JP2006001170A - Recorder, control method of recorder, control program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely detect control abnormalities in driving of a recording head without decreasing throughput. <P>SOLUTION: A first detection position is set at a position separated by a first predetermined distance from a previously detected home position. A second detection position is set at a position separated by a second predetermined distance in the opposite direction to the first detection position. Whether or not a carriage driving part is a control abnormal state is identified on the basis of detection results of a home position detection sensor when the present position of the recording head is set to be the first detection position and when the present position of the recording head is set to be the second detection position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, a control method for the recording apparatus, a control program, and a recording medium, and in particular, a recording apparatus and a recording apparatus capable of detecting a sheet end and printing even if a recording sheet is inserted into any of the sheet insertion ranges. The present invention relates to a control method, a control program, and a recording medium.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a recording apparatus that drives a carriage using a step motor that performs open loop control as a carriage drive motor, a sensor that detects the position of the carriage or recording head is provided to determine the reference position of the recording position There is a recording apparatus described in Patent Document 1.
JP-A-6-210920

However, the above conventional technique cannot be applied when the recording reference position serving as the reference of the recording position is outside the printing area. Therefore, there is a problem that the above-described conventional technique cannot be applied to a recording apparatus that can perform recording regardless of whether the recording paper is inserted into the recording paper insertion range by automatically detecting the end of the recording paper.
Further, if the recording reference position cannot be set correctly, the carriage being scanned may collide with the side frame when the carriage motor steps out.
Therefore, the object of the present invention can also be applied to the above-described recording apparatus that automatically detects the recording paper edge and performs recording, and does not reduce throughput when detecting the recording reference position. Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus, a control method for the recording apparatus, a control program, and a recording medium in which the carriage does not collide with a side frame or the like even during step-out.

In order to solve the above-described problem, a recording apparatus in which a recording head is mounted on a carriage, the carriage is driven in a main scanning direction by a carriage driving unit, and recording is performed on recording paper by the recording head is provided in the main scanning direction. A predetermined position outside the recording area of the recording head along the first direction is a home position, and the current position of the recording head is an area on the first direction side of the home position with respect to the home position. A home position detection sensor is provided for detecting whether or not the area is within the area, and the first detection position is set at a position separated by a first predetermined distance from the previously detected home position in the second direction opposite to the first direction. A second detection position is set at a position separated by a second predetermined distance from the home position detected in the first direction last time, and the recording head Based on the detection result of the home position detection sensor when the current position is the first detection position and when the current position of the recording head is the second detection position, the carriage drive unit Is provided with an abnormality determination unit for determining whether or not is in a control abnormal state.
According to the above configuration, the abnormality determination unit detects the home position when the current position of the recording head is the first detection position and when the current position of the recording head is the second detection position. Based on the detection result of the sensor, it is determined whether or not the carriage drive unit is in an abnormal control state.

In this case, the abnormality determination unit is configured such that the detection result of the home position detection sensor when the current position of the recording head is the first detection position is within the home position area, or If the detection result of the home position detection sensor when the current position of the recording head is the second detection position is at least one of the cases outside the home position area, the control abnormal state You may make it discriminate | determine that there exists.
Further, when it is determined that the carriage driving unit is in an abnormal control state, an error processing unit that notifies the user of the fact and performs error processing for stopping the recording operation may be provided.

Furthermore, a restart processing unit that performs restart processing of the recording apparatus when the carriage driving unit is determined to be in an abnormal control state may be provided.
Furthermore, the abnormality determination unit may perform the determination every time the carriage driving number of the carriage driving unit exceeds N (N is an integer of 2 or more).
The abnormality determination unit may perform the determination every time a new recording sheet is supplied.
Further, when the control abnormal state is determined, the speed at which the carriage is driven in the first direction and moved to the first detection position is defined as a first speed, and the carriage is detected from the first detection position to the second detection position. When the speed to shift to the position is the second speed, the carriage drive unit may drive the carriage with the second speed set to be lower than the first speed.

  Further, a control method of a recording apparatus in which a recording head is mounted on a carriage, the carriage is driven in a main scanning direction by a carriage driving unit, and recording is performed on a recording sheet by the recording head. A predetermined position outside the recording area of the recording head along the direction is set as a home position, and the current position of the recording head with respect to the home position is an area in the first direction side of the home position. A home position detection sensor for detecting whether or not the first detection position is set at a position separated by a first predetermined distance from the previously detected home position in a second direction opposite to the first direction. 1 setting process and a second detection position at a position separated by a second predetermined distance from the previously detected home position in a second direction opposite to the first direction A second setting process for setting, a first determination process for determining a detection result of the home position detection sensor using the current position of the recording head as the first detection position, and a second detection of the current position of the recording head. Based on the second determination process for determining the detection result of the home position detection sensor as the position and the first determination result and the second determination result, it is determined whether or not the carriage drive unit is in an abnormal control state. And an abnormality determination process.

  Further, a control program for controlling a recording apparatus for mounting a recording head on a carriage, driving the carriage in a main scanning direction by a carriage driving unit, and recording on a recording sheet by the recording head, is described above. The recording apparatus sets a predetermined position outside the recording area of the recording head along the first direction of the main scanning direction as a home position, and the current position of the recording head with respect to the home position is higher than the home position. A home position detection sensor is provided for detecting whether or not the vehicle is within a home position area, which is an area on the one-direction side. The first predetermined position from the previously detected home position in a second direction opposite to the first direction The first detection position is set at a position separated by a distance, and the home position previously detected in the second direction opposite to the first direction is set. When the second detection position is set at a position that is a second predetermined distance away from the screen and the current position of the recording head is set to the first detection position, and the current position of the recording head is detected by the second detection. It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not the carriage drive unit is in a control abnormal state based on the detection result of the home position detection sensor when the position is set.

In this case, if the detection result of the home position detection sensor when the current position of the recording head is the first detection position is within the home position area, or the current position of the recording head is When the detection result of the home position detection sensor when the second detection position is set is at least one of cases where the detection result is outside the home position area, it is determined that the control abnormal state is present. May be.
Further, the determination may be performed every time the number of times the carriage is driven by the carriage driving unit exceeds N (N is an integer of 2 or more).

Further, the determination may be performed each time a new recording sheet is supplied.
Furthermore, the speed at which the carriage is driven in the first direction and moved to the first detection position when determining the control abnormal state is a first speed, and the carriage is moved from the first detection position to the first detection position. In the case where the speed to shift to the second detection position is the second speed, the carriage drive unit may drive the carriage with the second speed set to be lower than the first speed.
It is also possible to record each control program on a computer-readable recording medium.

  According to the present invention, the carriage does not collide with the side frame or the like even when the carriage motor is stepped out without reducing the throughput when the recording reference position is detected.

Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, prior to specific description, the principle of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the principle of the present invention.
The recording apparatus 10X is configured to place the recording head 200 on a carriage 230, drive the carriage 230 in the main scanning direction by a carriage driving unit CD, and perform recording on a recording sheet by the recording head 200. .

  In this case, the recording apparatus 10X uses the predetermined position outside the recording area of the recording head 200 along the first direction D1 in the main scanning direction as the home position HP, and the current position of the recording head 200 is the home position HP with respect to the home position HP. It has a home position detection sensor 600 for detecting whether or not it is within the home position area that is the area on the first direction D1 side from the HP, and the previous detection is performed in the second direction D2 opposite to the first direction D1. The first detection position P1 is set at a position separated from the home position by the first predetermined distance X, and the second detection position P2 is set at a position away from the home position HP detected in the first direction D1 by the second predetermined distance Y. And the current position of the recording head 200 is set to the first detection position P1, and the current position of the recording head 200 is Based on 2 in the case of such a detection position P2 the home position detection sensor 600 of the detection result, and a fault determination unit ED carriage driver CD is determined whether or not the control abnormality state.

In the above configuration, the carriage drive unit includes a carriage motor, a power transmission system such as a gear train driven by the carriage motor, and a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM for controlling the power transmission system. It is realized by the program. Further, the abnormality determination unit ED is specifically realized by the above-described microcomputer executing a program.
According to the above configuration, the abnormality determination unit ED has a case where the current position of the recording head 200 is set to the first detection position P1 and a case where the current position of the recording head 200 is set to the second detection position P2. Based on the detection result of the home position detection sensor 600, it is determined whether or not the carriage drive unit CD is in a control abnormal state.

In this case, the abnormality determination unit ED determines that the detection result of the home position detection sensor 600 when the current position of the recording head 200 is the first detection position is within the home position area, or the recording The control position is abnormal when the detection result of the home position detection sensor 600 when the current position of the head 200 is the second detection position is at least one of the cases outside the home position area. And the microcomputer executes corresponding error processing or return processing.
If it is determined that the carriage drive unit CD is in an abnormal control state, it is directly via a display or LED lamp, or via a display of an external computer for control via a network such as a LAN. Notify the user to that effect. In parallel with this, the microcomputer operates as an error processing unit EP that performs error processing for stopping the recording operation.

Further, when it is determined that the carriage drive unit CD is in an abnormal control state, the microcomputer functions as a restart processing unit RS that performs restart processing of the recording apparatus, and restart processing including initialization processing. Will be performed.
According to these configurations, it is possible to prevent the carriage from colliding with the side frame or the like even when the carriage motor is out of step without reducing the throughput when detecting the recording reference position.

  FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the recording apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view when the casing is removed from the recording apparatus. FIG. 4 is an external perspective view when the recording sheet pressing portion and the ribbon cassette are removed from the state of FIG. FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of the recording apparatus. FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the platen. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along a horizontal plane indicated by DX in FIG. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram (part 1) of a driving state of the carriage. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram (part 2) of a driving state of the carriage.

As shown in FIG. 2, the recording apparatus 10 includes an upper cover 12, an upper casing 13, and a lower casing 14, and an insertion port 18 is provided on the front surface. When the recording paper 100 is inserted into the insertion slot 18, recording is performed on the recording paper 100 by the recording apparatus 10, and then the recording paper 100 is discharged from the insertion slot 18.
In this case, the upper cover 12, the upper casing 13, and the lower casing 14 constitute a casing, and the upper cover 12 is used for a treatment when the recording paper 100 is jammed in the recording apparatus 10. It can be removed.
Here, examples of the recording paper 100 include cut paper, film, copy paper in which a plurality of papers are overlapped, and a passbook.

In the following description, a recording sheet has a cover (front cover, back cover), a plurality of recording sheets are bound to the cover, and a magnetic stripe 110 is formed on the surface of one of the covers (usually the back cover). The case of recording in the provided passbook shall be described.
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the recording apparatus 10 includes a conveyance unit 30 that conveys the recording sheet 100 inserted from the insertion port 18 and a recording sheet pressing unit 32 that suppresses the lifting of the recording sheet 100 when reading and writing magnetic information. A magnetic data reading unit 40 that reads or writes magnetic information on the magnetic stripe 110 provided on the recording paper 100, a platen 50 that supports the recording paper 100 from below, a platen 50 that faces the platen 50, and a ribbon. And a recording unit 20 that performs recording on the recording paper 100 using the cassette 60.

As shown in FIG. 4, the main body upper part 16 provided with the recording unit 20 can be opened and closed with respect to the main body part 11 provided with the platen 50, and the recording paper 100 is separated from the main body part 11 and the main body upper part 16. The recording paper 100 can be easily removed even when it is jammed in between.
As shown in FIG. 5, the transport unit 30 is arranged on the main body unit 11 so as to be opposed to the front pressurizing unit 300 supported by the main body unit 11 before the recording unit 20 and below the front pressurizing unit 300. A front conveyance unit 320, an alignment plate 360 which is disposed behind the platen 50 and behind the front pressure unit 300 and the front conveyance unit 320, and is movable in and out of the conveyance path of the recording paper 100, and recording A rear pressure unit 302 supported by the main body upper portion 16 on the back side of the unit 20, and a rear transport unit 322 disposed on the main body unit 11 so as to face the lower side of the rear pressure unit 302. .

Next, an outline operation of the recording apparatus 10 will be described.
First, when the recording paper 100 is inserted from the insertion port 18, the front pressure unit 300 and the front transport unit 320 transport the recording paper 100 to the front of the platen 50 with the recording paper 100 interposed therebetween. At a position in front of the platen 50, the recording paper 100 is aligned in order to correct the inclination of the recording paper 100 in the transport direction. The aligned recording sheets 100 are transported by the transport unit 30 to a predetermined reading / writing position by the magnetic stripe 110 provided on one side of the cover.
The magnetic data reading / writing unit 40 moves in the longitudinal direction of the main body front portion 17 (left and right direction in FIG. 3), and reads magnetic information from the magnetic stripe 110 of the recording paper 100. Further, the transport unit 30 transports the recording paper 100 to a recording position on the platen 50.
Based on the magnetic information read from the magnetic stripe 110 by the magnetic data reading unit 40, the recording unit 20 moves on the recording paper 100 in the longitudinal direction of the main body 11 (left and right direction in FIG. 3), and the ribbon cassette 60. Characters and the like are recorded by hitting the wire of the recording unit 20 against the recording paper 100 on the platen 50 via the ink ribbon.

Here, the details of the recording operation of the recording unit 20 will be described.
When the recording unit 100 transports the recording paper 100 aligned in the transport direction onto the flat upper surface 512 of the platen 50, the timing belt 250 is driven by the carriage motor 240, so that the recording passed in the longitudinal direction of the main body upper portion 16 is performed. The carriage 230 is guided by the head guide shaft 260 and moves. In this case, the carriage motor 240 is subjected to open control, and it is determined whether the control position of the recording head 200 corresponding to the control of the carriage motor 240 is different from the actual position of the recording head 200. The home position detection unit 230A provided in the home position and the home position detection sensor 600 (see FIGS. 8 and 9) provided with the light emitting unit 600A and the light receiving unit 600B are constantly monitored by a detection procedure described later.
The home position detection sensor 600 is provided outside the printing area, and as shown in FIG. 8, there is a gap δ between the side frame SF and the carriage 230 even in the home position detection state. ing. Accordingly, when the carriage 230 moves in the first direction D1, the carriage 230 is prevented from colliding with the side frame SF in a normally assumed carriage motor step-out or the like.

As a result, the carriage 230 constituting the recording unit 20 moves in the longitudinal direction of the platen 50 through the recording head 200 and the gap holding unit 220 (see FIG. 6) having the roller 220A rotatably attached to the recording head 200. In this case, in the area where the recording paper 100 is not placed on the upper surface 512 of the platen 50, the roller 220 </ b> A constituting the gap holding unit 220 rolls directly on the upper surface 512.
On the other hand, when the recording paper 100 is placed on the upper surface 512 of the platen 50, the roller 220 </ b> A constituting the gap holding unit 220 rides on the recording paper 100 and rolls on the recording paper 100.
As a result, the gap holding unit 220 pushes the platen 50 against the support spring 550 and maintains the gap between the recording paper 100 and the recording head 200 at a predetermined value.

At this time, even when the platen 50 is abruptly pushed down by riding on the recording paper 100 from the state in which the roller 220A constituting the gap holding unit 220 is directly rolling on the upper surface 512 of the platen 50, the platen 50 The vibration of the platen can be quickly and reliably absorbed by attenuating 50 vibrations.
This is because the friction force caused by the contact between the platen 50 lower portion 514 and the vibration absorbing member 540 and the pins 515 and 516 of the platen 50 are pressed against the side wall on the downstream side of the recording paper 100 in the guide grooves 533 and 535, respectively. This is because the sliding load due to dampens and absorbs the vibration of the platen 50.
In this state, the recording head 200 constituting the recording unit 20 moves on the recording paper 100 in the longitudinal direction of the main body 11, and the wire is transferred to the recording paper 100 on the platen 50 through the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette 60. By hitting, characters and the like are recorded.

Thereafter, the conveyance unit 30 conveys the recording paper 100 to the above-described reading / writing position.
The magnetic data reading / writing unit 40 moves again in the longitudinal direction of the front portion 17 of the main body, and writes magnetic information on the magnetic stripe 110 based on the information recorded by the recording unit 20 on the recording paper 100. Next, the transport unit 30 transports the recording paper 100 to the insertion port 18 side, and discharges the recording paper 100 that has been recorded from the insertion port 18.
Next, a detection procedure for monitoring whether or not the control position of the recording head 200 corresponding to the control of the carriage motor 240 performed during the printing operation is different from the actual position of the recording head 200 will be described. In this case, the recording apparatus 10 includes a microcomputer (not shown) and is configured such that the CPU performs actual processing while expanding data in the RAM based on a control program stored in a ROM (not shown). ing.

FIG. 10 is a process flowchart for realizing the detection procedure.
In this case, the home position position HP is detected in the initialization operation. Specifically, first, the home position detection unit 230A of the carriage 230 reaches the light receiving unit 600B without blocking the detection light emitted by the light emitting unit 600A, and is right in the vicinity of the home position detection sensor 600 in FIG. The carriage 230 is moved to the position in the direction. Subsequently, the carriage 230 is moved to the left at a predetermined home position position detection speed (a speed equal to or lower than a second speed V2 described below), and the output of the home position detection sensor 600 transitions (for example, “L” level). Is detected as the home position position HP in the initial state, and the pulse count value of the carriage motor at that position is set to, for example, “0” (corresponding to the home position).

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation in a normal state. FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining an operation at the time of abnormality (part 1). FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram (part 2) of the operation at the time of abnormality.
In the process of detecting whether the control position of the recording head 200 is different from the actual position, the carriage driving number counter is first reset to an initial value (step S11).
Subsequently, printing is performed based on a command from an external host computer, and the carriage driving number counter is incremented by one for each scanning of the carriage 230 in the main scanning direction (step S12).
Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the value of the drive number counter exceeds a value of a specified number N (N is an integer of 2 or more) for specifying the control abnormality detection timing (step S13).

If it is determined in step S13 that the value of the drive number counter is equal to or less than a specified value for specifying the control abnormality detection timing (step S13; No), the process returns to step S12.
If it is determined in step S13 that the value of the drive number counter exceeds the specified number N for specifying the control abnormality detection timing (step S13; Yes), as shown in FIG. 11, a predetermined home position detection position HP is set. , The carriage 230 is moved in the first direction D1 at the first speed V1 so as to move to the first detection position P1 added by a distance X corresponding to the number of steps x (x is a natural number) of the carriage drive motor. Step S14).

Then, the home position detection sensor 600 (detector) detects whether or not the home position detection unit 230A blocks the detection light, and determines whether or not the output transition state of the home position detection sensor 600 is normal (step). S15). In this case, the first speed V1 is set as high as possible to improve throughput.
Specifically, the detection by the home position detection sensor 600 is such that when the detection light irradiated by the light emitting unit 600A reaches the light receiving unit 600B without being blocked, the output of the home position detection sensor 600 becomes “L” level, and the light emitting unit 600A. When the detection light irradiated by is blocked by the home position detection unit 230A provided on the carriage 230 and does not reach the light receiving unit 600B or is weak, the output of the home position detection sensor 600 becomes “H” level.

  In the determination of step S15, when the transition state of the output of the home position detection sensor 600 at the first detection position P1 is abnormal, that is, in this case, as shown in FIG. 12, the actual home position position HPR is detected last time. When the home position position HP is on the second direction D2 side and the output of the home position detection sensor 600 becomes “H” level (step S15; No), an error such as a carriage motor step-out occurs. Error processing to stop the recording device by notifying the user of the occurrence by buzzer sound, LED blinking, etc., or processing to continue printing by performing recovery processing such as restart processing by re-detecting the home position One of the above is performed (step S20).

In the determination of step S15, when the transition state of the output of the home position detection sensor 600 at the first detection position P1 is normal, that is, in this case, as shown in FIG. When it is at the L ″ level (step S15; Yes), the carriage is moved to a position obtained by adding a distance −Y corresponding to the step number y (y is a natural number) of the carriage drive motor on the basis of the predetermined home position detection position HP. It is moved at a second speed V2 that is slower than the first speed V1 (step S16), and detection is performed by the home position detection sensor 600 to determine whether or not the output of the home position detection sensor 600 is normal (step S17). .
In this case, the movement speed of the carriage is set to the second speed V2 so that the carriage reaches one end of the carriage shaft due to a step-out of the carriage motor, and does not collide with a side frame (not shown). It is to do.

In the determination of step S17, when the output of the home position detection sensor 600 is normal, that is, in this case, as shown in FIG. 11, when the output of the home position detection sensor 600 is at the “H” level ( In step S17; Yes, printing is continued based on the command from the host computer (step S18), and it is determined whether printing is finished and the recording paper is discharged (step S19).
If it is determined in step S19 that printing has not been completed yet, the carriage drive number counter is reset to the initial value (step S22), the process proceeds to step S13, and the same process is performed thereafter.
If it is determined in step S19 that printing has been completed and the recording paper 100 has been discharged, the process proceeds to step S11, and the same process is performed thereafter.

