Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
  • G06K15/00—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers
  • G06K15/02—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers using printers
  • G06K15/10—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers using printers by matrix printers
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
  • G06K15/00—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers
  • G06K15/002—Interacting with the operator
  • G06K15/005—Interacting with the operator only locally
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
  • G06K2215/00—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data
  • G06K2215/0002—Handling the output data
  • G06K2215/0005—Accepting output data; Preparing data for the controlling system
  • G06K2215/0011—Accepting output data; Preparing data for the controlling system characterised by a particular command or data flow, e.g. Page Description Language, configuration commands
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
  • G06K2215/00—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data
  • G06K2215/0082—Architecture adapted for a particular function

Definitions

• the present invention relates to improvements in mode setting methods and apparatus for selecting and setting various operating parameters or "modes'' for a serial printer, such as an ink-jet or dot-matrix printer.
• serial printers such as ink-jet and thermal printers
• DIP switches are required to define each operating mode and mode variation. Since each DIP switch is only capable of switching to either an "on" or “off" condition, in cases where there are more than two options for a particular operating mode, e.g. various language fonts, it is necessary to provide a relatively large number of DIP switches and combine their respective outputs in such a way as to make different choices possible.
• the number of DIP switches has been steadily increasing and, in order to make a single printer accommodate various models of host computers, some printers have as many as thirty DIP switches.
• mode setting devices include a liquid crystal display on which the various mode options are displayed and selected. These displays are mounted on the printer housing at a location to be easily seen and, in order to display sufficient information to be useful, they tend to be relatively large in size.
• LCD liquid crystal display
• the printer mode-setting apparatus of the invention is useful in all serial printers of the type having a movable carriage for scanning a printhead across a print-receiving member (e.g., a sheet of paper) in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the print-receiving member is advanced during a printing operation to serially print pixels of one or more lines of image information.
• a print-receiving member e.g., a sheet of paper
• such mode- setting apparatus comprises: (a) means for selectively printing on a print-receiving member positioned at a predetermined position relative to a printer housing, a listing of a plurality of printer modes, each of such printer modes having a plurality of options associated therewith;
• (e) means responsive to said option-select signal and to the position of said printhead for causing the printer to operate in a printer mode determined by tiie printed option located opposite the reference mark.
• the mode-setting method of the invention basically comprises the steps of
• FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a preferred embodiment of a serial printer mode-setting apparatus according to the present invention
• FIG.2 is a perspective illustration of a serial printer of the type in which the invention is particularly useful
• FIG. 3 is an explanatory drawing showing an example of the manner in which various printer modes (parameters) are displayed on paper, as well as their respective selectable options;.
• FIGS. 4-6 are flow charts illustrating the steps carried out by the microcomputer shown in FIG.l.
• FIG. 2 shows the exterior of a serial printer, in this case, an inkjet printer.
• a print-receiving member such as a sheet of plain paper 2
• an automatic sheet-feeder not shown
• a printhead carriage 4 equipped with a printhead (e.g., an inkjet head or thermal printhead), is positioned in front of platen roller 3.
• head carriage 4 On command, head carriage 4 repeatedly scans the paper in a lateral direction, i.e.
• the printhead carriage or, alternatively, the printhead itself is provided with an arrow-shaped reference marker 5 on its upper surface.
• an operator control panel 6 Arranged on the top of the front part of body 1 is an operator control panel 6, which includes a set of key switches 7-11. Normally, these keys operate, respectively, to control power to the printer, to determine whether or not the printer is "on-line" (i.e., is operatively coupled to a host computer), to control paper feed, to select or deselect a character font or, in the case of an inkjet printer, to prime the printhead. However, as explained below, some of these same keys also serve, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, to select set or change the printer modes.
• key 7 determines whether or not the printer is in a "mode-setting" mode
• keys 8 and 9 selectively control the lateral (right-to-left) movement of the head carriage so as to align the arrow 5 opposite a desired mode character or option
• key 11 operates to enter the selected mode or option in memory and thereby cause the printer to operate accordingly.
• a listing of all available printing modes are printed on paper 2, each of such modes being identifiable by a different reference character, e.g. (1), (2), (3)...(n).
• the corresponding reference characters are sequentially printed in the lateral direction on paper 2.
• the printhead carriage is then selectively moved laterally to a position in which arrow 5 is positioned opposite a reference character which identifies a mode of interest
• arrow 5 is positioned opposite a reference character which identifies a mode of interest
• the various available options for the selected mode are sequentially printed out on paper 2 in a lateral direction.
• the printhead carriage is again selectively moved laterally to a position opposite a desired option, and the selected option is entered into memory.
• FIG. 1 shows a control block diagram for the serial printer shown in FIG.2.
• Reference numeral 21 denotes a central processing unit (CPU) of a microcomputer MC which is operatively coupled to storage means 23, via a data bus 22.
• Storage means 23 comprises a read-only memory (ROM) 24 for storing a system program, a random-access memory (RAM) 25 for storing system data, and an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) 26 which is a nonvolatile memory for storing data when power is off.
