GB2148796A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Recording apparatus such as a typewriter, a printer or the like comprises: a print ribbon cassette 8 having a recording material; a carriage having a solenoid or a cam 19 for moving the cassette; a detector for detecting the vertical or horizontal moving amount of the cassette; and a controller for controlling the moving condition of the cassette moved by the carriage on the basis of an output from the detector. The moving time of the ribbon cassette is changed in accordance with the typing speed of the operator or the size of character to be recorded. Thus, the whole printing time can be shortened and the noise generated in association with the typing operation can be reduced. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Recording apparatus Background of the invention Field of the invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and, more particularly, to the movement of the recording section.

Description of the prior art In recording apparatuses such as, for example, a thermal printer, a wire-dot printer, further, a word-processor, a typewriter, etc., more functions and higher performance are being realized. Particularly, in a typewriter and the like which can edit and the like, the burden for the operator is reduced and other person than the operators who were well trained especially can make a high grade document.

However, among such many functions, there are also functions which are particularly useful for only the operators who are relatively experienced and which are not fitted for use by a beginner, it is difficult for the beginner to use such an apparatus.

For example, the ribbon lifting operation when recording is also one of such inconvenient functions.

A typewriter as a conventional recording apparatus of this kind, in particular, will now be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3.

Figure 1 is an illustration for explaining the external appearance of the typewriter. A keyboard 1 is disposed on the upper surface on this side of the typewriter. The recording is performed on a recording paper 4 wrapped around a platen 3 through a type wheel 6 attached to a carriage 2 which is reciprocated horizontally.

The type wheel 6 is disposed on the side of the platen 3 of the carriage 2 and is rotated by a motor (not shown).

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the recording section and Figure 3 is a side elevational view. A hammer unit 7 is disposed on this side of the type wheel 6. A hammer 7a is attached to the point of the hammer unit 7.

Also, a print ribbon cassette 8 is detachably attached over the carriage 2.

The print ribbon cassette 8 has left and right arms 8a and 8b. The print ribbon pulled out from the side of the arm 8b is led in the side of the other arm 8a and is wound in the print ribbon cassette 8. This print ribbon passes through the gap between the type wheel 6 and the platen 3 as indicated at a numeral 8c in Figure 3.

On the other hand, the print ribbon cassette 8 is rotatably supported to the side of the carriage 2 through axes 8d. When the cassette 8 is installed over the carriage 2, it is retained by hooks 5 so as not to be detached.

In addition, a torsion coil spring 10 is disposed below the print ribbon cassette 8. One end of the spring 10 is stopped on the carriage side, while the other is in contact with the bottom surface of the print ribbon cassette 8.

In addition, a solenoid 9 is disposed below the bottom surface on the point side of the print ribbon cassette 8. A rod 9a of the solenoid 9 is in contact with the bottom surface of the print ribbon cassette 8. When no current is supplied to the solenoid 9, the rod 9a is located in the lower position. In this state, the print ribbon cassette 8 is rotated clockwise in Figure 3 by the torsion coil spring 10, so that the print ribbon 8c is in the state dropped from the printing position.

Upon printing, when a signal is inputted from the keyboard, the solenoid 9 is excited and the rod 9a is protruded upwardly, so that the print ribbon cassette 8 is rotated counterclockwise in Figure 3 and the print ribbon 8c reaches the printing position.

In this way, whenever the printing is performed by operating the keyboard, the print ribbon is lifted to the printing position and is immediately shifted from the printing position after the printing, thereby enabling the print to be checked.

However, this ribbon lifting operation has drawbacks such that the solenoid 9 has to be driven and the extremely large noise is generated since the rod 9a is brought into contact with the print ribbon cassette 8.

Therefore, recently, in the case where the printing is continuously performed, the ribbon lifting operation is not performed for every character but the printing is executed while the lifted state is held under the electronic control.

Namely, when the next print key is inputted within a certain preset time interval after the printing, the lifted state is kept to eliminate the noise in association with the ribbon lifting operating and to omit the time necessary for the lifting, thereby realizing the silent and high-speed operation. Figure 4 shows the flowchart in this case. In step 1, when a key signal is inputted, the ribbon shifting operation is performed in step 2. The type corresponding to the key input is selected from the type wheel 6 or the like in step 3. The printing hammer 7a is driven in step 4 and the next key signal is checked to see if it is inputted or not in step 5. If the next key signal is not inputted, the processing is returned to step S2. Next, in step 6, the discrimination is made to see if the waiting time tn (e.g., 200 msec) has elapsed or not.If the waiting time tn does not elapse yet, the processing will be return to step 5. If it has elapsed, the ribbon dropping operation will be executed in step 7.

