JPH03218837A - Dot matrix printing of characters in vertical and lateral directions - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To print characters vertically and laterally by providing two axes which cross each other at almost right angles, then a printing head arranged at an angle inclined to the two axes, and controlling the dot output timing of nozzles to the output pulse of each encoder. CONSTITUTION:A printing head H is arranged at X and Y axes as well as at an angle inclined to the X and Y axes so that a dot matrix printing technique is performed. The inclined angle of the printing head H should preferably be 45 deg. so that the height of characters is at the same level in both X and Y axis directions. The printing head H has nozzles N arranged at an interval L in a straight line. Thus it is possible to print characters in a lateral direction such as ABC and in a vertical direction such as XYZ by printing data, moving an object for printing with the movement of the inclined printing head H along the X axis or the Y axis.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention applies a print head having a plurality of nozzles arranged in a straight line to printing objects such as thick plates, bongs, drums, etc. The present invention relates to a dot matrix printing method in which printing is performed while moving relative to a printing target.

[Prior art and problems to be solved] In conventional dot matrix printing devices, a print head with a plurality of nozzles arranged in a straight line is arranged at a position of 90 degrees with respect to the printing direction. Therefore, in order to change the printing direction, the print head had to be mechanically rotated. For this reason, it is necessary to provide a mechanism for rotating the print head, which increases the size of the entire apparatus and increases the cost. Further, as the print head rotates, the piping and cables also rotate, which tends to cause problems. Furthermore, since the print head is mechanically rotated, the printing direction cannot be instantaneously switched.

In addition, since the above-mentioned print head arranged at 90 degrees with respect to the printing direction cannot set the desired resolution because the nozzle interval is fixed, the multi-nozzle inkjet printer described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 158232/1984 cannot set the desired resolution. In this method, a desired resolution is obtained by changing the apparent nozzle spacing without changing the actual nozzle spacing by changing the angle of a row of nozzles arranged in a straight line with respect to the printing direction. However, in this case as well, only one printing direction was considered.

An object of the present invention is to provide a dot matrix printing method that can instantly switch the printing direction without mechanically rotating the print head and without incurring any expense.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above object, the don't matrix printing method according to the present invention includes two axes that are substantially perpendicular to each other and a print head disposed at an angle oblique to these two axes, and the movement of each of the two axes. Characters are printed in the vertical and horizontal directions by controlling the output timing of a plurality of nozzles in response to output pulses from each encoder depending on the direction and amount of movement.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the dot matrix printing method of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the X and Y axes that are perpendicular to each other in order to carry out the dot matrix printing method of the present invention, and the
The printhead H is shown arranged at an oblique angle to the axis. The inclination angle of the print head is preferably 45 degrees so that the character height is the same in both the X-axis and Y-axis printing directions. The print head H has a plurality of nozzles N arranged in a straight line with an interval L between them.

By printing while moving the tilted print head H along the X-axis or Y-axis relative to the printing target, characters can be printed horizontally like ABC or vertically like XYZ, respectively. can do.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a Bronnok diagram of the main parts of a printing device for carrying out the method of the present invention. The printing head H has n nozzles N, . N. . . . has Nl. The number n of nozzles is preferably 10 to 20.

This printing device includes a character symbol storage device C that generates an electrical output corresponding to a dot matrix representation of characters to be printed.
It has G. Since the print head H is inclined, the timing of ejection from each nozzle N differs by an interval L cos 45° between each nozzle in the printing direction. For this reason, a delay circuit SR having stages corresponding to the number of nozzles is interposed between the character/symbol storage device CG and the drive circuit D.

The signal generation timing for the character symbol storage device CG and the delay time for the delay circuit SR are determined by appropriately processing the output pulses of the encoders E and E2 according to the movement directions (11) and movement amounts of the X and Y axes, respectively. It is controlled by a control counter C. Encoder E1 is provided to measure the amount of movement in the X-axis direction, and encoder E2 is provided to measure the amount of movement in the Y-axis direction.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the dot matrix printing method of the present invention, two axes that are substantially perpendicular to each other and a print head that is arranged at an angle with respect to these two axes are installed, and four Characters are printed in the dark blue direction and in the horizontal direction by controlling the dot output timing of multiple nozzles in response to the output pulses of the encoder, so there is no need for a mechanism to mechanically rotate the print head as in the past. The printing direction can be instantly switched between the vertical and horizontal directions with the tilted print head posture. Therefore, the printing device according to the method of the present invention is inexpensive and allows reliable printing in the vertical and horizontal directions. It is.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a layout diagram for explaining the dot matrix printing method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an example of a block diagram of the main parts of a printing device for implementing the method of the present invention. H...Print head, N...Nozzle, D...Drive circuit, SR...Delay circuit, CG...Character signal storage device, C...Control counter, E1, Ez...Encoder

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In the dot matrix printing method, in which printing is performed by moving a print head with multiple nozzles arranged in a straight line relative to the printing target, there are two axes that are almost perpendicular to each other, and By installing a print head arranged at an inclined angle and controlling the dot output timing of multiple nozzles in response to the output pulse of each encoder according to the movement direction and amount of movement of each of the two axes, vertical How to print characters in the direction and horizontal direction.