JP2001158153A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recorder that does not generate noise even when a large amount of data is transmitted to a carriage from a recorder body at high speed. SOLUTION: A logic voltage connection section having a metallic contact section is provided to each of the printer body and carriage. The logic voltage connection sections are not in the permanent connection but are connected with each other only when the carriage reaches a predetermined position after the carriage is subjected to one reciprocation scanning. When the carriage is connected to the logic voltage connection section of the printer body, the printer body transmits the predetermined amount of image data to the carriage at a burst. The carriage is equipped with a memory capable of storing the image data for at least one scanning. The image data transmitted from the printer body is temporally stored in the memory and is read to be recorded as needed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a recording apparatus,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a printing apparatus that performs printing by scanning a carriage on which a print head is mounted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of information devices such as personal computers, recording devices such as printers as peripheral devices have rapidly spread. In particular, a serial type recording apparatus that performs recording by scanning a carriage equipped with a recording head having a plurality of recording elements on a recording medium is widely used because it is relatively easy to reduce the size. Further, an ink jet recording apparatus that uses an ejection port as a recording element and performs recording by ejecting ink droplets from the ejection port has been rapidly spreading in recent years because color recording can be performed at a relatively low cost.

[0003] Such a serial type recording apparatus is
The image data transmitted from a host computer such as a personal computer is temporarily converted into image data corresponding to each recording element by a control unit provided in the recording apparatus main body, and the data for each recording element is recorded on a carriage. In many cases, it is transmitted to the head.

Further, the recording apparatus main body and the carriage are connected by a cable called a flexible cable. This flexible cable not only supplies the power of the power supply provided in the recording apparatus main body to the carriage, but also
It also serves to transfer the above-mentioned image data and the like converted by the control unit of the printing apparatus main body to the carriage.

[0005]

However, the conventional flexible cable connection has the following problems.

That is, as the demand for higher image quality and higher recording speed of a recorded image increases, as one mode for satisfying these requirements, recording is performed using a recording head in which a large number of recording elements are arranged at high density. That is used.

In such a case, since the number of recording elements increases, the amount of image data transmitted to the recording head also increases. Further, if the scanning speed of the carriage is increased in order to increase the recording speed, image data corresponding to each of the above-described recording elements must be transmitted in a short time. On the other hand, the flexible cable is often unshielded, and when trying to transmit image data at high speed to a recording head with many recording elements, a large amount of data flows at a time through the flexible cable and a large amount of discharge electromagnetic noise is generated. May be. Further, in some cases, deterioration of the electric signal due to crosstalk occurs.

In the case where the transmission speed is not so high, it is possible to prevent the generated discharge electromagnetic noise by attaching a noise suppression component such as a ferrite to the flexible cable. However, when the transmission speed is high, if a noise suppression component is attached to the flexible cable, the waveform of the transmission signal becomes dull, and this method is not effective.

In addition, noise may be generated not only in a cable for data transmission signal but also in a cable for power supply. For example, it may not be sufficient to take measures against noise only in a cable for data transmission signal. Therefore, taking these noise countermeasures causes an increase in cost.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus which does not generate noise even when a large amount of data is transmitted from a recording apparatus main body to a carriage at high speed.

[0011]

According to the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus for performing recording by moving a carriage on which a recording head is mounted with respect to a recording medium. A data transmission unit for transmitting to the carriage, a data reception unit provided on the carriage for receiving data from the data transmission unit, and a printhead for controlling the printhead based on the data received by the data reception unit And a control unit, wherein the data transmission unit transmits data when the carriage reaches a predetermined position.

According to the above arrangement, both the data transmitting section and the data receiving section have the connecting section, and the connecting section is connected only when the carriage reaches the predetermined position, and the connection from the data transmitting section to the data receiving section is established. Since data transmission is performed, a flexible cable for constantly connecting the data transmitting unit and the data receiving unit is not required.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printer showing an embodiment of the present invention.

Recording medium (hereinafter also referred to as “paper”) 1
Is transported to a recordable area by transport rollers 2 and 3 arranged before and after in the transport direction of the sheet indicated by arrow A. The transport rollers 2 and 3 are rotated by the driving force of the sheet feed motor 70 transmitted via the belt.

The guide shaft 5 extends in a direction (direction indicated by an arrow B) orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction. During recording, the carriage 6 reciprocally scans along the guide shaft 5. The carriage unit 6 is moved by the driving force of the carriage motor 71 transmitted via the belt 8.

The carriage 6 has a cyan head 9C for discharging cyan ink, a magenta head 9M for discharging magenta ink, a yellow head 9Y for discharging yellow ink, and a black head 9K for discharging black ink.
Of the four types of recording heads 9 at a certain interval (for example, 12
mm) in the scanning direction of the carriage 6. Each recording head 9 is arranged so that an ejection port array in which a plurality of ejection ports are arranged is orthogonal to the scanning direction of the carriage 6. Then, the carriage 6 is scanned in a state where each ejection port array is spaced apart from the recording surface of the sheet 1 by a predetermined distance (for example, 5 mm).

Each ejection port performs recording by ejecting ink droplets at predetermined positions during the scanning of the carriage 6.
The ejection method will be described later.

Each time the carriage 6 performs one reciprocating scan, the transport rollers 2 and 3 transport the sheet 1 in the direction of arrow A by a predetermined amount. In this manner, by alternately repeating the scanning of the carriage 6 and the conveyance of the sheet 1, an image is formed on the entire sheet 1.

At the home position where the carriage 6 normally stops other than during recording (the position where the carriage 6 stops in FIG. 1), the ejection port surface of the recording head 9 is prevented from drying out. Is provided. This capping mechanism covers the discharge port surface so that the discharge port does not come into contact with the outside air. Further, if necessary, a recovery process for removing ink or the like that has increased in viscosity in the vicinity of the discharge port by performing suction with a suction pump provided in the capping mechanism is executed. The suction pump is driven by a recovery motor (not shown). Further, a wiping mechanism (not shown) composed of an absorber for wiping the discharge port surface and a supporting member thereof may be provided.

An outer case of the printer (not shown)
Is provided with an operation panel 160 to which a user can send an operation command. The operation panel 160 includes a key setting unit such as an online / offline switching key 60A for switching connection / non-connection with the host computer, a line feed key 60B, a form feed key 60C, a recording mode switching key 60D, and an alarm LE.
D61A and LED61B for online / offline display
And a display unit such as a display LCD 65 for notifying the status of the printer to the outside.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing an ink discharge section of the recording head.

On the surface of the recording head 9 facing the paper 1,
The plurality of discharge ports 10 are formed at a predetermined pitch. Each discharge port 10 is connected to an ink tank (not shown) via a liquid path 10A. Then, the liquid path 1 to the discharge port 10
0A is always filled with the ink 13. Further, a heating heater 11 which is an electrothermal converter corresponding to each discharge port 10 is provided.
Is provided, and when the ink is ejected, the heating heater 11 is provided.
Is electrically heated. When the heating heater 11 generates heat, film boiling occurs in the ink and bubbles 12 are generated. This bubble 12
A predetermined amount of the ink droplet 13A is ejected by the generated pressure. An image is formed by the ink droplets 13A adhering to the sheet 1 to form a predetermined dot pattern.
When the heating of the heating heater 11 is stopped, the inside of the discharge port is cooled, and the bubbles 12 disappear.

Each recording head 9 is provided with a heat driver 14 for turning on and off the power supply to the heating heater 11. This is driven based on output signals of the recording data serial / parallel conversion circuit 16 and the heat signal generation circuit 17. The print data serial / parallel conversion circuit 16 and the heat signal generation circuit 17 are driven in accordance with an output signal from a print head control circuit 29 provided on the carriage 6.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the printer.

The CPU 21 controls the driving of each drive unit according to a control program stored in a program memory 24 in the form of a ROM. Working memory 25 in RAM form
Is used for the CPU 21 to temporarily store, process, and process various control signals and image data received from the host device 100 via the interface 32. CP
U21, based on the image data sent from the host device 100 and the control program in the program memory 24, via the output port 26, the carriage motor control circuit 42, the sheet feed motor control circuit 44, the recovery motor control circuit A drive signal is sent to 45. The motor control circuits 42, 44, and 45 that have received the drive signals respectively operate the carriage motor 71 and the sheet feed motor 7 in accordance with the drive signals.
0, the recovery motor 72 is driven.

The CPU 21 transmits a drive signal to the printhead control circuit 29 based on the above-mentioned image data.
The recording head control circuit 29 drives each recording head 9 according to the driving signal. The details of the transmission of the drive signal from the CPU 21 to the printhead control circuit 29 will be described later.

Further, the power supply circuit 28 outputs
Also, a logic drive voltage VCC for operating control logic circuits of various memories, a motor drive voltage VM for operating various motors, a heat voltage VH for energizing the heating heater 11 of the recording head 9 to generate heat, and the like are supplied. .

An operation signal input from each operation key of the operation panel 160 is transmitted to the CPU 2 through the input port 22.
Sent to 1. Conversely, display signals of various display units of the operation panel 160 are sent from the CPU 21 to the display unit via the output port 26.

Next, a method of transmitting a signal from a control unit such as the CPU 21 provided on the printer body to the recording head control circuit 29 provided on the carriage 6 will be described.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the mechanism of data transfer between the carriage and the printer main body according to this embodiment.

As described above, the power supply and the recording data signal which is a drive signal for driving the recording head 9 are sent from the printer main body to the carriage 6 detached from the printer main body.

The power is supplied by connecting a head voltage connection unit 601 on the carriage 6 and a head voltage connection unit 701 provided on the printer main body with a connection cable. That is, the head voltage connection unit 601 of the carriage 6 and the head voltage connection unit 70 of the printer
1 means that the connection is always made unless the connection cable is disconnected.

On the other hand, the print data signal is sent from the print data signal and logic voltage connection section 702 on the printer side to the print data and logic voltage connection section 602 on the carriage 6 side. However, each logic voltage connection 6
02 and 702 are not always connected by a connection cable, but are connected instantaneously at the timing described below.
At the time of connection, a recording data signal is transmitted at a stretch.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing the mechanism of the logic voltage connection.

The logic voltage connection section 60 on the carriage 6 side
Reference numeral 2 is provided with a plurality of concave holes at an end in the scanning direction on the carriage substrate 607. The logic voltage connection 602 is a land that has been plated.

On the other hand, the logic voltage connection unit 7 on the printer side
02 is formed of a plurality of spring-shaped metal pieces. The logic voltage connection unit 702 is connected to the CPU 2 of the printer main body.
1 and a wiring. A part of the housing of the printer main body covers the logic voltage connection portion 702.
03.

The cover 703 is provided at the position shown in FIG. However, the present invention does not limit the positions of the logic voltage connection unit 702 and the cover 703 to this position, and may be on the home position side.

When the carriage 3 moves in the direction of arrow C, enters the cover 703, and further moves to a predetermined position, the spring-like contact of the logic voltage connection portion 702 on the printer side is lifted at the corner of the carriage 6, and The structure is such that the carriage 6 is inserted into the hole of the logic voltage connection portion 602 on the carriage with the force of incidence, and both are connected.

The logic voltage connection units 602 and 702
When the carriage 6 moves in the direction of the arrow D in a state where is connected, the two contacts are separated and the connection is disconnected.

That is, the carriage 6 sets the recordable area to 1
When scanning is performed and a predetermined position in the cover 703 is reached, the logic voltage connection unit 602 on the carriage side is operated as described above.
Get hooked and connect. Then, when the logic voltage connection units 602 and 702 are connected, the CPU 21 transmits a predetermined amount of print data to the carriage 6 at a stretch.

The carriage 6 is provided with a memory 603 for storing print data to be printed in at least one scan, and print data transmitted from the printer is temporarily stored in the memory 603. Then, the print head driving logic unit 604 reads the print data stored in the memory 603 and transmits the read print data to the print head 9. Recording head 9
Is to discharge ink droplets from each discharge port based on the transmitted print data.

On the other hand, when the carriage 6 is receiving recording data inside the cover 703, the transport roller performs a predetermined amount of paper feeding operation.

When the reception of the print data is completed as described above, the carriage 6 scans toward the home position (the direction of arrow D). At this time, the logic voltage connection unit 60
2, 702 is disconnected. When the print head 9 reaches the predetermined position, it scans again in the direction of arrow C, and in the printable area, the print head 9 performs an ejection operation based on print data read from the memory 603.

Since the recording data is transmitted a plurality of times in units of a predetermined amount, the amount of data transmitted at one time is not so large. Furthermore, since the connection between the logic voltage connection unit 602 on the carriage side and the logic voltage connection unit 702 on the printer side is instantaneous, it does not take much time to connect every one reciprocating scan. Record data can be transmitted.

In addition, since the amount of data transmitted at the time of connection is small and the connection portion 702 is protected by the cover 703, discharge at the time of data transmission can be suppressed, and generation of discharge electromagnetic noise can be suppressed. it can.

The connection mechanism of the present embodiment is an example, and the present invention may be any mechanism that can easily connect / disconnect the logic voltage connection unit between the carriage and the printer.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the mechanism is such that only the logic voltage connection can be easily connected / disconnected, and the head voltage connection is always connected. In the second embodiment, the head voltage connection is also connected / disconnected. A configuration which can be disconnected and has no power supply line will be described.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a mechanism of data transfer between the carriage and the printer main body according to the present embodiment.

The head voltage connection section 601 on the carriage side and the head voltage connection section 701 on the printer side are not always connected by a power supply line, and the logic voltage connection section 60 shown in FIG.
2, 702, a head voltage connection unit 701 on the printer side is provided in the cover 703, and the carriage 6
The carriage voltage head 601 on the carriage side is provided on the carriage substrate 607. The connection mechanism may be the same as the logic voltage connection units 602 and 702,
Other mechanisms may be used.

Since the head voltage connection units 601 and 701 are not always connected, in the present embodiment, the heating voltage supplied from the printer side is temporarily stored, and when the head voltage connection units 601 and 701 are disconnected. Provides a mechanism that uses the stored heat voltage.

A battery 606 for storing a heat voltage and a voltage conversion circuit 605 are provided in the carriage 6.
It is connected to the head voltage connection unit 601. The heat voltage supplied from the printer via the head voltage connection unit 601 is temporarily stored in the battery 606. In addition to the heat voltage supplied from the battery 606 to the printhead 9, part of the heat voltage is sent to the voltage conversion circuit 605, where the heat voltage is converted into a logic voltage and sent to the printhead driving logic unit 604.

As described above, by using a mechanism in which the carriage 6 is not always connected by the power line, the movement of the carriage 6 due to the movement range of the line is not restricted, and the carriage 6 is not moved.
Can be set freely.

Further, since the connection is not made by the power supply line, noise generated on the power supply line is eliminated.

(Third Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the connection mechanism between the logic voltage connection portion on the printer side and the logic voltage connection portion on the carriage side is a spring-like metal piece fitted therein. A connection mechanism by infrared communication which is not described will be described.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing the mechanism of the logic voltage connection section of the present embodiment.

In the first embodiment, the logic voltage connection unit 60
Although the connection mechanism 2702 is formed by fitting a spring-shaped metal piece, in the present embodiment, an infrared light emitting unit and a light receiving unit are used.

The logic voltage connection section 602 on the carriage side
Is an infrared light receiving section provided on the carriage substrate 607. The logic voltage connection unit 702 on the printer side is an infrared light emitting unit provided in the cover 703. This infrared light emitting section is connected to the CPU 21 by wiring.

The transmission of the print data and the logic voltage is performed for each reciprocating scan of the carriage 6 as in the first embodiment. The printer-side logic voltage connection unit 702, that is, the infrared light emitting unit, emits light at regular intervals, and the carriage-side logic voltage connection unit 602, that is, the infrared light receiving unit, receives data when approaching the light-emitting unit a predetermined distance. ing. Carriage side logic voltage connection part (light receiving part) 6
When 02 receives a transmission end signal from the light emitting unit, it sends a reception end signal to the carriage control circuit. Further, the received data is sent to a print head driving logic section 604 (see FIG. 4), and the data is converted into a head driving signal by the print head driving logic section 604.

