JP2003112458A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a recorder in which the type of a recording material set at a manual feeding section, disposed on the front side of the recorder, can be judged readily using a single sensor and a feed operation such as positioning of the forward end of the recording material, for starting recording is executed appropriately corresponting to the type of the recording material. SOLUTION: At a part other than a recess 47 of a CD tray 40, an L-shaped reflective part 80 having reflectivity on the same order as that of a thick paper, e.g. a board sheet, is provided. A unit for judging a recording material is arranged to judge a CD or a thick paper held in the CD tray based on the reflective part 80, movement of a sensor 27 in a specified range related to the reflective part 80, carriage and stoppage of the recording material at the carrying section, and detection of reflected light from the recording material having aforementioned reflectivity at a specified moving point.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording section for performing recording on a recording material, a conveying section for conveying the recording material in a sub-scanning direction toward a recording area of the recording section, and a recording material after recording. A discharging section for discharging the recording material to the outside of the apparatus, a manual feeding section for manually setting the recording material, and a recording material for discriminating based on detection by a sensor the type of the recording material set from the manual feeding section. The present invention relates to a recording device including a discriminating device. Further, the present invention relates to a flat tray used in the recording device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink jet printer as one of recording apparatuses, particularly a consumer ink jet printer most commonly used today (hereinafter abbreviated as "printer"), will be described below as an example. The printer is provided with a paper feeding device for accumulating and holding a plurality of printing papers and feeding the papers one by one to the downstream side on the upstream side (the rear side of the printer) of the paper conveyance path, and the printing papers are lowered by the paper feeding device. Generally, a configuration is adopted in which the sheet is fed in a curved posture so as to be convex, and is discharged substantially horizontally from a sheet discharge port on the downstream side.

In such a printer, in recent years, a compact disc medium (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as a CD)
There is an increasing need to be able to print on the display surface of the. However, since the compact disc medium is rigid (non-flexible), it cannot be fed in a curved posture. Therefore, in addition to the normal paper feed / ejection path, a linear disc dedicated to the compact disc medium is used. It is necessary to provide a proper paper feed / discharge path. Therefore, after setting the compact disc medium in the holding portion of the dedicated tray made of a plate-like body, it is manually fed substantially horizontally from the manual feeding portion provided below the paper feeding device on the upstream side to the downstream side, and A printer configured to eject a sheet from a sheet ejection port substantially horizontally has already been developed.
As the recording material (recording medium) that uses a linear paper feeding / discharging path, in addition to the compact disc medium, there are board paper used for decoration purposes and cardboard such as cardboard.

[0004]

However, as described above, a normal printing sheet that can be fed in a curved posture (hereinafter referred to as "flexible recording material"), a CD that cannot be fed in a curved posture, and the like. In the conventional printer capable of printing on both the recording material (hereinafter referred to as "non-flexible recording material") and the following problems, there were the following problems. That is, in the case of a non-flexible recording material, a space for manual feeding is required on the rear side of the printer in order to perform manual feeding from the manual feeding portion provided at the rear of the printer. When printing, it is necessary to secure a large installation space on the rear side of the printer. Further, since the printer is generally installed with the paper discharge port facing forward, there is also a disadvantage that manual feeding from the rear side of the printer is poor in operability.

An object of the present invention is to more appropriately feed recording materials of both flexible recording materials and inflexible recording materials, and
A manual feed unit is provided on the front side of the recording apparatus so that it can be discharged more properly, and a sensor dedicated to the type of recording material set from the manual feed unit is provided for each type of recording material. Can be easily determined by a single sensor, and thus the feeding process such as positioning of the recording material leading end position for starting recording corresponding to the type of recording material can be appropriately executed. To provide a recording device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 of the present application is directed to a recording portion for executing recording on a recording material and a sub-scanning direction toward a recording area of the recording portion. From the apparatus front side, which is the side on which the discharging section is located, a transport section that transports the recording material, a discharging section that discharges the recorded recording material to the outside of the apparatus, and a thick paper such as board paper as the recording material. , And a flat tray capable of carrying a small-sized recording object such as a compact disc in a holding part and carrying it, and a manual feeding part for manually setting the tray in a state in which it can be carried by the carrying part, and from the manual feeding part. A recording device comprising a recording material discriminating device which discriminates the type of recording material set based on detection by a sensor,
A portion of the flat tray, other than the holding portion, having a predetermined shape that has a light reflectance similar to that of the thick paper such as the board paper and that can be distinguished from the thick paper such as the board paper. The recording material discriminating apparatus is provided with a reflecting portion of a predetermined shape provided on the flat plate tray, a movement in a predetermined range related to the reflecting portion of the sensor, and a transfer portion by the conveying portion. Whether the recording material is held on the flat tray based on the conveyance and stop of the recording material and the detection of the presence or absence of the reflected light having the light reflectance from the recording material at a predetermined moving point, or It is characterized in that it is configured to determine whether it is thick paper.

According to the present invention, since the manual feeding portion is provided on the front side of the recording apparatus, it is not necessary to provide a space for manual feeding on the rear side of the printer, and therefore the printer is used when printing on the non-flexible recording material. It is not necessary to secure a large installation space on the rear side, and the operability of manual feeding can be improved. That is, the recording material of both the flexible recording material and the non-flexible recording material is more appropriately fed,
And it can be discharged more appropriately.

Further, a portion other than the holding portion of the flat plate-like tray has a light reflectance similar to that of the thick paper such as the board paper and enables discrimination from the thick paper such as the board paper. A reflecting portion having a predetermined shape is provided. Then, the recording material discriminating device is configured to move the recording material by the reflecting portion provided on the flat tray and a predetermined range related to the reflecting portion of the sensor, and to convey the recording material by the conveying portion. Whether the recording material is held on the flat plate tray or the thick paper based on the stop and the presence / absence detection of the reflected light of the light reflectance from the recording material at a predetermined moving point. Is configured to determine
The type of the recording material set from the manual feed portion can be easily discriminated by a single sensor without providing a dedicated sensor for each type of the recording material. Based on this determination, it is possible to appropriately shift to an initial transport process such as positioning of the leading end position of the recording material (so-called indexing), which is performed as a preparation for starting recording according to the type of recording material.

Here, the fact that the reflection portion provided on the flat tray has "the same degree of light reflectance as the thick paper such as the board paper" means that the light reflected from the reflection portion is the light reflected from the flat tray itself. This means that it is possible to clearly discriminate that it is not, and it can be handled in the same manner as reflected light from the thick paper such as the board paper in the control processing.

Further, "movement within a predetermined range related to the reflection portion of the sensor" means that the reflection portion is
It is assumed that the recording material to be discriminated is thick paper or is held on a flat tray, assuming that it is formed in a shape (predetermined shape) that enables discrimination from thick paper such as the board paper. This means moving within a predetermined range so that it can be determined whether there is any.

Further, in the invention described in claim 2 of the present application, in the recording apparatus described in claim 1, the discriminating device for the recording material is a sub-recorder for the recording material when discriminating the type of the recording material. It is characterized in that it is configured to recognize the tip position in the scanning direction.

According to the present invention, at the same time when the type of the recording material is discriminated, when the recording material is thick paper such as board paper, the leading end position of the thick paper in the sub-scanning direction is changed to C
When a small size print target such as D is printed, for example, C
Since the front end position of D in the sub-scanning direction is recognized, the accurate cueing process can be executed according to the type of recording material.

Here, when recognizing the type of the recording material, recognizing the tip position of the recording material in the sub-scanning direction means that when the sensor is moved in relation to the reflecting portion having a predetermined shape, It means that it is performed based on the presence or absence of the reflected light detected by the sensor.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to the second aspect, the sensor is configured to move in the main scanning direction which is the width direction of the recording material, and the flat plate is used. The reflecting portion provided on the tray is formed in an L-shape including a small width portion that is small in the width direction and a large portion that is large in the width direction. A position intersecting the row along the sub-scanning direction of the narrow width portion forming the first position of the sensor,
A second position of the sensor is defined as a position that intersects a row along the sub-scanning direction of the remaining part of the large part other than the part that overlaps the small width part, and the sensor is moved to the first position. The presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at one position, and when the reflected light is present, the sensor is moved to the second position,
The presence / absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position, and when the reflected light is present, the recording material is fed back in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction by the transport unit and the detected position is changed to the absence of the reflected light. By stopping the recording material, the leading edge position of the recording material is recognized, and when the detection result of the reflected light at the second position is no reflected light, the recording material is directly moved in the sub-scanning direction by the transport unit. The presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position while being fed, and the recording material is stopped at the detection position where the reflected light is present, thereby recognizing the tip position of the recording material, and at the first position. When there is no reflected light, the sensor is moved to the second position, and the recording material is fed back in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction by the transport unit, and the reflected light is reflected at the second position. By detecting the presence / absence, detecting the presence of reflected light, and then stopping the recording material again at the position where no reflected light is detected, Recognizing the position of the tip of 該被 recording material,
It is characterized by

According to the present invention, the sensor is moved to the first position, the presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the first position, and when the reflected light is present, the sensor is moved to the second position.
The presence / absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position, and when the reflected light is present, the recording material is fed back in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction by the transport unit and the detected position is changed to the absence of the reflected light. By stopping the recording material, the leading edge position of the recording material is recognized, and when the detection result of the reflected light at the second position is no reflected light, the recording material is directly moved in the sub-scanning direction by the transport unit. The presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position while being fed, and the recording material is stopped at the detection position where the reflected light is present, thereby recognizing the tip position of the recording material, and at the first position. When there is no reflected light, the sensor is moved to the second position, and the recording material is fed back in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction by the transport unit, and the reflected light is reflected at the second position. By detecting the presence / absence, detecting the presence of reflected light, and then stopping the recording material again at the position where no reflected light is detected, A tip position recognition sequence of the recording material and recognizes the position of the tip of 該被 recording material.

According to this recording material front end position recognition sequence, even if the position of the manually set recording material varies with the position of the sensor in the front and rear of the conveying direction, the recording material can be reliably and easily. The tip position of can be recognized. In addition, the recognition of the leading end position is performed regardless of whether the recording material is a thick paper such as a board paper or a flat-plate tray capable of carrying a small-sized recording object such as a CD in a holding portion and transporting it. Since the same procedure can be performed, there is an effect that it is not necessary to prepare a dedicated tip position recognition sequence for each type of recording material.

The invention according to claim 4 of the present application is the recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the recording material discriminating device moves the sensor to the first position, and then the first position. The presence or absence of the reflected light is detected by, and when the reflected light is present, the sensor is moved to the second position, and the presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position. By stopping the recording material at the detection position where the recording material is fed back in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction and changes without reflected light, the leading end position of the recording material is recognized, and When the detection result of the reflected light indicates that the reflected light is not present, the conveyance section is forwardly feeding the recording material in the sub-scanning direction, and the presence / absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position to the detection position with the reflected light. The recording material is fed and stopped, and then the recording material is fed back in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction by the transport section. By stopping the recording material by detecting a position change without reflection light, to recognize the end position of the recording material, the detection result in the first position when there is no reflection light,
The presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position while the sensor is moved to the second position, and the recording material is fed back in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction by the transport unit, and the detection position with the reflected light is detected. To stop the conveyance of the recording material, and again to convey the recording material in the reverse direction of the sub-scanning direction by the conveying section to stop the recording material at the detection position where no reflected light is generated. It is characterized in that the tip position of is recognized.

According to the present invention, in addition to the features of the invention described in claim 3, the detection result of the reflected light at the second position further includes:
When there is no reflected light, the presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position while the recording material is being fed forward in the sub-scanning direction by the transport unit.
The recording material is sent to the detection position with reflected light and stopped, and then the recording material is sent back in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction by the transport section and stopped at the detection position where there is no reflected light. The tip position of the recording material is recognized, and when the detection result at the first position is no reflected light, the sensor is moved to the second position, and the recording material is sub-scanned by the transport unit. The presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position while the paper is being sent in the reverse direction, and the conveyance of the recording material is stopped at the detection position with the reflected light, and the recording material is again conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the conveying section. Is a front end position recognition sequence of a recording material, characterized in that the front end position of the recording material is recognized by stopping the recording material at a detection position where it is sent back in the opposite direction and changes without reflected light. .

According to this recording material tip position recognizing sequence, in any case, the recording material is fed back in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction by the conveying section and the recording material is detected at the detection position where no reflected light is generated. Since the leading edge position of the recording material is recognized by stopping the recording material, the leading edge position is recognized by the common feeding operation that is the same in the end even if the immediately preceding feeding direction is either forward or reverse. Will be done. Therefore, the tip position recognition accuracy can be made uniform without variation.

The invention according to claim 5 of the present application is the recording apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the determination by the determination device of the recording material is performed after recognizing the leading end position of the recording material. When the recording material is fed back by a predetermined amount in the reverse direction of the sub-scanning direction by the transport unit, the presence or absence of the reflected light is detected by the sensor that has moved to the first position, and when the presence of the reflected light is detected, It is characterized in that it is determined that the recording material is held on the flat plate-shaped tray, and when the absence of reflected light is detected at the first position, the recording material is determined to be the thick paper.

According to the present invention, the recording material discriminating device discriminates the recording material by the predetermined amount in the reverse direction of the sub-scanning direction by the conveying section after recognizing the tip position of the recording material. The presence of the reflected light is detected by the sensor that has been sent and moved to the first position, and when the presence of the reflected light is detected, it is determined that the recording material is held on the flat plate tray, When the absence of reflected light is detected at one position, it is determined that the recording material is the thick paper, that is, the type of the recording material is determined based on the tip position recognition sequence of the recording material, which is wasteful. Not efficient.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to any one of the third to fifth aspects, the recording section is equipped with a recording head and reciprocates in the sub-scanning direction. And a sensor that is mounted on the carriage. According to the present invention, since the sensor is mounted on the carriage, there is no need to separately provide a moving means for the sensor, which is efficient.

The invention according to claim 7 of the present application is the recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the manual feed portion is a paper feed for manually feeding a recording material. A tray is provided with a paper feed / ejection tray that also serves as a paper ejection tray for receiving a recording material to be recorded and ejected. The paper feeding / ejection tray is provided on the upstream side of the recording material conveyance path. A sheet feeding device that is provided and that holds and holds a plurality of recording materials, and feeds the recording materials one by one to the downstream side; and a recording material that is provided on the downstream side of the sheet feeding device and moves the recording materials to the downstream side at a constant pitch. In a recording apparatus including a conveying roller that conveys and a recording head that is provided on the downstream side of the conveying roller and performs recording on the conveyed recording material, the recording device is detachably provided on the downstream side of the recording head. Non-flexible recording that cannot be fed by the paper feeding device when mounted To form a linear feeding / discharging path of the recording material that feeds the paper straight from the paper mounting surface to the bottom of the recording head and discharges the paper straight from the recording head to the paper mounting surface. It is characterized in that it is configured as follows.

According to the invention of the present application, in addition to the operation and effect of the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 6, the paper feeding / discharging tray which serves as both a paper feeding tray and a paper discharging tray is a recording head. A non-flexible recording material that is detachably provided on the downstream side and cannot be fed by the paper feeding device provided on the rear side (upstream side) of the apparatus, that is, has a high rigidity and takes a curved posture by being attached. A straight recording material that feeds an unrecordable recording material straight from the paper mounting surface to the bottom of the recording head and ejects straight from the recording head to the paper mounting surface. Since the paper discharge path is formed, it is not necessary to take a large space for manually feeding the non-flexible recording material on the rear side of the recording apparatus, and the installation space of the recording apparatus can be saved and the recording apparatus can be saved. Due to feeding from the front side It is possible to improve the operability of the feed.

At the same time, in a recording apparatus that can use roll paper as one of the recording materials, a cutter device for cutting the roll paper into a predetermined length may be attached downstream of the recording head. In this case, the paper feeding / discharging tray is an obstacle, but since the paper feeding / discharging tray is detachable, such a problem does not occur.

The invention described in claim 8 is the invention according to claim 7.
In the recording apparatus described in (1), one of the side edge guides provided on the sheet placement surface of the sheet feeding / discharging tray for guiding the side edge of the recording material is slidable in the width direction of the recording material. A guide surface is formed by a guide, and the leading end of the recording material that is fed from the upstream side by the paper feeding device and discharged from the side end guide passes over the side end guide and advances to the downstream side. It is characterized by being formed.

According to the present invention, since the side edge guides for guiding the side edges of the recording material provided on the sheet mounting surface are slidable in the width direction of the recording material, the sheet is As a matter of course, it is possible to regulate the feeding posture and the discharging posture of the non-flexible recording material fed from the mounting surface so as to be in an appropriate state. Moreover, even when recording is performed on a recording material fed by a paper feeding device provided at the rear of the apparatus with the side end guides in an inappropriate position, the recording is performed without causing a paper jam. It is possible to maintain the device in a normal state.

That is, when the paper feeding / discharging tray is not removed, the paper placing surface serves as a stacking surface for stacking recording materials fed from the rear of the apparatus and on which recording is performed. A side edge guide for appropriately feeding and discharging the non-flexible recording material is provided on the paper mounting surface, which slides in the width direction of the recording material. Therefore, when the side edge guide is located at a position that is smaller than the width of the recording material fed from the paper feeding device and discharged, the tip of the recording material is The side edge guides may be abutted, which may cause a paper jam.

However, according to the present invention, the leading end of the recording material fed to the side end guide from the upstream side by the paper feeding device and discharged is passed over the side end guide to the downstream side. Since the guide surface for traveling is formed,
Even when recording is performed on a recording material fed by a paper feeding device provided at the rear of the apparatus, without removing the paper feeding / discharging tray and with the side end guides in an inappropriate position, Thus, the recording apparatus can be maintained in a normal state without causing a paper jam.

Further, in the invention described in claim 9 of the present application, in the recording apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, a discharge roller provided downstream of the recording head for discharging the recording material is From the paper ejection drive roller, which is located below the recording material and which is rotationally driven, the contact position which is located above the recording material and which contacts the paper ejection drive roller. A paper discharge driven roller provided so as to be displaceable between the separation position and the separation position, and a restriction member for restricting lifting of the recording material from the paper mounting surface is disposed above a side edge of the recording material. It is characterized by being

In a structure in which a discharge roller provided downstream of the recording head for discharging the recording material nips the recording material with a discharge driving roller and a discharge driven roller,
For example, recording (printing) with an inkjet recording head
If the recording surface on which the recording has been performed is in an undried state, the discharge driven roller leaves a slight contact mark on the recording surface, which is barely recognizable, and may be a concern for some users. In some cases, the recording operation and the sheet discharge operation may be performed with the sheet discharge driven roller separated from the recording surface. However, even if the paper discharge driven roller is separated from the recording surface in this way, the recording material itself floats up from the paper discharge driving roller for some reason, and as a result, the recording surface comes into contact with the paper discharge driven roller. Sometimes it happens. When the recording material floats in this way, the distance between the recording head and the recording surface changes, the so-called paper gap changes, and the recording quality may deteriorate.

Further, in particular, when recording is performed on a CD while being held in a flat CD tray capable of holding the CD, the paper discharge driven roller has a toothed roller, that is, a plurality of teeth around the toothed roller. However, if the toothed roller is a toothed roller that is sharply pointed so that the tips of the teeth make point contact with the printing surface (recording surface), the teeth come into contact with the printing surface of the CD, so that the printing of the CD is performed. It may act on the data storage area immediately below the surface, and rarely destroy the stored data.

However, according to the invention of the present application, the paper discharge driven roller is set to the separated position in which it is separated from the paper discharge drive roller, and the paper receiving surface from the paper mounting surface is provided above the side edge of the recording material. Since the restricting member for restricting the floating of the recording material is arranged, it becomes possible to effectively prevent the above-mentioned problems. In particular, a recording device using a toothed driven roller is used to convert a CD into a flat-plate CD.
When performing printing (recording) on the CD while holding it on the tray, the toothed driven roller can take the separated position and the restricting member prevents the floating.
Since it is possible to reliably prevent the teeth of the toothed driven roller from coming into contact with the CD, it is possible to reliably prevent the stored data of the CD from being destroyed by the printing operation.

The flat plate tray according to the invention described in claim 10 of the present application has the structure described in claim 1. CD using the flat tray according to the present invention
By performing printing (recording) on the recording medium etc., it is possible to obtain the same operational effects as those of the invention according to the recording device described in claims 1 to 5.

[0035]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. <Structure of Inkjet Printer> First, FIGS.
With reference to FIG. 3, a paper transport path of the inkjet printer (hereinafter referred to as “printer”) 100 according to the present invention will be described. 1 and 2 are external perspective views of the printer 100. FIG. 1 shows a cutter unit 4 on the front side of the apparatus main body, and FIG. 2 shows the paper feed / discharge tray 50 according to the present invention in place of the cutter unit 4. It shows a state of being mounted. Further, FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the printer 100.

In FIG. 1, the printer 100 is provided with a paper feeding device 2 on the rear side (upstream side) of the apparatus main body 3, and a paper discharge stacker 1 on the front side (downstream side), and a paper P as a recording material.
(Flexible recording material that can be fed in a curved posture: see FIG. 3) is fed from the rear side by the sheet feeding device 2 and is ejected toward the sheet ejection stacker 1 provided on the front side. Equipped with a transmission route.

The printer 100 is constructed such that the cutter unit 4 shown in FIG. 1 and the paper feed / discharge tray 50 shown in FIG. 2 are detachably provided above the paper discharge stacker 1, and either one of them is provided. You can choose to wear it. The cutter unit 4 is provided with a cutter blade (not shown) capable of reciprocating in the width direction of the paper P, and by mounting it, cuts the discharged paper P or roll paper (not shown) into a predetermined length. You can do it. Further, the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 has a substantially horizontal paper placement surface 51, and by mounting the paper feeding / discharging tray 50, in addition to the above-described curved feeding path of the paper P, it is not possible to feed in the curved posture. A linear paper feeding / discharging path of the recording material (non-flexible recording material) is formed. Note that the detailed configuration and operation effects of the paper feed / discharge tray 50 will be described later.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, the printer 100
The internal configuration of will be described. As described above, the printer 100 is provided with the sheet feeding device 2 on the rear side (the right side in FIG. 3), the sheets P are stacked and held in the inclined posture by the sheet feeding device 2, and the sheet P is curved one by one by the sheet feeding roller 14. While feeding, the first paper feed / discharge path that feeds the paper to the front side (left side in FIG. 3) and discharges substantially horizontally from the front side, and the non-flexible recording material in which such a curved paper feed / discharge path cannot be used And a second sheet feeding / discharging path for discharging the sheet from the front side of the apparatus substantially horizontally, and discharging the sheet from the front side of the apparatus substantially horizontally. Below,
A description will be given from the upstream side along the first paper feed / discharge path.

The paper feeding device 2 is provided with a hopper 16, and the paper P is deposited on the hopper 16 in an inclined posture. The hopper 16 is provided so as to be rotatable around a rotation fulcrum (not shown) located above the rear portion of the sheet feeding device 2, and its tip is pressed against and separated from the sheet feeding roller 14 which is driven to rotate. It is designed to work. The hopper 16 presses the paper feed roller 14 under pressure, and the paper feed roller 14 rotates in the pressure contact state, so that the uppermost one of the accumulated paper P is delivered to the downstream side. The paper feed roller 14 has a substantially D-shape when viewed from the side, and its flat portion is controlled to face the paper P during the printing operation (state of FIG. 3), thereby reducing the transport load of the paper P. .

A paper guide 15 as a plate-like member is provided substantially horizontally below the paper feed roller 14, and the leading end of the paper P fed out from the paper feed device 2 obliquely contacts the paper guide 15. It is smoothly guided to the downstream side. Downstream from the paper guide 15, a conveyance driving roller 19a that is rotationally driven, a conveyance driven roller 19b that is in pressure contact with the conveyance driving roller 19a,
Conveyor roller (also called paper feed roller) 19
Is provided, and the sheet P is nipped by the transport roller 19 and is transported at a constant pitch to the downstream side. That is, the transport unit having the transport roller 19 as a main component transports the paper P in the sub-scanning direction on the downstream side,
The paper P is fed to the recording area of the recording unit at a constant pitch.

The transport driven roller 19b is axially supported on the downstream side of the transport driven roller holder 18, and the transport driven roller holder 18 is rotatable about the rotation shaft 18a in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction in FIG. The transport driven roller 19b is provided and twisted by a torsion coil spring (not shown) in a direction in which the transport driven roller 19b is constantly in pressure contact with the transport driving roller 19a (counterclockwise direction in FIG. 3).

The transport driven roller 19b can be set to a contact position where it comes into contact with the transport drive roller 19a and a spaced position where it is separated from the transport drive roller 19a by an operation lever (not shown). Transport drive roller 1
At the separated position of 9a, a thick paper such as a board and a flat tray capable of carrying a small-sized recording object such as a compact disc in a holding portion and carrying can be manually set in a state where the carrying rollers can carry each. This is a structure for facilitating the operation. After the manual feeding is set, the transport driving roller 19a is returned to the contact position.

Next, from the paper feed roller 14 to the transport roller 19
A sheet detector 17 including a sensor body 17a and a detector 17b for detecting the passage of the sheet P is disposed on the sheet P feeding path. The detector 17b has a substantially V shape when viewed from the side, and has a rotating shaft 17c near the center thereof.
3 is provided so as to be rotatable in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 3, and the lower side from the rotating shaft 17c is formed so as to smoothly contact the leading edge of the sheet P proceeding from downstream to upstream at a gentle angle. Has been done.

The sensor body 17a located above the detector 17b is provided with a light emitting portion (not shown) and a light receiving portion (not shown) for receiving light from the light emitting portion, and the rotating shaft 17c of the detector 17b. The upper part from the above is configured to block and pass the light traveling from the light emitting part to the light receiving part by the rotating operation. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, when the detector 17b is rotated so as to be pushed upward with the passage of the sheet P, the upper side of the detector 17b is disengaged from the sensor main body 17a, whereby the light receiving portion is in the light receiving state. Therefore, the passage of the paper P is detected.

Subsequently, downstream of the carrying roller 19, a platen 28 and an ink jet recording head 13 which constitute a recording portion (recording means) of the printer 100 are arranged so as to face each other vertically. The platen 28 is long in the main scanning direction (the front-back direction of the paper surface in FIG. 3), and the paper P conveyed below the inkjet recording head 13 by the conveyance rollers 19.
Are supported from below by the platen 28. The inkjet recording head 13 is provided at the bottom of the carriage 10 on which the ink cartridge 11 is mounted.
0 reciprocates in the main scanning direction while being guided by the carriage guide shaft 12 extending in the main scanning direction.

Next, a discharge portion of the printer 100 is provided downstream from the ink jet recording head 13, and the discharge driving roller 20a which is driven to rotate and the discharge driving roller 20 are driven.
A paper discharge roller 20 including a paper discharge driven roller 20b that is rotated by being lightly contacted with a is provided, and the paper P printed by the inkjet recording head 13 is lightly nipped by the paper discharge roller 20. Meanwhile, the paper ejection drive roller 20a is rotated to eject the paper. The paper discharge driven roller 20b is axially supported by the paper discharge driven roller holder 23, and the paper discharge driven roller holder 23 is used for the paper discharge driven frame 2
It is attached to 5. The paper ejection sub-frame 25 is made of a plate-like member that is long in the main scanning direction.
Is attached to the discharge main frame 24, which is also formed of a plate-like member elongated in the main scanning direction, in a state of being pressed against from above.

The delivery slave frame 25 is constructed so that it can be rotated about the upstream side as a fulcrum so that the downstream side floats upward by an operation lever and a cam mechanism (not shown). Roller 20b
Is the same as the above-mentioned conveyance driven roller 19b, the contact position where it contacts the paper ejection drive roller 20a, and the paper ejection drive roller 2
It is possible to take a separated position separated from 0a. This separated position is a structure for enabling recording while avoiding even a trace of contact of the paper discharge driven roller on the recording surface. Further, particularly when recording is performed while holding the CD on a flat-plate CD tray capable of holding the CD, if the paper ejection driven roller is a toothed roller, its teeth are on the printing surface of the CD. By contacting the CD
Since the stored data may be rarely acted upon by acting on the data storage area portion immediately below the printing surface of (1), the spacing structure prevents the teeth of the toothed roller from coming into contact with the CD.

Subsequently, a paper discharge auxiliary roller 22 is provided slightly upstream of the paper discharge driven roller 20b, and the paper P is pressed slightly downward by the paper discharge auxiliary roller 22. Further, the nip point between the paper discharge drive roller 20a and the driven follower roller 20b is set slightly upstream, and further, the transport drive roller 19a and the transport driven roller 19 are set.
The nip point with b is set slightly downstream. As described above, the sheet P is in a curved state in which it is slightly convex downward between the paper discharge roller 20 and the transport roller 19, and the sheet P positioned below the inkjet recording head 13 is in the platen 28.
The paper P is prevented from floating,
Normal print quality is maintained.

Here, in the printer 100, the paper feed roller 14, the transport drive roller 19a, and the paper discharge drive roller 20a described above are configured to be rotationally driven by one drive motor 26. Drive motor 26
Are driven and controlled by a control command from the control unit 5. The above is the overall configuration of the printer 100.

<Structure and Operation of Manual Feeding Section and Flat Plate Tray> Next, referring to FIGS. 4 to 7, the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 and the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 constituting the manual feeding section according to the present invention will be described. The configuration and operation of the compact disc tray (hereinafter abbreviated as “CD tray”) 40, which is a flat plate tray that utilizes the above-described second sheet feeding / discharging path, will be described.

Here, FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 as seen from the downstream side, FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 as seen from the upstream side, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of a paper path leading to the paper discharge tray 50, and FIG. 7 is a plan view of the CD tray 40. In the following description, a recording material that can be fed and ejected in a curved posture is referred to as “paper P”, and a recording material that cannot be fed and ejected in a curved posture is referred to as “non-flexible recording material”. Will be collectively referred to as "recording material".

From the front side of the printer 100, the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 forming a manual feeding portion holds thick paper such as board paper as a recording material and a small size recording object such as a compact disc in a holding portion. Each of the flat trays that can be transported by hand is configured to be manually set in a state in which they can be transported by the transport rollers 19.

First, in FIGS. 4 and 5, a paper feed / discharge tray 50 made of a plate-like member which is long in the width direction of the recording material is provided with a positioning plate 54, on the side surface on the upstream side (the diagonally upper right direction in FIG. 4). 54, and snap fitting portions 60, 60 are provided below the positioning plates 54, 54. The positioning plates 54, 54 are frame members (not shown) that are bases of the printer 100 and are erected on both sides of the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 when the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 is mounted on the front side of the printer 100. ), So that the paper feed / discharge tray 5
The mounting position of 0 is determined, and the snap-fit parts 60, 60 snap-fit to a mounting shaft (not shown) provided on the frame member, so that the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 can be mounted without being easily detached. It is supposed to be done.

Next, the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 is attached to the printer 10.
0 has a paper placement surface 51 that is substantially horizontal when attached to the front side of 0, and when attached to the printer 100,
The recording material can be fed from the sheet placement surface 51. That is, the printer 100 has the first paper feed / ejection path for feeding the paper P as described above, but as shown in FIG. 6, the paper feed / ejection tray having the substantially horizontal paper placement surface 51. Fifty
Is mounted on the downstream side of the paper discharge roller 20, the non-flexible recording material is fed straight from the front side of the paper placing surface 51 to below the inkjet recording head 13, and the inkjet recording head is A straight paper feeding / discharging path for discharging straight from the 13 side to the front side of the sheet placing surface 51 is formed. So this
Printer 1 with space for manual feeding of non-flexible recording material
It is possible to save the installation space of the printer 100 without needing to be on the rear side of the printer 100, and to improve the operability in manual feeding by feeding from the front side of the printer 100.

Further, the printer 100 is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
Since the cutter unit 4 is provided as an arbitrary component together with the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 as described above with reference to FIG. 3, if the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 is fixed to the printer 100, the cutter unit 4 cannot be attached. Since the paper tray 50 is detachably constructed, such a problem does not occur. As described above, the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 is attached to the printer 10.
By mounting it on the front side of 0, the non-flexible recording material can be efficiently fed from the front side and discharged to the front side.

In the present embodiment, the sheet placement surface 51 is formed of a substantially horizontal surface, but the sheet placement surface 51 is fed straight below the ink jet recording head 13 and is again discharged straight to the sheet placement surface 51. It is not limited to the horizontal surface as long as it is a linear paper feeding / discharging path. Needless to say, not only the non-flexible recording material but also the paper P that can be fed in a curved posture can be fed and ejected by the feeding and ejecting tray 50.

Next, ribs 57 extending in the conveying direction are formed on the sheet mounting surface 51 at predetermined intervals in the width direction of the recording material, and by this, the recording material sliding on the sheet mounting surface 51. It is designed to reduce the frictional resistance with. The upstream end of the rib 57 has an inclined surface 5 as shown in FIG.
7a (see also FIG. 6), which allows the leading edge of the recording material conveyed from the upstream side to move smoothly without being caught on the sheet placement surface 51. Therefore, for example, unlike the paper P which can be moved to the downstream side by being bent even if it is caught on the upstream end of the rib 57, it cannot be bent and is completely caught, so that the movement to the downstream side is complete. This is particularly effective in the case of a non-flexible recording material such as board paper that stops at any time.

Next, a side edge guide 58 for guiding one side edge of the recording material is formed at a fixed position at one side edge of the paper placing surface 51 (right side when the printer 100 is viewed from the front). In addition, a movable guide 70 for guiding the other side end of the recording material is provided on the paper mounting surface 51, slightly upstream of the paper mounting surface 51 in the width direction of the recording material. It is slidable. Therefore, the recording material placed on the sheet placement surface 51 is guided by the side edge guides 58 and the movable guides 70 at both side edges thereof.

Here, a regulating portion 56 is provided at a position located above the side edge of the recording material on the upstream side of the side edge guide 58, and the regulating portion 56 allows the paper receiving surface 51 to be covered. The rising of the recording material is regulated. The role of the restriction unit 56 will be described below. In FIG. 6, when the printing surface of the recording material (the CD tray 40 described later is shown in FIG. 6) printed by the inkjet recording head 13 is in an undried state, the printing surface is driven by the paper discharge driven roller 20b. In the printer 100, the paper discharge driven roller 20b can be separated from the printing surface of the recording material, because a slight contact mark that cannot be recognized at first is left and it may be noticed by the user. Is configured. However, even if they are separated from each other in this manner, the recording material is still conveyed to the conveyance driving roller 19a and the conveyance driven roller 19a.
Since it is nipped with b, the downstream side (left side in FIG. 6) rises from the nip point, and as a result, the printing surface comes into contact with the paper ejection driven roller 20b and the contact trace by the paper ejection driven roller 20b described above remains. There is a fear.

The restricting portion 56 is provided to prevent such a problem, and the restricting portion 56 restricts the recording material from being lifted upward, so that the printing surface comes into contact with the paper discharge driven roller 19b. It is possible to effectively prevent problems caused by this. The movable guide 70 is also provided with a similar restricting portion 72 so that the same operation and effect can be obtained (see FIG. 6).

In particular, when printing (recording) a CD on a flat CD tray 40 with a printer using a paper discharge driven roller 20b composed of a toothed driven roller, the toothed driven roller is used. With the configuration in which the separated position can be taken and the configuration in which the lifting portion is prevented by the restricting portion 56, it is possible to reliably prevent the teeth of the toothed driven roller from coming into contact with the CD. As a result, it is possible to surely prevent the data stored in the CD from being destroyed by the printing operation.

Next, on the upstream side of the restricting portion 56 and the restricting portion 72, a slope 55 and a slope 71 extending from the upstream side to the upper side on the downstream side are formed, and further downstream side,
Similarly, a slope 62 and a slope 73 extending from the upstream side to the upstream side are formed respectively. And slope 55
And the upper surface of the restricting portion 56 and the slope 62 are smoothly connected to form a guide surface. Similarly, the slope 71 and the restricting portion 72 are formed.
And the slope 73 are smoothly connected to form a guide surface. As described above, the paper P traveling from the upstream side to the downstream side (the arrow in FIG. 5 indicates the traveling direction of the paper P traveling from the upstream side to the downstream side) is moved by the movable guide 70 and the side end guide 5.
By bending 8 it is possible to easily get over it.

That is, without removing the paper feeding / discharging tray 50, printing is performed on the paper P fed from the rear of the apparatus to the front by the paper feeding device 2, and when the paper is ejected, the paper P ejected. Are discharged onto the sheet placement surface 51. But,
Since the movable guide 70 that slides in the width direction of the paper P is provided on the paper placement surface 51, the movable guide 7 is provided.
When 0 is in a position that matches the width dimension smaller than the width dimension of the discharged paper sheet P, the leading end of the discharged paper sheet P may come into contact with the movable guide 70, causing a paper jam. is there.
Further, also in the side end guide 58, in the case where the sheet P is skewed, the upstream side of the side end guide 58 (regulating unit 5
There is also a possibility that the paper jam may occur due to the contact with the portion (where 6 is provided).

However, as described above, since the guide surface for guiding the leading end of the sheet P is formed on the upstream side of the movable guide 70 and the side edge guide 58, the sheet feeding / discharging tray 50 is not removed and the movable guide is not removed. Even when the paper discharge operation is performed in a state where 70 is in an improper position, it is possible to maintain the printer 100 in a normal state without causing a paper jam.

Next, a side end portion 59 having the same shape as the side end guide 58 is formed on the other side of the paper placing surface 51 facing the side end guide 58. The side end guide 58 and the side end portion 59 are each formed with a recess 53,
By putting fingers on the concave portion 53, the paper feeding and discharging tray 5
It is designed so that the work of attaching and removing 0 can be done easily.

The above is the configuration and operation and effect of the paper feeding / discharging tray 50. Next, referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, a compact disc medium (hereinafter referred to as “C” as a non-flexible recording material).
CD which is a flat tray for setting "D".
The tray 40 will be described in detail. In FIG. 7A, reference numeral 46 indicates a CD set on the CD tray 40.

The CD tray 40 is made of a plate-like member, and has a circular recess 47, which is a holding portion for holding the CD 46, formed substantially in the vicinity of the center thereof, and a protrusion into which the center hole of the CD 46 fits in the center portion thereof. 44 are formed. C on the convex portion 44
When D46 is fitted, CD46 becomes CD tray 4
It is held at 0. Two take-out holes 43, 43 are formed in the outer peripheral portion of the recess 47, and the CD 46 held in the recess 47 is placed in the take-out holes 43, 43.
The CD 46 can be easily taken out by inserting a finger from above 0 (the front side of the paper surface of FIG. 7).

The upper side of the CD tray 40 in FIGS. 7A and 7B is the side to be inserted into the printer 100 (upstream end: see FIG. 4), and the upstream end is shown in FIG. ), Chamfering is performed so that the printer 100 can be smoothly inserted (portion indicated by reference numeral 42). In addition, as shown in FIG. 7A, a positioning recess 41 having a recessed shape in a plan view is formed at the downstream end, while the CD tray 40 is set on the sheet feeding / discharging tray 50. As shown in FIG. 4, a positioning recess 52 having the same shape as the positioning recess 41 is formed on the sheet placement surface 51 on the side. More specifically, a groove portion 61 extending in the paper discharge direction is formed on the paper placing surface 51, and the upstream end point of the groove portion 61 is formed in an arc shape in a plan view, whereby the positioning recess 52 is formed. ing. The positioning recess 41 and the positioning recess 52 constitute “positioning means” that defines the feeding start position of the CD tray 40 on the sheet mounting surface 51, and the positioning recess 41 and the positioning recess 52 are aligned with each other. As a result, the feeding start position of the CD tray 40 on the sheet placement surface 51 is uniformly defined,
Therefore, an appropriate feeding operation can be performed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7A, a portion of the CD tray 40 other than the concave portion (holding portion) 47 has a light reflectance similar to that of the thick paper such as the board paper. In addition, an L-shaped reflecting portion 80 is provided which enables discrimination from thick paper such as the board paper. Here, that the reflecting portion 80 has “a light reflectance similar to that of the thick paper such as the board paper”
It can be clearly discriminated that the reflected light from the reflecting portion 80 is not the reflected light from the flat tray itself, and in the control processing, it means that the reflected light can be treated in the same manner as the reflected light from the thick paper such as the board paper. . In this embodiment, the CD tray 40 is entirely black, and the reflector 80 is white, which has almost the same reflectance as plain paper or board paper.

The reflecting portion 80 has a small width portion 80c which is small in the width direction of the CD tray 40 (left and right direction of the paper surface of FIG. 7).
And a large portion 80a + 80b which is large in the same direction. Of the large portions 80a + 80b, the portion indicated by the reference numeral 80b represents a portion having the same width as the narrow portion 80c and being continuous with the narrow portion 80c. In FIG. 7A, three parts 80a, 80
Although a line is drawn on the boundary between b and 80c, this is a line for convenience of description, and in practice, such a line is not drawn on the reflecting portion 80, and is composed of a single one. Code 80d
Indicates a portion of the substantial portion 80a + 80b having the same width as the portion indicated by the reference numeral 80a, in which the surface of the CD tray 40 itself appears, that is, a portion where the reflection portion 80 is not provided.

Next, a sensor 27 as a "reflected light reading device" is provided on the lower surface of the carriage 10 (see FIG. 3). The sensor 27 is mounted on the carriage 10 so as to move in the main scanning direction which is the width direction of the recording material. The sensor 27 includes a light emitting portion (not shown) and a light receiving portion (not shown), which allows the reflectance of the recording material located under the carriage 10 to be read. Then, a recording material discriminating apparatus (not shown) for discriminating the type of the recording material set from the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 based on the detection of the presence or absence of the reflected light from the reflecting portion 80 by the sensor 27. , A control unit 5 for controlling the operations of the recording unit, the transport unit, and the discharge unit of the printer 10.
It is provided inside.

The recording material discriminating device is a CD tray 4
L-shaped reflecting portion 80 provided at 0 and the sensor 2
7, movement in a predetermined range related to the reflection part 80, conveyance and stop of the recording material by the conveyance roller 19, and presence / absence of reflected light having the light reflectance from the recording material at a predetermined movement point. Based on the detection, it is configured to determine whether the recording material is the CD held in the CD tray 40 or the cardboard. Here, the “movement within a predetermined range related to” the reflecting portion 80 of the sensor 27, the reflecting portion 80 is formed in an L-shape that enables it to be distinguished from thick paper such as the board paper. On the premise of this, it means moving within a predetermined range so that it can be discriminated whether the recording material to be discriminated is thick paper or CD on the CD tray 40.

Further, the recording material discriminating apparatus is configured to recognize the tip position of the recording material in the sub-scanning direction when discriminating the type of the recording material. here,
When recognizing the type of the recording material, recognizing the tip position of the recording material in the sub-scanning direction means that the sensor 27 is set to L.
This means that the movement is performed based on the presence / absence of the reflected light detected by the sensor 27 during the movement involving the character-shaped reflecting portion 80.

<Specific Discriminating Method in Recording Material Discriminating Device> Next, a concrete discriminating method in the recording material discriminating apparatus will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 8 is a flow chart for explaining an embodiment of a specific method of discrimination in the recording material discriminating apparatus.

In this determination method, the position where the small width portion 80c forming a part of the reflection portion 80 intersects with the row along the sub-scanning direction is the first position 85 of the sensor, and the large portion 8 is used.
0a + 80b, a portion 8 overlapping the narrow portion 80c
The position where the remaining portion 80a except 0b intersects the row along the sub-scanning direction is the second position 86 of the sensor. Then, the type of the recording material is discriminated after first recognizing the tip position of the recording material.

The recognition of the tip position of the recording material is executed in the following procedure. In the present embodiment, by pressing a paper feed switch button (not shown) on the panel of the printer 100, the leading edge position recognition sequence of the recording material starts. First, as shown in FIG. 7A, the sensor 27 is moved to the first position 85 along a line 82 parallel to the movement line of the carriage 10 (step S1), and at the first position 85. The presence or absence of reflected light from the reflecting portion 80 of the CD tray 40 or the surface of the cardboard is detected (step S2). When there is reflected light, the sensor 27 is moved to the second position 86 along the line 82 (step S3), and the presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position (step S4). When there is reflected light, the recording material is stopped by the conveying roller 19 in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction, and the recording material is stopped at the detection position 81 where the reflected light changes. Recognize the tip position (step S
5). It should be noted that thick paper such as board paper is
However, the position of the leading edge of the recording material is maintained. on the other hand,
In the case of the CD held in the CD tray 40, the detection position 81 is made to coincide with the leading end position of the CD held in advance in the recess 47 as in the present embodiment. By forming the relative arrangement of the concave portion 47 and the reflecting portion 80, it is possible to set the leading end position as the recording material as it is like the thick paper.

Next, when the detection result of the reflected light at the second position 86 in the step S4 indicates that there is no reflected light, the recording material is forwardly fed in the sub-scanning direction by the conveying roller 19 (step S10). ), The presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position 86 (step S11), and the conveyance of the recording material is stopped at the detection position 81 where the reflected light is present, thereby recognizing the leading end position of the recording material. Yes (step S12).

When the detection result at the first position 85 in the step S2 is no reflected light, the sensor 27 is moved to the second position 86 (step S2).
6) While conveying the recording material in the reverse direction of the sub-scanning direction by the conveying roller 19 (step S7), the presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position 86 (step S8), and the reflected light is present. Then, the recording material is stopped at the position 81 at which the absence of reflected light is detected again, and the tip position of the recording material is recognized (step S9).

According to the front end position recognition sequence of the recording material shown in FIG. 8, the position of the recording material manually set from the front side of the printer 100 is related to the position of the sensor 27 in the conveying direction. Even if it fluctuates back and forth, the tip position of the recording material can be reliably and easily recognized.
In addition, the recognition of the leading end position can be performed by the same procedure regardless of whether the recording material is thick paper such as board paper or the CD tray 40 that can carry the CD while holding it in the holding portion. There is an effect that it is not necessary to prepare a dedicated tip position recognition sequence for each type of recording material.

Next, FIG. 9 is a flow chart for explaining another embodiment of the specific method of discrimination in the recording material discriminating apparatus. In the present embodiment, the leading end position recognition sequence of the recording material is configured as follows. Step S1 to Step S2, Step S3,
The route to step S4 and step S5 is shown in FIG.
Since it is the same as the embodiment described above, the description thereof will be omitted.

When the detection result of the reflected light at the second position 86 in step 4 indicates that no reflected light is present, the recording material is forwardly fed in the sub-scanning direction by the conveying roller 19 (step S10). The presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the position 2 (step S11), the recording material is sent to the detection position of the reflected light and stopped (step S13), and then the recording material is moved in the sub-scanning direction by the conveying roller 19. The front end position of the recording material is recognized by stopping the recording material at the detection position 81 in which the material is sent in the reverse direction and changes without reflected light (step S).
5).

When the result of detection at the first position 85 in step S2 is no reflected light, the sensor is moved to the second position 86 (step S6), and the recording material is moved by the transport roller 19 to the recording material. While feeding back in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction (step S7), the presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position 86 (step S8), and the conveyance of the recording material is stopped at the detection position with the reflected light ( Step S14), by stopping the recording material at the detection position 81 in which the recording material is fed back by the conveying roller 19 in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction and changes to no reflected light, the tip position of the recording material is changed. Is recognized (step S5).

In any case, the sequence for recognizing the front end position of the recording material shown in FIG. 9 is a detection position in which the recording material is fed backward by the conveying roller 19 in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction and changes to no reflected light. The feature is that the tip position of the recording material is recognized by stopping the recording material in step 1, that is, the tip position of the recording material is recognized in step 5 which is common in both cases. As a result, the leading edge position is recognized by the common transporting operation (step S5) that finally becomes the same direction regardless of whether the transporting direction of the recording material immediately before is forward or reverse. Therefore, the tip position recognition accuracy can be made uniform without variation.

<Method of Determining Type of Recording Material> Next, an embodiment of a method of determining the type of recording material will be described.
The same applies to both cases of FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, and the determination of the recording material by the determination device is performed after recognizing the tip position of the recording material (step S5, step S9, step S12).
The sensor 27 is moved to the first position 85 (step S2
1) The recording material is fed backward by a predetermined amount in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction by the conveying roller 19 and stopped (step S2).
2). Here, the backflow of the “predetermined amount” means the sensor 27.
However, the movement is such that the line can be reliably separated from the line parallel to the sub-scanning direction formed by the detection position 81 in FIG. 7A to the downstream side (downward in FIG. 7) relative to the recording material. Means the amount, in the present embodiment. The number of feeding steps of the feeding drive motor (not shown) is set to 50 steps. The order of steps S21 and S22 may be reversed.

Then, the presence or absence of the reflected light is detected by the sensor 27 that has moved to the first position 85 (step S2).
3) When the presence of reflected light is detected, the recording material is the CD
It is determined that the CD is held in the tray (step S
24), when no reflected light is detected at the first position 85, it is determined that the recording material is the thick paper (step S25).
To do.

According to this recording material type discrimination sequence, after the tip position of the recording material is recognized (step S5,
Step S9, Step S12), the transport roller 19
With, the recording material is fed backward by a predetermined amount in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction,
The presence or absence of the reflected light is detected by the sensor 27 that has moved to the first position 85, and when the presence of the reflected light is detected, it is determined that the recording material is a CD held on a CD tray, and the first position 85 When the absence of reflected light is detected in, it is determined that the recording material is the thick paper, that is, the type of the recording material is determined based on the tip position recognition sequence of the recording material. Target.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
According to the above-described embodiment, the portion other than the holding portion 47 of the CD tray 40 has a light reflectance similar to that of the thick paper such as the board, and is distinguished from the thick paper such as the board. A reflecting portion 80 having a predetermined shape that enables the above is provided. The recording material discriminating apparatus is provided with the reflecting portion 8
0, movement of the sensor 27 along a line 82 in a predetermined range related to the reflecting portion 80, conveyance and stop of the recording material by the conveyance roller 19, and the movement from the recording material at a predetermined movement point. Since it is configured to determine whether the recording material is the CD held in the CD tray 40 or the thick paper based on the detection of the presence or absence of the reflected light of the light reflectivity, The type of recording material set can be easily discriminated by the single sensor 27 without providing a dedicated sensor for each type of recording material. Based on this determination, it is possible to appropriately shift to an initial transport process such as positioning of the leading end position of the recording material (so-called indexing), which is performed as a preparation for starting recording according to the type of recording material.

Simultaneously with the determination of the type of recording material, when the recording material is thick paper such as board paper, the leading end position of the thick paper in the sub-scanning direction, or a small size printing target such as a CD is printed. In this case, the leading edge position of the CD in the sub-scanning direction is recognized, so that the accurate cueing process can be executed according to the type of the recording material.

The reflecting portion 80 is C in this embodiment.
Although it is formed in an L shape with respect to the D tray 40, it is needless to say that it may be formed into other shapes, and it is also applicable to recording materials other than the CD tray 40. It is also possible to perform appropriate print control according to the configuration.

The controller 5 (see FIG. 3) of the printer 100 is driven so that the downstream end of the CD tray 40 (the portion indicated by the reference numeral 40a in FIG. 6) is always positioned on the sheet placement surface 51. The motor 26, that is, the transport drive roller 19a is driven and controlled, whereby the CD tray 40 is detached from the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 and is returned to the paper feeding / discharging tray 50 again. Upstream end of the
Therefore, a reliable printing operation can be performed without causing a problem such as a right side).

[0091]

According to the present invention, it is possible to more appropriately feed and more appropriately discharge the recording materials of both the flexible recording material and the inflexible recording material. The manual feed unit is provided on the front side of the recording apparatus, and the type of the recording material set from the manual feed unit can be easily provided by a single sensor without providing a dedicated sensor for each type of the recording material. Accordingly, it is possible to appropriately perform the feeding process such as the positioning of the leading end position of the recording material for starting the recording corresponding to the type of the recording material.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a state in which a cutter unit is attached to an inkjet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing a state in which a paper supply / discharge tray is attached to the inkjet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a paper transport path of the inkjet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a paper feeding / discharging tray according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of the paper supply / discharge tray according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a transport path from a transport roller to a paper feed / discharge tray.

7A is a plan view of the compact disc tray, and FIG. 7B is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an embodiment of a specific method of making a determination in the recording material determination device.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining another embodiment of a specific method of making a determination in the recording material determination device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Paper output stacker 2 Paper feeder 3 device body 4 cutter unit 5 control unit 13 Inkjet recording head 19 Conveyor roller 20 Paper ejection roller 26 Drive motor 27 sensors 28 Platen 40 compact disc tray 41 Positioning recess 43 Removal hole 45a, 45b reflector 46 compact disc media 50 Paper tray 51 Paper loading surface 52 Positioning recess 53 recess 55 slope 56 Regulation Department 57 ribs 58 Side guide 61 groove 62 recess 70 Movable guide 71 slope 72 Regulation Department 73 slope 100 inkjet printer

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) // B65H 7/00 B65H 7/00 F term (reference) 2C058 AB15 AC07 AD01 AE02 AE09 AF03 AF08 AF12 AF15 AF20 AF36 AF37 AF43 AF45 AF47 AF53 AF54 AF63 GA06 GA14 GB04 GB13 GB33 GB36 GB47 GB54 GC11 GE03 GE24 2C059 BB02 BB06 BB13 BB17 BB21 BB26 DD03 DD05 DD07 2C060 BB12 BC03 BC04 BC12 BC06 BC12 BC05 BC06 BC12 BC05 BC06 BC12 BC05 BC06 AB13 AB22 AB32 AC65 BA04

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A recording unit for performing recording on a recording medium, a conveying unit for conveying the recording medium in a sub-scanning direction toward a recording area of the recording unit, and a recording medium after recording outside the apparatus. From the ejecting part that ejects and the device front side that is the side where the ejecting part is located, it is possible to carry thick paper such as board paper as recording material and small size recording objects such as compact discs in the holding part A flat plate-shaped tray, and a manual feed unit for manually setting the tray to a state in which it can be transported by the transport unit; and a recording material for determining the type of the recording material set from the manual feed unit based on detection by a sensor. A discriminator,
A recording apparatus comprising: a plate-shaped tray having a light reflectance similar to that of the thick paper such as the board, and distinguishing it from the thick paper such as the board in a portion other than the holding portion. The recording material discriminating apparatus is provided with a reflection portion of a predetermined shape that enables the reflection member of the predetermined shape provided on the flat plate tray, and a predetermined range related to the reflection portion of the sensor. , The conveyance and stop of the recording material by the conveying section, and the presence or absence of the reflected light of the light reflectance from the recording material at a predetermined moving point, the recording material is the flat tray. A recording apparatus, which is configured to determine whether the card is held by the card or the cardboard. 2. The recording material determining device according to claim 1, wherein the recording material determining device is configured to recognize a leading end position of the recording material in the sub-scanning direction when determining the type of the recording material. Characteristic recording device. 3. The sensor according to claim 2, wherein the sensor is configured to move in a main scanning direction which is a width direction of a recording material, and the reflecting portion provided on the flat plate tray is small in the width direction. The recording material discriminating device is formed in an L-shape including a small width portion and a large portion that is large in the same direction, and the recording material discriminating device intersects a row of the small width portion forming a part of the reflecting portion in the sub-scanning direction. The position is defined as a first position of the sensor, and a position of the remaining part of the large part other than the part overlapping the narrow part intersects with a row along the sub-scanning direction is defined as a second position of the sensor. Moving to a first position, detecting the presence or absence of the reflected light at the first position, moving the sensor to the second position when there is reflected light, and detecting the presence or absence of the reflected light at the second position However, when there is reflected light, The recording material is fed back in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction, and the recording material is stopped at the detection position where it changes without the reflected light, thereby recognizing the tip position of the recording material, and reflecting at the second position. When the detection result of the light is that there is no reflected light, the presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position while the recording material is forwardly fed in the sub-scanning direction by the conveying unit, and the detection position is changed to the presence of the reflected light. By stopping the recording material by recognizing the tip position of the recording material, when the detection result at the first position is no reflected light, the sensor is moved to the second position, While feeding the recording material backward in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction, the presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position, the presence of the reflected light is detected, and the absence of the reflected light is detected again. By stopping
A recording apparatus, which recognizes a tip position of the recording material. 4. The recording material discriminating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the sensor is moved to the first position, the presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the first position, and when the reflected light is present, The sensor is moved to the second position, the presence / absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position, and when the reflected light is present, the recording material is fed back in the reverse direction of the sub-scanning direction by the transport unit. By stopping the recording material at the detection position that changes to no reflected light, the tip position of the recording material is recognized, and when the detection result of the reflected light at the second position is no reflected light, the conveying unit Detects the presence or absence of the reflected light at the second position while forward feeding the recording material in the sub-scanning direction, feeds the recording material to a detection position with reflected light, and stops the recording material. To stop the recording material at the detection position where it is sent back in the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction and changes to no reflected light. Recognizing the tip position of the recording material, and when the detection result at the first position is no reflected light, the sensor is moved to the second position, and the recording material is moved in the sub-scanning direction by the transport unit. The presence or absence of the reflected light is detected at the second position while the sheet is being fed back in the reverse direction, and the conveyance of the recording material is stopped at the detection position with the reflected light, and the recording material is again conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the conveying section. A recording apparatus, which recognizes the leading end position of a recording material by stopping the recording material at a detection position where it is sent backward in the opposite direction and changes without reflected light. 5. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 3, wherein the recording material is discriminated by the conveying unit in a direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction after recognizing the leading end position of the recording material. Only the fixed amount is fed back, the presence or absence of the reflected light is detected by the sensor that has moved to the first position, and when the presence of the reflected light is detected, it is determined that the recording material is held on the flat tray. And first
A recording apparatus, which determines that the recording material is the thick paper when no reflected light is detected at the position. 6. The recording unit according to claim 3, wherein the recording unit includes a carriage on which a recording head is mounted and which reciprocates in a sub-scanning direction, and the sensor is mounted on the carriage. Characteristic recording device. 7. The manual feed section according to claim 1, wherein the manual feed section includes a paper feed tray for manually feeding the recording material, and a recording material for recording and discharging the recording material. A paper supply / discharge tray that also serves as a paper discharge tray for receiving is provided on the upstream side of the conveyance path of the recording material, and holds and accumulates a plurality of recording materials and on the downstream side. A sheet feeding device for feeding one sheet to the sheet feeding device, a conveying roller provided on the downstream side of the sheet feeding device for conveying the recording material to the downstream side at a constant pitch, and a conveying roller provided on the downstream side of the conveying roller. In a recording apparatus provided with a recording head for recording on a conveyed recording material, the recording apparatus is detachably provided on the downstream side of the recording head. Feed the flexible recording material straight from above the paper surface to below the recording head. A recording apparatus configured to form a linear paper feed / discharge path for a recording material that is fed and discharged straight from the recording head onto the paper placement surface. 8. The recording medium according to claim 7, wherein one of the side edge guides for guiding the side edges of the recording material provided on the sheet mounting surface of the paper feeding / discharging tray is slidable in the width direction of the recording material. Of the side guides, at least the movable guides of the side end guides are fed from the upstream side by the paper feeding device and discharged, and the leading end of the recording material passes over the side end guides and the downstream side. A recording device having a guide surface for advancing to the side. 9. The discharging roller according to claim 7, wherein the discharging roller, which is provided on the downstream side of the recording head and discharges the recording material, is positioned below the recording material and is driven to rotate. A sheet driving roller; a sheet discharging driven roller provided above the recording material and displaceable between a contact position in contact with the sheet discharging driving roller and a position separated from the sheet discharging driving roller; ,
The recording apparatus is characterized in that a regulating member for regulating the lifting of the recording material from the sheet mounting surface is disposed above the side edge of the recording material. 10. The flat tray according to claim 1.