JP2006062313A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing apparatus capable of precisely and easily correcting transfer error caused by the wear of a platen roller. <P>SOLUTION: This printer judges presence of the transfer error between a second sensor moving at the same speed as the sheet transfer speed input from an input section, while detecting the detection mark of a series of labels, and the series of labels transferred, and performed transfer quantity correction process if the transfer error is present. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a conveyance device that conveys a sheet and a printing apparatus that includes a printing unit that performs printing on the sheet, and more particularly to a printing apparatus that corrects a conveyance error of the sheet.

2. Description of the Related Art As a printing apparatus, there is known a printer including a platen roller for conveying a sheet, a conveying unit including a stepping motor connected to the platen roller, and a printing unit as a thermal head for printing predetermined information on the sheet surface. . A detection mark for detecting the position of the paper is printed on the back surface of the paper. The detection mark is detected by the paper sensor, and the platen roller is rotated by a predetermined number of steps from the paper sensor position. As a result, the sheet is conveyed to the printing means and printing is performed. By the way, the platen roller is worn out over time, so that the roller diameter is reduced, the paper transport distance is reduced, and a transport error occurs. Further, the sheet slips due to the paper dust adhering to the platen roller, and there is a problem that a transport error occurs in the same manner. As a result, printing misalignment was caused.
As a technique for correcting this conveyance error, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151867 discloses that a sheet is conveyed to a position where printing is finished, temporarily stops, and a paper feed key is used when the user visually confirms a misalignment in this stopped state. Print medium transport error correction device and print medium transport error that reset the paper transport amount from the number of steps until the end of printing and the number of steps by pressing the paper feed key. A correction method is disclosed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-2036

However, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, since the conveyance error is corrected by a key operation while the user visually confirms, fine adjustment is difficult and there is a problem that an error is likely to occur with accuracy. Further, if the key operation is wrong and the appropriate stop position is passed, the setting must be performed again, which is complicated.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that can accurately and easily correct a transport error caused by wear of a platen roller.

The printing apparatus according to the present invention includes an input unit that inputs a conveyance speed of a sheet, a conveyance unit that includes a platen roller that is driven at the conveyance speed input to the input unit and conveys the sheet, and is conveyed by the conveyance unit. Printing means for printing on the paper to be printed, first detection means for detecting the paper, second detection means provided downstream in the transport direction of the first detection means, and input to the input means A moving means for moving the second detecting means in the paper conveying direction while detecting the paper at the conveyed speed, and a second detecting means moved by the moving means detects the paper conveyed by the conveying means. Determining means for determining whether or not the second detecting means has detected the sheet by the determining means, and conveying means to convey the sheet to a position that can be detected by the second detecting means. Control hand to control And having a, the.

When the second detection means that moves while detecting the paper at the conveyance speed input by the input means cannot detect the paper, the control means controls the second detection means to convey the paper to a position where the paper can be detected. Further, it is possible to correct conveyance errors due to the wear of the platen roller, the conveyance slip of the sheet, and the like, and it is possible to convey the sheet stably without any printing deviation.

The best mode for carrying out the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a printer as an example of a printing apparatus. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1. As shown in these drawings, the printer 1 mainly includes a supply unit 2, A first sensor 3, a second sensor 4, a printing unit 5, a transport unit 6, and a thermal transfer unit 7 are provided.

The supply unit 2 has a label guide (not shown), regulates both side surfaces of the label continuous body 40 wound in a roll shape by this label guide, and holds it rotatably. The label continuum 40 is configured by temporarily attaching a plurality of labels 42 having a predetermined length on the surface of a belt-like mount 41. A detection mark 43 (described later) for detecting the position of the label 42 is printed on the back surface of the mount 41.

The first sensor 3 has a light emitting part and a light receiving part, irradiates the detection mark 43 of the label continuum 40 from the light emitting part, receives this reflected light by the light receiving part, and labels 42 by the intensity of this reflected light. The position of is detected. The first sensor 3 is fixed to the printer body.

The second sensor 4 is provided on the downstream side in the transport direction from the first sensor 3, and has a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit similarly to the first sensor 3, and detects the presence or absence of a transport error of the label 42. Further, the second sensor 4 is provided with a moving mechanism 11, which is movably provided on the upstream side or the downstream side in the transport direction of the label continuous body 40.
The moving mechanism 11 includes a driving roller 12 connected to a motor (not shown) and a driven roller 14 rotatably connected to the driving roller 12 and a belt 13. The second sensor 4 moves to the upstream side or the downstream side in the transport direction of the label continuous body 40 by the rotation of the driving roller 12 and moves at a speed inputted from the input unit 9 described later. Note that the motor of the drive roller 12 is independent of a stepping motor of the transport unit 6 described later.

The printing unit 5 is a thermal head, and printing is performed on the surface of the label 42 by the heat generating action of the thermal head. The printing unit 5 is provided with a thermal transfer unit 7, and printing is performed by transferring ink on a thermal transfer ribbon 17 described later to a label 42.

The conveyance unit 6 is a platen roller connected to a stepping motor (not shown), and conveys the continuous label body 40 by continuously rotating the platen roller step by step.

The thermal transfer unit 7 has a ribbon supply shaft 15 and a ribbon take-up shaft 16, and the heat transfer ribbon 17 wound in a roll shape can be rotated from the ribbon supply shaft 15 to the ribbon take-up shaft 16 via the printing unit 5. The ribbon winding shaft 16 is driven by driving a motor (not shown) to wind the thermal transfer ribbon 17.
Further, on the front surface of the printer 1 shown in FIG. 1, an input unit 9 for inputting a setting change of the conveyance speed of the label continuum 40, paper size information of the label continuum, and information input from the input unit 9 are displayed. A display unit 10 for displaying is provided.

The printer 1 includes a control unit that controls the above-described units, and the control unit 20 of the printer 1 illustrated in FIG. 3 will be described. The control unit 20 operates in accordance with a control program stored in the ROM 21 that stores a predetermined control program, a CPU 22 that controls each unit, and a RAM 23 that stores various data necessary for the CPU 22 to operate. A pulse signal is supplied to a conveyance unit 6 including a stepping motor (not shown), and the conveyance control circuit 24 controls the conveyance of the label continuum 40 and corresponds to print data such as characters and figures to be printed supplied from the CPU 22. A control signal is generated and supplied to the printing unit 5 to control the light emitting units of the first sensor 3 and the second sensor 4 under the control of the CPU 22 and the print control circuit 25 for performing the printing operation. The light is emitted to the detection mark 43 of 40, and the electric signal output from the light receiving unit is received and converted into digital data. Then, the label detection circuit 26 supplied to the CPU 22 and the driving roller 12 including a motor (not shown) of the moving mechanism 11 are driven, and the second sensor 4 is based on the conveyance speed of the label continuum 40 stored in the EEPROM 28 described later. A movement control circuit 27 for moving the image data, an EEPROM 28 for storing setting contents such as a conveyance speed input from the input unit 9, an interface 29 for connecting the input unit 9 and the display unit 10, and a host computer 30 as an external device. And an external interface 31 to be connected.
These units are connected to the CPU 22 via the data bus 32, receive print data and commands from the host computer 30 connected via the external interface 29 under the control of the CPU 22, and label 42 according to the received print data and commands. Is printed.

The conveyance error correction process of the printer 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the conveyance error correction process of the printer 1, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the second sensor 4 in the conveyance error correction process of FIG.

First, the system is checked by turning on a power switch (not shown), the program is read, and the cueing process of the label 42a is performed in step S1 and subsequent steps. A platen roller as a transport unit 6 connected to a stepping motor (not shown) is rotated to transport the label continuum 40 step by step toward the downstream side in the transport direction from the supply unit 2 toward the printing unit 5 (step S1).

As shown in FIG. 5A, the detection mark 43 of the label continuum 40 is detected by the first sensor 3 (step S2), and the label is cued so that the tip of the label 42a is positioned at the printing position ( Step S3). That is, in FIG. 5, the continuous label body is conveyed by the transport unit 6 by the number of steps corresponding to the distance X−L obtained by subtracting the label size L previously input from the input unit 9 from the distance X from the first sensor 3 position to the printing position. 40 is transported. At this time, a conveyance error Z occurs as shown in FIG. 5B due to the wear of the platen roller and the occurrence of the conveyance slip.

Next, the drive roller 12 of the moving mechanism 11 is rotationally driven in the counterclockwise direction shown in FIG. 1 to move the second sensor 4 to the cueing position (step S4). That is, as shown in FIG. 5B, a predetermined step corresponding to a distance YL obtained by subtracting the label size L input in advance from the input unit 9 from the distance Y from the initial position of the second sensor 4 to the printing position. The second sensor 4 is moved by the moving mechanism 11 by the number.

In step S5, whether or not there is a transport error is determined based on whether or not the second sensor 4 has detected the detection mark 43. The second sensor 4 moves to a position (second sensor cueing position in FIG. 5) where the detection mark 43 can be detected at a position where the tip of the label 42a always comes to the printing position regardless of the wear or slip of the platen roller. Therefore, if the detection mark 43 of the continuous label body 40 cannot be detected in a state where the second sensor 4 is located at the cueing position, it is determined that there is a conveyance error, and the process proceeds to step S6. On the other hand, if the second sensor 4 can detect the detection mark 43, it is determined that there is no conveyance error, and the process proceeds to step S7.

