JPH1035030A - Manual printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] In a manual type printing device, the printing density can be changed without key operation or the like, and printing can be performed by changing to a desired printing density even during printing. SOLUTION: When a printing operation is started, printing of print dot row data with a dot row pointer set to +1 is performed according to an encoder print timing signal output according to the movement amount of the apparatus (YES in S4) (S5). S6). Also,
Also when a timer circuit print timing signal is output every fixed time regardless of the amount of movement of the apparatus (Y in S7)
ES), printing is again performed on the same print dot string data as that printed in S6 (S8). As a result, the print density is automatically changed according to the traveling speed of the apparatus,
Printing can be performed at a desired density without any key operation or the like.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manual printing apparatus, and more particularly to a technique for adjusting print density.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a manual printing apparatus has been proposed as an apparatus for printing on various recording media at desired locations. The printing by the printing device is performed by manually scanning the printing device at an arbitrary speed on a recording medium by a user and ejecting ink to the recording medium by a recording head (printing head) according to a moving amount of the device. When the printing density is changed, the printing density setting is changed by manually operating an operation key provided on the printing apparatus by a user before printing is performed.

[0003]

However, in the conventional manual printing apparatus as described above, every time the print density is changed, a manual key operation is required, and the user is burdened. Also, after starting printing,
For print data during printing, printing cannot be performed with the print density changed. To change the print density,
Printing must be completed once, and once printing is completed and the print density is changed,
In some cases, the printing results may be shifted, and good printing results may not be obtained. The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and does not require a key operation to change the print density, and even during printing, a print density desired by a user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a manual type printing device capable of performing printing with the above.

[0004]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a manual printing apparatus for printing on a recording medium by manually scanning the recording medium. A manual printing device comprising: a moving amount detecting means for detecting a moving amount when the apparatus runs on a recording medium; and printing by the recording means in accordance with the moving amount detected by the moving amount detecting means. While generating a timing signal, the print timing signal generating means for generating a print timing signal by the recording means at predetermined time intervals, and, based on the print timing signal generated according to the amount of movement, to switch the dot row of the print data, Control means for controlling a printing operation by the printing means based on each printing timing signal from the printing timing signal generating means.

In the above arrangement, the print timing signal generation means generates a print timing signal in accordance with the movement amount detected by the movement amount detection means, and generates the print timing signal at predetermined time intervals. In addition, a dot row of print data is switched based on a print timing signal generated according to the movement amount, and a printing operation by the printing unit is controlled based on each print timing signal from the print timing signal generation unit. Thus, printing is performed in accordance with the movement amount of the apparatus, and when there is a print timing signal generated at predetermined time intervals, the print data of the same dot row is printed regardless of the movement amount of the apparatus. However, when the traveling speed of the apparatus is high, the printing density is low because the number of printings on the same dot is small, and when the traveling speed of the apparatus is low, the printing density is low because the printing is performed many times on the same dot. Darkens. Therefore, the print density is automatically changed according to the traveling speed of the apparatus, so that the user does not need to manually operate the keys to change the print density setting. Further, the print density can be changed for each character without performing complicated key operations. Further, a print result of a desired print density can be obtained without requiring separate print data to change the print density.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a manual printing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the movement amount detecting means is provided when the apparatus is run on a recording medium. And an encoder for detecting the amount of rotation of the running roller rotating in contact with the recording medium.

In the above configuration, the moving amount detecting means includes:
Since the encoder is configured to detect the rotation amount of a traveling roller that rotates in contact with the recording medium when the apparatus travels on the recording medium, the moving amount of the apparatus can be accurately determined regardless of the traveling speed of the printing apparatus. Can be detected. Therefore, even if the scanning speed of the apparatus is not constant, a constant and stable printing result is always obtained, and the operation of the apparatus becomes easy.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a manual printing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the recording means is an ink jet recording means. It was done.

In the above configuration, since the recording means is an ink jet recording means, in a wire dot recording means using a print ribbon or the like, the movement of the apparatus main body and the ribbon tape feed are synchronized. It is impossible to print multiple times with the same dot.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a manual printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view of a manual printing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, the body 1b of the manual printing device 1 has a square shape,
It is configured so that the user can easily support it by hand. A roller 2 (running roller) is rotatably provided at the lower end of the body 1b. At the upper end of the body 1b, an interface unit 3 for infrared communication for transmitting and receiving various data such as print data to and from an external device is provided.
Further, the body 1b is provided with a switch 4 for turning on / off the power and selecting a printing mode of the manual printing apparatus 1.

