JP2001109324A - Two sided-recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a two sided recorder capable of performing high-speed two sided recording through space saving is realized, easily performing recording to a stiff medium to be recorded and immediately recording data stored in an external storage medium on both sides of the medium to be recorded. SOLUTION: This recorder is equipped with an external storage medium driving part 26 driving the external storage medium in which the recording data is stored, and it is provided with an input part 28 setting a desired recording state based on the recording data, and a display part 29 displaying inputted data or the setting of input by the input part 28, then it has a 1st storage part 32 for storing a program to control recording operation and a 2nd storage part 33 for storing a value necessary to process the program, and a CPU 34 controlling the recording by a 1st recording part 18 and a 2nd recording part 19 in accordance with the program.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a double-sided recording apparatus for performing recording on the front side and the back side of a recording medium, and more particularly, to double-sided recording based on recording data stored in an external storage medium. The present invention relates to a double-sided recording apparatus for performing the recording.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, many types of printing methods such as an impact method, an ink jet method, and a laser method have been put to practical use as a recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium such as a postcard or A4 size plain paper. . Among them, thermal transfer type recording apparatuses are frequently used for reasons such as high recording quality, low noise, low cost, and ease of maintenance.

In such a thermal transfer recording apparatus, an ink ribbon film in which ink is applied to a film substrate is heated by a recording head while being pressed against a recording medium, and is melt-transferred to the recording medium.

By the way, in such a conventional recording apparatus, recording is generally performed only on one side of a recording medium. However, with recent diversification, recording is performed on both sides of the recording medium. There is a growing need for a double-sided recording device that can.

However, when recording is performed on both sides of a recording medium by a conventional recording apparatus, the recording medium is inserted into the recording apparatus, recorded on the front side, and then discharged from the recording apparatus. Had to be turned over and inserted into the recording device again to record on the back surface.
For this reason, there is a problem that a troublesome work is involved and time is required.

To solve such a problem, a recording apparatus having a switchback mechanism has been proposed. According to such a recording apparatus, after recording on the front side, the sheet is automatically transported to the back side and can be recorded on both sides of the recording medium.

[0007] A recording apparatus having two recording units has also been proposed, in which the back side is recorded after recording the front side.

[0008]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional double-sided recording apparatus, there is a problem that the size of the switchback mechanism becomes large, and the entire apparatus becomes large.

A conventional double-sided recording apparatus is connected to a computer main body such as a personal computer to receive and process image data as an electric signal to perform recording. The recording data and the like stored in an external storage medium are recorded. There was no one that could directly record However, with the recent improvement in digitization technology, there is an increasing demand for recording data recorded on an external recording medium as it is as an image.

The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and enables high-speed double-sided recording in a space-saving manner, can easily perform recording even on a rigid recording medium, and furthermore, has an external storage medium. It is an object of the present invention to provide a double-sided recording apparatus capable of immediately recording stored recording data on both sides of a recording medium.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a double-sided recording apparatus which achieves the above-mentioned object by driving an external storage medium for driving an external storage medium storing recording data to be recorded on a recording medium. A medium drive unit is provided, and an input unit for setting a desired recording state based on the recording data is provided, and a display unit that displays input data by the input unit or setting contents according to the input data is provided, A first storage unit for storing a program for controlling the recording operation, and a second storage unit for storing values required for processing the program stored in the first storage unit; 2 has a CPU for executing recording control by the recording unit. By adopting such a configuration, the recording data stored in the external storage medium is read by driving the external storage medium driving unit, and the recording state is arbitrarily set by the input unit while visually checking the display unit. Since two recording units are driven under the control of each control unit to perform recording on both sides of the recording medium, high-speed recording can be performed in a small space, and the recording medium can be easily applied to a rigid recording medium. Recording can be performed, and the recording data stored in the external storage medium can be immediately recorded on both sides of the recording medium.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a double-sided recording apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein a plurality of paper feed units are provided and any one of the paper feed units is determined based on the print data. And a transport control unit that drives and controls the transport unit. Since a plurality of paper feeding units are received by adopting such a configuration, for example, a plurality of different types of recording media such as postcards and A4 size plain paper can be stored. This makes it possible to easily realize more various recordings.

[0013] Further, a feature of the double-sided recording apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention is that, in the first or second aspect, the first recording apparatus is provided.
When modifying or updating a program stored in the storage unit, an external storage medium storing a new program is mounted on the external storage medium drive unit, and the new storage medium drive unit drives the new storage medium. The first program
The point is that the information is stored in the storage unit. By adopting such a configuration, the program can be modified or updated only by mounting and driving the external storage medium storing the new program in the external storage medium drive unit. The operability can be easily improved along with the improvement of, and the convenience can be improved.

[0014] Further, a feature of the double-sided recording apparatus of the invention according to claim 4 is that in the first or second embodiment,
The recording unit and the second recording unit have a recording head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged and arranged, and the external storage medium driving unit stores recording data in a data format in which the heating elements are directly driven. The external storage medium is driven, and the CPU performs the recording control based on the recording data. By adopting such a configuration, the recording data stored in the external storage medium is in a data format that can directly drive each heating element of the recording head. It can be output as an image.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A duplex recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the internal structure of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of the present embodiment in a state where maintenance is performed.

The double-sided recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is provided with a plurality of paper feed cassettes 3a and 3b as a paper feed unit 3 on which a plurality of recording media 2 can be placed, and in this embodiment, two paper feed cassettes 3a and 3b are provided. A postcard-size recording medium 2 is placed on one of the paper feed cassettes 3a disposed above, and A4-size plain paper is placed on the other paper feed cassette 3b placed below. Have been. Each of the paper feed cassettes 3a and 3b is provided with a mounting plate 4 on which the recording medium 2 is mounted, and supported so as to be able to move up and down in the vertical direction. Supporting rods 5 extending in the width direction are in contact with the lower surfaces of the mounting plates 4, and both ends of the supporting rods 5 are supported by biasing plates 6. Further, an urging spring 8 for urging upward is attached to the urging plate 6. The urging force of the urging spring 8 causes the placing plate 4 to move through the urging plate 6 and the support rod 5. The recording medium 2 on the uppermost surface is urged upward to abut a sheet feed roller 14 described later. A fan-shaped swing plate 9 is disposed above the urging plate 6.
When the swinging plate 9 swings downward, the upper surface of the urging plate 6 is pushed downward, and the pushing moves the support bar 5 downward and lowers the mounting plate 4. It is supposed to. As a result, the recording medium 2 on the mounting plate 4 is separated from the paper feed roller 14 and retreats to a maintenance position as shown in FIG.

The swinging plate 9 is connected to a transfer section 10 and performs a swing operation in accordance with the operation of the transfer section 10. The transport unit 10 is provided with a stepping motor 12, and a transmission gear group 13 for transmitting the driving force is connected to the stepping motor 12.
And a transport roller (not shown). The paper feed roller 14 is in contact with the uppermost surface of the recording medium 2 placed in the paper feed cassette 3, and the rotation thereof causes
The recording medium 2 is fed one by one. The recording medium 2 fed by the feed roller 14
Is received by the transport roller and transported downstream in the transport direction.

A paper guide 16 is provided at the leading end of the paper feed cassette 3, and guides the recording medium 2 conveyed by the paper feed roller 14 and the conveyance roller to a recording position. It has become.

A first recording section 18 is disposed downstream of the paper guide 16 in the direction of conveyance of the recording medium 2, and a second recording section 19 is disposed above the first recording section 18. Have been. These first recording section 18 and second recording section 1
9 are arranged so that their directions are opposite to each other,
Each can record on the front and back surfaces of the recording medium 2.

Each of the first recording section 18 and the second recording section 19 is provided with a support table 20. On the support table 20, a platen 22 on a flat plate has a recording surface substantially perpendicular to the platen. A guide shaft (not shown) is provided below and in front of the platen 22 in parallel with the platen 22. A carriage 23 is attached to an appropriate position of the guide shaft so that the carriage 23 can reciprocate along the platen 22. At a position on the upper surface of the carriage 23 facing the platen 22, a recording head 24 in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged and arranged is provided so as to be able to freely contact and separate from the platen 22. Further, a ribbon cassette 25 is mounted on the upper surface of the carriage 23 so that the ink ribbon accommodated in the ribbon cassette 25 is drawn out between the platen 22 and the recording head 24. Has become. Further, the first recording unit 1
Each of the recording unit 8 and the second recording unit 19 is provided with a paper feed roller (not shown) so that the recording medium 2 conveyed from the conveyance roller is fed to the front surface of the platen 22 by a predetermined amount. Then, the first recording unit 18
Then, recording is performed on one surface of the recording medium 2, for example, the front surface, and then the recording medium 2 is
The data is sent to the recording unit 19, and recording is performed on the back surface, which is the opposite surface.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, an external storage medium driving unit 26 such as a CD-ROM driver is provided at the front position of the double-sided recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment.
The external storage medium storing the recording data to be recorded on the recording medium 2 is driven to read the recording data. The recording data is created in a data format such as a bit map format for directly driving the heating elements.

Further, a key operation for setting a desired recording state such as a paper size, an image size, and a color based on the recording data in the external storage medium is provided on the upper surface position of the double-side recording apparatus 1. An input unit 28 for performing the operation is provided.

Further, a display unit 29 comprising a liquid crystal display screen for displaying the input data by the input unit 28 or the setting contents according to the input data is provided, so that the user can visually recognize the contents. ing.

A discharge port 30 for discharging the recording medium 2 on which an image has been recorded is formed at the center of the upper surface of the double-side recording apparatus 1.

The double-sided recording apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes:
A first storage unit 32 in which a program for controlling a recording operation is stored is provided. The first storage unit 32 is composed of a rewritable flash ROM or the like, and can update or modify a program. The first
When updating or correcting the program in the storage unit 32, an external storage medium storing a new program is mounted on the external storage medium drive unit 26, and the program in the first storage unit 32 is read by reading the external storage medium. It is designed to be rewritten.

Further, a second storage unit 33 for storing values required for processing the program stored in the first storage unit 32
Is provided as a main memory, and a CPU 34 for executing recording control according to the program is provided.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a schematic block diagram of the hardware of the double-sided recording apparatus 1.

As shown in FIG. 6, each component of the double-sided recording apparatus 1 is connected to each device driver via an interface 35 and is driven and controlled. That is, an input unit driver 36 is connected to the input unit 28, and the display unit driver 3 is connected to the display unit 29.
The transport unit 10 is connected to the transport unit 10 and controls the paper feed unit 3 to select a desired paper feed unit 3 from the plurality of paper feed units 3 based on the print data and feed and transport the recording medium 2. A transport unit driver 38 as a control unit is connected, and the first recording unit 18 and the second recording unit 19 each have a carriage 23.
A first recording section driver 39 and a second recording section driver 40 such as a motor driver and a paper feed motor driver are connected, and an external storage medium driving section driver 41 is connected to the external storage medium driving section 26, respectively. Then, each device driver 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41
Is connected to the CPU 34 and the first storage unit 32 via a bus 42.
And the second storage unit 33. This allows
The CPU 34 controls the device drivers 36, 37, 38,
The components of the double-sided recording apparatus 1 are drive-controlled via 39, 40 and 41.

Next, the operation of the duplex recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described.

The double-sided recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment has a CD in which recording data such as an image desired by a user is stored.
-When an external storage medium such as a ROM is mounted on the external storage medium drive unit 26, the external storage medium drive unit 26 is driven to read the recording data. The contents of the recording data are displayed on a display unit 29 such as a liquid crystal display screen. Then, the user operates the input unit 28 based on the contents of the print data to set a desired print state such as the size and density of the image. This setting information is displayed on the display unit 29 and can be confirmed. When these settings are completed and the user operates the input unit 28 to issue a recording start instruction, the CPU 34 starts recording control based on the recording data according to the program in the first storage unit 32.

First, the CPU 34 selects which of the two paper cassettes 3a, 3b to feed the recording medium 2 based on the recording data, and drives the transport unit 10 via the transport unit driver. Let it. In the transport unit 10, the stepping motor 12 is driven to transmit a driving force via a gear transmission group, thereby rotating the paper feed roller 14 and the transport roller. As a result, the recording medium 2 placed on the uppermost surface of the paper feed cassette 3 is fed from the paper feed cassettes 3a and 3b to the paper guide 16, and is sent to the first recording unit 18 along the paper guide 16. You will be guided. When the recording medium 2 is conveyed to the front of the platen 22 of the first recording unit 18,
The recording head 24 is connected to the platen 2 via an ink ribbon.
2 to cause each heating element to generate heat based on the print data. Thereby, the ink of the ink ribbon is melted and transferred to the recording medium 2. At this time, since the recording data is created in a data format such as a bitmap format that can directly drive the heating elements, the heating elements can be driven immediately.

The carriage 23 is reciprocated along the platen 22 based on the recording data, and the recording medium 2 is fed by the operation of the paper feed roller. By repeating such operations, the recording medium 2
A desired image is recorded on the front surface.

When the recording on the front side of the recording medium 2 by the first recording section 18 is completed, the paper feed roller is further rotated to move the recording medium 2 to the platen 22 of the second recording section 19.
Transport to the front of Since the first recording section 18 and the second recording section 19 have respective units disposed in opposite directions, the front surface of the recording medium 2 in the second recording section 19 is located on the platen 22 side. , And the back surface is located on the recording head 24 side. Then, also in the second recording unit 19, similarly to the first recording unit 18, the recording head 24 is pressed against the platen 22 via the ink ribbon,
While the carriage 23 reciprocates, each heating element is heated based on the print data to melt and transfer the ink to the recording medium 2.

Then, a desired image is recorded on the back surface of the recording medium 2 by repeating the reciprocating operation of the carriage 23 and the paper feeding operation of the paper feeding roller. When the double-sided recording is completed in this way, the sheet is discharged from the discharge port 30 by a discharge roller (not shown).

If the program stored in the first storage section 32 is to be modified or updated, the recording medium 2 storing the new program is mounted on the external storage medium drive section 26, and the CPU 34 Rewrites the program in the first storage unit 32 by reading this.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the recording data stored in the external storage medium such as a CD-ROM is read by the driving of the external storage medium driving section 26, and the input section 28 is visually checked on the display section 29. The recording state is set arbitrarily, and the two recording units are driven under the control of the CPU 34 to perform recording on the front and back surfaces of the recording medium 2, so that high-speed recording can be performed in a small space. In addition, the recording can be easily performed even on the recording medium 2 having a high rigidity, and even if the image data is not transmitted from a personal computer or the like, the recording data stored in the external storage medium is immediately taken in, and the recording medium 2 is recorded. Can be recorded on both sides.

Further, since a plurality of paper feed cassettes 3 are provided, it is possible to store the recording medium 2 of any size, and it is possible to easily realize more various types of recording.

Further, the program can be modified or updated only by mounting and driving the external storage medium storing the new program in the external storage medium drive section 26, so that the program can be easily modified with the improvement of the program. Therefore, the operability can be improved, and the convenience can be improved.

Still further, since the recording data stored in the external storage medium can be formed in a bitmap format or the like, the recording data can be read, processed quickly, and output as an image. .

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made as necessary.

[0042]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the recording data stored in the external storage medium is read by driving the external storage medium driving section, and the input section is visually checked on the display section. Arbitrarily set the recording state by
The two recording units are driven under the control of each control unit to perform recording on both sides of the recording medium. Therefore, high-speed recording can be performed in a small space, and recording can be easily performed on a rigid recording medium. The recording data stored in the external storage medium can be immediately recorded on both sides of the recording medium.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first aspect of the present invention, since a plurality of paper feed units are received, a plurality of different types of recording media are stored. This makes it possible to easily realize more various types of recording.

According to the third aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect, an external storage medium storing a new program is mounted on the external storage medium drive. Since the program can be modified or updated only by driving it, the operability can be easily improved with the improvement of the program, and the convenience can be improved.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect of the invention, the recording data stored in the external storage medium directly transmits each heating element of the recording head. Because it is in a data format that can be driven,
The recorded data can be read, processed quickly, and output as an image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially omitted side view showing an internal configuration of a double-sided recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially omitted side view showing a maintenance state of the embodiment in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an embodiment of a double-sided recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a right side view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a two-sided recording apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 double-sided recording device 2 recording medium 3 paper feed unit 10 transport unit 14 paper feed roller 16 paper guide 18 first recording unit 19 second recording unit 22 platen 23 carriage 24 recording head 25 ribbon cassette 26 external storage medium drive unit 28 input Unit 29 display unit 32 first storage unit 33 second storage unit 34 CPU 38 transport unit driver

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masahisa Komatsu 1-7 Yukitani Otsukacho, Ota-ku, Tokyo Alps Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroshi Moriyama 1-7 Yukitani-Otsukacho, Ota-ku, Tokyo Alps Electric Co., Ltd. Inside the company (72) Takanori Kobayashi Alps Electric Co., Ltd. 1-7, Yukitani-Otsuka-cho, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside (72) Inventor Takeshi Kato Inside Alps Electric Co., Ltd. 1-7, Yukitani-Otsuka-cho, Ota-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Masahiko Mori 1-7 Yukitani Otsukacho, Ota-ku, Tokyo Alps Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yutaka Fukuoka 1-7 Yukitani Otsuka-cho, Ota-ku, Tokyo Alps Electric Co., Ltd. (72 ) Inventor Yamashita Akeura 1-7, Yukitani-Otsuka-cho, Ota-ku, Tokyo Alps Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hideki Naito 1-7, Yukitani-Otsuka-cho, Ota-ku, Tokyo Alps Electric Co., Ltd. F-term ( Reference) 2C055 KK00 KK02 KK11 5B021 FF03 PP04 PP06

Claims (4)

[Claims] A feeder for accommodating a plurality of recording media, a transporter for transporting the recording media one by one from the paper feeder, and the transporter transported by the transporter. A first recording unit for performing recording on one surface of the recording medium and a second recording unit for performing recording on the other surface of the recording medium, wherein recording is performed on the front surface and the back surface of the recording medium, respectively; A double-sided recording apparatus for performing the operation, comprising: an external storage medium driving unit that drives an external storage medium in which recording data to be recorded on the recording medium is stored, for setting a desired recording state based on the recording data. An input unit, a display unit for displaying input data by the input unit or setting contents according to the input data, a first storage unit for storing a program for controlling a recording operation, and a first storage unit for storing a program for controlling a recording operation; A double-sided printing apparatus comprising: a second storage unit for storing a value required for processing of a stored program; and a CPU for executing printing control according to the program. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of paper feed units are provided, and a transport control unit that selects one of the paper feed units based on the print data and controls driving of the transport unit is provided. The double-sided recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. When modifying or updating a program stored in the first storage unit, an external storage medium storing a new program is mounted on the external storage medium drive unit, and the external storage medium 3. The double-sided recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the new program is stored in the first storage unit by driving the driving unit. 4. The first recording section and the second recording section each include a recording head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged and arranged, and the external storage medium driving section directly drives each of the heating elements. 3. The double-sided recording according to claim 1, wherein the external storage medium storing the recording data in a data format is driven, and the CPU performs recording control based on the recording data. apparatus.