When it is determined that there is a transport error as shown in FIG. 5B, the transport control circuit 24 controls the transport unit 6 so that the second sensor 4 transports the detection mark 43 to a position where the detection mark 43 can be detected. It performs (step S6).

As shown in FIG. 5C, when the detection mark 43 of the label continuum 40 is detected at the cueing position of the second sensor 4, the conveyance of the label continuum 40 is stopped (step S7), and the label 42a is cued. Finish.

Print data including a predetermined command transmitted as a print command from the host computer 30 which is an external device is received via the external interface 31, and sequentially written in the RAM 23 (step S8).

As shown in FIG. 5 (d), the drive roller 12 of the moving mechanism 11 is rotationally driven in the counterclockwise direction shown in FIG. 1, and the second sensor 4 is moved step by step and is connected to a stepping motor (not shown). The platen roller as the section 6 is rotated, and the label continuous body 40 is transported step by step toward the downstream side in the transport direction from the supply section 2 toward the printing section 5 (step S9), and printing is performed on the label 42a (step S9). Step S10). The printing start position is determined based on the number of steps of the driving roller 12 from the second sensor cueing position, and printing is performed at an appropriate position on the label 42a. The second sensor 4 moves at the same speed as the conveyance speed of the label continuous body 40 input in advance from the input unit 9.

During printing conveyance in step S9 and step S10, whether or not there is a conveyance error is determined based on whether or not the second sensor 4 has detected the detection mark 43 (step S11). When the second sensor 4 is detecting the detection mark 43, it is determined that there is no wear or transport slip of the platen roller, the process proceeds to step S13, and when the second sensor 4 does not detect the detection mark 43. It is determined that there is wear of the platen roller or conveyance slip, and the process proceeds to step S12. Further, when the second sensor 4 cannot detect even after carrying error correction processing for a certain period, it can be judged that a conveyance jam has occurred, and an error notification can be given by a not-shown notifying means.

In step S <b> 12, the transport control circuit 24 controls the transport unit 6 to transport the second sensor 4 to a position where the detection mark 43 can be detected, and performs transport error correction processing.

In step S13, it is determined whether or not the printing on the label 42a has been completed. If the printing on the label 42a has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S9 and the above-described processing is performed, and the printing on the label 42a has been completed. Proceed to step S14.

In step S14, the driving roller 12 of the moving mechanism 11 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction (see FIG. 1), and the second sensor 4 is moved to the second sensor cueing position as shown in FIG. 5 (e).
Further, when printing continuously on the label 42b, the processing from step S9 is performed.

As described above, in the best mode for carrying out the invention, the transport unit 6 and the second sensor 4 are respectively driven by separate motors, and the detection mark 43 is detected by the second sensor 4 while the continuous label body 40 is transported. When it is not possible, the transport control circuit 24 controls the transport unit 6 to transport the second sensor 4 to a position where the detection mark 43 can be detected, and transports the label continuum 40 during transport by performing transport error correction processing. The error can be corrected, and stable label conveyance without printing misalignment can be performed.

In the best mode for carrying out the invention, the detection mark 43 of the label continuous body 4 is detected by the second sensor 4. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the tag continuous body having no adhesive is used. You may make it detect the hole which lets a thread pass.
Further, although the detection mark 43 is positioned near the rear end of the label 42, it may be near the front end of the label 42.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a printer as a printing apparatus according to the present invention. II-II sectional drawing in FIG. The block diagram of the control part of a printer. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a conveyance error correction process of the printer according to the first embodiment. Explanatory drawing explaining operation | movement of the 2nd sensor in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Supply part 3 1st sensor 4 2nd sensor 5 Printing part 6 Conveyance part 7 Thermal transfer unit 9 Input part 10 Display part 11 Movement mechanism 12 Driving roller 13 Belt 14 Driven roller 15 Ribbon supply shaft 16 Ribbon take-up shaft 17 Thermal transfer ribbon 20 Controller 21 ROM
22 CPU
23 RAM
24 transport control circuit 25 print control circuit 26 label detection circuit 27 movement control circuit 28 EEPROM
29 Interface 30 Host computer 31 External interface 32 Data bus 40 Label continuum 41 Mount 42, 42a, 42b, 42c Label 43 Detection mark

Claims (1)

An input means for inputting the conveyance speed of the paper;
Conveying means for conveying the paper by being driven at a conveying speed input to the input means;
Printing means for printing on paper conveyed by the conveying means;
First detecting means for detecting the paper;
Second detection means provided on the downstream side in the transport direction of the first detection means;
Moving means for moving the second detection means in the paper conveyance direction while detecting paper at the conveyance speed input to the input means;
Determination means for determining whether or not the second detection means that is moved by the movement means detects the paper conveyed by the conveyance means;
Control means for controlling the conveying means so as to convey the paper to a position where the second detecting means can detect when the second detecting means judges that the paper is not detected by the judging means. Printing device.

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