U.S. patent number RE33,498 [Application Number 07/369,391] was granted by the patent office on 1990-12-18 for method and structure for properly aligning forms in a printer.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Intuit. Invention is credited to Thomas H. A. LeFevre, Thomas A. Proulx.
United States Patent |
RE33,498 |
Proulx , et al. |
December 18, 1990 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Method and structure for properly aligning forms in a printer
Abstract
This invention achieves accurate registration of a web of forms
such as preprinted checks in a printer controlled by a computer,
wihtout requiring skill on the part of the operator or extra
equipment for the printer. The method and apparatus of this
invention uses specially marked forms in conjunction with a
computer program. The computer program puts indicator information
onto the marked form which has been inserted into the printer,
receives input from an operator about the location of the indicator
information, and moves the form in the printer to the proper
location to receive printed information. The method of this
invention is for the operator to insert forms into the printer, and
then operate a set-up computer program. This program instructs the
printer to put a mark on the form on the line to which it is
currently set. The computer then instructs the operator to type
into the computer the line number on which the mark was just
printed. With this invention, the computer calculates the
adjustment needed to properly align the form and makes the
adjustment with no more assistance from the operator.
Inventors: |
Proulx; Thomas A. (Palo Alto,
CA), LeFevre; Thomas H. A. (San Jose, CA) |
Assignee: |
Intuit (Palo Alto, CA)
|
Family
ID: |
27004562 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/369,391 |
Filed: |
June 21, 1989 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
Reissue of: |
684652 |
Dec 21, 1984 |
04725156 |
Feb 16, 1988 |
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
400/630; 400/582;
400/583.3; 400/706; 400/709.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B41J
13/26 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B41J
13/26 (20060101); B41J 013/26 () |
Field of
Search: |
;400/74,550,578,579,580,581,582,583,583.1,583.2,583.3,597,598,630,632,632.1,703
;364/518,519 ;377/15,25 ;101/485,486,DIG.36 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
91293 |
|
Jun 1982 |
|
JP |
|
107874 |
|
Jul 1982 |
|
JP |
|
156286 |
|
Sep 1982 |
|
JP |
|
55755 |
|
Mar 1984 |
|
JP |
|
Primary Examiner: Wiecking; David A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Skjerven, Morrill, MacPherson,
Franklin & Friel
Claims
We claim:
1. A method for accurately registering forms to be printed at a
print position in a printer controlled by a computer which is
operated by an operator with instructions from said computer, each
form having the same format as the other forms and having
vertically spaced indicia defining lines on said form,
comprising:
inserting into said printer a series of said forms so that part of
a selected one of said forms is adjacent said print position in
said printer;
running a computer program to adjust said forms in said printer
with assistance from said operator, said computer program:
causing said printer to place an alignment mark on said selected
form of said forms, and
displaying to said operator questions relating to alignment of said
selected form;
inputting manually to said computer the indicia defining on which
of said lines said alignment mark was placed;
said computer program calculating automatically from said
information input to said computer a printer adjustment to cause
said print position is said printer to coincide with a preselected
starting position on said forms; and
moving automatically said forms in said printer without need for
assistance from said operator so that said printing starts on said
forms at said preselected position.
2. Method of claim 1 where said indicia are numbers corresponding
to lines printed by said printer.
3. Method of claim 1 where said indicia are numbers corresponding
to half-lines printed by said printer.
4. Method of claim 1 where said indicia are placed in a vertical
margin along an edge of said selected form.
5. Method of claim 4 where said vertical margin is a tear-off
portion having tractor-feed holes.
6. Method of claim 1 where said computer program sends commands to
said printer to print said mark, displays questions to said
operator relating to alignment of said selected form, receives
responses from said operator related to alignment of said selected
form, calculates a number of line feeds using said response from
said operator, and sends commands to said printer to advance said
number of line feeds.
7. Method of claim 1 where said alignment mark comprises sample
information having a format similar to that to be printed on
subsequent forms and having a pointer line for pointing to said
indicia and thereby identifying the location of said mark.
8. Method of claim 4 where said alignment mark is placed in said
vertical margin of said selected form.
