JPH0211370A - Printing start position setting system of serial printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily perform the accurate alignment with paper without performing trial printing by analyzing the control data up to the first printing character data among printing data given for printing to a st a printing head at a printing start position. CONSTITUTION:When data to be printed is inputted from a higher rank apparatus through a host interface 2, it is checked whether a line feed code and a space code both of which are printing start position control data are present at the beginning thereof. When there is the line feed code, a line motor 8 is driven by a line motor control circuit 7 to rotate a platen 22 to perform the line feed of a predetermined one line. When there is the space code, a space motor 6 is driven by a space motor control circuit 5 to move a carriage 21 by a predetermined space. When the processing due to the printing start position control data is finished, 'Do Fine Adjustment Because of Printing Start Position' is displayed on a display part 12b to wait the operation of an operator.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Regarding a printing start position setting method for printing paper of a serial printer, an object of the present invention is to easily perform accurate positioning with the paper without performing trial printing. A space drive means that drives the carriage carrying the print head to reciprocate along the platen, a line feed drive means that transports the print paper set on the platen, and analyzes the print data provided from the outside. a control means for controlling at least the space driving means and the line feed driving means, the carriage is moved in space based on print data given from the outside, and
The serial printer prints while transporting the paper with a line feed, and has a mode designation means for designating an alignment mode, and when the alignment mode is designated, the control means controls the print data given to be printed. By analyzing the control data up to the first printed character data, the space driving means and line feed driving means are driven to position the print head at a printing start position on the printing paper, and the print head is held at that position. Configure it as follows.

[Conventional technology]

In a serial printer, when adjusting the printing start position in the horizontal direction and line feed direction with respect to the print paper, for example, in the horizontal direction, release the tractor unit for feeding continuous form paper and shift the paper left and right. , the print embossing position (left margin) of the cut paper guide can be logically varied by the printer's internal settings, and the host computer can also be equipped with a function that allows adjustment of the left edge margin when outputting to the printer. It was equipped with a minute feed function, and this was done by using a button on the operator panel. Almost the same thing was done for the line feed direction.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a print start position setting method for print paper of a serial printer, and particularly to a print start position setting method that allows easy alignment to a desired print start position on any paper without trial printing.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, when printing within a predetermined frame with pre-printed ruled lines, such as on slips or manuscript paper, accurate positioning is required. I had to look at it and make adjustments. This is because the paper position is adjusted when the paper is set in a predetermined position and the print head is waiting at the home position, as shown in FIG. 4. In other words, the print data from the host device is This is because print start position control data such as a line feed code (LF) and a space (SP) is placed at the beginning of the line, and the actual print start position is a distance away from the home position. Therefore, trial printing is repeated many times to make fine adjustments, which wastes paper and takes time.

The present invention was created in view of these problems, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing start position setting method that can easily perform accurate positioning with paper without performing trial printing.

[Means to solve the problem]

Means in the present invention for achieving the above object include a space drive means for driving a carriage carrying a print head so as to reciprocate along a platen, and a line feed drive means for transporting print paper set on the platen. and a control means for analyzing print data given from the outside and controlling at least the space driving means and the line feed drive means, and moving the carriage by space based on the print data given from the outside; The serial printer prints while transporting the paper with a line feed, and includes a mode specifying means for specifying an alignment mode, and when the alignment mode is specified, the control means:
drive the space drive means and line feed drive means to position the print head at a print start position on the print paper by analyzing control data up to the first print character data among the print data given to be printed; The printing start position setting method is used to hold the print head in that position.

[Effect]

When the alignment mode is specified by the mode specifying means,
The control means analyzes control data such as space codes and line feed codes arranged up to the first print character data among print data given to be printed from a host device or the like. If there is a space code, the carriage carrying the print head is moved by a predetermined amount by the space drive means, and if there is a line feed code, the paper is transported by a predetermined amount by the line feed drive means, and the print head starts printing on the printing paper. position and hold the print head in that position to standby.

During this standby state, the operator can adjust the position of the printing paper, etc., if necessary, and adjust the relative position between the printing start position on the printing paper and the print head. As a result, when the alignment mode is canceled and printing starts according to the print character data, printing is performed without any misalignment between the printing start position on the printing paper and the print head.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a control system of a serial printer embodying the present invention. In the figure, ■ is a CPU which is a control means, 2 is a host interface connected to a host device (not shown), 3 is a program ROM, and 4 is a host interface connected to a host device (not shown).
is a character generator that generates character fonts,
5 and 6 are space driving means, 5 is a space motor control circuit, and 6 is a space motor for moving the carriage of the print head. 7 and 8 are line feed driving means, and 7
8 is a line motor control circuit, and 8 is a line motor that drives paper feed. 9 is a line buffer that temporarily stores one line of character font; 1° is a print head control circuit that fires each head pin of the print head based on the output from the line buffer; 11 is a print head; and 12 is an operator panel. be.

This operator panel 12 has a positioning mode button (12a) as a positioning mode specifying means of the present invention.
) is configured. In addition, there is a display section 12b that displays the operating status and a page break (not shown).

Line breaks, small space movements (left, right), and small line breaks (top, right)
(lower) etc. are configured.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main parts of the serial printer of this embodiment. In the figure, 11 is a print head, 21 is a carriage on which the print head 1 is mounted and moves in the space direction, 22 is a platen, 23 is a paper holder, 24 is a head pin, and 25 is provided on the paper holder 23. This is the print start position pointer.

The paper presser 23 is fixed to the carriage 21 of the print head 11 facing the paper surface set on the platen 22.
It is a member that moves in conjunction with the movement in the space direction, and is made of a -ti transparent material, and is engraved with a senna scale etc. as a guide for printing. Print start position pointer 25
is provided in a part that is easy for the operator to see, and facilitates the operator's adjustment of the printing start position. That is, by aligning the printing start position pointer 25 with a desired position on the paper, printing is started from that position. Therefore, when printing actually starts, as shown in FIG.
Correction is made as offset i.

In the above configuration, if the alignment mode button 12a on the operator panel 12 is not pressed, printing is performed in the conventional manner. The operation when specifying the alignment mode by pressing the alignment mode button will be described below with reference to the operation flowchart shown in FIG. In addition, the numbers in parentheses are
Corresponds to the numbers in the figure.

The CPUI always monitors whether the alignment mode button 12a is pressed (■) during idle in the normal mode (■). When the alignment mode button 12a is pressed, "alignment mode" is displayed on the display section 12b,
Indicate this to the operator (■).

Next, when data to be printed is input from the host device via the host interface 2 (■), at the beginning,
It is checked whether there is a line feed code (LF) and a space code (SP), which are print start position control data (
■, ■). If there is a line feed code (LF), the line motor control circuit 7 drives the line motor 8 to move the line feed code (LF) to the platen 2.
Rotate 2 to perform a predetermined line break (■). If there is a space code (SP), the space motor control circuit 5
The space motor 6 is driven to move the carriage 21 by a predetermined space (■).

When the processing using this printing start position control data is completed, in other words, when the next processing is based on the character data to be printed, the display section 12a will display the message "Printing position.m".
Please fix it. ” (■) and waits for operator operation. That is, at this point, the print start position pointer 25 provided on the paper presser 23 indicates the print start position on the paper and has stopped.

At this time, if necessary, the operator corrects the vertical position of the print start position pointer 25 using the minute line feed button (0), and further corrects the horizontal position using the minute space button (■).

At this time of stopping, the CPUI presses the alignment mode button 12a.
(@) and waits for the operator to release the button after making corrections. When the alignment mode button 12a is released, as shown in FIG.
After performing the correction operation ((13, Q) by the offset Is in the horizontal direction and offset IL in the vertical direction), start printing according to the print character data ([
phase]).

In this way, in this embodiment, in the alignment mode, the operation is performed only based on the print start position control data of the print data from the host device, and the operation is stopped. Since the printer is stopped at the same time, the operator can adjust the paper position while checking, and can quickly set an accurate printing start position without performing trial printing.

In the above embodiment, for the convenience of the operator,
A pointer 25 is provided on the paper presser 23 so that the print start position can be easily confirmed, and when printing, correction is performed with the head pin 24. However, if the print start position can be sufficiently recognized with the head pin, then , there is no need to provide a pointer, and therefore no correction is necessary.

Furthermore, although a button is provided on the operator panel as a means for specifying the positioning mode, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be specified or canceled by, for example, a host device.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the printing position can be adjusted by stopping the pointer or the print head at the printing start position on the printing paper, so there is no need to perform trial printing, and therefore paper is not wasted. It is possible to provide a print start position setting method that allows accurate print position alignment with the paper without any problems.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of essential parts of an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 is an operation flowchart of the embodiment, and Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of printing. . 1; CPU (control means); 2; host interface 5; space motor control circuit (space drive means) 6;
Space motor (space driving means), 7; Line motor control circuit (line feed driving means), 8; Line motor (line feed driving means), Il; Print head, 12; Operator panel, 12a; Alignment mode button (mode specifying means) ), 12b
; display section; 21; carriage; 22; platen; 23; paper holder; 24; head pin; 25; print start position pointer. +2a Alignment mode Configuration diagram of one embodiment of the present invention White 11 μsd Printing start position Explanatory diagram of iqm code printing

Claims (1)

[Claims] A carriage (21) equipped with a print head (11),
space driving means (5, 6) that is driven to reciprocate along the platen (22); line feed driving means (7, 8) that transports the printing paper set on the platen (22); At least the space driving means (5, 6) and the line feed driving means (
7 and 8), the serial printer moves the carriage (21) by space based on print data given from the outside, and prints while moving the paper by line feed. There is a mode specifying means (12a) for specifying the alignment mode.
and when the alignment mode is specified, the control means (1)
The space driving means (5, 6) and line feed driving means (7,
8) to position the print head (11) at a print start position on printing paper, and hold the print head (11) at that position.