JP2002086862A - Print system and recording medium for use therein - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer system, and a recording medium for use therein, in which printing optimal for the type and size of a recording medium can be ensured by determining them accurately and easily. SOLUTION: The print system comprises a means for printing on a recording medium, and a means for controlling the print means wherein the recording medium is provided with characteristics information. The print system further comprises a means for reading out the characteristics information and delivering it to the control means. The control means determines a print mode based on the characteristics information and control the print means based on that print mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printing system capable of performing appropriate printing in accordance with the type and size of a recording medium and a recording medium used for the printing system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A printing system such as an ink jet printer performs recording on various recording media. Recording media include
There are plain paper, inkjet paper, film, and synthetic paper. Plain paper includes acidic paper and neutral paper. For example, even for the same neutral paper, the density and sharpness of printing differ depending on the content of a humectant, a penetrant, a coloring agent, and the like. Inkjet dedicated paper is paper that has been given a predetermined coating suitable for inkjet printing. Films and synthetic papers are made of PET or the like, and include transparent, translucent, matte, and glossy ones. In addition, recycled paper, non-wood paper,
There are various kinds of special papers, stickers, back print films, iron transfer sheets for printing reverse images and transferring them to T-shirts, canvases, nonwoven fabrics, and the like, and the types of recording media are increasing.

[0003]

As described above, there are various types of recording media, and the color development (print density) and sharpness of printing differ depending on the type of the recording medium. Therefore, in order to obtain a clear image with high print density by printing, it is necessary to adjust the amount of ink ejected or to change the mixing ratio of each color of ink according to the type of recording medium.

[0004] For example, the allowable amount of ink that can be absorbed differs depending on the type of recording medium. Therefore, if a large amount of ink is ejected to a recording medium having a small amount of absorption that can be absorbed, ink overflows. Further, for example, since the whiteness varies depending on the type of recording medium, it is necessary to adjust the mixing ratio of the ink in order to increase the print density and sharpness.

[0005] On the other hand, depending on the size and type (use) of the recording medium, it is necessary to switch the print mode, such as by adjusting the print range or inverting the printing.

For this reason, a method has been proposed in which a printer is provided with a transmitted light sensor, a reflected light sensor, or the like, reads the surface of a recording medium, determines the type and size of the recording medium, and employs an appropriate print mode. I have.

However, according to this method, only a clear discrimination by observing with the human eyes, such as the size of the recording medium and whether or not the surface of the recording medium is transparent, can be accurately performed according to the type of recording medium. There is a problem that the instruction of the print mode cannot be obtained. In particular, in recent years, the types of recording media have been diversified, and high-precision discrimination is required even when it is difficult to discriminate by observation with human eyes.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing system capable of accurately and easily discriminating the type and size of a recording medium and enabling optimal printing according to the type, and a recording medium used for the printing system. Things.

[0009]

To achieve the above object, a printing system according to the present invention comprises: a printing system for printing a recording medium; and a control unit for controlling the printing unit. The recording medium is provided with characteristic information, and the characteristic information is read,
A reading unit for sending the read characteristic information to the control unit is provided, wherein the control unit determines a print mode based on the characteristic information, and controls the printing unit based on the print mode.

[0010] The characteristic information is information for specifying the type and size of the recording medium.

In the above printing system, the recording medium may be provided with a barcode on which the characteristic information is recorded, and the reading unit may be a barcode reader.

In the above printing system, the bar code may be printed or affixed to a packaging material for storing the recording medium.

In the printing system, an IC chip on which the characteristic information is recorded may be attached to a packaging material for storing the recording medium, and the reading unit may be an IC reader.

[0014] A recording medium according to the present invention is a recording medium for the printing system to which the characteristic information is added.

Further, a recording medium according to the present invention is characterized in that the recording medium is a recording medium for the printing system, to which a bar code on which the characteristic information is recorded is attached.

In the recording medium, a bar code on which the characteristic information is recorded may be printed or affixed to a packaging material stored in the recording medium.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, a recording medium of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which a plurality of recording media are packaged in a packaging material. The recording medium 1 is paper and is wrapped with a wrapping material 12. A label 13 on which a barcode on which characteristic information of the recording medium 1 is recorded is attached to the outside of the packaging material 12.

The bar code printed on the label 13 includes:
Characteristic information on the type and size of the recording medium is recorded. As will be described later, the characteristic information recorded on the barcode is read by a barcode reader, and the read characteristic information is input to the control means, so that the type of the recording medium can be easily determined.

The packaging material may be transparent or opaque, and the barcode may be provided on the outside or inside of the packaging material. Further, the barcode is not limited to the label, and may be printed on a packaging material, or a sheet on which the barcode is written may be folded into the packaging material. Further, the barcode may be another information recording member such as an IC chip.

