68,, or the left edge.
  • a basic oscillator 82 (D) is frequencydivided in half by Oscillator 82' (D and again frequency divided to one-fourth the frequency by Column Oscillator 83 (D).
  • Column Oscillator 83 may be used to pulse Up Counter 84 and Down Counter 85 at a counting rate of 770 columns per second.
  • the Up Counter 84 counts the character space columns l-14 of FIG. 4 using the digital numbers to 13.
  • the Down Counter counts in reverse from columns 14 to 1 (again using digital numbers 13-0).
  • the pulse of the one-shot multivibrator 81 resets the oscillator (D designated element 82', and also resets the column oscillator (D 83, the column oscillator 83 having a pulse width equal (FIG. 6A) to twice the pulse width of the oscillator 82 (or one-half the frequency).
  • the output of the column oscillator 83 is connected to an up-counter 84 and down-counter 85.
  • Elements 84 and 85 are counters having two four-bit column counters.
  • the up-counter 84 and the down-counter 85 provide the function of counting the columns within a given character to be printed, but from different directions in order to permit printing to occur during carriage motion in either direction, that is, right to left, or left to right.
  • the outputs of the up and down counters are fed to a multiplexer 86 which outputs a signal indicative of the nine columns of print which go to make up any individual character.
  • the multiplexer 86 receives input pulses from oscillator 82 (D This may be called the A time and may be set at 1,540 pulses per second. Thus, multiplexer 86 is made to provide an output of the up-count" alternated with an output of the down count.
  • the column skew one-shot multivibrator 81 also has an output which is conveyed to a print-head position up counter 87 which carries five-bits of information.
  • the five-bit output of this counter 87 corresponds to the position information of the 32 character slots of the left and right print field 71 and 73:
  • the up counter, 87 corresponds to the print head and carriage motion moving from left to right.
  • a complementing circuit 87 alternately provides reverse character position counts which correspond to the motion of the carriage and print head from right to left.
  • the output of the counter 87 which provides information as to print-head position for each of the 32 character spaces is conveyed to a comparator 88.
  • the comparator 88 is keyed to the A time (D 82' so that it can alternately compare print head position counts in the up (left-right) direction and in the down (right-left) direction.
  • a fast clock oscillator 89 (having approximately 32 times the speed of the oscillator 82') provides an output conveyed to a buffer counter 90.
  • the buffer counter is a five-bit (up) counter, and its output tells the sequence position of the particular character residing at the output end of the circulating shift register 91.
  • the comparator 88 receives printhead position count information, and at the same time the comparator 88 receives from the buffer counter 90, the count position location of characters in memory to be printed. The comparator 88 thus compares the transverse position of the print head with the buffer counter 90 information count which is representative of a particular character and its character space position count.
  • the oscillatory output of the fast clock oscillator 89 is used to operate a character buffer circulating shift register 91 which consists of a dynamic shift register having an output to a character generator readonly memory 92.
  • the character generator read-only memory 92 has another input taken from the multiplexer 86 which is indicative of the column position information of a given character to be printed.
  • the output of the character generator 92 is dumped into the latch circuit 93.
  • the latch circuit 93 of FIG. 5A is in reality composed of two latch circuits: an A latch 93,, and B latch 93,, as shown in FIG. 5B.
  • the comparator 88 has an output line to the A latch 93,, and to the B latch 93,,.
  • the character generator ROM 92 has an output set of seven lines to the A latch 93,, and to the B latch 93,,.
  • the output of the A latch 93 is used to empower the seven hammers of the left matrix head while the output lines of the B latch 93,, comprise a series of lines which go to drive the seven hammers of the right matrix head.
  • Circuit 94 (NAND gate and solenoid driver circuit) is shown connected to one output line of B Latch 93, and also connected to one line of Hammer Timing One- Shot Circuit 94,. This is exemplary in the drawing to indicate that each of the output lines of A Latch 93,, and B Latch 93,, are similarly provided with such gate circuits as exemplified by 94,.
  • the output lines of B Latch 93 are passed through an inverting circuit 99 (FIG. 5B) which inverts the order of the printhead driving signals from their normal order so that the right printhead 58, when positioned over station 18 (receipt station) will print its character data in an upside down orientation as seen in FIG. 1 on record medium 36.
  • the inverter 99 is only active when a control signal line 99, (activated by the right print field apertures 68,, of strobe bar 60 and carriage locais printing on record medium 36.
