JP2000218880A - Apparatus for transferring recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording medium-transferring apparatus which can prevent deformation and quality change of roll papers, maintain a printing quality and eliminate wasteful consumption of papers. SOLUTION: The apparatus has a printing area medium-detecting sensor 26 for detecting that a roll paper is present in a printing area, with generating a signal, a standby state-detecting part 40 for generating a signal when printing is not executed to the roll paper, a leave time-measuring part 33 for measuring a time when the signal generated by the printing area medium-detecting sensor and the signal generated by the standby state-detecting part are simultaneously received, a memory part 51 for storing a time for which the roll paper can be left alone on the printing area, and a retreat control part 50a for retreating the roll paper when the time measured by the leave time-measuring part 33 becomes not shorter than the time stored in the memory part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a recording medium conveying device used mainly in an image forming apparatus such as a printer using roll paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are image forming apparatuses such as printers and plotters that use roll paper. When printing is completed in such an image forming apparatus, a cut operation is performed on the printed paper, and the printed paper is cut off and stored in a stacker or the like. The remaining roll paper side
After the initialization before printing is completed, the printing paper is set on the printing area as it is, and the apparatus is in a standby state in which printing can be performed at any time. Thus, the next printing operation can be started quickly.

[0003]

However, if the roll paper is kept on standby for a long time in a standby state in which nothing is printed, the portion of the roll paper that comes into contact with the outside air may be affected by extraneous light, and may be affected by ambient temperature and humidity. Due to the influence, it will be altered. In the part where the back tension is applied,
Elongation due to tension or cockling (bending of paper)
May occur. Such deterioration or deformation of the roll paper causes various adverse effects on print quality. For this reason, conventionally, when roll paper has been left for a long time, the leading end of the roll paper, which is easily affected by the outside air, has been cut by the printing initialization operation. However, cutting the roll paper on which nothing is printed in this way is a waste of paper.

[0004] The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and it is possible to prevent deformation and deterioration of a portion left in a printing area of a recording medium, to maintain the printing quality, and to degrade the quality of the recording medium. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium transport device that can eliminate wasteful paper consumption due to cutting of a cut portion.

[0005]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium conveying apparatus for conveying a recording medium, and detecting that the recording medium is positioned in a print area. Printing area medium detecting means for issuing a signal
A standby state detecting unit that emits a signal when a printing operation is not performed on the recording medium; and a time when a signal emitted by the print area medium detecting unit and a signal emitted by the standby state detecting unit are simultaneously received. Leaving time measuring means, a storing means for storing a remaining time of the recording medium on the print area, and when the time measured by the leaving time measuring means is equal to or longer than the remaining time stored in the storage means, And a retreat control means for retreating the recording medium to a retreat position by a transport means.

[0006] The apparatus further comprises temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the surrounding environment, and humidity detecting means for detecting the humidity of the surrounding environment, wherein the refuge control means includes at least one of the temperature detecting means and the humidity detecting means. Depending on the detection result,
It is desirable to change the time allowed for leaving.

[0007] The storage means may store a plurality of remaining time periods which are different for each type of recording medium, and include a selection means for selecting one of the plurality of remaining time periods. Is desirable.

It is preferable that the apparatus further comprises a temperature and humidity control means for monitoring at least one of temperature and humidity in the holding means for holding the recording medium and controlling the temperature or humidity in the holding means.

A power cut-off detecting means for detecting a power cut-off and generating a signal, wherein the retraction control means receives a signal from the power cut-off detecting means and a signal from the print area medium detecting means simultaneously; Preferably, the recording medium is evacuated to the escaping position by the transport means using a backup power supply.

Preferably, the retracted position is a position at which the recording medium can be automatically conveyed, and a position closest to the holding means in a recording medium conveyance path.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the recording medium transport device of the present invention is used in an ink jet recording device will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Structure of Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of the present ink jet recording apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the present ink jet recording apparatus. The inkjet recording apparatus includes a carriage 11 movably provided in a direction perpendicular to a recording medium conveyance direction, a carriage HP sensor 12 for detecting that the carriage is at a home position, and a platen for placing roll paper. 13, a roll paper 14 as a recording medium, a recording head 19 for discharging ink onto the roll paper to form an image on the roll paper, a carriage drive belt 20 for moving the carriage, and a paper mounted on the carriage. The apparatus includes a sensor 15, a transport roller 16 for transporting roll paper, an X motor 17 for driving the transport roller, a Y motor 18 for moving the carriage, and a roll paper holding unit 25 for holding roll paper.

The platen 13 has a roll paper 14 as a recording medium placed on an upper surface thereof. The roll paper 14 is recorded on the platen 13 by the recording head 19, is driven and transported by the transport roller 16, and moves on the platen 13.

A main rail (not shown) is provided above the platen 13 in parallel with the carriage drive belt 20. A carriage 11 is reciprocally movable via a carriage drive belt 20 so that the carriage 11 can be moved in parallel along the main rail.

A plurality of recording heads 19 for ejecting ink are mounted on the carriage 11. The carriage 11 includes a Y motor 18 and a carriage drive belt 20.
Accordingly, the recording head 19 operates according to the control of the recording control unit, and can reciprocate the mounted recording head 19 in parallel with the main rail. The paper sensor 15 mounted on the carriage 11 performs paper width detection, skew detection, and registration adjustment.

The sheet width detection is to detect the right and left ends of the sheet by moving the carriage while turning on the sheet irradiation lamp of the sheet sensor 15 when feeding the sheet. At this time, the output pulse of a linear encoder (not shown) from when the carriage exits the home position to when the end of the paper is detected is counted, and the paper width is determined from the average of the count values when moving forward and backward. I do.

In the skew detection, the skew of the sheet is detected by detecting the position of the right end of the sheet when the sheet is conveyed by a fixed amount with respect to the position of the right end of the sheet detected by the sheet width detection operation. is there. At this time, the position of the right end of the sheet is detected by counting the number of output pulses of the linear encoder from when the carriage exits the home position until the right end of the sheet is detected.

In the registration adjustment, when the cartridges are mounted on the carriage, the positions of the nozzles are displaced between the cartridges depending on the mounting condition, which causes a deviation in the landing position of the dot of a different color. It is a function to correct. The registration adjustment includes a vertical registration adjustment for correcting in the X-axis direction and a horizontal registration adjustment for correcting in the Y-direction.

The ink suction operation, the wiper operation, and the preliminary ejection operation of the recording head 19 are performed at a retracted position (where the carriage HP sensor 12 is installed) within the movable range of the carriage 11 and outside the image forming area. (Not shown).

The recording head 19 moves right and left along with the carriage 11 along the main rail. At this time, ink is ejected from the nozzles of the recording head 19 to form an image corresponding to the nozzle width (one band).

Next, the roll paper 14 is transported by the transport roller 16 by the nozzle width (one band), and an image is formed by the recording head. By repeating the operation of forming an image for each band as described above, an entire image is formed.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control unit for transporting roll paper of the ink jet recording apparatus. The control unit shown in FIG. 3 reads a control program from a ROM (not shown) and executes the control program, thereby controlling a CPU 50 for controlling the entire copying machine and a storage unit 51 for storing various data.
And a motor controller 32 for driving the X motor 17
A leaving time measuring unit 33 for measuring the time of the roll paper left in the printing area; and a power supply voltage detecting unit 34 for detecting that the power SW 35 has been turned off and generating a signal.
And analog-digital conversion of signals from a paper type / leaving time table 36 in which the remaining time is determined in advance for each type of roll paper, and a temperature sensor 23 and a humidity sensor 24 provided in the roll paper holding unit. Output A / D converter 3
8, a print area paper sensor 26 that detects a roll paper positioned in the print area and issues a signal, a standby state detection unit 40 that detects that printing by the recording head is not being performed and issues a signal, A leaving time setting unit 41 for setting a leaving time in advance, a leaving time selecting unit 42 for selecting various set leaving times, and an evacuation control using a backup power supply when the power is turned off. And a backup power supply controller 43. As the backup power supply, a commercial power supply may be used, or a backup power supply may be configured using a large capacitor. The CPU 50 has an evacuation control unit 50a. The retraction control unit 50a performs control to retreat the roll paper to the retraction position when the roll paper is left in the printing area for a predetermined period of time. Here, it is desirable that the retraction position is a position where the roll paper can be automatically conveyed, and a position closest to the roll paper holding unit in the roll paper conveyance path.

[Operation] First, the user sets the roll paper 14
Is inserted into the paper feed port, the roll paper detection sensor 22
N. Then, after about two seconds, the X motor 17 (FIG. 1) rotates and is transmitted to the transport roller 16 to feed the roll paper 14. The roll paper 14 fed into the plotter is conveyed and stopped until the leading end of the paper 14 protrudes from the paper discharge sensor 21 by about 300 mm. If a skew of the roll paper is detected in this conveyance, the fact is displayed. When the user re-sets the roll paper and corrects the skew, the roll paper 14 is conveyed backward to return the leading end of the paper to the platen, and then the paper width detection and the skew amount detection are performed again. Then, after confirming that there is no skew, the leading end of the sheet is stopped at the plot standby position (in this embodiment, the position of the sheet discharge sensor). If there is a print command from the CPU, printing is started.

However, if the roll paper is stopped at the plot standby position without receiving a print command from the CPU, the back tension is always maintained by a transport roller or the like at the plot standby position in order to keep the roll paper flat without ripples. Because of the running, the roll paper 14 is pulled and stretched over time, or cockling occurs. Further, the roll paper is deteriorated or stretched under the influence of temperature and humidity. In addition, discoloration may occur due to the influence of extraneous light.

In this embodiment, if the roll paper is set to the standby state without a print command, the print area paper sensor 26
As a result, a signal indicating that the roll paper is present in the printing area is output, and a signal indicating that the output device is in the standby state is output by the standby state detecting unit 40. Upon receiving both of these signals, the idle time measurement unit 33 starts a time counting operation. When the time measured by the idle time measuring unit 33 has reached the roll paper idle time set in advance and stored in the storage unit 51, the retraction control unit 50a sends the X motor 17 a reverse signal to the motor controller 32. The roll paper 14 is automatically retracted to the retracted position indicated by the arrow A in FIG. In the present embodiment, this position A
Is a position closest to the roll paper holding unit, where automatic paper feeding is possible.

Since the paper quality of the roll paper greatly changes depending on the temperature and humidity, the storage time is previously stored in the storage unit 51 so that the storage time can be set according to the temperature and humidity around the roll paper. It is remembered. Evacuation control unit 5
0a is a temperature sensor 2 for detecting the temperature around the roll paper.
3 and a humidity sensor 24 that detects humidity, changes in surroundings are detected, and the storage time is changed with reference to the storage unit so that the optimum storage time for the roll paper 14 is obtained.

Further, since roll paper has different properties depending on the type of paper, the permissible time for each type of paper is stored in advance in the paper type / permissible time table 36. When the user selects a paper type using the idle time selection unit 42 and starts printing, the escaping control unit 50a reads the idle time from the paper type / available time table 36 according to the user's selection, and rolls the roll paper. Control of evacuation.

A power supply voltage detector 34 for detecting power on / off when receiving a signal from the print area paper sensor 26 indicating that the roll paper is in the print area.
Detects that the power supply has been cut off by the user or for some reason and outputs a signal, the standby control unit 50a
Uses the backup power supply to automatically retract the roll paper 14 to the retract position of the roll paper.

[Effect] According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present embodiment, the time during which the roll paper positioned in the print area is left is detected, and if the predetermined time has passed, the roll paper is discharged. Moving to the retracted position, it is possible to prevent deterioration and deformation of the roll paper 14 due to the influence of outside air and back tension. Useless paper consumption can be eliminated.

[Other Embodiments] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the case where roll paper is used as the recording medium has been described, but the recording medium may be cut paper. Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the remaining time is changed according to the temperature and the humidity has been described. However, at least one of the temperature and the humidity of the roll paper holding unit 25 is monitored and controlled by a heater or a fan. Alternatively, by keeping the environment optimal for the paper, the remaining time may be fixed.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, according to the above configuration, when the recording medium is left on the print area, the back tension applied to the recording medium to prevent the recording medium from waving, the extraneous It is possible to prevent deterioration of the recording medium and deformation such as cockling, which are caused by the influence of ambient light such as light, humidity, and temperature, and to maintain good print quality at any time. Conventionally, due to these effects, when the roll paper is left for a long time, the leading end of the roll paper must be cut. However, the present invention can eliminate wasteful paper consumption.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control unit for transporting roll paper.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 carriage 12 carriage HP sensor 13 platen 14 roll paper 15 paper sensor 16 transport roller 17 X motor 18 Y motor 19 recording head 20 carriage drive belt 21 discharge sensor 22 roll paper detection sensor 23 temperature sensor 24 humidity sensor 25 roll paper holding unit 26 Print area paper sensor 33 Leaving time measuring unit 34 Power supply voltage detecting unit 36 Paper type / leaving time table 41 Leaving time setting unit 42 Leaving time selecting unit 43 Backup power controller 50 CPU 51 Storage unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A transporting means for transporting a recording medium, a printing area medium detecting means for detecting that the recording medium is positioned in a printing area and issuing a signal, and performing a printing operation on the recording medium. A standby state detecting unit that emits a signal when not in operation, a waiting time measuring unit that measures a time when a signal emitted by the print area medium detecting unit and a signal emitted by the standby state detecting unit are simultaneously received, and a print area A storage unit for storing the remaining time of the recording medium, and a refuge position of the recording medium by the transport unit when the time measured by the remaining time measuring unit becomes equal to or longer than the remaining time stored in the storage unit. And a retraction control means for retreating the recording medium. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a temperature detecting unit configured to detect a temperature of the surrounding environment; and a humidity detecting unit configured to detect a humidity of the surrounding environment, wherein the evacuation control unit includes at least one of the temperature detecting unit and the humidity detecting unit. 2. The recording medium transport device according to claim 1, wherein the remaining time is changed according to a detection result. 3. The storage means stores a plurality of possible leaving times different for each type of recording medium, and a selecting means for selecting one leaving time from the plurality of leaving possible times. The recording medium transport device according to claim 1, further comprising: 4. A temperature and humidity control means for monitoring at least one of temperature and humidity in the holding means for holding the recording medium and controlling the temperature or humidity in the holding means. 4. The recording medium transport device according to 1, 2, or 3. 5. A power cutoff detecting means for detecting a cutoff of a power supply and generating a signal, wherein said retraction control means receives a signal from said power cutoff detecting means and a signal from said print area medium detecting means. 5. The recording medium transport device according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is evacuated to the standby position by the transport unit. 6. The storage position according to claim 1, wherein the retreat position is a position where the recording medium can be automatically conveyed, and is a position closest to the holding unit in a recording medium conveyance path. 6. The recording medium transport device according to 2, 3, 4, or 5. 7. A transporting means for transporting a recording medium, a printing area medium detecting means for detecting that the recording medium is positioned in a printing area and issuing a signal, and detecting a signal to shut off a power supply to output a signal. Power cut-off detecting means, and a retract control means for retracting the recording medium to a retract position by the transport means when receiving a signal from the power cut-off detecting means and a signal from the print area medium detecting means. A recording medium transport device, comprising: