JP2000206852A - Printer and program recording medium for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decide a printing start position by using the output of a toner mark sensor for adjusting printing density, to simplify the structure of a printer without the addition of parts, and to reduce the cost by miniaturizing the printer. SOLUTION: The toner mark sensor 22 for reading the density of a printed mark is fixed so as to be placed opposite to the toner mark printing position as the reference of a printing start position, then, when a position adjusting switch 84 is depressed, the toner mark is printed while moving at a fixed interval in a vertical direction and moving step by step in a horizontal direction, and the printer is provided with a printing start position control part 81 for calculating and deciding the printing start position based on a time read by the toner mark sensor 22 and the outputted value of the sensor 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a program recording medium thereof, and more particularly to a printing apparatus and a program recording medium for determining a printing start position by using a toner mark for adjusting print density.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a copying machine or a printing apparatus requiring a large amount and high speed printing output, a printing apparatus using an electrophotographic system is widely used. In such an electrophotographic printing apparatus, it is common to have a configuration in which the print image density is controlled to always maintain a constant density.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an example of a conventional printing apparatus.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the details. Referring to FIG. 1, an image of toner 12 formed on a photosensitive drum 11 by an electrophotographic process is transferred by an electrophotographic unit 4 while a sheet 1 set in a paper feed unit 2 is conveyed by a tractor unit 3, and a fixing unit 5 is provided.
To form a permanent image on paper. After this step, the sheets 1 are sent to the stacker 6 and stacked while being folded and aligned.

In the electrophotographic process in the electrophotographic section 4,
The surface of the rotating photosensitive drum 11 is uniformly charged by the charger 13 and is exposed to laser light 15 emitted from the laser unit 14 to form a latent image such as a character on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. After that, the photosensitive drum 11 is
The toner 12 is put on the latent image portion on the surface of. Photosensitive drum 11
The toner 12 that has become a visible image is transferred onto the sheet 1 by a transfer machine 17 provided in the tractor 3. The residual toner that has not been completely transferred is scraped off and cleaned by the cleaning blade 18, and the potential of the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 is reduced to zero by the erase lamp 19 to drop it. This process is repeated to form an image.

[0005] In the tractor 3, the paper 1 on which
Is set on the pin tractor 21 adjusted to the same interval as the width of the sheet, and the toner 12 that has become a visible image on the sheet 1 in the electrophotographic section 4 is sent to the fixing section 5. Further, the tractor 3 is provided with a toner mark sensor 22 for reading the density of a toner mark printed for each page in the vicinity of a feed hole corresponding to a non-printable area of the paper 1. Supplies the toner 12 into the developing unit 16 of the electrophotographic unit 4.

In the fixing section 5, a buffer arm 33 is provided at the entrance.
To remove the slack of the paper 1. The image of the toner 12 on the sheet 1 is emitted and heated by the flash lamp 31 to be fixed.

In the stacker 6, the paper 1 discharged from the fixing unit 5 is fed onto a stacker table 32, and is folded and stacked according to the folding perforation of the paper.

The printing position of the image printed on the paper 1 is
It is determined by the timing of scanning (horizontal direction) and sub-scanning (vertical direction) for exposing the photosensitive drum 1 with the laser light 15 of the laser unit 14. The vertical print start position Y (for example, 1/2 inch from the perforation) is the set value a and the correction value M, and the horizontal print start position X (for example, 1/4 inch from the sprocket hole) is the set value b and the correction value. Determined by D. The correction values M and D are set by the memory switches 71, 72, 73, 74 in the control unit 7.

When adjusting the printing start position, the maintenance person actually measures the position of the toner mark printed on the paper 1 using a scale. When the actually measured printing position Yj in the vertical direction is shorter than the reference position Y, the exposure timing in the laser sub-scanning direction is early, so that the memory switches 71 (coarse adjustment) and 72 (fine adjustment) are switched to change the direction to be slower. If the measured horizontal printing position Xj is longer than the reference position X, the memory switches 73 (coarse adjustment) and 74 (fine adjustment) are switched and changed so that the exposure timing in the laser scanning direction is advanced. By repeating this operation, the printing start position is set to Yj = Y, Xj
= X. There is also a method of adjusting while inputting a numerical value from the panel.

As described above, in the conventional printing apparatus, in order to print the print data at the determined printing start position, it is necessary to determine the printing start position by the control unit in the printing apparatus. The maintenance worker was making adjustments while repeatedly switching memory switches while viewing the printed print data. For this reason, the number of man-hours required for replacement of related parts or for maintenance such as periodic maintenance has increased.

As a countermeasure against such a problem, a mark indicating a printing reference is printed on a sheet of paper, and printing is performed based on the mark detecting means and the mark position detected by the detecting means. There has been proposed a method for simplifying the adjustment of the image.

[0012]

The conventional printing apparatus as described above has the following problems.

The first problem is that when the related parts are exchanged, it is necessary to adjust the mounting position of the parts, which requires an adjustment man-hour.

[0014] The second problem is that it is necessary to provide a detecting means for reading a mark printed on a sheet, which increases the component configuration, increases the size of the apparatus, and increases the cost of the sheet.

A third problem is that when there is no mark on the medium or when there is a different mark, a printing error or a printing position defect occurs. Such a means is suitable for a printing apparatus using cut paper as a medium, and is not suitable for a printing apparatus using continuous paper as a medium.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks and to determine the printing start position by using the output of a toner mark sensor for adjusting the printing density, thereby simplifying the structure without adding any parts. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus which can be reduced in size and apparatus cost.

[0017]

According to the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus for printing information on continuous paper provided with a control means for detecting a toner mark and adjusting a print density. An output of a sensor for detecting the toner mark is provided. A signal is shared with the control means to determine a printing start position on the continuous paper.

Further, the printing apparatus of the present invention is provided with control means for detecting a toner mark and adjusting a print density. In a printing apparatus for printing information on continuous paper, an output signal of a sensor for detecting the toner mark is analyzed. The printing apparatus includes a control unit that determines a print start position on the continuous paper.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the present invention, the control unit detects a position on a continuous sheet of a print start position adjustment pattern sent by a sensor for detecting a toner mark,
A print start position control unit for adjusting a print start position of information is provided.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the present invention, the sensor is fixed at a position opposite to a toner mark to be printed at a position serving as a reference of a printing start position, and is moved at regular intervals in the vertical direction and one step in the horizontal direction. The correction value is calculated in accordance with the time and output value of the sensor for reading the toner mark of the print start position adjustment pattern printed while determining the position, and the print start position of the information is determined based on the correction value.

In the printing apparatus of the present invention, the vertical printing position of the first line from the perforation of the print start position adjustment pattern printed on the continuous paper is defined as a, and the sensor is activated after the continuous paper starts. Assuming that a correction value calculated according to the time until the first line is read is M, a + M is the printing start position in the vertical direction.

Further, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, the first print position in the horizontal direction of the first line of the print start position adjustment pattern from the left end of the continuous paper on which the print start position adjustment pattern is printed is defined as b, When the maximum value obtained by sequentially reading the adjustment pattern and comparing the output value with the output value read immediately before is the correction value D, b + D is set as the horizontal printing start position.

In a printing apparatus for printing information on continuous paper, the program recording medium of the printing apparatus according to the present invention includes control means for detecting a toner mark and adjusting a print density. The sensor reads the toner mark of the print start position adjustment pattern printed while moving at regular intervals in the vertical direction and one step in the horizontal direction, and the time and output of the sensor. A correction value is calculated according to the value, and a printing start position of the information is determined based on the correction value.

Further, in the program recording medium of the printing apparatus of the present invention, the vertical printing position of the first line from the perforation of the print start position adjustment pattern printed on the continuous paper is a, and the continuous paper is started. When M is a correction value calculated according to the time from when the sensor reads the first line, a + M is set as the print start position in the vertical direction.

Further, in the program recording medium of the printing apparatus according to the present invention, the first print position in the horizontal direction of the first line of the print start position adjustment pattern from the left end of the continuous paper on which the print start position adjustment pattern is printed is b, When the maximum value obtained by sequentially reading the print start position adjustment pattern and comparing the output value with the output value read immediately before is the correction value D, b + D is set as the horizontal print start position. I do.