In step S17, if the transition state of the output of the home position detection sensor 600 is abnormal, that is, in this case, as shown in FIG. 13, the actual home position position HPR is the previously detected home position position. If the output of the home position detection sensor 600 is at the “L” level on the first direction D1 side from the HP, the user is informed that an error has occurred by a buzzer sound, LED flashing, etc. Then, either the error process for stopping the recording apparatus or the process for continuing the printing by performing the return process such as the restart process by re-detecting the home position is performed (step S21).
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the present invention can be applied to a recording apparatus that detects and records the end of the recording paper even if the recording paper is inserted into any of the recording paper insertion ranges. Without lowering the throughput, the carriage does not collide with the side frame or the like even when the carriage motor steps out. In particular, since the carriage 230 moves to the second detection position P2 at a second speed V2 that is slower than the first speed V1, there is no possibility of collision due to inertial force or the like.

In the above description, the actual home position HPR has not been detected, but the process can be performed together with the abnormality detection process. Details will be described below.
FIG. 14 is a process flowchart for realizing the process of detecting the actual home position in combination with the abnormality detection process.
14, the same parts as those in FIG. 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
In the process of detecting whether the control position of the recording head 200 is different from the actual position, the carriage driving number counter is first reset to an initial value (step S11).
Subsequently, printing is performed based on a command from an external host computer, and the carriage driving number counter is incremented by one for each scanning of the carriage 230 in the main scanning direction (step S12).

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the value of the drive number counter exceeds a value of a specified number N (N is an integer of 2 or more) for specifying the control abnormality detection timing (step S13).
If it is determined in step S13 that the value of the drive number counter is equal to or less than a specified value for specifying the control abnormality detection timing (step S13; No), the process returns to step S12.
If it is determined in step S13 that the value of the drive number counter exceeds the specified number N for specifying the control abnormality detection timing (step S13; Yes), as shown in FIG. 11, a predetermined home position detection position HP is set. , The carriage is moved in the first direction D1 at the first speed V1 so as to move to the first detection position P1 added by a distance X corresponding to the number of steps x (x is a natural number) of the carriage drive motor (step). S14), detection by the home position detection sensor 600 (detector) is performed to determine whether or not the output of the home position detection sensor 600 is normal (step S15). In this case, the first speed V1 is set as high as possible to improve throughput.

  In the determination of step S15, when the transition state of the output of the home position detection sensor 600 at the first detection position P1 is abnormal, that is, in this case, as shown in FIG. 12, the actual home position position HPR is detected last time. If the output of the home position detection sensor 600 is at the “H” level (step S15; No), an error such as a carriage motor step-out occurs. Printing is continued by performing error processing to stop the recording device by informing the user of the occurrence by a buzzer sound, blinking LED, etc., or by performing return processing such as restart processing by re-detecting the home position ( Step S20).

In the determination of step S15, when the transition state of the output of the home position detection sensor 600 at the first detection position P1 is normal, that is, in this case, as shown in FIG. When it is at the L ″ level (step S15; Yes), the carriage is moved to a position obtained by adding a distance −Y corresponding to the step number y (y is a natural number) of the carriage drive motor on the basis of the predetermined home position detection position HP. The movement is started at a second speed V2 that is slower than the first speed V1 (step S25).
In parallel with this, detection by the home position detection sensor 600 is performed, and the position where the output of the home position detection sensor 600 switches from “L” to “H”, that is, the actual home position is detected, and the home position position is detected. It is determined whether or not it has been completed (step S26).

In this case, the movement speed of the carriage is set to the second speed V2 so that the carriage reaches one end of the carriage shaft due to a step-out of the carriage motor, and does not collide with a side frame (not shown). This is to detect the actual home position HPR with high accuracy.
If the actual home position HPR cannot be detected in the determination in step S26 (step S26; No), the recording device notifies the user that an error has occurred by means of a buzzer sound, blinking of an LED, or the like. Error processing to stop printing or processing to continue printing by performing return processing such as restart processing by redetecting the home position (step S32).

If the actual home position position HPR can be detected in the determination in step S26 (step S26; Yes), the distance corresponding to the step number y (y is a natural number) of the carriage drive motor with the home position detection position HPR as a reference. The carriage is moved to a position added by −Y at a second speed V2 that is slower than the first speed V1 (step S27), and detection by the home position detection sensor 600 is performed. Is the output of the home position detection sensor 600 normal? It is determined whether or not (step S28).
In the determination of step S28, if the output of the home position detection sensor 600 is normal, that is, in this case, as shown in FIG. 11, if the output of the home position detection sensor 600 is at the “H” level ( (Step S28; Yes), printing is continued based on a command from the host computer (Step S29), and it is determined whether printing is finished and the recording paper is discharged (Step S30).

If it is determined in step S30 that printing has not been completed yet, the carriage drive number counter is reset to the initial value (step S34), the process proceeds to step S13, and the same process is performed thereafter.
If it is determined in step S30 that printing has been completed and the recording paper 100 has been discharged, the process proceeds to step S11, and the same process is performed thereafter.
In step S28, if the output of the home position detection sensor 600 is abnormal, that is, in this case, as shown in FIG. 13, the actual home position position HPR is greater than the previously detected home position position HP. When the output of the home position detection sensor 600 is at the “L” level on the first direction D1 side, the fact that an error has occurred is notified to the user by a buzzer sound, LED flashing, etc., and recorded. Either an error process for stopping the apparatus or a process for continuing the printing by performing a return process such as a restart process by re-detecting the home position is performed (step S33).

As described above, according to another embodiment, the home position detection process can be performed simultaneously with the abnormality detection process, and the control accuracy can be improved while improving the throughput.
In the above description, the number of steps X from the home position HP to the first detection position P1 is set to be different from the number of steps Y from the home position HP to the second detection position P1, but they are the same. May be.

  In the above description, the abnormality detection process is performed when the number of times the carriage 230 is driven exceeds the specified number N. However, in a recording apparatus using cut sheets or passbook as recording paper, new recording paper is supplied. You may make it perform whenever it is done.

  In the above description, the case where the control program for controlling the recording apparatus is stored in advance in the ROM constituting the microcomputer has been described. However, the control program is stored in a recording medium such as various magnetic disks, optical disks, and memory cards. Can be recorded in advance, read from these recording media, and installed. It is also possible to provide a communication interface and download the control program via a network such as the Internet or LAN, and install and execute the program. By configuring in this way, it is possible to make the software more functional or to configure a more reliable recording apparatus.

It is a principle explanatory view of the present invention. 1 is an external perspective view of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view when a casing is removed from the recording apparatus. FIG. 4 is an external perspective view when the recording paper pressing unit and the ribbon cassette are removed from the state of FIG. 3. It is a sectional side view of a recording device. It is an expanded sectional view of a platen. It is sectional drawing at the time of cut | disconnecting in the horizontal surface shown by DX in FIG. FIG. 6 is a first diagram illustrating a driving state of a carriage. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram (part 2) of a driving state of a carriage. It is a process flowchart for implement | achieving a detection procedure. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing at the time of normal. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing (the 1) at the time of abnormality. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing (the 2) at the time of abnormality. It is a process flowchart for implement | achieving the process which detects an actual home position position with an abnormality detection process.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 10X ... Recording device, 11 ... Main body part, 13 ... Upper housing, 14 ... Lower housing, 20 ... Recording part, 30 ... Conveying part, 40 ... Magnetic data reading / writing part, 50 ... Platen, 200 ... Recording head, 220 ... Gap holding part, 220 A ... Roller, 230 ... Carriage, 230 A ... Home position detection part, 600 ... Home position detection sensor, 600 A ... Light emitting part, 600 B ... Light receiving part, HP ... (previous) home position, HPR ... Actual Home position, P1... First detection position, P2.

Claims (14)

In a recording apparatus in which a recording head is mounted on a carriage, the carriage is driven in a main scanning direction by a carriage driving unit, and recording is performed on a recording sheet by the recording head.
A predetermined position outside the recording area of the recording head along the first direction of the main scanning direction is set as a home position, and the current position of the recording head is closer to the first direction than the home position with respect to the home position. A home position detection sensor is provided for detecting whether or not the area is within the home position area,
A first detection position is set at a position separated by a first predetermined distance from the home position detected in the previous second direction opposite to the first direction;
A second detection position is set at a position separated by a second predetermined distance from the previously detected home position in the first direction;
Based on the detection result of the home position detection sensor when the current position of the recording head is the first detection position and when the current position of the recording head is the second detection position, A recording apparatus comprising: an abnormality determining unit that determines whether or not the carriage driving unit is in a control abnormal state. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,
The abnormality determination unit is configured such that when the detection result of the home position detection sensor is within the home position area when the current position of the recording head is the first detection position, or the current position of the recording head When the detection result of the home position detection sensor when the position is set to the second detection position is at least one of the cases where the position is outside the home position area, it is determined that the control is abnormal. A recording apparatus. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
A recording apparatus comprising: an error processing unit for notifying a user of the fact and performing error processing for stopping a recording operation when it is determined that the carriage driving unit is in an abnormal control state. The recording apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3,
A recording apparatus comprising: a restart processing unit that performs restart processing of the recording apparatus when the carriage drive unit is determined to be in an abnormal control state. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality determination unit performs the determination every time the carriage driving unit exceeds N times (N is an integer of 2 or more). The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality determination unit performs the determination every time a new recording sheet is supplied. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The speed at which the carriage is driven in the first direction and moved to the first detection position when determining the abnormal control state is a first speed, and the carriage is moved from the first detection position to the second detection position. When the speed to shift to is the second speed,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carriage driving unit drives the carriage with the second speed being lower than the first speed. In a control method of a recording apparatus in which a recording head is mounted on a carriage, the carriage is driven in a main scanning direction by a carriage driving unit, and recording is performed on a recording sheet by the recording head.
A predetermined position outside the recording area of the recording head along the first direction of the main scanning direction is set as a home position, and the current position of the recording head is closer to the first direction than the home position with respect to the home position. A home position detection sensor is provided for detecting whether or not the area is within the home position area,
A first setting step of setting the first detection position at a position separated by a first predetermined distance from the previously detected home position in a second direction opposite to the first direction;
A second setting step of setting a second detection position at a position away from the home position detected in the first direction by a second predetermined distance;
A first determination step of determining a detection result of the home position detection sensor using the current position of the recording head as the first detection position;
A second determination step of determining a detection result of the home position detection sensor using the current position of the recording head as the second detection position;
An abnormality determination process for determining whether or not the carriage drive unit is in a control abnormal state based on the first determination result and the second determination result;
A control method for a recording apparatus, comprising: In a control program for controlling a recording apparatus for mounting a recording head on a carriage, driving the carriage in a main scanning direction by a carriage drive unit, and recording on a recording sheet by the recording head by a computer,
The recording apparatus uses a predetermined position outside the recording area of the recording head along the first direction of the main scanning direction as a home position, and the current position of the recording head with respect to the home position is higher than the home position. A home position detection sensor for detecting whether or not the vehicle is within the home position area that is the area on the first direction side is provided,
The first detection position is set at a position separated by a first predetermined distance from the previously detected home position in the second direction opposite to the first direction;
A second detection position is set at a position separated by a second predetermined distance from the previously detected home position in the first direction;
Based on the detection result of the home position detection sensor when the current position of the recording head is the first detection position and when the current position of the recording head is the second detection position, Determining whether the carriage drive unit is in a control abnormal state;
A control program characterized by that. The control program according to claim 9, wherein
The detection result of the home position detection sensor when the current position of the recording head becomes the first detection position is within the home position area, or the current position of the recording head is detected in the second position. Control that causes the control abnormal state to be determined when the detection result of the home position detection sensor in the case of being in a position is at least one of the detection results outside the home position region program. In the control program according to claim 9 or 10,
A control program that causes the determination to be performed every time the carriage drive number of the carriage drive unit exceeds N (N is an integer of 2 or more). The control program according to any one of claims 9 to 11,
A control program for causing the determination to be performed each time a new recording sheet is supplied. The control program according to any one of claims 9 to 11,
The speed at which the carriage is driven in the first direction and moved to the first detection position when determining the abnormal control state is a first speed, and the carriage is moved from the first detection position to the second detection position. When the speed to shift to is the second speed,
A control program for causing the carriage drive unit to drive the carriage with the second speed set to be lower than the first speed. 14. A computer-readable recording medium on which the control program according to claim 9 is recorded.

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