  • FIG. A there was provided enabling circuitry 94 in order to control the operation of the matrix print heads.
  • This system is shown in more detail in FIG. 5B wherein there is provided a group of hammer timing one-shots 94, which are used to phase the firing of the hammers of the left matrix head; and there is also provided another group of hammer timing one-shots 94, which are used to phase the timing of the hammer driving for the right matrix head.
  • the firing of the left print head and the right print head is done on alternate cycles even though they appear to be printing simultaneously due to the high rate of printing.
  • FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C are timing drawings illustrative of various timing cycles used by the electronic control circuitry of the printing system. These timing diagrams may be understood more completely by concurrent reference to the drawings and description of FIGS. 5A and 58 to which they also refer.
  • Line 6-2 shows the timing cycles involved in oscillator 82' (D wherein the pulse frequency is divided in half in that oscillator D provides only one output pulse during the time that the basic oscillator (D) is providing two output pulses.
  • Line 63 shows the timing cycle provided by oscillator 83 (D which further subdivide its on/off pulses into longer time periods. These time periods constitute A Time where the logic output is zero or false, and a B Time where the logic output is one or true.
  • Line 6-4 shows the On" time in this cycle that it is possible to trigger the hammer-one-shot for the hammers of the left print head.
  • line 6-7 shows the phase B trigger hammer one-shot On time which can be used to trigger the print heads of the right print head.
  • Line 6-5 shows the time available for firing the hammers of the left print head through the enabling circuitry 94.
  • Line 6-6 shows basic reference timing markings in microseconds to give some idea of the relative times involved.
  • Line 6-8 shows how a match can occur during the A Time in order to cause a printout of the left print head; and likewise, line 6-9 shows how a match from the comparator may occur in order to print out information through the right-hand print head during B time.
  • the basic oscillator (D) shown at line 6-1 is shown to have a single cycle time of 320 microseconds while the oscillator D has a cycle time of 640 microseconds.
  • the oscillator (D (at line 6-3) has a cycle time of 1,280 microseconds and is the equivalent time for one column time.
  • the time period for one column has been split into A Time and a B Time as shown at line 6-3 which also correlates with the drawing of FIG. 4 where there is shown a phase A time and a phase B time.
  • the fast clock 89 runs at least 32 times greater than the basic oscillator D, or 64 times greater than the A Time rate, then during the course of any one particular column print time, all 32 character spaces in memory (circulating shift register 91) are scanned for their position and compared in the comparator 88 so that there will be at least two matches occurring every 320 microseconds which is one-half of the A time available for printing on the left matrix print head. Likewise, there are at least 32 character spaces in circulating register 91 which are scanned with the possibility of at least two matches occurring during the B Time or printout time for the right matrix print head.
  • FIG. 6B there is shown a series of timing diagrams indicating relative relationships between the character strobe pulses and other timing functions.
  • line 6-10 there is seen a character strobe pulse occurring (which is normally set at 55 pulses per second).
  • Line 6-11 shows the column skew one-shot 81 (as referred to in FIG. 5A), and as seen, the column skew one-shot pulse is approximately half the pulse width of the character strobe pulse but is initiated by the leading edge of the character strobe pulse.
  • FIG. 63 it will be seen in line 6-(10) that the character strobe pulse, which is derived from a slit (66 68,, of FIG.
  • the character strobe While the carriage is moving in the left to right direction, the character strobe is triggered by the left edge of the slit in the strobe bar. However, if the carriage and printhead are moving in the opposite direction, from right to left, then it is the right-hand edge of the slit of the strobe bar which triggers the character strobe and the column skew one-shot pulse.
  • the triggering start pulse on the left to right motion is going to be different position-wise from the triggering or start pulse when the carriage is moving from right to left, since the left edge of the slit and the right edge of the slit in the strobe bar are separated by a gap.
  • the effect of this would normally be to cause characters which were printed in left to right motion to be out of columnar alignment with characters which were printed while the carriage was moving in the other direction, from right to left.
  • this adjustment has the effect of compensating for the print solenoid lag time, the flight time of the wire styli, and the width of the strobe bar slit, so that when the character printout is made in the left to right direction and then made in the right to left direction, a visual comparison can be made to see how well the characters in each line fall one under the other.
  • the adjustment of the width of the column skew oneshot pulse width can be done by visually watching the printout columnar alignment as the printing occurs in both directions.
  • the output of the column skew one shot is used to reset the basic oscillator D, the oscillator D the oscillator D and also the up and down counters 84 and 85.
  • the trailing edge of the output pulse of the Column skew one-shot 81 triggers the start of a character space.
  • the trailing edge of the pulse of the column skew one-shot resets and restarts the basic oscillator D which is used to pulse the column counters 84 and 85.
  • the start of the basic oscillator (D) triggers the column counters 84 and 85 into pulses which are shown having numbered spaces between them. These numbered spaces between the 14 pulses are the timing features which define the total character space for the printout and spacing of each individual character, and also define each of the nine print and five no print columns of the character space shown in FIG. 4.
  • Line 6-13 of FIG. 6B shows the A Time timing pulses which have half the pulse-width but double the frequency of the pulses from the column counter shown in line 6-12.
  • the on portions of the A Time" pulses are one-half the pulse width of the column counter pulse width.
  • the trailing edges of the A Time pulses trigger the phase A pulses of line 6-14 for enabling the firing of the left print head; the leading edges of the A Time pulses trigger the phase B pulses of line 6-15 to enable the firing of hammers in the right print head.
  • Lines 6-14 and 6-15 show the print hammer pulses in timing sequence for the A print hammer and the B print hammer (left and right print head hammers) which are shown to operate alternately in slightly different phases.
  • the printer of this embodiment uses a carriage having dual printheads, a left printhead and a right printhead (as one faces the front of the keyboard of the terminal).
  • the dual type printhead carriage 12 operates to cover and to print out on any two of the three printout stations.
  • the carriage 12 When the carriage 12 is in the position shown in FIG. 1, then the left-hand printhead 56 will be printing with its orientation for a person standing in front of the machine, and the right-hand printhead 58 will be printing in the reverse inverted orientation.
  • the right-hand printhead 58 must reverse itself when it is printing on the audit station 20. That is to say, it must reverse and invert its printout from its printout as shown on the receipt station 18 on the paper record 36.
  • the situation involved here is not simply a case where one printhead is simply duplicating the other printhead, but rather is a situation in which the two printheads are separated in space and operate under different conditions and have different output results at certain times.
  • Station 46 the forms station, prints in the front orientation and the form moves inwardly toward the machine to provide the proper orientation of the printout.
  • FIG. 6C there is shown another group of timing diagrams relative to the electronic control circuitry of the data terminal printer.
  • Line C-l shows the output pulses of the fast clock 89 which are made to run at least 32 times greater than the basic oscillator frequency D.
  • Line C-2 shows the output of the circulating shift register or buffer 91 maintaining constant character information reading until the end of each fast clock cycle after which there is an information change, but the character information remains constant during the entirety of the fast clock cycle. This indicates that there is a period of approximately 10 microseconds wherein the character information at the output of circulating shift register 91 is stable and useable.
  • Line C-3 of FIG. 6C shows how the trailing edge of the fast clock pulses are used to trigger the buffer counter 90 in order to count the character spaces in coordination with the character spaces in the circulating shift register.
  • the buffer counter 90 counts spaces from 0 up to 31, then resets to 0 again.
  • Line C-4 shows the entry of the first character into the circulating shift register 91 as being located in the number one position since the position zero is not used but is a (spacing) position.
  • Line C-5 of FIG. 6C indicates that during the time of the first character position, there will be a match" as a result of the comparator 88 which will set the latch unit 93 for a printout through one of the print heads.
  • the fast clock 89 pulses the circulating shift register 91 so that, when the printhead is at any given position across the printing line, the circulating shift register pulses more than 32 times during the column dwell time, so that at any given character space-column position, all characters in the circulating shift register are scanned.
  • the comparator 88 detects that a match has occurred as between the buffer counter 90, the 5-bit up counter 87 (which counter 87 provides information as to the printhead position for each of the 32 character spaces), then the comparator 88 will trigger the A latch 93 so that the character generator signals from character generator ROM 92 can operate to cause the printhead to print the appropriate dot pattern for the character column.
  • the character generator ROM 92 must be gated by the output of the multiplexer 86 which provides the appropriate character-column-code to the character generator ROM 92 as to which particular orientation of the character to be printed.
  • the up-counter 84 is used for printhead motion from left to right and the down counter 85 is used for printhead motion from right to left.
  • the multiplexer 86 alternately switches between the up-count and down-count column code in feeding character generator ROM 92 when printing is occurring on both the receipt station and audit station simultaneously. The use of either the up-count or the downcount is determined by the direction of printing motion.
  • the control signal D to multiplexer 86 selects the appropriate up or down counter code.
  • the complementing circuit 87 takes the information of the 5-bit up counter 87 and complements it so as to provide reverse character position counts which correspond to the motion of the carriage and printhead from right to left.
  • the up-counter 87 corresponds to the printhead position where the carriage is moving from left to right while the complementing circuit 87, provides reverse character position counts of the printhead position corresponding to the motion of the carriage and print head from the right to the left side.
  • the subject printer eliminates the need for carriage return such that the printer is always printing while moving in the right to left direction or in the left to right direction. There is no loss or wasted time for the action of returning the carriage printhead to an initial or beginning position, as is characteristic of the prior art.
  • the output character of the circulating shift register have a count--address (provided by buffer counter 90) which when supplied to the Comparator 88, matches up with the count of the 5-bit up counter 87.
  • the count of Counter 87 gives the position information of the 32 character spaces of the left and right print fields 71 and 73;
  • the present set of printout stations have been described as a receipt station, an audit-trail station, and a forms station. Any two of these stations may be activated for simultaneous printing during any particular cycle of transaction activity; or if not necessary, the only printout that is needed to take place will take place on the audit trail printout station.
  • Another feature of the present embodiment involves the feature in which the printout on-the receipt station is printed out in upside down orientation to the printout at the audit trail and forms station. This is easily accomplished by the use of inversion or complementing circuitry. Concurrently, with this feature of one print station printing upside down to another print station, it should also be noted that the problem of column skewing has been resolved thereby and also no longer occurs.
  • a data terminal printer system providing for printout of characters on a recording medium programmed for a series of character-spaces each of said character-spaces being programmed to consist of m vertical columns of which n columns are used for character printout and (m-n) columns are provided for nonprint spacing, the combination comprising:
  • carriage means movable transversely back and forth across said printout stations
  • first and second dot matrix printheads mounted on said carriage means; said printheads including a plurality of wires for impacting on said recording media;
  • sensing means for determining the location of each of said printheads relative to each of said plurality of printout stations and relative to each column of each unit character-space;
  • a circulating shift register for storage of character data to be printed, said circulation rate being at least 32 times the rate of said character strobe pulses;
  • h. means for providing a real-time count of each character-space located opposite the real-time location of said printhead during printhead motion in either of two directions;
  • first counting means for providing information as to what particular column of a character-space is available for printing by each of said first and second matrix printheads;
  • multiplexing means to alternately provide a count of each character-space column during carriage motion for the left-right direction of motion and for the right-left direction of carriage motion;
  • second counting means for providing character position information from said circulating shift register to said first and second matrix printheads, said position information including data for left-right carriage motion and for right-left carriage motion;
  • comparison means for comparison of the printhead position count of each of said first and second matrix printheads with the count of each character position in said circulating shift register, said comparison being responsive to the appropriate direction of carriage motion;
  • m. memory translation means for programming a selected character symbol into signals representative of dots in a series of columns
  • circuit means activated by said memory translation means, for empowering selected wires of said printhead as said printhead is positioned at each column of a character-space, said circuit means empowering said first and second printheads in alternate phases.
  • a data terminal printer system providing for programmed printout of data characters in a group of unit character spaces, each unit character space having 14 vertical columns per character space of which nine columns are used for character printout and five columns are used for non-print spacing, the combination comprising:
  • carriage means movable transversely back and forth across said printout stations
  • indicia means for programming the location of character-spaces available for printing on each recording media for each printout station
  • sensing means for determining the carriage and printhead position relative to each of said character spaces available for printing
  • h. means for matching the programmed character space positions with the appropriate data character address positions in said memory device during transverse motion of the printheads in either direction in order to trigger the first and second printheads into a printout of the proper character in the proper character space on the preselected printout stations desired.
  • the printer system of claim 2 including means for the alternate triggering of the first and second printheads for printout during the period of any given column count which was started by the character position strobe derived from said indicia means.
  • the printer system of claim 2 including means for vertical columnar alignment of characters printed on one line of recording media with characters printed out on other lines of recording media.
  • the printer system of claim 2 including means for adjusting the time between the initiation of a character strobe pulse, which locates an available character space on the recording media, and the initiation of a series of column count pulses, which pulses permit character imprintation dots to be printed by said printheads.
  • carriage means movable transversely back and forth across each of said print-.out stations
  • first and second wire matrix printheads mounted on said carriage means and juxtaposed movably across said plurality of printout stations, said printheads being capable of printout while moving from left .to right or right to left;
  • sensing means for establishing the printhead positions relative to each programmed character space
  • g. means for matching printhead position information with stored character data location information in order to trigger the printout of a stored character at a programmed location on one or more of the recording media of the plurality of printout stations;
  • the printing device of claim 6 including timing means for alternately triggering the printout times of the said first and second printheads during each period of column strobing of each character to be printed.
  • the printing device of claim 6 including adjustment means for said initiating means, said adjustment means providing for the vertical columnar alignment of printout characters on one line of the recording media with the printed out characters on succeeding lines of the recording media.
  • the printing device of claim 6 including means for simultaneous printing on two of said plurality of printout stations whereby the printout from said second printhead is selectively controlled to print characters in a front orientation or a reverse orientation.
  • said sensing means comprises an indicia bar having indicia to indicate end-stop positions for said printhead and to indicate programmed character space positions as being available for printout separately for each of two different positions of said carriage means and including readout means to read said indicia from said indicia bar for conversion to electronic timing signals.
  • a printout station having movable recording media
  • carriage means movable transversely back and forth across said printout station
  • printhead means mounted on said carriage means, and capable of printout during carriage motion back and forth across said print-out station;
  • sensing means for establishing the printhead position relative to each character space programmed as available for printing on said recording media
  • the printing device of claim 11 including means for vertical columnar alignment of the printout of characters on one line of the recording media with the printout of characters on other lines of the same recording media.
  • sensing means comprises an indicia bar having selected indicia to indicate end stop positions for said printhead and to indicate character print positions programmed as available for printout on said recording media and including means for initiating the printout of a combination of dots in a column during the time that the printhead means is moving from left to right or is moving from right to left; and including means for adjustment of said initiating means so that the printout of characters on one line of print of said recording media is properly aligned columnarly with the printout of a column skew one-shot circuit triggered by the leading edge of said character strobe pulse and for providing a column-skew pulse;
  • column-counting circuitry for strobing the various columns of a character-space, said columncounting circuitry being triggered by the trailing edge of said column-skew pulse.