[0026]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes paper, 3 denotes a tractor unit, 8 denotes a control unit, 11 denotes a photosensitive drum, 21 denotes a pin tractor, 22 denotes a toner mark sensor, 27 denotes a guide cover, 81 denotes a print start position control unit, and 82 denotes printing. A density controller 83 is an operator panel, and 84 is a position adjust switch.

The tractor unit 3 has a toner mark sensor 22 for reading the density of a printed mark, and has a print density control unit 82 for reading the sensor output to monitor and stably control the image density. The toner mark sensor 22 is fixed at a position opposite to a toner mark to be printed at a position serving as a reference of a printing start position, and when the position adjustment switch 84 is pressed, the toner marks are vertically spaced at regular intervals and horizontally one step at a time. Printed while moving. The time and output value read by the toner mark sensor 22 are sent to the print start position control section 81, and the print start position is calculated, selected and determined.

The tractor unit 3 has a pin tractor 21 vertically.
And the upper and lower pins are adjusted to the same phase as the feed hole of the paper 1. The paper 1 is put on a pin tractor 21. A guide cover 27 is attached to the upper part of the four pin tractors 21 for holding the paper 1 so as not to come off the pins.

A toner mark sensor 22 is attached to the guide cover 27 after the transfer on the front side of the apparatus. The toner mark sensor 22 is fixed so that the position cannot be adjusted to a position where the maximum output is obtained when the toner mark is printed at the reference position.

The toner mark sensor 22 is used to read the density of the toner mark printed on the paper 1 during printing, and the print density control unit 82 controls the image density from the output. Further, the toner mark sensor 22 outputs an output to the print start position control unit 81 when adjusting the print start position.

The paper 1 is transferred to the pin tractor 21 of the tractor section 3.
, And the sheet 1 is sent to the stacker. The printing start position adjustment is automatically performed when the position adjustment switch 84 on the operator panel 83 is pressed.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print start position control unit 81, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a change in the output of the toner mark sensor 22. The operation of the above printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

When the position adjustment switch 84 is pressed, the printing operation is started and the reading of the toner mark sensor 22 is also started. Printing start position control unit 81
Clears the values in the vertical direction M and the horizontal direction D, which are the correction values of the print start position, to 0, and prints the print start position adjustment pattern.

In the print start position adjustment pattern, the toner marks are printed at regular intervals (for example, every 3 inches) in the vertical direction, and in the horizontal direction, a band of the same width is printed from the leftmost end of the first printable line to the toner mark. I do. This is to ensure that the first line is detected by the toner mark sensor 22. Subsequently, after the second line, several lines are printed while shifting one step to the right. (For example, 3DOT or 0.2 mm each, 20
line). As a result, the sensor output is gradually increased and then decreased, and the MAX value of the output can be obtained. When all the marks have passed the toner mark sensor 22, the printing operation stops.

When the adjustment pattern passes through the toner mark sensor 22, the read value is output to the print start position control unit 81 of the control unit 8, and the print start position control unit 8
1 calculates, selects and stores a correction value (M, D) of the printing start position from the input value. FIG. 3 is a graph plotting values detected by the toner mark sensor 22 as an example at this time.
Shown in According to this example, the MAX of the output of the toner mark sensor 22 is at the position of 9 to 12 steps.

Next, the procedure for determining the correction values M and D will be described.

First, the print start position control unit 81 clears the values in the vertical direction M and the horizontal direction D, which are the correction values of the print start position, to 0, and prints a print start position adjustment pattern. At this time, the printing position of the first line is Yj = a in the vertical direction and Xj = b in the horizontal direction.

The toner mark sensor 22 outputs a sensor output indicating the density of the toner mark on each line to a print start position control unit 81.
To enter. Then, the time t when the toner mark sensor 22 reads the first line after the start of the sheet 1 is measured. The difference between the measured t and the reference set value T is obtained and stored as a correction value M. Thereafter, printing is started at Y = a + M. The reference set value T is the print start position (perforation)
Is the time calculated from the printing speed by adding the dimension from the toner mark sensor 22 to 1/2 inch of the toner mark reference position (reference position Y).

If it is assumed that the print start position adjustment pattern is printed in 20 lines while being shifted in the horizontal direction by d every 3 inches, it is determined that the first line is input when the first sensor output value is input. n = 1, and the output value Vn at that time is set to 0 and written to Vmax. Then, when a 3-inch sheet is fed or the next output is obtained, n = 2, 3, 4,..., The sensor output Vn at that time is read, and Vn is set to Vma.
If it is larger than x, Vn = Vmax, and D
= (N-1) d. After the input of the sensor output up to the 20th line is completed, the D value at the time of Vmax is stored. Since then X
= B + D starts printing.

The operation of the print start position control section 81 is realized by executing a program stored in a storage medium (not shown) such as a ROM.
Further, the above program can be incorporated as a part of a control program of the printing apparatus.

[0042]

As described above in detail, the printing apparatus of the present invention uses a toner mark sensor for printing a toner mark and reading the density to control the image density when adjusting the printing start position. Since the mark is moved at regular intervals in the vertical direction and moved by one step in the horizontal direction, the adjustment pattern to be printed and the correction value of the print start position are automatically determined from the pattern, so no mark detection means is added. In addition, it is possible to obtain an effect that an inexpensive sheet can be used and the number of adjustment steps can be reduced without increasing the apparatus size and the apparatus cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a print start position control unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a change in the output of a toner mark sensor.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a conventional printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing details of a conventional printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 paper 3 tractor unit 8 control unit 11 photosensitive drum 22 toner mark sensor 81 print start position control unit 82 print density control unit

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus for printing information on continuous paper comprising a control means for detecting a toner mark and adjusting a print density, wherein an output signal of a sensor for detecting the toner mark is shared with the control means, and A printing apparatus for determining a printing start position on a sheet. 2. A printing apparatus comprising a control means for detecting a toner mark and adjusting a print density and printing information on continuous paper, analyzing an output signal of a sensor for detecting the toner mark and starting printing on the continuous paper. A printing device comprising a control unit for determining a position. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit detects a position on a continuous sheet of a print start position adjustment pattern sent by a sensor for detecting a toner mark,
A printing apparatus comprising a printing start position control unit for adjusting a printing start position of information. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is fixed at a position opposite to a toner mark to be printed at a position serving as a reference of a printing start position, and has a constant vertical and horizontal width. Calculating a correction value in accordance with a time and an output value of the sensor for reading the toner mark of the print start position adjustment pattern printed while moving the direction by one step, and determining a print start position of information based on the correction value; A printing device characterized by the above-mentioned. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the printing position in the vertical direction of the first line from the perforation of the printing start position adjustment pattern printed on the continuous paper is a, and the continuous paper is started. A printing apparatus characterized in that, when M is a correction value calculated according to the time from when the sensor reads the first line, a + M is a vertical printing start position. 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first printing position in the horizontal direction of the first line of the printing start position adjustment pattern from the left end of the continuous paper on which the printing start position adjustment pattern is printed is b. When the maximum value obtained by sequentially reading the print start position adjustment pattern and comparing the output value with the output value read immediately before is the correction value D, b + D is defined as the horizontal print start position. Characteristic printing device. 7. In a printing apparatus having control means for detecting a toner mark and adjusting a print density to print information on continuous paper, the sensor is opposed to a toner mark printed at a reference position of a printing start position. The correction value is calculated in accordance with the time and output value at which the sensor reads the toner mark of the print start position adjustment pattern printed while being fixed at a fixed position in the vertical direction and moving one step at a time in the horizontal direction. A program recording medium for a printing apparatus, characterized in that a printing start position of information is determined based on the information. 8. The program recording medium for a printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the vertical printing position of the first line from the perforation of the print start position adjustment pattern printed on the continuous paper is a, and the continuous paper is started. A program recording medium for a printing apparatus, wherein a + M is a vertical printing start position, where M is a correction value calculated according to the time from when the sensor reads the first line. 9. A program recording medium for a printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the first print position in the horizontal direction of the first line of the print start position adjustment pattern from the left end of the continuous paper on which the print start position adjustment pattern is printed. Let b be a printing start position in the horizontal direction, where the maximum value obtained by sequentially reading the printing start position adjustment pattern and comparing the output value with the output value read immediately before is a correction value D. A program recording medium for a printing apparatus, comprising: