JP2000043355A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a convenient recorder in which high print efficiency can be achieved while ensuring reliable carriage of sheet at the time of hand feed and without lowering throughput when an automatic sheet feeder(ACF) is used. SOLUTION: In a portable printer 1, a print sheet P is carried by means of a carry roller 23 and a retaining roller 24 when it is detected by a sheet feed sensor 51 in case of hand feed. When advance of the print sheet P is detected by a sheet discharge sensor 52, it is carried reversely by a predetermined distance from that position thus carrying the forward end position of the print sheet P accurately to a print start position. When an ACF:F1 is used, mounting of an ACF sensor 53 is detected by a mounting protrusion F7 and a control section (not shown) alters the control method of the forward end position of sheet such that the print sheet P is carried, as it is, to a predetermined position when it is detected by the sheet feed sensor 51.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a recording apparatus having an improved control method of the leading edge position of a sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a paper feeding method of a recording device such as a portable printer, manual feeding in which sheets are fed one by one by hand without an automatic paper feeding device in order to emphasize portability, and throughput. There is a configuration in which a simple automatic paper feeder (ACF) can be used in combination with a simple automatic paper feeder (ACF) which places importance on printing efficiency for automatically supplying a large number of printing papers in order to improve the printing efficiency. With this configuration, a recording device that achieves both portability and efficiency can be obtained.

[0003]

However, according to the manual paper feeding, a user manually inserts paper into a paper insertion slot of a printer without guidance, and the paper is conveyed by being bitten by rollers of the printer. As a result, the bite was often not simultaneously left and right. Therefore, at the time of manual paper feeding, it is not guaranteed that the user inserts the paper straight, and there is a problem that skew of the paper frequently occurs and the paper position is likely to be incorrect. On the other hand, A
When CF paper is fed, the paper is guided by a guide and is sent straight and accurately by a controlled motor with high reliability. However, if a complicated paper cueing mechanism is installed for manual paper feeding, use the ACF. Despite the accurate paper feed, unnecessary cueing operations will be performed,
There is also a problem that the throughput is reduced and the significance of attaching the ACF to enhance the printing efficiency is diminished.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. In the case of manual paper feeding, it is possible to achieve high printing efficiency without lowering the throughput when using the ACF while achieving reliable paper conveyance. It is an object of the present invention to provide an easy-to-use recording device.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus, comprising: a recording unit for recording on a sheet; a conveying unit for conveying the sheet; A first paper detection sensor arranged on the upstream side in the paper conveyance direction, and a second paper detection sensor arranged on the downstream side in the paper conveyance direction with respect to the first paper detection sensor,
Mounting means for detachably mounting an automatic paper feeder for feeding the paper, automatic paper feeder detecting means for detecting when the automatic paper feeder is mounted, and the automatic paper feeder detecting means First leading edge control means for controlling the leading edge position of the paper when the automatic paper feeder is not detected, and controlling the leading edge position of the paper when the automatic paper feeder detecting means detects the automatic paper feeder And a second tip control means.

In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, the paper is fed by the first leading edge control means in the case of manual paper feed without the automatic paper feeder, and in the case of the automatic paper feeder with the automatic paper feeder mounted.
By feeding paper by the second leading edge control means, the paper feeding method can be properly used according to the purpose, and more appropriate paper feeding can be performed. In addition, since the proper use is performed by the automatic paper feeder detecting means, the user is automatically performed without performing a complicated setting operation for the proper use.

In the recording apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the transporting means corrects the skew of the paper with a paper transport roller for transporting the paper. It is characterized by having a device that also functions as a registration roller.

[0008] In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, it is possible to correct the skew of the sheet by providing the registration roller for performing the skew correction. The printer can be made compact in combination with the fact that the automatic paper feeder can be attached and detached.

In the recording apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the first sheet detection sensor is a sheet feed sensor also serving as a sheet presser. It is characterized by.

[0010] In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, the paper detection sensor required for detecting the paper also serves as a paper presser that presses the paper and achieves a reliable transport, thereby achieving a reliable paper transport and a printer. Can be made compact.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the second sheet detecting sensor is located downstream of the printing position in the sheet conveying direction. A sheet discharge sensor provided on the side for detecting the sheet discharge.

In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, the second sheet detection sensor for detecting the sheet is used as the sheet ejection sensor to detect the ejection of the printed sheet and cooperate with the first sheet detection sensor. To detect a jam in the recording apparatus.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the automatic paper feeder detecting means is provided with the automatic paper feeder. In this case, the mounting of the automatic paper feeder is detected by the first paper detection sensor, and the leading edge position of the paper is controlled by the second leading edge control means.

In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, the mounting of the automatic paper feeder is detected by the first paper detection sensor.
There is no need to separately provide a sensor for detecting the mounting of the automatic paper feeder, and the recording apparatus can be made compact. Further, when the attachment of the automatic sheet feeding device is detected, the tip control suitable for the automatic sheet feeding device is automatically performed by the second tip control means.

In a recording apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the first leading end control means controls the manually fed paper to The paper is transported to the downstream side in the paper transport direction by the transport unit, and when the paper is detected by the second paper detection sensor, the paper is moved backward to the upstream side in the paper transport direction to move the paper to a predetermined printing start position. It is characterized by the following.

In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, the sheet is conveyed without correcting the position of the leading end of the sheet by the first sheet detection sensor in which the sheet is more likely to be inclined, and the second position is a position where the inclination of the sheet is corrected. By detecting the leading edge position of the sheet with the sheet detection sensor, the sheet can be transported more accurately, and the printing start position can be made more accurate.

In the recording apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the predetermined printing start position is such that the leading edge of the sheet is a predetermined distance from the second sheet detecting sensor. At a position upstream of the sheet transport direction.

In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, the leading edge of the sheet at the printing start position is downstream of the second sheet detecting sensor. Becomes possible.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the second leading end control means conveys from the automatic sheet feeding apparatus. When the transported sheet becomes transportable by the transport unit, the transport of the paper by the automatic paper feeder is stopped, and after the transport of the paper by the automatic paper feeder is stopped, the paper is transported to a predetermined position by the transport unit. Is conveyed to the printing start position.

In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, the paper fed accurately from the automatic paper feeder can accurately transport the fed paper to the recording apparatus following the second paper feeder. The leading edge position of the sheet can be controlled without detecting the leading edge position of the sheet by the sensor. Therefore,
Since the paper can be conveyed to the printing start position without useless operation, efficient printing can be performed without lowering the throughput of the recording apparatus.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to any one of the sixth to eighth aspects, the predetermined printing start position is determined by the recording means when printing a sheet. It is a leading edge position of the sheet at which the start position and the position of the recording means coincide with each other.

In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, the leading edge control of the sheet is made coincident with the actual printing start position, thereby eliminating wasteful conveyance when uniformly determining the position of the end of the sheet.
This is to improve the throughput of the recording apparatus.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to any one of the second to fifth aspects, the second leading end control means controls the sheet feeding by the transport means. Before the sheet is conveyed to the printing start position, the skew correction of the sheet is controlled by the registration roller.

In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, more accurate sheet conveyance is performed by performing skew correction using the registration rollers.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, the recording means includes an ink jet head.

The recording apparatus according to this configuration can be a compact recording apparatus capable of performing high-quality recording.

[0027]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an external appearance in which an automatic paper feeder (ACF) F1 is mounted on a portable printer 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG.
The portable printer 1 includes a printer body 3 which is a case formed in a substantially rectangular box shape. A paper discharge port 4 which is a rectangular opening formed wide in the longitudinal direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 1) of the portable printer 1 is formed at a lower substantially central portion of the printer main body 3. The paper discharge port 4 is an opening for discharging the printed printing paper PP,
The width in the longitudinal direction is formed corresponding to the width of the printing paper PP. In the portable printer 1 of the present embodiment, the width of the paper discharge port 4 in the longitudinal direction is A4 size paper width (approximately 210
mm). An opening / closing lid 7 for exchanging the ink cartridges 8 and 9 is provided at the upper part of the outlet 4 of the printer main body 3 so as to be freely opened and closed by pivotally connecting the lower part.

The automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted on the back (rear side in FIG. 1) of the portable printer 1 and automatically feeds a large number of cut sheets of printing paper PP to the portable printer. is there. The whole shape is a rectangular oblong plate, and is mounted on the printer in a state where it is raised about 60 degrees behind the horizontal angle. The automatic paper feeder F1 includes a plurality of printing papers PP.
Is placed on the paper placing portion F5 of the main body F2, and the printing paper P
The upper part of P is supported by a left paper support F4L and a right paper support F4R. The sheet supporting portions F4L and F4R are rotatably supported by the main body F2 so that they can be unfolded to support the printing paper PP or be stored in the main body F2. The section F4L is in the unfolded state, and the right sheet supporting section F4R is in the housed state. Paper tray F
5 is provided with an opening / closing cover F3 which is pivotally supported so as to be openable and closable.
P is easily replenished, and this drawing shows a state in which the opening / closing lid F3 is opened.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view schematically showing the internal structure of the portable printer 1. As shown in FIG. The arrow X in the figure indicates the transport direction of the printing paper PP, and the arrow Y in the figure indicates the direction of movement of the print heads 15 and 16 during main scanning.

As shown in FIG. 2, the printer body 3 also serves as a substantially rectangular box-shaped body frame 6, and a rectangular shelf-shaped cartridge frame 5 is provided in the upper space 1a of the body frame 6. A partition plate 5a is provided on the entire back side below the cartridge frame 5 to partition an upper space 1a and a lower space 1b, and a front side of the upper space 1a is open to the lower space 1b.

Here, the ink cartridges 8 and 9 will be described. In the cartridge frame 5 above the partition plate 5a in the upper space 1a of the portable printer 1, two substantially rectangular box-shaped ink cartridges 8, 9 are detachably stored in a horizontal state with their upper ends aligned. I have. Of the ink cartridges 8, 9, the ink cartridge large 8 arranged on the left side in FIG.
The ink package 8a (see FIG. 3) filled with the ink ejected from the ink container 5 is stored therein.
a is composed of two ink packages, each of which is filled with magenta and black inks one color at a time. 2, an ink package 9a (see FIG. 3) filled with ink ejected from the print head left 16 is accommodated in the small ink cartridge 9 disposed on the right side. Filled by color.

The ink packages 8a, 9a (see FIG. 3) housed inside the ink cartridges 8, 9 are:
It is formed in a substantially rectangular bag, and a plurality of film sheets, for example, about 10
It is formed of a laminated structure film material in which about sheets are laminated.
The laminated structure film material forming the ink packages 8a and 9a is provided with a shape restoring property by forming the rigidity strength to be large, and can suppress a change in shape of the ink packages 8a and 9a. Therefore, the print heads 15,
16, ink is supplied to the ink packages 8a and 9a.
The ink packages 8a, 9a
Can be maintained at an appropriate negative pressure without being crushed by atmospheric pressure or the like. In addition, as described above, the ink packages 8a and 9a are disposed horizontally, so that there is no difference in elevation, and the ink supply pressure due to gravity applied to each ink nozzle port 18 is uniform.

As described above, the ink print heads 15, 1
By maintaining the ink supply pressure of the ink supplied to the nozzle 6 at a uniform and appropriate negative pressure, a concave meniscus (curved surface) is formed on the ink liquid surface at the nozzle openings of the nozzles 15a / 16a of the print heads 15, 16. Since the pressures are formed and these internal pressures are kept uniform, it is possible to keep the dischargeability of the ink discharged from the nozzles 15a / 16a of the print heads 15 and 16 uniform and maintain good print quality. . For example, in the print heads 15 and 16 of the present embodiment, if the ink supply pressure is within a range (operating pressure range) of about 0 mmAq (water column) or more and about -300 mmAq (water column) or less with respect to the atmospheric pressure, A concave meniscus can be formed on the ink liquid surface in the nozzle opening of 15a / 16a. Note that the optimal operating pressure range (optimal operating pressure range) of the print heads 15 and 16 when printing is performed by the portable printer 1 of the present embodiment is approximately −30 mmA with respect to the atmospheric pressure.
The pressure value is equal to or less than q (water column) and substantially equal to or greater than -100 mmAq (water column).

Next, the print heads 15 and 16 will be described. Lower space 1 of body frame 6 of portable printer 1
b, a print head 1 is mounted on a carriage 27 that can reciprocate in the printer body 3 in the directions indicated by arrows Y and Y.
5 and 16 are mounted side by side along the main scanning direction. The print heads 15 and 16 perform printing by ejecting ink. A right nozzle 15a is disposed on the lower surface of the right print head 15, and a large number of nozzles constituted by piezo elements (piezoelectric elements) are provided. Two nozzle rows composed of mouths are formed along the paper transport direction X. One of these nozzle rows is filled with magenta ink supplied from each ink package of the ink package 8a, and the other row is filled with black ink. A similarly configured nozzle left 16a is also provided on the lower surface of the print head left 16, and is filled with yellow and cyan inks. These nozzle arrays enable color printing.

According to the print heads 15 and 16, when a voltage is applied to the plurality of nozzles 15a and 16a formed of piezo elements, a distortion proportional to the voltage value is generated in the nozzles 1 and 16.
5a, 16a, the nozzles 15a, 16a contract. Due to this contraction, the ink filled in the nozzle openings 18 of the nozzles 15a and 16a is discharged onto the printing paper PP and printing is performed.

Subsequently, the control unit 34 and the head driving FPC
35 will be described. On the left side of the ink cartridges 8 and 9 in the upper space 1a of the portable printer 1 in FIG. 2, a control unit 34 including a CPU, an input buffer and an output buffer memory, a head driving IC, and the like is provided. The control unit 34 is connected with four FPCs (flexible printed cables) for applying a voltage to each head, and controls the control unit 3 in the upper space 1 a of the portable printer 1.
4 at the rear edge portion (the back side in FIG. 2) of the four head driving Fs.
The PC 35 is stacked, and furthermore, in the upper space 1 a of the portable printer 1, at the rear edge portion of the ink cartridge 8 (in the rear side in FIG. 2), in the vertical direction joined to the ink cartridges 8 and 9 described later. Ink supply tube 12
The print head 1 is stacked on the near side in FIG.
It is connected to the upper part of 5,16. This head drive FPC
Reference numeral 35 denotes a film-like material in which a wiring pattern to be a conductive layer is formed on a polyimide base material, and this is further covered with a protective film.

Next, the portable printer 1 will be described with reference to a cross-sectional view from the side as viewed from the arrow. FIG. 3 shows the portable printer 1 in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing the line IV-IV viewed from the right. The CR motor (carriage motor) 30 is omitted for convenience. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the portable printer 1 as viewed from the front (the front side in FIG. 2) along the line VV in FIG. In the upper part of FIG. 3, ink extraction needles 10 are stabbed into the ink packages 8a and 9a housed in the above-described ink cartridges 8 and 9, respectively, for each color. At the rear edge portion (the right side in FIG. 3) of the upper space 1a of the portable printer 1, the ink packages 8a,
An ink supply tube 12 is connected to the base (the opposite end (the right end in FIG. 4)) of each ink extraction needle 10 stabbed into four ink packages for each color 9a. Each of the supply tubes 12 is a flexible, substantially hollow cylindrical circular tube made of a synthetic resin such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, or the like.
5 and 16 are supplied. In the present embodiment, each supply tube 12 is constituted by a TYGON (registered trademark) tube manufactured by NORTON, and each supply tube 12 has a tube thickness of approximately 0.8.
mm, the inner diameter of the tube is approximately 0.8 mm, and the outer diameter of each supply tube 12 (the sum of the length twice the tube wall thickness and the inner diameter of the tube) is a TYGON tube of approximately 2.4 mm. The minimum value of the radius of curvature of the curved portion in the state where each supply tube 12 is bent (minimum radius of curvature).
Is approximately 20 mm.

