Apparatus and method for driving a magnetic print head

DETAILED DESCRIPTION What is claimed is: 1.
An electronic circuit for driving at least first and second sets of coincident current windings on a magnetic print head in accordance with supplied printing data signals, said circuit comprising: first drive means connected to successively energize different ones of said first set of windings, and second drive means for selectively energizing said second set of windings, means for minimizing undesirable concentrations of magnetic flux during printing comprising means for controlling said second drive means to successively energize different predetermined sub-sets of said second set of windings, in accordance with said supplied data signals, while each of the first set of windings is energized by said first drive means.
2.
An electronic circuit as in claim 1 wherein successive areas of the head are magnetized with opposite polarity when energized for printing and wherein said predetermined sub-sets comprise only windings associated with head areas that are separated from other like-polarized head areas by at least one like-polarized area thus increasing the distance between areas having the same polarity that may be energized simultaneously.
3.
An electronic circuit as in claim 1 wherein each of said predetermined sub-sets comprise windings substantially uniformly spaced within the dimensions of any given one winding of said first set.
4.
An electronic circuit as in any of claims 1-3 wherein: said magnetic printing head comprises a linear array of slots, said first set of windings comprise plural word windings N, each word winding passing in alternating directions through a number M of said slots, said second set of windings comprise a plurality M of ordered digit windings M1, M2, M3, .
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each digit winding passing in alternating directions through successive respectively corresponding slots associated with each of the N word windings such that coincident passage of currents through selected word and digit windings provides magnetic printing associated with correspondingly selected slots where the resultant magnetic flux exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the digit windings passing through the last slot associated with a word winding also passing through the first slot associated with the next succeeding word winding and said predetermined sub-sets comprising a first sub-set including M1, M4, M7,