Landscapes

  • Character Spaces And Line Spaces In Printers (AREA)
  • Handling Of Sheets (AREA)
  • Printers Characterized By Their Purpose (AREA)
US00321177A 1973-01-05 1973-01-05 Control for a matrix printing assembly Expired - Lifetime US3838250A (en)

Priority Applications (8)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US00321177A US3838250A (en) 1973-01-05 1973-01-05 Control for a matrix printing assembly
NL7317440A NL7317440A (de) 1973-01-05 1973-12-20
JP744693A JPS5637589B2 (de) 1973-01-05 1973-12-21
GB5981573A GB1459816A (en) 1973-01-05 1973-12-27 Printer
IT19109/74A IT1006738B (it) 1973-01-05 1974-01-04 Visualizzazione di caratteri in un terminale di dati
CA189,470A CA1022466A (en) 1973-01-05 1974-01-04 Character strobing in a data terminal
DE2400444A DE2400444C2 (de) 1973-01-05 1974-01-05 Steuerung für einen Zeilendrucker
FR7400415A FR2213170B3 (de) 1973-01-05 1974-01-07

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US00321177A US3838250A (en) 1973-01-05 1973-01-05 Control for a matrix printing assembly

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3838250A true US3838250A (en) 1974-09-24

Family

ID=23249523

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US00321177A Expired - Lifetime US3838250A (en) 1973-01-05 1973-01-05 Control for a matrix printing assembly

Country Status (8)

Country Link
US (1) US3838250A (de)
JP (1) JPS5637589B2 (de)
CA (1) CA1022466A (de)
DE (1) DE2400444C2 (de)
FR (1) FR2213170B3 (de)
GB (1) GB1459816A (de)
IT (1) IT1006738B (de)
NL (1) NL7317440A (de)

Cited By (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3910396A (en) * 1974-04-17 1975-10-07 Victor Comptometer Corp Business machine printer having plural print heads
JPS5250027U (de) * 1975-10-03 1977-04-09
US4076111A (en) * 1976-07-08 1978-02-28 Centronics Data Computer Corporation Registration means for printers and the like
US4179223A (en) * 1976-07-02 1979-12-18 Bunker Ramo Corporation Printer center sensing mechanism
US4395144A (en) * 1982-01-21 1983-07-26 Pako Corporation Apparatus for printing alphanumeric information on photographic slide mounts
US4415282A (en) * 1982-01-21 1983-11-15 Pako Corporation Slide mount data printer
US4856924A (en) * 1986-06-23 1989-08-15 Seikosha Co., Ltd. Printer
US5135320A (en) * 1990-07-27 1992-08-04 Seikosha Co., Ltd. Serial printer
US5145271A (en) * 1990-06-29 1992-09-08 Seikosha Co., Ltd. Serial printer
US5320436A (en) * 1992-05-19 1994-06-14 Hewlett-Packard Company Portable printer and sheet feeder
US5383014A (en) * 1993-05-20 1995-01-17 Xerox Corporation Photoreceptor belt motion sensor using linear position sensors
US6133706A (en) * 1997-03-17 2000-10-17 Hewlett-Packard Company Printer subsystem motion-control sensor apparatus

