JP2003226032A - Line printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a line printer capable of performing the recording by effectively utilizing a power of a battery even when printing rates of images are different from each other. <P>SOLUTION: This line printer comprises a line thermal head 6 for performing the recording a desired image or the like on a recording paper, a paper feed motor 5 for conveying the recording paper at a predetermined speed, and a control device 1 that controls the paper feed motor 5 to raise the conveying speed of the paper as the printing rate is lowered by calculating the printing rate of the image to be recorded based on the image data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a line printer, and more particularly to a line printer which is driven by a battery and is capable of recording images having different printing rates by effectively utilizing the electric power of the battery.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a line thermal head having a length dimension capable of facing a widthwise printing range of a recording medium is brought into contact with a platen roller, and in this state, a paper feed motor is provided. A line printer that records a desired image or the like by rotating a platen roller to convey a recording medium and selectively driving a plurality of heating elements of a line thermal head based on recording information to generate heat. It has been known.

In such a line printer, a small-sized printer which is driven by a battery such as an alkaline battery or a nickel-cadmium battery and is portable has been developed in recent years.

In such a small-sized line printer, the paper feeding motor and the platen roller are driven by the electric power supplied from the battery to perform desired recording on the recording paper. . When this recording is performed, conventionally, the recording speed, that is, the conveying speed of the recording paper is constant regardless of the image data.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional line printer, recording is performed with a constant conveying speed of the recording paper regardless of the image data, but the printing rate of the recorded image is high. Not constant. here,
The printing rate refers to the sum of the gradation values of each dot in one printed image, and when printing in binary gradation, the printing rate is high for a dark image that uses a lot of black, and white is used a lot. That is, the printing rate is low for a bright image with little black recording.

For example, comparing the night sky landscape image, the portrait image, and the snow mountain landscape image, the night sky landscape image has the highest print rate, and the snow mountain landscape image has the lowest print rate. Images of portraits have an intermediate printing rate.

The higher the printing rate of the recorded image, the larger the load on the line thermal head, and the lower the printing rate, the smaller the load on the line thermal head.

However, in the conventional line printer, since the printing is always performed at a constant speed even when the printing rate is different, when printing an image with a low printing rate, the power consumption is small and the battery is used. There is a problem in that efficient recording cannot be performed by making full use of the power that can be given.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a line printer capable of effectively utilizing the electric power of a battery to perform recording even when the image printing rate is different. The purpose is to

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a line printer according to the present invention is provided with a line thermal head for recording desired images on a recording sheet.
A paper feed motor for feeding the recording paper at a predetermined speed is provided. While the recording paper is fed by the paper feed motor, each heating element of the line thermal head is selectively driven based on image data to generate heat. A line printer that records desired images by
A control means is provided for calculating the printing rate of the recorded image based on the image data, and controlling so that the feeding speed of the recording sheet by the paper feed motor becomes faster as the printing rate becomes lower. is there.

According to the present invention, the control means calculates the printing rate of the recorded image based on the image data, and controls so that the feeding speed of the recording paper by the paper feed motor becomes faster as the printing rate becomes lower. I am doing so
As the printing rate of the recorded image decreases, the paper feed speed is increased to increase the load on the paper feed motor, which makes it possible to effectively utilize the electric power supplied from the battery and perform efficient recording. .

According to another aspect of the present invention, in claim 1, the rotation speed value of the paper feed motor for controlling the conveyance speed of the recording paper according to the printing rate of the recording image is set in advance, and the control is performed. The means is provided with a paper feed motor control table storing the rotation speed value of the paper feed motor.

According to the present invention, the control means extracts the rotation speed value of the paper feed motor stored in the paper feed control table according to the printing rate of the recorded image, and the paper feed motor is operated based on this rotation speed value. Since the drive is controlled, the control according to the printing rate of the recorded image can be performed quickly and easily.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a line printer according to the present invention. The line printer is a control means for inputting predetermined image data or the like to control the operation of each part of the line printer. The control device 1 has a CPU 2, and the control device 1 has a CPU 2. A motor speed control means 3 and an energization time control means 4 are respectively connected to the CPU 2, and the motor speed control means 3 is connected to a paper feed motor 5 for carrying a recording paper. The energization time control means 4 is connected to a line thermal head 6 in which a plurality of heating elements (not shown) are arranged in a line in a direction orthogonal to the recording paper conveyance direction.

Further, the control device 1 is provided with a memory 7 having a predetermined capacity, and the memory 7 stores a paper feed motor control table 8 and a head energization control table 9. . Further, C of the control device 1
An environmental temperature sensor 11 for measuring the environmental temperature of the line printer and a head temperature sensor 12 for measuring the temperature of the line thermal head 6 are connected to the PU 2 via the A / D converter 10. There is.

In the present embodiment, the paper feed motor control table 8 stores in advance the rotational speed value of the paper feed motor 5 according to the printing rate of the recorded image. Specifically, for example, when the printing rate of the recorded image is high, the rotational speed value (high-speed recording) of the paper feed motor 5 for recording at a speed of 0.5 ips (inch per second), When the printing rate is intermediate, 0.7 ip
When the rotation speed value (medium speed recording) of the paper feed motor 5 that performs recording at a speed of s, and the printing rate of the recorded image is low, 1.
The rotation speed value (low speed recording) of the paper feed motor 5 for recording at a speed of 0 ips is stored.

In addition, the head energization control table 9 stores in advance a correction table and the like according to the environmental temperature measured by the environmental temperature sensor 11 and the temperature of the line thermal head 6 measured by the head temperature sensor 12. .

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In the line printer of this embodiment,
First, the control device 1 inputs image data (ST1).
Then, the CPU 2 analyzes the image data, sums the gradation values of the dots of the recorded image, and calculates the printing rate of the recorded image. Then, based on the calculated printing rate of the recorded image, the recording mode at which the recording should be performed is determined (ST2).

When the recording mode is determined, the CP
The rotation speed value of the paper feed motor 5 corresponding to the printing rate is fetched from the paper feed motor control table 8 of the memory 7 by U2 (ST3), and the recording speed is determined (ST4). Then, this rotation speed value is sent to the motor speed control means 3,
The motor speed control means 3 drives and controls the paper feed motor 5 based on this rotation speed value.

On the other hand, based on the recording data and the recording mode, the energizing range of the line thermal head 6 according to the width dimension of the recording paper from the head energizing table, or the correction table according to the environmental temperature and the temperature of the line thermal head 6, etc. Is taken out and sent to the energization time control means 4, and each energization time control means 4 drives each heating element of the line thermal head 6 to feed the recording paper at a predetermined speed by the paper feed motor 5 while the line thermal head is being fed. According to 6, desired recording is performed on the recording sheet (ST5).

Specifically, when the printing rate is high, 0.5i
It is recorded at a speed of 60 seconds / sheet at ps, is recorded at a speed of 40 seconds / sheet at 0.7 ips when the printing rate is intermediate, and is 30 seconds / sheet at 1.0 ips when the printing rate is low. Recording is to be done. When the printing rate is intermediate or low, the load on the line thermal head 6 is reduced, but the paper feed speed is increased to increase the load on the paper feed motor 5.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the paper feed speed is changed in accordance with the printing rate of the recorded image, and the load of the paper feeding motor 5 is increased as the printing rate decreases, so that the battery is not used. Efficient recording can be performed by effectively utilizing the supplied power.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified as necessary.

[0026]

As described above, the line printer according to the present invention controls so that the conveyance speed of the recording paper by the paper feed motor becomes faster as the printing rate of the recording image based on the image data becomes lower. Therefore, as the printing rate of the recorded image decreases, the paper feeding speed is increased to increase the load of the paper feeding motor, which effectively utilizes the electric power supplied from the battery to perform efficient recording. be able to.

According to another aspect of the invention, the rotation speed value of the paper feed motor stored in the paper feed control table is retrieved according to the printing rate of the recorded image, and the paper feed motor is drive-controlled based on this rotation speed value. As a result, there is an effect that control according to the printing rate of the recorded image can be performed quickly and easily.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a line printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a recording operation by the line printer of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 control device 2 CPU 3 Motor speed control means 4 energization time control means 5 Paper feed motor 6 line thermal head 7 memory 8 Paper feed motor control table 9 head energization control table 11 Environmental temperature sensor 12 Head temperature sensor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A line thermal head for recording a desired image or the like on a recording sheet, a paper feed motor for feeding the recording sheet at a predetermined speed, and the sheet feeding motor for feeding the recording sheet. A line printer for recording a desired image or the like by selectively driving each heating element of the line thermal head based on image data to generate heat while printing the recorded image based on the image data. A line printer provided with a control means for calculating the rate and controlling the conveyance speed of the recording paper by the paper feed motor to increase as the printing rate decreases. 2. A rotation speed value of the paper feed motor for controlling the conveyance speed of the recording paper according to the printing rate of the recording image is set in advance, and the control means is provided with the rotation speed of the paper feed motor. The line printer according to claim 1, further comprising a paper feed motor control table storing values.