Means for controlling operation of a printer

Abstract

 A means for controlling printing of a series of forms (10) on a printer. The series of forms (10) comprises at least a first and second form which are connected together and each form has a cutoff position or perforation. The series of forms (10) is positioned over the platen of the printer and the printer positions the series of forms (10) at the top of the first form whereupon the printer prints the text on the first form. An algorithm associated with the printer then advances the first form to its cutoff position whereby the first form may be removed if desired. The algorithm associated with the printer then retracts the series of forms (10) to the first line of the second form so that after the first form is printed and removed from the printer the series of forms (10) is retracted to the first line of the second form so as to utilize each form of the series of forms (10). An alternate embodiment is also disclosed wherein the printer uses word processing formatting with line feeds which control the top and bottom margins (34, 32) of each page. In the alternate embodiment, line feeds that produce the bottom margin (32) of the first page (20) are processed and line feeds that produce the top margin (34) of the second page (26) are held pending until the first form is removed and the series of forms (10) are again retracted to the top of the second form. A method for printing a series of forms (10) is also disclosed wherein the series of forms (10) is positioned at the top of the first form and the first form is printed. The first form is then advanced to its cutoff position and removed from the printer if desired. The series of forms (10) is then retracted to the first line of the second form so that each form in the series of forms (10) is utilized.

Description

Background of the Invention

A) Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates generally to a means for controlling printing of a series of forms and in particular to a means for cotrolling printing of a series of forms which uses printer logic to retract the paper or form back to the top of the page after a previous form is removed.

B) Background Art

[0002] Conventionally in a printer the paper used in the printer is in the form of sheets or rolls which are fed through a sprocket wheel past the printhead and over the carriage. When a particular printout is completed and the operator wishes to remove the paper from the printer the typical procedure includes advancing the paper to the top of the form, removing the printout and again advancing the paper to the next top of form in order to begin the next printout, whereby the next printout starts at the top of the next page thus causing an unused page to remain between printouts.

[0003] There are numerous situations in which one printout occurs on one page of a form. This form is removed from the printer and the next printout takes place. An example of this is in a car rental agency wherein a customer rents a car, receives the rental form which is removed from the printer and the process is repeated for the next customer. It can be seen that if there is an unused form wasted between each customer, the expense of unused forms can become quite costly.

[0004] One proposed solution in the prior art, has been to position the printhead under the cover as close as possible to the tear edge of the printer so that after one form is removed the top of the next form is positioned in closer proximity to the printhead. This has proven unsatisfactory in that the tear edge of the form is difficult to see when positioned very close under the cover of the printer which can result in improper tearing of the form.

Summary of the Invention

[0005] In order to overcome problems inherent in the before-described means for controlling the printing of a series of forms, there is taught in the present invention a new and novel means for controlling the printing of forms wherein an algorithm associated with the printer allows printer logic to be used to position the series of forms at the top of the first form of the series and to print on the first form. The first form of the series is then advanced to its cutoff position and removed at its cutoff position. The printer logic then retracts the series of forms back to the first line of the second form of the series so that each form in the series of forms is utilized.

[0006] It is therefore an object and advantage of the present invention to provide a means for controlling the printing of a series of forms that utilizes each form in a series of forms.

[0007] It is a further object and advantage of the present invention to provide a means for controlling the printing of a series of forms that uses printer logic to control the printing of the series of forms.

[0008] It is still another object and advantage of the present invention to provide a means for controlling the printing of a series of forms wherein the user does not need to manually adjust any of the series of forms.

[0009] It is still yet another object and advantage of the present invention to provide a means for controlling the printing of a series of forms which allows the visibility of the entire page that has just been printed.

[0010] These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from a review of the drawings and from a reading of the description of the preferred embodiment.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011] 

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the means for controlling the printing of a series of forms.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of an alternative means for controlling the printing of a series of forms wherein word processing is used.

Description of Preferred Embodiment

[0012] Referring now to the drawings in general, and in particular to FIG. 1 of the drawings there is shown a diagrammatic view of the means for controlling printing of a series of forms provided by an algorithm associated with the printer. In all FIG. 1s there is shown the paper or form generally by the numeral 10. The tear edge of the printer is shown at 12 and the position of the printhead relative to the paper or form is shown at 14. In FIG. 1A it can be seen that the paper or series of forms 10 is loaded at its' top of form position 15 such that the tear edge of the printer 12 is aligned horizontally with the tear edge or perforation of the paper or form 16. In FIG. 1B the first print line 18 of the first page 20 is shown with the indicia FIRST1. The first print line 18 of the first page 20 of the paper or series of forms 10 is then printed. In FIG. 1C the text of the first page 20 is printed and the last line 22 of the first page 20 is completed and the printer pauses. Then, in FIG. 1D it can be seen that the first page 20 is moved up so as to align horizontally the tear edge or perforation of the paper 16 with the tear edge of the printer 12. At this time, as shown in FIG. 1E the first page 20 of the series of forms 10 can be removed if desired. In FIG. 1F the first line 24 of the second page 26 is shown with the indicia FIRST2. It can be seen in FIG. 1F that the first line 24 of the second page 26 of the series of forms 10 has been retracted from its position near the tear edge of the printer 12 as shown in FIG. 1E to a position adjacent to the printhead 14 in FIG 1F. In this way, the second page 26 of the series of forms 10 is positioned so that the first line 24 of the second page 26 is positioned like the first line 18 of the first page 20 as shown in FIG. 1B so that the printhead 14 is aligned horizontally with the first line 24 of the second page 26. The retraction of the second page 26 then serves to insure that each page is printed on starting at its first line so that blank pages or forms are not wasted between forms.

[0013] An additional feature which can be added to the present invention is means for providing visibility of a line as it is being printed. With the additional feature, as text is being printed, the printer may be paused with the last printed line finished or unfinished. At this point, the paper may be auto advanced as shown in FIGS. 1C and 1D. Upon resumption of printing, the algorithm associated with the printer will continue printing as shown in FIGS. 1E and 1F, but without the tearoff, at the location at which the printing was paused so as not to misalign the lines of text as they are printed.

[0014] In FIG. 2 there is shown an alternate embodiment for the typical format of a printer wherein word processing is used. This alternative host printer formats pages and in the example shown in FIG. 2 has formatted sixty-six lines to each page. In the example shown in FIG. 2 sixty lines of text shown at 28 are printed on the second page 30 and are followed by six line feed commands resulting in a bottom margin 32 on the second page 30 of three lines after the text and a top margin 34 of three lines for the third page 36 of text. In the present alternate configuration after the first three line feeds for the bottom margin 32 of the second page 30 are completed, the remaining three lines for the top margin 34 of the third page 36 are held pending while the series of forms 10 is advanced to the tear edge or perforation 38 of the second page 30 wherein the second page or form 30 may be removed. After another line of printable text is sent from the host printer the paper or form 10 is then retracted to the fourth line 40 of the third page 36 so that printing of the next form will begin at its top of form position 40 rather then proceeding past the third page 36 and to the top of the next page.

[0015] A method for printing on a series of forms is also disclosed wherein the series of forms is positioned at the top of the first form and the first form is printed. The first form is then advanced to its cutoff position and removed at its cutoff position. The series of forms is then retracted to the first line of the second form so that printing of the second form begins immediately at the first line of the second form thereby utilizing every form in the series of forms.

[0016] From the foregoing, it can be seen that the applicant's means for controlling printing of a series of forms provides for the printing of each form in a series of forms without leaving unused forms in between by the use of printer logic. The means for controlling printing of a series of forms allows the visibility of the entire page that has just been printed and does not require any manual adjustment from the user.

[0017] It should be apparent after studying the drawings and reading the description of the preferred embodiment that other changes may be made in the arrangement of various components of the means for controlling printing of a series of forms and the positioning of various structures in the printer. The applicant is not to be limited to the exact embodiment shown which has been given by way of illustration only.

Claims

1. Means for controlling the operation of a printer adapted to print a series of at least two physically interconnected forms (10) and having a print head (14) and a form feed mechanism for advancing the forms past the print head (14), characterised in that it comprises means for controlling the form feed mechanism to advance the forms (10) to a position in which the first print line of the first form is in register with the print head (14) of the printer to enable printing to start at the first print line, means for controlling the form feed mechanism to advance the forms, after the last line of printing has been completed, to a position in which a separation line between the first and second form is in register with form separation means (12) of the printer and the first print line of the second form is advanced beyond a position in which it is in register with the print head (14) of the printer, and means for controlling the form feed to reverse the form feed motion to retract the second form to a position in which its first print line is in register with the said print head (14) of the printer.

2. Means for controlling the operation of a printer according to Claim 1, characterised in that there are further provided means for advancing the form feed mechanism after a print line has been printed, whereby to move the said print line to a position where the print head (14) does not obstruct its visibility, and subsequently reverse the motion of the form feed mechanism to position a next succeeding print line in register with the said print head (14).

3. Means for controlling the operation of a printer, according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterised in that there are provided means for detecting registration of a form with the form separation means (12) of the printer operable to command storage of form feed commands from the printer until the form feed mechanism has been returned to a datum position.

4. A method of operating a printer to print a plurality of physically interconnected separable forms, characterised in that it comprises the steps of advancing a form feed mechanism of the printer to position a first form with its first print line in register with a print head (14) of the printer, printing a plurality of lines on the form, advancing the form feed mechanism of the printer to a position where a separation line between the first form and a second form are in register with form separation means (12) of the printer and the first print line of the second form is advanced beyond a position in which it is in register with the print head (14) of the printer, and subsequently reversing the motion of the form feed mechanism to bring the second form back to a position in which the first print line of the second form is in register with the print head (14) of the printer.

5. A method according to Claim 4 characterised in that after a print line has been printed by the print head the form feed mechanism is controlled to advance the form to a position where the visibility of the just-printed print line is not obstructed by the print head, and subsequently the form feed mechanism is controlled to retract the form to a position in which the next succeeding print line is in register with the said print head.

6. A method according to Claim 4 or Claim 5, characterised in that form feed commands of the printer are stored when the separation line between a form and the next adjacent form is in register with the said form separation means (12) until the said next adjacent form has been displaced by the form feed mechanism back to a datum position.

7. A printer for printing successive physically connected separable forms, of the type having a form feed mechanism, a print head (14) and form separation means (12) by means of which adjacent forms may be separated when a form separation line betwen them is in register therewith, characterised in that it is provided with form feed control means operable to control the form feed mechanism to position a first form with a first print line thereof in register with the said print head (14) of the printer to allow printing of the said first print line and successive print lines of the said first form, and further operable, when a last print line of the form has been printed, to control the form feed mechanism to advance the said first form to a position in which a separation line between the first form and a second form adjacent thereto is in register with the said form separation means (12) of the printer and the first print line of said second form is advanced beyond a position in which it is in register with the print head (14) of the printer, and subsequently to control the form feed mechanism to retract the second form to position the first print line thereof in register with the print head (14) of the printer.

Drawing