JPS62199470A - Thermal head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable easy replacement of a thermal head to be performed by integrally connecting a specification information output circuit capable of outputting information which shows part of electrical and physical specifications on a drive circuit and a cluster of resistor elements. CONSTITUTION:A memory 3 is turned to a positive state on a chip select signal S6 from a controller, maintaining an address bus A in a prearranged state. At the same time, specification stored in the memory 3 is read out onto a data bus D on a readout signal S5. After this, if printing data is output onto the data us D, it is input to a driver 2 on a latch signal S1, and drive parameters for a resistor element 1 are determined on the basis of specification information which is read out from the memory 3 using the controller. Next, the driver 2 is instructed on a control signal S2 and printing is executed on a timing signal S2. Thus specification information on the controller need not be reset each time a thermal head is replaced and said head can be easily replaced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a thermal head installed in a facsimile printer, a ticket vending machine, or the like.

(Prior Art) Thermal heads have been widely used in facsimile machines, printers, ticket vending machines, and the like.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a typical thermal head.

Note that this thermal head is of the so-called direct drive type.

In the figure, 1 is a resistor element made up of a plurality of elements, 2 is a driver that applies a drive signal to the resistor element 1, and D
is a data bus that sends print data to the driver 2, SL is a latch signal that causes the driver 2 to take in data, and $2 is a timing signal that gives the driver 2 timing for printing.

In this thermal head, when print data is first output from the controller (not shown) to the data bus D, the driver 2 sets the data on the data bus D to an internal latch (not shown) in response to the latch signal S1. .

Next, according to the timing signal S2, the driver 2 applies a drive signal to the resistor element 1 corresponding to the latched data, and the print command is executed.

Recently, a device has been developed in which thermal heads with different specifications can be selectively attached to one device to obtain characteristics depending on the purpose.

In such devices, in order to perform printing control according to the specifications of the thermal head, information indicating the specifications of the thermal head (hereinafter referred to as specification information) is set in the controller of the device. However, each time the thermal head is replaced, the specification information in the controller must be reset, which is a time-consuming problem.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and when configuring a device that can selectively attach thermal heads with different specifications to obtain characteristics according to the purpose, The purpose is to provide a thermal head that does not require the trouble of resetting specification information in the controller every time the thermal head is replaced.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The thermal head of the present invention includes a group of resistor elements that generate heat according to the application of a drive signal, and a drive circuit that generates a drive signal in accordance with the printing to be performed. and a specification information output circuit capable of outputting information indicating part of the electrical and physical specifications of the drive circuit and the resistor element group.

(Function) Therefore, if a plurality of sets of thermal heads of the present invention having different specifications are prepared and each specification information is stored in advance in each specification information output circuit, each thermal head can be selectively attached to the device. Also, the controller on the device side can easily recognize the specifications of the head.

(Example) Hereinafter, details of an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
Parts common to those in FIG. 2 are given the same reference numerals.

In the figure, 1 is a resistor element group consisting of a plurality of elements, 2 is a driver that supplies energy to the resistor element group 1, 3 is a nonvolatile memory in which specification information can be written and read via a data bus D, and Sl is a A latch signal that causes the driver 2 to take in data, SL is a timing signal that gives the driver 2 the timing of printing, and S3 is the driver 2
A is an address bus for accessing the memory 3, S4 is a write signal for writing data on the data bus D to the memory 3,
S5 is a read signal for reading data in the memory 3;
6 is a chip select signal for activating the memory 4;

Next, the operation of the thermal head of this embodiment will be explained.

First, the memory 3 is activated by a chip select signal S6 output from a memory writing device (not shown), and the address bus A and data bus D are maintained in predetermined states. Further, by outputting the write signal S4 from the memory writing device, information indicating the specifications of the thermal head is written in advance at a predetermined address on the memory 3.

Note that the specification information in this embodiment is, for example, the following information.

(a) Energy characteristics corresponding to the environmental conditions of the thermal head, such as the relationship between temperature and power consumption (b) Arrangement state of the resistor elements (C) Driving frequency of the resistor elements (d) Resistor elements relative to paper The thermal head of this embodiment is attached to the main body of the apparatus according to the information method (pressing force (e)) indicating whether printing is performed by reciprocating movement or only by movement on one side.

Note that this means connecting the thermal head to the controller on the device main body side.

Here, since the memory 3 is non-volatile, the data on the memory 3 is retained.

Then, the memory 3 is activated by the chip select signal S6 outputted from the controller, the address bus A is kept in a predetermined state, and the specification information on the memory 3 is outputted from the controller. Read out onto data bus D. This allows the controller to recognize what specification of thermal head is connected.

Print data is then output from the controller onto the data bus D, and the driver 2 takes in the data on the data bus D into an internal latch (not shown) in response to a latch signal S1.

Roughly speaking, the controller determines the driving conditions for the resistor element 1 based on the specification information read from the memory 3, and instructs the driver 2 using the control signal $3.

After the above, when the timing signal S2 is outputted from the controller, a drive signal is supplied to the resistor element 1 corresponding to the latched print data under the preset drive conditions, and printing is executed.

Thus, according to the thermal head of this embodiment, since the controller can set the driving conditions of the thermal head according to the specification information stored in the memory 3, it is possible to store the specification information of each thermal head in the controller in advance. There is no need to store it.

In this embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a general thermal head has been described. However, the present invention is also applicable to a so-called conductive thermal head in which ink on an ink ribbon is heated by electric resistance between the head and an ink ribbon. It can also be applied to heat-sensitive type thermal heads.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the thermal head of the present invention includes a group of resistor elements that generate heat in response to application of a drive signal, a drive circuit that generates the drive signal in accordance with printing to be performed,
This drive circuit and a specification information output circuit capable of outputting information indicating a part of the electrical and physical specifications of the resistor element group are integrally combined, so that each thermal head is replaced every time the thermal head is replaced. There is no need to reconfigure the specification information in the controller.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional thermal head. 1...Resistor element group 2...Driver 3...Memory applicant Toshiba Corporation Agent Patent attorney Satoshi Suyama - No. Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A group of resistor elements that generate heat according to the application of a drive signal, a drive circuit that generates the drive signal in response to a print command to be executed, and electrical and physical 1. A thermal head, characterized in that it is integrally coupled with a specification information output circuit capable of outputting information indicating a part of specifications.