An ink jet type recording head (recording means) 5 is provided near the roller 2 of the body 1b. The roller 2 is configured to be supported by a frame 1c, and a projection 1d is formed on the frame 1c. The protrusion 1d is made of a material such as a resin having good slidability.

Then, the user supports the body 1b with his / her hand and rolls the roller 2 and the protrusion 1d on the recording medium (recording paper or the like) P.
Is scanned in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 while contacting the print data, so that print data and the like input from the host computer are printed on the recording medium P. At the time of printing, the roller 2 and the projection 1d maintain the posture of the body 1 so that the position of the recording head 5 and the recording medium P is maintained at a constant position, and the roller 2 rotates by this scanning. Based on the rotation of the roller 2, the relative position between the recording head 5 and the recording medium P is detected, and predetermined printing is performed.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the manual printing apparatus 1. At the lower end of the body 1b, a roller 2 is configured to be rotatable about a shaft 7. A recording head 5 is disposed behind the roller 2 in the scanning direction. Above the recording head 5, an ink tank 8 for supplying ink to the recording head 5 is arranged.

A pulley 9 is mounted on the shaft 7 of the roller 2.
It is arranged to rotate with the rotation of. Pulley 9
, A belt 10 is drawn around, and is configured to transmit the rotational force of a pulley 9 that rotates with the rotation of the roller 2 to a rotary disk 12 of an encoder 11 (movement amount detecting means). The encoder 11 is provided substantially near the center of the body 1b. The rotating disk 12 is provided with slits on the circumference at predetermined intervals, and the number of rotations of the roller 2 (the recording head 5 and the recording medium) is controlled by a photo interrupter 13 of an encoder 11 which is turned on / off by the rotation of the rotating disk 12. The relative position with respect to P) and the rotation speed (for determining the traveling speed of the manual printing apparatus 1) are converted into the intervals of the electric pulse signal, and are input to a control device described later. The photo interrupter 13 is also configured to detect the rotation direction of the roller 2, thereby detecting the traveling direction of the manual printing device 1.

Above the body 1b, a CPU 16 for controlling a recording operation by the recording head 5, a detecting operation by the photo interrupter 13, and an interface unit 3 provided for receiving print data.
A control unit 14 (described later) and the like are arranged. A power supply 15 for supplying power to each of the functional blocks described later is arranged in the vicinity of the side. The power supply 15 includes a small power supply unit such as a dry battery and a device for stabilizing the power.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the manual type printing apparatus 1.
Hereinafter, the positional relationship between the recording head 5 and the roller 2 will be described with reference to FIG. At the tip of the recording head 5, a plurality of nozzles 5a are provided. The width is formed at a width L (maximum recording width) at a maximum in a direction perpendicular to the printing direction (scanning direction) X of the printing area. The roller 2 is disposed forward of the recording head 5 in the printing direction X. This roller 2
As described above, the side portion is rotatably supported by the shaft 7. The portion M where the roller 2 comes into contact with the recording medium P is set so as to be within the area of the width L, and the protrusion 1d
Is set to maintain the same relationship.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control system of the manual printing apparatus 1. CPU that controls the entire manual printing device 1
(Print timing signal generation means, control means)
The host computer 21 via the interface unit 3
And a ROM 23 for storing a control program for controlling each functional block according to a predetermined program, and a RAM 23 for storing print data from the host computer 21 inputted via the interface unit 3. , And an operation panel 24 including the switch 4 and the like. Further, a pulse from the encoder 11 for measuring the number of rotations, the rotation speed, and the rotation direction of the roller 2 is input to a speed detection circuit 25 and a position detection circuit (movement amount detection means) 26, and the manual detection device is operated by these circuits. The speed and the relative position with respect to the recording medium P are detected, and this detection signal is input to the CPU 16. The CPU 16 further includes a head driver 33 for driving the recording head 5, a timer circuit 34 for measuring the elapse of a predetermined time, and an LC for displaying information on printing.
A D (liquid crystal display) 35 is connected.

The printing operation of the manual printing apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described. The manual printing device 1 has a ROM
The operation is performed according to a predetermined program stored in the storage 22. The input of print data is performed by the CPU 16 when the mode for printing is selected by the switch 4. The print data is input from the host computer 21 via the interface unit 3 by an infrared signal, and the input print data is temporarily stored in the RAM 23. CPU
When the print start signal is received by the operation of the switch 4, after confirming that the print data is stored in the RAM 23, the manual print device 1 is set to the print standby state.

Next, when the manual type printing apparatus 1 is manually scanned by the user and the CPU 16 determines that the rotary disk 12 of the encoder 11 has rotated, a printing timing signal based on a signal from the position detecting circuit 26 is provided. Is also generated, and a print timing signal is generated each time the elapse of a predetermined time is measured by the timer circuit 34. As a result, output control of print data is performed, and by driving the recording head 5, the recording medium P
Printing is performed on the top. Therefore, the recording medium P of the body 1b
Even if the above traveling speed is not uniform, uniform printing can always be performed on the recording medium P, and the printing density is changed according to the traveling speed of the manual printing device 1.

Next, the control of the print density according to the running speed of the manual type printing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing print data to be printed, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between a traveling speed of the manual printing device 1 and a generated print timing. The CPU 16 generates a print timing signal (hereinafter referred to as an encoder print timing signal) every time the apparatus moves by a predetermined movement amount (1/360 inch) based on the detection signal from the position detection circuit 26. Further, the CPU 16 controls the timer circuit 3
Each time the predetermined time elapses is measured by step 4, a print timing signal (hereinafter referred to as a timer circuit print timing signal)
Generate Ink is ejected from the recording head 5 onto the recording medium P when any one of these two print timing signals is output.

When the device is at a normal traveling speed (standard traveling speed)
, The timer circuit print timing signal is set to be output twice for the same print position (see FIG. 6B). That is, the timer circuit print timing signal is set to be output twice while the encoder print timing signal is output once, and the ink is ejected twice to the same print position so that the standard print density is obtained. Is set to When the device set in this way is run faster than the normal running speed, the movement distance of the device per time becomes large, so that, for example, the interval at which the encoder print timing signal is output becomes short in time. In some cases, the interval may be equal to the interval at which the timer circuit print timing signal is output (see FIG. 6A). In this case, the two print timing signals are synchronized, and the ink is ejected only once to the same print position, so that the print density is lower than in the case where the vehicle runs at the normal speed.

When the vehicle is run at a speed lower than the normal speed, a timer circuit print timing signal may be output three or more times for one encoder print timing signal (FIG. 6C). reference). In this case, since the ink is ejected a large number of times at the same print position, the print density is higher than that in the case of running at the normal speed. Further, when the apparatus is stopped, no encoder print timing signal is output because the apparatus does not move, but a timer circuit print timing signal is output after a certain time has elapsed (see FIG. 6D). Ink continues to be ejected at the print position, and the print density increases with time.

The printing result obtained by the printing density control will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 7A and 8A show print data to be printed,
FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating a moving distance with respect to the passage of time and a printing result corresponding thereto. As shown in FIG. 7, when the traveling speed of the device is gradually reduced, up to a point a in FIG.
Since the traveling speed is relatively high, the number of ink ejections for the same printing position is small, and since the traveling speed is low from point a to point b, the number of ink ejections for the same printing position is large. , B and thereafter, the traveling speed further decreases, so that the number of ink ejections for the same printing position increases. Therefore, the print density increases as the traveling speed decreases. In addition, as described above, when the apparatus is stopped after the start of printing, the number of times of ink ejection to the same position increases and the print density increases as the stop time elapses. At the point c in FIG. 8, the printing density is higher than at the preceding and following points because the travel of the apparatus is stopped. At the point d, the print density becomes higher because the stop time is longer.

Next, the printing operation of the manual printing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing during the printing operation. When the power switch 4 is turned on and the printing operation is started, the operation mode of the apparatus is confirmed (S1). When the operation mode is the data setting mode (data setting mode in S1), print data is received from the host computer 21 (S9). When the operation mode is the print mode (print mode in S1) and the user starts the print operation by running the apparatus (YES in S2), the print data to be printed is R
It is confirmed whether or not it remains in the AM 23 (S3). If print data to be printed remains (N in S3
O) In accordance with the encoder print timing signal (YES in S4), printing of print dot row data with the dot row pointer set to +1 is performed (S5, S6). Here, it is confirmed whether or not the timer circuit print timing signal is output (S
7) When the timer circuit print timing signal is output (YES in S7), the same print dot string data as that printed in S6 is printed again (S8). When the encoder print timing signal and the timer circuit print timing signal are output in synchronization, the print processing of S6 and S7 is performed simultaneously, so that one print (ink ejection) is performed.
Only be done.

As described above, according to the manual printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, printing is performed based on the encoder print timing signal in accordance with the amount of movement of the apparatus, and the timer circuit print timing signal is generated every predetermined time. Since printing is performed based on the print speed, when the running speed of the device is high, the number of times of printing at the same printing position is reduced, so that the printing density is reduced. When the running speed of the device is slow or stopped, the same printing position is used. Since the printing is performed many times, the printing density becomes high.
Therefore, since the print density is automatically changed according to the traveling speed of the apparatus, the user can perform printing at the desired print density by scanning while changing the traveling speed of the manual type printing apparatus 1, The print density setting can be changed without the user manually operating the keys. Further, the print density can be changed without requiring separate print data.

Further, since the recording head 5 is of the ink jet type, it is impossible with a wire dot type recording head using an ink ribbon or the like because the movement of the apparatus main body and the feeding of the ink ribbon tape are synchronized. The same dot can be printed twice.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified. For example, in the above embodiment, when the apparatus travels at a normal traveling speed, a timer circuit print timing signal is output twice for the same dot, and when the same dot is printed twice, the standard print density is obtained. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this setting, and a standard print density may be obtained by performing more printings on the same dot. With such a setting, the print density when the traveling speed of the apparatus is high can be further changed.

[0028]

As described above, according to the manual printing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the dot row of the print data is switched based on the print timing signal generated according to the movement amount, and the printing is performed. Since the printing operation by the printing means is controlled based on each printing timing signal from the timing signal generating means, printing is performed according to the amount of movement of the apparatus, and there is a printing timing signal generated at predetermined time intervals. In this case, the print data of the same dot row is printed regardless of the amount of movement of the device. When the traveling speed is low, the number of times of printing on the same dot increases, so that the printing density becomes high.
Therefore, the printing density is automatically changed by the user changing the traveling speed of the manual printing apparatus 1 and scanning, and printing can be performed at a desired printing density. Therefore, the print density setting can be changed without the user manually operating the keys. Further, the print density can be changed for each character without performing complicated key operations. further,
Printing at a desired print density can be performed without requiring separate print data for changing the print density.

Further, according to the manual type printing apparatus of the present invention, when the apparatus runs on a recording medium, the rotation amount of the traveling roller which rotates in contact with the recording medium is detected. Since the movement amount is detected by the encoder, it is possible to accurately detect the movement amount of the apparatus regardless of the traveling speed of the printing apparatus. Therefore, even if the scanning speed of the apparatus is not constant, a constant and stable printing result is always obtained,
The operation of the device becomes easy.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the recording means is an ink-jet type recording means, the recording means of the wire dot type using a printing ribbon or the like is not suitable for the apparatus. It is possible to print a plurality of times with the same dot, which is impossible because the movement of the main body and the ribbon tape feed are synchronized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a manual printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an internal configuration of the manual printing device.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the manual printing device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control system of the manual printing device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing print data to be printed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a traveling speed of a manual printing device and a generated print timing.

FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating print data to be printed, and FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating a moving distance with respect to the passage of time and a printing result corresponding thereto.

8A is a diagram illustrating print data to be printed, and FIG. 8B is a diagram illustrating a moving distance with respect to a passage of time and a printing result corresponding thereto.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process at the time of a printing operation by the manual printing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Manual printing apparatus 2 Roller (running roller) 5 Recording head (recording means) 11 Encoder (moving detection means) 16 CPU (print timing signal generation means, control means) 26 Position detection circuit (movement amount detection means) P Recording Medium

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A manual printing apparatus comprising a recording means for performing printing on a recording medium by manually scanning the recording medium, wherein the movement detecting means detects a moving amount when the apparatus is run on the recording medium. Amount detection means, and print timing signal generation means for generating a print timing signal by the recording means in accordance with the movement amount detected by the movement amount detection means, and generating a print timing signal by the recording means at predetermined time intervals And switching a dot row of print data based on a print timing signal generated according to the movement amount, and controlling a printing operation by the printing unit based on each print timing signal from the print timing signal generation unit. A manual printing device comprising a control unit. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving amount detecting means includes an encoder that detects a rotation amount of a traveling roller that rotates in contact with the recording medium when the apparatus runs on the recording medium. The manual printing device according to claim 1. 3. The manual printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording unit is an inkjet type recording unit.