JPH09169131A - Transfer control method for multi-line thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: A print data transfer time is shortened by skipping data setting to a portion of a head that is not involved in recording and setting data only in a portion related to recording. A multi-line thermal printer 11 includes:
It has a ribbon cassette discriminating means 23 for detecting the width of the mounted ink ribbon 22. The CPU 1 determines the transfer width of print data corresponding to the detected ribbon width. The thermal printer controller 10 receives the print data transmitted from the CPU 1 according to the transfer width, and transfers the print data to the thermal head unit 21. The thermal head unit 21 receives print data according to the transfer width and sets the data in the head.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer control system of a multi-line thermal printer which is mounted on an information terminal device such as a Japanese word processor and a personal computer and can print a plurality of lines at a time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A multi-line thermal printer mounted on a conventional information terminal device has a head composed of a plurality of heating element groups arranged in a sheet passing direction, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-24241. It has, and prints a plurality of lines at a time. This multi-line thermal printer prints on paper by melting the ink of an ink ribbon coated with a thermal transfer ink by a heating element group that has generated heat according to print data.

The ink ribbons include color ink ribbons and black and white ink ribbons, but these ink ribbons usually have different ribbon widths. For example, a color ink ribbon has a ribbon width corresponding to one line, and a monochrome ink ribbon has a ribbon width exceeding the maximum head width. The color ink ribbon is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-98190, in which inks of different colors (for example, yellow, magenta, and cyan) are sequentially coated in the longitudinal direction for each fixed segment, and each color signal is output. In accordance with the above, the ink is selectively melt-transferred.

The reason why the ribbon width for printing is changed according to the color of the ink ribbon is to improve both the efficiency of use of the ink ribbon and the speed of recording processing.
That is, in the case of thermal transfer color recording, if a certain color is to be recorded according to a designated color signal, the ribbon must be wound up until the ink color reaches the bed position. In this case, the wound ribbon is unused and is wasted, which increases the running cost of color recording. In particular, in a wide-line multi-line thermal printer that simultaneously prints a plurality of lines, the ink ribbon width becomes wider as the recording width becomes wider, resulting in a larger waste of the ink ribbon area.

However, when looking at examples of practical color recording, most of them are used in a one-point manner, and it is more efficient to record with a narrow recording width for such usage. Therefore, in the conventional multi-line thermal printer, wide recording is performed over a plurality of lines at one time in monochrome recording to improve throughput, and narrow recording is performed for each line in color recording to improve ribbon use efficiency. I am trying to

[0006]

However, the multi-line thermal printer disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-24241 has the following problems. That is, when printing is performed using several types of ink ribbons having different ribbon widths, when the ribbon width is smaller than the maximum print width of the head, recording is performed by only a part of the heating elements of the head.
At this time, since "0" data is transferred to each element group that is not involved in printing for printing and printing is performed, it takes time to transfer the print data.

A conventional transfer control method when the ribbon width is smaller than the maximum print width of the head will be described with reference to FIG.
The head 101 having 100 dots has an upper portion 101a of the upper 50 dots and a lower portion 101b of the lower 50 dots.
Consists of In this figure, the upper portion 101a is a dot that is not involved in recording, and the lower portion 101b is a dot that is involved in recording. When printing with such a head 101,
Recording is performed using the area 102b within the dotted line of the ribbon 102. At this time, conventionally, the upper portion 101a is set with "0" data for each printing. Therefore, as described above, since it is necessary to transfer the “0” data to the head 101 for each printing, a long transfer time is required.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to skip data set to a portion of the head which is not involved in recording and to store data only in a portion related to recording. It is to provide a transfer control method for a multi-line thermal printer that can reduce the transfer time of print data by setting.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the transfer control method of a multi-line thermal printer according to claim 1 of the present invention recognizes the detection information of the width of the mounted ink ribbon. A central processing unit (for example, a CPU) that determines the portion used for recording by the recording head and also determines the transfer width of print data corresponding to the detected ribbon width, and the printing transmitted from the central processing unit. A thermal printer controller for receiving data according to the transfer width and transferring print data to the recording head is provided.

With the above arrangement, when the width of the ink ribbon to be used is detected, the detected ribbon width is recognized by the central processing unit. As a result, the portion used for recording by the recording head is determined, the transfer width of the print data corresponding to the ribbon width is determined, and the transfer number of the print data is set according to the transfer width. The above print data is
It is transferred to the recording head via the thermal printer controller.

At this time, since the thermal printer controller receives the print data in which the number of transfers is set according to the transfer width, according to the transfer width, only the minimum data required for recording is sent from the central processing unit. It will be transferred to the thermal printer controller.

Therefore, when printing is performed using an ink ribbon having a width smaller than the head width, the data which is not involved in the recording of the head is transferred as "0" data, as compared with the conventional transfer control method. The transfer time of print data between the central processing unit and the thermal printer controller can be shortened by the amount that 0 "data is not transferred. Also,
As a result, the time taken for the central processing unit to transfer data is also shortened, and the operating efficiency of the central processing unit is also improved.

In the transfer control system of the multi-line thermal printer according to a second aspect, in addition to the configuration according to the first aspect, the thermal printer controller causes only the print data received to develop color at the time of printing. The feature is that the number of ON data, which is data, is calculated.

According to the above configuration, the number of ON data of only print data received by the thermal printer controller is calculated. Based on this information, processing such as heat storage correction is performed. As a result, when printing is performed using an ink ribbon with a width smaller than the head width, "0" data is generated compared to the conventional one in which the number of ON data including the "0" data of print data was calculated. The calculation time can be shortened by the amount omitted. As a result, the central processing unit
It is possible to shorten the waiting time for obtaining the calculation result of the number of N data.

According to a third aspect of the transfer control system of the multi-line thermal printer, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect, the thermal printer controller transmits the print data to the recording head in accordance with the transfer width. The number of data is controlled, and the recording head receives the print data according to the transfer width.

According to the above arrangement, when the print data is transferred from the thermal printer controller to the recording head,
The thermal printer controller transmits print data according to the transfer width, and the recording head receives print data according to the transfer width.

As a result, when printing is performed using an ink ribbon having a width smaller than the head width, data which is not involved in recording is transferred as "0" data, as compared with the conventional transfer control method. The transfer time of print data between the thermal printer controller and the recording head can be shortened as much as the data is not transferred. Further, as a result, the time occupied by the thermal printer controller for data transfer is also shortened, and the operating efficiency of the thermal printer controller is also improved.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.

The information terminal device equipped with the multi-line thermal printer of this embodiment is a personal computer, a word processor, an electronic notebook, or the like.
It has the configuration shown in FIG.

The CPU 1 is a central processing unit in the information terminal device, and is an arithmetic processing unit for performing information processing processing and input / output unit control of the entire apparatus. The ROM 2 is a read-only memory and stores a control program for the information terminal device, output type font information, and the like. The RAM 3 is a readable / writable memory and stores text information processed by the information terminal device and information necessary for device management.

KEY4 is a keyboard, which is one of the input units of the information terminal device. The image scanner 5 is an input unit that captures an image described on a sheet into an information terminal device. The communication device 6 is an information input and information output device for transmitting / receiving processing information to / from other devices. The mouse 8 is a pointing device that can be operated by the operator. The mouse input unit 7 is an input unit for connecting the mouse 8 to the information terminal device.

The storage device 9 is a storage unit represented by a floppy disk, a hard disk, etc.
While the M2 and the RAM3 are managed in the control space of the CPU1, the storage device 9 is an expansion memory unit managed by being positioned as an external storage device in the specific space.

The thermal printer controller 10 and the multi-line thermal printer 11 are printing units that print out the information of the information terminal device on paper. These will be described in detail later.

The tablet controller 12 includes a tablet 13
Is a functional part for controlling the pen 14 and connecting to the CPU 1. The tablet 13 is used in combination with the pen 14 and managed by the tablet control unit 12. Above pen 1
Reference numeral 4 is a coordinate input support rod for designating specific coordinates of the tablet 13, and the input information is decoded by the tablet control unit 12.

The display unit 15 displays the information of the information terminal device in CR.
It is a display unit for displaying and outputting to T (cathode line display unit) or LCD (liquid crystal display unit).

The configuration of FIG. 2 is an example of the configuration of the information terminal device, and some functions may be omitted or other input / output specifications may be substituted. Also, recent tablets 13
There are many display-integrated tablets that function by overlapping with the display unit 15.

The transfer control of this embodiment is executed among the CPU 1, the RAM 3, the thermal printer controller 10 and the multi-line thermal printer 11, as shown in FIG.

That is, when a print command is issued from the CPU 1, the program stored in the ROM 2 or the storage device 9 is loaded into the RAM 3 and stored in the information,
Be executed. Then, the print data is transferred to the multi-line thermal printer 11 via the thermal printer controller 10. Thereafter, the multi-line thermal printer 11 whose operation is controlled by the thermal printer controller 10 records a plurality of lines on the paper at one time.

The above multi-line thermal printer 11
Is a thermal head portion (recording head) 21, an ink ribbon 22, a ribbon cassette determination means 23, and a motor 2.
4 is provided.

The ink ribbon 22 is composed of a plurality of ribbons having different widths. Also, the ribbon cassette discrimination means 23
Determines which width of the ink ribbon 22 is set in the multi-line thermal printer 11. The thermal head part 21 is a part that melts the ink by transferring a head 45 (see FIG. 8), which will be described later, which has generated heat according to the print data, to the ink ribbon 22 to transfer the ink to the paper. The motor 24 drives the moving function of the head 45 and the paper feeding function.

Further, the CPU 1 recognizes which width of the ink ribbon 22 is set on the multi-line thermal printer 11 based on the information from the ribbon cassette discrimination means 23. Then, based on the information, the use width of the head 45 in the thermal head unit 21 is determined, and the transfer width of the print data for one line of the head is determined.

Further, the CPU 1 sets information on the width of use of the head 45 in the thermal printer controller 10 and the thermal head portion 21 by a command. This information allows the thermal printer controller 10 and the thermal head unit 21 to know the dot data transfer procedure.

According to the above configuration, when printing is performed, the CPU 1 first expands the print data in the RAM 3. CPU1
Sends the dot data for one row of the head in the developed print data to the thermal printer controller 10 in accordance with the data transfer procedure between the CPU 1 and the thermal printer controller 10 shown in FIGS.
At this time, regarding the dot data not used by the head 45, the transmission itself is skipped without transmitting "0" data as in the conventional case, and data corresponding to the width of the ink ribbon 22 is transmitted.

Further, at this time, the thermal printer controller 10 calculates the number of ON dots (data) used for heat storage correction and the like only from the data received according to the above-mentioned data transfer procedure. Here, the ON dot is
It is a dot that develops color when printing with a multi-line thermal printer.

When the print data for one row of heads is transmitted, the CPU 1 issues a print start command to the thermal printer controller 10 to instruct the start of printing.
When the thermal printer controller 10 receives this command, the thermal printer controller 10 sends the print data to the thermal head unit 21 in accordance with the data transfer procedure between the thermal printer controller 10 and the thermal head unit 21 shown in FIGS. Send.

At this time, regarding the dot data not used by the head 45, the transmission itself is skipped without transmitting "0" data as in the conventional case, and the data corresponding to the width of the ink ribbon 22 is transmitted. According to the received print data, the head 45 records on the paper for one line of the head.

In this way, the above series of operations is repeated for the printing data, and all the data is printed. It should be noted that various motor controls associated with printing are omitted because they are known techniques in the current thermal printer technique.

Next, based on the flowchart of FIG.
The operation up to the initial setting of the thermal head unit 21 will be described. Note that S (steps) 1 to S4 indicate the operation of the thermal head unit 21 (or the multi-line thermal printer 11), S11 to S15 indicate the operation of the thermal printer controller 10, and S21 to S23 indicate the operation of the CPU 1.

First, the hardware reset is the CPU1,
The thermal printer controller 10 and the thermal head unit 21 are initialized. Next, in step S1, the ribbon cassette determination means 23 causes the multi-line thermal printer 11 to operate.
The type of ink ribbon attached to is detected. The multi-line thermal printer 11 sends this detection information to the thermal printer controller 10 (S2), and the thermal printer controller 10 determines whether the above detection information has been received (S11). If the detection information is received in S11, the information is further transmitted to CPU1 (S12).

When the detection information is received by the CPU 1 (S21), the CPU 1 reads the ink ribbon type data (S22), and issues a transfer number setting command to the thermal printer controller 10 based on the result (S22).
23). The thermal printer controller 10 receives this command (S13), and sets the number of received data from the CPU 1 and the number of transmitted data to the thermal head unit 21 (S14). In parallel with this, the thermal printer controller 10 issues a transfer number setting command to the thermal head unit 21 (S15). The thermal head unit 21 receives this command (S3), and sets the dot skip area and the number of received data (S4). The initial setting is completed by the above series of flow. Printing is possible after this initial setting.

The format of the initial setting, that is, the transfer number setting command is, for example, a system in which the CPU 1 has a 16-bit head and the multi-line thermal printer 11 has a head 45 of 160 dots. , And when the data bus width between the thermal printer controller 10 and the thermal head unit 21 is 16 bits, it becomes as shown in FIG.

The lower 4 bits of this format indicate in binary the width of how many dots to skip from the upper dots of the head 45. The actual skip width is binary * 16
Bit. For example, when skipping 48 dots from the top of the head 45, "0011" is set in the lower 4 bits. Note that, in FIG. 5, the right side is the lower bit.

The next 4 bits of the lower 4 bits indicate in binary the width of a dot for setting data.
This dot width is also binary * 16 bits. For example, when data is set to 80 dots following the above 48 dots, "0101" is set to the next 4 bits. In the case of this command, the width from the 129th dot to the 160th dot from the top of the head 45 is also a skip region. Also, the next 8 bits become Dont'care.

That is, "0" is fixed in the skip area other than the print area where the print data of the head 45 is set by such initial setting, and the data set at the time of subsequent printing is skipped in the skip area. become.

As another example, when all 160 dots of the head 45 are used as the print area, the command format is as shown in FIG. 6 (a). When the upper 80 dots of the head 45 are the skip area, the next 64 bits are the print area, and the next 16 dots are the skip area, the command format is as shown in FIG. 6B.

Next, based on the flowchart of FIG.
The operation from the initial setting to the start of printing will be described. Note that S31 to S36 are operations of the CPU 1, and S41 to S48.
Is the operation of the thermal printer controller 10, S51-
Reference numerals 53 indicate the operations of the thermal head unit 21, respectively.

In S31, the CPU 1 expands the print data on the RAM 3. When the expansion is completed, the CPU 1 transmits the print data for one line of the head (S32). The transmission data at this time complies with the contents of the initial setting. When the thermal printer controller 10 receives the data for one row of the head (S41), the thermal printer controller 10 calculates the number of ON dots of the received data (S4).
2). This calculation result is transmitted to the CPU 1 (S43),
It is received and read by the CPU 1 (S33).

Thereafter, the CPU 1 issues a heat storage correction command (S34), and the thermal printer controller 10 receives the command (S44) and performs heat storage correction (S45).
When the correction completion information is sent from the thermal printer controller 10 to the CPU 1 (S46 / S35), the CPU 1
Issues a print start command (S36). When the thermal printer controller 10 receives this command (S4
7) The data for one row of the head is transmitted to the thermal head unit 21 (S48).

The thermal head unit 21 receives the data from the thermal printer controller 10 (S51),
The data is set in the designated dot (printing area) designated in the initial setting (S52). Then, printing is started (S53). After printing in S53, S32 to S
By repeating the steps 36, S41 to 48, and S51 to 53, all the print data developed in S31 is recorded on the paper.

Next, the detailed structure of the thermal printer controller 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The thermal printer controller 10 includes a CPU interface unit 31, a register 32, a shift register 33, a shift clock counter 34, a selector 35, a counter 36, a thermal control circuit 37, and a head interface unit 38.

The CPU interface unit 31 is the CPU 1
And the interface between the thermal printer controller 10 and the thermal printer controller 10.

The register 32 is composed of a received data number register 32a for setting the number of received data from the CPU 1 and a transmitted data number register 32b for setting the number of transmitted data to the thermal head portion 21 in response to a transfer number setting command from the CPU 1. Become. The control system of the thermal printer controller 10 operates based on these numerical values.

The shift register 33 sets data for one row of the head from the CPU 1. This shift register 3
One box No. 3 has a 16-bit width, and the head 45 has 160 bits in the present embodiment, so there are ten boxes. For example, when the used dot width in one line of the head is 80 dots, the dot data is set up to the fifth box from the top in this shift register 33. Then, the shift of the shift register 33 is performed between 1 and 80 bits. The shift register 33 has a shift register structure for counting ON dots.

The shift clock counter 34 generates a shift clock for the shift register 33. As described above, when the used dot width in one line of the head is 80 dots, 80 clocks are generated.

The selector 35 selects which of the shift registers 33 is used to perform the shift. In the case of the above example, the shift is performed using the line extending from the fifth box.

The counter 36 counts ON dots in the shifting dots. And this counter value is CP
Leaded by U1. In the case of the above example, the data set in the shift register 33 makes one round and returns to the original state after shifting 80 times.

The heat control circuit 37 is a circuit for correcting heat storage such as history and adjacency. Head interface section 38
Is an interface with the thermal head unit 21 and transmits the print data after the heat storage correction to the thermal head unit 21 in units of 16 bits.

Next, the detailed structure of the thermal head portion 21 will be described with reference to FIG. Thermal head 21
Is the controller interface unit 41 and the register 4
2, a selector 43, a head driver 44, and a head 45.

The controller interface section 41 is
This is the part that controls the interface with the thermal printer controller 10.

The register 42 is a transfer number setting command from the CPU 1 (via the thermal printer controller 10).
The number of skips of the data set is set to a skip number register 42a, and the number of received data from the thermal printer controller 10 is set to a received data number register 42b.

The selector 43 selects the head driver 44 to be driven based on the value of the register 42.

The head driver 44 is composed of 10 drivers corresponding to the shift register 33, in which print data is set in 16-bit units. Head driver 44
, Print data is set in the driver selected by the selector 43. Print data is applied to the head 45 according to the set data.

The head 45 is composed of a plurality of heating element groups arranged in the sheet passing direction, and is a 160-dot head in this embodiment.

As described above, the transfer control method of the multi-line thermal printer 11 according to the present embodiment is CP
The transfer width of the print data corresponding to the width of the ink ribbon 22 used by U1 is determined, and the head 4 in the thermal head unit 21 is passed through the thermal printer controller 10.
5 is a configuration for receiving print data according to the transfer width.

As a result, when printing is performed using the ink ribbon 22 having a width smaller than the maximum print width of the head 45,
Since the output data to the element group that is not involved in the recording of the head 45 is skipped, the transfer time of the print data between the CPU 1, the thermal printer controller 10, and the thermal head unit 21 can be shortened. Further, since the time taken for the CPU 1 and the thermal printer controller 10 to transfer data is shortened, the operation efficiency of these is also improved.

[0066]

As described above, the transfer control method of the multi-line thermal printer according to claim 1 of the present invention is used for recording by the recording head by recognizing the detection information of the width of the ink ribbon mounted. The central processing unit which determines the transfer width of the print data corresponding to the detected ribbon width and the print data transmitted from the central processing unit are received according to the transfer width and the recording is performed. The thermal printer controller transfers print data to the head.

As a result, when printing is performed using an ink ribbon having a width smaller than the head width, only the minimum data required for recording is transferred from the central processing unit to the thermal printer controller. The transfer time of print data between the thermal printer controllers can be shortened. Further, since the time taken for the central processing unit to transfer data is shortened, the operation efficiency of the central processing unit can be improved.

In the transfer control method of the multi-line thermal printer according to a second aspect, in addition to the configuration according to the first aspect, the thermal printer controller causes only the received print data to develop a color at the time of printing. This is a configuration for calculating the number of ON data which is data.

As a result, when printing is performed using the ink ribbon having a width smaller than the head width, the number of ON data of only the received print data is calculated, so that the calculation time can be shortened. As a result, it is possible to shorten the waiting time for the central processing unit to obtain the calculation result of the number of ON data.

According to a third aspect of the transfer control method of the multi-line thermal printer, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect, the thermal printer controller transmits the print data to the recording head in accordance with the transfer width. In addition to controlling the number of data, the recording head receives print data according to the transfer width.

As a result, when printing is performed using an ink ribbon having a width smaller than the head width, only the minimum data required for recording is transferred from the thermal printer controller to the recording head. The transfer time of print data between the heads can be shortened. Further, since the time occupied by the thermal printer controller for data transfer is shortened, the operation efficiency of the thermal printer controller is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a transfer control method of a multi-line thermal printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information terminal device to which the transfer control method of the multi-line thermal printer is applied.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation up to initial setting of a thermal head unit in the multi-line thermal printer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation from the initial setting to the start of printing.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a format of a transfer number setting command.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the transfer number setting command, where (a) sets all 160 dots as a print area, and (b) sets the upper 80 dots as a skip area and the next 64 dots as a print area. This is the case.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a thermal printer controller.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the thermal head unit.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a transfer control system of a conventional multi-line thermal printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10 Thermal Printer Controller 11 Multi-Line Thermal Printer 21 Thermal Head (Recording Head) 22 Ink Ribbon 23 Ribbon Cassette Discriminating Means 45 Head

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A part to be used for recording of a recording head is determined by recognizing the detection information of the width of an attached ink ribbon, and a transfer width of print data corresponding to the detected ribbon width is determined. A multi-line thermal printer, comprising: a central processing unit; and a thermal printer controller that receives print data transmitted from the central processing unit according to the transfer width and transfers the print data to the recording head. Transfer control method. 2. The multi-line thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein the thermal printer controller calculates the number of ON data, which is data that is colored when printing, with respect to only the received print data. Printer transfer control method. 3. The thermal printer controller controls the number of data to be transmitted to a recording head according to the transfer width of print data, and the recording head receives the print data according to the transfer width. The transfer control system for a multi-line thermal printer according to claim 1 or 2.