Alps Electric Co., Ltd.

Alps Patent Department

Tadao Tamukai

Fumihisa Hori

Mikio Miyajima

Kyuichi Fujisawa

Shuichi Arazu

A method of generating character patterns to be printed on a printer, wherein each character is divided into line segments in the X or Y axis direction or 45.degree.-angle direction on the X/Y coordinates. Segments are processed in pairs of contiguous, linked lines. The method eliminates the need for storing positional data for the node of linked lines, whereby the capacity of memory for storing numerous complex character patterns can be saved.

Method of generating character patterns

A printer comprising a printing mechanism, a control circuit which controls said printing mechanism and a power supply including battery, wherein said power supply provides the first stabilized power source circuit which converts an output voltage of said battery to the predetermined first supply voltage and then supplies it to said printing mechanism and the second stabilized power source circuit which converts an output voltage of said battery to the second supply voltage which is lower than said first supply voltage and then supplies it to said control circuit, and moreover a detecting circuit, which is composed of a transistor and resistors and detects that difference between the supply voltages of said first stabilized power source circuit and second stabilized power source circuit has reached a value lower than the predetermined threshold value, is also provided, and moreover the printing operation is controlled on the basis of an output signal of the detecting circuit.

Printer with supply voltage control circuit

A serial printer suitable for use in desk-top calculators or the like. The serial printer has a rotary shaft rotatable together with two type wheels. The power supply to the rotary shaft is made by a motor which operates continuously only in one rotational direction through a first clutch. A second clutch is provided to make a selective power transmission between the rotary shaft and the member for actuating the hammer, as well as the member for causing the carrying operation. The states of the first and the second clutches are controlled by a change-over arm which in accordance with the operation instruction given by an operation instruction coil, such that these clutches are alternatingly turned on and off to make various operations such as printing, column shift, paper feeding and so forth.

Serial printer

A pen recorder has a carriage movable across a sheet of print paper and supporting a rotatable drum with a plurality of pen units mounted thereon. The carriage is movable between a pair of side frames through a print region and a nonprint region. When the carriage is moved by a stepper motor into abutment against one of the side frames which provides a stopper position, the relationship between the phase of the stepper motor and the position of the carriage is determined. Each time a print cycle is finished, the carriage is returned to a home position which is at the other end of the nonprinting region. A desired pen unit can be selected by reciprocating the carriage in an interval within the nonprint region, the interval being spaced from a preset number of increments of angular movement of the stepper motor.

Method of initializing pen recorder carriage position

A serial printer suitable for use in desk-top calculators or the like. The serial printer has a rotary shaft rotatable together with two type wheels. The power supply to the rotary shaft is made by a motor which operates continuously only in one rotational direction through a first clutch. A second clutch is provided to make a selective power transmission between the motor and the member for actuating the hammer, as well as the member of causing the carrying operation. The states of the first and the second clutches are controlled by a change-over arm which in accordance with the operation instruction given by an operation instruction coil, such that these clutches are alternatively engaged and dis-engaged to make various operations such as printing, column shift, paper feeding and so forth.

A printer having clutches for selectively transmitting the driving power from a single motor to a rotary shaft for rotating the type wheels and to a hammer drive shaft for driving a hammer is described. The clutches are under the control of a single controlling member so that the typing operation can be accomplished by the power furnished by a single motor having a shaft which need rotate continuously in one direction only.

Growing community of inventors

Tamayama, Japan

Tadao Tamukai