MOBILE TYPE PRINTER AND PRINTING METHOD THEREOF

Abstract

A mobile type printer and a printing method thereof are disclosed. The mobile type printer comprises a rack. The rack is equipped with a power source, a motor, a mobile device, an ink-jet printing head and a central processing unit, wherein the central processing unit comprises a mobile control unit and a printing control unit; the entire rack is moved by the mobile device to an appropriate place according to an instruction issued by the mobile control unit, ink-jet printing is conducted by the ink-jet printing head according to an instruction issued by the printing control unit; the mobile device comprises two coaxial action wheels; and the ink-jet printing head is arranged at one side of a rotation shaft, and the power source and the motor are arranged at the other side of the rotation shaft. The mobile type printer, departing from a traditional structure of a width-fixed printer, cannot only freely move on a printing medium, but also can print an image-text in any size.

Claims

1. A mobile type printer, comprising a rack, wherein the rack is equipped with a power source, a motor, a mobile device, an ink-jet printing head and a central processing unit, wherein the central processing unit comprises a mobile control unit and a printing control unit; the rack is moved as a whole by the mobile device to an appropriate place according to an instruction issued by the mobile control unit, ink-jet printing is conducted by the ink-jet printing head according to the instruction issued by the printing control unit; the mobile device comprises two coaxial action wheels connected with the motor and installed below a middle portion of the rack along a same rotation shaft in parallel; and the ink-jet printing head is arranged at one side of the rotation shaft, and the power source and the motor are arranged at the other side of the rotation shaft.

2. The mobile type printer according to claim 1, wherein the motor is a stepping motor.

3. The mobile type printer according to claim 1, wherein the mobile device further comprises a sensor group, parameters sensed are input by the sensor group into the central processing unit in real time; a rack moving path and an ink-jet position of the printing head are stored in the central processing unit; compared with the parameters input by the sensor group, when the rack is discovered to move to a preset position, the sensor group communicates with the printing control unit and issues issue an ink-jet printing instruction.

4. The mobile type printer according to claim 3, wherein the sensor group further comprises an angular velocity sensor and an acceleration sensor, when the rack moves, parameters detected by the angular velocity sensor and the acceleration sensor are input into the central processing unit, to enable the central processing unit to get hold of a moving posture of a printing device, and compared with a preset moving path, the action wheel is driven to rotate by a driving motor of the mobile control unit, to maintain the moving posture of the printer, so that the printer moves on the preset moving path.

5. The mobile type printer according to claim 3, wherein the sensor group comprises a photoelectric distance sensor.

6. The mobile type printer according to claim 5, wherein the photoelectric distance sensor is a photoelectric mouse sensor, a light emitting diode is installed below the rack, a lens group is installed below the light emitting diode, the photoelectric mouse sensor is installed above the lens group to receive a reflected light, and a sensor signal is accessed into the mobile control unit through an interface microprocessor.

7. The mobile type printer according to claim 5, wherein the photoelectric distance sensor is a laser mouse sensor, a luminous tube is installed below the rack, a lens group is installed below the luminous tube, the laser mouse sensor is installed above the lens group to receive a reflected light, and a sensor signal is accessed into the mobile control unit through an interface microprocessor.

8. The mobile type printer according to claim 3, wherein the sensor group comprises a rotary type position encoder, and the rotary type position encoder and the rotation shaft of the motor or the action wheel are coaxially installed.

9. The mobile type printer according to claim 3, wherein the sensor group comprises a rotary type position encoder, movable oscillating arms are installed in the racks at both sides of the action wheel through a pendulum shaft, a driven wheel is installed at a terminal of the movable oscillating arm, and the rotary type position encoder and the rotation shaft of the driven shaft are coaxially installed.

10. A printing method, comprising the following steps of: horizontally placing a medium to be printed, putting the mobile type printer according to claim 1 on the medium to be printed, presetting a plurality of information about rack moving path and ink-jet position of the printing head in the central processing unit of the mobile type printer according to requirements for printed contents, moving the printer by the mobile device on the medium to be printed according to the preset path, and printing by the printing head according to the preset ink-jet position.

11. The printing method according to claim 10, wherein, prior to starting printing, the mobile type printer is kept in a sloping status under the effect of gravity thereof, an outside of the rack and two action wheels are contacted with the medium to be printed in a manner of three-point contact; when starting printing, the mobile control unit drives the action wheels to rotate, so that the printer starts moving at a certain accelerated velocity in a direction along which the rack is not contacted with the medium, when a center of gravity of the printer is lower than an axis of the two action wheels, the outside of the rack automatically separates from the printing medium, to complete a starting process.

12. The printing method according to claim 10, wherein, prior to starting printing, the mobile type printer is kept in a sloping status under the effect of gravity thereof, an outside of the rack and two action wheels are contacted with the medium to be printed in a manner of three-point contact; when starting printing, the mobile control unit drives the action wheels to rotate, so that the printer starts moving at a certain accelerated velocity in a direction along which the rack is not contacted with the medium, when a center of gravity of the printer is higher than an axis of the two action wheels, the mobile control unit further needs to drive the action wheels to brake to slow down, so that the printer has a reverse accelerated velocity, and the outside of the rack automatically separates from the printing medium, to complete a starting process.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an entire structure of the present invention.

[0042] FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a rotary type position encoder installed on a motor.

[0043] FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a rotary type position encoder installed on a rotation shaft of an action wheel.

[0044] FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a rotary type position encoder installed on an oscillating arm.

[0045] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a photoelectric distance sensor of the present invention.

[0046] FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a photoelectric distance sensor and a lens group of the present invention.

[0047] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a stop status of a printer when a center of gravity of the printer is above a rotation axis.

[0048] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a working status of a printer when a center of gravity of the printer is above a rotation axis.

[0049] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a stop status of a printer when a center of gravity of the printer is below a rotation axis.

[0050] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a working status of a printer when a center of gravity of the printer is below a rotation axis.

[0051] FIG. 11 is a flow chart of connecting a printer through a Bluetooth interface according to the present invention.

[0052] FIG. 12 is a flow chart of connecting a printer through an interface according to the present invention.

[0053] FIG. 13 is a flow chart of connecting a printer through a Bluetooth and combination according to the present invention.

[0054] FIG. 14 is an operation flow chart of the printer of the present invention.

[0055] FIG. 15 is a framework of the printer of the present invention.

[0056] Reference numerals in the figure: 1 refers to rack, 2 refers to action wheel, 3 refers to photoelectric distance sensor, 31 refers to light emitting diode, 32 refers to lens group, 33 refers to signal receiving end of photoelectric sensor, 34 refers to roughened surface of printing medium, 4 refers to acceleration sensor, 5 refers to angular velocity sensor, 6 refers to ink-jet printing head, 7 refers to transmission chain for connecting action wheel and motor, 8 refers to driving motor of action wheel, 9 refers to mobile type printer, 10 refers to battery, 11 refers to rotary type position encoder, 12 refers to oscillating arm, 13 refers to driven wheel, and 14 refers to pendulum shaft.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiment I

[0057] A mobile type printer comprises a rack 1, wherein the rack is equipped with a battery 10, a motor 8, a mobile device, an ink-jet printing head 6, and a central processing unit. The central processing unit comprises a mobile control unit and a printing control unit; the entire rack is moved by the mobile device to an appropriate place according to an instruction issued by the mobile control unit, and ink-jet printing is conducted by the ink-jet printing head according to an instruction issued by the printing control unit.

[0058] The ink-jet printing head is installed at one side of the rack, two action wheels 2 are installed below a middle portion of the rack along the same rotation axis in parallel; while a power source, a motor, a control device and other accessories are installed at the other side of the rotation axis, the weight of the printing head and the weight of the other accessories are fundamentally balanced by taking an axis of the action wheel as a center of symmetry, and the action wheels are connected with the motor through a transmission chain.

[0059] A sensor group of the mobile control unit comprises a photoelectric mouse sensor 3. The sensor is installed on the rack, and a light emitting diode 31 and a lens group 32 is installed below the rack. The light emitting diode faces downwards to irradiate a light to a surface as required to be printed through the lens group, the signal receiving end 33 of the photoelectric mouse sensor is installed above the lens group for receiving a reflected light of the surface of the printing medium, and a signal of the photoelectric mouse sensor is accessed to the central processing unit.

[0060] The sensor group of the mobile control unit further comprises an angular velocity sensor and an acceleration sensor 4. When the rack moves, parameters detected by the angular velocity sensor and the acceleration sensor are input into the central processing unit, to enable the central processing unit to get hold of a moving posture of a printing device, and compared with a preset moving path, the action wheel is driven to rotate by the driving motor of the mobile control unit, to maintain the moving posture of the printer, so that the printer moves on the preset moving path.

[0061] The moving path of the printer and the ink-jet position of the printing head are stored in a memory of the central processing unit, the built-in moving path and ink-jet position are compared with the parameters input by the sensor group of the mobile control unit, the central processing unit is communicated with the printing control unit to issue an instruction of ink-jet printing to the ink-jet printing head through the printing control unit after the printer is discovered to move to a preset ink-jet position.

[0062] When used, the printer is firstly placed horizontally on the surface of the printing medium. At this moment, the printer is in a stop status. The rack of the printer is in a sloping status along the rotation axis of the action wheel due to the action of gravity. At this moment, one side of the rack and two action wheels are contacted with the surface of the medium to be printed in a manner three-point contact, wherein a contact point between the rack of the printer and the printing medium is located at one side of the rotation axis of the two action wheels, and the center of gravity of the printer and the action wheel are not on a perpendicular line. The center of gravity of the printer can be either above the axis of the action wheel or below the axis of the action wheel.

[0063] When starting printing, the mobile control unit drives the action wheels to rotate, so that the printer starts moving at a certain accelerated speed in a direction along which the rack is not contacted with the medium, when a center of gravity of the printer is lower than an axis of the two action wheels, the outside of the rack automatically separates from the printing medium, to complete a starting process; when a center of gravity of the printer is higher than an axis of the two action wheels, the mobile control unit further needs to drive the action wheels to brake to slow down, so that the printer has a reverse accelerated speed, and the outside of the rack automatically separates from the printing medium, to complete a starting process.

[0064] After an action posture of the printer starts, that it to say, the action wheel can be driven to rotate, so that the printer moves on the printing medium. When the printer moves to the preset ink-jet position, the printing head can be instructed to conduct ink-jet printing.

[0065] The printer is equipped with a simple human-machine interface unit, comprising a battery status indicator lamp, a working status indicator lamp, and a function key. The printer is equipped with an LED indicator lamp to display a battery capacity, starting-up/printing/standby/dormancy, wireless connection and other status information according to turning-on, turning-off, and programmable special flashing rules.

[0066] The status of the battery status indicator lamp and the corresponding information are shown in the following table.

TABLE-US-00001 Normally turn on Reminder that the remaining capacity of a battery is higher than 90%, or charging is complete. Turn on 0.5 s, turn off 0.5 s, Reminder that charging is in progress. and flash continuously Normally turn off Reminder a dormant status, or that the battery is exhausted. Turn on 1 s, turn off 1 s, Reminder the remaining capacity of the and flash continuously batter is at a normal level, which is higher than 20% but less than 90%. Turn on 0.5 s, turn off 1 s, Reminder that the remaining capacity of and flash continuously the battery is lower than 20%.

[0067] The status of the working status indicator lamp and the corresponding information are shown in the following table.

TABLE-US-00002 Normally turn off Reminder that the printer is in a dormant status. Normally turn on Reminder that the printer is in a standby status and can accept a printing task. Turn on 0.5 s, turn off 1 s, Reminder that a mechanism, a hardware and flash continuously circuit, or an ink box of the printer is abnormal. Turn on 0.5 s, turn off 0.5 s, Reminder that a printing task is wrong. and flash continuously Turn on 0.3 s, turn off 0.3 s, Reminder that a wireless communication and flash continuously activity is receiving printing data or instructions. Turn on 1 s, turn off 1 s, and Reminder that the printer is printing. flash continuously

[0068] An operation method of the function key is shown in the following table.

TABLE-US-00003 Single-Click Enable the printer to exit the dormant status. Double-click Reset the printer, delete the abnormal information, and cancel the unfinished printing task. Double-click-hold for more Enable the printer to enter a configuration than 2 s mode, and be able to access internal maintenance instructions. Double-click-hold for more Enable the printer to enter a Bluetooth than 2 s pairing mode. Single-Click-double-click Disconnect the printer and research to connect a WIFI.

[0069] In the meanwhile, the printer can also be connected with a wireless data interface unit, having a Bluetooth slave interface and a WIFI interface. Intelligent devices that control the operation of the printer can be ordinary desktop computers, portable laptops, tablets, and smart phones, which require at least one of a Bluetooth host interfaces or an interfaces. When the Bluetooth slave interface and interface of the printer are active, the printer can preferably respond to printing data transceiving and instruction signals of the Bluetooth interface.

[0070] For example, an intelligent terminal device can discover and wake up the printer via Bluetooth, then send the printing data to the printer and start the printer to print on the print medium.

[0071] The printer can also be point-to-point connection with the intelligent devices through a WIFI interface. When the printer is in the standby status, it can accept the printing data through WIFI and start printing.

[0072] The printer can also automatically search and connect to a WIFI router, then the printer becomes a network printing device at this moment. Any intelligent device connected to the network can be connected to the printer, and then send the printing data to start printing.

[0073] The printing medium, according to different materials, can be paper, glossy photo paper, fiber fabric, clothing transfer medium, transparent adhesive paper, three-dimensional self-adhesive paper, plastic sheeting, or the like. The print medium is put on a horizontal plane, then the mobile type printer can be started to print the texts, patterns, graphics, and drawings required on the print media.

Embodiment II

[0074] Compared with the first embodiment, the photoelectric distance sensor used in the present embodiment is a laser mouse sensor, a laser luminous tube is installed below the frame, a lens group 32 is installed below the laser tube, a receiving end of the laser mouse sensor is installed above the lens group to receive a reflected light, and a sensor signal accesses to a central processing unit.

Embodiment III

[0075] Compared with embodiment I, an action wheel 2 is driven by a stepping motor 8 in the present embodiment, and the stepping motor can realize the positioning of the action wheel, without a distance sensor. Therefore, differing from the first embodiment, a photoelectric distance sensor is not required. A mobile printer is directly positioned through the rotation of the stepping motor.

Embodiment IV

[0076] Compared with embodiment I, a rotary type position encoder 11 is used in place of a photoelectric mouse sensor to obtain the moving position of the printer in the present embodiment, and the rotary type position encoder and a rotation shaft of a motor 8 are installed coaxially.

Embodiment V

[0077] Compared with embodiment IV, a rotary type position encoder 11 and a rotation shaft of an action wheel 2 are installed coaxially in the present embodiment.

Embodiment VI

[0078] Compared with embodiment IV, a movable oscillating arm 12 is installed on racks at both sides of the action wheels through a pendulum shaft 14, a driven wheel 13 is installed at a terminal of the oscillating arm, and the rotary type position encoder and a rotation shaft of the driven wheel are installed coaxially.