JPS6227169A - Printing position determining system for serial printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable to print at the optimum position irrespective of the set position of a paper while using the left end of the paper as an original point position, by detecting the left end position and the width of a paper, and preliminarily storing a plurality of pieces of information on the distance from the left end of the paper to the printing position for the first character. CONSTITUTION:A paper sensor 9 is immovably mounted on a carriage 2, and is moved leftward and rightward as the carriage 2 is moved leftward and rightward. The sensor 9 detects the width and the left end position of the printing paper 8. Each time a controlling circuit 10 outputs a phase exciting signal, it rotates a motor 3 one step in a forward or reverse direction through a phase switching circuit 1 and a motor-driving circuit 12. A RAM 13 stores the number of steps from the left end of the paper to the printing position for the first character, and a ROM 14 stores a fixed number of steps to said position which corresponds to the paper width. According to a count on a step counter, the controlling part 10 reads the first character printing position information from the ROM 14, stores it into the RAM 13 as a printing position E, and the subsequent printing is conducted sequentially from the first character printing position stored in the RAM 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a print positioning system in a serial printer.

[Conventional technology]

Print positioning includes positioning in the feeding direction of printing paper, such as printing positioning disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-220774, and positioning in a direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of printing paper, that is, in the printing direction.

This positioning system in the printing direction will be explained based on the conventional example shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, 1 is a print head, which is fixedly mounted on a movable carriage 2. In FIG. Reference numeral 3 denotes a motor, which moves the carriage 2 in the left-right direction via a pulley 4 and a space belt 5. A home sensor 6 detects the origin position of the print head 1. 7 is a platen, 8 is a printing paper, and the platen 7 is rotated and fed out by a motor (not shown).

In a serial printer with such a configuration, when the power is turned on, the motor 3 rotates and the print head 1 moves to the left.
When the origin position A is reached, the motor 3 stops and the print head 1 stops.

Here, a position B, which is a fixed distance away from the origin position A as a reference, is set as the ae first character first mark position, and when printing the nth half day, the motor 3 is rotated to head the print head. 1, and when it reaches the n-th half-day printing position, the print head 1 is driven to perform printing.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in this prior art example, since the entire printing position is determined using the home sensor as a reference for the origin position, there is a problem that the printing position from the left end of the printing paper changes depending on the setting position of the printing paper.

For example, in the case of a slip on which a printing format is pre-printed, if the setting position of the printing paper is shifted, there is a problem that the printing position may be printed out of the specified frame.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and its purpose is to prevent the printing position from the left edge of the printing paper from changing regardless of the setting position of the printing paper, and to adjust the printing position according to the paper width. An object of the present invention is to provide a serial printer that prints at an optimal position.

[Means to solve all problems]

In order to achieve all of the above objects, the present invention includes a detection means mounted on a movable carriage to detect the left edge position and width of the paper, and a plurality of pieces of distance information from the left edge of the paper to the printing position of the first half moon in advance. It is characterized by being fully equipped with a memory circuit for storing data.

[Effect]

In the present invention having the above-mentioned characteristics, first, by the first spacing operation of the carriage, the left end of the set printing paper and the entire width of the paper are detected by the paper sensor while counting with the total movement counter. According to the detected paper width, the control section reads the printing position information of the first half-moon from the memory circuit, performs a predetermined spacing operation based on this printing position information, and then sequentially prints from the first half-moon. In this case, regardless of the print position set position, the left edge of the paper is set as the origin position, and the distance from the left edge of the paper to the first half-moon printing position is changed according to the paper width to print at the optimal position. .

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1, 3, and 4. It should be noted that the same parts as in the conventional example are given the same numbers and their explanation will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a print positioning method for a serial printer according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, the paper sensor 9 uses, for example, a light reflection type sensor, a pressure type sensor, or a magnetic type sensor, but in this embodiment, a pressure type sensor will be described.

This paper sensor 9 is fixedly mounted on the carriage 2.
, moves left and right as the carriage 2 moves in the left and right direction. At this time, the output of the paper sensor 9 becomes logic "1" in a place where there is printing paper 8 because the pressure is large, and in a place where there is no printing paper 8, there is a gap between the platen 7 and the paper sensor 9 and the pressure is high. decreases, resulting in the logic "OH". As a result, the paper seventer 9 detects the paper width and the left edge position of the paper.

Further, the motor 3 is a space motor, and the carriage 2 is moved in all left and right directions via a pulley 4 and a space belt 5.

In FIG. 1, the control unit 10 rotates the motor 3 one step in either the forward or reverse direction via the phase switching circuit 11 and motor drive circuit 12 every time it outputs a phase excitation signal. 13 is a step number storage circuit from the left edge of the paper to the printing position of the first half moon; for example, in this embodiment, a read/write random access memory (hereinafter referred to as RAM) is used. 14 is the first from the left edge of the paper corresponding to the paper width.
Has a fixed step number memory circuit up to the half-moon printing position,
For example, in this embodiment, read only memory (hereinafter referred to as RO
It is written as M. ) is used.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a print positioning method for a serial printer according to the present invention. This fourth
The operation of the above configuration will be explained based on the drawings. In order to simplify the explanation, it is assumed that the position of the paper sensor 9 before the power is turned on is within the range where the printing paper 8 is set.

First, when the power is turned on, the control unit 10 switches the phase switching circuit 11
and the motor 3 in the forward direction via the motor drive circuit 12.
The paper sensor 9 is rotated step by step and the entire output of the paper sensor 9 is monitored while the carriage 2 is moved to the left in the entire figure. The control unit 1
motor 3 is completely stopped.

Then, after completely clearing the step number counter (hereinafter referred to as counter) (not shown), the motor 3 reversely rotates one step at a time, and the carriage 2 moves completely to the right.
The control unit 10 monitors all outputs of the paper sensor 9 while the counter increases by one.

The control unit 10 stops the motor 3 at the position where the output of the paper sensor 9 is switched from on to off (ie, the right edge position of the paper).

If the counter value at this time is α, the paper width k a %, and the total moving distance of the carrier 2 per step of the motor 3 is d, then α = a/a holds true, and the counter value α represents the entire paper width. It turns out.

Next, the control unit 10 controls the ROM according to the counter value α.
14, the printing position information of the first half moon is read out from RAM13.
is stored as the printing position point E of the first half-moon, and subsequent printing is performed in order from the first printing position stored in the RAM 13. By the way, the printing position information of the first half moon written in the ROMI 4 is as shown in the table below, for example, when the carriage 2 travel distance per one step of the motor 3 is 1. When all the first half-moon position information is received from the external device, it is stored in the RAM 13 as the first half-moon printing position.

The spacing amount input from the external device is stored in a predetermined location of the RAM 13.

At this time, if the position information of the first half moon is specified by the number of motor steps, it is stored as is in the RAM 13, and if it is specified as a distance, the b/a calculation result iRA
Store in M13. That is, in the case of indirect designation, the entire spacing information is not directly inserted, but is stored at the entire beginning of the address where the information is stored.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the printing positioning method of the serial printer according to the present invention, the left edge and the paper width of the set printing paper are detected by the detection means by the first spacing operation of the carriage, and the detected paper width is Accordingly, all of the printing position information of the desired first half-moon is read out from the memory circuit, a predetermined spacing is performed based on the printing position information, and printing is performed from the first half-moon, thereby achieving the full effect shown below. .

In other words, the printing position of the first half-moon from the left edge of the paper can be set to a desired position regardless of the paper setting position, so the operator does not need to adjust the printing paper height to the paper setting position, and the printing position for each printing paper can be set at a desired position. This has the effect of eliminating variations in Furthermore, since printing is performed at the optimum position according to the width of the paper, the printing result is easy to see and the printing is well-balanced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a conventional example, Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows one example. 1... Print head 2... Carriage 3... Motor 8... Print paper 9... Paper sensor 10...
・Control unit 11...Phase switching circuit 12...Motor drive circuit 13...RAM14...ROM

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Detection means mounted on a movable carriage to detect the left edge position and width of the paper, and a memory that stores in advance a plurality of pieces of distance information from the left edge of the paper to the printing position of the first character. The detection means detects the paper left edge and paper width of the set printing paper by the first spacing operation of the carriage, and according to the detected paper width, the desired first character is selected from the memory circuit. A print positioning method for a serial printer, characterized in that the print position information of the serial printer is read, and after predetermined spacing is performed based on the read print position information, the print information is printed on paper from the first character.