JP2003019787A - Controller for printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically regulate an alignment of an ink cartridge with a simple and low cost constitution. SOLUTION: When a CPU judges that a position of a carrier 11 arrives at the vicinity of a position of a slit 16 by the drive of a carrier motor, the CPU controls the cartridge to inject an ink from the cartridge while the position of the carrier 11 is moved at each predetermined amount, and the ink from the cartridge is detected by a detecting sensor 6. The CPU calculates a deviated position of the leading position of the carrier 11 to a home position from the position of the slit 16 when the ink from the cartridge is detected by the sensor 6 to output a detection signal, and the CPU corrects the position of the carrier 11 to the home position by its deviated amount.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention moves a carrier equipped with a detachably mounted ink cartridge in a row direction by a carrier motor, and feeds a sheet by a predetermined amount in a direction orthogonal to the row direction. The present invention relates to a control device for a printing device that performs printing based on print data from a host computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet printer, which is a printing apparatus, a misalignment when a removable ink cartridge is attached to a carrier, a dimensional error of the ink cartridge itself, a mechanical dimensional error, etc. cause The ink ejection position may shift, and so-called alignment adjustment must be performed to correct this.

In the conventional alignment adjustment, a predetermined alignment print data is printed on a sheet, a user visually checks the print result to determine the deviation direction and amount, and the key operation of the keyboard causes the deviation direction to be opposite to the deviation direction. Alignment adjustment is performed to shift the ink ejection position by the displacement amount.

[0004]

However, since the conventional adjustment has to be manually performed by the user, there has been a problem that it is very troublesome and the burden on the user is heavy.

Further, conventionally, it has been considered that the deviation direction and amount are automatically read from the alignment print data printed on the paper by a reflective sensor and the alignment is automatically adjusted. Since it is extremely expensive, there is a problem in that the cost of the entire printer increases.

By the way, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3017356.
The issue describes a printer in which an optical home position sensor is used to measure the deviation amount of the leftward movement and the rightward movement of the carriage, and the deviation of the printing position is corrected based on the deviation amount. There is. However, the printer described in this publication corrects the positional deviation of the carriage, and it is small due to positional deviation and dimensional error in the carriage of the print head (or ink head) that is detachably attached to the carriage. It is not possible to correct even the gap.

Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-64272,
There is described an apparatus that corrects the positional deviation of the printing position and the deviation of the home position due to the head attachment / detachment due to the replacement, but this also does not perform the alignment adjustment of the ink cartridge as in the present invention.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to automatically perform alignment adjustment of an ink cartridge with a simple and inexpensive structure.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, a carrier having a detachably mounted ink cartridge is moved in the row direction by a carrier motor, and the paper is In a control device of a printing device that prints based on print data from a host computer while feeding a predetermined amount in a direction orthogonal to the row direction, in the ink ejection side of the ink cartridge, at a substantially central portion of the printing area and below the paper. A slit provided in the, a detection unit for detecting ink ejected from the ink cartridge and passing through the slit in accordance with movement of the carrier without the paper, and rotation of the carrier motor with respect to the reference position. The derivation unit that derives the position of the carrier and the position of the carrier that is derived by the derivation unit are An ejection control unit that controls the ink cartridge to eject ink while moving the position of the carrier by a predetermined amount by the carrier motor when it is determined that the vicinity of the position of the slit is reached, and the detection unit. With a calculation unit that calculates the amount of deviation between the position of the carrier by the derivation unit when the ink is detected from the ink cartridge and the position of the slit with respect to the reference position, only the amount of deviation by the calculation unit. A correction unit that corrects the position of the carrier by the derivation unit, and calculates the deviation amount when the carrier is moved in both directions by the carrier motor by the calculation unit, respectively, in the moving direction of the carrier. Accordingly, the correction unit corrects the key by the derivation unit by the displacement amount in each movement direction by the calculation unit. It is characterized by correcting the rear position.

According to this structure, the derivation unit
When the position of the carrier with respect to the reference position is derived and the position of the carrier reaches the vicinity of the position of the slit, the ejection control unit moves the position of the carrier by a predetermined amount, ejects ink from the ink cartridge, and ejects the ink from the ink cartridge. The amount of deviation between the position of the carrier by the derivation unit when the ink is detected by the detection unit and the position of the slit is calculated by the calculation unit, and the position of the carrier is corrected by the correction unit by this amount of deviation.

Therefore, it is possible to automatically perform the alignment adjustment of the ink cartridge with a simple and inexpensive structure without the need for an expensive sensor as in the prior art.

Further, according to the present invention, a carrier provided with an ink cartridge which is detachably mounted is moved along a row direction by a carrier motor, and a paper is fed by a predetermined amount in a direction orthogonal to the row direction while the host is being operated. In a control device of a printing device that performs printing based on print data from a computer, a slit provided on the ink ejection side of the ink cartridge and the ink jetted from the ink cartridge as the carrier moves without the paper. A detection unit for detecting ink passing through the slit, and a deviation amount between the position of the carrier with respect to a predetermined reference position when the ink is detected by the detection unit and the position of the slit with respect to the reference position. An adjustment unit for correcting and adjusting the position of the carrier by the amount of the deviation is provided. It is set to.

According to this structure, the detection section
The amount of deviation between the position of the carrier and the position of the slit when the ink passing through the slit is detected,
Since the position of the carrier is corrected and adjusted by the amount of deviation,
Alignment adjustment of the ink cartridge can be automatically performed with a simple and inexpensive configuration without requiring an expensive sensor as in the past.

According to the present invention, the adjusting unit derives the position of the carrier with respect to the reference position from the rotation of the carrier motor, and the position of the carrier derived by the extracting unit is the position of the slit. When it is determined that the ink cartridge has reached the vicinity of, the ejection control unit that ejects ink by controlling the ink cartridge while moving the position of the carrier by a predetermined amount by the carrier motor, and the ink cartridge by the detection unit. The position of the carrier by the derivation unit when ink from the ink is detected, a calculation unit that calculates the amount of deviation between the position of the slit with respect to the reference position, and the derivation unit by the deviation amount by the calculation unit. And a correction unit that corrects the position of the carrier.

With such a configuration, the amount of deviation between the position of the carrier with respect to the reference position and the position of the slit with respect to the same reference position can be calculated accurately, and it is simple and does not require an expensive sensor. With an inexpensive structure, the misalignment can be corrected and the alignment adjustment of the ink cartridge can be performed.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the calculation section calculates the respective shift amounts when the carrier is bidirectionally moved by the carrier motor. With such a configuration, when bidirectional printing is performed by reciprocating the carrier in the row direction, alignment adjustment of the ink cartridge can be performed in each printing direction.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the slit is provided substantially in the center of the printing area.
With such a configuration, by providing the slit in the approximate center of the printing area, it is possible to calculate the amount of deviation between the position of the carrier and the position of the slit in the area where the rotation of the carrier motor is stable, and to perform highly accurate automatic Alignment adjustment can be realized.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the slit is formed in an apparatus frame located below the sheet. With such a configuration, the slit can be formed with high positional accuracy.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an ink jet printer which is a printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. However, FIG. 1 is a block diagram, and FIG. 2 is a partial schematic diagram.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ink jet printer according to the present embodiment is provided with an ASIC 1 for exchanging data with a personal computer (not shown) which is a host computer, and a control built in the ASIC 1. The CPU 3 controls the buffer 3 formed of the RAM built in the ASIC 1, and the print data transmitted from the personal computer is held by the buffer 3.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the CPU 2 controls the carrier motor driver 4 to drive the carrier motor 5 including a stepping motor, and the carrier is controlled based on the print data held in the buffer 3. . Although not shown in FIG. 1, the CPU 2 feeds the paper, the feed motor of which is a stepping motor, being controlled by a predetermined amount.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 1, this ink jet printer is provided with a detection sensor 6 as a detection portion which is composed of a photo interrupter for automatic alignment adjustment of the ink cartridge, and the detection output of this detection sensor 6 is detected. The signal is fetched by the CPU 2 and the alignment adjustment of the ink cartridge is automatically performed.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, a fixed guide rail 10 in the row direction is provided so as to penetrate through the carrier 11, and is stretched between the above-mentioned rotary shaft of the carrier motor 5 and a guide roller (not shown). The carrier 11 is connected to the suspended belt 12 and the rotation of the carrier motor 5 causes
The carrier 11 is guided by the guide rail 10 and reciprocates in the row direction as indicated by the arrow in FIG. Here, the carrier 11 has an ink cartridge (not shown).
Is designed to be detachably attached.

Further, the paper P is located at the substantially center of the printing area.
A slit 16 is formed in the device frame 15 located below the slit 16. The detection sensor 6 composed of the photo interrupter described above is disposed below the slit 16, and the slit 16 is ejected from the ink cartridge as the carrier 11 moves. The ink that has passed through is detected by the detection sensor 6, and the detection signal is captured by the CPU 2 described above.

Then, the CPU 2 functions as an adjusting unit in the present invention, and receives the detection signal from the detection sensor 6 to perform the following processing.

That is, the CPU 2 derives the position of the carrier 11 with respect to the home position, which is the reference position, from the number of driving steps of the carrier motor 5 which is a stepping motor. At this time, data relating to the number of drive steps of the carrier motor 5 is stored in a lamp table, which is composed of, for example, a ROM, and the number of drive steps of the carrier motor 5 is controlled based on the stored data of this lamp table. The position of the carrier 11 with respect to the home position can be derived because the position is grasped by

On the other hand, the position of the slit 16 relative to the home position, which is the reference position, is known from design data and is stored in advance in the internal memory of the CPU 2 or the like, and the derived position of the carrier 11 is the position of the slit 16. When it is determined that the ink has reached the vicinity of, the ink cartridge is controlled to eject the ink from the ink cartridge while moving the position of the carrier 11 by a predetermined amount, the ink from the ink cartridge is detected by the detection sensor 6, and the detection signal is output. A deviation amount between the derived position of the carrier 11 with respect to the home position when output and the position of the slit 16 with respect to the home position is calculated, and the position of the carrier 11 with respect to the home position is corrected by the deviation amount.

In this correction process, the ink cartridge is attached / detached in accordance with the replacement of the ink cartridge, etc., and when the attachment / detachment of the ink cartridge is detected by the attachment / detachment sensor or the like, the CPU 2 automatically starts the operation. Before the print data is actually printed on the paper P, the carrier 11 is moved in both directions and performed in each direction.

Such a carrier 11 by the CPU 2
The position derivation process of 1 corresponds to the derivation unit, the ejection control process of the ink cartridge by the CPU 2 corresponds to the ejection control unit,
The calculation process of the shift amount between the position of the carrier 11 and the position of the slit 15 by the CPU 2 corresponds to the calculation unit, and the correction process of the position of the carrier 11 by the CPU 2 corresponds to the correction unit.

Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, when the ink cartridge is replaced, the ink jet position due to the positional deviation when mounting the ink cartridge, the dimensional error of the ink cartridge itself, the mechanical dimensional error, and the like. Even if there is a slight misalignment, it does not require an expensive sensor such as a conventional reflection type sensor, and the ink cartridge alignment adjustment is automatically performed in advance of the actual one with a simple and inexpensive configuration. You can

In the above embodiment, the carrier 1
Although the alignment adjustment in the case of performing bidirectional printing by moving 1 in both directions has been described, it is needless to say that the present invention can be similarly applied to the case of unidirectional printing.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the detection unit is constituted by the detection sensor 6 composed of a photo interrupter has been described, but the detection unit is not limited to such a photo interrupter, and other non-contact type. Type sensor may be used as long as it can detect the ink passing through the slit 16.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0034]