9. Structure for accurately registering forms to be printed at a
print position in a printer controlled by a computer which is
operated by an operator with instructions from said computer, each
form having the same format as the other forms and having
vertically spaced indicia defining lines on said form,
comprising:
means for inserting into said printer a series of said forms so
that part of a selected form of said forms is adjacent said print
position in said printer;
means for running a computer program to adjust said forms in said
printer with assistance from said operator such that said print
position in said printer coincides with a preselected starting
position on said forms, comprising:
means for causing said printer to place an alignment mark on said
selected form;
means for displaying to said operator questions relating to
alignment of said selected form;
means for inputting manually to said .[.compute.]. .Iadd.computer
.Iaddend.the indicia defining on which of said lines of said
selected form said alignment mark was placed;
means for calculating automatically from said information input to
said computer a printer adjustment to cause the print position in
said printer to coincide with a preselected starting position on
said forms; and
means for moving automatically said forms in said printer without
need for assistance from said operator so that said printing starts
on said forms at said preselected starting position.
10. Structure of claim 9 where said indicia are comprised of
numbers corresponding to lines printed by said printer.
11. Structure of claim 9 where said indicia are comprised of
numbers corresponding to half-lines printed by said printer.
12. Structure of claim 9 where said indicia are placed in a
vertical margin along an edge of said selected form.
13. Structure of claim 12 where said vertical margin is a tear-off
portion having tractor-feed holes.
14. Structure of claim 9 where said computer program controls:
means for sending commands to said printer to print said mark,
means for displaying questions to said operator,
means for receiving a response from said operator related to the
location of said mark,
means for calculating a number of line feeds using said response
from said operator, and
means for sending commands to said printer to advance said number
of line feeds.
15. Structure of claim 9 where said alignment mark comprises sample
information having a format similar to that to be printed on
subsequent forms and having a pointer line for pointing to said
indicia and thereby identifying the location of said mark.
16. Structure of claim 12 where said mark is placed in said
vertical margin of said selected form.
17. A method for accurately registering forms to be printed at a
print position in a printer controlled by a computer which is
operated by an operator with instructions from said computer, each
form having the same format as the other forms and having an
identifiable pre-printed mark, comprising:
inserting into said printer a series of said forms so that part of
a selected one of said forms is adjacent said print position in
said printer;
running a computer .[.porgram.]. .Iadd.program .Iaddend.to adjust
said forms in said printer with assistance from said operator, said
computer program:
causing said printer to place vertically spaced alignment indicia
on said selected form of said forms; and
displaying to said operator questions related to alignment of said
forms;
inputting manually to said computer information defining which of
said vertically spaced alignment indicia was placed on said
identifiable pre-printed mark;
said computer program calculating automatically from said
information input to said computer a printer adjustment to cause
said print position in said printer to coincide with a preselected
starting position on said forms; and
moving automatically said forms in said printer without need for
assistance from said operator so that printing starts on said forms
at said preselected starting position.
18. Method of claim 17 where said computer program commands said
printer to print said vertically spaced alignment indicia,
displays questions to an operator related to the location of said
vertically spaced alignment indicia on said selected form,
receives responses from said operator related to the location of
said vertically spaced alignment indicia,
calculates a number of line feeds using said response from said
operator, and
sends commands to said printer to advance said number of line
feeds.
19. Structure for accurately registering forms to be printed at a
print position in a printer controlled by a computer which is
operated by an operator with instructions from said computer, each
form having the same format as the other forms and having an
identifiable pre-printed mark, comprising:
means for inserting into said printer a series of said forms so
that part of a selected one of said forms is adjacent said print
position in said printer;
means for running a computer program to adjust said forms in said
printer with assistance from said operator such that said print
position in said printer coincides with a preselected starting
position on said forms, comprising:
means for causing said printer to place vertically spaced alignment
indicia on said selected from of said forms;
means for displaying to said operator questions related to the
alignment of said selected form;
means for inputting manually to said computer information defining
which of said vertically spaced alignment indicia was placed on
said identifiable pre-printed mark;
means for calculating automatically from said information input to
said computer a printer adjustment to cause said print position in
said printer to coincide with a preselected starting position on
said forms; and
means for moving automatically said forms in said printer without
need for assistance from said operator so that said printing starts
on said forms at said preselected starting position.
20. Structure of claim 19 where said computer program controls:
means for sending commands to said printer to print said vertically
spaced alignment indicia,
means for displaying questions to said operator,
means for receiving responses from said operator related to the
location of said vertically spaced alignment indicia,
means for calculating a number of line feeds using said response
from said operator, and
means for sending commands to said printer to advance said number
of line feeds. .Iadd.
21. A method for aligning a preprinted form with a print position
of a printer in a computerized printing system comprising:
inserting the form into the printer;
causing the printer to print an alignment mark on the form at a
location of the form corresponding to the print position of the
printer;
having a computer operator look at the location where the alignment
mark was printed;
having the computer operator supply information indicating to the
computerized system the location at which the alignment mark was
observed; and
causing the computerized system to determine automatically, based
on the information supplied by the computer operator, an amount of
form movement needed to bring a preselected portion of the form
into alignment with the print position of the printer when there is
an alignment error. .Iaddend. .Iadd.
22. The method of claim 21 further comprising:
causing the printer to automatically move the form according to the
determined amount of needed form movement so as to bring the
preselected portion of the form into alignment with the print
position of the printer. .Iaddend. .Iadd.
23. A computerized system for automatically aligning a preprinted
form having preprinted indicia with a print position of a printer
in the computerized system, comprising:
printing means for automatically moving the preprinted form and for
printing marks on the preprinted form at one or more locations of
the form corresponding to the print position of the printer;
alignment marking means for causing the printing means to print an
alignment mark on the preprinted form;
information receiving means for receiving from a computer operator
information indicating the location of the printed alignment mark
relative to the preprinted indicia of the form; and
adjustment determining means for automatically determining, based
on the information provided by the computer operator, an amount of
form movement needed for bringing a preselected portion of the form
into alignment with the print position when there is an alignment
error and for supplying one or more movement commands to the
printing means so as to move the form according to such amount of
movement determination. .Iaddend. .Iadd.
24. The computerized system of claim 23 wherein the information
receiving means comprises a keyboard. .Iaddend.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to properly aligning and registering
forms in a printer. More particularly it provides a method and
structure for use by an operator to achieve automatic alignment of
forms.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been many methods and devices developed to improve
alignment of paper and forms in printers. Apparatus and a method of
properly inserting paper into a printer were described by Stalzer,
U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,223 issued Jan. 24, 1978. Stalzer provides
perforated strips which attach to paper or forms having tractor
feed perforations and which guide the leading edge of the paper
into the printer. However the strips of Stalzer do not provide for
accurate vertical registration of the inserted forms with respect
to the printing devices.
Kammerer et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,162 issued Feb. 17, 1981
describes a form transport device for guiding the leading edges of
a form or set of forms into a printer. Again, the transport device
of Kammerer et al. does not provide for accurate vertical
registration of the inserted form.
Greenig, U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,199, issued Feb. 16, 1982 describes
apparatus which provides for putting a master form on a drum, using
laser light to add graphics information to the form and computer
logic to further add data, thus generating a composite picture
printed with information from three sources. The invention of
Greenig uses special purpose equipment not readily available to
large numbers of computer printer users.
Greiner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,287, issued Jan. 31, 1984, describes a
method appropriate for multi-color printing presses in which an
optical device detects the location of registration marks on the
paper to be printed, and feeds information to a computer which in
turn adjusts the registration of the drums which apply color to the
paper. Again, the device of Greiner is not applicable for the large
variety of computer printers available today.
Budenstein et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,812 issued June 28, 1971,
describes apparatus for laterally registering forms in a high speed
printer
having indicia along one edge of a longitudinally extending bar
member . . . Guide means positioned adjacent one end of the
registration apparatus cooperate with the paper feed mechanism . .
. (Column 3, lines 4-10).
Budenstein et al. also state
Additional indicia may also be provided along a second edge of the
registration apparatus which corresponds to the vertical
displacement of individual print characters . . . (Column 3, lines
18-20).
Thus Budenstein et al. provide apparatus for assisting the
operator. Budenstein et al. do not disclose or suggest, however, a
method of automatic vertical forms registration.
Fessel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,301 describes a method and structure
for registration of forms whereby an operator begins operation by
commanding the computer to move the paper into tentative position,
then instructs the computer to display on a screen the information
to be printed. The operator then adjusts the location of the form
before printing. Fessel states
According to the basic concept of the invention, upon actuation of
a character key, the carriage is moved relative to the record
carrier corresponding to the setting movement associated with the
particular character key actuated but without printing the
character, and the characters stored in the memory are printed out
only upon receipt of a separate instruction signal by reading out
the character and position information in the memory and causing
the carriage to repeat the stored setting movements under control
of the memory. (Fessel, Column 1, line 62 to Column 2, line 4.)
The method and device of Fessel requires that the user observe the
location of the print head with respect to the line on the form to
be printed in order to properly locate the form in the printer.
However, with printers designed so that the location of the print
head is difficult to see, the method of Fessel does not easily
provide for accurate vertical registration.
Forms having marks for the purpose of lining up the paper in a
printer are known. For example, Polko, U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,015,
issued Jan. 3, 1978 describes putting a single mark on the edge of
the paper. The operator lines up this mark with a mark on the print
roll of the printer. Sniderman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,163, issued
Apr. 25, 1972 also describes
paper that has been preprinted or premarked with two vertical rows
of line marks disposed along one edge thereof, each line mark
representing a selectable printing line thereon. (Sniderman,
abstract.)
According to Sniderman,
scanning means associated with the line printer in cooperation with
advancing preprinted line marks serves to detect the arrival of the
selected printing line in printing position . . . (Sniderman,
Abstract.)
Neither Polko nor Sniderman provide for accurate and automatic
vertical registration without special hardware.
Various manufacturers provide forms having a top-of-form indicator
mark placed on the form to be lined up with the print head by the
operator. Unfortunately in many printers it is difficult to see
where the print head will print or to see the top-of-form mark when
the paper is in position.
Printers, computers, and software made by different companies will
not necessarily designed to work together. The number of these
companies is increasing. The technologies involved are continuously
and rapidly changing. Any device or method for aligning forms in a
printer which is not adaptable to new printers and new forms risks
obsolescence.
The prior art methods of aligning forms without the use of
specially adapted equipment often waste forms. If the alignment of
the form is incorrect when printed, the form is wasted. This is of
particular concern when the forms are sequentially numbered as, for
example, are invoices and checks. Ruined sequential forms often
need special accounting, adding to the cost of the ruined form.
And, of course, time spent by an operator aligning the forms to
print properly is wasteful and frustrating. A difficulty in
aligning forms will likely result in repeated failures and repeated
need to void checks or otherwise adjust for errors.
Horizontal alignment of forms in a printer is usually assisted by
marks placed on the printer for locating left and right margins or
by standard settings of tractor feed bars. However, vertical
alignment is more difficult. Printers have no standard indicators
for advancing forms to the proper position. Different printers have
different settings, and different forms need to be advanced
different distances in order to have information placed properly
onto the form by the printer. Experience has shown that the correct
vertical alignment of a form by an operator is not easy and often
counter-intuitive. If a form was misprinted so that the printer has
put the characters too high on the preprinted forms, the proper
adjustment is to move the paper higher. Many users do not grasp
this easily and move the paper in the wrong direction. The next
attempt on the same type of form is likely subject to further
failure. Such a trial and error method is slow, frustrating, and
wasteful. And this trial and error process must be repeated if
there is a change in the operator, the printer, or in some cases
the form. With the growth of computer use among novices, a better
solution to the problem of aligning forms for printing is
increasingly necessary.
SUMMARY
The method and device of this invention automatically achieve
proper vertical alignment of forms. They are intended for use by an
operator who may be inexperienced with computer printers, and for
use with printers which are not specially adapted for a single type
of form. In accordance with this invention, novel forms are
provided for printing which have numbered or otherwise marked areas
along a vertical edge (or edges) of the forms. A computer program
is also provided for adjusting the printer to properly align these
forms vertically. No modification of a standard printer is
necessary.
Part of the novelty and improvement of this invention lies in the
use of the specially marked forms in conjunction with a computer
program which processes information given by an operator to achieve
accurate registration of the form without requiring skill on the
part of the operator or extra equipment for the printer.
The method of this invention requires the computer operator to
insert forms into the printer, and then operate a computer program
(the "start-up program") which will then properly and automatically
align the form in the printer. This program instructs the printer
to put a mark on the form on the line to which the printer is
currently set to print. Alternatively, the start-up program may
instruct the printer to print sample information including a
marking line or other indicator on the form. If the printed mark or
sample information is not on the proper line, the computer then
instructs the operator to type into the computer the line number or
other indicator on which the mark or sample information was just
printed. With this information, the computer automatically
calculates the adjustment needed to properly align the form and
makes the adjustment by moving the form vertically relative to the
printer with no more assistance from the operator. This method may
waste one or two forms if the operator has located the form too
high in the printer, but, as will be seen, the correction method is
so simple that an operator is not likely to waste additional forms
or to make a mistake the next time forms are to be printed. Indeed
the operator may learn to use existing features on the printer for
line-up and avoid the start-up operation altogether.
This invention will be more fully understood in light of the
following description taken together with the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1a shows an arrangement of office components appropriate for
use in conjunction with this invention.
FIG. 1b shows a flow chart which specifies the method steps to be
used in one embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 2 shows one example of specially marked forms used with this
invention.
FIG. 3 shows a specially marked form printed with sample
information in accordance with this invention.
FIG. 4 shows instructions placed on the computer screen by a
start-up computer program which can be used with one embodiment of
this invention.
FIG. 5 shows a specially marked form on which a computer operator
has placed a mark using a start-up computer program which is part
of one embodiment of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Several embodiments of this invention will be described. It should
be understood, however, that this description is illustrative only
and is not meant to limit the scope of the invention.
The structure of this invention is used with a computer-printer
system such as that shown in FIG. 1a, having programmable memory
12, which can receive input from keyboard 13, display information
on screen 11, and print information on forms 14 at the print point
in printer 15. It pairs a particular form to be printed, having a
given vertical length, given format of places into which
information is to be put, and given markings along one or both
vertical margins with a start-up computer program which is tailored
to properly align that form in a printer. The start-up computer
program may be tailored to move the forms through the printer until
the top of the form is located under the print head. Alternatively,
the program may be tailored to move the forms until the first line
on which information is to be printed is located under the print
head. Included in the start-up computer program is information that
causes the printer to put a mark or a line onto the form so that
the location of the mark or line can be compared by an operator
with the location of marks preprinted in the vertical margin or
margins of the form.
According to a first embodiment of this invention, which uses the
method steps shown in FIG. 1b, the computer operator, or user,
feeds the special preprinted forms such as those shown in FIG. 2
into the printer (step 1). The computer operator next uses the
computer program specially written in accordance with this
invention (hereinafter called a "start-up program"), which adds to
the form both sample information and a special pointer line (step
2), as shown in the top form of FIG. 3. The method of operation of
a printer is to print a line of information, advance to the next
line, print, advance, and so on until all instructions given to it
by the computer have been executed. In this embodiment the
instructions to the printer include advancing a form until the
bottom of the form is adjacent the print head. In the example in
FIG. 3, the sample information is merely the kind of information
which is properly aligned. In this example, the initial location of
the form is too high relative to the print head, resulting in the
information to be printed on the first form actually overlapping
onto the second form at the termination or conclusion of printing
of the sample information. The result is that the second form as
well as the first form has been destroyed. If, however, the initial
location of the first form relative to the print head were too low,
then the sample information would be printed too high on the first
form with the result that the second form would be usable.
The next task of the start-up program is to calculate the number of
vertical spaces to be advanced so that the forms will be properly
aligned for printing subsequent information. The computer program
must receive information from the operator, and use that
information to calculate the number of vertical spaces to advance
the forms through the printer. In the example of FIG. 3, the proper
margin mark number to which the pointer line should point is 26.
However, the pointer points to mark number 35. Thus, the form is
nine marks too high in the printer. The example form shown in FIG.
3 has half-spaced vertical marks in its margin. Most printers move
the form only whole spaces. When the print head is located next to
mark 10 in the margin of the second form, the top of the second
form has been fed 5 spaces past the print head.
The start-up computer program then prints information onto a
display screen (step 3), for example that information shown in FIG.
4, which asks the operator if the position of the printout was
acceptable. The operator observes the location on the form of the
pointer line printed on the practice form and enters "YES" or "NO"
(step 4) on the keyboard 13 (FIG. 1a). If the operator has observed
that the pointer line is correctly located on the form indicating
that the form is properly located relative to the print head to
allow the correct placement of information on the form, the
operator enters "YES". The start-up operation is now complete and
the regular run of forms can commence (step 5). However, as is
shown in FIG. 3, if the operator has observed that the form is not
properly located relative to the print head to allow the correct
placement of information on the form, the operator enters "NO". The
computer then instructs the operator not to move the forms in the
printer but to type the position number of the margin line L
pointed to by the arrow heads 31-5a or 31-5b (FIG. 3) on the
pointer line 31-5 (steps 6 and 7). In the example of FIG. 3, the
line number L is 35.
The computer then calculates the number of lines the form is to be
moved using steps 8, 9, 10 and 11 of the flow chart for the
start-up computer program as shown in FIG. 1b. As described above,
the example shown in FIG. 3 has half-space vertical marks and most
printers move the form only whole spaces. A whole space moved by
the printer corresponds to two half-spaces marked on the form. We
use the letter L to designate the line number marked in the margin
of the form and the letter N to designate the equivalent number of
whole spaces which the form is moved by the printer. The computer
program takes the line number L input to the program by the
operator through keyboard 13 and, together with the information
defining the length of the form and the line in the margin of the
form to which the pointer arrows 31-5a and 31-5b on the end of line
31-5 point, calculates the number of whole spaces to move the form
relative to the printer to properly align the next usable form in
the printer. As shown in FIG. 1b, step 8, the start-up program
takes the number L of the line to which the pointer line points, as
input by the operator, adds 1, divides by 2 and discards the
remainder to calculate the number of printer line feeds N below the
top of the form on which the pointer line was printed. The proper
margin line L on which the pointer line 31-5 should be located as
shown in FIG. 3 is 26; thus the equivalent number of line feeds N
which the printer should have advanced the top of the form past the
print head before printing the pointer line is 13. According to
step 9 in FIG. 1b, if the whole number N (corresponding to the
margin number L on which the pointer line was printed) is less than
13 (corresponding to a margin number L less than 26), the computer
moves to step 11 and instructs the printer to move to the top of
form 2 by moving 13 minus N line feeds ahead. If the pointer was at
a line L with a higher number than 26, which is the case shown in
FIG. 3 where the pointer arrows 31-5a and 31-5b point to line 35,
the computer calculates N higher than 13 and moves to step 10. The
forms shown in FIG. 3 have 42 lines marked in the left margin, thus
it takes the printer 21 whole space line feeds to advance one full
form. Because the second form cannot be used and also because most
printers cannot reverse the direction of forms movement, the
computer will next make the calculation and instruct the printer to
advance to the top of the third form, sending 34 minus N line
feeds.
A further embodiment of this invention avoids the wasted forms
likely to be generated by a new operator using the previously
described embodiment. Instead of printing sample information
including the pointer line on a first form, the computer is
programmed to print a character in the margin of the first form, as
depicted in FIG. 5. The margin may consist of a tear-off strip with
tractor-feed holes as depicted in FIG. 5 or it may be an integral
part of the main body of paper. In one variation of this embodiment
a decorative design is combined with the margin numbers. The
computer asks the operator to type in the line number on which the
mark is printed, and the computer causes the printer to advance the
form to the proper position for printing of the information. If the
operator has inserted the forms so that the marked line number is
less than the line number on which the first information is to be
printed, no form is wasted by using this embodiment of the start-up
program. The computer simply moves the printer to the first line on
which information is to be printed. If the line on which the mark
has been printed is lower on the form than the line which is to
have the first information printed, the computer advances to the
proper position on the second form, and is then ready to commence
the printing of a regular run. This embodiment has the disadvantage
of providing less visual information to the operator but the
advantage of not having to waste a form.
This embodiment can also be used with single sheet forms where each
form must be separately aligned in the printer. The operator
inserts the form, and runs the start-up program. The program places
the mark in the margin, the operator types the line number (or
other mark indicator) and the start-up program advances the form to
the proper position. Information is then printed on the form.
Indeed, after using the program for the first time, the operator
may note characteristics of the form after it has been properly
aligned in the printer by the unique method of this invention. For
example, if the printer has a tear-off bar, the operator may note
which margin indicator or line number has been brought into
alignment with the tear-off bar. Different printers have different
physical features most easily used by an operator for forms
alignment. An operator who uses the method several times will learn
to properly align forms using characteristics of the existing
printer, and subsequently skip the automatic alignment step
altogether.
A further embodiment of this invention combines a computer program
designed to put a mark on the center of a page with a form for a
two-column format having a vertical strip of line numbers and/or
tick marks running down the center of a page.
Although the above embodiments instruct the operator to type into
the computer the line number or other indicia on which the printer
has placed a mark, another embodiment instructs the operator to
type into the computer a counted number of marks from the top of
the form. And whereas the first embodiment described above and
shown in FIG. 3 prints a pointer line on the first form along with
sample information, a similar embodiment puts actual information on
the first form as part of the start-up program and places a mark in
the margin or center strip rather than placing a line in the body
of the form.
The method of this invention, which is to use marked forms with a
computer program which places marking information on the form,
receives information supplied by a user about the location of the
marking information, and adjusts the location of the form,
accordingly applies to all these embodiments. With the method and
apparatus of this invention, no calculation or second guessing by
the operator is necessary. If the printer is of a design where the
location of characters to be printed next is not obvious, the
operator is not hampered by this design. The computer program
automatically does "the thinking" previously done by an operator.
An operator can make the proper adjustment on first use of the
method with the marked forms, and after first use of the method
will not continue to waste forms at the start up of subsequent
runs.
Other embodiments of this invention will be obvious to those
skilled in the art.
* * * * *