JPH09267493A - Manual type printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inform properly the timing for carrying out the recovery operation of a recording means to an user. SOLUTION: Whether the timing for the recovery operation of a recording head 5 is reached or not is measured by a timer circuit 27, and when the time is beyond a given time, the necessity of the recovery operation is displayed by a display section 6. The timing for the optimum recovery operation can be informed to a user by the arrangement to prevent the waste of ink caused by the excessive recovery operation or the deflective printing caused by the insufficient recovery operation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manual printing device for a user to hold a device by hand and print a predetermined pattern on a recording medium such as paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional ink jet type manual printer is a recovery device for carrying out maintenance such as purging, wiping, flushing, etc. in order to prevent the occurrence of defective printing due to clogging of nozzles of a print head. Is provided as a separate device, and maintenance is performed when a user connects the device body to the recovery device.

[0003]

However, in the conventional manual type printing apparatus as described above, since the user performs maintenance at any timing, the ink is wastefully consumed when the timing interval is short. On the contrary, when the timing interval is long, there is a problem that printing failure occurs.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a manual printer which can inform the user of appropriate maintenance timing.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a manual printer according to the invention of claim 1 is a recording means for printing on a recording medium by manually scanning the recording medium. In a manual printing apparatus including a measuring means for measuring the time relating to the recovery processing of the recording means, and prompting the recovery processing to the user when the time measured by the measuring means reaches the time required for the recovery processing of the apparatus And a display means for displaying the above. In this configuration, the measuring unit measures the time relating to the recovery process of the recording unit, and when the time exceeds the predetermined time, the display unit indicates that the recovery operation is necessary, so that the user can perform the optimum recovery process. You can know the timing.

The manual printer according to a second aspect of the present invention is the manual printer according to the first aspect, further comprising reset means for resetting the measuring time by the measuring means. is there. In this configuration, when the printing operation is completed or the user performs the recovery process,
Since the measuring means starts a new time measurement by resetting the measuring means, it is possible to properly measure the timing until the next recovery operation.

Further, a manual type printer according to a third aspect of the present invention is the manual type printer according to the first or second aspect, wherein the recording means is an ink jet type recording means, The display of the recovery process prompts the user to perform a flushing operation in which ink is ejected from the ink ejection nozzles provided in the recording means when the measurement time of the measurement means exceeds a predetermined time. In this configuration, when the time relating to the recovery process of the recording unit exceeds a predetermined time, a display prompting flushing is displayed, and the user can perform the flushing operation at appropriate timing according to this display.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is a manual type printing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the recording means is an ink jet type recording means. The display of the recovery process prompts the user to suck ink from the ink ejecting nozzles provided in the recording means when the measurement time of the measuring means exceeds a predetermined time.
In this configuration, when the time regarding the recovery process of the recording unit exceeds the predetermined time, the display prompting the purging is performed.
The user can perform the purging operation at an appropriate timing according to this display.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is a manual type printing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the recording means is an ink jet type recording means. The display of the recovery process indicates that the flushing operation of ejecting ink from the ink ejecting nozzles provided in the recording unit when the measurement time of the measuring unit exceeds the first predetermined time is displayed, and the display of the recovery process is longer than the first predetermined time. Long second
And a display prompting to suck ink from the ink ejecting nozzle when a predetermined time has elapsed. In this configuration, the time required for the recovery process of the recording unit is the first
When the time is longer than the predetermined time, a display prompting the flushing operation is displayed, and when the time relating to the recovery process of the recording unit is longer than the second predetermined time, the display prompting the purge operation is performed. The flushing operation and the purging operation can be performed with.

Further, a manual type printer according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the manual type printer according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the measuring means records by the recording means. Not to measure the time. In this configuration, if the printing operation is not performed for the predetermined time, the display for prompting the recovery processing is displayed. Therefore, according to this display, the printing failure due to the drying of the ink when the printing operation is stopped can be prevented.

Further, the manual printer according to the invention of claim 7 is the manual printer according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the measuring means has the recording means last time. The time after the recovery process is performed is measured.
In this configuration, a display prompting the recovery process is displayed if the recovery process has not been performed for a predetermined time, and the user can perform the recovery operation at regular time intervals according to this display.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a manual printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view of a manual printing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, the body 1b of the manual printing device 1 has a square shape,
It is configured so that the user can easily support it by hand. A roller 2 is rotatably provided at the lower end of the body 1b. Further, an infrared communication interface unit 3 for transmitting and receiving various data such as print data to and from an external device is provided on the upper end of the roller 2 of the body 1b. There is provided a display unit 6 (display means) using an LED or the like for notifying that a recovery process is required based on a signal from the control unit. Further, the body 1b is provided with a switch 4 for turning on / off the power and selecting a printing mode of the manual printing apparatus 1. Although not shown in the figure, the switch 4 is provided with a reset button (reset means) for resetting the measurement time of a timer measuring the elapsed time from the previous recovery operation. .

An ink jet recording head (recording means) 5 is provided as recording means near the roller 2 of the body 1b. The roller 2 is configured to be supported by a frame 1c, and a projection 1d is formed on the frame 1c. The protrusion 1d is made of a material such as a resin having good slidability.

Then, the user supports the body 1b with his or her hand and moves the roller 2 and the protrusion 1d on the recording medium (recording paper or the like) P.
By scanning in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 while making contact with, the print data or the like input from an external device or the like is printed on the recording medium P. When printing, roller 2 and protrusion 1d
Keeps the posture of the body 1b, print head 5 and print medium P
The positions of and are kept constant, and the roller 2 is rotated by this scanning, whereby the relative position between the recording head 5 and the recording medium P is detected, and predetermined printing is performed.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of the manual printer 1. Hereinafter, the internal configuration of the manual printer will be described in detail with reference to FIG. At the lower end of the body 1b, a lower roller 2 is configured to be rotatable around a shaft 7. Roller 2
A recording head 5 is disposed behind the scanning direction of the. Above the recording head 5, an ink tank 8 for supplying ink to the recording head 5 is arranged.

On the shaft 7 of the roller 2, a pulley 9 is attached to the roller 2.
It is arranged to rotate with the rotation of. Pulley 9
, A belt 10 is arranged to transmit the rotational force of the pulley 9 that rotates with the rotation of the roller 2 to the rotating disk 12 of the encoder 11. The encoder 11 is provided substantially near the center of the body 1b. The rotary disk 12 is provided with slits on the circumference at a predetermined interval, and the rotation speed of the roller 2 (recording head 5 and recording medium The relative position with respect to P) is converted into the interval of the electric pulse signal, and the signal is input to the control device described later. Photo interrupter 1
3 is also configured to detect the rotation direction of the roller 2.

Above the inside of the body 1b, a recording operation by the recording head 5, a detection operation by the photo interrupter 13, an interface section 3 provided for receiving print data, and further for prompting a recovery process to the user. 16 for controlling the display unit 6 and the like for displaying
A control unit 14 including (described later) and the like is arranged. A power supply 15 for supplying power to each of the functional blocks described later is arranged in the vicinity of the side. The power supply 15 includes a small power supply unit such as a dry battery and a device for stabilizing the power.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the recording head 5 and the roller 2 portion of the body 1b. Hereinafter, the positional relationship between the recording head 5 and the roller 2 will be described with reference to FIG. At the tip of the recording head 5, a plurality of nozzles 5a are provided. The width is formed at a maximum L width (maximum recording width) in a direction perpendicular to the printing direction X (scanning direction) of the printing area.
A plurality of nozzles 5 a are provided at the tip of the roller 2. The width is formed at a maximum L width (maximum recording width) in a direction perpendicular to the printing direction X (scanning direction) of the printing area.
The roller 2 is disposed forward of the recording head 5 in the printing direction X. As described above, each side of the roller 2 is rotatably supported by the shaft 7 and the pulley 9.
The portion M where the roller 2 comes into contact with the recording medium P is set so as to be within the area of the above-mentioned width L, and the protrusion 1d is set so as to maintain the same relationship.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control system of the manual printer 1. CPU that controls the entire manual printing device 1
A host computer 21 is connected to the (control means) 16 via the interface section 3, and a ROM 22 storing a control program for controlling each functional block according to a predetermined program and the interface section 3 are also provided. RAM 23 for storing the print data input from the host computer 21, the display unit 6 for displaying a prompt to the user for the recovery process, the head driver 33 for driving the recording head 5, the switch described above. An operation panel 24 including 4 and the like, and a timer circuit 27 (measuring means) for measuring the time relating to the recovery process are connected. Further, a pulse from the encoder 11 that measures the rotation speed and the rotation direction of the roller 2 is input to the speed detection circuit 25 and the position detection circuit 26, and these circuits are used to detect the speed of the manual printer 1 and the recording medium P. The relative position is detected, and this detection signal is input to the CPU 16. Each of these functional blocks is built in the body 1b of the manual printer 1 of FIG.

The operation of the manual printer 1 having the above-mentioned configuration will be described. The manual type printing device 1 includes a ROM 22
Is operated in accordance with a predetermined program stored in the. The print data is input by the CPU 16 when the switch 4 selects the print mode. The print data is input from the host computer 21 via the interface unit 3 by an infrared signal, and the input print data is temporarily stored in the RAM 23. CPU16
When the print start signal is received by operating the switch 4, after confirming that the print data is stored in the RAM 23, the manual printer 1 is set to the print standby state.

At this time, the CPU 16 determines whether or not the rotary disk 12 of the encoder 11 has rotated, and when it is determined that the rotary disk 12 has rotated, the output control of the print data according to the rotation amount of the roller 2 is performed. Then, printing is performed on the recording medium P by driving the recording head 5. The output control of the print data is controlled by the CPU 16 according to the rotation amount of the roller 2. Therefore, even if the scanning speed of the body 1b on the recording medium P is not uniform, predetermined printing can always be performed on the recording medium P.

Next, the operation of the measurement function and the display function of the manual printer having the above structure will be described. The time relating to the recovery process is measured by the timer circuit 27. The time relating to this recovery processing may be the time during which no printing operation is performed and the time elapsed since the previous recovery processing.
When the measurement time exceeds the first predetermined time (for example, 3 minutes), a display prompting the flushing operation is displayed on the display unit 6. Further, when the measured time exceeds the second predetermined time (for example, 24 hours), a display prompting the purging operation is displayed on the display unit 6. As described above, according to the display of the display unit 6, the user can properly use the flushing operation and the purging operation properly, and prevent waste of ink due to excessive recovery operation and occurrence of printing failure due to excessive recovery operation. You can

Next, the flow of processing of the signal from the timer circuit 27 in the CPU 16 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of this processing. The CPU 16 has two prescribed values A and B,
The specified value A is larger than the specified value B, and
The predetermined time of 2 corresponds to the specified value B, and the second predetermined time of corresponds to the specified value A. The CPU 16 checks the elapsed time from the previous recovery operation input from the timer circuit 27 (S1),
When the elapsed time is less than the specified value B, nothing is displayed (S2). When the elapsed time from the previous recovery operation is the specified value B or more and the specified value A or less, a display prompting the flushing operation is displayed (S3). Further, when the elapsed time from the previous recovery operation is larger than the specified value A, a display prompting the suction (purge) operation is displayed (S4).

The present invention is not limited to the configuration according to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made.
As the display unit 6, a buzzer, a vibration generator, or the like may be used instead of the LED.

[0025]

As described above, according to the manual printer of the first aspect of the present invention, the measurement processing means measures the time relating to the recovery processing of the recording means, and when the time exceeds a predetermined time, recovery is performed. The display means indicates that the operation is required. Therefore, the user can know the optimum timing of the recovery process, and it is possible to prevent the ink consumption due to the excessive recovery operation and the occurrence of the printing failure due to the excessive recovery operation.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the manual type printing apparatus is provided with the reset means for resetting the measuring time by the measuring means, it is possible to perform the recovery operation when the recording operation is completed. When you do, the measuring means starts a new time measurement, so you can properly measure the timing until the next recovery operation, ink consumption due to excessive recovery operation and printing failure due to excessive recovery operation. Can be prevented.

According to the manual printer of the third aspect of the present invention, the user is prompted to perform the flushing operation when the measuring time of the measuring means exceeds a predetermined time. According to the above, the flushing operation can be performed at an appropriate timing, and it is possible to prevent ink consumption due to excessive recovery operation and occurrence of printing failure due to excessive recovery operation.

Further, according to the manual printer of the present invention as defined in claim 4, the user is urged to perform the purge operation when the measuring time of the measuring means exceeds a predetermined time. According to the above, the purging operation can be performed at an appropriate timing, and it is possible to prevent ink consumption due to excessive recovery operation and occurrence of printing failure due to excessive recovery operation.

According to the manual printer of the fifth aspect of the present invention, the measuring means of the measuring means displays a message prompting the flushing operation when the measuring means is longer than the first predetermined time, and the measuring means is the second. If the time is longer than the predetermined time, a message prompting the purging operation is displayed. Therefore, if the user follows this display, the flushing operation and the purging operation can be used properly, and the ink consumption due to the excessive recovery operation and the excessive recovery operation can be performed. It is possible to prevent printing defects.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the manual printing device measures the time during which the measuring means is not recording. Therefore, if the user follows this display, the recording operation is stopped. It is possible to prevent defective printing due to drying of the ink.

According to the seventh aspect of the invention, the measuring device measures the time since the last recovery process was performed by the measuring means. Therefore, the user can follow this display. The recovery processing can be performed at regular time intervals, and it is possible to prevent ink consumption due to excessive recovery operation and occurrence of printing failure due to excessive recovery operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a manual printing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an internal configuration of the manual printing device.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a recording head and a roller portion of the body of the manual printer.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control system of the manual type printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of a signal from a timer circuit of the manual printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Manual printer 5 Recording head (recording means) 5a Nozzle 6 Display part (display means) 27 Timer circuit (measurement means) P Recording medium

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A manual printer comprising a recording means for printing on a recording medium by manually scanning the recording medium, comprising: a measuring means for measuring a time for recovery processing of the recording means; A manual printing apparatus, comprising: a display unit for displaying a message for prompting the user to perform the recovery process when the time measured by the unit reaches the time required for the device recovery process. 2. The manual printer according to claim 1, further comprising reset means for resetting the measurement time of the measuring means. 3. The recording means is an ink jet type recording means, and the display of the recovery process displays ink from an ink ejecting nozzle provided in the recording means when a measurement time of the measuring means exceeds a predetermined time. The manual printer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the flushing operation for ejecting the ink is prompted. 4. The recording means is an ink jet type recording means, and when the recovery process is displayed, an ink is ejected from an ink ejecting nozzle provided in the recording means when a measurement time of the measuring means has passed a predetermined time. The manual printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the manual type printing apparatus prompts suction of the ink. 5. The ink jet nozzle provided in the recording means when the recording means is an ink jet type recording means, and the display of the recovery process indicates that the measuring time of the measuring means exceeds a first predetermined time. And a display urging the user to perform a flushing operation for ejecting ink from the device, and a display urging that the ink is ejected from the ink ejection nozzle when a second predetermined time longer than the first predetermined time has elapsed. The manual printer according to claim 1 or 2. 6. The measuring means measures the time during which the recording means is not recording.
The manual printer according to claim 5. 7. The manual printer according to claim 1, wherein the measuring unit measures a time period since the recording unit last performed the recovery process.