JP2000283852A - Colorimetric device and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the colorimetric device which efficiently measures the colors of color patches and the printer. SOLUTION: Rectangular color patches C which have relatively long sides along the width are printed in matrix on a sample medium as shown in (A). The colorimetric device measures the colors of the color patches C while moving a head along the width of the sample medium M and it takes a certain time to measure the colors of the color patches C. For the purpose, the sample medium M has the color patches C set to a long-side length longer than the length obtained by multiplying the moving speed of the head by the time needed for the color measurement by the head. Consequently, when color measurement start coordinates are set to 10, 110, and 210 for the coordinates 0, 100, 200, and 300 of the boundaries of the respective color patches C, the colors of the color patches C can be measured without stopping the head.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a colorimeter for individually measuring a plurality of color patches printed on a sample medium by the printer for color matching of the printer, and the color patch. The present invention relates to a printing device that prints a document.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, color matching of a printing apparatus such as a color printer is performed by the following operation.
First, a plurality of color patches each having a different color are printed on a sample medium such as a film or a recording paper by a printing apparatus to be color-matched. Subsequently, the probe of the general-purpose colorimeter is brought into close contact with the color patches of each color, and colorimetry is performed one by one while blocking external light by the close contact. By analyzing the color data of each color patch collected in this way, the characteristics of the printing device can be determined, and what kind of command should be sent to the printing device in order to perform printing with a desired color. I understand.

[0003]

However, the color measurement of such color patches must be performed manually for each color, and in some cases, more than 750 color patches are measured for color matching. Necessity arises. For this reason, conventionally, an enormous amount of time was required for the operation of color matching of the printing apparatus. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to efficiently measure the colors of a plurality of color patches. In particular,
The invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4 provides a colorimetric device capable of performing such colorimetry, and the invention according to claim 5 or 6 describes the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4 The purpose of the present invention is to provide a printing device for printing a color patch measured by a color measuring device.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to a method for adjusting a color of a printing apparatus by printing a plurality of images printed on a sample medium by the printing apparatus. A colorimeter for individually measuring the color patches of the head, a head for measuring the color patches arranged in a non-contact manner in a non-contact manner, a head moving means for moving the head in the width direction of the sample medium, Each time the head moving means moves the head once in the width direction, a sample medium conveying means for conveying the sample medium in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the head; and While on the move,
At least a time required for colorimetry of the head; when the head faces the same color patch, start coordinate storage means for storing coordinates at which colorimetry for the color patch is to be started; and When the head is moved to the coordinates stored in the storage means,
A colorimetric start means for causing the head to start colorimetric without stopping the movement of the head.

According to the present invention, the head moving means moves the head in the width direction of the sample medium, and the sample medium conveying means moves the head once in the width direction by the head moving means. The sample medium is transported in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the head.
For this reason, the relative position between the head and the sample medium can be two-dimensionally changed by the head moving means and the sample medium transport means, and the head can be arranged to face each color patch.

In addition, since the head measures the color of the color patches arranged opposite to each other in a non-contact manner, it is not necessary to bring the head into and out of contact with the sample medium when changing the relative position between the head and the sample medium. Therefore, in the present invention, when the head is facing the same color patch at least during the time required for colorimetry of the head during the movement of the head by the head moving means, the colorimetry is performed without stopping the head as follows. Is going. That is, the coordinates at which the colorimetry for the color patch is to be started are stored in the start coordinate storage means, and when the head moving means moves the head to the coordinates stored in the start coordinate storage means, the colorimetry start means This causes the head to start colorimetry without stopping the movement of the head.

For this reason, the color patches arranged in the moving direction can be automatically measured while the head is moved by the head moving means, and the sample medium is conveyed every time the head is moved. The color patches arranged two-dimensionally (for example, in a matrix) can be automatically and extremely efficiently measured. Therefore, in the present invention, the colorimetry of a plurality of color patches can be performed extremely efficiently.

Further, according to the present invention, since the colorimetry is performed by transporting the sample medium, the apparatus can be made more compact as compared with the case where a so-called XY plotter type mechanism for moving the head two-dimensionally is employed. There is also an effect that it is possible to make The sample medium transport means may transport the sample medium each time the head moving means reciprocates the head once, or may transport the sample medium each time the head moves one way. In addition, the transport of the sample media by the sample media transport unit and the movement of the head by the head moving unit may be performed simultaneously.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, during the movement of the head by the head moving means, at least a time required for the colorimetry of the head is used. The carrying amount of the sample media carrying means is set so that the facing state is repeated a plurality of times for the same color patch, and the colorimetry by the head is repeated a plurality of times for the same color patch. An averaging means for averaging each colorimetric data when executed is further provided.

In the present invention, during the movement of the head by the head moving means, the state in which the head faces the same color patch is repeated a plurality of times for the same color patch, at least during the time required for color measurement of the head. The transport amount of the sample media transport unit is set. For this reason,
The operation of measuring the color patches during the movement of the head by the head moving means can be repeatedly executed a plurality of times for the same color patch. Then, when such colorimetry is performed, the averaging means averages each colorimetric data. Therefore, the colorimetric data averaged by the averaging means has higher reliability than colorimetric data obtained by performing colorimetry only once. Therefore, in the present invention,
In addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, there is an effect that colorimetric data having higher reliability can be obtained.

[0011] The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In addition to the configuration described above, each time the head moving unit moves the head one way in the width direction of the sample medium,
The sample medium transport means transports the sample medium, and the start coordinate storage means individually stores the coordinates at which the colorimetry is to be started for the forward path and the return path of the head, and the colorimetric start means. However, when the head moving means moves the head to the coordinates stored in the start coordinate storage means, both on the outward path and on the return path, the colorimetry by the head without stopping the movement of the head Is started.

In the present invention, each time the head moving means moves the head one way in the width direction of the sample medium, the sample medium conveying means conveys the sample medium. Therefore, the head moves at different positions on the sample medium between the forward path and the return path of the head. Therefore, in the present invention, the start coordinate storage means stores the coordinates at which the colorimetry is to be started individually for the forward path and the return path of the head. Then, the colorimetric start means, when the head moving means has moved the head to the coordinates stored in the starting coordinate storage means, both in the forward path and in the backward path, performs measurement by the head without stopping the movement of the head. Start the color.

For this reason, in each of the forward and backward paths of the head, the color patches arranged in the moving direction can be automatically measured while the head is moving as described above. Therefore, according to the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first and second aspects of the present invention, an effect is obtained that the colorimetry of a plurality of color patches can be performed more efficiently.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration according to any one of the first to third aspects, the head is arranged to face the head even while the sample medium is being conveyed by the sample medium conveying means. The color patches are colorimetrically measured. According to the present invention, even while the sample medium is being conveyed by the sample medium conveying means, the head measures the color patches arranged opposite to the head. Therefore, the head can measure more color patches in the same time. Therefore, in the present invention, in addition to the effect of the invention described in any one of the first to third aspects, there is an effect that the colorimetry of a plurality of color patches can be performed more efficiently.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a color patch printing means for printing a plurality of color patches on the sample medium for color matching by the color measuring device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects. A printing apparatus, wherein the color patch printing means sets a longer side longer than a length obtained by multiplying a moving speed of the head by the head moving means by a time required for colorimetry of the head in a width direction of the sample medium. The rectangular color patches are printed in a matrix.

In the present invention, the color patch printing means prints a plurality of rectangular color patches arranged in a matrix on a sample medium. In addition, each color patch has a longer side in the width direction of the sample medium longer than the length obtained by multiplying the moving speed of the head by the head moving means by the time required for colorimetry of the head.
Therefore, when the head moving means moves the head over the printed color patch, the head faces the same color patch for at least the time required for color measurement of the head.

Therefore, when a color patch is printed on a sample medium by the printing apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable to store the coordinates by the start coordinate storage means and start the color measurement by the color measurement start means for the color patch. Can be implemented. Therefore, if a color patch is printed according to the present invention, the efficiency of the color measurement by the color measurement device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 can be extremely excellently achieved.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the fifth aspect, the color patch printing means includes a portion facing the head when the sample medium is conveyed by the sample medium conveying means. A continuous color patch is printed in the transport direction of the sample medium.

In the present invention, the color patch printing means prints a continuous color patch in the sample medium transport direction on a portion facing the head while the sample medium transport means transports the sample medium. Since the color patches printed in this way are continuous in the transport direction of the sample media, colorimetry during transport of the sample media according to the fourth aspect of the invention can be performed extremely well.

Therefore, according to the present invention, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 5, there is an effect that the color measurement device described in claim 4 can achieve the color measurement more efficiently. Further, such a color patch does not need to be so long in the moving direction of the head, that is, in the width direction because the color measurement is performed during the transport of the sample medium. For this reason, in the present invention, the color patch can be shorter in the width direction than the other color patches. In this case, more color patches can be printed on the same area on the sample medium, and the required area of the sample medium can be more effectively saved.

[0021]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a configuration of a colorimetric device 1 to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, in the colorimetric device 1, a paper feed tray 5 for stacking and holding sample media M is provided on one side surface (hereinafter, also referred to as a rear side) of a housing 3 constituting a main body. . Further, a platen 9 and a head 11 described below are provided inside the housing 3 with a transport path of the sample medium M defined by the guide 7 interposed therebetween.

FIG. 2A is an enlarged sectional view of the head 11, and FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along line AA. FIG.
As shown in (B), the head 11 has the optical sensor 13 at the center.
, Around which six LEDs 15 are arranged. As shown in FIG. 2A, the six LEDs 15 are arranged so that when the emitted light is reflected by the sample medium M guided by the guide 7, the light is favorably focused on the optical sensor 13. In addition, light having a wavelength of 400 nm to 700 nm can be favorably measured with emission spectra that are different in time. In addition, wavelength 4
The number of the LEDs 15 need not be six as long as the light of 00 nm to 700 nm can be measured favorably.

The casing 17 of the head 11 has a relatively small circular opening 17a in front of the optical sensor 13, and the opening 17a is used to transmit the light emitted from the LED 15 and the light emitted from the LED 15. The reflected light from the sample medium M passes through. Since the opening 17a is sufficiently small, as shown in FIG.
Media M that can reach the optical sensor 13 through the
The upper diameter (minimum colorimetric patch diameter) α is also sufficiently small. In addition, the diameter (minimum diameter) β on the sample medium M to which the light from the LED 15 can reach via the opening 17a is sufficiently small. If the color patch C disposed opposite the head 11 includes at least the circle having the diameter α, the color measurement of the color patch C can be performed well. If the adjacent color patch C is at least outside the circle of the diameter β,
So-called crosstalk in which the light from the color patch C affects the color measurement can be prevented. Therefore, head 1
In No. 1, good colorimetry can be performed without contact even when the color patch C is relatively opposed to the end.

Returning to FIG. 1, the casing 1 of the head 11
A recess 17b is formed on the side surface of 7. Head 11
The detachable roller 23 urged by the spring 21 is detachably mounted and fixed to the carriage 25 by engaging with the recess 17b. The carriage 25 is guided by guides 27 and 29, and has a rear portion fixed to an endless belt 31. The carriage 25 is movable in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. When the head 11 is used by being mounted on the carriage 25 as described above, the cover 33 is mounted on the upper surface thereof.
At the center of the upper surface of the casing 17, a detachable screw portion 17c formed of a female screw is formed. 11 is attached.

The platen 9 is formed in a cylindrical shape extending along the movement path of the head 11 and has a central axis 9.
It is configured to be rotatable around a. Platen 9
Is configured to be fixable at a rotation position of every 90 ° by engagement of a notch 35 formed at every 90 ° with a leaf spring 37 fixed to the bottom surface of the housing 3.

As shown in FIG. 4, the four supporting portions of the platen 9 which support the sample medium M from behind at each of the above rotational positions have color panels 41, 42, 43 on three of them. It is mounted, and a through hole 45 is formed in the remaining one part. A light source 49 is disposed behind the through hole 45 via a lens 47. Furthermore, as the color panels 41 to 43, panels of achromatic color or different colors are mounted as desired.

For this reason, by rotating the platen 9 and fixing the platen 9 at a position where the notch 35 and the leaf spring 37 are engaged, the color of the supporting portion for supporting the sample medium M with respect to the head 11 is changed. , An achromatic color, a color, a transmission light source, and the like. That is, a printed matter on which an image is printed by a printing device such as a color printer may be attached to various structures such as a signboard, or a transmitted light source may be provided behind the printed material to use the transmitted light. In addition, the color of the structure to which the printed matter is attached is also various, and the appearance of the color differs depending on what color (achromatic color, including a transmission light source) is behind the printed matter. For this reason, it is desirable that the color matching of the printing apparatus be performed in accordance with the usage of the printed matter. Therefore, in the colorimetric device 1, the color of the support portion can be variously switched between an achromatic color, a color, and a transmissive light source, so that more suitable color matching according to the use condition of the printed material is enabled. It is. Note that such rotation of the platen 9 is manually performed by inserting a hand through a hole 3a (see FIG. 1) formed on the bottom surface of the housing 3.

Next, as shown in FIG.
Is a support plate 53 urged upward by a spring 51 and supporting the sample medium M on the upper surface, and a feed roller 55 for feeding the sample media M supported by the support plate 53 in order from the top one. And The paper feed roller 55 includes an arc portion 55 a formed in an arc shape in cross section,
This is a so-called well-known half-moon roller having a cutout portion 55b cut out in a plane. The paper feed roller 55 rotates in the direction of arrow A while bringing the arc portion 55a into contact with the sample medium M on the support plate 53, so that the sample medium M is transferred to a pair of transport rollers 61 provided in the housing 3. , 63, and when the notch 55b faces the sample medium M, no force is exerted on the sample medium M. The conveying rollers 61 and 63 are provided on the upstream side of the head 11 with the guide 7 interposed therebetween, and the discharge rollers 65 and 67 are provided on the downstream side of the head 11 with the guide 7.
Are provided.

The sheet feeding roller 55, the conveying rollers 61 and 63,
The paper discharge rollers 65 and 67 are driven by the transport motor 71 (see FIG. 6) as follows. Transport roller 61,
1 and the discharge rollers 65 and 67 are rotatable in the directions indicated by arrows B and C in FIG. On the other hand, the paper feed roller 55 is connected to the transport motor 71 via a one-way clutch (not shown), and the transport rollers 61 and 63 and the paper discharge roller 65,
Only when rotating 67 in the direction of arrow C, it rotates in the direction of arrow A.

For this reason, first, the transport motor 71 is rotated forward, and the transport rollers 61 and 63 and the discharge rollers 65 and 67 are rotated.
Is rotated in the direction of arrow C, and the paper feed roller 55 is rotated in the direction of arrow A. Then, the sample media M stacked and held on the uppermost portion of the paper feed tray 5 is conveyed by the paper feed roller 55 and supplied into the housing 3 from the paper feed port 3 b of the housing 3. Subsequently, the leading end of the sample medium M is locked by the transport rollers 61 and 63 rotating in the direction of arrow C, and skew correction (skew correction) is performed by bending in the thickness direction.

After the notch 55b of the paper feed roller 55 is opposed to the sample medium M, when the transport motor 71 is rotated in the reverse direction, the paper feed roller 55 is stopped as it is, and no force is exerted on the sample medium M. Subsequent sample media M will not be supplied. On the other hand, the transport rollers 61,
The sample medium 63 is conveyed through the facing portion of the head 11 by rotating in the direction of arrow B.
7, the paper is discharged out of the housing 3 through the paper discharge port 3c of the housing 3.

The paper feed port 3b and the paper discharge port 3c of the housing 3
Is provided with an external light blocking mechanism as shown in FIG. 5 so as to prevent external light from entering the inside of the housing 3. 5A, 5B, and 5C show different forms of the external light blocking mechanism, respectively. However, according to the form of the sample medium M in which the colorimetric device 1 is used, etc.
An appropriate form of external light blocking mechanism can be employed. Further, such a mechanism is not particularly provided in the hole 3a, but since the hole 3a is usually disposed on a desk or the like in a prone state, even if this kind of mechanism is not provided, the hole 3a is not provided. Light can be prevented from entering.

In the external light blocking mechanism shown in FIG.
Is subjected to an anti-reflection process over a predetermined length L so that light P1, P2, etc., which has entered the paper feed port 3b or the paper discharge port 3c from all directions is absorbed while passing through the length L. It is composed. In the external light blocking mechanism shown in FIG. 5B, a light-shielding brush 7 is provided on the inner surface of the guide 7 to prevent the invasion of light from the outside while permitting the transport of the sample medium M.
3 are planted. Further, in the external light blocking mechanism shown in FIG. 5C, a light blocking roller 75 for preventing intrusion of light from the outside is provided.
Is rotatably pressed against the sample medium M by a spring 77. In the colorimetric device 1, such a configuration prevents light from the outside from entering the housing 3.

As shown in FIG. 6, the colorimeter 1 includes a carriage motor as a head moving means for moving the carriage 25 via the belt 31 in addition to the head 11 and the conveying motor 71 as the sample medium conveying means. 8
1, a paper sensor 83 for detecting the presence or absence of the sample medium M in the paper feed tray 5, an operation panel 85 for performing various settings, and a buzzer 87 for generating an alarm or the like. These components are connected to the electronic control circuit 90 and are controlled as follows. The electronic control circuit 90 is constituted by a well-known microcomputer having a CPU 91, a ROM 92, and a RAM 93 as main components. When the start of color measurement is instructed from the operation panel 85 after the power is turned on, the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. To start.

In this embodiment, the sample medium M shown in the plan view of FIG. 8A is used.
As shown in FIG. 8A, the sample medium M is made of predetermined A4 paper. The sample medium M has a rectangular color patch C having relatively long sides in the width direction as follows. It is printed in a matrix and closely adjacent to each other.

That is, as described later, the colorimeter 1 performs the colorimetry of the color patches C while moving the head 11 in the width direction of the sample medium M. Data collection requires a certain amount of time (for example, 0.5 seconds). Moreover, during the period of the colorimetric processing, the target color patch C must continue to include the circle having the diameter α shown in FIG. 3, and the other color patches C must continue to exist outside the circle having the diameter β. Must. Therefore, in the sample medium M, the long side of each color patch C is set to be at least β or more than the length obtained by multiplying the moving speed of the head 11 by the time required for colorimetry of the head 11. .

Further, since the length of the long side of the color patch C is set in this manner, the coordinates on the sample medium M at which the color measurement of the color patch C is to be started (hereinafter referred to as colorimetric start coordinates). Can be defined. For example, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the coordinates of the boundary of each color patch C are defined as 0, 100, 200, and 300, if the colorimetric start coordinates are set to 10, 110, and 210, The color measurement of the color patch C can be performed well. In FIG. 8B, the entire movement locus of the optical sensor 13 is indicated by a white arrow, and the movement locus that the optical sensor 13 moves while performing color measurement is indicated by a black arrow. FIG. 8 (B)
When the colorimetric start coordinates are set in this manner, the color patch C to be measured continues to include the circle having the diameter α shown in FIG. Can continue to exist outside the circle having the diameter β.

The value of the colorimetric start coordinate set in this way is stored in the ROM together with the program corresponding to the processing of FIG.
92. That is, the ROM 92 corresponds to a start coordinate storage unit. Subsequently, the processing of FIG. 7 will be described. When the electronic control circuit 90 starts processing, first, S
1 (S represents a step: the same applies hereinafter), the head 11
Initialize the position of. For example, the head 11 is moved to the leftmost end in FIG. In the following S3, the transport motor 71
To carry out the transport process of transporting the sample medium M. At the start of the process, the optical sensor 1 is attached to the color patch C printed on the first line of the sample medium M stacked on the top of the paper feed tray 5 by this transport process.
3 are arranged to face each other.

At S5, a head moving process for driving the carriage motor 81 to move the head 11 is executed. By this processing, the optical sensor 13 starts moving along the black arrow D shown in the uppermost row in FIG. The following S
In step 7, it is determined whether or not the head 11 has moved to the above-described colorimetric start coordinates due to the movement. If the head 11 has not yet reached the colorimetric start coordinates (S7: NO), the next step S9 is to reach the line end coordinates. It is determined whether or not it has been done. Immediately after the start of the movement of the head 11, a negative determination is made in both S7 and S9, and the process returns to S5 to continue the head movement processing. Then, when the head 11 reaches the above-described movement start coordinates (S7: YE
S), after instructing the start of the color measurement in S11, the aforementioned S5
Move to. Then, by another routine not shown,
The light emitted from the LED 15 and reflected by the sample medium M is received by the optical sensor 13, and a process of collecting colorimetric data is executed. Note that this color measurement process is automatically stopped when sufficient data is collected.

As described above, by executing the loop processing of S5 to S9, the optical sensor 13 is moved along the white arrow in FIG. 8B (S5), and every time the colorimetric coordinates are reached (S5). S7: YES), the color measurement of the color patch C can be performed on the range indicated by the black arrow in FIG. 8B (S1).
1). When the head 11 moves to the end of the line (S
9: YES), and proceeds to S13 to determine whether the colorimetry has been completed for all the color patches C. That is, all the sample media M stacked and held on the paper feed tray 5
It is determined whether or not the colorimetry has been completed for all the rows.
This determination is made based on the detection signal of the paper sensor 83 and the like.

If the colorimetry has not been completed for all the color patches C, the flow shifts to S1 to initialize the position of the head 11, and then the transport processing of S3 is performed. Here, the process of transporting the sample medium M currently facing the head 11 by one line of the color patch C, or the process of transporting a new sample medium M from the paper feed tray 5 to the color patch C of the first line For facing the head 11
Execute as appropriate. Then, colorimetry is performed on the color patches C of each row by the processing of S5 to S9, and when the colorimetry is completed for all the color patches C (S13: YES), the processing is terminated. Note that, in the above processing, S11 is processing corresponding to a colorimetric start unit.

As described above, in the colorimetric apparatus 1, the carriage motor 81 moves the head 11 in the width direction of the sample medium M, and the transport motor 71 operates the sample medium M every time the head 11 makes one reciprocation in the width direction. Is transported in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the head 11. For this reason, the relative position between the head 11 and the sample medium M can be changed two-dimensionally, and all the color patches C arranged in a matrix on the sample medium M can be automatically measured. .

In addition, since the head 11 performs the color measurement without contact, the head 11 is moved to the sample medium M when the relative position between the head 11 and the sample medium M is changed.
There is no need to contact or separate Therefore, in the colorimetric device 1, as described above, the color of the color patch C is measured without stopping the head 11 while moving the head 11 by the carriage motor 81. For this reason,
The color patches C arranged in the width direction can be automatically measured while the head 11 is moving, and the sample media M is conveyed each time the head 11 moves, so that the color patches C arranged in the matrix are moved. The color of the patch C can be measured automatically and extremely efficiently. Therefore, in the colorimetric device 1, the colorimetry of the plurality of color patches C can be performed extremely efficiently.

In the colorimetric device 1, by rotating the paper feed roller 55 by the transport motor 71, a plurality of sample media M can be sequentially transported and provided for colorimetry by the head 11. For this reason, the color patch C to be measured does not fit on one sample medium M,
Even when a plurality of sample media M are transferred, the sample media M can be automatically and sequentially conveyed,
There is no need for manual feeding. Moreover, as described above, the sample media M on which the color patches C are arranged in a matrix can be used, so that the number of sample media M required for color matching can be reduced. Therefore, in the colorimetric device 1, the colorimetry of the plurality of color patches C can be performed extremely simply and efficiently.

Further, in the colorimetric device 1, since the colorimetry is performed while the sample medium M is being conveyed, a so-called XY plotter type mechanism for moving the head 11 two-dimensionally is employed, for example. The device can be further miniaturized. In addition, since the sample medium M can be loaded and unloaded into and from the housing 3, even if the sample medium M is larger than the housing 3 in the length direction, the sample medium M is not larger than the width within the moving range of the carriage 25. As long as it has a length that does not spill out of the paper feed tray 5, the colorimetry can be performed as described above. In the colorimeter 1, the sample medium M can be loaded and unloaded.
In addition, the head 1 is placed in the housing 3 in which light from the outside is blocked.
1 is provided for color measurement. For this reason, it is possible to perform more accurate color measurement while eliminating the effect of light from the outside while allowing the operation of performing color measurement while transporting the sample medium M as described above. Therefore, the colorimetric device 1 can perform more accurate colorimetry without increasing the size of the device.

Further, since the head 11 is configured to be detachable in the colorimetric device 1, the head 11 can be detached and manually opposed to the color patch C to perform individual colorimetry. Therefore, even when the sample medium M is made of a material that is not suitable for conveyance or has a size that is out of the standard, the colorimetry can be performed manually. For this reason, the colorimeter 1 has extremely high versatility.

Next, a printing apparatus for printing the sample medium M will be described. FIG. 9 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a configuration of an inkjet printer 201 as a printing apparatus. This inkjet printer 201
In the frame 202, a platen 204 is rotatably mounted in a frame 202, and ink jet heads 208 a, 208 b, and 208 as color patch printing means are mounted on a carriage 206 that moves in parallel with the axis of the platen 204.
c, 208d are provided. Each ink jet head 2
08a, 208b, 208c, and 208d have ejection nozzles 212a, 212b, 212c, and 212d that eject cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks.

The ejection port of the ejection nozzle 212 of the ink ejection head 208 is extremely fine and is easily clogged. Therefore, in the non-printing area of the moving range of the carriage 206, a cap device 218 that protects the jetting surface 213 of the jetting nozzle 212 with the protective cap 214 at the time of recording pause, forcibly causing a strong ink flow in the jetting port, Ink suction cap 216 for eliminating clogging, wiper device 2 for wiping jetting surface 213 and removing attached ink
20 and the like are provided. Further, an electronic control circuit 223 for controlling the entire inkjet printer 201 is provided on the bottom surface 202 a of the frame 202 with a protective wall 225 interposed therebetween.

As shown in FIG. 10, the electronic control circuit 223
Is constituted by a well-known microcomputer having a CPU 225, a ROM 226, and a RAM 227 as main components. The electronic control circuit 223 outputs a drive signal to each of the ink ejection heads 208 a, 208 b, 208 c, and 208 d to eject ink of each color as desired, and controls the carriage motor 231 and the platen 204 that move the carriage 206. A drive signal is output to the rotating platen motor 233 to change the relative position between the sample medium M and the ink ejection head 208 two-dimensionally.

An operation panel 235 to which various numerical values can be input is also connected to the electronic control circuit 223. When the aforementioned coordinate values 0, 100, 200, 300, etc., representing the boundaries of the color patches C are input from the operation panel 235, the electronic control circuit 223 determines the ink ejection head 208, the carriage motor 231, and the platen based on the numerical values. A drive signal is output to the motor 233 to print the color patch C shown in FIG. Therefore, if the color patches C are printed on the sample medium M using the inkjet printer 201, the rectangular color patches C that are long in the width direction can be favorably printed as described above. The efficiency of the colorimetry can be extremely well achieved.

As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the specific embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention. Can be implemented. For example, in the colorimetric device 1, the sample medium M is transported each time the head 11 reciprocates once, but the sample medium M is transported each time the head 11 moves one way, and the optical sensor 13 is moved to the position shown in FIG. It may be moved along the indicated black arrow. In this case, colorimetry can be performed both on the outward route and the return route.

In this process, the above-described colorimetric start coordinates are individually set for the forward path and the return path and stored in the ROM 92, and when a negative determination is made in S13 of FIG. 7, the processing shifts to S3. This can be realized by changing the processes of S5 and S7 as follows. In this case, the color measurement of the first line is completed, and the head 11 moves to the end of the line (S9: YE).
S) When the next row exists (S13: NO), the process proceeds to S3 without initializing the position of the head 11. After transporting the sample medium M in S3, in the process of S5,
The head 11 is moved in a direction opposite to the previous direction (outbound path). Then, each time the head 11 reaches the colorimetric start coordinates for the return path (S7: YES), the colorimetry is started as described above (S11). In this case, in each of the forward path and the return path of the head 11, the head 11
Can be measured without stopping the color patch C while moving. Therefore, in this case, the color measurement of the color patch C can be performed more efficiently.

Further, as shown by the black arrow in FIG. 12, the optical sensor 13 is moved a plurality of times on the same color patch C while shifting the location, and the colorimetric data obtained by repeating the plurality of times is averaged. Is also good. In addition, FIG.
(B) shows the case where the color measurement is repeated three times for the same color patch C, and (A) shows the case where the color measurement is performed only on the outward path similarly to the first embodiment. ,
(B) shows a case where colorimetry is performed on the forward path and the return path as in the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process for performing colorimetry as shown in FIG. In addition,
In the process of FIG. 12, the transport amount of the sample medium M in S3 is reduced and the optical sensor 13
And three times, and S21 to S29 described later.
7 is different from the processing in FIG. Therefore, the same processes as those in FIG. 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof will be omitted, and only different points will be described.

When the color measurement of the first line is completed and the head 11 moves to the end of the line (S9: YES), the process proceeds to S21, and whether the value of the variable n set to 1 at the time of startup is 3 or not is determined. Judge. Initially, n = 1 ($ 3), so a negative determination is made and the process proceeds to S23. In S23, the start of color measurement is instructed for each color measurement start coordinate (S7: YES) (S11), and the obtained colorimetric data is temporarily stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 93.
In subsequent S25, after adding 1 to the variable n, the above-mentioned S1 is added.
Move to. In the process of S23, a table as illustrated in Table 1 below is created in the predetermined area of the RAM 93, and all the colorimetric data obtained during the execution of the loop process of S5 to S11 is Remember every time. In Table 1, color patch numbers 1, 2, and 3 are assigned to the three color patches C shown in FIG.

[0056]

[Table 1]

When the process proceeds from S25 to S1, the head 11
Is initialized (S1), the transport of the sample medium M is performed (S3). However, since the transport amount is small, the optical sensor 13 remains facing the same color patch C as the previous time. Then, 1 is obtained by the loop processing of S5 to S11.
The color measurement for the line is performed, and the process proceeds to S21 described above. Again, since n = 2 ($ 3) (S21: NO), S2
At Step 3, the colorimetric data is temporarily stored, and at Step S25, 1 is added to the variable n. Then, the process proceeds to Step S1 as described above. After performing the third color measurement for the same color patch C in this manner (S9: YES), since n = 3 (S21: YES), the process proceeds to S27.

At S27, the colorimetric data obtained by the loop processing of the immediately preceding S5 to S11 and the S2
The process of step 3 averages the colorimetric data stored in the RAM 93, sets the variable n to 1 in step S29, and then shifts to step S13. Then, when the color patch C also exists in the next row (S13: NO), the color measurement is performed three times in the same manner for the color patch C in that row. In the above processing, S27 is processing corresponding to averaging means.

As described above, when colorimetry is repeatedly performed on the same color patch C a plurality of times and the obtained colorimetric data is averaged, the averaged colorimetric data is obtained only once. Higher reliability than colorimetric data obtained by performing colorimetry. Therefore, in this case, colorimetric data having higher reliability can be obtained.

Further, the colorimeter 1 may measure the color of the color patch C disposed opposite to the head 11 even during the conveyance of the sample medium M by the conveyance motor 71. In this case, the head 11 can measure more color patches C in the same time, and can more efficiently measure the color patches C.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 14A, for example, the portion of the sample medium M facing the head 11 during the transport is shorter in the width direction than the other color patches C, and Alternatively, a continuous color patch C1 may be printed across rows in the transport direction of the sample medium M.
In this case, the color patches C and C1 are also obtained by performing colorimetry on the movement locus indicated by the black arrow while moving the optical sensor 13 along the movement locus indicated by the white arrow in FIG. Colorimetry can be performed satisfactorily and efficiently.

In this case, the color patch C1 may be shorter in the width direction than the other color patches C as described above. Therefore, more color patches C and C1 can be printed on the sample medium M in the same area. For example, if three rows of color patches C are to be printed on the sample medium M, even if the color patches C protrude from the sample medium M as shown by the dotted lines in FIG. ), A large number of color patches C,
C1 can be printed. Also, such color patches C and C1 can be easily printed by executing a predetermined program in the electronic control circuit 223 of the inkjet printer 201.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the color patches C and C1 are closely adjacent to each other, but a gap may be provided between the color patches. In this case, the head 11 can detect the gap and instruct the start of colorimetry according to the detection result. In this case, a storage area such as a ROM that stores a deviation between the position of the gap and the position at which the color measurement should be started corresponds to the start coordinate storage unit. Further, as the printing apparatus, various forms such as a so-called electrophotographic printer using toner can be applied.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a configuration of a colorimetric device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a head of the colorimetric device in detail.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an optical path formed by the head.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of a platen of the colorimeter in detail.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an external light blocking mechanism of the color measurement device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of the colorimetric device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process executed by the control system.

FIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating the operation of the colorimetric device together with a sample medium.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of an ink jet printer as a printing apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of the inkjet printer.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a modification of the operation of the colorimetric device together with sample media.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing another modification of the operation together with color patches.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process for executing the operation of the modification of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a plan view showing still another modified example of the above operation together with sample media.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Color measuring device 3 ... Housing 5 ... Paper feed tray
9: Platen 11: Head 13: Optical sensor 15: LED
23 ... Removable roller 25 ... Carriage 41 ... Color panel 45 ... Transparent hole 49 ... Light source 71 ... Transport motor 73 ... Shading brush 75 ...
Light shielding roller 81 ... Carriage motor 87 ... Buzzer 90
... Electronic control circuit 201 ... Inkjet printer 204 ... Platen 206 ... Carriage 208 ... Ink ejection head 212 ... Ejection nozzle
223 Electronic control circuit 231 Carriage motor 233 Platen motor C, C1 Color patch M Sample media

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A colorimeter for individually measuring a plurality of color patches printed on a sample medium by the printer for color matching of the printer, wherein the color patches arranged opposite to each other are non-colored. A head for measuring the color by contact, a head moving means for moving the head in the width direction of the sample medium, and the head medium moving the head once in the width direction, the head moves the sample medium. A sample medium transporting means for transporting the head in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the head; and, during the movement of the head by the head moving means, at least a time required for colorimetry of the head, wherein the head faces the same color patch. A start coordinate storage means for storing coordinates at which colorimetry is to be started for the color patch; and A colorimetric starter for causing the head to start colorimetry without stopping the movement of the head when the head is moved to the coordinates stored in the storage means. . 2. A state in which the head faces the same color patch at least during a time required for colorimetry of the head during movement of the head by the head moving means.
When the transport amount of the sample media transport unit is set so as to be repeated a plurality of times for the same color patch, and when the color measurement by the head is repeatedly performed a plurality of times for the same color patch, 2. The colorimetric apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an averaging means for averaging the respective colorimetric data. 3. Each time the head moving means moves the head one way in the width direction of the sample medium, the sample medium conveying means conveys the sample medium, and the start coordinate storage means performs the colorimetry. The coordinates to be started are individually stored for the forward path and the return path of the head, and the colorimetric start means stores the start coordinate storage means in the start coordinate storage means in both the forward path and the return path of the head. When the head is moved to the set coordinates,
3. The colorimetric device according to claim 1, wherein the colorimetry by the head is started without stopping the movement of the head. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the head measures the color of the color patch arranged opposite to the head even while the sample medium is being conveyed by the sample medium conveying means. The colorimetric device as described. 5. A printing apparatus comprising a color patch printing means for printing a plurality of color patches on the sample medium for color matching by the color measurement apparatus according to claim 1. The color patch printing means may include a rectangular color patch having a longer side in a width direction of the sample medium than a length obtained by multiplying a moving speed of the head by the head moving means by a time required for colorimetry of the head. And a printing apparatus for arranging and printing in a matrix. 6. A method according to claim 6, wherein said color patch printing means prints a color patch continuous in a transport direction of said sample medium on a portion facing said head during transport of said sample media by said sample media transport means. The printing device according to claim 5, wherein