Next, the printing system of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the printing system according to the present embodiment. The printing system 10 includes a reading mechanism, a printing mechanism, and a control circuit.

The reading mechanism has a bar code reader 3. The printing mechanism includes a recording head 2, a recording head driving device 21 for driving the recording head 2, a media sensor (not shown), an edge guide 5, a paper feeding roller 61, a paper feeding motor 62 for driving the recording head 2, A feed roller 64, a paper feed motor 65 for driving the feed roller 64, and a paper presser 66 are provided. The control circuit includes a print control circuit 22, a barcode data transfer circuit 31, a media data transfer circuit (not shown), a sheet feed control circuit 63, and the control means 7.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which a sheet of paper as a recording medium is set on the edge guide 5.

An ink cartridge 23 is mounted on the recording head 2. The recording head 2 and the ink cartridge 23 are integrally moved at a high speed in the direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction, and eject ink particles from nozzles provided on the recording head 2 to print on the paper 11.

The bar code reader 3 is provided in the printing system 10
Are removably housed in a predetermined holder provided in the camera. A well-known barcode reader is used.

The edge guide 5 has a step, holds the paper 11 by the step, and functions as a paper feed guide when the paper 11 is fed to the recording head side.

Paper feed roller 61 and paper feed roller 64
Moves the paper to the recording head side. The paper presser 66 is disposed so as to sandwich the paper 1 between the paper presser 66 and the paper feed roller 64.

The recording head 2 has a recording head driving device 21
The barcode data transfer circuit 31 is connected to the barcode reader 3, the media data transfer circuit is connected to the media sensor, and the paper feed roller 61 is connected to the print control circuit 22. Is the paper feed motor 62
And a sheet feed control circuit 63 is connected to the paper feed roller 64 via a paper feed motor 65. The control means 7 is connected to the print control circuit 22, the barcode data transfer circuit 31, and the sheet feed control circuit 63.

In the present invention, the control means 7 may be mounted on a printer or a personal computer.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the control means of the printing system in detail. The control means 7 includes a CP
U71, a memory 72, an input buffer 73, and an output buffer 74 are provided.

The operation of the printing system 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, the printer pulls out the bar code reader 3 from the predetermined holder and reads the bar code attached to the packaging material using the same. Then, the characteristic information recorded in the barcode is accumulated in the input buffer 73 through the barcode data transfer circuit 31.

Next, the paper 11 is set so as to be held by the edge guide 5, and a print job is transmitted from the control means to the printer. When the media sensor 4 detects whether there is paper in the edge guide (media data). The media data is stored in the media data transfer circuit 41 and the input buffer 73.

The input buffer 73 receives barcode data and media data from the barcode data transfer circuit 31 and the media data transfer circuit 41, and temporarily stores them. The data in the input buffer 73 is a CPU
The CPU 71 transmits the print mode to the output buffer 74 while referring to the data in the memory 72. The output buffer 74 outputs a predetermined signal to the print control circuit 22 and the sheet feed control circuit 63 according to the print mode.

The sheet feed control circuit 63 controls the driving of the paper feed motor 62 to rotate the paper feed roller 61 and
1 is moved to the recording head side at a constant speed. After the paper reaches the paper feed roller 64 and the paper presser 66, the drive of the paper feed motor 62 is stopped, the drive of the paper feed motor 65 is controlled to rotate the paper feed roller 64, and the paper 11 is further moved to the recording head side. At a constant speed. At this time,
6 rotates in the opposite direction with the rotation of the paper feed roller 64.

The print control circuit 22 drives and controls the recording head drive device 21 to print on paper in a predetermined print mode while moving the print head drive device 21 in a direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the control means in the printing system.

A control procedure when the control means transmits a print job to the printer in the printing system according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. As described above, the barcode attached to the packaging material is read in advance, and the characteristic information recorded in the barcode is stored in the input buffer 73. here,
The print mode data A, B,
Only the characteristic information a, b, and c corresponding to C are stored in the buffer 73, and the other barcode data is not stored.

Next, the paper 11 is set so as to be held by the edge guide 5, and the control unit transmits a print job to the printer (S0). The media sensor 4 detects the characteristic information, which is transmitted to the CPU 71 via the media data transfer circuit 41 and the input buffer 73 (S
1).

Upon receiving the media data indicating that there is no paper, the CPU 71 reads the print end mode from the memory 72 (S6) and outputs this to the sheet feed control circuit 63 and the print control circuit 22 via the output buffer 74. (S7). In the printing end mode, the sheet feed control circuit 63 does not drive the paper feed motor 62 and the paper feed motor 65, and the print control circuit 22 does not drive the recording head driving device 21.

The CPU 71 that has received the media data indicating that there is paper determines whether or not a barcode has been input (S2). When a barcode is input, the CPU 71
Performs collation between the characteristic information recorded in the input buffer 73 and the print mode data recorded in the memory 72 (S3). For example, if the characteristic information recorded in the input buffer 73 is a, the print mode data A conforming to a is read from the memory 72 (S4). Then, the print mode A is output to the sheet feed control circuit 63 and the print control circuit 22 via the output buffer 74 (S7).

The print control circuit 22 controls the driving of the recording head driving device 21 so as to move the recording head 2 in a direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction, thereby controlling the printing mode A.
(Ink ejection amount and mixture ratio of each color of ink best suited to a) are printed on paper.

When all the sheets set on the edge guide are printed and the sheet runs out, the print end mode is output as described above (S6). Here, for example, while the paper is present in the edge guide, the state in which the characteristic information read in the input buffer 73 is stored is maintained, and when the paper runs out, the stored characteristic information is erased. . In this case, since the control unit stores the characteristic information until the paper runs out, it is not necessary to perform a barcode reading operation each time a print job is input.

When there is no paper, in addition to outputting the print end mode as described above, the control of the control means 7 is stopped and
A warning may be output to an external device, or a warning lamp in the printer may be turned on. At this time, if paper is added to the edge guide, the bar code is automatically checked (S
2, S3) may be started.

On the other hand, if there is no bar code input, or if characteristic information f that does not correspond to the print mode data A, B, and C recorded in the memory 72 is input, the CPU 71 sends the normal print data from the memory 72. The mode is read (S5), and is output to the sheet feed control circuit 63 and the print control circuit 22 via the output buffer 74 (S7).

In this case, besides outputting the normal print mode as described above, the control of the control means 7 is stopped to output a warning to an external device or to turn on a warning lamp in the printer. It may be. At this time, if the appropriate barcode is read again, the barcode inquiry (S2, S3) may be automatically started.

In the above, it may be programmed so that the characteristic information once stored in the input buffer 73 is maintained until a predetermined reset operation is performed. In this case, the control unit stores the characteristic information until the reset operation is performed.

As described above, in the present invention, the type and size of the recording medium are automatically determined by simply reading the characteristic information of the recording medium by a predetermined reader and transmitting the print job. Since printing is performed in the print mode, autoselect printing can be performed.

In the above embodiment, an ink jet printer has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to a printer of a thermal transfer system, an electrophotographic system, or the like.

[0051]

According to the present invention, the characteristic information is added to the recording medium, and by reading the characteristic information, the type and size of the recording medium can be accurately, easily and quickly determined.
Optimum printing according to the type and size of the recording medium becomes possible, and a clear image with high print density can be obtained.

Further, since the mode is automatically switched to the print mode according to the type and size of the recording medium, it is not necessary to input the type and size of the recording medium at the time of printing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which a plurality of recording media are packaged in a packaging material according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure of a control unit in the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording medium 11 Paper 12 Packaging material 13 Barcode label 10 Printing system 2 Recording head 21 Recording head drive 22 Printing control circuit 23 Ink cartridge 3 Barcode reader 31 Barcode data transfer circuit 4 Media sensor 41 Media data transfer circuit 5 Edge Guide 61 Paper feed roller 62 Paper feed motor 63 Sheet feed control circuit 64 Paper feed roller 65 Paper feed motor 66 Paper presser 7 Control means 71 CPU 72 Memory 73 Input buffer 74 Output buffer

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A printing system comprising printing means for printing a recording medium and control means for controlling the printing means, wherein the recording medium is provided with characteristic information, and the characteristic information is read. Reading means for sending the read characteristic information to the control means, the control means determines a print mode based on the characteristic information,
A printing system, wherein the printing unit is controlled based on the print mode. 2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein a bar code on which the characteristic information is recorded is attached to the recording medium, and the reading unit is a bar code reader. 3. The printing system according to claim 2, wherein the barcode is printed or affixed to a packaging material for storing the recording medium. 4. A printing system according to claim 1, wherein an IC chip on which said characteristic information is recorded is attached to a packaging material for storing said recording medium, and said reading means is an IC reader. . 5. The recording medium for a printing system according to claim 1, wherein said characteristic information is added. 6. The recording medium for a printing system according to claim 2, further comprising a barcode on which the characteristic information is recorded. 7. The recording medium according to claim 3, wherein the barcode is printed or affixed to a packaging material for storing the recording medium.