An arrow X in the drawing of FIG. 3 indicates the transport direction of the printing paper PP. As shown in FIG. 4, an insertion opening 22 for inserting an unused printing paper PP is formed in a lower rear portion of the printer main body 3 (lower right side in FIG. 3). A transport driven by an LF motor (line feed motor) 31 composed of a pulse motor for transporting the print paper PP is provided on the downstream side in the transport direction (the direction of the arrow X) of the print paper PP inserted from the insertion opening 22. A roller 23 and a pressing roller 24 for pressing the printing paper PP against the transporting roller 23 are provided, and the two cooperate to press and transport the printing paper PP while holding the same. The feed roller 23 is provided with a transport roller gear 40 for supplying a driving force to the automatic paper feeder F1 coaxially.
1 is supplied with a driving force.

On the downstream side of the conveying roller 23 and the pressing roller 24, the printing paper PP conveyed from the conveying roller 23
Paper discharge roller 25 driven by an LF motor 31 for discharging paper to the outside of the printer main body 3, and the paper discharge roller 25
Roller (spur) 2 for pressing the printing paper PP
6 are provided. The paper discharging roller 25 and the pressing roller 26 cooperate to discharge the printing paper PP from the paper discharging port 4.

The transport roller 23 and the discharge roller 25
Between them, a platen 32 for horizontally supporting the printing paper PP for performing printing is provided, and above the printing paper PP placed on the platen 32, the above-described print heads 15 and 1 are provided.
6 are provided. The print heads 15 and 16 are provided with guide bars 29 laid on the body frame 6 of the printer body 3.
Along the direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 3, ie, FIG.
Is removably mounted on a carriage 27 that can reciprocate in the directions indicated by arrows Y and Y. Conveying rollers 23 are provided on the sides of the printing paper PP of the print heads 15 and 16.
The plurality of nozzles 15a and 16a described above for ejecting ink to the printing paper PP sandwiched by the above are formed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the carriage 27 is reciprocated in the left-right direction (the direction of the arrow Y and the direction of the opposite arrow Y) of FIG. 4 above the main body frame 6 disposed on the right side of the printer main body 3. A CR motor 30 for supplying a driving force is provided, and an LF motor 31 for rotating the transport roller 23 and the discharge roller 25 under the CR motor 30. A driving force of the LF motor 31 is applied to the transport roller 23 and the discharge roller 25. An LF motor gear 37 for transmitting the reduced speed is provided. And
Caps 62 and 63 for sucking the nozzles 15a and 16a of the print heads 15 and 16;
A cap elevating unit 69 for raising / lowering the pump, a pump 65 for suction, a pump driving cam 64 for driving the pump 65, a photo sensor 68 for detecting an initial position of the cam, and the like are arranged.

Next, the carriage 27 on which the print heads 15 and 16 are mounted will be described with reference to FIGS. Carriage 27 disposed in main body lower space 1b
Is provided such that a guide bar 29 extending in the main scanning direction penetrates the rear side (the right side in FIG. 3) and is movable in the main scanning direction while being guided by the guide bar. Then, a timing belt 36 is wound around a driving pulley 38 and a driven pulley 39 disposed at the left end of FIG. 2 while being supported by the rotation shaft of the CR motor 30 disposed at the right end of FIG. The carriage 27 is fixed at one position. When a voltage is applied to the CR motor 30 by the control unit 34, the CR motor 30 rotates to rotate the driving pulley 38, rotate the timing belt 36, and guide the carriage 27 to the guard bar 29 while moving the carriage 27 in the main scanning direction. (FIG. 2 Y direction and anti-Y direction).

In order to recognize the position of the carriage 27, a timing fence 33 is provided on the rear side of the carriage 27 (right side in FIG. 3). Timing fence is 3
Reference numeral 3 denotes a linear encoder, which is a glass plate having a fine slit, and a photosensor comprising a combination of a light emitter comprising two sets of LEDs and a phototransistor comprising a phototransistor slightly shifted in phase; Light from a light projector (not shown) provided on the opposite side of the timing fence 33 that has passed through the timing fence 33 is detected by a light receiver (not shown) by a set of photosensors (not shown). Two sets of the photosensors are arranged so as to have a phase difference of 1/2 of the slit so that the traveling direction can be recognized. One set of photosensors is used for origin detection. The CPU provided in the control unit 34 accumulates and analyzes the data based on the pulse data obtained from the photo sensor, and performs incremental control for recognizing the position of the carriage 27. In addition to the above-mentioned transmission type timing fence 33, a fine stripe pattern is printed or baked on a plate made of aluminum or the like as the timing fence 33, and light is emitted from the timing fence 33 by a laser projector. A reflection type timing fence 33 for detecting the reflected light by the light receiver and similarly recognizing the position may be used. Further, a timing fence having an absolute type scale may be used.

The CR motor 30 is a DC motor and has a PW
Speed control can be performed by M control or current value control. The current position is recognized based on the position information from the timing fence 33, and the speed and acceleration of the carriage 27 are further obtained. I do.

FIG. 6 is a detailed view of the paper feed sensor 51 and the paper discharge sensor 52 at the bottom of FIG. The paper feed sensor 51 and the paper discharge sensor 52 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state where the printing paper PP is being conveyed in FIG. Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, the paper feed sensor 51, the paper discharge sensor 52, and the ACF sensor 5 will be described.
3 will be described. The transport roller 23 is a roller composed of a rubber layer 23a whose surface is covered with a rubber material having a large friction coefficient and a cylindrical shaft portion 23b made of stainless steel.
As shown in the figure, the size is slightly longer than the paper width of the printing paper PP, and is provided near the insertion slot 22. The transport roller 23 is rotated by transmitting the driving force of the LF motor 31 shown in FIG. 4 via an LF motor gear 37 that transmits and changes the driving force from the LF motor 31 to rotate the registration roller as described later. Also serves as. The transport rollers 23
The driven roller 24 is disposed in contact with the driven roller 24 disposed below the driven roller 24, and the driven roller 24 rotates together with the transport roller 23.

The paper feed sensor 51 is provided near the transport roller 23 and detects the insertion of the print paper PP before the transport by the transport rollers 23 when the print paper PP is inserted from the insertion slot 22. It is.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a detailed structure near the paper feed sensor 51 when the printing paper PP is being conveyed.
Hereinafter, in FIG. 8, the paper feed sensor 51 before the printing paper PP is transported is indicated by a two-dot chain line, and the paper feeding sensor 51 during paper transport is indicated by a solid line. The paper feed sensor 51 is pivotally supported by a mounting stay 517 fixed to the main body frame 6.
It is supported by. The paper feed sensor 51 is a member formed by bending a stainless steel thin plate. A paper contact portion 512 extends obliquely downward from the support portion, and is bent horizontally slightly below the conveyance path of the printing paper PP to form a base 513 that is a plane parallel to the printing paper PP. The sheet presser 512 and the base 513 also have a function as a guide and a sheet presser for sheet conveyance, stabilize the engagement of the print sheet PP when the sheet is conveyed to the conveyance roller 23, and set the conveyance roller 23 as a registration roller. And functions to prevent jams when reversed. A push-up portion 514 projecting obliquely downward is formed at a portion of the base portion 513 on the downstream side in the sheet transport direction. When the print paper PP passes, the push-up section 514 is used to feed the paper feed sensor 5.
1 serves to reliably push upward.

An extension 515 is provided below the base 513 in a substantially triangular plate shape having a tapered lower portion, and transmits the movement of the upper portion of the paper feed sensor 51 to the lower portion. The extension 515 enlarges the operation of detecting the upper printing paper PP and transmits it to the lower portion. The lower end of the extension 516 is provided with a light shielding portion 516. The light shielding unit 516 detects the absence of the printing paper PP by entering between the detection units 541 of the paper feed photosensor 54 described later and blocking the light beams of the light projection unit. The entry of the printing paper PP into the vicinity of the transport roller 23 is detected by allowing the light beam to reach the light receiving unit. A stopper 511 protruding in the downstream direction in the sheet transport direction is provided in the vicinity of the support portion for the mounting stay 517. For example, when the printing sheet PP is bent or jammed, the sheet pressing section 512 or the base section is provided. When the 513 is pushed up abnormally, abnormal bending is prevented, and damage to the paper feed sensor 51 is prevented.

FIG. 5 shows the paper feed sensor 51 and the paper feed roller 23.
FIG. 3 is a diagram viewed from the downstream side in the sheet transport direction. As shown in FIG. 5, the paper feed roller shaft 23b of the paper feed roller 23 is connected to the LF motor gear 37, and is divided into four parts.
3a are formed. A base 513 of the paper feed sensor 51 is disposed below the shaft portion 23b where the metal portion between the rubber layers 23a is exposed. When the printing paper PP is carried by the rubber layer 23a, the base 513 is carried. If it is flipped upward so as not to hinder the printing paper PP, it will move in the direction of the rotation axis from the surface of the rubber layer 23a and will not hinder the conveyance of the printing paper PP (see FIG. 8). On the other hand, the base portion 513 abuts on the shaft portion 23b of the transport roller 23, and does not jump up any further.
The flatness of the printing paper PP can be maintained so that printing is performed properly. The width of the paper pressing portion 512 is slightly larger than the maximum width of the printing paper PP that can be handled by the portable printer 1. Specifically, for example, for the United States, the width is larger than the U.S. letter size paper width, and for Japan, the width is larger than the JIS A4 series paper width. Therefore, if the printing paper can be handled by the portable printer 1, the paper pressing unit 512 can effectively guide all the leading ends of the printing paper PP to a portion where the paper feeding roller 23 and the pressing roller 24 are in contact. Skew correction is appropriately performed, and jams are prevented from occurring. A support shaft 518 is coaxially protruded from both ends of an upper portion of the paper feed sensor 51, and is pivotally supported by a mounting stay 517. Support shaft 5
Numeral 18 is loosely fitted on the mounting stay 517 and moves with extremely small force. Further, since the paper feed sensor 51 itself is made of thin stainless steel and is lightweight, it does not hinder the entry of the printing paper PP and is extremely sensitive. Printing paper P
The entry of P can be detected. In FIG. 5, an extension 515 extends downward at the lower left side, and a light-shielding portion 516 provided at the end thereof is connected to the detection unit 5 of the paper feed photosensor 54.
It is arranged so as to be able to block or open light between the light emitter and the light receiver.

In the vicinity of the paper feed sensor 51, the printing paper PP
Comes in, the leading edge of the printing paper PP is
12 and the leading end of the printing paper PP is
Roller 2 while being slightly guided downward
3 and the pressing roller 24 enter the contact surface direction. At this time, by pressing the contact surface of the paper pressing portion 512,
13 and thus the extension 515 is raised,
When the light shielding unit 516 separates from the detection unit 541 of the photo sensor 54, the photo sensor 54 detects the entry of the printing paper PP, and this detection signal is transmitted to the control unit 34 by the FPC connected to the wiring unit 542.

In the center of FIG. 6, downstream of the transport roller 23, a platen 32 on which a printing paper PP for printing is placed is arranged. Above the platen 32, printheads 15, 16 by ink jet heads are arranged at a predetermined distance. Is mounted on the carriage and moves and passes. The position where the print head passes is the actual print start position.

Further, a discharge roller 25 is disposed downstream of the platen 32 in the sheet transport direction. Hereinafter, the paper discharge roller 25 will be described. The paper discharge roller 25 is a cylindrical roller made of stainless steel whose surface is covered with a rubber material having a large friction coefficient. As shown in FIG. 4 is provided in the vicinity. The paper discharge roller 25 is an LF shown in FIG.
The driving force of the motor 31 is transmitted and rotated via an LF motor gear 37 that shifts and transmits the driving force from the LF motor 31. Further, it is in contact with a gear type pressing roller (spur) 26 disposed above the sheet discharging roller 25, and the pressing roller 26 rotates with the sheet discharging roller 25.

The paper discharge sensor 52 is provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge roller 25, and detects the passage of the print paper PP almost simultaneously with the conveyance of the print paper PP by the paper discharge roller 25 when the print paper PP has passed the platen 32. Is what you do. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a detailed structure near the paper ejection sensor 52 when the printing paper PP is being conveyed. Hereinafter, the printing paper PP is shown in FIG.
Is indicated by a two-dot chain line, and the sheet discharge sensor 52 at the time of sheet discharge is indicated by a solid line.

The paper ejection sensor 52 is swingably supported on a support portion 524 supported by the body frame 6 (not shown). A horizontal base portion 523 is formed substantially horizontally from the support portion 524 on the upstream side in the sheet conveyance direction, and the sheet contact portion 52 extends from the upstream end of the base portion 523 to the upper side.
2 is curved in a shape substantially along the discharge roller 25 and extends slightly downstream from a position where the discharge roller 25 and the pressing roller 26 come into contact with each other. The sheet contact portion 522 contacts the print sheet PP entering from the platen 32 toward the sheet discharge roller 25 and detects this. Further, the leading end of the sheet contact portion 522 is bent in a direction opposite to the rotation center of the sheet discharging roller 25 to form the leading end 521. The leading end 521 is a projection for more reliably operating the paper ejection sensor 52 by the printing paper PP.

An extension 525, which is an elongated rectangular plate, extends downward from the lower portion of the base 523. The extension portion 525 is a member that functions to expand the operation of detecting the printing paper PP, and a light shielding portion 526 that is a rectangular plate-shaped member is provided at a lower end thereof. The light shielding unit 526 is a detection unit 5 including a light projecting unit and a light receiving unit of the paper ejection photo sensor 55.
By detecting the presence of the printing paper PP by entering the space 51 and blocking the light beam of the light projecting unit, the light shielding is stopped, and the light beam reaches the light receiving unit, thereby detecting the printing paper PP. This is to detect passage near the discharge roller 25.

The paper feed photo sensor 54 and the paper discharge photo sensor 55 have the same configuration, and will be described using the paper discharge photo sensor 55. FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the configuration of the paper ejection sensor shown in FIG. 9 as viewed from the downstream side in the paper transport direction. Note that the discharge roller 25 and the pressing roller 26 are omitted, and a part of the main body frame 6 is added. This will be described below with reference to FIG.

The light-shielding portion 526 provided at the end of the extension 525 extending below the paper ejection sensor 52 is
If P does not exist, it is arranged between the detection units 551 of the paper ejection photosensor 55 as described above. The detection unit 551 of the paper ejection photosensor 54 is a U-shaped member having a space in the center and an open top, and a projection provided with a near-infrared light emitting diode (LED) on the left side of FIG. Light unit 5
53, and a light receiving unit 554 including a phototransistor is disposed on the right side. Then, light is emitted from the LED toward the light receiving unit 554 from the light emitting unit 553, and the light is sensed by the phototransistor of the light receiving unit 554. Therefore,
If the light shielding unit 526 is arranged between the light emitting unit 553 and the light receiving unit 554, the light from the light emitting unit 553 does not reach the light receiving unit 554 and no signal is generated from the light receiving unit 554. The control unit 34 connected by the FPC from the unit 552 to the detection unit 551 determines that the print paper PP does not exist.