However, in the case where the characters which have been once stored in the memory by the key inputs are recorded and printed at once in the WIW mode (the recording is performed on a word unit basis), LIL mode (the recording is performed on a line unit basis), etc., the ribbon lifting operation is controlled and the printing can be performed while in the lifted state without carrying out the ribbon lifting and dropping operations whenever one character is printed. However, in the typewriters having only the ordinary C/C mode (the recording is performed on a character unit basis) without such modes, the waiting time tn of Figure 4 is determined on the basis of the experienced operator as a reference.If these typewriters are operated by the beginner whose printing operation speed is slow, the ribbon will have been lifted and dropped whenever the printing is performed, so that the noise is generated and the time necessary for lifting the ribbon is also added to the printing speed as a whole. Therefore, the typing speed will have become late more and more.

Summary of the invention The present invention is made in consideration of the above points and intends to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks.

It is an object of the invention to provide a recording apparatus in which the recording operation can be controlled in accordance with the user.

Another object of the invention is to provide a recording apparatus in which the noise generated upon recording is reduced.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a recording apparatus which can control the time regarding the lift and drop of a member supporting a recording medium.

Afurther object of the invention is to provide a recording apparatus which can change the moving condition of the member having a recording material.

Still further object of the invention is to provide a recording apparatus which can change the moving condition of the member having the recording material in dependence upon the recording operation or inputting operation or the like.

Brief description ofthe drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional recording apparatus; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the recording section; Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the recording section; Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the recording sequence; Figure 5 is a perspective view of a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied; Figure 6 is a control block diagram of the recording section; Figure 7 is a perspective view of the recording section in case of lifting and dropping a ribbon by means of a pulse motor and a cam; Figure 8 is a side elevational view of the recording section in case of lifting and dropping the ribbon by means of the pulse motor and cam; Figure 9 is a partial detailed diagram of a controller 13; and Figure 10 is a control block diagram for the recording.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment The present invention will now be described in detail hereinbelow with reference to the drawings.

Figures 5 and 6 are diagrams for explaining an embodiment of the invention, in which Figure 5 illustrates an external view of a typewriter as an example of the recording apparatus and Figure 6 is a control block diagram of the recording apparatus. In the diagrams, the same parts and components as those shown in Figures 1 to 3 are designated by the same reference numerals and their descriptions are omitted.

In this embodiment, a selector dial D is provided near the keyboard 1 as shown in Figure 5. The holding time interval of the solenoid 9 is controlled by operating the selector dial D with the finger, thereby enabling the ribbon lifting movement in accordance with the capability of the operator to be performed. In addition, the selector dial D may be a button or numerical value inputting keys and is not limited to this.

Namely, the selector dial D is connected to a variable resistor (or volume) 11 as shown in Figure 6 and by controlling the variable resistor 11 through the selector dial D, the value of current outputted is changed. This current is converted to the digital signal by an AID converter 12. This data is inputted to a controller 13. The controller 13 controls a driver 15 backed up by a power supply 14. Thus, the holding time of the solenoid 9 (or may be a pulse motor 18 which will be mentioned later) can be controlled (or may be controlled by means of the pulse motor 18 which will be explained later).

With such a structure, the holding time of the solenoid 9 can be freely selected by the operator himself in accordance with the capability of the operator, so that this makes it possible to allow the lifting operation of the ribbon, which is material for recording to be performed in accordance with the capability of the operator.

Therefore, the generation of noise in association with the ribbon lifting operation as in the conventional recording apparatus is prevented, while the decrease in printing speed as a whole caused due to the ribbon lifting operation can be also suppressed. In addition, the time necessary for lifting and dropping the ribbon can be freely set by the operator, so that it is possible to allow the lifting operation of the print ribbon to be executed in accordance with the capability of the operator. The generation of noise in association with the lifting operation of the print ribbon can be prevented. The time required for the lifting operation of the print ribbon can be eliminated from the whole printing time interval, thereby enabling the whole printing time to be shortened.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the recording section in case of lifting and dropping the ribbon by means of a pulse motor and a cam. Figure 8 is a side elevational view of the recording section similarly to Figure 7.

In Figure 7, a cam lever 16 is equipped under the bottom surface of the arm 8b of the print ribbon cassette 8 so as to be freely rotatable around an axis 17 over the carriage main body 2. This lever 16 has arms 16a and 16b. The arm 1 6b is in contact with the bottom surface of the cassette arm 8b, while due to the weight of the cassette 8 itself, the other arm 1 6a is in contact with an eccentric cam 19 fixed to the output axis of the pulse motor 18. Thus, the ribbon lifting and dropping operations can be performed by controlling the pulse motor 18 as shown in Figure 8.

Although the above description has been made with respect to the control for the lift and drop of the ribbon, it may be constituted so as to control the moving amounts in the lifting and dropping operations. In other words, in the cases where the data to be recorded is "A" and the like and where it is the data such as """ (i.e., a quotation mark) or the like which exists on the upper side of the area for recording one character, by merely changing the down-operating amount, there is an effect such that the recording speed is remarkably improved. This is because, in case of ,for example, it can be seen by the user without completely dropping the ribbon to its lowest position, so that the next recording operation can be quickly performed. In addition, the movements to the right and left are also similar to the above.It is obvious that the above data can be easily discriminated by the input code. Further, this moving amount changing method is also applied similarly to the cases where the movement is controlled through the above-mentioned solenoid and where it is controlled through the cam.

