JPH085188B2 - Print recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of use] The present invention relates to a print recording apparatus having a plurality of line type recording heads.

[Outline of Invention]

In the present invention, when a plurality of short line type recording heads (hereinafter referred to as recording heads) are arranged to record characters or figures on a large recording medium having a long width, for example, A1 plate, A0 plate, etc. In addition, printing continuity is ensured by printing over all of the recording heads while overlapping a part of the recording heads, and the printing position can be shifted by an arbitrary amount in the width direction of the recording medium. As a result, the print position is shifted each time the storage medium reaches the set feed amount, so that the life of the recording head can be extended and the reliability can be improved without deteriorating the quality.

[Conventional technology]

Printers, facsimiles, etc. are generally equipped with recording heads such as thermal heads, LED heads, liquid crystal shutter heads, etc., and use recording media of a relatively short width, for example, A4 and B4 versions. Very rarely, there is an apparatus having a recording width of A2 size as seen in a weather facsimile, but this is realized by joining a plurality of short width recording heads as shown in FIG. Since the above-mentioned recording head has a fatigue breakdown life due to printing drive for each element of the recording element group that constitutes a recording line, even if one recording element is destroyed, the life of the entire recording head is replaced as a head replacement. Was going on.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

Since the recording head has a large number of recording elements arranged in a predetermined direction on the surface of the substrate, a long recording head (for example, A
It was very difficult to produce (1, A0 width) efficiently and without dropping the retention stop. Therefore, as a conventional method for realizing a long recording head, a desired length has been obtained by connecting a plurality of short recording heads (for example, A4 and B4 widths) as shown in FIG. However, when printing with the recording head,
H2 spreads wider than the widths H1 and H3, resulting in extremely poor print quality. Further, each of the recording elements constituting the recording line of the recording head has a life of the number of times of printing drive, but this is a fatigue breakdown due to the printing drive. Therefore, in the feed amount of the same recording head and the same recording medium, The time when the life reaches the life of each recording element is different. In particular, when printing drawings, forms, etc., there is a large difference in the number of times of printing between a recording element that is in charge of printing a frame line such as an outer frame and a recording element that is not in charge, and the life of the recording element in charge of printing a frame line is large. Has become extremely short, and as a result, has been a factor that reduces the overall life.

[Means for solving problems]

In the present invention, a plurality of short-width recording heads are arranged in a zigzag pattern in the paper width direction in contrast to the above-mentioned conventional example, and each recording head overlaps a portion of the recording element group with the recording heads facing each other. The initial print position alignment in the width direction of the recording medium is performed by controlling the data amount of the print data to be printed and the blank data not to be printed by the recording elements of the part. Further, by comparing and controlling the amount of blank data which is responsible for the deviation amount of the recording head in the recording medium feeding direction with the return medium feeding amount detected from the sensor circuit, the initial alignment in the feeding direction can be performed. Further, in the width direction of the recording medium in synchronization with the detection signal of the sensor circuit generated by the recording and recording in the initial alignment state and the conveyance of the recording medium by the set feed amount (for example, the drawing size to be output). The print position can be automatically shifted by automatically increasing or decreasing the blank data amount of.

[Action]

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of recording heads are arranged in a staggered manner, and each recording head has recording element groups A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2 which overlap with the opposing recording heads. . In the initial alignment, blank data is input to recording elements other than the print data shared by each recording head, and the blank data amount is controlled to adjust the print position in the recording medium width direction. Further, the adjustment of the recording medium feeding direction is performed by generating blank data corresponding to the deviation amount Da between the recording heads, storing the blank data in the line memory, and detecting the feeding amount of the recording medium by the sensor circuit. Since the sequence for printing the print data shared by the recording head (12) is programmed in the control circuit at the timing when the gap amount Da is reached, the gap amount Da between the recording heads is designed by controlling the blank data amount. Even if there is an error in the value, it can be adjusted later. Next, the shift of the printing position will be described. Printing and conveyance of the recording medium are executed by the print command, and when the sensor circuit detects that the feed amount of the recording medium reaches the set feed amount, the recording medium reaches the set feed amount earlier in FIG. Recording head
The blank data printing areas A1, A2 and C1, C2 on the 11 and 13 sides are increased or decreased by a set value with respect to the initial alignment value to shift the print areas A and C in the same direction. . Furthermore, when the recording medium is conveyed by the recording head displacement amount Da in the recording medium feeding direction (the accurate displacement amount Da is known by the initial position adjustment), the recording head 12 in FIG. The same shift is performed for the print area B by increasing / decreasing the amount of blank data of the blank data printing portions B1 and B2 as described above. The above-mentioned set feed amount of the recording medium refers to the feed length of the drawing length or the form, but in the case where an automatic cutter for cutting the recording medium to an arbitrary length is provided,
It is also possible to shift the print position for each cutting length.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the present invention. It is composed of an actuator drive circuit 7 for driving actuators such as a recording medium conveying motor, an A / D conversion circuit for A / D converting signals of a sensor 16 such as an encoder for detecting the feed amount of the recording medium, and a sensor interface. The control circuit 9 for controlling the feeding of the recording medium by the sensor circuit 6, and the control circuit 9 further comprises:
Raster data that has been vector-raster converted by a controller (not shown) is received, the data is divided in the recording medium width direction corresponding to the recording head, and the data is arranged in a zigzag pattern in the recording medium width direction. Dots in the recording medium width direction that generate blank data in the recording elements other than those that share the input raster data among the partial group of recording elements (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2 in FIG. 2) A correction circuit 1; a recording medium feed direction dot correction circuit 3 for generating blank data corresponding to a deviation amount in the recording medium feed direction between the first row and the second row of the recording heads 10 arranged in a staggered pattern; The line memory 2 for storing print data and blank data (for example, print information for 1280 lines in this embodiment) of the recording head 10 and the print information in the line memory for a plurality of recording heads 10 arranged in a staggered pattern. 10 of each recording head Down division (each recording head
The 10 recording element groups are further divided into several small groups, and the recording element bodies of the divided groups are simultaneously printed. For example, in this embodiment, a data distribution control circuit 4 that distributes and controls every 8 divisions, and a sensor circuit 6 that detects the feed amount of the recording medium.
The drive circuit 5 for driving the recording head 10 is controlled by the print timing signal generated in synchronization with the feeding of the recording medium. Further, the control circuit 9 changes the blank data amount based on the value of the input device 8 in which the operator inputs the adjustment value for the print position deviation on the actually printed recording medium by a keyboard etc. The print dot adjustment is performed by controlling the direction dot correction circuit 1 and the recording medium feed direction dot correction circuit 3. Next, adjustment of print position deviation of each recording head when printing is actually performed will be described.

FIG. 2 shows the arrangement of the recording head in the present invention. The recording head 11 and the recording head 13 are arranged on the upstream side with respect to the recording medium feeding direction, and the recording head 12 is arranged on the downstream side.
It is arranged between the recording heads 11 and 12 by providing overlapping portions A1 and C2 and a deviation amount Da so as to face 11,13. In the recording medium width direction, the recording medium width direction dot correction circuit 1 outputs raster data for one line to the printing area A corresponding to each recording head.
Division into B and C, and blank data is generated and stored in the line memory 2 in the recording elements other than those in which the respective recording heads overlap and share print data. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3 (A), the print information for one line and the actual print are assigned to the print data area A shared by the print head 11 by the print elements 11f, 11g, ... The element becomes the blank data portion. Similarly, the recording head 12 has 12f, 12g, ...
Subsequent recording elements are in charge of print data area B, and 12a to 12e
The recording elements up to are the blank data portion. Furthermore, the print data area and the blank data area are set for other similar overlapping areas (C1 and B2 areas shown in FIG. 2), and there is no unnaturalness in the actual printing of one line. Even when printing is performed across different recording heads that are adjacent to each other, the printing position does not shift. The above-mentioned correction data is generated as the design value (initial setting value), but when the print head is actually mounted on the device, the print heads overlap due to problems such as mounting error, print head manufacturing accuracy, and processing accuracy. In most cases, the number of recording elements 11a ..., 12a (absolute displacement) differs from the design value. In this case, the relative positional displacement of the recording elements in the mechanically overlapping portion is only 1/2 dot at the maximum when the assembly and mounting are normally performed. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the absolute print position shift within 1/2 dot only by electrical control without performing mechanical adjustment, and it is possible to adjust the print position shift like the corrected recording head shown in FIG. 3 (B). It is sufficient to input blank data as a correction value to the heating resistor for 2 dots of 12f and 12g corresponding to the amount. In this case, the operator confirms the print position deviation amount in the actual printing, inputs the correction amount corresponding to the position deviation amount with the input device 8 such as the input keyboard and the control panel shown in FIG. 1, and controls the control circuit 9. The generated value of the blank data amount of the recording medium width direction dot correction circuit 1 is varied and input to the line memory 2. As a result, the print data of 12f and 12g is converted into blank data. At the same time, in the case of the recording head in which the print position adjustment in the width direction of the recording medium is performed, the blank data of the other overlapping portion (B2 portion shown in FIG. 2) of the recording head 12) corresponds to the above-mentioned correction value Similarly, the print area (B shown in FIG. 2) is increased / decreased, and is shifted in the recording medium width direction. The method for adjusting the print position by correcting the amount of blank data is shown in FIG.
It is possible for A1 and C2 to be independent of each other, and the print origin position can be adjusted. Next, a memory map of print data in the line memory 2 shown in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 4 and this will be described in detail. Print data Am, Bm, Cm and blank data A1m, A2m, B1m, B2m, C1m, C2 divided by the recording medium width direction dot correction circuit 1 corresponding to each recording head 11, 12, 13.
Since m is stored and blank data is corrected, print shifts and print origin adjustments of print areas A, B, and C shown in FIG. 2 are performed. At this time, if the amount of blank data B1m generated for adjustment is too large, the print data area shared by each recording head cannot fit within the total number of recording elements A0, B0, C0 of each recording head (for example, the third
As shown in the figure (B), as printing position correction, blank data for dots of 2f and 2g is generated and the printing area B is shifted. However, if this adjustment amount is large, the shift amount also becomes large and the blank data amount B2m To prevent the occurrence of (over), the control circuit 9 always controls the division of the raster data of the recording medium width direction dot correction circuit 1 of FIG. 1 according to the print position adjustment amount, that is, the amount of blank data, and each recording head. Change the print data area in charge. Next, the means for adjusting the print position deviation in the recording medium feeding direction will be described. The arrangement of the recording heads is as shown in FIG. 2. However, only the arrangement in the recording medium feeding direction is described again. The recording heads are arranged in a zigzag pattern in the recording medium width direction, and the recording medium feeding direction is upstream. The recording heads 11 and 13 of the first row are arranged in the first row, and the recording heads 12 of the second row are arranged in the downstream side. Between the first row and the second row, a mounting space (printing position deviation amount) Da is generated due to a mechanical platen, a space of a paper guide and a recording head itself, and the like. In the present invention, the blank data corresponding to the print position deviation amount between the recording heads is generated by the recording medium feed direction dot correction circuit 3 shown in FIG. 1, and the blank data for the line is stored in the line memory as shown in FIG. It is configured to correct the print position deviation by storing the Dam. In this embodiment, 1280 lines are stored as the storage area E of the line memory, 360 lines of blank data are generated as the print position deviation amount Dam, and the recording element density of the recording head used is 12 dots / mm. First
The amount of misalignment between the recording heads of the second row and the second row is 30 mm. In the case of printing one line over the entire width of the recording medium with a plurality of recording heads arranged in a staggered manner in FIG.
The print area and the print element of C in the print element group of the print heads 11 and 13 are operated by the data distribution control circuit 4 and the print head drive circuit 5 in FIG. Based on the feed synchronization signal (print timing signal) of the sensor circuit 6 for detection, the line memory 2 is sequentially
The address is read and the printing operation is performed. Here, the recording head 12 does not perform a printing operation because blank data is stored in the B0 area of the line memory 2. When the address of the line memory 2 is read according to the feed amount of the recording medium and reaches the position P, the recording medium reaches the recording head displacement amount Da in the feed direction, and the control circuit 9 causes the sensor circuit 6 to detect the feed amount. Actual feed amount is the amount of deviation
Since the fact that Da is detected and printing is controlled, the printing elements of the data areas A, B, and C execute the printing operation by printing of the recording heads 11, 12, and 13. According to this printing process, printing of one line over the entire width of the recording medium in actual printing does not cause unnatural printing deviation. Here, the design value (initial value) causes the deviation amount Da to be generated as blank data Dam, but this also requires error correction with respect to the design value as described in the adjustment of the print position deviation amount in the recording medium width direction. The error correction can be performed by correcting the amount of blank data generated in the paper feed direction dot correction circuit 3 in FIG. 1 in the same manner as the adjustment of the print deviation amount in the recording medium width direction described above.
As described above, the initial printing position adjustment is performed by the input device 8
The position can be easily adjusted by inputting the adjustment amount (the amount of increase / decrease of blank data A1m to C2m, Dam), and once the adjustment is made and stored in the line memory 2, the subsequent adjustment becomes unnecessary.

Next, the automatic shift of the printing position will be described. When the printing and the conveyance of the recording medium are executed by the print command, the addresses of the line memory 2 are sequentially read out based on the feed synchronization signal (print timing signal) of the sensor circuit 6 which detects the feed amount as described above, and the printing operation is performed. However, at the same time, the feed amount of the recording medium reaching the recording element group portion of the recording heads 11 and 13 of the first row is set by the set feed amount (for example, the feed direction print data amount E of the line memory 2 in FIG. 4). ) Has been reached by the control circuit 9. here,
When the feed amount detected by the sensor circuit 6 and the set feed match, the initial print position alignment value is used as a reference value (increase / decrease value ± 0) and the blank data printing portion of the recording heads 11 and 13 shown in FIG. The blank data amount of A1m, A2m and C1m, C2m is controlled by the control circuit 9 by the blank data increase / decrease set value (in the present embodiment, the set value is determined within the range of +16 to -16 dots. The set value will be described later. The print areas Am and Cm are shifted in the same direction by automatically increasing or decreasing by (details). That is, when the feed amount of the recording medium reaches the set feed amount, the print position in actual printing is automatically shifted by the increase / decrease value of the blank data. Further, the recording medium is conveyed by the amount of deviation Da between the recording heads in the recording medium feeding direction (initial position alignment has been performed, and the mounting error from the design value has been corrected), and is shown in FIG. When the position of the recording element group of the recording head 12 is reached by the recording portion shift-printed by the recording heads 11 and 13 in the first row,
By controlling the blank data amount of the print responsible portions B1 and B2 of the recording head 12 in the figure as well as the increase / decrease value and the direction as described above, the shift printing similar to the print areas Am and Cm can be performed also in the print area B. is there. Here, in the present embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the set value of the recording medium feed amount for performing the shift printing is the feed direction data amount E1280 lines in the print data of the line memory in FIG. 4, but the set value is limited to this. Of course, this is not the case, and when the length of the recording medium is set as a set value in the drawing size as shown in FIG. 6, for example, JIS A0 size is 1189 mm. In this case, the feed direction data amount (1189 mm x 12 dots / mm = 14268 lines)
Is stored as a set value in a register provided in the control circuit 9 in FIG. 1, and the same value is printed by comparing and determining the register value with a counter for detecting the feed amount and the number of lines to be printed. Can perform shifts. Therefore, the shift of the print data is executed after the print data of the line memory 2 at which the printing of one A0 size sheet is completed is rewritten 12 times. Further, in the case of a print recording apparatus equipped with an auto cutter for cutting the recording medium to an arbitrary length, the cutting length S between cutting positions 18 is set as the feed amount set value for performing the shift printing as shown in FIG. , T can also be adopted. It is also possible to make a plurality of setting values by increasing the number of setting registers.

Next, the blank data increase / decrease set value that is input-controlled to shift the print position will be described. As mentioned before, the biggest factor that determines the life of the recording head is
This is fatigue failure in printing drive of the recording element. This is a problem common to all recording type heads and always occurs, but its life is inversely proportional to the number of times of printing drive of each recording element. Therefore, it is most desirable that all recording elements in the same head be driven to print uniformly, but in the case of drawings and forms, on the contrary, the imbalanced state of the number of print drives is extremely high due to frame line printing. It will become big. The frame width of the drawings and forms is generally about 0.6 mm even for the thickest one, and most of the frame width is 0.5 mm or less. In the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 8, increase / decrease of blank data of 16 dots in width and 16 dots in maximum and 24 dots in maximum with the initial alignment position 20 as the center is the feed amount set value V for print shift. Only the print shift execution position 19 sent is executed in five ways Sh1, Sh2, Sh3, Sh4, Sh5, and a print shift of at least 1.0 mm (1.33 mm or more because it is 12 dots / mm in this embodiment) is executed. To do. This makes it possible to extend the fatigue breakdown life of the recording element in charge of frame line printing by 5 or more. In addition, in FIG.
It shows the print shift on the vertical dot line. Further, since the counter for storing the blank data increase / decrease setting value for executing the print data shift is binary, the shift amount is 2
Is a good multiple, and the print data can be easily shifted only by specifying the address of the memory counter, so the data amount for an integral multiple of 1 byte is good. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the pitch for shift printing is set every 8 dots, but by devising the shift method, the blank data increase / decrease set value of 16 dots or more out of 32 dots can be set. The print shift can be executed five times while maintaining the same.

As described above, the life of the recording head is improved while avoiding the print shift in the same drawing and maintaining the good print quality.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to adjust the print position deviation amount between the recording heads independently in the recording medium width direction and the feeding direction, and to set the position correction value by the initial position adjustment to the set value for the print shift. By automatically increasing or decreasing, it is possible to improve the life of the recording head without impairing the quality of appearance.
Therefore, by arranging multiple short-sized recording heads (eg, A4 size, B4 size, etc.) and arranging them, a long-width recording medium (eg, A0 size, A1 size) is used to print characters and graphics. The equipment can be supplied inexpensively, with high quality and high reliability. In particular, in terms of making the life of the recording head uniform, there are effects that are highly effective in improving device reliability, reducing maintenance costs and time.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a block diagram of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan layout view of a line type recording head, FIG. 3 (A) is an enlarged view of recording element overlapping portions at an ideal printing position, and FIG. 3 (B) is a recording head. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the overlapping portion of the recording elements when the position is displaced, and FIG. 4 is a view showing print data in the line memory of the present invention.
The figure is a plan view of a conventional line recording head. Fig. 6,
7 and 8 are views showing an embodiment of shift printing according to the present invention. 1 ... recording medium width direction dot correction circuit 2 ... line memory 3 ... recording medium feed direction dot correction circuit 4 ... data distribution control circuit 5 ... recording head drive circuit 6 ... sensor circuit 7 ... actuator drive Circuit 8 …… Input device 9 …… Control circuit 10,11,12,13 …… Recording head 14 …… Recording head connection part 15 …… Interface 16 …… Sensor

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location B41J 2/345 2/355 29/50 Z B41J 3/20 114 A 109 Z 113 113 B

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A sensor circuit for detecting a feed amount of a recording medium conveyed by a drive circuit, and a line type recording head in which a plurality of recording element groups are arranged in series, a direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the recording medium (hereinafter referred to as recording medium). A plurality of lines are arranged in a zigzag pattern in the width direction), and the line type recording head has a portion of a recording element group overlapped in the feeding direction of the recording medium. Recording elements other than those that are in charge of the input data among recording element groups in which data is divided in the recording medium width direction corresponding to the line-type recording head and are overlapped in the recording medium feed direction. A recording medium width direction dot correction circuit for generating blank data in the recording medium width direction, and a deviation amount in the recording medium feed direction of the plurality of staggered line type recording heads A recording medium feed direction dot correction circuit for generating corresponding recording medium feed direction blank data, and a memory for recording print data corresponding to the plurality of line type print heads, and data is written to each of the plurality of line type print heads. A data distribution control circuit for distributing, a control circuit for controlling the recording medium width direction dot correction circuit, the recording medium feed direction dot correction circuit, and the dot distribution correction circuit, and correcting the positional deviation of the print printed on the recording medium. For this purpose, an input device for sending blank data to the control circuit is provided, and the blank data amount and the recording medium in the width direction of the recording medium each time the feed amount of the recording medium detected by the sensor circuit matches the read and set feed amount. It is possible to variably control the amount of blank data in the feed direction and print and record at any position on the recording medium with the plurality of line type recording heads. Printing recording apparatus according to symptoms. 2. The feed amount of the recording medium detected by the sensor circuit when dividing the input raster data in the recording medium width direction dot correction circuit in the recording medium width direction corresponding to the line type recording head. The amount of blank data generated in the recording medium feed direction is varied accordingly, and the data amount of the data division is varied or the data position is shifted according to the amount of increase or decrease of the blank data in the recording medium feed direction. The print recording device according to item 1. 3. The line-type recording head has a recording element group for printing and recording blank data in the recording medium width direction on both end sides of the recording element group, and the recording medium for driving the recording element group. The print recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print recording position is shifted in the width direction of the recording medium by increasing or decreasing the blank data in the width direction. 4. The print recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the increase / decrease amount of the blank data in the recording medium width direction is a positive multiple of 2.times.n dots (n = 1, 2, ...). 5. The increment / decrement amount of blank data in the recording medium width direction
The print recording apparatus according to claim 1, which is a positive multiple of a numerical value of 0.5 mm or more. 6. A recording medium width direction dot correction circuit for varying the generation amount of the recording medium width direction blank data and increasing or decreasing the recording medium width direction blank data is a sensor circuit for detecting the feeding amount of the recording medium. The print recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print recording apparatus increases or decreases in the recording medium width direction for each preset feed amount in synchronization with a detection signal. 7. An automatic cutter device for cutting the recording medium in a width direction at an arbitrary cutting length in a feeding direction, wherein a cutting length in the feeding direction and a preset feeding for executing the print position shift are provided. The print recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the amounts are matched. 8. The print recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the cutting length in the feeding direction is a drawing length.