JP2001058396A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To always obtain the best output result by recognizing a sheet type, and setting printing conditions corresponding to the type. SOLUTION: The printer comprises a sheet inspecting unit 5 having a light source 51, a first photo-detector 52, a second photo-detector 53 and a case 54 for containing them and provided at an inside of a sheet supply port. The source 51, and the photodetectors 52, 53 are connected to a controller 6 arranged in a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction. A sheet is obliquely irradiated with a light from the source 51. The photo-detector 52 detects a regularly reflected light of 45 deg. of a reflecting angle of the light irradiated to the sheet, and the photo-detector 53 detects a scattered reflected light of 90 deg. of a reflecting angle. The outputs of the photo-detectors 52, 53 are compared to decide the sheet type, and an output unit 4 is driven in response to the type.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a printer for printing an image on paper based on electronic data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, the output result of a printer greatly differs depending on the roughness and material of the surface of a printing paper. For example, when a color photographic image is printed on plain paper by an inkjet printer, the output image is blurred and blurred with ink. For this reason, many papers having properties suitable for various printing purposes, such as glossy paper with a coated paper surface, have been supplied to the market. On the other hand, a printer is provided with a function of setting an optimum printing condition according to a type of paper and changing a density of a color material to be fixed on the paper to obtain the best output result according to the paper. ing. In a conventional printer, a correct paper type must be selected at the time of setting printing conditions in order to obtain the best output result by changing the color material density and the like.

[0003]

However, since it is difficult to determine the type of paper at a glance from the appearance of the paper, an erroneous paper type may be selected when setting printing conditions. Is selected, there is a problem that the best output result cannot be obtained. In addition, there is a problem that the printing condition must be set every time the paper type changes, and the operation becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and provides a printer which recognizes a paper type, sets printing conditions according to the paper type, and always obtains the best output result. The purpose is to do. It is another object of the present invention to provide a printer in which printing conditions can be easily set.

[0005]

According to the printer of the present invention, light is emitted from the light emitting section to the sheet, and reflected by the first and second light receiving sections provided at different positions from each other. Received the light. From the first light receiving unit and the second light receiving unit, output signals corresponding to the intensity of the received light are transmitted. The control unit controls the output unit according to the output signal. That is, the electronic data acquired by the input unit is converted according to the output signal, and an image is printed at the output unit based on the converted electronic data. First
Since the light receiving section and the second light receiving section receive light reflected by the sheet at different reflection angles, the output of the first light receiving section and the output of the second light receiving section are compared to recognize irregularities on the sheet surface, and Paper with different irregularities can be determined. Therefore, according to the printer of the first aspect, the best output result can always be obtained by recognizing the paper type and driving the output unit according to the paper type.

According to the printer of the second aspect of the present invention, the first light receiving portion receives the specularly reflected light of the light applied to the paper, and the second light receiving portion receives the scattered reflected light of the light applied to the paper. Receive light. A sheet having a small and small surface irregularity has a large amount of regular reflection and a small amount of scattered reflection, while a sheet having a large and large surface irregularity of the sheet has a small amount of regular reflection and a large amount of scattered reflection. Therefore, the irregularities on the paper surface can be recognized by receiving the specular reflection light and the scattered reflection light and measuring their intensities. Here, the specularly reflected light refers to reflected light whose incident angle and the reflected angle match each other, and the scattered reflected light is
The reflected light has different angles of incidence and reflection.

In the printer according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the light emitting section irradiates light to a predetermined position of the sheet from an oblique direction with respect to the sheet, the light paths of the incident light and the reflected light are different. Therefore, it is easy to arrange the first light receiving unit or the second light receiving unit with respect to the light emitting unit, and the structure of the sheet inspection unit can be simplified.

According to the printer of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the control unit determines the printing condition relating to the paper type of the output unit according to the ratio of the output of the first light receiving unit to the output of the second light receiving unit. That is, the first output is
The paper type is determined based on whether the output of the light receiving unit is higher or lower than a predetermined ratio, and the printing conditions are confirmed. Therefore, it is not necessary to manually set the printing conditions relating to the paper type, so that the printing conditions can be easily set.

[0009]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention; 1 to 6 show a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The printer 1 is a device that prints an image on paper based on magnetic information recorded on a recording medium, and includes a case 2, an input unit 3, an output unit 4,
It comprises a paper inspection unit 5, a control unit 6, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, a card slot 21 for inserting a recording medium is formed on the front surface of the case 2. The input section 3 for reading magnetic information of a recording medium is accommodated inside the card slot 21 as shown in FIG. The input unit 3 converts magnetic information written on a recording medium such as a memory card into electronic data, and transmits the electronic data to the control unit 6.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a paper supply port 22 and a paper discharge port 23 are formed on the back and front of the case 2, respectively. Supply unit 24 for inserting one by one
Is provided. The supply unit 24 includes a plate-like member 26 for supporting the sheet as shown in FIG. 1 and a movable member 27 rotatably supported by the plate-like member 26 and lifting the sheet to the height of the sheet supply port 22. Be composed. Paper supply port 22
A brush 25 for removing dust adhering to the sheet is provided outside the sheet.

The output section 4 accommodated in the case 2 is composed of a transport mechanism for transporting the paper and an ejection mechanism 45 for ejecting ink droplets on the paper. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the transport mechanism includes a transport roller 43 provided near the paper supply port 22 and the paper discharge port 23 and driven by a motor (not shown). Roller 42 that transports the movable member 27
And a transport roller 43
The rotation of the driven roller 42 causes the paper supply port 2 to rotate.
The sheet is conveyed from 2 to the sheet outlet 23. Injection mechanism 45
Indicates an inkjet head, an ink tank,
It is composed of a carriage etc. driven by a motor,
Ink droplets are ejected on paper by a known inkjet method.

The paper inspection unit 5 is provided inside the paper supply port 22, and as shown in FIG. 6, a light emitting unit 51 that emits light by an LED, and a first that performs photoelectric conversion by a photodiode.
It comprises a light receiving section 52, a second light receiving section 53, and a case 54 for accommodating them. The light-emitting unit 51, the first light-receiving unit 52, and the second light-receiving unit 53 are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction and are connected to the control unit 6. Light emitting unit 5
Reference numeral 1 denotes a light projecting lens that converts the light emitted from the LED into a parallel light beam and projects the light onto a predetermined position on the sheet, and is provided at a position where the parallel light beam enters the sheet at an incident angle of 45 °. The first light receiving section 52 includes a condenser lens for condensing the received light on the photodiode, and has a reflection angle of 4 out of the light irradiated on the paper.
It is provided at a position where 5 ° regular reflection light is received. The second light receiving unit 53 includes a condenser lens for condensing the received light on the photodiode, and is provided at a position for receiving scattered reflected light having a reflection angle of 90 °. Here, if a plurality of second light receiving portions 53 are provided at positions where the scattered reflected light is received, the accuracy of identifying the type of paper can be improved. The case 54 reciprocates vertically with respect to the sheet by driving means (not shown) and comes into contact with the sheet at the lower limit reaching point.

The control unit 6 includes a CPU (not shown), a RAM (not shown),
It is composed of a ROM and the like. In the ROM, a program for converting electronic data into print data in accordance with a printing condition setting signal described later and output signals of the first light receiving unit 52 and the second light receiving unit 53 is recorded. The CPU converts the electronic data transmitted from the input unit by this program into print data for controlling the transport mechanism and the ejection mechanism 45 and develops the data in the RAM, and conveys the print data based on the print data developed in the RAM. The mechanism and the injection mechanism 45 are controlled.

As shown in FIG. 1, various input devices for setting printing conditions are provided on the upper surface of the case 2 as shown in FIG. The pair of image selection keys 61 is a key for selecting an image to be read out from the recording medium and printed by pressing one of the upper and lower sides. Image selection key 61
The image number display panel 62, which is a segment type liquid crystal display device, is used to identify the image selected by the user.
Displayed by The pair of number selection keys 63 is a key for selecting the number of prints of an image to be read from the recording medium when one of the upper and lower sides is pressed. The number of images to be printed is displayed by a number display panel 64 which is a segment type liquid crystal display device. The print start key 65 is a key that, when pressed, transmits a print condition setting signal to the output unit 4 and starts printing.

Hereinafter, the operation of the printer 1 will be described. A sheet is placed on the supply unit 24, a recording medium on which an image is recorded is inserted into the card slot 21, and a print setting operation is performed. The printing conditions are manually set for the image to be printed and the number of prints, and are automatically set for the paper type.

By operating the image selection key 61, one of the images corresponding to the numbers 1 to 99 recorded on the recording medium can be selected as the image to be printed. The printing condition setting signal sent from the print start key 65 to the control unit 6 is changed according to the number of times of pressing from the initial setting state, and the printing conditions are set so as to print the image specified by the numbers 1 to 99.

The number of prints can be selected from 1 to 99 by operating the number select key 63. The printing condition setting signal sent from the print start key 65 to the control unit 6 is changed according to the number of times of pressing from the state of the initial setting, and the printing condition is set to 1 to 99 sheets.

When the print start key 65 is pressed, a print condition setting signal corresponding to the operation of the image selection key 61 and the number of sheets selection key 63 is transmitted to the control unit 6. Upon receiving the print condition setting signal, the control unit 6 drives the movable member 27 and the driven roller 42 to convey the sheet placed on the supply unit 24 to a position facing the sheet inspection unit 5. At this time, dust adhering to the paper is removed by the brush 25.

When the sheet 99 is conveyed immediately below the sheet inspection section 5, the sheet inspection section 5 descends as shown in FIG.
9, a parallel light beam is emitted from the light emitting unit 51 to a predetermined position on the sheet. The parallel light beam irradiated on the paper 99 has different reflection characteristics depending on the roughness of the paper surface, the regular reflection light is received by the first light receiving unit 52, and a part of the scattered reflected light is received by the second light receiving unit 53. You. The glossy paper for high-quality full-color printing is coated on the surface of the paper and has a smooth surface. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7A, the paper has more regular reflection and less scattering reflection than plain paper. Also,
Plain paper such as ordinary postcards has a rougher surface than dedicated glossy paper for full-color printing of high image quality, and therefore has less regular reflection and more scattered reflection as shown in FIG. 7B. Therefore, the ratio of the output of the first light receiving unit 52 to the output of the second light receiving unit 53 is higher when the special glossy paper is inspected than when the plain paper is inspected. Each of the first light receiving unit 52 and the second light receiving unit 53 transmits an output signal corresponding to the intensity of the received light to the control unit 6. When the output signal is transmitted, the sheet inspection unit 5 is raised by the driving means and is separated from the sheet.

The control section 6 compares the received output signals and, if the ratio of the output of the first light receiving section 52 to the output of the second light receiving section 53 is higher than a predetermined threshold, the conveyed sheet is a special glossy paper. , And if it is lower than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the paper is plain paper. The control unit 6 determines the received print condition setting signal, converts the electronic data acquired from the recording medium into print data by the processing of a program corresponding to the determined sheet type, and converts the electronic data into print data. expand. The control unit 6 controls and drives the transport mechanism and the ejection mechanism 45 based on the printing data expanded in the RAM, and printing is started.

According to the printer 1 of this embodiment, the sheet is conveyed to a predetermined position before printing is started, the sheet type is determined by the sheet inspection unit 5, and print data is created according to the sheet type. An optimum output result can be obtained according to the type of paper. In addition, since the paper type is determined by the paper inspection unit 5, it is not necessary to manually set the paper type, and setting of printing conditions is easy. Further, the paper inspection unit 5
Is in contact with the sheet when inspecting the sheet, and the light emitting section 51, the first
Since the light receiving unit 52 and the second light receiving unit 53 always inspect the paper at the same position, the accuracy of discriminating the paper type is excellent. Further, since the intensity of the specular reflected light and the intensity of the scattered reflected light are compared and determined, even if the color of the paper is different, the paper type can be accurately determined. In addition, since the sheet is irradiated with light in an oblique direction, it is easy to provide the first light receiving unit 52 at a position where regular reflection light is received, so that the structure of the sheet determination unit 5 can be simplified.

In this embodiment, the electronic data has been described as being obtained from the recording medium. However, it is of course possible to obtain the electronic data from a personal computer or a digital camera via a cable. Further, in the present embodiment, a printer capable of printing only on a single paper size has been described. However, it is naturally possible to provide the paper inspection unit 5 in a printer capable of printing on a plurality of paper sizes. is there.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the printer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram illustrating a state of reflected light when light is applied to a special glossy paper, and FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram illustrating a state of reflected light when light is applied to plain paper. .

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 printer 3 input unit 4 output unit 5 paper inspection unit 6 control unit 51 light emitting unit 52 first light receiving unit 53 second light receiving unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] An input unit for acquiring electronic data; an output unit for printing an image on a sheet based on the electronic data acquired by the input unit; a light emitting unit for irradiating the sheet with light; A first light receiving unit for receiving light reflected by the paper and transmitting an output signal according to the intensity of the light, and a light receiving unit provided at a position different from the first light receiving unit, and illuminating the paper from the light emitting unit so that the paper A paper inspection unit having a second light receiving unit for receiving the reflected light and transmitting an output signal according to the intensity of the light, and the output unit according to the output signals transmitted from the first and second light receiving units And a control unit for controlling the printer. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first light receiving unit receives specularly reflected light of the light applied to the paper, and the second light receiving unit receives scattered reflected light of the light applied to the paper. Item 1. The printer according to Item 1. 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting unit irradiates a predetermined position on the sheet from a diagonal direction with respect to the sheet. 4. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines a printing condition relating to a paper type of the output unit according to a ratio of an output of the first light receiving unit to an output of the second light receiving unit. 4. The printer according to 2, 3 or 4.