As described above, according to the invention as set forth in claim 1, when the position of the carrier with respect to the reference position is derived by the deriving unit and the position of the carrier reaches the vicinity of the position of the slit, the injection control is performed. The position of the carrier is moved by a predetermined amount and the ink is ejected from the ink cartridge, and when the ink from the ink cartridge is detected by the detection unit, the amount of deviation between the position of the carrier by the lead-out unit and the position of the slit Is calculated by the calculation unit, and the position of the carrier is corrected by the correction unit by the amount of deviation, the alignment adjustment of the ink cartridge is automatically performed by a simple and inexpensive configuration without the need for an expensive sensor as in the past. It becomes possible to do it.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the amount of deviation between the position of the carrier and the position of the slit when the ink passing through the slit is detected is calculated, and the amount of deviation is the carrier amount. Since the position is corrected and adjusted, it is possible to automatically perform the alignment adjustment of the ink cartridge with a simple and inexpensive configuration without the need for an expensive sensor as in the past.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the amount of deviation between the position of the carrier with respect to the reference position and the position of the slit with respect to the same reference position can be accurately calculated, and an expensive sensor is required. Without using a simple and inexpensive structure, it is possible to correct the deviation and perform alignment adjustment of the ink cartridge.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, when bidirectional printing is performed by reciprocating the carrier in the row direction, the alignment adjustment of the ink cartridge can be performed in each printing direction. .

Further, according to the invention described in claim 5, by providing the slit substantially in the center of the printing area, the amount of deviation between the position of the carrier and the position of the slit in the area where the rotation of the carrier motor is stable. Can be calculated, and highly accurate automatic alignment adjustment can be realized.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 6, it becomes possible to form the slit with high positional accuracy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of part of an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 CPU (deriving unit, injection control unit, calculation unit, correction unit) 5 carrier motor 6 Detection sensor (detection unit) 11 careers 16 slits

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. Printing from a host computer while a carrier including a detachably mounted ink cartridge is moved along a row direction by a carrier motor and paper is fed by a predetermined amount in a direction orthogonal to the row direction. In a control device of a printing device that performs printing based on data, a slit provided below the paper in the center of the printing area on the ink ejection side of the ink cartridge, and the carrier of the carrier without the paper. A detection unit that detects the ink ejected from the ink cartridge and moves through the slits as the carrier moves, a derivation unit that derives the position of the carrier with respect to the reference position from the rotation of the carrier motor, and a derivation unit that derives the position. When it is determined that the position of the carrier has reached the vicinity of the position of the slit, An ejection control unit that controls the ink cartridge to eject ink while moving the position of the carrier by a predetermined amount by a carrier motor; and a derivation unit when the detection unit detects ink from the ink cartridge. A position of the carrier, a calculation unit that calculates a shift amount between the position of the slit and the reference position, and a correction unit that corrects the position of the carrier by the derivation unit by the shift amount by the calculation unit, The shift amount when the carrier is moved bidirectionally by the carrier motor is calculated by the calculation unit, and according to the movement direction of the carrier, only the shift amount in each movement direction by the calculation unit, The correction unit corrects the position of the carrier by the derivation unit. Apparatus. 2. Printing from a host computer while moving a carrier provided with a detachably mounted ink cartridge in a row direction by a carrier motor and feeding a sheet by a predetermined amount in a direction orthogonal to the row direction. In a control device for a printing device that performs printing based on data, a slit provided on the ink ejection side of the ink cartridge and the slit ejected from the ink cartridge with the movement of the carrier without the paper A detection unit that detects the ink passing therethrough, and obtains a deviation amount between the position of the carrier with respect to a predetermined reference position when the ink is detected by the detection unit and the position of the slit with respect to the reference position, and only the deviation amount. A printing device, comprising: an adjusting unit that corrects and adjusts the position of the carrier. Control device. 3. The adjusting unit derives the position of the carrier with respect to the reference position from the rotation of the carrier motor, and the position of the carrier derived by the extracting unit reaches near the position of the slit. When it is determined that the ink is ejected from the ink cartridge by the ejection control unit that controls the ink cartridge and ejects ink while moving the position of the carrier by a predetermined amount by the carrier motor, The position of the carrier by the derivation unit when detected, and the position of the carrier by the derivation unit that calculates the amount of deviation between the position of the slit with respect to the reference position, and the amount of deviation by the calculation unit. The control device of the printing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a correction unit that corrects 4. The control device for a printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the calculation unit calculates each of the shift amounts when the carrier motor bidirectionally moves the carrier. 5. The control device for a printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the slit is provided substantially in the center of the printing area. 6. The control device for a printing device according to claim 2, wherein the slit is formed in a device frame located below the sheet.