On the other hand, if the print paper PP is present on the paper discharge roller 23, the light shielding unit 526 separates from between the detection units 551 as shown by the solid paper discharge sensor 52 as shown by the solid line in FIG. The light from 553 reaches the light receiving unit 554, and the current generated by receiving the light of the LED at the light receiving unit 554 is sent to the control unit 34 via the FPC connected to the wiring unit 552, and the control unit 34 This current is detected, and it is determined that the print paper PP exists in the paper discharge sensor 52.

By using the paper ejection photosensor 55, the signal detection itself has no contact resistance or resistance due to a spring, and the paper ejection sensor 52 is compared with the case where a mechanical switch such as a push switch is used. Displaces with a very small force. Further, the paper discharge sensor 52 itself is supported by the support portion 524 in a well-balanced manner, so that the paper discharge sensor 52 moves with an extremely small force. Since the paper discharge sensor 52 has the upper extension portion 525, the small movement can be detected in an enlarged manner. In addition, it is possible to provide a sensitive sensor without giving resistance to the printing paper PP.

For the same reason, the paper feed sensor 51 can be a sensitive sensor that moves with extremely small force by using a photo sensor.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a case where the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted on the portable printer 1. The ACF sensor 53 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the mounting hook F6 of the automatic paper feeder F1 is inserted into the mounting opening 21 of the portable printer 1 and the automatic paper feeding device F1 is moved downward as it is. The parts are fitted, and at the same time, the mounting projection F7 of the automatic paper feeder F1 can be inserted into the ACF detection port 20. Therefore, if the mounting hook F6 is incomplete, the mounting projection F7 cannot be inserted into the ACF detection port 20.
Incomplete mounting can be prevented. Here, when the automatic paper feeder F1 is rotated slightly clockwise in FIG. 11, the lock device (not shown) is joined, and the mounting is completed. At this time, the weight of the ACF acts in the direction of inserting the mounting projection F7 with the mounting hook F6 as a fulcrum, so that careless release of the lock is prevented. When the mounting is completed, the mounting projection F7 enters the ACF detection port 20, and presses the contact portion 531 of the ACF sensor 53 disposed here.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the operation of the ACF sensor 53 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted on a portable printer. The portion indicated by the two-dot chain line is the automatic paper feeder F
Reference numeral 1 denotes a state when the camera is not mounted. The ACF sensor has an L-shaped arm 532, a contact portion 531 is provided at the tip of a horizontally provided arm 532, and an external direction (from the ACF detection port 21 formed in the main body frame 6). (Right direction in FIG. 12). Arm 5
The arm 532 has a bent portion on the side of the horizontal portion 32 opposite to the contact portion 531 and extends downward. An end of the arm 532 extending below the arm 532 is rotatably supported by the support shaft 533 so that the entire ACF sensor 53 can rotate. An extension portion 534 is provided horizontally from the support shaft 533 in the inward direction (left direction in FIG. 12), and a pressing portion 535 is provided at the lower end of the end portion. The pressing portion 535 is formed in a groove shape, and the tip of a push portion 561 provided to protrude above the push switch 56 is fitted into the pressing portion 535.

The push switch 56 includes a push unit 56
1 is pressed by the pressing unit 535 of the ACF sensor 53, the push unit is pressed, and the wiring unit 56 electrically connected to the control unit 34 by the FPC and to which a minute voltage is applied.
The circuits 2562 are closed by mechanical contact so that the control unit 34 detects the mounting of the automatic paper feeder F1. In this manner, the control unit 34 detects the mounting of the automatic paper feeder F1, and performs a paper feed control method described later on the automatic paper feeder F1.
1 is different from the case where it is not mounted.

FIG. 13 shows the printing paper PP in the portable printer 1 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is not mounted.
5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a method for controlling the tip position of the image forming apparatus. Hereinafter, a method of controlling the leading end position of the printing paper PP in the portable printer 1 when the automatic paper feeding device F1 is not mounted will be described with reference to this flowchart. First, the paper feed sensor 51 waits for the user to insert the printing paper PP (Step 1: NO (hereinafter, step is abbreviated as S)), and when the paper feeding sensor 51 detects the printing paper PP (S1: YES). ), And waits for skew correction (S3). This skew feed correction is performed after the transport roller 23 is rotated in reverse or stopped for a predetermined time and the user waits for a time to uniformly press the leading end of the printing paper PP against the transport roller 23.
It carries out the sequential conveyance. The sheet is conveyed by starting the reverse rotation or the rotation of the conveying roller 23 which has been stopped for a predetermined time (S5). The printing paper PP is conveyed, and the paper ejection sensor 52
Is reached (S7: YES), the upper margin of the print is read from the print data stored in the output buffer (not shown) of the controller 34 (S9). Here, when the length of the margin is compared with the length D1 between the nozzle 18 on the most downstream side of the print head and the paper ejection sensor 52 shown in FIG. (S
11: YES), the printing paper P is sequentially transported in the paper transport direction X (see FIG. 3) by a distance obtained by subtracting D1 from the margin length (S13), and if D1 is smaller than the margin length, (S11: NO), the printing paper PP is reversely transported in a direction opposite to the paper transport direction X by a distance obtained by subtracting the margin length from D1 (S15). When the forward conveyance (S13) or the reverse conveyance (S15) is completed, the carriage is reciprocated to perform printing (S17), and the sheet leading edge control is ended (end).

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a method for controlling the leading end position of the printing paper PP in the portable printer 1 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted.
Hereinafter, a method of controlling the leading edge position of the printing paper PP in the portable printer 1 when the automatic paper feeding device F1 is mounted will be described with reference to this flowchart. First, the printing paper is transported by the automatic paper feeder (ACF) (S21),
When the print paper PP is detected by the paper feed sensor 51 (S2
3: YES), the transport roller 23 rotates in the reverse direction of the paper transport direction X, and performs skew correction of the print paper PP (S25). When the skew correction is completed, the upper margin of the print is read from the print data stored in the output buffer of the control unit 34 (S
27). Then, the print paper PP is added by a distance obtained by adding the length of the read margin and the length D2 (see FIG. 11) between the nozzle 18 on the most downstream side of the print head and the contact position between the transport roller and the press roller 24. Is transported (S2
9). When the conveyance is completed, printing is performed from that position (S31), and the control of the leading edge of the paper is ended (end).

Next, referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the method of using the portable printer 1 when performing manual printing without mounting the automatic paper feeder (ACF) F1 and the position of the leading edge of the printing paper will be described. The control method and its operation will be specifically described. First, as a preparation, open the opening / closing lid 7 (see FIG. 1),
The cartridges 8 and 9 filled with ink are mounted on the cartridge frame 5. When the power is turned on after the ink cartridges 8 and 9 are installed, before the printing is started, the nozzle port 1 is turned on.
In order to perform good printing, a purge operation is performed prior to printing in order to suck and discharge the dried or bubble-containing ink or the ink to which dust or the like has adhered. At the initial position of the carriage 27 when the power is turned on, since the nozzles 15a and 16a of the print heads 15 and 16 are sealed by the caps 62 and 63, as shown in FIG.
Due to 1, the driving force is transmitted to the pump driving gear 61 via the LF motor gear 37, and the purging operation is performed.

Thereafter, the operation of the carriage 27 is confirmed, and the carriage 27 is stopped at the initial position at the start of printing. Thus, the preparation of the portable printer 1 itself is completed, and the portable printer 1 enters a standby state.

When the portable printer 1 is ready for printing, the print data is transferred from the personal computer (PC) to the PC. In this case, if the printing paper PP has not been prepared, the display on the PC side and an LED (not shown) for warning of running out of paper of the printer prompt the insertion of the printing paper PP. In this case, the user prints the printing paper PP from the insertion opening 22 of the printing paper PP on the rear side (the right side in FIG. 2) of the portable printer 1 in the X direction with the left end portion displayed outside the insertion opening 22. The printing paper PP is inserted by hand from the upper side (printing start side) of the printing paper PP with the printing surface facing up in accordance with the mark (not shown) indicating the position.

As shown in FIG. 6, the printing paper PP inserted from the insertion slot 22 is fed in the X direction (left side in FIG. Abuts on the paper holding portion 512 of the transfer roller 2
3 guides the leading edge of the sheet to the driven roller 24.

At this time, when the leading end of the printing paper PP pushes up the paper holding portion 512, the paper feeding sensor 51 is pushed up.
The position of No. 16 is moved. When the light-shielding portion 516 moves, the light from the light-emitting device provided in the detection portion 541 of the paper feed sensor 54 reaches the light-receiving device, and this is converted into an electric signal by the control portion 34.
Is transmitted, and the entry of the printing paper PP is recognized.

When the entry of the printing paper PP is recognized, the rotation of the printing paper PP is stopped for a predetermined time, for example, about 2 to 3 seconds, and the leading edge of the printing paper PP is aligned with the concave portion between the transport roller 23 and the driven roller 24 during that time. Wait to be abutted. And
After waiting for a predetermined time in this way, the control unit 34 applies a pulse current to the LF motor 37 so that the leading edge of the printing paper PP is aligned and the transporting roller rotates forward. The printing paper PP having the aligned leading ends is conveyed while being bitten.

A voltage is applied to the LF motor 31 by the control unit 34 so that the transport roller 23 is rotated in the same manner as when the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted, and the transport roller 23 is driven via the LF motor gear 37. Predetermined time, for example, 2
The reverse roller is rotated from second to three seconds, and the driven roller 24
3 may be configured to be rotated in conjunction with each other. When the leading end of the printing paper PP is inserted, the printing paper PP is not bitten between the transport roller 23 and the driven roller 24 that has been rotated in the reverse direction. for that reason,
When the printing paper PP is inserted, the leading end of the printing paper PP is inserted into the recess formed between the transport roller 23 and the driven roller 24 and is not transported by the two rollers.
The tips of P are aligned. That is, it functions as a so-called registration roller. However, even in this case, since it is a manual feed, it is premised that the user presses the conveying roller 23 correctly. If the pressing itself exceeds the limit of the skew correction, the skew cannot be corrected.

The printing paper PP being transported by the transport roller 23 and the driven roller 24 (see FIG. 7) advances along the upper surface of the platen 32 and contacts the paper discharge sensor 52 when passing through the platen 32. . Discharge sensor 5
2, the leading end of the printing paper PP presses the paper abutting portion 522, and the pressed paper ejection sensor 52 tilts its upper portion to the downstream side in the paper conveying direction with the indication portion 523 as a fulcrum, and the extension portion 525 moves downstream. The light shielding unit 256 moves to the downstream side by tilting to the side. Then, the detection unit 55 of the paper ejection photo sensor 55
The light-shielding unit 256 disposed on the light-receiving unit 551 is separated from the detection unit 551, and light from the light-emitting unit 553 disposed on the detection unit 551 reaches the light-receiving unit 554, and is generated by the phototransistor of the light-receiving unit. Current flowing from the wiring section 552 to the FPC
Via the sheet discharge sensor 5
No. 5 recognizes that the printing paper PP exists.

When the control unit 34 recognizes that the printing paper PP exists at the position of the paper ejection sensor 52, the printing paper PP
The exact position of the tip of can be confirmed. Therefore, when recognizing this position, the control unit 34 stops the pulse current given to the LF motor 31 and stops the rotation, thereby temporarily storing the leading edge position of the printing paper PP.

Then, the control section 34 checks whether or not print data to be printed exists in the output buffer.
If it has already been entered, it is checked how much the print margin is from the upper end of the printing paper PP. Printing paper P
In P, the length from the leading edge of the sheet to the position where printing is started is checked.

The margin is determined by the paper ejection sensor 52.
If the distance is greater than the distance D1 (see FIG. 7) from the ink jet heads 15 and 16 to the nozzle ports 18 on the most downstream side, the printing paper PP is transported by the distance obtained by subtracting the distance of D1 from the margin (the X direction in FIG. 3). The conveyance roller 23 is rotated in the opposite direction to the printing start position, and conversely, the margin is
When the distance is smaller than the distance D1 (see FIG. 7) to the nozzle port 18 on the most downstream side of Nos. 5 and 16, the print paper PP is transported by a distance obtained by subtracting a margin from the distance of D1 in the paper transport direction (X direction in FIG. 3). 23 is rotated to the printing start position. In this way, as in the case where the leading edge of the printing paper PP is controlled based on the leading edge of the printing paper PP, the printing paper PP moves once a predetermined distance from the leading edge, and further reaches the actual printing start position. Need not be conveyed, and the throughput is improved.

If the control unit 34 cannot find the print data to be printed in the output buffer, the position of the leading edge of the printing paper PP is set to a predetermined standard margin width as in the conventional case. Is set, and when the paper ejection sensor 52 detects the printing paper PP, the printing paper PP is moved forward or backward. In this case, the paper ejection sensor 52 and the above-described nozzle port 1
It is preferable that the distance from the print sheet 8 to the predetermined margin is the same as the predetermined margin because the amount of movement of the sheet ejection sensor 52 after the detection of the printing sheet PP is minimized.

Next, a description will be given of a method of controlling the position of the leading edge of the printing paper and handling when the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted. Here, FIG. 11 is a part of a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 4 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted on the portable printer 1. First, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the mounting hook F6 provided on the front side (left side in FIG. 11) of the main body F2 is inserted into the mounting port 21 on the rear side of the portable printer 1 and pushed down, and the automatic paper feeder 1 Of the portable printer 1 with the mounting projection F7 of
Insert it into the F detection port 20 and fix it. When the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted on the portable printer 1 in this manner, the paper discharge port F9 of the automatic paper feeder F1 is connected to the insertion port 2 of the portable printer.
It will communicate with 2.

Hereinafter, the automatic paper feeder F1 is the portable printer 1
The operation in the case where the camera is mounted on will be described. FIG.
FIG. 16 is a side view sectional view showing the flow of the printing paper PP in the automatic sheet feeding device F1, and FIG. 16 is a sectional view showing a drive system of the automatic sheet feeding device F1. First, the opening / closing cover F3 is opened to expand the left and right sheet supporting portions F4L and F4R, and the right side end of the predetermined number of printing sheets PP in the front view is inserted into the sheet placing section F5 along the pressure plate F21. . At this time, the leading end of the printing paper PP
It is set in contact with the upper end of the separation pad F32.

When predetermined image information is input to the portable printer 1 and printing is started, the LF motor 31 is rotated by a command from the control unit 34 of the portable printer 1.
The LF motor 31 first rotates in the direction opposite to the sheet conveyance direction. The rotation of the LF motor 31 causes the transport roller gear 40 to rotate in the reverse direction via the LF motor gear 37, and the power transmission gear 41 is clockwise clockwise in FIG. Then outside gear D 4
4a and the inner 44b are rotated left, and the pendulum gear E45
Rotates to the position 45a and meshes with the gear F46. The pendulum gear G47 is rotationally moved to the position 47b and comes to a position where the engagement with the sheet feeding gear 48 is released. Therefore, the driving force is transmitted from the pendulum gear E45a to the sheet feeding gear 48 via the gear F46 so as to always rotate clockwise in the drawing of FIG. 4, that is, rotate the sheet feeding roller F31 in the sheet conveying direction. .

