JPS60115469A - Automatic paper supply controlling system for printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the operation of switching between an automatic paper- supplying device and a continuous paper supplying device, by a method wherein paper set on a tray is supplied from the automatic paper-supplying device and a continuous paper is fed from the continuous paper supplying device in response to a page-feeding command. CONSTITUTION:When a page-feeding command is inputted, the next paper is automatically supplied from the tray of an automatic paper-supplying device 23 in the case where the automatic paper-supplying device 23 is connected, and the continuous paper is automatically fed to a printing-starting position of the next page in the case where the continuous paper supplying device is operated. Accordingly, there is no need to transmit a paper-supplying command from a host computer to a printer through a transmission line 4 when renewing the page.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention provides a printing device that can be equipped with an automatic paper feeder that sequentially feeds a plurality of sheets of paper to a printing position and a continuous paper feeder that feeds continuous paper. This paper relates to an automatic paper feed control method.

[Technical background of the invention]

As a paper feeding device that supplies paper to a printing device, there is a continuous paper feeding device that continuously feeds rolled paper to a platen of the printing device. When characters for one page are printed on the paper supplied by the continuous paper feeder, the paper is cut at the part where the page transitions. Also, as a paper feeding device,
There is an automatic paper feeder that sequentially feeds a plurality of sheets of paper cut into the size of one page in advance to the platen of the printing device. Some printing devices are equipped with a continuous paper feeder as standard equipment and can be equipped with an automatic paper feeder as a feed selection device.

In a printing device to which such an automatic paper feeder can be attached, the automatic paper feeder and each part of the printing device are controlled as follows. That is, when a paper feed command is input from the host computer serving as an external control unit, one sheet of the plurality of sheets set in the tray of the automatic paper feeder is placed at the printing position on the platen of the printing device, that is, the printing position. In printing devices using a wheel, it is guided to the printing hammer position.

Then, this position is designated as the printing start position of the page (T, O, F).

position) in the counter of the internal storage unit, and print preparation is completed. When a character code is input from the host computer, characters corresponding to the character code are sequentially printed out on sheets of paper set on the platen. Then, when the printout for -pages is completed, a page turn command is input from the host computer. When a page feed command is input, the platen is rotated and the printed paper is ejected. Thereafter, when a paper feeding command is input from the host computer, the next paper is fed from the automatic paper feeder to the printing position as described above.

On the other hand, when paper is supplied to a printing device using a continuous paper feeder without installing an automatic paper feeder, each part is controlled as follows. That is, when a page feed command is manually issued from the host computer, the leading edge of the continuous paper set in the continuous paper feeder is guided to the printing position of the printing device. Note that this operation may be performed manually. Strictly speaking, the printing start position of a sheet of paper with a blank section provided at the top of the page is set to the above printing position. Then, characters are printed in sequence based on the character code from the host computer, and when the printout for -pages is completed, a page turn command is input from the host computer. When this page feed command is input, the platen is rotated to feed the continuous paper to a position corresponding to the print start position of the next page.

[Problems with background technology]

However, the automatic paper feed control system of the printing apparatus configured as described above has the following problems.

In other words, the paper feeding command input from the host computer is a command to guide the paper from the tray of the automatic paper feeder to the printing position of the printing device, and the command to advance the page is a command to guide the paper from the tray of the automatic paper feeder to the printing position of the printing device. This is a command to drive the rotation by the distance to the print start position of the next page. therefore,
In a printing device equipped with an automatic paper feeder, two commands, a page feed command and a paper feed command, must be output from the host computer each time a page is updated. As a result, not only did the program on the host computer become more complex, but the amount of information transmitted between the host computer and the printing device increased, resulting in a problem in which the information processing time on the host computer and the transmission efficiency of information transmission decreased. . Furthermore, when switching the paper feed device between an automatic paper feeder and a continuous paper feeder, the contents of commands on the host computer side must be changed, making the switching operation complicated.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to reduce the information processing time in the external control unit by feeding paper from an automatic paper feeder in response to a page feed command. A printing device that can shorten the processing time, improve information transmission efficiency with an external control unit, and simplify switching operations between an automatic paper feeder and a continuous paper feeder, thereby improving the operation and operating efficiency of the entire printing device. The purpose of this invention is to provide an automatic paper feed control method.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides a printing device that can use an automatic paper feeder that sequentially feeds a plurality of sheets of paper and a continuous paper feeder that feeds continuous paper. A detection means for detecting whether the paper feeder is connected is provided. When this detector detects the automatic paper feeder and a page feed command is input from the external control unit, the printed paper is ejected and the paper set in the tray of the automatic paper feeder is transferred to the printer. guide to the printing position. Furthermore, when the detector detects the continuous paper feeder and a page feed command is manually issued from an external control section, the paper is fed to a position corresponding to the printing start position of the next page.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing a printing device to which an automatic paper feed control method of a printing device according to an embodiment is applied. In the figure, 1 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes various arithmetic processes, and this CPU transmits control programs and fixed data such as print wheel rotation position data corresponding to each character code via an 8-bit data bus 2. A transmission path 4 is connected to a host computer (not shown) as an external control unit.
an interface control unit 5 connected via the interface control unit 5, a RAM 6 for temporarily storing variable data such as character codes inputted via the interface control unit 5, the ROM,
? RA that temporarily stores rotational position data etc. read from
Controls M7 and timer 8. Furthermore, the CPUZ is an operation panel 9 equipped with various control switches such as a power switch.
■Controls the 10 port 11 that sends drive control signals to the I10 port 1o connected to the 10 port 1o and various output devices. This I10 boat II includes a print wheel control section 14 that sends drive pulses to a print wheel motor drive circuit 13 of a print wheel motor 12, a carriage motor drive circuit 16 of a carriage motor 15, and a paper feed motor 17 connected to a platen. A paper feed motor drive circuit 18, a ribbon feed motor drive circuit 20 for the ribbon feed motor 19, a printing hammer for driving a printing hammer 21, and a fixed circuit 22 are connected to each other.

Further, the printing apparatus configured as described above is equipped with a continuous paper feeder (not shown) for continuously feeding rolled paper into a planar paper. Furthermore, as a paper feeding device, a plurality of sheets of paper cut into the size of one fraction are stored in a tray in advance, and each time the print output of a fraction is completed, the paper is fed one by one to the printing position of the above-mentioned platen. An automatic paper feeder 23 for feeding paper is attached to a paper insertion slot located above the platen. This automatic paper feeder is constructed so that it can be easily attached and removed from the printing device, and when attached, it continues to send out signals at the X10 boat Z OKH level. When attached to the paper insertion slot, the platen has a mechanism that is linked to the rotation of the platen, and by rotating the platen in the reverse and forward directions within a certain rotation angle range, the paper set in the tray is is guided and pulled out to the printing position, that is, the printing hammer position.

The CPUZ is configured to control each section according to the flowchart of FIG. 2 when various data including character codes are inputted from the host computer via the transmission path 4 and the interface control section 5. That is, P.I.
At step i, it is confirmed that no error has occurred, and at step p2, the presence or absence of an interruption of various friend data is checked at step p2.

If data is input, it is verified in P3 whether the data is a page turn command. If the input data is not a page forwarding code, it is determined that the input data is a character code, and the process proceeds to the PI printout processing routine. In this print output processing routine, the character code input manually via the transmission path 4 and the interface control unit 5 is temporarily stored in the RAM 6, and the rotational position data of the print wheel corresponding to this character code is read.
AM7 is read out, and the difference between the read rotational position data and the current stop position data of the printing wheel is calculated to determine the amount of movement of the printing wheel. Then, a step signal corresponding to the number of rotation steps of the print wheel motor 120 corresponding to this movement amount is set in the print wheel motor control section 14. Then, the print wheel motor J2 rotates and moves the print wheel to the position specified by the character code. At the same time, a drive signal is sent to the carriage motor drive circuit 16 to rotate the carriage motor 15 and advance the carriage to the designated print position. Further, the ribbon feed motor 19 is driven to feed the ribbon. Then, the printing hammer 21 is driven to strike the printed characters formed at the tip of the printing wheel.

As a result, characters corresponding to the character code are printed out on the paper.

When the print output processing routine is completed, it enters a standby state for the next data interrupt input.

Then, the printing output processing routine for the -fraction is completed,
When the input data becomes a page feed code indicating a page feed command in P3, a drive signal is sent to the aforementioned print wheel drive circuit Z8 in P5 to move the platen from the print end position to the print start position of the next page. The paper feed motor 17 is driven once so that the paper feed motor 17 rotates in the forward direction. If an automatic paper feeder is connected, the printed paper is ejected by the paper feeding operation. On the other hand, if a continuous paper feeder is connected, the printed page of the continuous paper is fed and the printing start position of the next page comes into contact with the printing position of the printing device.

Next, in P6, the voltage level of the input terminal to which the automatic paper feeder 23 of the Ekaport 10 is to be connected is checked, and the automatic paper feeder 23 is checked.
Determine whether or not there is a connection. If the voltage level is H level, it is determined that the automatic paper feeder 23 is connected, and the P
7, the paper is fed from the tray of the automatic paper feeder 23 to the printing hammer position of the printing device. Specifically, ■paper feed motor I7 connected to the platen via the offshore boat 11;
A drive signal is sent to the paper feed motor drive circuit Z8 to cause the platen to rotate backward by a predetermined angle, and then a drive signal is sent to cause the platen to rotate forward by a separately determined angle. Thus, one sheet of paper set in the tray is pulled out to the printing hammer position. Note that the position where the printing hammer abuts on the drawn-out paper is adjusted by the normal rotation movement angle of the platen so that it is a printing start position with a blank section at the leading end.

When the paper is fed to the printing hammer position, that position is set as the page printing start position in P8 and R/1. It is set in the u counter, etc., and enters a character code interrupt standby state as printing preparation is complete.

At P6, the voltage level at the I10 port 100 input terminal is L.
level, the automatic paper feeder 23 is not connected and it is determined that the continuous paper feeder built into the printing device is operating, and the paper is fed at P5 instead of P9. The printing position of the continuous paper is set as the page printing start position in aXU, etc., and a character code interrupt standby state is entered.

Additionally, when feeding paper corresponding to the first page when no paper is set on the platen, it is only necessary to input a non-delivery command from the host computer. If the automatic paper feeder is connected, paper is set according to the flow of operations shown in P5 and P7.9g of FIG. On the other hand, if the automatic paper feeder is removed and the continuous paper feeder is operating, P5#P9
The paper is set according to the flow of operations.

With the automatic paper feed control method of a printer configured in this way, when a page feed command is input, if an automatic paper feeder is connected, the next page will be automatically moved from the tray of the automatic paper feeder. Paper is fed. Further, when the continuous paper feeder is operating, the paper is automatically fed to the printing start position of the next page. Therefore, since it is not necessary to send a paper feed command from the host computer to the printing device via the transmission line 4 when updating a page, the information processing time on the host computer side can be shortened. Furthermore, since the amount of information transmitted between the host computer and the printing device can be reduced, the efficiency of information transmission can be improved.

In addition, when switching the paper feeder between an automatic paper feeder and a continuous paper feeder, the type of paper feeder being used is automatically detected and used, as shown in the flowchart in Figure 2. The processing operation corresponds to the type of paper feeder being used. Therefore, since only one type of command content is required from the host computer, the control program on the host computer side can be simplified and the switching operation can be simplified.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, by feeding paper from the automatic paper feeder in response to a page feed command, it is possible to shorten the information processing time in the host computer as an external control unit, and furthermore, it is possible to shorten the information processing time in the host computer as an external control unit. It is possible to improve the efficiency of information transmission between In addition, switching operations between the automatic paper feeder and the continuous paper feeder can be easily performed. I wanted to,
It is possible to improve the operating efficiency of the entire printing device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing a printing device to which an automatic paper feed control method of a printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied;
Figure (d) is a flowchart showing the operation of the same automatic paper feed control system.
...RA Jlo, 11... ■Havot, 12...
・Print wheel motor, I5...carriage motor,
17...Paper feed remoter, I9...Ribbon feed remoter, 21...Printing hammer, 23...Automatic paper feeder. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue 15- 1st r.

Claims (1)

[Claims] When using an automatic paper feeder, feed multiple sheets of paper set in the tray of this automatic paper feeder to the printing position of the printing device in sequence, and when using a continuous paper feeder, feed multiple sheets of paper set in the tray of this automatic paper feeder to the printing position of the printing device. In an automatic paper feed control method for a printing device that continuously feeds continuous paper to the printing position and prints out characters corresponding to a character code input from an external control unit, the automatic feeding control method for the printing device a detection means for detecting which paper feeder is connected, a paper carton and the continuous paper feeder; means for ejecting the printed paper in response to a print command and guiding the paper set in the tray of the automatic paper feeder to a printing position of the printing device; and the detection means detects the continuous paper feeder. and a means for feeding the paper to a position corresponding to a printing start position of the next page in response to a page feed command input from the external control unit when the printing is started. Paper control method.