US 7,965,308 B2 · Method and arrangement for control of the printing of a thermotransfer printing device

Abstract

In a method and an arrangement for controlling printing by a thermotransfer printing apparatus with relative movement between a thermotransfer print head and a print medium, a microprocessor that provides pixel energy data to a pixel energy memory by making an energy value calculation and by coding, and a print data controller prepares the pixel energy data by decoding during the printing in a number (corresponding to the pixel energy value) of binary pixel data each with the same binary value. The print data controller includes at least one pixel energy data preparation unit, a DMA controller, an address generator, a printer controller and a phase counter. The DMA controller allows an access to the pixel energy data stored in the pixel energy memory as code in order to provide the pixel energy data in print columns to the at least one pixel energy data preparation unit. The address generator generates addresses for selection of the buffered code during each phase of a number of phases. The phase counter supplies a phase count value to a phase data preparation unit in which the code value A and phase count value B are compared in order to generated binary pixel data, which are serially supplied from the output D to at least one shift register of the thermotransfer print head.

Claims24

Dependent claims

A method for controlling printing by a thermotransfer printing apparatus, said thermotransfer printing apparatus comprising a print data controller and a thermotransfer print head with heating elements arranged in a row which is arranged orthogonally to a transport direction of a print medium and operated by drivers to produce printed dots for printing a printed image on said print medium, said method comprising the steps of:

in said print data controller, for each of said dots lying in a print column to be printed by said heating elements, converting a pixel energy value, that controls printing of each of said dots, into a number of binary pixel data corresponding to the pixel energy value for each of said dots, each of the binary pixel data of said number of binary pixel data having a same binary value;
incorporating each of the binary pixel data of said number of binary pixel data for heating any one heating element of said row in any one phase of a plurality of phases of a print pulse duration of a single print pulse;
supplying a plurality of binary pixel data in succession from said print data controller to said drivers wherein each of said plurality of binary pixel data is scheduled for heating a predetermined heating element for printing a dot lying in a print column n said same phase of said print pulse duration;
and
in said driver, energy during a plurality of phases of said single print pulse to said thermotransfer print head to produce said printed dots lying in said print column on said print medium.

2 more elements

An arrangement for controlling thermotransfer printing, comprising:

a thermotransfer printer comprising a thermotransfer printhead mounted for relative movement with respect to a print medium to print onto the print medium by thermotransfer printing;
a microprocessor configured to calculate respective pixel energy values for respective pixels in an image comprised of said pixels and to code the respective pixel energy values into a number of binary pixel data, each of the binary pixel data of said number of binary pixel data having a same binary value;
a memory accessible by said microprocessor, said microprocessor being configured to store said binary pixel data for the respective pixels in said memory;
and
a print data controller having access to said memory, said print data controller being configured to access and decode said binary pixel data for the respective pixels to generate a signal, for each pixel, to said thermotransfer printhead that activates said thermotransfer printhead, for the respective pixels, according to the respective energy values in said thermotransfer printing on said print medium.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and arrangement for control of the printing of a thermotransfer printing device

Life of this patent

Method and arrangement for control of the printing of a thermotransfer printing device

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims24