EP0160860A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Printing apparatus
Assignee: Toshiba Tec Corp
•
Filing: 1985-04-15
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2005-04-15
Abstract
Abstract A printing apparatus includes N heating elements (33-1 to 33-N) arranged in a line, and prints data on a label (1) by each line by selectively supplying a current to these heating elements (33-1 to 33-N) in accordance with printing data. The printing apparatus has a first memory (25) for storing a plurality of line printing data constituting printing information including special information, a second memory (26) for storing a plurality of line printing data constituting ordinary printing information, and a control unit (18, 27, 29) which generates drive data corresponding to a logical sum of the one line printing data from the first memory (MA1) and that from the second memory (MA2) so as to cause the heating elements (33-1 to 33-N) to be selectively energized during the first printing period of each printing cycle, and generates the drive data corresponding to the one line printing data from the first memory (MA1) so as to cause the heating (33-1 to 33-N) to be selectively energized during the second printing period of each printing cycle.
Inventors
- 👤 Yasuhiro Sakura
- 👤 Koichi Haraga
- 👤 Hitoshi Nimura
- 👤 Mamoru Ishikawa
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 14:22
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01G; G01G19/00; G01G19/40; G01G19/413; G01G19/414; G01G19/415; G01G23/00; G01G23/18; G01G23/38; G01G23/42; G06; G06K; G06K1/00; G06K1/12; G06K1/126
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
361 words
A printing apparatus comprising heating means (33-1 to 33-N, 34-1 to 34-N; 122) having N heating elements (33-1 to 33-N) arranged in a line and selectively energized in accordance with input N-bit data; driving means (28, 30, 31-1 to 31-N; 126) for supplying the N-bit data to said heating means (33-1 to 33-N, 34-1 to 34-N; 122) in accordance with input drive data; a memory circuit (25, 26; 108, 110) for storing a plurality of line printing data to be printed on a label; and control means (18, 27, 29; 100, 102, 104) for sequentially reading out the line printing data from said memory circuit (25, 26; 108, 110) and for supplying to said driving means (28, 30, 31-1 to 31-N; 126) drive data corresponding to the line printing data read out from said memory circuit (25, 26; 108, 110) during each printing cycle, characterized in that the printing cycle has first and second printing periods, said memory circuit has at least first and second memory means (25, 26; 108, 110) for storing first and second printing data each having a plurality of line printing data, and said control means (18, 27, 29; 100, 102, 104) reads out one line printing data from each of said first and second memory means (25, 26; 108, 110), supplies to said driving means (28, 30, 31-1 to 31-N; 126) the drive data corresponding to a logical sum of the one line printing data read out from said first memory means (25; 108) and that read out from said second memory means (26; 110) to cause said driving means (28, 30, 31-1 to 31-N; 126) to supply N-bit data to said heating means (33-1 to 33-N, 34-1 to 34-N; 122) during the first printing period of each printing cycle, and supplies to said driving means (28, 30, 31-1 to 31-N; 126) the drive data corresponding to the one line printing data read out from said first memory means (25; 108) to cause said driving means (28-, 30, 31-1 to 31-N; 126) to supply N-bit data to said heating means (33-1 to 33-N, 34-1 to 34-N; 122) during the second printing period of the printing cycle.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
361 words
A printing apparatus comprising heating means (33-1 to 33-N, 34-1 to 34-N; 122) having N heating elements (33-1 to 33-N) arranged in a line and selectively energized in accordance with input N-bit data; driving means (28, 30, 31-1 to 31-N; 126) for supplying the N-bit data to said heating means (33-1 to 33-N, 34-1 to 34-N; 122) in accordance with input drive data; a memory circuit (25, 26; 108, 110) for storing a plurality of line printing data to be printed on a label; and control means (18, 27, 29; 100, 102, 104) for sequentially reading out the line printing data from said memory circuit (25, 26; 108, 110) and for supplying to said driving means (28, 30, 31-1 to 31-N; 126) drive data corresponding to the line printing data read out from said memory circuit (25, 26; 108, 110) during each printing cycle, characterized in that the printing cycle has first and second printing periods, said memory circuit has at least first and second memory means (25, 26; 108, 110) for storing first and second printing data each having a plurality of line printing data, and said control means (18, 27, 29; 100, 102, 104) reads out one line printing data from each of said first and second memory means (25, 26; 108, 110), supplies to said driving means (28, 30, 31-1 to 31-N; 126) the drive data corresponding to a logical sum of the one line printing data read out from said first memory means (25; 108) and that read out from said second memory means (26; 110) to cause said driving means (28, 30, 31-1 to 31-N; 126) to supply N-bit data to said heating means (33-1 to 33-N, 34-1 to 34-N; 122) during the first printing period of each printing cycle, and supplies to said driving means (28, 30, 31-1 to 31-N; 126) the drive data corresponding to the one line printing data read out from said first memory means (25; 108) to cause said driving means (28-, 30, 31-1 to 31-N; 126) to supply N-bit data to said heating means (33-1 to 33-N, 34-1 to 34-N; 122) during the second printing period of the printing cycle.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
43 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that each of said first and second memory means (25, 26; 108, 110) comprises a memory area for storing each of the first and second printing data which are designated by substantially the same address.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
190 words
An apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said control means comprises a logic circuit (27, 29) for receiving the one line printing data from said first and second memory means (25, 26), and a control unit (18) which supplies a first control signal to said logic circuit (27, 29) to supply to said driving means (28, 30, 30-1 to 30-N) the drive data corresponding to the one line printing data from each of said first and second memory means (25, 26) thereby causing said driving means (28, 30, 30-1 to 30-N) to supply N-bit data to said heating means (33-1 to 33-N 34-1 to 34-N) during the first printing period of each printing cycle, and supplies a second control signal to said logic circuit (27, 29) to supply to said driving means (28, 30, 30-1 to 30-N) the drive data corresponding to the one line printing data from said first memory means (25) thereby causing said driving means (28, 30, 30-1 to 30-N) to supply N-bit data to said heating means (33-1 to 33-N, 34-1 to 34-N) during the second printing period of the printing cycle.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
72 words
An apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that said logic circuit comprises an AND circuit (29) for controlling transfer of the one line printing data from said second memory means (26) in accordance with the first and second control signals from said control unit (18), and an OR circuit (27) for receiving output data from said AND circuit (29) and the one line printing data from said first memory means (25).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
160 words
An apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said control means comprises third memory means (104) having first and second memory areas (MA1, MA2) for respectively storing the one line printing data from said first and second memory means (108, 110), and a data processing unit (100, 102) which supplies to said driving means (126) the drive data corresponding to a logical sum of the one line printing data stored in said first memory area (MAl) and that stored in said second memory area (MA2) thereby causing said driving means (126) to supply N-bit data to said heating means (122) during the first printing period of each printing cycle, and supplies to said driving means (126) the driving data corresponding to the one line printing data stored in said first memory area (MAl), thereby causing said driving means (126) to supply N-bit data to said heating means (122) during the second printing period of the printing cycle.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
105 words
An apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the first printing data includes special information, said data processing unit (100, 102) sets a different printing mode upon detecting that the one line printing data stored in said first memory area (MAl) does not include a part of the special information, in the different printing mode, each printing cycle being constituted by a third printing period shorter than the first printing period, and in the third printing period, said data processing unit (100, 102) supplies to said driving means (126) drive data corresponding to the one line printing data in said second memory area (MA2).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
98 words
An apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that said third memory means (104) further has a counter (PNC), and said data processing unit (100, 102) updates a content of said counter (PNC) every time said data processing unit (100, 102) intermittently generates the drive data corresponding to the one line printing data in said first memory area (MAl) and stops generating the drive data corresponding to the one line printing data in said first memory area (MAl) when said data processing means detects that the content of said counter (PNC) has reached a predetermined value.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.