JPH0358870A - Paper feeding control device in printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] An object of the present invention is to improve the operator's convenience in paper transport control when performing a tear-off operation so that the page boundary is always located at the tear-off edge regardless of the paper position. tear-off operation start instructing means for supplying a tear-off operation start signal; tear-off control means for outputting a paper transport signal in response to the tear-off operation start signal; driving the paper transport means in response to the paper transport signal; a paper transport control means for transporting the paper toward a tear-off position located downstream from the printing position; a paper management means for storing current position information of the paper and tear-off transport information; and the current position information and tear-off transport amount. The calculation means calculates the paper transport amount based on the information and outputs the paper transport amount to the paper transport control means, and calculates the paper transport amount according to the current position of the paper in response to an instruction to start the tear-off operation. It was designed to change the situation.

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a paper transport control device in a printer, and more particularly to paper transport control when performing a tear-off operation.

Continuous forms or cut sheets are normally used as print media for printers, but a tear-off function is provided for the convenience of users who use continuous forms. Tear-off (Te
The ar-off operation is a function that tears off only the printed paper.

It is desirable that the final true length of the sheet torn off in this manner is the original page length.

[Prior Art] A conventional tear-off function is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,761,087.
It is disclosed in the specification of No.

That is, when the operator presses a switch for instructing the start of the operation, the paper is transferred a fixed amount in the forward direction from the current position. A tear-off edge is formed downstream of the printing section, and the paper is transported until the printed line exceeds this tear-off edge by a predetermined distance.

Here, the operator tears the paper by pulling the paper so that the printed surface of the paper touches the edge.

Next, the control unit of the printer transports the paper a predetermined amount in the opposite direction based on the operator's depression of the switch. This causes the leading edge of the paper to face the printing section.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Generally, in a continuous form, perforations are provided at page boundaries for the convenience of separating pages.

However, in conventional tear-off operations, the paper feed amount prior to tear-off is always constant, but the line printed at the time when the start of tear-off is instructed, that is, the final line printed, varies depending on the amount of printing information. Become.

Therefore, the length of the final page of the sheet torn by the operator will be shorter than the page length defined by the regular lines.

Furthermore, since the portion of the paper that is applied to the edge is different from the perforation, the end surface of the paper does not lie neatly on a straight line.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to
The purpose is to improve operator convenience so that the page boundary is always located at the tear-off edge.

[Means to solve the problem]

FIG. 1 is a drawing explaining the principle of the present invention, in which 1 is a tear-off start instruction means, 12 is a tear-off control means, 1
3 is a calculation means, 14 is a paper management means, 15 is a paper transport control means, and 16 is a paper transport means.

The tear-off start instructing means 11 is, for example, a switch that is pressed by the operator, and by pressing the switch, the tear-off operation start signal (S1) is sent to the tear-off control stage 0.
2).

In response to this signal (S1), the tear-off control means
A paper transport signal (S) is sent to the paper transport control means (15).
2) is sent.

Paper management Tear-off transfer amount information (LT) and paper current position information (LFP) are stored.The current position information (LFP) indicates whether paper is being transferred in the forward or reverse direction. , that information will also be updated.

The calculation means 0 calculates the paper transport amount based on this current position information (LFP) and tear-off transport 1 (LT), and sends the calculation result to the paper transport control means (15).

A paper transport control means (15) drives a paper transport means (16) to transport the paper toward a tear-off position located downstream of the printing section.

[Effect]

When the start of the tear-off operation is instructed, the calculation means (13
) calculates the distance corresponding to the distance between the printing section and the perforation from the current position information (LFP), and adds the tear-off transfer amount (LT) to this distance, and sets the paper transfer amount to the paper transfer control means (15). ). As a result, the paper is fed so that the perforations correspond to the tear-off position.

Therefore, no matter where printing ends on the paper, the true boundary will always be located at the tear-off position.

〔Example〕

2 to 6 are for explaining an embodiment of the paper feeding device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall structure of the serial printer, in which 21 is the printer body, 22 is a cover,
23 is an operator panel.

The printer body 21 includes a printing throat 21l and a platen 2.
12, pail roller 2l3, curisody motor 214,
It is equipped with parts necessary for printing, such as a tractor 215 for paper feeding.

The upper cover 22 covers the entire printer body 21, and the upper surface of the printing section is made of a transparent material.