When the carriage control circuit completes the reception,
The carriage 6 is moved in the direction of arrow D, and it is determined whether or not it is on a recordable area based on a position detection signal from a sensor for detecting the position of the carriage.

As described above, by transmitting the recording data and the logic voltage not by radio waves but by wireless infrared communication, even if a large amount of data is transmitted at once, it is possible to realize reliable data transmission without generating noise. it can.

In each of the above embodiments, the recording method of the recording head is an ink jet method. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any other recording method may be used.

[0063]

By using the recording apparatus of the present invention,
The data transmission unit and the data reception unit both have a connection unit. Only when the carriage reaches a predetermined position, the connection unit is connected, and data transmission from the data transmission unit to the data reception unit is performed. Since a flexible cable that constantly connects the unit and the data receiving unit is not required, noise is not generated even when a large amount of data is transmitted from the printing unit to the carriage at high speed, and data can be transmitted reliably. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printer showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an ink ejection unit of a recording head.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the printer.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a mechanism of data transfer between a carriage and a printer main body.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a mechanism of a logic voltage connection unit.

FIG. 6 is another block diagram showing a data transfer mechanism between the carriage and the printer main body.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing another embodiment of the mechanism of the logic voltage connection unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording medium 2 Conveying roller 3 Conveying roller 5 Guide shaft 6 Carriage 9 Recording head 10 Discharge port 11 Heating heater 21 CPU 24 Program memory 25 Working memory 26 Output port 29 Recording head control circuit 42 Carriage motor control circuit 44 Sheet feed motor control circuit 45 Recovery motor control circuit 601 Head voltage connection (carriage side) 602 Logic voltage connection (carriage side) 603 Memory 604 Recording head drive logic 605 Voltage conversion circuit 606 Battery 701 Head voltage connection (printer side) 702 Logic Voltage connection (printer side) 703 Cover

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus for performing printing by moving a carriage having a printing head mounted on a printing medium, provided in a printing apparatus main body, and transmitting a predetermined amount of data to the carriage. A data receiving unit that receives data from the data transmitting unit; and a print head control unit that controls the print head based on the data received by the data receiving unit. Wherein the data transmission unit transmits data when the data reaches the recording device. 2. The data transmission section and the data reception section each have a connection section that can be connected and disconnected by moving a carriage, and the data transmission section only transmits when both connection sections are connected at the predetermined position. The recording device according to claim 1, wherein the unit transmits data. 3. A storage unit provided on a carriage for temporarily storing the data, wherein the data received by the data receiving unit is temporarily stored in the storage unit, and the recording head control unit is provided in the storage unit. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is controlled based on data stored in the recording head. 4. The connection section on the data transmission section side is spring-shaped, and the connection section on the data reception section side is concave,
When the carriage reaches a predetermined position, the spring-shaped connection portion is connected by fitting into the concave connection portion, and when the carriage moves from the predetermined position, the spring-shaped connection portion is moved from the concave connection portion. The recording device according to claim 1, wherein the recording device is separated. 5. The data transmitting section has an infrared light emitting section, the data receiving section has an infrared light receiving section, and when the carriage reaches a predetermined position, the infrared light emitting section emits light, and the infrared light receiving section emits light. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein data is transmitted from the data transmission unit to the data reception unit when the unit receives light. 6. A printing apparatus for performing printing by moving a carriage on which a printing head is mounted with respect to a printing medium, wherein the printing apparatus is provided in a printing apparatus main body and supplies a predetermined amount of electric power only when the carriage reaches a predetermined position. A power supply unit to be supplied to the carriage, a power receiving unit provided on the carriage and receiving power from the power supply unit, and a battery provided on the carriage and storing the power received by the power receiving unit. Characteristic recording device.