JP2004203013A - Printer and method for cooling printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To uniformly cool each of print units by a fan in a printer storing a plurality of the print units in a housing. <P>SOLUTION: The first to fourth print units 6-9 are stored in the first to fourth storing parts 15-18 of a large housing 5. An exhaust fan 10 is installed in the uppermost step storing part 19 by facing an exhaust opening 35. A control unit 11 measures temperature of each thermal head by temperature sensors in each of the print units 6-9, and when there exists such a thermal head that exceeds a specified temperature, the exhaust fan is rotated. In addition, shutter plates 25a-28a of the storing parts storing the print units exceeding the specified temperature are opened to move the position, and open air is taken into the storing part by opening air intakes 21-24. The air taking heat of the print unit is elevated through a communicating part 40 provided between the storing part and a front panel 14, and is vented to the outside of the large housing 5 by the exhaust fan 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printer in which a plurality of print units are accommodated in one large casing, and more particularly to an improvement in cooling performance of the printer and a cooling method.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A printer that accommodates a plurality of print units in one large casing is known. Since this printer has a plurality of print units, it is called a multi-print system. This multi-print system is installed, for example, in a store of a printing company, reads image data of a plurality of frames from a memory card brought in by a customer, and prints the read image data. Since the print processing is processed in parallel by a plurality of print units, the print processing capability can be greatly improved and the print waiting time can be shortened.
[0003]
The print unit is configured by incorporating a print unit in a small casing that is detachable from the large casing. As the printing unit, for example, a thermal recording method is used in which the thermal recording paper is heated and colored by a thermal head. The thermal head becomes hot when a large number of sheets are printed, and the printing speed decreases when the temperature rises too much. Therefore, for each thermal head, for example, a cooling mechanism including a heat sink and a cooling fan is provided.
[0004]
The print unit is housed in a large housing provided with a total of four housing portions, two in the vertical and horizontal directions, in which four print units are accommodated (for example, see Patent Document 1), or stacked vertically. In some cases, the shelf-like accommodation section provided in this way accommodates three print units and a paper feed unit that feeds paper to each print unit (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
[0005]
In addition, a printer has been invented that uses a plurality of print heads instead of a plurality of print units to increase the print speed (see, for example, Patent Document 3). In a printer using a plurality of print heads, when the temperature of one print head rises and the print speed decreases, the print speed becomes rate limiting, and the print speeds of other print heads also drop. For this reason, in the printer of the present invention, the temperature change of each print holder is provided by integrally contacting a plurality of print heads with a cooling holder provided with a heat conductive elastic layer and heat radiation fins and sealed with a refrigerant or the like. Is made uniform.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2000-116751 A
[Patent Document 2]
JP 2001-130107 A
[Patent Document 3]
JP 05-193229 A
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the thermal recording system, the recording density changes depending on the temperature of the thermal head. Therefore, in order to make the image quality of each print unit uniform, it is preferable to cool each print unit uniformly. However, since the hot air discharged from each print unit rises in the large casing, the temperature of the upper print unit becomes higher than that of the lower print unit. In addition, when a cooling fan is provided in each print unit, there is a problem that cost, operation sound, power consumption, and the like increase.
[0008]
Further, as in the printer described in Patent Document 3, it is difficult to physically connect the thermal head of each print unit physically (distance between the print units, a small housing of each print unit, etc.), and it is adopted. I can't.
[0009]
SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide a printer that can uniformly cool the print units and a cooling method for the printer.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, a printer according to the present invention includes a plurality of print units, a large casing provided with a plurality of storage units for storing these print units, and a large casing provided in each storage unit. An air supply port that communicates with the outside, an exhaust port that is provided in each housing unit, a communication unit that is provided in the large housing and communicates each exhaust port and the outside of the large housing, and the communication unit and the large housing An exhaust fan that is provided between the outside and exhausts the hot air in each housing portion to the outside of the large housing through the communication portion and each exhaust port, and sucks the outside air into each housing portion from each air supply port; It comprises a control unit that controls each print unit and the exhaust fan. According to this, the air flow in the large housing can be made one direction by the communication portion, and the plurality of storage portions in which the print units are stored can be thermally connected, so that each print unit can be cooled. It can be made uniform.
[0011]
Further, when the plurality of accommodating portions are arranged so as to be stacked stepwise in the vertical direction, the opening area of the air supply port and / or the exhaust port of each accommodating portion is the one of the lowermost accommodating portion. It is small and gradually increases as it goes to the upper housing. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the cooling efficiency of the print unit accommodated in the upper accommodating portion in which the hot air is most likely to be accumulated in the large casing as compared with the lower print unit.
[0012]
Furthermore, each air supply port and / or each exhaust port is provided with shutter means for opening and closing the opening. According to this, the cooling efficiency of each accommodating part can be changed. Note that the opening and closing of the opening by the shutter means can be switched in stages, and the cooling efficiency can be changed more finely. Further, when all the exhaust ports are closed by the shutter means, the opening area of each exhaust port can be made zero, and the air flow in each accommodating portion can be stopped. According to this, since the temperature rise of the printer can be accelerated, it is possible to shorten the time from the start of operation of the printer until printing can be performed.
[0013]
Each print unit incorporates a head temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the print head in the print unit and / or an environmental temperature sensor for measuring the environmental temperature in the print unit. Thereby, the temperature of each printing head and the environmental temperature of each print unit can be measured, and the measurement result can be used for temperature control.
[0014]
Further, according to the printer cooling method of the present invention, the exhaust fan is operated when the measurement result of the head temperature sensor or the environmental temperature sensor exceeds a specified value. As a result, the exhaust fan operates only when necessary, so that the operating sound and power consumption of the printer can be reduced.
[0015]
Further, according to the measured temperature of the head temperature sensor and / or the environmental temperature sensor, the shutter means of each air supply port and / or the shutter means of each air exhaust port are operated, and each air supply port and / or each The opening / closing amount of the exhaust port is adjusted. According to this, the cooling efficiency can be changed according to the temperature of each print unit, and the cooling of each print unit can be made more uniform.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-print system according to a first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the side, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the multi-print system. The multi-print system 2 has a front side on the left side in FIG. 1, and includes, for example, a card reader that reads image data from a memory card, a monitor that displays the read image data, an operation panel that gives print instructions, and the like. Connected to and used.
[0017]
The multi-print system 2 includes a substantially box-shaped large casing 5, first to fourth print units 6 to 9 accommodated in the large casing 5, and hot air in the large casing 5 as a substitute. The exhaust fan 10 is discharged from the body 5 and a control unit 11 that controls the print units 6 to 9 and the exhaust fan 10.
[0018]
The large housing 5 includes a substantially box-shaped housing body 13 and a front panel 14 that opens and closes the housing body 13. In the housing main body 13, five stages of receiving portions 15 to 19 including the bottom surface of the housing main body 13 are provided. The first storage portion 15 to the fourth storage portion 18 at the lowest level from the top are print unit storage portions, and the first to fourth print units 6 to 9 of the color thermal recording system are respectively stored.
[0019]
On the back surface of the housing body 13, first to fourth air supply ports 21 to 24 for taking outside air into the housing portions 15 to 18 are provided in portions corresponding to the first to fourth housing portions 15 to 18. ing. Moreover, the front side of the 1st-4th accommodating parts 15-18 is open | released, and the external air taken in from the 1st-4th air inlets 21-24 is discharged | emitted from the 1st-4th accommodating parts 15-18. Exhaust ports 15a to 18a are provided.
[0020]
The first to fourth storage units 15 to 18 are provided with first to fourth shutter units 25 to 28 for opening and closing the first to fourth air supply ports 21 to 24. These first to fourth shutter units 25 to 28 have first to fourth shutter plates 25a to 25b that move between an open position for opening the first to fourth air supply ports 21 to 24 and a closed position for closing. 28a, first to fourth actuators 30 to 33 serving as driving sources for the shutter plates 25a to 28a, and first to fourth drivers 30a to 33a for driving the actuators 30 to 33. The drivers 30 a to 33 a are controlled by the control unit 11.
[0021]
The uppermost accommodating portion 19 is a control unit accommodating portion, in which the exhaust fan 10 and the control unit 11 are accommodated. The exhaust fan 10 is attached inside an exhaust opening 35 formed on the upper surface of the housing body 13.
[0022]
The control unit 11 includes a system controller 37 and a fan controller 38. The system controller 37 includes an interface unit (not shown) that connects the multi-print system 2 and the control device, a print control unit that controls print distribution to the print units 6 to 9 and a print order, and first to first units. It consists of a driver etc. which drive 4 actuators 30-33. The fan controller 38 controls the rotation of the exhaust fan 10.
[0023]
A communication portion 40 that is a space in which nothing is incorporated is provided between the housing portions 15 to 19 of the large housing 5 and the front panel 14. The communication part 40 communicates the exhaust ports 15 a to 18 a of the first to fourth accommodation parts 15 to 18, the control unit accommodation part 19, and the outside of the substitute housing 5. A paper discharge shooter (not shown) that sends the prints 42 created in the first to fourth print units 6 to 9 to the paper discharge tray 41 of the front panel 14 is provided between the storage units 15 to 19 and the front panel 14. Is provided separately from the communication portion 40.
[0024]
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the first print unit 6. Since the second to third print units 7 to 9 have the same configuration, detailed description is omitted. The print unit 6 is integrated with a small housing 6a so that the print unit 6 can be freely housed and removed from the housing portion of the large housing 5. In this print unit 6, a long color thermal recording paper 45 is used as a recording medium. The color thermal recording paper 45 is set in the print unit 6 in the form of a recording paper roll 46 wound in a roll shape. The recording paper roll 46 is rotated by a paper feed roller 47 in contact with the outer periphery, and feeds out and rewinds the color thermal recording paper 45.
[0025]
On the downstream side in the feeding direction of the recording paper roll 46, a conveying roller pair 49 as a conveying means for conveying the color thermal recording paper 45 is disposed. The conveyance roller pair 49 includes a capstan roller 51 that is rotationally driven by a conveyance motor 50 that is a stepping motor, and a pinch roller 52 that is in pressure contact with the capstan roller 51. The conveyance roller pair 49 rotates while sandwiching the color thermal recording paper 45, and reciprocally conveys it in the sending direction (A) on the left side in the drawing and the rewinding direction (B) on the right side in the drawing.
[0026]
A thermal head 54 and a platen roller 55 are arranged on the downstream side in the A direction of the pair of transport rollers 49 so as to sandwich the transport path of the color thermal recording paper 45. In the thermal head 54, a large number of heating elements are arranged in a line along the main scanning direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the color thermal recording paper 45 on the lower surface of the head substrate 56 formed of a metal having good thermal conductivity. A heating element array 57 is formed. The heating element array 57 is provided longer than the width dimension of the color thermal recording paper 45 in order to print the entire area in the width direction of the color thermal recording paper 45.
[0027]
The platen roller 55 is disposed below the conveyance path at a position facing the heating element array 57. The platen roller 55 is movable in the vertical direction, and is urged in a direction in which it is pressed against the thermal head 54 by a spring (not shown).
[0028]
The thermal head 54 is in pressure contact with the color thermal recording paper 45 conveyed in the B direction by the conveyance roller pair 49, and causes each heating element of the heating element array 57 to generate heat so that each thermal coloring layer is colored. The platen roller 55 is driven and rotated in accordance with the conveyance of the color thermal recording paper 45 to assist the sliding contact between the color thermal recording paper 45 and the heating element array 57.
[0029]
A first temperature sensor 59 for measuring the temperature of the thermal head 54 is incorporated in the head substrate 56 of the thermal head 54. For example, a thermistor is used as the temperature sensor 59 and is connected to the system controller 37 of the control unit 11. Note that the second to fourth temperature sensors 60 to 62 are also provided in the thermal heads of the second to fourth print units 7 to 9, respectively, and are connected to the system controller 37.
[0030]
On the downstream side in the A direction of the platen roller 55, a leading edge detection sensor 64 that detects the leading edge of the color thermal recording paper 45 at the time of paper feeding is disposed. The leading edge detection sensor 64 includes, for example, a reflection type photo that includes a light projecting unit that irradiates the leading edge of the color thermal recording paper 45 with inspection light and a light receiving unit that receives the inspection light reflected on the color thermal recording paper 45. A sensor is used.
[0031]
On the downstream side in the A direction of the thermal head 54, a yellow fixing lamp 66 and a magenta fixing lamp 67 constituting an optical fixing device are arranged. The yellow fixing lamp 66 radiates near ultraviolet rays having an emission peak of 420 nm, and fixes the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer of the color thermosensitive recording paper 45. The magenta fixing lamp 67 emits ultraviolet rays of 365 nm to fix the magenta thermosensitive coloring layer.
[0032]
On the downstream side in the A direction of the magenta fixing lamp 67, a cutter 69 for cutting the long color thermal recording paper 45 for each recording area is provided. On the downstream side of the cutter 69, a discharge port 70 for discharging the print 42 made of the cut sheet-like color thermal recording paper 45 is disposed. The print 42 discharged from the discharge port 70 is sent to the paper discharge tray 41 through the paper discharge shooter in the large casing 5.
[0033]
Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. When the power of the control device is turned on, the power of the multi-print system 2 is also turned on in conjunction with this. The control unit 11 operates the first to fourth temperature sensors 59 to 62 of the first to fourth print units 6 to 9 when the power is turned on, and measures the temperature of the thermal head of each print unit.
[0034]
In the multi-print system 2 in which printing is not performed immediately after the power is turned on, the temperature of the thermal head is equal to the temperature of the environment in which the multi-print system 2 is installed and is lower than a predetermined temperature. Is not rotated. The predetermined temperature of the thermal head is a reference temperature for switching between starting and stopping the cooling of the thermal head, is determined when the multi-print system 2 is manufactured, and is stored in advance in a ROM or the like in the system controller 37. .
[0035]
When a memory card is set in the control device and a printing operation is performed, image data to be printed is input to the multi-print system 2. The system controller 37 distributes the printing work to the first to fourth print units 6 to 9 according to the type, size, number of sheets, and the like of the paper to be printed.
[0036]
When printing is assigned to the first print unit 6 shown in FIG. 3, the recording paper roll 46 is rotated by the rotation of the conveyance motor 50, and the color thermal recording paper 45 is conveyed in the A direction.
[0037]
When the leading edge of the color thermal recording paper 45 is detected by the leading edge detection sensor 64, counting of driving pulses input to the transport motor 50 is started. Thereafter, the transport amount of the color thermal recording paper 45 is specified by the number of drive pulses counted. When the print start position of the top recording area of the color thermal recording paper 45 reaches a position facing the heating element array 57 of the thermal head 54, the rotation of the carry motor 50 is stopped.
[0038]
While the conveyance of the color thermal recording paper 45 is stopped, the pinch roller 52 is moved by a shift mechanism (not shown), and the color thermal recording paper 45 is sandwiched between the capstan roller 51. The platen roller 55 is moved by a shift mechanism (not shown) and sandwiches the color thermal recording paper 45 with the heating element array 57.
[0039]
The conveyance roller pair 49 conveys the color thermal recording paper 45 in the B direction, and the thermal head 54 prints a yellow image line by line. When the printing of the yellow image is completed, the conveyance of the color thermal recording paper 45 in the B direction is stopped, and the platen roller 55 is retracted. Next, the yellow fixing lamp 66 is turned on, and the color thermosensitive recording paper 45 is conveyed in the A direction, and the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer is fixed.
[0040]
Thereafter, printing and fixing of a magenta image and printing of a cyan image are performed in the same manner as printing and fixing of a yellow image. After the cyan image has been printed, the color thermal recording paper 45 is conveyed in the direction A by the conveying roller pair 49 and the trailing edge of the recording area is cut by the cutter 69. The cut print 42 is discharged from the discharge port 70 to the outside of the print unit, and sent to the discharge tray 41 through the discharge shooter.
[0041]
As described above, when printing is performed in each print unit, the temperature of the thermal head increases due to the heat storage effect. The system controller 37 monitors the temperatures of the first to fourth temperature sensors 59 to 62, and starts the rotation of the exhaust fan 10 by the fan controller 38 when the temperature of any of the thermal heads exceeds a predetermined temperature. Thereby, the air in the large casing 5 is circulated by the exhaust fan 10.
[0042]
Further, the system controller 37 moves the shutter plate 25a of the first storage unit 15 in which the print unit having the thermal head exceeding the predetermined temperature, for example, the first print unit 6 is stored, to the open position by the first actuator 30. As a result, the air supply port 21 is opened, and the outside air flows into the accommodating portion 15, and the cooling effect of the first print unit 6 is enhanced. The outside air that has taken away the heat of the first print unit 6 flows into the accommodating portion 19 through the exhaust port 15 a and the communication portion 40, and is discharged out of the large casing 5 by the exhaust fan 10. Therefore, since the flow direction of the warm air is always one direction, it does not flow into the other storage unit and affect the temperature of the print unit installed in the storage unit.
[0043]
As for the second to fourth shutter plates 26a to 28a, when the temperature of the corresponding thermal head exceeds a predetermined temperature, the shutter plates are moved to the open position. Further, when the temperature of the thermal head falls below a predetermined temperature, the shutter plate is moved to the closed position. Further, when the temperature of all the thermal heads becomes a predetermined temperature or less, the exhaust fan 10 is stopped.
[0044]
6 and 7 are a cross-sectional view and a block diagram of a main part showing the configuration of the multi-print system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. On the left side surface in the figure, which is the front surface of the multi-print system 80, an operation panel 81 is provided at the upper part, and a paper discharge tray 82 is provided at the lower part. In a large box-shaped housing 83 of the multi-print system 80, four stages of first to fourth housing portions 84 to 87 are provided. The storage portions 84 to 87 respectively store first to fourth print units 88 to 91 of the thermal recording system.
[0045]
The front side of each accommodating part 84-87 is open | released, and it becomes the air supply openings 84a-87a which supply external air in each accommodating part. At the back of the paper discharge tray 82 of the large casing 83, a paper discharge port 93 through which printed recording paper is discharged is provided. A paper discharge shooter 94 is provided between the paper discharge port 93 and the first to fourth storage portions 84 to 87 to send out the prints created by the print units 88 to 91 to the paper discharge port 93. The paper discharge shooter 94 is a passage for printing, and also has a function of supplying outside air into the storage portions 84 to 87 by communicating the outside of the large casing 83 with the air supply ports 84a to 87a. ing.
[0046]
Exhaust ports 84b to 87b for exhausting the air in the accommodating portions are provided on the back surfaces of the accommodating portions 84 to 87, respectively. Behind each accommodating part 84-87, the communication part 97 which connects each exhaust port 84b-87b is provided. An exhaust opening 98 communicating with the outside of the large casing 83 is formed in the upper portion of the communication portion 97, and an exhaust fan 99 is attached inside the exhaust opening 98. The hot air discharged from each of the exhaust ports 84b to 87b rises in the communication portion 97. Therefore, when the exhaust by the exhaust fan 99 is not in time, the hot air accumulated in the communication part 97 may flow into the housing part 84 from the uppermost exhaust port 84b. Therefore, the opening areas of the exhaust ports 84b to 87b are as follows in order to increase the exhaust capacity as the upper accommodating portion.
Exhaust port 84b ≧ exhaust port 85b ≧ exhaust port 86b ≧ exhaust port 87b
[0047]
1st-4th shutter units 101-104 which open and close an exhaust port are attached to each exhaust port 84b-87b. As shown in FIG. 8, which is a rear view of the first exhaust port 84 b and the first shutter unit 101 as viewed from the communication portion 97 side, the exhaust port 84 b includes a plurality of vertically long slits 106. The shutter unit 101 includes a shutter plate 108 provided with slits 107 having the same size, the same number, and the same interval as the slit 106 of the exhaust port 84b, an actuator 109 that slides the shutter plate 108 in the horizontal direction, and drives the actuator 109. And a driver 110 that performs. The shutter plate 108 is slid between a closed position shown in the figure and a fully opened position indicated by a two-dot chain line in the figure, and is provided between the closed position and the fully opened position, It stops even in the open position.
[0048]
9A to 9D show the open / close state of the exhaust port 84b depending on the slide position of the shutter plate 108, and FIG. 9E is a chart showing the open state of the exhaust port 84b depending on the stop position of the shutter plate 108. It is. As shown in FIG. 4A, when the shutter plate 108 is in the closed position, the portion other than the slit 107 of the shutter plate 108 overlaps the slit 106 of the exhaust port 84b, so that the exhaust port 84b is closed. . At this time, the state of the exhaust port 84b is fully closed.
[0049]
As shown in FIG. 4B, when the shutter plate 108 is slid to the small opening position, the slit 107 of the shutter plate 108 and the slit 106 of the exhaust port 84b slightly overlap each other, and are indicated by hatching in the drawing. The range functions as the exhaust port 84b. The state of the exhaust port 84b at this time is the opening degree 1.
[0050]
Further, as shown in FIG. 5C, when the shutter plate 108 is slid to the middle opening position, the overlapping amount of the slit 107 of the shutter plate 108 and the slit 16 of the exhaust port 84b is larger than that at the small opening position. The area of the exhaust port 84b becomes larger than the opening degree 1. The state of the exhaust port 84b at this time is defined as an opening degree 2.
[0051]
As shown in FIG. 4D, when the shutter plate 108 slides to the fully open position, the slit 107 of the shutter plate 108 and the slit 106 of the exhaust port 84b are completely overlapped, and the area of the exhaust port 84b is maximized. The state of the exhaust port 84b at this time is fully open. From the above, the open area of the exhaust port 84b changes as fully closed <opening degree 1 <opening degree 2 <fully open, depending on the sliding of the shutter plate 108. When the shutter plates of all the shutter units 101 to 104 are in the closed position and the exhaust ports 84b to 87b are in the fully closed state, the housing portions 84 to 87 and the communication portion 97 are completely blocked. . Therefore, even if the exhaust fan 99 continues to rotate in this state, the air flow in each of the accommodating portions 84 to 87 stops.
[0052]
As shown in FIG. 7, the entire multi-print system is controlled by the host CPU 112. A communication interface 114 is connected to the host CPU 112 for communication with an external device 113 such as a memory card reader. A main memory 116 is connected to the host CPU 112 via a memory bus 115. Image data is input from the external device 113 to the main memory 116 via the communication I / F 114.
[0053]
The first print unit 88 measures the temperature of the CPU 119 that controls the first print unit 88, the thermal head 120, the driver 121 that drives the thermal head 120, the head fan 122 and the driver 123 that cool the thermal head 120, and the thermal head 120. A head temperature sensor 124 for measuring the temperature of the first print unit 88 and an environmental temperature sensor 125 for measuring the temperature in the small casing of the first print unit 88 are incorporated. The CPU 119 is connected to and controlled by the host CPU 112. The driver 121 of the thermal head 120 is connected to the memory bus 115, and image data is input from the main memory 116 via the memory bus 115. Originally, an image memory is also provided in the first print unit 88, and the image data sent from the main memory 116 is stored in the image memory and then input to the driver 121. However, the drawing becomes complicated. In order to avoid this, the illustration is omitted.
[0054]
Detection signals output from the head temperature sensor 124 and the environmental temperature sensor 125 are input to the CPU 119 and used to control the head fan 122. The detection signals of the head temperature sensor 124 and the environmental temperature sensor 125 are also input to the host CPU 112 and used for controlling the exhaust fan 99 via the fan controller 128. The second to fourth print units 89 to 91 have the same configuration and will not be described in detail.
[0055]
Next, the operation of the multi-print system according to the second embodiment described above will be described. When the power of the multi-print system 80 is turned on, the CPUs of the print units 88 to 91 measure the temperature of the thermal head and the temperature in the small housing by their head temperature sensors and environmental temperature sensors, This is used for controlling the shutter units 101-104.
[0056]
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for opening and closing the first exhaust port 84 b by the first print unit 88 and the first shutter unit 101. First, the detection signal Ta of the environmental temperature sensor 124 and the detection signal Th of the head temperature sensor 125 are input to the host CPU 112. The host CPU 112 sets the higher one of Ta and Th as the first housing part temperature Ts.
[0057]
The host CPU 112 sequentially compares the set temperatures T1 to T3 stored in advance in the ROM or the like with the first housing portion temperature Ts, and slides the shutter plate 108 according to the comparison result. The set temperatures T1 to T3 are set to satisfy T1 <T2 <T3. First, the first storage unit temperature Ts and the set temperature T3 are compared. This is because the comparison with the set temperature T3 is started only after the comparison with the set temperatures T1 and T2 when the comparison is started from the set temperature T1 when the first housing temperature Ts is equal to or higher than the set temperature T3. This is because the temperature of the print unit is further increased during that time.
[0058]
When the first accommodating portion temperature Ts is equal to or higher than the set temperature T3, as shown in FIG. 9, the shutter plate 108 is slid to the fully opened position, and the state of the first exhaust port 84b is fully opened. Thereby, since the exhaust efficiency in the accommodating part 84 improves, the 1st print unit 88 can be cooled in a short time.
[0059]
Further, when the first accommodating portion temperature Ts is lower than the set temperature T3 and higher than the set temperature T2, the first exhaust port 84b is set to the opening degree 2. Similarly, when the first accommodating portion temperature Ts is lower than the set temperature T2 and higher than the set temperature T1, the first exhaust port 84b is set to the opening degree 1. In this way, the amount of opening of the exhaust port is changed according to the temperature of the print unit in the accommodating portion, and the cooling efficiency is adjusted. Therefore, the print unit can be cooled in a short time, and it can be cooled more than necessary. Absent. The adjustment of the opening / closing amount of the exhaust port is performed independently in each of the accommodating portions 84 to 87.
[0060]
In the first embodiment, the air supply port is provided with the shutter unit. However, the air supply port may be kept open without providing the shutter unit. Further, although the exhaust fan is provided in one of the accommodating portions, the exhaust fan may be provided in the middle of the communication portion or at the end of the communication portion. Furthermore, the opening area of each air supply port may be changed according to the height of the stage, like the exhaust port of the second embodiment. Further, the open area of the air supply port by the shutter unit may be switched in a stepwise manner as in the second embodiment. Furthermore, the environmental temperature in the print unit may be measured and used for controlling the shutter unit and the exhaust fan.
[0061]
In the second embodiment, both the temperature of the thermal head and the environmental temperature in the print unit are measured and used for controlling the shutter unit. However, the shutter unit can be controlled only by any one of the temperatures. Further, similarly to the first embodiment, the driving of the exhaust fan may be controlled using the head temperature or the environmental temperature.
[0062]
Moreover, in the said 1st Embodiment and 2nd Embodiment, although the shutter unit was provided in any one of an air supply port or an exhaust port, you may provide a shutter unit in both an air supply port and an exhaust port. Furthermore, although the multi-print system in which the print units are stacked in the vertical direction has been described as an example, the present invention can also be applied to a multi-print system in which the print units are arranged in the horizontal direction and a multi-print system in which the print units are arranged in a matrix. Further, the multi-print system using the color thermal printing unit has been described as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to a multi-print system using a print unit of another print format.
[0063]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the printer and the printer cooling method of the present invention, since a plurality of print units can be uniformly cooled by a single exhaust fan, costs, operating sounds, power consumption, and the like can be reduced. it can. In addition, since an appropriate cooling capacity can be obtained according to the temperature of each print unit, the print unit is cooled in a short time and is not cooled more than necessary.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a configuration of a multi-print system according to a first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a multi-print system according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a first print unit according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a cooling operation of the multi-print system of the first embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an opening / closing procedure of first to fourth shutters according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a configuration of a multi-print system according to a second embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a multi-print system according to a second embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a rear view of a shutter unit and an exhaust port of a second embodiment.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an open state of a shutter unit and an exhaust port according to a second embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure of the first shutter unit according to the first embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
2,80 Multi-print system
5,83 large enclosure
6-9, 88-91 Print unit
10,99 Exhaust fan
11 Control unit
14 Front panel
15-19, 84-87 accommodating part
15a-18a, 84b-87b Exhaust port
21 to 24, 84a to 87a
25-28, 101-104 Shutter unit
37 System Controller
40,97 communication part
59-62, 124, 125 Temperature sensor
112 Host CPU

Claims (8)

A plurality of print units in which a printing unit for printing an image on recording paper is incorporated in a small casing, a large casing having a plurality of storing sections for storing these printing units, and a large casing provided in each storing section. An air supply port that communicates with the outside of the body, an exhaust port that is provided in each housing unit, a communication unit that is provided in the large housing and communicates each exhaust port and the outside of the large housing, and the communication unit and the large housing An exhaust fan that is provided between the outside of the body and exhausts hot air in each housing portion to the outside of the large housing through the communication portion and each exhaust port, and sucks outside air from each air supply port into each housing portion; A printer comprising: a control unit that controls each print unit and an exhaust fan. The plurality of accommodating portions are arranged so as to be stacked stepwise in the vertical direction, and the opening area of the air supply port and / or the exhaust port of each accommodating portion is the smallest in the lowermost accommodating portion. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the printer gradually increases as it goes to the upper storage section. 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein shutter means for opening and closing an opening portion is provided at each of the air supply ports and / or each of the exhaust ports. 4. The printer according to claim 3, wherein the shutter means is switched in an opening / closing amount stepwise. 5. The printer according to claim 3, wherein when all the exhaust ports are closed by the shutter means, the opening area of each exhaust port is made zero, and the air flow in each accommodating portion is stopped. The head temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the print head in the print unit and / or the environment temperature sensor for measuring the environment temperature in a small housing of the print unit are incorporated in each print unit. The printer according to any one of 1 to 5. The printer according to claim 6.
The temperature of each print head is measured by the head temperature sensor and / or the environmental temperature in the small housing of each print unit is measured by the environmental temperature sensor, and the print head above the specified temperature or the print unit above the specified environmental temperature A cooling method for a printer, wherein an exhaust fan is operated when there is a printer. Depending on the temperature measured by the head temperature sensor and / or the environmental temperature sensor, the shutter means of each air supply port and / or the shutter means of each air exhaust port are operated, and each air supply port and / or each exhaust gas is operated. 8. The printer cooling method according to claim 7, wherein the opening / closing amount of the mouth is adjusted.

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