The operator panel 23 is attached to a part of the enclosure 22, and is provided with various switches operated by the operator and a display section that notifies the operator of the status of the printer in text.

FIG. 3 shows a side sectional view of the printer. carrier 216
is guided by a guide shaft 217 and driven back and forth in the axial direction of the shaft by a carriage moke 214 (see FIG. 2). The print head 21 is mounted on the carriage 216.
1 is installed. Furthermore, a paper guide 218 is fixed to the carriage 211.

This guide 218 functions to accurately guide the paper into the minute gap between the print head 211 and the platen 212.

The platen 212 is rotatably supported by the printer base and rotationally driven by a line feed motor.

The tractor 215 is for transporting continuous forms P,
The endless belt has a plurality of pins that engage with feeding holes provided at both ends of the form, and is rotationally driven by the line feed motor.

A temporary pinch 218 is provided at the bottom of the platen 212,
The continuous form P transported by the tractor is guided to the printing section in cooperation with the paper guide 218.

A pail roller 213 is provided downstream of the printing section, and presses the paper against the platen 212 to prevent the paper from lifting off the surface of the platen in the printing section. When the paper is inserted, the pail roller 213 moves counterclockwise around the fulcrum 2l31 so that the paper enters between the roller and the platen 212.

The upper cover consists of a front force bar 221 and a rear cover 222, and paper is discharged to the outside of the printer through a paper discharge hole defined between both covers.

An edge member 223 having a blade 224 is fixed to the front cover 221 so as to face the paper discharge hole. This blade 224 is a portion that comes into contact with the cut portion of the paper during the tear-off operation.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the functions of the printer. C
The PU 41 is connected to an interface control unit 43, an operator panel 42, a ROM 44 for character pattern generation, and an I? via a data path and an address bus. A paper management unit 45 consisting of A1, a line buffer 46 consisting of the same <RA)'I, a timer 47, various sensors 48, and each driver 4
9 to 52, and is in charge of overall control.

The interface control unit 43 is connected to a host such as a personal computer, receives printing information and control information, and transmits printer status and the like to the host.

The operator panel 42 includes a plurality of switches 81 to B3 operated by an operator and a switch control section 421 that controls the switches. The switch B1 is used by the operator to instruct the printer to start a tear-off operation, and the switch B2 is used by the operator to instruct the printer to end the tear-off operation. The switch B3 is used to instruct the printer to suck paper, for example.

The paper management section 45 has three registers 451 to 453. 451 stores the current position information (LFP) of the paper, 452 stores the length information (LO) of the continuous form P, and 453 stores the tear-off transfer amount (LT).

When the paper sheet P is transported in the forward and reverse directions by the tractor 215, the current paper position information (LFP) is increased or decreased depending on the amount of transport. The length information (L0) is specified by the host or instructed by the operator from the operator panel.

Tear-off transport 1 (LT) corresponds to the distance between the printing section and the blade at the tear-off position, and this amount is determined by the size of the printer.

The timer 47 monitors the passage of time, and for example, the coefficient start is set when the reception signal from the host is interrupted, and is reset when the reception signal is input from the host, so that the reception signal continues for a certain period of time. If it continues to be interrupted, a time-up signal is sent to the CPU 41.

The sensor 48 may be a sensor for detecting the end of paper, or an edge sensor for detecting the leading edge of paper when sucking paper.

The dryer 49 drives the pail roller magnet 491, and presses the pail roller 213 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) against the platen and retracts it.

The driver 50 drives the print head 211,
Information to be printed (character pattern information) is supplied, activates a predetermined electromagnetic unit, and drives the printing element.

The driver 51 drives the line feed motor 511 to rotate in forward and reverse directions, and transports the paper via the tractor 215 and platen 212.

The driver 52 rotates the carriage motor 214 (see FIG. 2) in forward and reverse directions, and moves the carriage 216 (see FIG. 3) along the platen.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the tear-off operation according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a drawing showing the positional relationship of each part. Below, the tear-off operation will be explained along FIG. 5 with reference to FIG. 6.

First, the operator selects switch B1 on the obe spring.
By pressing , the tear-off operation starts. That is, whether or not the switch B1 is pressed is monitored, and when it is pressed, the switch control unit 421 sends a start signal to the CPU 41.

The start of the tear-off operation may be triggered by a start signal being sent to the CPU when the timer 47 (see FIG. 4) times up.

When the CPU receives either the start signal from the timer or the start signal from the display panel, the paper management section 45
It is determined whether the stored contents of the register 451 are a predetermined value (for example, 0).

When the content of the register 451 is O, it means that the first line of the page is located at the printing position PP (see FIG. 6).

When the contents of the register 451 are other than 0, the CPU 41 subtracts the contents of the register 451 from the contents of the register 452 to obtain a value (LFF), and the CPU 41 subtracts the contents of the register 451 from the contents of the register 452 to obtain a value (LFF).
1 in the forward direction to transport the continuous form P in the direction of the arrow cw. As a result, the first line of the third page P3 of the form P matches the printing position pp.

Thereafter, the CPU 41 refers to the register 453; rotates the line feed motor 511 in the forward direction by the amount of transport i1 (LT), and further transports the paper in the direction of arrow CW. Upon completion of this step, the perforation, which is the boundary between the second and third pages of the form P, coincides with the tear-off position T○P.

If this state is explained with reference to FIG. 3, the blade 224 and the perforation line will match.

In this state, the operator can separate the forms at the perforations, that is, the page boundaries, by holding the paper exposed from the amber cover 22 and pulling it toward the front cover 221.

Next, when switch B2 on the operation panel is pressed by receiving a reception signal from the host or by the operator, the CPU 41 refers to the register 453,
The line feed motor 5l1 is rotated in the opposite direction by the amount (LT). As a result, the form P is transferred in the direction of the arrow CCW,
The first line of the third page is lost at the printing position PP. In this way, a series of tear-off operations are performed, and printing continues from the third page onwards.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, first, the LFF reverse line feed and the LT reverse line feed were explained as separate operations (Lo-LFP
+LT) may be calculated at one time and the operation of transporting the perforation to the tear-off position may be performed in one operation.

Further, although LT is used for both normal line feed and reverse line feed, it goes without saying that the amount of LT may be changed depending on whether it is a normal line feed or a reverse line feed.

In addition, the print disclosure line is 1 inch (approximately 25 mm) from the top of the page.
), the leading edge of the paper will be between the pail roller and the platen at 176 inches when the reverse line feed is completed, even if the pail roller 213 remains in pressure contact. If so, the leading edge of the paper will be located in front of the point of contact between the hail roller and the platen when the reverse line feed is completed.

Therefore, if the paper is subjected to a normal line feed while printing continues, a situation arises in which the leading edge of the paper is no longer pressed against the platen by the pail roller. Therefore, as mentioned above,
For printers whose top margin is set to 1/6 inch, if you want to continue printing after the reverse feed operation has finished, move the pail roller away from the platen until the leading edge of the paper is in a position where it can be pressed against the platen. You need to evacuate.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, in the case of a tear-off operation, the ξth line, which is the page boundary of a form, is placed vertically on the tear-off edge, regardless of the printing position on the paper, so that tear-off can be performed on a page-by-page basis. Operation becomes possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram explaining the principle of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a serial printer to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing the main structure of the printer shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the serial printer. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the tear-off operation. FIG. 6 is a model diagram showing the positional relationship of the main parts of the printer. In the figure, 11... Tear-off start instruction means 12...
... Tear-off control section 1, 4 ... Paper management means 15 ... Paper transport control means 16 ... Paper transport means 215 ...・Tractor 212 ・・・・・・Platen 211 ・・・・・・Print head 224 ・・・・・・Blade PP・・・・・・Print position TOP ・・・・・・Tear-off Position P...
...Continuous form

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Tear-off operation start instruction means (11) for supplying a tear-off operation start signal (S1); and tear-off control means for outputting a paper transport signal (S2) in response to the tear-off operation start signal (S1). (12)
and a paper transport means (16) in response to the paper transport signal (S2).
a paper transport control means (1) that drives the paper (P) and transports the paper (P) toward a tear-off position located downstream from the printing position;
5), a paper management means (14) for storing current position information (LFP) and tear-off transfer amount information (LT) of the paper (P), and a paper management means (14) for storing the current position information (LFP) and tear-off transfer amount information (LT) the calculation means (13) calculates the paper transfer amount based on the paper transfer amount and outputs the transfer amount to the paper transfer control means (15); A paper feed control device for a printer, characterized in that the paper feed control device changes according to the current position of the printer.