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4050563A (en) * 1975-11-05 1977-09-27 Centronics Data Computer Corporation Apparatus for selectable font printing
US4208137A (en) * 1978-01-16 1980-06-17 Ncr Corporation Position sensing for matrix printer
JPS5625479A (en) * 1979-08-09 1981-03-11 Canon Inc Printer
JPS5690379A (en) * 1979-12-25 1981-07-22 Fujitsu Ltd Control system of printer
JPS59164373U (ja) * 1983-04-19 1984-11-05 三洋電機株式会社 受像管ドライブ回路用プリント板
DE3324424C1 (de) * 1983-07-07 1987-01-02 Loewe Opta Gmbh, 8640 Kronach Verfahren zum Einstellen von festen Betriebsparametern und/oder aus einer Gruppe von Betriebsparametern gleicher Art auswählbaren Betriebsparametern zur Vorgabe für eine Druckerablaufsteuerung in einem Matrixdrucker und Schaltungsanordnung zur Durchführung des Verfahrens

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US3063537A (en) * 1960-07-05 1962-11-13 Ibm Format control device
US3356021A (en) * 1967-12-05 Tail marker
US3403386A (en) * 1966-01-24 1968-09-24 Burroughs Corp Format control
US3578129A (en) * 1967-08-30 1971-05-11 Mitsubishi Electric Corp Control device for positioning carriages of business machines
US3703949A (en) * 1970-05-07 1972-11-28 Centronics Data Computer High-speed printer

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US1178334A (en) * 1914-05-08 1916-04-04 William H Waller Duplicating device for type-writing machines.
FR1531666A (fr) * 1967-05-25 1968-07-05 Electronique & Physique Dispositif d'impression mécanique
CA976806A (en) * 1970-05-07 1975-10-28 Herbert E. Manhennett Printer head assembly

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3356021A (en) * 1967-12-05 Tail marker
US3063537A (en) * 1960-07-05 1962-11-13 Ibm Format control device
US3403386A (en) * 1966-01-24 1968-09-24 Burroughs Corp Format control
US3578129A (en) * 1967-08-30 1971-05-11 Mitsubishi Electric Corp Control device for positioning carriages of business machines
US3703949A (en) * 1970-05-07 1972-11-28 Centronics Data Computer High-speed printer

Cited By (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3910396A (en) * 1974-04-17 1975-10-07 Victor Comptometer Corp Business machine printer having plural print heads
JPS5250027U (de) * 1975-10-03 1977-04-09
JPS5615625Y2 (de) * 1975-10-03 1981-04-13
US4179223A (en) * 1976-07-02 1979-12-18 Bunker Ramo Corporation Printer center sensing mechanism
US4076111A (en) * 1976-07-08 1978-02-28 Centronics Data Computer Corporation Registration means for printers and the like
US4415282A (en) * 1982-01-21 1983-11-15 Pako Corporation Slide mount data printer
US4395144A (en) * 1982-01-21 1983-07-26 Pako Corporation Apparatus for printing alphanumeric information on photographic slide mounts
US4856924A (en) * 1986-06-23 1989-08-15 Seikosha Co., Ltd. Printer
US5145271A (en) * 1990-06-29 1992-09-08 Seikosha Co., Ltd. Serial printer
US5135320A (en) * 1990-07-27 1992-08-04 Seikosha Co., Ltd. Serial printer
US5320436A (en) * 1992-05-19 1994-06-14 Hewlett-Packard Company Portable printer and sheet feeder
US5383014A (en) * 1993-05-20 1995-01-17 Xerox Corporation Photoreceptor belt motion sensor using linear position sensors
US6133706A (en) * 1997-03-17 2000-10-17 Hewlett-Packard Company Printer subsystem motion-control sensor apparatus

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
NL7317440A (de) 1974-07-09
FR2213170A1 (de) 1974-08-02
IT1006738B (it) 1976-10-20
JPS49103534A (de) 1974-10-01
CA1022466A (en) 1977-12-13
JPS5637589B2 (de) 1981-09-01
GB1459816A (en) 1976-12-31
FR2213170B3 (de) 1976-10-22
DE2400444A1 (de) 1974-09-26
DE2400444C2 (de) 1983-04-07

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