The paper feed roller F31 has a modified D shape having a contact surface F311 that can come into contact with the printing paper PP and non-contact surfaces F312 and F313 that are flat surfaces that do not come into contact with the printing paper PP. The radius is smaller than the distance from the center of the paper feed roller F31 to the contact surface F311.
A collar (not shown) made of a resin having a small frictional force, such as nylon, having a radius larger than the distance to 312 and F313 is loosely fitted. In the initial position, the sheet feeding roller F31 is positioned below the pressure plate F21 by the sheet pressure cam (not shown) and the pressure plate driven part (not shown) fitted with the pressure plate driven part being pressed. , The non-contact surface F313 and the pressure plate F21 are located opposite to each other. Printing paper PP is laminated on the pressure plate F21. Further, the separation pad F32 faces the non-contact surface F314 of the sheet feeding roller F31, and the separation pad F32
Is in contact with the collar. With the rotation of the paper feed roller F31, the paper feed roller F31 has a rotation phase in which it can come into contact with the printing paper PP. That is, the contact surface F312 of the paper feed roller F31 contacts the printing paper PP, and the color does not contact the paper surface. A large number of the uppermost printing papers PP in contact with the contact surface are in contact with the contact surface F3 of the paper feed roller F31.
12, the second and subsequent sheets are separated by a separation pad F
The conveyance is blocked by the friction of the sheet 32, and the sheet remains as it is on the sheet placement portion F5. One transported printing paper PP is
The paper is fed into the portable printer 1 from the paper discharge port F9 of the automatic paper feeder 1 through the paper insertion port 22 of the portable printer 1. When the leading edge of the transported printing paper PP reaches the transport roller 23 of the portable printer 1, the transport roller 23 is rotated in a direction opposite to the transport direction, and the leading edge of the printing paper PP is transported between the transport roller 23 and the pressing roller 24. However, the printing paper PP is bent and the leading end of the printing paper PP is uniformly pressed against the concave portion between the conveying roller 23 and the pressing roller, so that the skew of the printing paper PP is corrected. In this case, the printing paper PP is transferred to the contact surface 312 of the paper feed roller F31.
Transported by

When the skew correction is completed, the feed sensor 51 reverses the LF motor 31 to change the rotation direction from the reverse direction to the forward direction. When rotating in the forward direction, the pendulum gear G4
7, the driving force is transmitted to the feed gear 48, and the pendulum gear G
The sheet feeding gear 48 meshed with the sheet feeding roller F3 rotates the printing sheet PP in the transport direction in the same manner as in the case of the reverse rotation.
1 continuously transports the printing paper PP. In this case, the conveyance is started by the conveyance roller 23, but the printing paper PP is bent during the skew correction. Printing paper PP
Is transported between the transport roller 23 and the pressing roller 24 of the portable printer 1 rotating in the forward direction and transported, but this bending is maintained. When the sheet feeding gear 48 rotates and the meshing portion comes to the intermittent portion 481, the meshing of the pendulum gear G47 with the sheet feeding gear 48 is released, and even if the pendulum gear G47 rotates, the sheet feeding gear 48 rotates. Do not stop. When the rotation of the feed gear 48 stops, the non-contact surfaces F313 / F314 of the feed roller F31 are opposed to the pressure plate F21 and the separation pad F32, respectively, and the feed roller F31 leaves contact with the printing paper PP. Release this. The printing paper PP is continuously transported by the transport roller 23 and the pressing roller 24 of the portable printer 1 which has already been transported.

Here, when paper is fed using the automatic paper feeder F 1, since the paper is conveyed as described above and skew correction is reliably performed, the position of the leading end is detected by the paper feed sensor 51. It is determined that the position of the leading edge of the printed printing paper PP is accurate. Therefore, although the skew correction function has been provided as in the above-described manual printing, the skew of the sheet cannot be completely removed. Had been
When the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted, the skew correction is reliably performed, so that the printing paper PP is not based on the paper discharge sensor 52 but based on the paper leading edge position detected by the paper feed sensor 51.
Can be controlled.

Therefore, unlike the above-described front end control when the automatic paper feeder F1 is not mounted, the following control is performed. That is, when the transport roller 23 starts transporting the printing paper PP, the control unit 34 first checks whether or not print data to be printed exists in the output buffer. Printing margin is printing paper PP
Find out how far from the top of the. That is, the length from the leading edge of the printing paper PP to the position where printing is started is checked.

Then, the printing paper PP is conveyed by a distance obtained by adding a distance D2 (see FIG. 11) from the paper feeding roller 23 to the nozzle port 18 on the most downstream side of the ink jet heads 15 and 16 to the length of the margin. The conveying roller 23 may be rotated in the direction (X direction in FIG. 3) to set the printing start position. In this way, as in the case where the leading edge of the printing paper PP is controlled based on the paper ejection sensor 52, the leading edge of the printing paper PP is not transported to the paper ejection sensor 52, and the paper sheet PP is completely wasted. Since printing can be started immediately without performing the above, the highest throughput can be achieved.

If the control unit 34 cannot find the print data to be printed in the output buffer, the print paper P is set so that a predetermined standard margin width can be obtained.
The leading end position of P is set, and the printing paper PP is transported by a predetermined distance. Also in this case, it is preferable to carry the printing paper PP so that the distance from the nozzle port 18 coincides with a predetermined margin since the subsequent carrying amount of the printing paper PP is the smallest.

As described above, the portable printer 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention detects the leading end position of the printing paper PP by the paper ejection sensor 52 when the automatic paper feeding device F1 is not mounted. It is possible to prevent a shift in the print start position due to a shift in the position when the paper feed sensor 51 detects the leading end position of the sheet due to the skew of the print sheet PP, and it is possible to set an accurate print start position.

On the other hand, when the automatic sheet feeder F1 is mounted, unlike the case of manual printing, the leading edge of the skew-corrected sheet is accurately aligned with the position where the conveying roller 23 and the press roller 24 are in contact with each other. Printing paper P
There is little useless movement for transporting P, and an improvement in throughput can be achieved.

The portable printer 1 automatically determines whether or not to install the automatic paper feeder F1 without any troublesome setting of the leading edge control of the paper, and uses the control method properly. Can be a good recording device.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment, it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the scope of the claims.

For example, in this embodiment, the paper feed photosensor 54 and the push switch 56 are separately provided and detected. However, when paper is fed using the automatic paper feeder F1,
Since the paper feed sensor 51 is not always necessary, it is conceivable to use them together. In this case, ACF
The pressing part 535 of the sensor 53 is configured as a light shielding part, and is configured to enter the detecting part of the paper feed photosensor 54.

[0093]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the recording apparatus of the first aspect, in the case of manual paper feed without the automatic paper feeder, paper feed by the first leading edge control means is performed. When the automatic paper feeder is mounted, the paper is fed by the second leading edge control means, so that there is an effect that the paper feed method can be properly used depending on the purpose. Therefore, more appropriate paper feeding can be performed.

[0094] Furthermore, since the proper use of these is performed by the automatic paper feeder detecting means, the user can automatically control the leading edge position of the print paper without performing a complicated setting operation for proper use. This has the effect.

According to the recording apparatus of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the recording apparatus of the first aspect, it is possible to correct the skew of the sheet by providing the registration roller for performing the skew correction. In addition, since the sheet feed roller also serves as a sheet feed roller for sheet feed, the automatic feeder can be attached and detached, and the printer can be made compact. is there.

According to the recording apparatus of the third aspect, in addition to the effects of the recording apparatus of the first or second aspect, the sheet is detected by a sheet detecting sensor required for detecting the sheet to achieve reliable conveyance. The effect of the present invention is that the printer can be made compact while at the same time reliably transporting the paper.

According to the recording apparatus of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the recording apparatus of any one of the first to third aspects, a second sheet detecting sensor for detecting a sheet is provided as a sheet discharging sensor. Accordingly, there is an effect that the detection of the discharge of the printed sheet and the detection of the jam in the recording apparatus can be performed in cooperation with the first sheet detection sensor.

According to the recording apparatus of the fifth aspect, in addition to the effects of the recording apparatus of the first aspect, the mounting of the automatic paper feeder is detected by the first paper detection sensor. Therefore, there is no need to separately provide a sensor for detecting the mounting of the automatic sheet feeding apparatus, and the recording apparatus can be made compact. Further, when the attachment of the automatic sheet feeding device is detected, there is an effect that the tip control suitable for the automatic sheet feeding device is automatically performed by the second tip control means.

According to the recording apparatus of the sixth aspect, in addition to the effect of the recording apparatus of the first aspect, in addition to the effect of the recording apparatus of the first aspect, the first sheet detecting sensor for easily skewing the sheet causes the leading edge of the sheet to be inclined. By detecting the leading edge position of the paper with the second paper detection sensor, which is the position where the paper is conveyed and the inclination of the paper is corrected, without detecting the position, the paper is conveyed more accurately, and printing is started. There is an effect that the position can be made accurate.

According to the recording apparatus of the seventh aspect, in addition to the effect of the recording apparatus of the sixth aspect, in the recording apparatus of this configuration, the leading edge of the sheet at the printing start position is the second sheet detecting sensor. Since it is on the further downstream side, there is an effect that accurate control of the leading edge position of the sheet can be performed in combination with the configuration of claim 6.

According to the recording apparatus of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the recording apparatus of any one of the first to fifth aspects, the paper feeding operation from the automatic paper feeding apparatus enables accurate paper feeding. Since the fed sheet can be accurately conveyed to the recording apparatus, the leading edge position of the sheet can be controlled without detecting the leading edge position of the sheet by the second paper feed sensor. Therefore, the sheet can be transported to the printing start position without useless operation, so that there is an effect that efficient printing can be performed without lowering the throughput of the recording apparatus.

According to the recording apparatus of the ninth aspect, in addition to the effects of the recording apparatus of the sixth aspect, by controlling the leading edge of the sheet to the actual printing start position. This has the effect of eliminating wasteful conveyance when uniformly determining the position of the edge of the sheet, and has the effect of improving the throughput of the recording apparatus.

According to the recording apparatus of the tenth aspect, in addition to the effect of the recording apparatus of any one of the second to fifth aspects, more accurate sheet conveyance is performed by performing skew correction by a registration roller. Is effective.

According to the recording apparatus of the eleventh aspect, in addition to the effects of the recording apparatus of the first aspect, a recording apparatus capable of performing compact and high-quality recording is provided. There is an effect that can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance in which an automatic paper feeder (ACF) F1 is mounted on a portable printer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view schematically showing the internal structure of the portable printer 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing the portable printer 1 as viewed from the right side along the line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the portable printer 1 shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a line viewed from the front (the front side in FIG. 2).

FIG. 5 is a view of the paper feed sensor 51 and the paper feed roller 23 viewed from the downstream side in the paper transport direction.

FIG. 6 shows a paper feed sensor 51 and a paper discharge sensor 52 in the lower part of FIG.
FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the printing paper PP is being conveyed in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a detailed structure near the paper feed sensor 51 when the printing paper PP is being conveyed.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a detailed structure near a sheet ejection sensor 52 when a printing sheet PP is being conveyed.

10 is a schematic view of the configuration of the paper ejection sensor shown in FIG. 9 as viewed from the downstream side in the paper transport direction.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a case where the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted on the portable printer 1.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an operation of the ACF sensor 53 when the automatic sheet feeding device F1 is mounted on a portable printer.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling the leading end position of the printing paper PP in the portable printer 1 when the automatic paper feeding device F1 is not mounted.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling the leading end position of the printing paper PP in the portable printer 1 when the automatic paper feeding device F1 is mounted.

FIG. 15 is a side sectional view showing the flow of the printing paper PP of the automatic paper feeder F1.

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a drive system of the automatic sheet feeding device F1.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Portable printer (recording device) 15, 16 Print head (recording means) 18 Nozzle 23 Conveying roller (conveying means) 24 Pressing roller (conveying means) 25 Discharge roller 26 Pressing roller (spur) 27 Carriage 34 Control part (control) Means) 51 Paper feed sensor (first paper detection sensor) 52 Paper discharge sensor (second paper detection sensor) 53 ACF sensor (automatic paper feeder detection means) 54 Paper feed photo sensor 55 Paper discharge photo sensor 56 Push switch F1 Automatic paper feeder (ACF) F6 Mounting hook F7 Mounting protrusion PP Printing paper (paper)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C058 AB02 AB08 AB15 AB16 AC07 AC11 AE02 AF03 AF04 AF10 AF18 AF20 AF31 GA02 GB05 GB13 GB31 GB47 GB51 GC02 GC09 HA01 HD03 2C059 AA00 AA04 AA05 AA09 AA23 AA24 AA32 AA35 A55 AA05 BA14 BA20 DB07 EA13 3F343 FA02 FB04 HA33 HC28 KB20 MA03 MA09 MA56

Claims (11)

[Claims] A recording unit configured to record on a sheet; a conveying unit configured to convey the sheet; a first sheet detecting sensor disposed upstream of the conveying unit in a sheet conveying direction; and a first sheet detecting unit. A second paper detection sensor disposed downstream of the sensor in the paper transport direction, mounting means for detachably mounting an automatic paper feeding device for feeding the paper, and when the automatic paper feeding device is mounted. Automatic paper feeder detecting means for detecting this; first leading edge control means for controlling the leading edge position of the sheet when the automatic paper feeder detecting means does not detect the automatic paper feeder; And a second leading edge control unit for controlling a leading edge position of the sheet when the device detecting unit detects the automatic sheet feeding device. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying unit includes a sheet conveying roller that conveys the sheet and a registration roller that corrects the skew of the sheet. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first paper detection sensor is a paper feed sensor that also serves as a paper press. 4. The sheet detecting sensor according to claim 1, wherein the second sheet detecting sensor is a sheet discharging sensor provided downstream of the printing position in the sheet conveying direction to detect sheet discharging. The recording device according to any one of the above. 5. The automatic paper feeder detecting means detects the mounting of the automatic paper feeder by the first paper detection sensor when the automatic paper feeder is mounted, and controls the leading edge position of the paper. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control is performed by the second tip control means. 6. The first leading edge control means causes the manually fed paper sheet to be transported downstream in the paper transport direction by the transport means, and when the paper sheet is detected by the second paper detection sensor, The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the sheet is moved to a predetermined printing start position by reversely conveying the sheet to an upstream side in a sheet conveying direction. 7. The recording according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined printing start position is a position where the leading end of the sheet is a predetermined distance upstream of the second sheet detection sensor in a sheet conveying direction. apparatus. 8. The second leading edge control means, when the paper conveyed from the automatic paper feeding device becomes conveyable by the conveyance means, stops the paper conveyance by the automatic paper feeding device, 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after the conveyance of the sheet by the automatic sheet feeding apparatus is stopped, the sheet is conveyed to a predetermined printing start position by the conveyance unit. 9. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined printing start position is a leading edge position of the sheet at which a position at which printing of the sheet is started by the recording unit coincides with a position of the recording unit. The recording device according to claim 6 or 8. 10. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the second leading edge control unit controls the skew correction of the sheet by the registration roller before the sheet is conveyed to a predetermined printing start position by the conveying unit. Claim 2 to Claim 5
The recording device according to any one of the above. 11. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said recording means includes an ink jet head.