JPS63125362A - Printer paper position adjustment method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to a method for adjusting the position of continuous paper in a printer used mainly as an output device for a personal computer.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, small printers used as output devices for personal computers use a single motor to feed paper and drive other movable parts.

For example, in a small printer as shown in FIG. 3, a single motor is driven to feed printer paper and move the print head. In other words, in Fig. 3, the rotational force of the motor l is transmitted to the main #JJ3o via the gear on the negative side of the main body frame 2°.
is transmitted to. A pair of spiral grooves are formed in the main shaft 3° in opposite directions and continuous at both ends. The print head 4° is provided at the tip of the head carrier 5°.

The head carrier 5° is screwed into a helical groove of the main shaft 3°, and reciprocates in the left-right direction of the main body frame 2° as the main shaft 3° rotates. The head carrier 5° also has an engaging portion that engages with the spiral portion of the paper feeder 6° only in one direction, left or right.

When the head carrier 5° moves in the outward path while printing, the engagement part of the head carrier 5° slides on the spiral part of the paper feed shaft 6°, so that the paper feed shaft 6° does not rotate, but the head When the carrier 5° finishes printing in the negative direction and returns on its return path, the engaging portion of the head carrier 5° engages with the spiral portion of the paper feed shaft 6°, rotating the paper feed shaft 6° in one direction. . The rotation of this paper feed shaft 6 degrees causes paper feed rollers 7 degrees provided at both ends thereof.

7o is paper P. - Whereabouts, you will have to send the paper.

The above-mentioned printer uses continuous paper having perforations every -page, and usually prints a large number of lines at once on this continuous paper. On the printer side, the paper feed amount for each line is set so that a predetermined number of prints can fit on one page of paper.

However, in the printer described above, the actual paper feed amount may be greater or less than the specified amount due to various causes such as dimensional accuracy of the paper feed mechanism, wear of the paper feed roller, and external force.

In this way, if the actual paper feed amount differs from the specified amount, the error in paper feed amount will accumulate while printing many lines, and the difference between the required printing area and the actual printing area on page 6 will be accumulated. A misalignment will occur between the two, resulting in inconveniences such as printing over the perforations.

However, in a printer having the structure described above, there is a problem in that it is difficult to independently adjust only the paper feed amount without affecting other movable parts. For example, if you try to increase the paper feed amount, the head carrier 5
It is necessary to increase the amount of rotation of the paper feed shaft 6 degrees during the reciprocation of the paper feed shaft, and in order to increase the amount of rotation of the paper feed shaft 6 degrees, it is necessary to increase the reciprocating stroke of the head carrier 5 degrees. If the stroke of the head carrier 6° increases in this way, each line cannot be printed as expected.

Therefore, in the past, it was possible to provide parts with feed holes (so-called "ears") on both sides of continuous paper, and to provide sprockets on the printer side, and to mesh the feed holes with the sprockets to accurately feed the paper. It is being done.

However, this not only complicates the paper feeding mechanism, but also requires the installation of a motor exclusively for paper feeding, making the paper feeding mechanism independent. Therefore, such a configuration is not suitable for small printers. Difficult to hire.

<Object of the Invention> The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to feed paper and drive other movable parts using a single motor. An object of the present invention is to provide an adjustment method that can automatically align continuous paper sheets by electronic processing without complicating the mechanism in a printer.

<Structure of the Invention> In order to achieve the above object, the present invention uses a continuous sheet of paper on which position marks are provided at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction, and prints a predetermined number of marks on this continuous sheet of paper. After performing the paper feeding, the presence or absence of the position mark is detected at a certain detection point, and paper feeding without printing is executed or omitted depending on the presence or absence of the position mark.

<Example> Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic structure of a printer used to implement the method of the present invention. The printer of this embodiment, like a conventional printer, includes a single motor 1, a main shaft 2 that rotates when driven by the motor 1, and a head carrier 3 that reciprocates left and right as the main shaft 2 rotates. The head carrier 3 has a print head 4 of a thermal printing type, a dot printing type, or the like provided at the tip of the head carrier 3, and a paper feed shaft 5 that rotates in one direction as the head carrier 3 moves backward.

The motor 1 is operatively connected to the main shaft 2 via a gear (not shown). A pair of spiral grooves are formed in the main shaft 2 in opposite directions and continuous at both ends. The head carrier 3 is screwed into the spiral groove of the main shaft 2, while the paper feed shaft 5
It engages with the helical part only in one direction, left and right. Paper feed shaft 5
is provided with a paper feed roller 7.7 that contacts the continuous paper P. In the figure, reference numeral 8 denotes a guide rod that guides the head carrier 3 left and right.

The paper used in the above printer is a continuous paper P in which six pages are continuous through perforations m, and position marks K are attached at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction by a method such as coloring or perforation. . In this embodiment, the position mark is provided on the minus side of the end of page 6.

