JP2002113909A - Paper exhaustion detecting method, continuous paper and printer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of inability to always detect paper exhaustion at the most preferable paper residual amount particularly in a printer device for an on table use, which is required to achieve miniaturization. SOLUTION: With a continuous paper 1 having a detection position adjusting mark 10 at a position with the length to the paper lower end longer than the page length P, passage of the detection position adjusting mark 10 is detected as paper exhaustion by a paper exhaustion detecting sensor 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an out-of-paper detecting method for detecting out-of-paper in a continuous paper printer, a continuous paper and a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a side structure of a printer using a conventional paper-out detecting method.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 11 denotes a continuous paper on which continuous printing is performed, 12 denotes a print head for printing on the continuous paper 11, and 13 serves as a printing base and is continuous in the paper transport direction (right direction in FIG. 4). A platen for transporting the paper 11;
Reference numeral 14 denotes a carriage fixed to the print head 12, and reference numeral 15 denotes a screw shaft for guiding the carriage 14.

A paper feed motor 16 generates a driving force.
Reference numeral 17 denotes a tractor for transporting the continuous paper 11 in the paper transport direction, reference numeral 18 denotes a timing belt for transmitting the driving force of the paper feed motor 16 to the platen 13 and tractor 17, and reference numeral 19 denotes an out-of-paper detection sensor for detecting that the continuous paper 11 is out of paper. . The out-of-paper detection sensor 19 is provided closer to the paper supply side than the print head 12, so that the continuous paper 11 conveyed in the paper conveyance direction passes through the detection position of the out-of-paper detection sensor 19, and then the print position of the print head 12 is changed. Printed with

[0005] T2 is the length from the print position of the print head 12 to the detection position of the paper out detection sensor 19 (print position minus
(Length between detection positions), and corresponds to the remaining amount of paper when the paper is exhausted.

Next, the operation will be described. 4, the carriage 14 and the print head 12 reciprocate in the left-right direction (the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 4) by the rotation of the screw shaft 15. During this reciprocating movement, the print head 1
2 prints on the continuous paper 11. When printing for one line is completed, the paper feed motor 16 rotates to generate a driving force. This driving force is transmitted to the platen 13 and the tractor 17 via the timing belt 18, and the continuous paper 11 is conveyed, that is, the line feeds.

[0007] The printing and line feed operations are repeated, and the continuous paper 1
When the last lower end of the sheet 1 passes the detection position of the sheet-out detection sensor 19, the printer apparatus recognizes the paper-out or the remaining paper amount T2 (= print position-detection position length) and stops printing.

Generally, the best remaining paper amount T2 at the time of detecting the out of paper is a value larger than the page length P. That is,
It is desirable that the detection position of the paper-out detection sensor 19 be separated from the print position of the print head 12 so that T2> P.

However, since the page length P differs for each job, and the print position-detection position length T2 also differs depending on the type of the printer, the remaining paper amount T2 is smaller than the page length P as shown in FIG. May be shorter. In such a case, paper shortage is detected during the printing of the last N pages, and printing stops in the middle of the last N pages (until PT2). Therefore, no printing is performed on the shaded portion of the continuous paper 11 in FIG. 5, and the final N pages are not completed, so that a recovery process (reprinting) in the system is required.

In order to facilitate the recovery process, there is a printer having a forced printing function for forcibly printing the remaining data that cannot be printed on the continuous paper 11, but such a printer has a continuous printing function. Blank printing is performed in a state where the paper 11 is not present, and the print head 12 is damaged.

A sensor movable type printer device (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-12468) capable of variably detecting the paper-out condition so that the paper-out condition can always be detected under the condition of T2> P.
However, such a printer device requires a movable mechanism for moving the paper-out detecting sensor 19, so that the number of components of the printer device increases.

In particular, in order to process a document having a long page length P, the movable range must be increased in accordance with the length T2 between the print position and the detection position. It is not suitable for the required desktop printer. The page length P is generally 11 inches, but the length T between the print position and the detection position is determined by a desktop printer.
2 cannot be as large as 11 inches, and the sensor movable method is not feasible for a desktop printer.

[0013]

Since the conventional paper-out detecting method is configured as described above, particularly in a printer apparatus which is required to be miniaturized, such as a desktop apparatus, paper-out is performed with the best remaining amount of paper. There was a problem that it could not always be detected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and the invention is not limited to the sensor movable system, and can always detect the out of paper with the best remaining amount of paper. It is an object of the present invention to configure a detection method, continuous paper, and a printer.

[0015]

According to the present invention, there is provided a sheet-out detecting method for a continuous sheet provided with a detection position adjustment mark at a position where the length from the last lower end of the sheet is longer than the page length.
The continuous paper is transported in the paper transport direction of the printer device while printing is continuously performed, and the passage of the detection position adjustment mark detection position is detected as paper out by the paper out detection means provided on the paper supply side from the printing position. It is something to do.

In the continuous paper according to the present invention, the detection position adjustment mark is provided at a position where the length from the final bottom end of the paper is longer than the page length, and the passage of the detection position is detected by the paper-out detection means as paper-out. It is prepared for.

The printer device according to the present invention is provided at a position where the length from the bottom end of the paper is longer than the page length,
A continuous position sheet is provided with a detection position adjustment mark for detecting passage of the detection position as sheet shortage by the sheet shortage detecting means.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Embodiment 1 FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a side view of a printer device using the out-of-paper detection method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a printer device using the out-of-paper detection method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows a front structure.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a continuous paper on which continuous printing is performed, 2 denotes a printing head (printing means) for printing on the continuous paper 1, 3 denotes a printing base and a paper transport direction (see FIG. Reference numeral 4 denotes a carriage (printing means) fixed to the print head 2, and reference numeral 5 denotes a screw shaft (printing means) for guiding the carriage 4.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a paper feed motor for generating a driving force;
Is a tractor that transports the continuous paper 1 in the paper transport direction, 8 is a timing belt that transmits the driving force of the paper feed motor 6 to the platen 3 and the tractor 7, and 9 is a paper-out detection sensor (paper-out Detection means). The out-of-paper detection sensor 9 is provided closer to the paper supply side than the print head 2, and the continuous paper 1 conveyed in the paper conveyance direction passes through the detection position of the out-of-paper detection sensor 9 before the print position of the print head 2. Printed with

Reference numeral 10 denotes a detection position adjustment mark such as a hole or a marking made on the continuous paper 1. The length (length between the bottom end of the sheet and the detection position) T1 from the bottom end of the continuous sheet 1 to the detection position adjustment mark 10 is set to be longer than the page length P. The detection position adjustment mark 10 is selected from those detected by the paper-out detection sensor 9.

Next, the operation will be described. 1 and 2, the carriage 4 and the print head 2 reciprocate in the left-right direction (the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1) by the rotation of the screw shaft 5. The print head 2 prints on the continuous paper 1 during this reciprocating movement. When printing for one line is completed, the paper feed motor 6 rotates to generate a driving force. This driving force is applied to the platen 3 and the tractor 7 via the timing belt 8.
, And the continuous paper 1 is transported, that is, the line feed is performed.

When the printing position and the line feed operation are repeated and the detection position adjustment mark 10 passes through the detection position of the paper out detection sensor 9, the printer apparatus recognizes the paper out or the paper remaining amount and stops printing.

In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the detection position adjustment mark 10 is applied to the continuous paper 1 so that the length T1 between the bottom end of the paper and the detection position is greater than the page length P. The remaining amount of paper at the time of detecting the cut-out is equal to the sum of the length T1 between the bottom end of the paper and the detection position and the length T2 between the printing position and the detection position. Even if T2 is extremely short when viewed from the page length P, a remaining paper amount T1 longer than the page length P can always be ensured at the time of detecting the out of paper.

Therefore, the page can be completed at least in the (N-1) th page before the last N pages, and the printing can be completed. As described above, it is possible to detect running out of paper without the need for recovery processing, and it is not necessary to use a movable mechanism of a movable sensor type.

The detection position adjustment mark 10 is located at an appropriate position on the continuous paper 1 corresponding to the page length P that differs for each job without being affected by the print position-detection position length T2 that differs depending on the type of printer device. Since the application can be performed, it is possible to always detect the out-of-paper condition with the optimal remaining amount of paper. When applying the detection position adjustment mark 10 to the continuous paper 1, a request may be made to a trader at the time of ordering the continuous paper 1, or the user of the printer apparatus may perform it.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the continuous paper 1 provided with the detection position adjustment mark 10 at a position where the length to the bottom end of the paper is longer than the page length P is used. Detection position adjustment mark 10 by cut detection sensor 9
Is detected as running out of paper, so there is no need for a sensor movable system, so that it is possible to always detect running out of paper with the best remaining amount of paper without increasing the size of the printer device. Can be

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, printing is continuously performed on continuous paper provided with the detection position adjustment mark at a position where the length from the final bottom end of the paper is longer than the page length. While the continuous paper is transported in the paper transport direction of the printer device, the passage of the detection position adjustment mark at the detection position is detected as the paper-out by the paper-out detection means provided on the paper supply side from the printing position. Since the sensor movable system is not required, the effect that the out of paper can always be detected with the best remaining amount of paper can be obtained without increasing the size of the printer device.

According to the present invention, the detection position adjustment mark is provided at a position where the length from the final bottom end of the sheet is longer than the page length, and the passage of the detection position is detected by the sheet-out detection means as the sheet-out. Accordingly, the need for a movable sensor system is eliminated, so that it is possible to always detect the out of paper with the best remaining amount of paper without increasing the size of the printer.

According to the present invention, the detection position adjustment mark is provided at a position where the length from the bottom end of the sheet is longer than the page length, and the detection of the passage of the detection position by the sheet-out detection means is detected as the sheet-out. I prepared for
Since the sensor movable system is not required, the effect that the out of paper can always be detected with the best remaining amount of paper can be obtained without increasing the size of the printer device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a side configuration of a printer using a paper-out detecting method according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a front configuration of a printer using the paper-out detecting method according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between a print head, a paper-out detection sensor, and a detection position adjustment mark for continuous paper when paper-out is detected.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a side configuration of a printer device using a conventional out-of-paper detection method.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between a print head and a paper-out detection sensor for continuous paper when paper-out is detected.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 continuous paper, 2 print head (printing means), 3 platen (printing means), 4 carriage (printing means), 5 screw shaft (printing means), 6 paper feed motor, 7
Tractor, 8 Timing belt, 9 Paper-out detection sensor (paper-out detection means), 10 Detection position adjustment mark.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A continuous paper having a detection position adjustment mark provided at a position where the length from the final lower end of the paper is longer than the page length is continuously applied to the continuous paper in a paper transport direction of a printer device while performing printing. Wherein the detection position adjustment mark is detected as being out of paper by paper-out detection means provided on the paper supply side of the printing position. 2. A continuous sheet, which is used in a printer having a sheet-out detecting means provided on a sheet supply side of a printing position and which continuously prints a plurality of pages while being conveyed in a sheet conveying direction. A continuous sheet provided at a position where the length from the final bottom end of the sheet is longer than the page length, and provided with a detection position adjustment mark for detecting passage of the detection position by the sheet out detection means as sheet shortage; . 3. Continuous paper conveyed in a paper conveying direction, printing means for continuously printing over the continuous paper over a plurality of pages, and paper-out detecting means provided on the paper supply side of the printing means. Wherein the continuous paper is provided at a position where the length from the bottom end of the paper is longer than the page length, and the paper-out detection means detects the passage of the detection position as paper-out, and A printer device comprising a mark.