• a gate array 27 operates under the control of the CPU to control the movement of a carriage 4
• FIG.2 which supports a printhead, such as an inkjet head or the thermal printing head of a dot-matrix printer.
• a printhead such as an inkjet head or the thermal printing head of a dot-matrix printer.
• CPU 21 outputs address signals to ROM 24, RAM 25 and gate array 27 through address bus 28 and also outputs call command signals or storage command signals.
• Gate array 27 outputs address signals to ROM 24 and RAM 25 through address bus 29 and also outputs call command signals or storage command signals.
• Storage means 23 stores various printer mode and mode options, which will be described later, in ROM 24 and also stores data representing the currently set modes in RAM 25 and EEPROM 26.
• a driving circuit 31 Connected to CPU 21 is a driving circuit 31 which operates through a drive stepper motor 30 to move head carriage 4 in the lateral direction, i.e., perpendicular to the direction of paper movement
• CPU 21 is also operatively connected to a driving circuit 33 which operates through a drive motor 32 to rotate platen roller 3.
• a position sensor 34 is arranged to detect the home position of head carriage 4, and a paper sensor 35 operates to detect whether or not the print- receiving member (paper 2) is in a printing position.
• the respective outputs of these senors, together with the outputs of key switches 7-11 provide inputs to the CPU.
• CPU 21 further comprises position-dete ⁇ nining means 36, printing control means 37 and storage control means 38.
• Position-determining means 36 operates to determine the lateral position of the printhead carriage by counting the number of steps produced by stepping motor 30.
• the function of printing control means 37 is (a) to cause data representing the various printing modes and the currently set options, which are stored in RAM 25 or EEPROM 26 of storage means 23, to be printed on paper 2 by head carriage 4 when the "mode setting" has been commanded, as described below; (b) to cause certain different reference characters, preferably represented by alpha and/or numeric symbols and identifying the different possible printing mode selections stored in ROM 24, to be sequentially printed on paper 2 in the lateral direction thereof; and (c) to cause the different available options for a selected printing mode to be printed on paper 2 in the aforementioned lateral direction.
• storage control means 38 operates to cause the selected printing mode (represented by the selected character) and the selected printing mode option, both corresponding, at different times, to the lateral position of the moved head carriage 4 to be stored as the "set mode" in RAM 25 or EEPROM 26 of storage means 23.
• Step 1 Upon entering the "mode-setting" mode, when paper 2 is fed to a predetermined printing initiation position (Step 1), data representing the printer's current mode settings (stored in EEPROM 26) are called out to RAM 25 and printed (Step2 ) on paper 2 by the CPU's printing control means 37.
• This step is represented by area a on paper 2 (shown in FIG. 3), where the reference characters (Item Nos. (1) through (11)) , the description of each printer mode and the mode option currently set are printed in a sequence.
• a description of the function of the respective key switches 7-11 during the "mode setting" mode is printed immediately after the above process, as shown in area a' (Step 3).
• mode selection reference characters (1)...(11) are sequentially printed on paper 2 in the lateral direction thereof at specified intervals (Step 4: area b in FIG. 3). Head carriage 4 is automatically moved to the leftmost selection category (Exit) printed on paper 2 so that marker 5 of head carriage 4 is aligned with the said category (Step 5).
• the operator chooses a printer mode he wants to change and operates either one of key switches 8 and 9.
• head carriage 4 moves to the category immediately to the left or right one item at a time, thereby enabling marker 5 of head carriage 4 to be aligned with the desired reference character (Steps 6 - 9).
• the paper size mode setting is the first selected. The operator positions marker 5 opposite reference character "(2)" and then operates selection key switch 11 (Step 10) to enter this selection.
• the operator chooses the desired paper size by operating key switches 8 or 9 to cause marker to move to a position opposite the desired option.
• Selection key switch 11 is then actuated to enter the selected option into memory, replacing the previously set option (Steps 13-17).
• the paper size has been changed from "US Letter” (which is printed out in bold type to accent the current option setting) to "A4".
• Step 11 When selection key switch 11 has thus been operated, the CPU 's position-determining means 36 determines the option to which the head carriage 4 has moved, and storage control means 38 stores data of the chtsen option in RAM 25 as the new setting for the paper size mode. Thereafter, the apparatus returns to Step 4, printing the mode selection reference characters and options laterally on paper 2 again (as shown in area b' and c').
• the operator resets the mode in the same manner as above, by moving head carriage 4 so that marker 5 jr ⁇ ints the category at which the mode in question to be set
• the operator positions marker 5 at "Exit" of the reference characters bar by means of moving head carriage 4.
• Step 11 the apparatus proceeds from Step 11 to Step 19, where information representing the "new" mode or printer-parameter settings is printed on paper 2 (Area d in FIG. 3).
• mode setting is done by simply moving the head carriage to a position corresponding to a desired mode character or option printed on paper 2.
• mode setting is performed in a "user friendly" manner, with no need for operator manuals.
• mode selection data is printed on paper 2, it is possible to display a large quantity of data at once, compared with a device using a liquid crystal display. Consequently, mode setting is simplified.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Mathematical Physics (AREA)
• Character Spaces And Line Spaces In Printers (AREA)
• Accessory Devices And Overall Control Thereof (AREA)
• Dot-Matrix Printers And Others (AREA)
• Record Information Processing For Printing (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

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ID=12659482

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (1)

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Citations (3)

• 1991
  • 1991-03-08 JP JP4328391A patent/JPH04279378A/ja active Pending
• 1992
  • 1992-03-04 WO PCT/US1992/001695 patent/WO1992015966A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1992-03-04 EP EP19920917456 patent/EP0529071A1/en not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (3)

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