The printer of this embodiment differs from the conventional example in that a detection means 9 such as a photosensor is provided for detecting the presence or absence of the position mark at a certain point on the transport path of the continuous paper P. The detection signal is input to the control circuit 11 through the waveform shaping circuit IO. The control circuit 11 includes a CPU 2, a RAM 13, and a RO
M14, and outputs a control signal corresponding to the detection signal from the detection means 9 to the feed circuit 15.
5 and motor l to adjust the paper feed amount of continuous paper P.

Next, the continuous paper position adjustment operation in the control circuit 11 of the printer will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. Needless to say, the flowchart in FIG. 2 shows a routine for controlling paper feeding and printing for P-pages of continuous paper among all control operations of the control circuit 11.

First, in step St, the print head 4 prints in one direction while moving the head carrier 3 rightward by rotation of the main shaft 5. Then, in step S2, the head carrier 3 is moved back to rotate the paper feed shaft 5, and -
Feeds paper by line.

In both steps, printing and paper feeding for -line are completed, and the print head 4 is set at the beginning position of the next line.

In step S3, it is determined whether or not paper feeding for a predetermined M lines has been completed. Here, the predetermined M lines are the number of lines preset corresponding to the space of one page of continuous paper P, and if the actual paper feed amount of each line is approximately equal to the specified amount,
Printing is arranged to fit within one page of continuous paper P.

If the paper feeding for M lines has not been completed, the process returns to step S1 and steps S1 and S2 are repeated. As a result, printing and paper feeding for M lines, that is, printing and paper feeding for - fractions are performed.

When paper feeding for M lines is completed, the process advances to step S4.
It is determined whether the detection means 9 has detected the position mark K at a certain detection location. If the position mark K is not detected, it means that the paper P has not been fed until the position mark K reaches the mark detection area, and therefore the paper feed amount for each line up to that point is the specified amount. It means that it was less. Therefore, if the position mark K is not detected, the process moves from step S4 to step S5, and the head carrier 3 is moved to the right without printing, and then, in step S6, the head carrier 3 is moved back, - Feed the paper by a line, and then return to step S4. In this way, the paper is fed without printing until the detection means 9 detects the position mark K. As a result, a blank line for positioning is inserted after the M print lines, and this blank line compensates for the shortfall in the amount of paper feed up to that point.

If the detection means 9 detects the position mark K in step S4, it means that the amount of paper feed for each line up to that point is not insufficient, so the paper feed that does not involve printing as described above is not performed. Then, the process reaches the end and moves to a predetermined control routine for the next page.

In printers with the structure described above, it is normal for the paper feed amount to become less than the specified amount due to wear of the paper feed roller 7 after long-term use. If there is a shortage of paper, simply adjusting the paper feed amount to compensate for the shortage can provide accurate positioning that is sufficient for practical use.

In addition, by the same adjustment operation as described above, it is also possible to adjust the paper feed amount in the decreasing direction when the paper feed amount for each line is larger than the specified amount. For example, in principle, when printing and paper feeding for M lines are completed, paper feeding without printing is performed in one direction, and if the paper feeding amount up to that point is greater than the specified amount, the above-mentioned Paper feeding at the (M+1)th line may be omitted, and the relationship between detection of the presence or absence of a position mark and the corresponding paper feeding amount is not limited to the relationship shown in the above flowchart.

Furthermore, the attachment position, attachment interval, size, etc. of the position mark can be set as appropriate to differ from the embodiment, but before and after the perforation m of the continuous paper P, there is a gap between the printed lines. , even if there is a blank line for alignment, it is not noticeable, so
It is desirable to attach position marks K so that this blank line is located before and after the perforation.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, according to the present invention, if the paper feed amount for each line is different from the specified amount, after printing and paper feeding for a predetermined number of lines, paper feeding without printing is performed. is performed or omitted, and the position of the continuous paper is aligned with the printing position by the print head, so that inconveniences such as printing on perforations of the continuous paper do not occur.

Furthermore, the above alignment is performed electronically, and mechanically it is only necessary to provide a means for detecting position marks in the printer, so the configuration of the printer does not become complicated, and it can be carried out in a small space and at low cost. I can do it.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer for implementing the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a position adjustment operation in the printer, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a conventional printer. 1...Motor, 2...Main shaft, 3...Head carrier, 4...Print head, 5...Paper feed shaft, 7...
Paper feed roller, 9...detection means, 11...control circuit, P...continuous paper, K...position mark.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A method for adjusting the position of continuous paper in a printer in which paper is fed and other movable parts are driven by a single motor, and continuous paper is provided with position marks at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction. After printing a predetermined number of lines and paper feeding on this continuous paper using A printer paper position adjustment method characterized by executing or omitting paper feeding.