JP2003291436A - Sheet feeder, recorder equipped with sheet feeder and method for feeding sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet feeder in which a sheet is fed more efficiently up to the print start position when print data includes an upper margin. <P>SOLUTION: A printer has a first sheet feed operation mode for feeding a sheet by a first amount from the detecting position of a sheet detecting means to a specified heading position before print data is received, and a second sheet feed operation mode for feeding the sheet after receiving the print data. In the second sheet feed operation mode, presence of an upper margin is detected after the print data is received (S110) and then the amount of upper margin is analyzed (S120). Subsequently, sheet feed operation is started (S130) and a decision is made whether the forward end of the sheet is detected or not (S140). When the forward end is detected, a counter is reset to start counting of the number of steps of a sheet feed motor (S150). Finally, a decision is made whether the count has reached the sum (C=L+M) of the amount of upper margin and the number of steps of the first sheet feeding amount (S160) and sheet feed is stopped if the sum is reached (S170). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device used in a recording device such as a printer, a recording device provided with the sheet feeding device, and a sheet feeding method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some conventional printers include an automatic paper feeder (hereinafter referred to as ASF (Auto Sheet Feeder)). When the printing is started, the sheet set in the ASF is automatically fed to the predetermined cueing position which is a printable position by driving the ASF.

FIG. 8 shows a conventional printer (recording device) having an ASF. This printer is equipped with an ASF 81 that stocks a plurality of sheets and automatically feeds them so that continuous printing can be performed on a plurality of sheets. ASF81
Is a mounting plate 82 on which a plurality of sheets are mounted, and a mounting plate 8
The LD roller 83 is disposed so as to face the tip end (lower end) of the second roller 2 and to face it. A lever-type paper detection sensor 86 for detecting the paper P is provided between the print head 85 provided at the lower end of the carriage 84 and the LD roller 83. The LD roller 83 uses a paper feed motor that drives the paper feed roller 87 and the paper discharge roller 88 as a power source. By driving the paper feed motor, the LD roller 83 makes one revolution while making contact with the uppermost paper placed on the placing plate 82 at its arcuate surface, so that the paper P is delivered to the paper feed roller 87. Be done. The position indicated by ∘ in FIG. 8A is the reference position at the most downstream end of the print head 85.

Here, the print data sent from the computer connected to this printer is on the paper P.
It is assumed that the configuration is as shown in FIG. The paper P is fed in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 7 (therefore, the left end in the drawing is the front end of the paper P). In this case, the predetermined margin required for the printer to print is A on the paper P.
It is a position separated by a line, and the distance from the tip is l1. The position separated by the B line is the print start position of this print data, and an upper margin (distance 12) is provided between the A line and the B line. The shaded portion on the right side of the line B in the drawing is the area of the print data D.

Therefore, the paper P is sent out to the paper feed roller 87 by the LD roller 83, and the rotation of the paper feed roller 87 causes the paper P to reach the position shown in FIG. It is put out and stopped. And
The rotation of the paper feed roller 87 corresponding to the upper margin (distance 12) causes the paper to be fed to the position shown in FIG. 8B, that is, the position where the reference position ▴ and the line B coincide with each other and stops. In this state, the carriage 84 is driven and the print data D is printed.

This printer has a first paper feed mode in which paper is fed by pressing a paper feed button provided in the printer, and a second paper feed mode in which paper is fed after receiving print data as described above. And a paper feeding mode. In the first paper feed mode, by pressing the paper feed button, as shown in FIG.
Paper feeding is performed to the position of (a), and then print data is received and the paper is fed to the position of FIG. 8 (b) which is the print start position.

[0007]

However, the conventional printer has a structure in which after performing the cueing operation, the printer is temporarily stopped. Therefore, if there is an upper margin next, the paper feed operation is performed, and after further stopping, printing is started.
However, since the stop operation is always included between the paper feeding operation and the paper feeding operation for the upper margin, the printing speed has been reduced as a whole. For this reason, there has been a problem in today's demand for high-speed processing of printers.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and when print data has an upper margin,
An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding device that more efficiently feeds a sheet to the print start position, a recording apparatus including the sheet feeding device, and a sheet feeding method.

[0009]

In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a paper detecting means for detecting the leading edge of the paper fed by the automatic paper feeding means, and the paper detecting means. A paper feed unit that conveys the paper that has passed through the detection unit, and feeds a first paper feed amount from the detection position of the paper detection unit to a predetermined cueing position before receiving print data sent from the outside. A paper feeding device having a first paper feeding mode and a second paper feeding mode for feeding paper after receiving print data, wherein there is an upper margin of print data in the second paper feeding mode. While having an upper margin detecting means for detecting, and an upper margin amount analyzing means for analyzing the upper margin amount of the print data, when the upper margin is not detected by the upper margin detecting means, the paper feeding means, Stop after feeding the first paper feed amount On the other hand, when the upper margin detecting means detects the upper margin, the upper margin amount analyzing means analyzes the upper margin amount, and the paper feeding means does not stop the feeding at the indexing position. The gist is to stop after feeding the first paper feed amount and the upper margin amount as the second paper feed amount.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the sheet feeding device according to the first aspect, print data is received from the outside after the first sheet feed amount is fed in the first sheet feeding mode. At this time, when the upper margin detecting means detects the upper margin, the upper margin amount analyzing means analyzes the upper margin amount, and the paper feeding means stops after feeding the upper margin amount. Is the gist.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the paper feeding device described in the paragraph 1, the automatic paper feeding means includes a paper stacking part on which a plurality of papers can be set, and the papers set in the paper stacking part are fed one by one. And

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus including the sheet feeding device according to any one of the first to third aspects,
The paper detection unit includes a recording unit that records on the paper fed from the paper feeding unit, and the paper detection unit feeds the paper fed from the automatic paper feeding unit between the automatic paper feeding unit and the recording unit. The gist is to detect the tip of the.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus including the paper feeding device according to the fourth aspect, the recording means performs the printing with the position at which the paper feeding means feeds and stops as a base point. The point is to record the data on paper.

The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claim 4 or 5.
The recording apparatus including the sheet feeding device according to the first aspect,
The gist of the paper feed mode is that the paper feed mode is selected when a paper feed command is received from the paper feed operation means provided in the recording apparatus.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus including the sheet feeding device according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects,
The predetermined cueing position is composed of a reference position at the most downstream end that can be recorded by the recording unit and a predetermined margin necessary for recording a sheet.

The invention according to claim 8 is a paper feed method for detecting the leading edge of the paper fed by the automatic paper feed means by the paper detection means and conveying the paper that has passed through the paper detection means. , A first paper feed mode for feeding a first paper feed amount from a detection position of the paper detection unit to a predetermined cueing position before receiving print data sent from the outside, and print data is received A second paper feed mode in which the paper is fed later; in the second paper feed mode, the step of detecting the presence or absence of an upper margin of the print data; and the case of detecting the upper margin of the print data. And a step of analyzing the upper margin amount, and when the upper margin of the print data is not detected, the paper feeding unit stops after feeding the first paper feeding amount, If the upper margin of the print data is detected, the upper margin Analyzing the amount, the paper feeding means,
Without stopping the feeding at the cueing position, the first
The gist is to stop after feeding the paper feed amount and the upper margin amount as the second paper feed amount.

(Operation) According to the invention described in claims 1 and 8, in the sheet feeding device having the first and second sheet feeding modes before and after the print data is received at the timing of performing the sheet feeding operation, Different paper feed amounts are controlled.
That is, in the first paper feed mode, print data has not been received at the start of the paper feed operation, so that the paper feed must be temporarily stopped at the first paper feed amount. On the other hand, in the second paper feed mode, the paper feed operation is started after receiving the print data. Therefore, the second paper feed amount is the second paper feed amount in which the upper margin amount when the upper margin is present is added. Paper can be fed depending on the paper feed amount. That is, in the second paper feed mode, it is not necessary to stop the paper feed means between the paper feed operation and the paper feed operation for the upper margin. Therefore, it is possible to perform paper feed control corresponding to different paper feed modes, and in the second paper feed mode, it is possible to more efficiently perform paper feed to the print start position for print data having an upper margin. it can.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the first paper feeding mode, even after the paper feeding is once stopped, the upper margin detecting means and the upper margin amount analyzing means feed the upper margin amount. You can do paper. Therefore, the upper margin detecting means and the upper margin amount analyzing means can be shared in the first and second paper feeding modes, so that the construction of the paper feeding device can be simplified.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the automatic paper feeding means is provided with a paper loading portion capable of setting a plurality of papers, and feeding the papers set in the paper loading portion one by one. In the sheet feeding device including the above, the effects of the invention according to claim 1 or 2 can be obtained. Therefore, when a plurality of sheets of paper are continuously fed in the second paper feed mode, the paper can be fed more efficiently.

According to the invention described in claim 4, in the recording apparatus provided with the paper feeding device, the effects of the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 3 can be obtained. Therefore, particularly when the paper is fed in the second paper feed mode, the paper can be fed more efficiently and then the recording can be started.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the recording means records the print data on the paper with the position where the paper feeding means feeds and stops as the base point. Therefore, in the first and second paper feeding modes, the print data is recorded after the paper is fed to the recording start position.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, the first paper feed mode is selected when a paper feed command is received from the paper feed operation means provided in the recording apparatus. Therefore, the first paper feed mode is selected according to the paper feed command from the paper feed operation means.

According to the seventh aspect of the invention, the predetermined cueing position is composed of the reference position of the most downstream end which can be recorded by the recording means and the predetermined margin necessary for recording the paper. . Therefore, recording can be started from the maximum recordable position on the sheet.

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 shows a printing device (inkjet printer) as a recording device. The printer 1 is equipped with an automatic sheet feeder (hereinafter referred to as a feeder 3) as an automatic sheet feeder on the back side of the main body 2. A paper guide 7, which includes a paper support 4, a mounting plate 5, and an edge guide 6, is attached to the feeder 3. The feeder 3 includes a paper feed drive mechanism that feeds the papers set in the paper guide 7 one by one into the main body 2. A carriage 8 that reciprocates in the width direction (main scanning direction) is provided in the main body 2, and printing is performed on a sheet by ejecting ink at a predetermined timing from a print head 9 provided below the carriage 8. Be seen. Then, the printed sheet is discharged from a discharge port 2A which is opened at the lower front side of the main body 2. Further, the printer 1 is provided with a paper feed button 40 as a paper feed operation means, and can send a paper feed command to a paper feed device. The carriage 8 and the print head 9 form a recording unit.

FIG. 1 shows a paper feeding device. As shown in the figure, the LD roller 10 is arranged in the vicinity of the lower end of the mounting plate 5 on the rear surface of the main body so as to face it. A pair of guides 11 and 12 is arranged on the downstream side of the LD roller 10 in the sheet feeding direction.

In the vicinity of the paper entrance of each guide 11 and 12,
Lever 15 that extends so that its lower end reaches the paper path
And a sheet detection sensor 16 whose upper end is the detection target. The paper detection sensor 16 is turned on when the paper P to be fed pushes the lower end of the lever 15 and rotates it, and when the paper P pushing the lower end of the lever 15 is cut off, the lever 15 is moved to the original position by the biasing force of the spring ( Return to the return position) and turn off. That is, when there is no sheet P for rotating the lever 15, the lever 15 is arranged at the return position shown in FIG. 1A, and when the sheet P rotates the lever 15, the lever 15 moves to the position shown in FIG. It rotates to the paper detection position shown. Therefore, the sheet detection sensor 16 remains on until the trailing edge of the sheet P is cut after the leading edge of the sheet P is detected. The lever 15 and the paper detection sensor 16 constitute a paper detection unit.

The paper feed roller 13 and the paper discharge roller 17 are driven by the same drive source to cooperatively feed the paper P. The LD roller 10 is also driven by the same drive source as the paper feed roller 13 and the paper discharge roller 17, and at the time of paper feeding, the paper feed roller 13 and the paper discharge roller 17 discharge the previous paper P. Is done and L
The next paper P by the D roller 10 and the paper feed roller 13
Is fed. However, the LD roller 10 can be separated from the drive source, and can be switched to a state in which power can be transmitted only during sheet feeding.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, the electrical construction of the printer having the paper feeding device will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system 20 includes a host computer (PC) 21 and
The printer 1 is provided. The host computer 21 includes a main body 21A, a display device 21B, and an input device 21C as an input unit. In the main body 21A, the program and C
A printer driver 22 is constructed by a PU (not shown). The printer driver 22 executes a process of converting image data or document data into print data. In addition,
The printer driver 22 constitutes a print control device and a paper feed mode designating unit.

The printer 1 is communicably connected to the host computer 21, and the print data converted by the printer driver 22 is transferred from the host computer 21 to the printer 1 and received by the interface 24 of the printer 1. The bus connected to the interface 24
CPU 25, ROM 26, RAM 27 and ASIC 28
Etc. are connected. By executing the program stored in the ROM 26, the CPU 25 issues an instruction necessary for print control and an instruction for paper feed processing to the ASIC 28. In addition,
The ASIC 28 constitutes a control means, a command interpretation means, and a paper feed command determination means.

The ASIC 28 is responsible for print control and executes paper feed processing based on instructions from the CPU 25. AS
The IC 28 includes a head drive circuit 31 and a motor drive circuit 3
2, 33 and the paper feed button 40 are connected. ASI
C28 controls the print head 9 via the head drive circuit 31, and controls the carriage motor 34 and the paper feed motor 35 via the motor drive circuits 32 and 33. The motor drive circuit 33 and the paper feed motor 35 form a paper feed unit. The ASIC 28 interprets the command of the print data received from the host computer 21, expands the data, and controls the print head 9 via the head drive circuit 31 based on this data and the like. Further, various commands are attached to the header of the print data, and for example, a paper feed command is set.

The LD roller 10 is powered by a paper feed motor 35 that drives the paper feed roller 13 and the paper discharge roller 17. A clutch 36 serving as a clutch means for switching power transmission is interposed between the LD roller 10 and the paper feed motor 35. That is, the LD roller 10 is operatively connected to the paper feed motor 35 that drives the paper feed roller 13 and the paper discharge roller 17 via a clutch 36 that switches between disconnection and connection of power transmission. At the time of sheet feeding, the clutch 36 is switched to the connected state, whereby the LD roller setting operation is performed and the LD roller 10 is set in a drivable state. In the present embodiment, the clutch 36 is the trigger lever 3
The mechanism is mechanically switched by the operation of 7. The clutch 36 is mechanically mechanically operated by pushing and operating the trigger lever 37 by the carriage 8 when the carriage 8 is moved to a paper feed standby position on the side opposite to the home position during paper feeding. It can be switched.

In this embodiment, a stepping motor is used as the paper feed motor 35. The ASIC 28 internally has a counter 39 as a measuring unit that counts the number of steps of the paper feed motor 35. The ASIC 28 recognizes the position of the paper P from the count value of the counter 39. The rotation of the paper feed motor 35 may be detected by an encoder. In this case, the position of the paper P can be recognized by counting the pulse edges from the encoder by the counter 39.

The distance m shown in FIG. 1 (c) is the distance from the detection position of the predetermined paper detection sensor 16 to the predetermined indexing position, and the paper feed amount of this distance m is the first paper feed. Called quantity. Since the paper feed amount for this distance m is constant, the number of steps of the paper feed motor 35 is stored in the ROM 26 as M steps (m = M steps).

Next, the operation of the sheet feeding device of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 shows a paper feeding operation selection routine,
FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the second sheet feeding operation routine, and FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the first sheet feeding operation routine.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the paper feeding operation, in step (hereinafter, simply referred to as "S") S10, it is confirmed whether or not the paper feeding button 40 of the printer 1 is pressed.
If the paper feed button 40 is not pressed (NO), the second
Second Paper Feeding Operation Routine as Paper Feeding Mode (S20)
And if the paper feed button 40 is pressed (YES),
A first sheet feeding operation routine (S3 as the first sheet feeding mode)
Go to 0). The ROM 26 stores program data for executing the first and second sheet feeding operation routines. This program is executed by the ASIC 28. When one of the first and second sheet feeding operation routines is completed, the printer 1 drives the carriage 8 to start printing (S40), and when printing is completed (S5).
This process is terminated at 0).

Next, the second sheet feeding operation routine (S20) will be described with reference to FIG. The second sheet feeding operation routine (S20) is performed when the sheet feeding button 40 is not pressed.
That is, it is an operation routine in the second paper feed mode in which paper is fed after receiving print data.

First, the ASIC 28 receives the print data transmitted from the printer driver 22 (S11).
0). The print data includes a paper feed command and a print command. Paper feed amount data is stored in the paper feed command, and print data is stored in the print command. Then, the processing proceeds to S120, and the ASIC 28 detects whether or not there is an upper margin in this print data. That is, the presence or absence of the upper margin is detected depending on whether or not the first command of the print data is the paper feed command. If there is an upper margin, the amount of upper margin is analyzed. In the analysis of the upper margin amount, the paper feed amount (l2) of the paper feed command is converted into the number of steps (L steps) of the paper feed motor 35 (l2).
= L steps). The ASIC 28 constitutes an upper margin detecting means and an upper margin amount analyzing means.

Next, the ASIC 28 starts the paper feeding operation (S130), and confirms whether or not the paper detection sensor 16 has detected the leading edge of the paper P (S140). This is repeated until the leading edge of the paper P is detected (N
O), when the leading edge is detected (YES), the counter 39 is reset at this point (C = 0), and the counter 39 starts counting the number of steps of the paper feed motor 35 (S1).
50). Then, it is confirmed whether or not the counter value has reached the total of the number of steps of the upper margin amount and the first paper feed amount (C = L + M) (S160). This is repeated until the counter value reaches the total number of steps (N
O), when the total is reached (YES), the paper feed motor 35 is stopped at this point (S170). From the above, the second
The paper feed operation routine ends. The sum of the first paper feed amount and the upper margin amount is called the second paper feed amount.

Next, the first paper feed operation routine (S30) will be described with reference to FIG. The first paper feed operation routine (S30) is an operation routine in the first paper feed mode in which paper feed is performed when the paper feed button 40 is pressed, that is, before receiving print data.

First, the ASIC 28 starts the paper feeding operation (S310), and it is confirmed whether or not the paper detection sensor 16 detects the leading edge of the paper P (S320). This is repeated until the leading edge of the paper P is detected (N
O) and when the leading edge is detected (YES), the counter 39 is reset at this point (C = 0), and the counter 39 starts counting the number of steps of the paper feed motor 35 (S3).
30). Then, it is confirmed whether or not the counter value has reached the number of steps (C = M) of the first paper feed amount (S34).
0). The process is repeated until the counter value reaches M (NO), and when it reaches M (YES), the paper feed motor 35 is stopped at this point (S350).

Next, the ASIC 28 receives the print data transmitted from the printer driver 22 (S36).
0). Then, the ASIC 28 detects whether or not the print data has an upper margin (S370). The detection of the presence or absence of the upper margin is the same as S120 in FIG.

Next, the ASIC 28 starts the paper feeding operation (S380), resets the counter 39 (C =
0), the counter 39 starts counting the number of steps of the paper feed motor 35 (S390). Then, it is confirmed whether or not the counter value has reached the number of steps of the upper margin amount (C = L) (S400). This is because the process is repeated until the counter value reaches L (NO), and when it reaches L (YE
S), at this point the paper feed motor 35 is stopped (S4
10). With the above, the first sheet feeding operation routine ends.

Next, the operation of the sheet feeding process in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the present embodiment, description will be given assuming that the print data having the configuration shown in FIG. 7 is printed on the paper P. The paper P is fed in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 7 (therefore, the left end in the drawing is the front end of the paper P). In this case, the predetermined margin required for the printer to print is a position on the paper P delimited by the line A, and the distance from the leading edge is l1. The position separated by the B line is the print start position of this print data, and the upper margin (distance l2) is between the A line and the B line. The shaded portion on the right side of the line B in the drawing is the area of the print data D.

From the state shown in FIG. 1A, the sheet feeding device rotates and feeds the uppermost one of the sheets P on the mounting plate 5 while the LD roller 10 is in contact with its arc surface. Is started.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1B, when the front end of the paper P contacts the front end of the lever 15 and the paper detection sensor 16 detects the paper P, the counting process by the counter 39 is started. Then, when the LD roller 10 makes one rotation, the paper P is sent to the paper feed roller 13. Then, the paper P is continuously fed by a predetermined amount by the rotation of the paper feed roller 13, so that the leading end of the paper P is at the reference position (the most downstream end) of the print head 9 (the reference position in FIG. 1). The head is squeezed to a position protruding from ▲) by a predetermined amount (that is, a position protruding from the reference position ∘ by a distance l1). Here, in the first paper feeding operation, the paper P is
It stops at the position of (c) (S350). When the print data has an upper margin in the first paper feed operation, the paper feed motor 35 is driven to stop feeding the paper P to the position (m + l2) shown in FIG. 1D. On the other hand, when the print data has an upper margin in the second paper feeding operation, the paper P does not stop at the position of FIG. 1C, and the paper P is further extended to the position (m + l2) shown in FIG. 1D. Sent and stopped.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. (1) In the above-described embodiment, the sheet feeding operation has the first and second sheet feeding modes before and after the print data is received, and different sheet feeding amounts are controlled. That is, in the first paper feed mode, print data has not been received at the start of the paper feed operation, so that the paper feed must be temporarily stopped at the first paper feed amount. On the other hand, in the second paper feed mode, the paper feed operation is started after receiving the print data. Therefore, if the first paper feed amount has an upper margin, the second margin added with the upper margin amount. Paper can be fed depending on the paper feed amount. That is, in the second paper feed mode, the paper feed roller 13 is inserted between the paper feed operation and the paper feed operation for the upper margin.
You don't have to stop. Therefore, it is possible to perform paper feed control corresponding to different paper feed modes, and in the second paper feed mode, it is possible to more efficiently perform paper feed to the print start position for print data having an upper margin. it can.

(2) In the above embodiment, in the first paper feed mode, even after the paper feed is once stopped, the ASIC 2
8 performs upper margin detection and upper margin amount analysis,
It is possible to feed the upper margin amount. Therefore, in the first and second sheet feeding modes, the upper margin detection and the upper margin amount analysis by the ASIC 28 can be shared.
The configuration of the printer 1 can be simplified.

(3) In the above embodiment, the mounting plate 5 on which a plurality of sheets can be set is provided, and the feeder 3 for feeding the sheets set on the mounting plate 5 one by one. Therefore, when a plurality of sheets of paper are continuously fed in the second paper feed mode, the paper can be fed more efficiently.

(4) In the above embodiment, the paper feed roller 1
3 is used as a starting point for the print head 9
Prints print data on paper. Therefore, in the first and second paper feeding modes, the print data is recorded after the paper is fed to the print start position.

(5) In the above embodiment, the paper feed button 40
When is pressed, the first paper feed mode is selected. Therefore, it is possible to perform paper feed control in different paper feed modes for the printer having the paper feed button 40.

(6) In the above embodiment, the first paper feed amount, which is the predetermined cueing position, is the reference position at the most downstream end where the printer 1 can print, and the predetermined amount required for printing the paper. Margin (11). Therefore, printing can be started from the maximum printable position on the paper.

The above embodiment may be modified as follows. In the above-described embodiment, the distance from the leading edge of the sheet is 11 as the predetermined margin required for the printer to print.
However, this distance is arbitrary, and the distance may be zero. For example, if the printer supports printing without borders,
Paper can be fed by setting this l1 to 0. In this case, the distance m as the first paper feed amount matches the reference position ▲ in FIG.

In the above embodiment, the paper detection sensor 16
Is a lever type, but is not limited to this. For example, an optical sensor that optically detects the gap between the sheets may be used, and when the gap between the sheets that could be detected up to that point can no longer be detected, the leading edge of the sheet may be detected. The sheet interval required for detecting the leading edge of the sheet is shorter than that of the lever sensor, and the minimum value of the sheet interval that can be set can be further shortened as compared with the above-described embodiment using the lever sensor.

In the above embodiment, the clutch is mechanically switched, but a clutch (for example, an electromagnetic clutch) may be electrically switched under the control of a trigger signal.

In the above embodiment, the paper feed amount is counted by the number of steps of the paper feed motor 35, but it may be counted by time, for example. That is, if the paper feeding speed is high, the distance can be accurately monitored by monitoring the time.

In the above embodiment, the paper feed roller 13,
Although the paper discharge roller 17 and the LD roller 10 are driven by the same drive source, for example, the paper feed roller 13, the paper discharge roller 17, and the drive source of the LD roller 10 may be separately provided.

In the above embodiment, the ink jet type printer is used, but the recording apparatus to be applied is not limited to this. For example, it may be applied to a dot impact printer or another ink type printer.

[0057]

According to the present invention, when the print data has an upper margin, it is possible to more efficiently feed the paper to the print start position.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A to 1D are schematic side views illustrating a sheet feeding process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an electrical configuration of a printing system.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a printer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a paper feeding operation selection routine.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a second paper feeding operation routine.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a first paper feeding operation routine.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view illustrating the configuration of print data on a sheet.

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are schematic plan views illustrating a sheet feeding process according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Printer as Recording Device 3 Feeder (Automatic Paper Feeding Device) as Automatic Paper Feeding Unit 5 Mounting Plate as Paper Loading Unit 8 Carriage 9 Constituting Recording Device Print Head 15 Comprising Recording Device 15 Paper Detecting Device Constituting lever 16 Paper detection sensor 28 constituting paper detection means A as upper margin detection means and upper margin amount analysis means
SIC 33 Motor drive circuit constituting paper feed means 35 Paper feed motor 12 constituting paper feed means Upper margin amount m Distance as first paper feed amount P Paper

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Keigo Ito             Seiko, 3-3-3 Yamato, Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture             -In Epson Corporation F-term (reference) 2C058 AB07 AC07 AC11 AD01 AE02                       AF04 GA03 GB03 GB14 GB31                       GB47 GB53 GC09                 3F048 AA05 AB01 BA05 BB02 CC03                       DC09 DC12

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A paper detecting means for detecting the leading edge of the paper fed by the automatic paper feeding means, a paper feeding means for conveying the paper which has passed through the paper detecting means, and a print data sent from the outside. The first paper feed mode in which the first paper feed amount is fed from the detection position of the paper detection unit to the predetermined cueing position before printing, and the second paper feed mode in which the paper feed is performed after the print data is received. A paper feeding device having a paper mode, wherein in the second paper feeding mode, an upper margin detecting means for detecting presence or absence of an upper margin of print data, and an upper margin amount for analyzing an upper margin amount of the print data. While having an analyzing means, when the upper margin detecting means does not detect the upper margin, the paper feeding means stops after feeding the first paper feeding amount, while the upper margin detecting means If the top margin is detected, the The upper margin amount analyzing unit analyzes the upper margin amount, and the paper feeding unit sets the first paper feeding amount and the upper margin amount to the second paper feeding without stopping the feeding at the indexing position. A paper feeding device characterized by stopping after feeding as a quantity. 2. When print data is received from the outside after the first paper feed amount is fed in the first paper feed mode,
When an upper margin is detected by the upper margin detecting unit, the upper margin amount analyzing unit analyzes the upper margin amount, and the paper feeding unit stops after feeding the upper margin amount. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1. 3. The automatic paper feeding means is provided with a paper stacking part capable of setting a plurality of papers, and the papers set in the paper stacking part are fed one by one. Item 1
Or the paper feeding device according to 2. 4. A recording means for recording on the paper fed from the paper feeding means, and the paper detecting means is provided between the automatic paper feeding means and the recording means. A recording apparatus comprising the paper feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the front end of the fed paper is detected. 5. The sheet feeding device according to claim 4, wherein the recording unit records the print data on a sheet with a position where the sheet feeding unit feeds and stops as a base point. Recording device. 6. The first paper feed mode is selected when a paper feed command is received from a paper feed operation means provided in the recording apparatus. A recording device equipped with a paper feeding device. 7. The predetermined cueing position is composed of a reference position at the most downstream end that can be recorded by the recording unit, and a predetermined margin required for recording a sheet. A recording device comprising the paper feeding device according to any one of items 1 to 6. 8. A paper feed method for detecting the leading edge of a paper fed by an automatic paper feed means by a paper detection means, and transporting the paper that has passed through the paper detection means. A first paper feed mode for feeding a first paper feed amount from the detection position of the paper detection means to a predetermined cueing position before receiving a second paper feed, and a second paper feed mode for feeding paper after receiving print data. And a step of detecting the presence or absence of an upper margin of the print data in the second paper feed mode, and a step of detecting the upper margin of the print data when the upper margin of the print data is detected. And a step of analyzing, and when the upper margin of the print data is not detected, the paper feeding unit stops after feeding the first paper feed amount, while the upper margin of the print data is If detected, analyze the amount of top margin and The sheet feeding means stops the sheet feeding at the cueing position, and then stops after feeding the first sheet feeding amount and the upper margin amount as the second sheet feeding amount. Method.