Thermal Printer Power Management via Dynamic Speed and Energy Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Thermal printers face power consumption issues when printing large volumes, leading to blurred prints and reduced conveying speed due to energy shortages, especially when printing on both sides of the medium, as existing solutions fail to adequately adjust energy and conveying speed to manage power within the printer's capacity.
Innovation Solution
A thermal printer with a conveying unit, thermal head, print-dot counting section, and adjusting section that dynamically adjust conveying speed and energization time based on print data to optimize power usage, allowing for stable and efficient printing by reducing power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If conveying speed is reduced to manage power consumption, then power consumption is kept within limits, but printing time becomes extremely long
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic adjustment of conveying speed based on the number of print dots. The conveying speed is not fixed but varies according to printing conditions, allowing the system to optimize between power consumption and printing time by adapting speed to the actual printing load
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the conveying speed parameter according to the number of print dots. When print dot count is high, conveying speed is reduced to manage power consumption; when print dot count is low, conveying speed can be increased to maintain efficient printing
2Manufacturing precision
If energy applied to thermal head is increased to maintain print quality, then print clarity is maintained, but power consumption exceeds supply capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The system adjusts the energization time parameter based on the number of print dots. By dynamically changing this parameter, the system maintains sufficient energy application for print quality while reducing total power consumption when the number of print dots is high
Solution Approach 2:
The energization time is dynamically adjusted according to printing conditions. The system transitions from fixed energization time to variable energization time that adapts to the printing load, optimizing the balance between print quality and power consumption
3Use of energy by moving object
If conveying speed is set low to manage power, then power consumption is reduced, but print completion time becomes extremely long
Solution Approach 1:
The conveying speed is dynamically adjusted based on the number of print dots rather than being set to a low fixed value. This allows the system to maintain higher speeds when power consumption can be sustained, thereby improving print throughput while still managing power consumption when needed
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables stable and satisfactory print results by adjusting conveying speed and energization time, reducing power consumption and extending print completion time, while allowing users to prioritize printing speed or density according to their needs.
Implementation Method 1
a thermal head configured to have linearly-disposed heat generating elements and control energization to the heat generating elements to perform printing on the print medium
Data Source
AI summary
A print-dot counting section counts a number of print dots of print data. An adjusting section adjusts to reduce, according to the number of print dots counted by the print-dot counting section, one of conveying speed of a print medium by a conveying unit and energization time of energization to heat generating elements for forming one dot on the print medium and adjusts to reduce the other when the one reaches a lower limit value in an adjustable range. The conveying unit and a thermal head are driven by using the conveying speed and the energization time adjusted in this way to perform printing on the print medium.