| 摘要 |
A printer and method for shortening printing time is provided for in-line thermal printers using two banks of print elements. Electric currents to the banks are interleaved together. Interleaving provides the advantages of pulse modulation, but with an improved print speed. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a first set of printing elements is supplied with a first current signal for heating up the first set of printing elements up to the printing temperature. Then, the first set of printing elements is supplied with a series of shorter current signals to retain the temperature of the first set of printing elements until a first bank of dots is printed. Interleaved between the first series of shorter current signals, is a second series of short current signals supplied to the second set of print elements to heat up the second set of printing elements up to the printing temperature. After completion of the second series of signals, a final current signal is supplied to the second set of printing elements to retain the printing temperature of the second set of printing elements to print a second bank of dots. The row of dots is printed when both banks of dots have been printed. This process is repeated until the entire row of characters is printed on the media.
|
