Interface Circuit Thermal History Control for Printers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Thermal printers face challenges in reducing heat accumulation from past print operations, leading to suboptimal printing quality and increased costs due to the need for complex circuitry and memory to manage thermal history control within the printer.
Innovation Solution
An interface circuit is introduced that connects a system controller to a driving circuit for a thermal head, dividing print data signals, storing them, and performing logical arithmetic to generate history print data signals, which are synchronized with driving signals, thereby enabling thermal history control outside the thermal head without significantly increasing circuit size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If thermal history control is implemented within the thermal head, then printing quality is improved, but circuit size and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the thermal history control function from the thermal head and relocates it to an external interface circuit. The interface circuit stores print data signals, performs logical arithmetic operations to generate history print data signals, and outputs them synchronized with driving signals. This extraction removes the need for complex memory and processing circuits within the thermal head, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining printing quality through external thermal history control.
Solution Approach 2:
The interface circuit acts as an intermediary between the system controller and the driving circuit. It receives print data signals from the system controller, processes them through logical arithmetic operations to account for thermal history effects, and generates appropriately modified history print data signals for the driving circuit. This intermediary approach enables thermal history control without requiring direct modification of the thermal head circuitry.
2Manufacturing precision
If complex memory and circuitry are added to manage thermal history control, then printing quality is improved, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the memory and logical arithmetic functions required for thermal history control from the thermal head assembly and places them in a separate interface circuit. This separation allows the thermal head to remain simple and cost-effective, while the interface circuit handles the complex functions of storing print data signals and generating history print data signals through logical arithmetic operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The interface circuit creates copied and processed versions of the original print data signals. It stores copies of print data signals in memory, performs logical arithmetic operations on these copies to generate history print data signals that account for thermal accumulation, and outputs the modified signals for printing. This copying approach enables thermal history control without requiring expensive modifications to the thermal head itself.
Data Source
AI summary
An interface circuit includes an operation controller that controls an operation state of the interface circuit; a converter that outputs divided print data signals, each divided print data signal of the divided print data signals having a predetermined bit width; a storage that stores the divided print data signals. The interface circuit includes a data controller that controls an order of writing of the divided print data signals into the storage and reading of the divided print data signals from the storage; a logical arithmetic module that performs logical arithmetic operations based on the divided print data signal and a history pulse signal and outputs a history print data signal that defines heat generating time periods of dots corresponding to print lines to be printed; and a conversion clock synchronizer that outputs the history print data signal in synchronization with a driving signal for a thermal head.