On the other hand, in addition to that the control of the time regarding the movement of the ribbon mentioned above is merely varied by the manual inputting, the time regarding the movement of the ribbon, e.g., the lift-state continuation time, down-state continuation time, movement time, etc. may be controlled by discriminating the smoothness of the stroke of the previous key input by way of measurement of the time interval between the key inputs and arithmetic logic operation of the mean value or the like. In addition, the standard time may be stored by the back-up power supply such that the time sequence is returned to the standard time after a predetermined time interval has elapsed. The above description can be also similarly applied to an impact printer, a wire-dot printer, a thermal transfer copying type printer, or other printers having a hammer.

Next, the controller 13 in Figure 6 will be further described in detail for explaining further in detail the control for the lifting and dropping times of the ribbon. Namely, as shown in Figure 9, the data obtained by the variable resistor 11 and A/D converter 12 is outputted to the controller 13. For instance, as shown in Table 1, in case of the dial "2", the data (e.g., "0000 1 0 1 0") corresponding to 100 msec is outputted to the controller 13.

TABLE 1 Variable resistor Time dial scale (msec) 1 50 2 100 3 150 4 200 18 900 19 950 20 1000 As shown in Figure 9, in the controller 13, the above data is inputted in a down-counter 20 and a control signal is outputted from the down-counter 20 to the driver 15 for allowing the driver 15 to drive in accordance with the data. In addition, it is possible to similarly constitute even when an ROM table as shown in Table 1 corresponding to the dial is provided.

Next, the case will be explained whereby the time regarding the recording operation is changed by discriminating the smoothness of the stroke of the input of a key 21 (time interval between the key input and the next key input. Figure 10 shows a control block diagram of which Figure 6 is drawn in more detail. In Figure 10, the data corresponding to the input of the key 21 is inputted to a key buffer 22. The data is sent from the key buffer 22 to a memory controller 26 such as a text memory or the like. On the other hand, a counter 23 counts how many characters are inputted as the data in the key buffer 22 within a predetermined time interval. The data corresponding to the predetermined time is outputted through a latch circuit 25 to the driver 15 at a predetermined timing on the basis of the ROM table similar to Table 1 in an ROM 24 in response to the count data. In place of the key buffer and counter, it is also possible to constitute such that the time interval between the key inputs is measured by a timer. Further, the time intervals of the key inputs of a plurality of number of times are measured and the average time between the key inputs may be calculated.

Claims (38)

1. A recording apparatus comprising: a member having a recording material; moving means for moving said member; and an operable means for changing the moving condition of said member by said moving means.

2. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said moving means vertically moves said member.

3. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said moving means has a solenoid.

4. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said moving means has a cam.

5. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said operable means changes the time regarding the movement of said member.

6. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said operable means changes the moving amount of said member.

7. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said member has a ribbon.

8. A recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said operable means controls the current supplied to said solenoid.

9. A recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said operable means controls a motor for driving said cam.

10. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said operable means can perform the dial input or key input.

11. A recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said key input includes a numerical value input.

12. A recording apparatus comprising: a member having a recording material; a recording means for performing a predetermined recording through said member; and control means for controlling the movement of said member, wherein said member being movable.

13. A recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said control means vertically moves said member.

14. A recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said control means drives a solenoid.

15. A recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said control means drives a motor.

16. A recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said control means controls the time regarding the movement of said member.

17. A recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said control means changes a moving amount of said member.

18. A recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said member has a ribbon.

19. A recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said recording means is a hammer or a thermal head.

20. A recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said control means controls the current supplied to said solenoid.

21. A recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said control means controls a motor for driving a cam.

22. A recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said control means can perform the dial input or key input.

23. A recording apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said key input includes a numerical value input.

24. A recording apparatus comprising.

a member having a recording material; moving means for moving said member; detecting means for detecting a parameter regarding the movement of said moving means; and control means for controlling the moving condition of said member by said moving means on the basis of an output from said detecting means.

25. A recording apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said moving means vertically moves said member.

26. A recording apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said moving means has a solenoid.

27. A recording apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said moving means has a cam.

28. A recording apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said control means controls the time regarding the movement of said member by said moving means.

29. A recording apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said control means controls a moving amount of said member.

30. A recording apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said member has a ribbon.

31. A recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said control means controls the current supplied to said solenoid.

32. A recording apparatus according to claim 27, wherein said control means controls a motor for driving said cam.

33. A recording apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said control means can perform the dial input or key input.

34. A recording apparatus according to claim 33, wherein said key input includes a numerical value input.

35. A recording apparatus according to claim 33, wherein said parameter is a parameter regarding the input.

36. An electronic typewriter having means for moving the ribbon from its operative position to an inoperative position after a predetermined time has lapsed following termination of printing; and means for varying said predetermined time.

37. A typewriter according to claim 36, wherein said varying means is manually adjustable so that said predetermined time may be manually selected.

38. Recording apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 5 to 10 of the accompanying drawings.