JPH0474680A - Printer device - 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 [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a printer device, and more particularly to a printer device that uses an ink ribbon with a recording head to perform transfer onto a recording medium, for example.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a ribbon feed motor (
In a printer device that uses a DC motor for the ribbon motor (hereinafter referred to as the ribbon motor), the ink ribbon winding process is carried out by a switch that detects the end of winding the ribbon for the characters to be printed and stops the ribbon motor. This was done using so-called closed-loop control. In this type of control, even if a switch detects the end of ribbon winding and turns off the ribbon motor at that point,
Because the ribbon motor does not stop immediately due to inertia,
You may end up winding up more ribbon than the specified amount. Therefore, in order to eliminate such problems, in conventional printer devices, when the end of ribbon winding is detected, the ribbon motor is first rotated in reverse for a certain period of time, and the brake is forcibly applied, thereby quickly winding the ribbon. The motor was controlled to stop.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional example described above, the inertia of the ribbon motor varies depending on the ribbon load and the friction of the drive system, so the printer that keeps the reverse rotation time constant as described above In the case of machines, the brakes may be insufficient and the ribbon may wind more than specified, or conversely, the brakes may be too strong and the ribbon may wind in the opposite direction (thereby causing double printing on the printed area of the ribbon). However, there was a drawback that the ribbon may become sagging.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer device that can perform braking for an appropriate time to wind up an ink ribbon.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a printer device of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, it is a printer device that uses an ink ribbon to perform transfer onto a recording medium by a recording head, and includes a ribbon winding means for winding the ink ribbon, and a ribbon winding means for winding the ink ribbon to a predetermined length. The apparatus further comprises a braking means for braking the winding of the ink ribbon by the ribbon winding means, and a control means for controlling the braking time by the braking means according to the winding time of the ink ribbon by the ribbon winding means. A printer device characterized by:

[Operation] With the above configuration, the present invention operates to perform braking corresponding to the ribbon winding time.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a daisy-wheel printer control section that is a typical embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the daisy-wheel printer control section includes a clutch 3, a carriage motor 16, a wheel motor 9,
Ribbon motor 13, solenoid 31, CPU32, RO
M33, RAM34, interface 35, timer 36
and a CPU bus 40.

Here, the CPU 32 includes a ROM 33 that stores a program and data for executing printer control, which will be described later, and a RAM that is used as a work area when executing this program.
34 are connected by a CPU bus 40. Further, the interface 35 is provided for data communication with the outside, and the CPU 32 uses this interface 35 to read print commands from the outside.
It is configured to perform a print operation. Furthermore, the timer 36 is connected to the CPU 32 by a CPU bus 40, and is used for timing to determine the timing at which each mechanism constituting this embodiment operates.

Further, FIG. 2 is a sectional view outlining the structure of the daisy-wheel printer of this embodiment. In FIG. 2, rollers and paper guides (not shown) are provided on the outer circumferential surface of the platen 1, and the print paper 2 is wound and held therein, while a carriage 11 equipped with printing means (to be described later) is moved around the center axis of the platen 1. The carriage 11 is slidably held by a support shaft 14 fixed to the printer body and one end surface 17a of the body frame 17 so as to be movable parallel to the printer body.

On the other hand, the wheel 8 is provided so that the necessary number of typefaces can be independently moved around the outer periphery, and any character can be printed by the wheel motor 9 mounted on the carriage 11. driven to choose.

The ink ribbon 18 is, for example, a so-called one-time carbon ink ribbon that can be printed only one time.It is stored in the ribbon cassette 12, and a part of it is pulled out of the ribbon cassette 12 to connect the wheel 8 and the printing paper. It is arranged between 2.

Further, the printing hammer 10 is energized by a solenoid 31 (not shown) on the carriage 11, and hits the type on the wheel 8 from the back toward the printing paper 2, so that the ink on the ink ribbon 18 is transferred onto the printing paper 2. The image is transferred and printed.

On the other hand, the rotational force generated by the carriage motor 16 is decelerated by bevel gears 16a and 16b, and then transmitted to the carriage 11 via the carriage belt 15, causing the carriage 11 to reciprocate. In addition, the carriage motor 16
The direction of rotation of the rotating shaft is counterclockwise, which is referred to as reverse rotation, and the carriage 11 is attached to the carriage belt 15 so that the carriage 11 moves leftward at this time.

Further, the rotational force generated by the carriage motor 16 is transmitted to the clutch 3 via feed pulleys 19a, 19b and a feed belt 20. Clutch 3 is CPU32
According to instructions from the CPU 32, the rotating force transmitted to the feed pulley 19b is optionally applied to the platen gear 4a,
4b. Since the platen gear 4b is fixed to the platen 1, the wound print paper 2 is driven vertically by the rotational force transmitted through the clutch 3. Note that the transmission system is designed such that when the carriage motor 16 rotates in the reverse direction of the rotation direction of the platen 1, the print paper 2 is driven upward.

Next, in the platen day tent mechanism 5, the clutch 3 is disengaged and the platen 1 The platen day tent mechanism 5 prevents unnecessary rotation of the platen 1 even when the platen 1 is in a freely rotatable state. I am able to move.

FIG. 3 is a sketch of the ribbon winding system in the carriage 11. The ribbon motor 13 located at the bottom of the carriage 11 transmits its rotational force to the ribbon winding shaft 21 through a deceleration mechanism (not shown). The ribbon winding shaft 21 is engaged with the winding shaft of the ribbon cassette 12 placed on the upper part of the carriage 11, and the ink ribbon 1 is
You can wind up 8.

On the other hand, the ribbon winding shaft 21 is always connected to the ribbon cam 22, and the ribbon cam 22 is rotated by the rotation of the ribbon winding shaft 21. This ribbon cam 22
is a circular shape with unevenness on the outer periphery, and when the ribbon cam lever 23 moves up and down along the unevenness on the outer periphery, the ribbon cam lever 23 whose fulcrum is set on the carriage 11 turns on the ribbon cam switch 24. Off (OFF)
It can be done. The ribbon cam spring 25 has both ends fixed to the carriage 11 and the ribbon cam lever 23, and tension causes the tip of the ribbon cam lever 23 to be attached to the ribbon cam 22.
The pressing action acts to attract the ribbon cam switch 24 in the ON direction.

4 and 5 show changes in the states of the ribbon cam lever 23 and ribbon cam switch 24 as the ribbon cam 22 rotates. FIG. 4 shows the position of the ribbon cam 22 in a print standby state. In this state, the ribbon cam switch 24 is turned on.

Next, FIG. 5 shows the ribbon cam 22 and other conditions when the ink ribbon 18 starts to be rolled up. ribbon cassette 12
When the ribbon winding shaft 21 is rotated counterclockwise when viewed from the top surface of the carriage 11 to wind up the ink ribbon 18, the tip of the ribbon cam lever 23 touches the ribbon cam 22.
The ribbon cam rides on the white part on the outer periphery of the carriage 11, rotates clockwise around the fulcrum fixed to the carriage 11, and opens the ribbon cam switch 24, turning the switch OFF.

Furthermore, when the ribbon cam 22 rotates 90 degrees from the state shown in FIG. 4, the states of the ribbon cam 22, ribbon cam lever 23, and ribbon cam switch 24 are the same as in FIG. 4, that is, the ribbon cam switch 24 is turned ON.

In this embodiment, the ribbon winding shaft 21 rotates counterclockwise 9
The ribbon cassette 12 and other mechanisms are designed so that new ink ribbon 18 necessary for printing can be supplied every time the ribbon cassette rotates 0 degrees.

FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the rotation angle of the ribbon winding shaft 21, that is, the ribbon cam 22, and the 0N10FF state of the ribbon cam switch 24.

When the rotation angle of the ribbon cam 22 in the printing standby state in FIG. 4 is set to 0 degrees and the ribbon cam 22 is rotated counterclockwise by approximately 15 degrees, the output of the ribbon cam switch 24 changes from ON to OFF. When the ribbon cam switch 24 rotates further and reaches a position of about 75 degrees, the output of the ribbon cam switch 24 changes from OFF to ON. After that, the ribbon cam switch 24 turns this output ON-〇FF→
The ON change is repeated every 90 degrees of rotation of the ribbon cam 22.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart showing the sequence of printing one character by the printer device of this embodiment, from time t to t1□ when the state of each actuator changes.
It is represented by the symbols up to. Furthermore, FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure for realizing the above-described one-character printing sequence, and each process is represented by symbols 81 to S16. Here, the process of printing one character by the printer device of this embodiment will be explained using FIGS. 7 and 8.

First, at time tl, in step S1, character selection interrupt processing of the wheel motor 9 is activated. Thereafter, the character selection process of the wheel motor 9 is executed in the background by interrupt processing using the timer 36, so from this flowchart, which is a foreground process, the wheel motor character selection process is executed except for the flag indicating that the character selection process has ended. The contents are no longer visible. Note that the background character selection processing technology of the wheel motor 9 is already well known, so a description thereof will be omitted. Next, at time t2, in step S2, the ribbon motor 13 is rotated forward, the ribbon winding shaft 21 is rotated counterclockwise to begin winding up the ink ribbon 18, and the ribbon cam 22 also begins to rotate counterclockwise.

The process waits in step S3 until the states of the ribbon cam 22, ribbon cam lever 23, and ribbon cam switch 24 change as shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 5, and when the output of the ribbon cam switch 24 turns OFF at time t3, Step S
At step 4, time measurement is started using the timer 36.

Wait until the states of the ribbon cam 22, ribbon cam lever 23, and ribbon cam switch 24 change again as shown in FIG. 4 and the output of the ribbon cam switch 24 turns ON (step S5), and when it turns ON at time t4, timer 3
The time from time t after completing the time measurement in step 6 to time t4 (hereinafter referred to as ribbon winding time (t))
is calculated (step S6).

Next, at time js, in step S7, the brake time (tゎ) of the ribbon motor 13 is determined based on t (determination method will be described later), and at time t6, in step S8, the ribbon motor 13 is rotated in the reverse direction, and Start applying the brakes.

After rotating the ribbon motor 13 in the reverse direction during the brake time (tb) in step S9, the ribbon motor 13 is stopped at time jy in step S10.

Next, at time t8, after waiting until the character selection process of the wheel motor 9 in the background is completed due to the interrupt process activated earlier in step Sll, the character selection process corresponding to the character to be printed is performed in step S12 based on a known technique. Printing pressure (in this example, the energization time of the solenoid 31 (1, +)
), the solenoid 31 is energized at time ji+ in step S13. In step S14, the wait time t is reached, and when the time too comes, the energization of the solenoid 31 is ended in step S15, and finally, in step S16, the carriage motor 16 is driven in the same manner as the selection of the wheel motor 9. After activating the interrupt process and performing procedures such as processing the driving of the carriage motor 16 in the background, the sequence of printing one character is completed.

As described above, the printer device of this embodiment realizes printing.

Next, the procedure for determining the brake time (70) corresponding to the ribbon winding time (t,) performed in step S7 of FIG. 8 will be explained. FIG. 9 is a graph showing the results of preliminary experimental studies of the appropriate braking time (tb) relative to the ribbon winding time (t) for the ribbon winding system of the printer device of this embodiment. It is.

A method of applying this data to the printer device of this embodiment will be described below.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the resolution of t can be sufficiently coped with on the order of 10m s, and FIG. 10 shows the relationship between t8 and seven values when divided into units of 10 m5.

Next, in order to apply this to an actual printer device, the first
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the data in FIG. 0 developed on the ROM 33 of this embodiment, and FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for referring to the contents on this memory. Incidentally, the time variables appearing below are expressed in units of ms unless otherwise specified.

First, in step S20, the offset variable X is set to t, /
Assign a value of 10. Next, in step S21, the value of the variable
At step 22, the printer error is notified to the user and subsequent processing is stopped. On the other hand, if the value of the variable
The contents of the address obtained by adding the variable X to RKTBL are assigned to the variable t5 and the process ends.

Therefore, if this embodiment is followed, even if the load on the ribbon and ribbon winding system changes, the ribbon winding time (tl)
Since an appropriate braking time (tl,) can be determined based on the above, rapid (accurate) braking of the ribbon motor can be achieved.

[Other Examples] Next, other examples will be explained. In the above embodiment,
The process of step S7 in FIG.
ROM containing the brake time (t5) corresponding to
I was trying to refer to them individually from the table above. However, the above-mentioned example based on the table reference is based on the assumption that the resolution of the ribbon winding time (t,) is about 10 ms, so the resolution is the same 10 ms even in another printer device. There are no guarantees. For example, this resolution may be 1 ms, and in this case, the size of the reference table becomes 10 times the original size.

In order to cope with such a case, in this embodiment, the brake time (tb) corresponding to the ribbon winding time (t6) is
We will explain how to find it not from a table but from a calculation formula.

Similar to the previous embodiment, the relationship between the ribbon winding time (t8) and the corresponding ideal braking time (tb) is
When expressed by the curve shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the braking time (tb) is determined by finding a function f (X) that approximates the curve in FIG. 13. Specifically, in the case of this embodiment, this function f (X) is expressed as a quadratic function, f (X>
=0.00625X" -0,75X + 29.8
75 (however, the unit of X is ms), and this function is applied as tb = f (t-) in step S7 of FIG. 8 to obtain the braking time (tゎ).

A flowchart showing this processing procedure is shown in FIG. In addition, the time variables shown below are as follows, unless otherwise specified.
It is expressed in ms.

First, in step S30, the value of the variable t8 is checked, and if it is 50 or more, it is assumed that the value of t is too large, that is, the printing device is likely to be malfunctioning due to a mechanical problem in the ribbon winding system. In step S31, the printer error is notified to the user and subsequent processing is stopped. On the other hand, if the value of the variable t8 is less than 50, in step S32, the value of f(t,) from the above-mentioned function f(X) is substituted into the variable ◯, and the process ends.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the ribbon winding time (t
By determining the braking time (tb) corresponding to 1) using a function that approximates the braking time (tb), a more accurate braking time (tb) can be obtained without dividing t by unit time.

In the above embodiments, a daisy-wheel printer was used as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the present invention can be applied to thermal head printers, ball head printers, and the like.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the ink ribbon can be appropriately wound.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a daisy-wheel printer control section that is a typical embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of the daisy-wheel printer, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the inside of the daisy-wheel printer. A sketch of the ribbon winding section in the carriage. Figures 4 and 5 show the states of the ribbon cam and ribbon cam lever. Figure 6 shows the relationship between the rotation angle of the ribbon cam and the on/off output of the ribbon cam switch. Figure 7 is a timing chart showing the print sequence, Figure 8 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the print sequence, and Figure 9 is a diagram showing the ribbon winding time (t,) and ideal braking time (tb). A diagram showing the relationship with the value, Figure 10 is 1
A diagram showing the relationship between the ribbon winding time (t,) in units of 0 m5 and the ideal braking time (tゎ). Figure 11 shows the relationship between the address in the ROM and the brake time (tゎ) stored in the ROM. A diagram showing the relationship between values, Figure 12 is RO
A flowchart showing the procedure for referring to the address in M and the value of the brake time (tゎ). Figure 13 shows the function tb that approximates the relationship between the ribbon winding time (t,) and the ideal brake time (tb). =t'
(t, ), and FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure for determining the braking time (t5). In the figure, 1...platen, 2...print paper, 3...
...Clutch, 4...Platen gear, 5...Daytent mechanism, 6...Spring member, 7...Knob, 8...
Wheel, 9... Wheel motor, 10... Printing hammer 11... Carriage, 12... Ribbon cassette, 13... Ribbon motor, 14... Support shaft, 1
4... Carriage belt, 16... Carriage motor, 17... Body frame, 18... Ink ribbon, 19... Feed boo 9. 20... Feed belt, 21... Ribbon winding Shaft, 22... Ribbon cam, 23... Ribbon cam lever 24... Ribbon cam switch, 25... Ribbon cam spring, 31... Solenoid, 32... CPU. 33...ROM, 34...RAM, 35...interface, 36...timer, 40...CPU bus. Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 8 Figure 9 Shij Section 10 Section 11 Figure 12

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A printer device that uses an ink ribbon to perform transfer onto a recording medium using a recording head, comprising: a ribbon winding means for winding the ink ribbon; and a winding of the ink ribbon to a predetermined length by the ribbon winding means. a braking means for braking the winding of the ink ribbon by the ribbon winding means after the ink ribbon is taken up; and a control means for controlling a braking time by the braking means according to a winding time of the ink ribbon by the ribbon winding means. A printer device comprising: