JPH10337880A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of detecting a malfunction of an optical detection section for detecting a residual quantity of ink. SOLUTION: A light reflection plate 103 is provided on a carriage 102. In operating the detection of a malfunction of an ink sensor 104, the light reflection plate 103 is moved to a detecting position and an output signal of the ink sensor 104 is detected based on the reflected light from the light reflection plate 103. Then, the carriage 102 is further moved and the output signal of the ink sensor 104 is detected in a condition that the reflection plate is not existing at the detecting position. A control section determines whether or not the output signal is normal, thereby detecting whether or not the ink sensor 104 has a malfunction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for optically detecting the remaining amount of ink in a plurality of ink tanks mounted on a carriage (printing unit) using a photo sensor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional printing apparatus mounts a plurality of ink tanks on a carriage and performs a printing operation by spraying ink in the ink tanks onto the surface of the paper while moving the carriage. In addition, the printing apparatus includes a photo sensor fixed at a predetermined position to detect the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank. Then, by driving the carriage and moving the ink tank to the detection position of the photo sensor, the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank is optically detected.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional method for detecting the remaining amount of ink, if a failure occurs such that the output of the photosensor always indicates "ink is present", the printing operation is performed irrespective of the absence of ink. Is performed, and so-called blank hit occurs. For this reason, there is a problem that the ink head is adversely affected.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus capable of detecting a failure of a light detection unit for detecting the remaining amount of ink.

[0005]

A printing apparatus according to the present invention has an ink tank, a printing section which moves in a predetermined direction to perform a printing operation, and optically detects the amount of ink in the ink tank. The light detecting unit includes a light detecting unit and a reflecting member that reflects light emitted from the light detecting unit to the light detecting unit.

In the printing apparatus according to the present invention, light is emitted from the light detecting section to the reflecting member, the reflected light is received to generate an output signal, and a failure of the light detecting section is generated based on the output signal. Can be detected. This allows
Even if a failure occurs in the light detection unit for detecting the remaining amount of ink,
It is possible to prevent the blanking operation of the printing unit.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A printing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention has an ink tank, a printing section which moves in a predetermined direction to perform a printing operation, and optically detects the amount of ink in the ink tank. The light detecting unit includes a light detecting unit and a reflecting member that reflects light emitted from the light detecting unit to the light detecting unit. Thus, it is possible to detect the occurrence of a failure in the light detection unit for detecting the remaining amount of ink, and to prevent the printing unit from being idle.

[0008] A printing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein a reflecting member is provided in the printing section. Thereby, the printing unit is moved to guide the reflection member to the detection position of the light detection unit, and it is possible to detect the presence or absence of a failure in the light detection unit. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the printing section from being hit when a failure occurs in the light detection section.

A printing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is the printing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the reflection member is located at the detection position of the light detecting section and the light emitted from the light detecting section. The apparatus further includes an abnormality detection unit that detects the presence or absence of an abnormality in the light detection unit based on each of the output signals from the light detection unit in a state where an object that reflects light to the light detection unit is not present at the detection position. . This makes it possible to detect the presence or absence of an abnormality in the light detection unit in a state where reflected light from the reflection member is obtained, and the presence or absence of an abnormality in the light detection unit in a state where there is no reflected light. Can be accurately detected.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a photosensor (hereinafter, referred to as an ink sensor) for detecting the remaining amount of ink in a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration around the image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are schematic diagrams showing the failure detection operation of the ink sensor. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a printing apparatus (inkjet printer) includes a carriage (printing unit) 102 having an ink head for printing on paper. Carriage 10
2 is formed so as to be able to reciprocate along the shaft 101. The carriage 102 is provided with a plurality (four in the drawing) of ink tanks 105. Further, the ink jet printer includes an ink sensor (photodetector) 104 composed of a photosensor fixed at a predetermined position. The ink sensor 104 irradiates the ink tank 105 with light, receives the reflected light, and outputs an output signal corresponding to the received light amount. Based on this output signal, the ink tank 105
Is detected.

A light reflection plate (reflection member) 103 is attached to the carriage 102. Light reflector 103
Reflects light emitted from the ink sensor 104 to the ink sensor 104 during a failure detection operation of the ink sensor 104.

In FIG. 4, a control unit (abnormality detection unit) 401 of the ink jet printer operates the ink sensor 104 and rotates the shaft 101 to control the carriage 10.
2 is controlled. Further, the control unit 401 is connected to a personal computer (PC) 404 via an interface unit 403.

The operation of the ink jet printer configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are flowcharts of the failure detection operation of the ink sensor of the ink jet printer.

First, the control unit 40 of the ink jet printer
1, the motor 2 is driven to move the carriage 102 (step S1). The control unit 401 controls the light reflection plate 10
It is determined whether or not 3 has moved to the detection position of the ink sensor 104 shown in FIG. 2 (step S2). Light reflector 103
The control unit 401 stops the carriage 102 at the time when moves to the detection position (Step S3).

Next, the control unit 401 controls the ink sensor 1.
Light is emitted from the light-reflecting plate 04 to the light reflecting plate 103. The ink sensor 104 receives the reflected light from the light reflection plate 103 and outputs an output signal corresponding to the received light amount to the control unit 401 (Step S4). The control section 401 determines whether or not the output signal is normal (step S5). If normal, the process proceeds to the following process, and if abnormal, the process proceeds to step S12 described below.

Ink sensor 10 using light irradiation plate 103
If it is determined that the output signal from No. 4 is normal, it is next determined whether or not there is a failure in the non-reflection state of the light of the ink sensor 104. That is, the control unit 401 drives the motor 402 to move the carriage 102 (Step S
6). The control unit 401 determines whether the carriage 102 has moved to a position distant from the detection position of the ink sensor 104 and there is no reflective object at the detection position of the ink sensor 104 (step S7). The control unit 401 stops the carriage 102 when it determines that there is no reflective object at the detection position of the ink sensor 104 (step S8).

Further, the control unit 401 controls the ink sensor 10
4 is driven to emit light from the ink sensor 104, and receives an output signal from the ink sensor 104 (step S9). The control unit 401 determines whether or not the ink sensor 104 has failed based on the output signal (Step S10).
If the output signal is normal, the ink sensor 104 determines that there is no abnormality (step S11), and ends the failure detection operation of the ink sensor.

When the output signal from the ink sensor 104 is determined to be "abnormal", it is determined that the ink sensor 104 is "failed" (step S12), and the personal computer 404 is transmitted via the interface unit 403.
The information of the failure of the ink sensor 104 is transmitted to the display device to cause the display device to display the failure (step S13).

As described above, in the ink jet printer of the present invention, the light reflecting plate 1 is located at the detection position of the ink sensor 104.
It is determined whether or not the ink sensor 104 has a failure based on the output signal of the ink sensor 104 in a state where 03 is disposed and in a state where no reflector exists. Thus, the presence or absence of a failure in the ink sensor 104 is accurately detected.

In the above-described embodiment, the ink sensor 104 is fixed at a predetermined position.
The ink sensor 104 may be configured to detect whether there is a failure in the ink sensor 104 by moving the position of the ink sensor 104 to a position where the reflecting object that reflects light is provided and a position where the reflecting object is not provided.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, a reflection member is installed at a place other than the ink tank, an output signal from the light detection unit is detected at the position of the reflection member, and a light is detected at a position where no reflection object exists. By detecting the output signal of the detection unit, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of a failure in the light detection unit, and it is possible to prevent the printing unit from idling when a failure occurs in the light detection unit.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration around a photosensor for detecting a remaining amount of ink in a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a failure detection operation of the ink sensor.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a failure detection operation of the ink sensor.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an ink sensor failure detection operation of the ink jet printer.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an ink sensor failure detection operation of the ink jet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 shaft 102 carriage 103 light reflection plate 104 ink sensor 105 ink tank 401 control unit 402 motor 403 interface unit 404 personal computer (PC)

Claims (3)

[Claims] A printing unit having an ink tank for performing a printing operation by moving in a predetermined direction; a light detecting unit for optically detecting an amount of ink in the ink tank; And a reflecting member for reflecting the reflected light to the light detecting unit. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said reflection member is provided in said printing section. 3. A state in which the reflection member is located at a detection position of the light detection unit, and a state in which an object that reflects light emitted from the light detection unit to the light detection unit does not exist at the detection position. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an abnormality detection unit that detects presence or absence of an abnormality in the light detection unit based on each output signal from the light detection unit.