Printer Front Margin Consistency via Resolution-Aware Stop Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional printers with high and low resolution capabilities face challenges in managing the length of the front margin to be cut off, as the printing head must temporarily stop and resume printing, leading to differences in front margin length depending on the resolution used.
Innovation Solution
A printer with a judgment unit that adjusts the formation of dot arrays to ensure equal numbers of printing lines are completed at both high and low resolutions, allowing for synchronized temporary stops and resumptions during the printing process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the printing head temporarily stops to allow the cutter to cut off the front margin, then the front margin can be cut off accurately, but the printing operation efficiency decreases due to temporary stop and resume
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit calculates and determines the optimal temporary stop position in advance based on the number of printing lines to be formed. This preliminary calculation allows the printing head to stop at the correct position without needing to stop and resume multiple times, thereby maintaining precision while improving efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit monitors the number of printing lines formed and compares it with the expected number to determine when to temporarily stop. This feedback mechanism ensures accurate front margin cutting while optimizing the printing process by stopping only when necessary, thus resolving the contradiction between precision and productivity.
2Ease of operation
If the printing head stops at a half-done position to allow cutting, then the cutter can access the front margin, but the front margin length differs between high and low resolution printing modes
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit dynamically adjusts the temporary stop position based on the selected resolution mode (high or low). By calculating different stop positions corresponding to different numbers of printing lines for each resolution mode, the system maintains consistent front margin length while ensuring cutter accessibility in both modes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of temporary stop position according to the resolution mode. For high resolution, the stop position corresponds to a different number of printing lines compared to low resolution mode. This parameter adjustment ensures that the front margin length remains consistent across both resolution modes while maintaining ease of operation.
3Productivity
If the printing head continues printing without stopping, then productivity is maintained, but the cutter cannot accurately cut off the front margin
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit preliminarily calculates the optimal temporary stop position based on the number of printing lines to be formed before actually stopping. This allows the system to maintain printing continuity by stopping only when necessary and for the minimum required time, thus resolving the contradiction between productivity and cutting accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The printing operation resumes immediately after the temporary stop for cutting, minimizing the interruption to the useful action of printing. The control unit ensures that the temporary stop is brief and necessary, maintaining overall printing continuity while allowing accurate front margin cutting.
Data Source
AI summary
In case resolution is set to 360 dpi, each dot is formed on each printing line provided orthogonally to conveying direction at intervals obtained by dividing an inch on a surface tape by 360 lines. Contrarily, in case resolution is set to 180 dpi, each dot array is formed to occupy two printing lines. In case a control unit judges that the number of dot-array-formed printing lines from start of printing till temporary stop of printing with 180 dpi is not equal to that of dot-array-formed printing lines with 360 dpi, a portion of serial arrays of dots to be formed from start of printing till temporary stop of printing with 180 dpi is formed with 360 dpi so that the number of dot-array-formed printing lines from start of printing till temporary stop of printing is made equal to that of dot-array-formed printing lines in printing with 360 dpi.