JP2007118367A - Recorder and recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recorder which makes high-quality recording by solving a dimensional tolerance gap in a tray by a simple constitution and a simple control at a low cost. <P>SOLUTION: The recorder which makes recording to a material to be recorded by a recording means is equipped with the tray loaded in the recorder while carrying the material, a material positioning part constituted on the tray to be fitted in a center hole of a CD as the material, a material fixing part constituted on the tray to fix the periphery of the CD as the material, a material position detection means set at the material positioning part of the tray, and a tray position detecting means which detects the detection means. The recorder adjusts a recording position of a recording image by calculating the position of the material carried on the tray through position detection of the material position detecting means when working of recording is carried out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus such as a printer or an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a recording apparatus capable of recording on a recording material such as a CD (compact disc) mounted on a tray.

  Conventionally, various recording materials have been proposed as recording materials recorded by a recording apparatus such as a printing apparatus or an image forming apparatus. Among them, there are small and thick recording materials such as CD-Rs, DVDs and cards (hereinafter collectively referred to as CDs). When recording on a recording material such as a CD in the current general-purpose recording device, using the cut sheet transport path results in poor transportability and scratches due to the high rigidity of the CD. Or a problem such that the conveyance becomes impossible due to the distance between the conveyance rollers. Therefore, when transporting a small and thick recording material such as a CD, a tray is used and transported through a path different from the transport path of the cut sheet.

  Since the tray is thicker than general cut sheets, it is necessary to give sufficient consideration to insertion into the transport roller pair, clamping between the transport roller pair, and securing an appropriate gap between the recording head and the recording material. There is. As one means for that purpose, there is a method in which an operating lever is provided in the recording apparatus and the pressing of the conveying member is released in conjunction with the movement of the operating lever. Then, when the user inserts the tray to a predetermined position and adjusts the position, the user operates the lever to set the conveying member in the pressed state again. Further, the carriage on which the recording head is mounted is lifted by the operation lever, and a gap (distance between the recording head and the recording member) is ensured. In addition, the position of a recording material such as a CD is recorded without being particularly performed, or the position of a white portion in the CD recording range or a detection means provided on a tray is detected by a sensor mounted on a carriage. Detection and recording are performed.

  In a recording operation in which the position of the CD is detected by the detected means provided on the tray and the recording position is corrected, the position of the tray with respect to the recording apparatus is read by reading the positions of the two detected means provided on the tray. The position / posture (rotation amount) is calculated, the position of the positioning portion on the tray where the recording material is positioned is determined, and the position of the image recording area is corrected. By using this position correction, accurate and high-quality recording can be performed without being affected by the set state of the user.

As another conventional example, Patent Document 1 can be cited.
JP 2004-42372 A

  However, in the above conventional example, it is not possible to correct the deviation in the dimensional tolerance between the two sensors configured in the tray and the positioning portion of the recording material, even if the above-described position correction is performed accurately. Deviations on the dimensional tolerance that occur in the tray remain as positional deviations. As a result, a print position shift of a recorded image due to a dimensional tolerance shift occurs. The current situation is that the dimensions that relate the three points of the two sensors and the position of the recording material are defined with very high precision tolerances, and the influence of positional deviation on the dimensional tolerances that occur is kept to a minimum. ing.

  In order to eliminate the dimensional tolerance deviation that occurs in the tray, it is sufficient to directly detect the positioning part that positions the CD, which is the recording material, but in the current tray, the positioning part of the recording material comes in the center hole of the CD In addition, since the hook claw serving as the fixing portion is provided at the same position as the positioning portion, the operator may touch the positioning portion with his / her hand when the CD is mounted. Therefore, when the position detection unit is provided in the positioning unit, the position detection unit may deteriorate with time.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a technical problem, and an object of the present invention is to eliminate the dimensional tolerance deviation in the tray with a simple configuration and simple control and at a low cost, and to achieve high quality. It is to provide a recording apparatus capable of performing accurate recording.

  The configuration of the present invention for achieving the above object is a recording apparatus for recording on a recording material by a recording means, a tray mounted with the recording material mounted on the recording apparatus, and a CD as a recording material. A recording material positioning portion configured on the tray so as to be fitted in the center hole, a recording material fixing portion configured on the tray so as to fix an outer peripheral portion of a CD which is a recording material, A recording material position detecting means provided in a recording material positioning portion of the tray, and a tray position detecting means for detecting the detecting means, and a recording material mounted on the tray during a recording operation The position of the recording material is calculated by detecting the position of the recording material position detecting means, and the recording position of the recorded image is adjusted.

(Function)
According to the above configuration, since the position of the recording material can be accurately known by detecting the position of the positioning portion of the recording material provided on the tray, image degradation due to the dimensional tolerance deviation in the tray can be prevented. It can be solved.

  In addition, since the fixed portion of the CD, which is the recording material, is on the outer periphery of the CD, the operator does not touch the recording material position detecting means by hand when the CD is loaded.

  According to the above configuration, the CD positioning portion formed on the tray can be detected by the sensor, so the position of the CD as the recording material can be accurately calculated, and high-quality printing is performed. It becomes possible.

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

  1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the internal mechanism of the recording apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from the right front, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the recording apparatus of FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the recording apparatus with the CD tray base opened in the recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied as viewed from the left front, and FIG. 5 is a CD tray base in the recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 6 is a front view of a CD printing tray in a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 7 is a front view of the CD printing tray in the recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 8 is a front view showing a state where a CD as a recording material is mounted, and FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing a procedure for adjusting a recording position in a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied on a CD printing tray. In FIG. 1, the recording apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a paper feeding unit 2, a paper feeding unit 3, a paper discharging unit 4, a carriage unit 5, and a CD printing tray paper feeding unit 6. The outline of each of these parts will be described in order below.

(A) Paper Feed Unit The paper feed unit 2 has a pressure plate 21 for stacking the sheet material P, a paper feed roller 28 for feeding the sheet material P, a separation roller 23 for separating the sheet material P, and the sheet material P at the stacking position. A return claw lever 22 or the like for returning is attached to the base 20. A paper feed tray 26 for holding the stacked sheet materials P is attached to the base or the exterior of the recording apparatus.

  In the series of sheet feeding operations, first, the separation roller 23 comes into contact with the sheet feeding roller 28 by driving the motor. Then, the return lever 22 is released, and the pressure plate 21 comes into contact with the paper feed roller 28. In this state, feeding of the sheet material P is started. The sheet material P is limited by a pre-stage separation unit (not shown) provided on the base 20, and only a predetermined number of the sheet material P is sent to a nip portion formed by the paper feed roller 28 and the separation roller 23. The fed sheet material P is separated at the nip portion, and only the uppermost sheet material is conveyed (feeded).

  When the sheet material P reaches a nip formed by a later-described conveying roller 36 and pinch roller 35, the pressure plate 21 is released by a pressure plate cam (not shown), and the separation roller 28 is released by a control cam (not shown). . The return lever 22 is returned to the loading position by the control cam. At this time, the sheet material P that has reached the nip portion between the paper feed roller 28 and the separation roller 23 can be returned to the stacking position.

(B) Paper Feed Unit A plurality of pinch rollers 35 that are driven to rotate are provided in contact with the conveyance roller 36 that constitutes the paper feed unit 3. The pinch roller 35 is held by a pinch roller holder 30 and is urged by a pinch roller spring 31 so that the pinch roller 35 is pressed against the transport roller 36 and generates a transport force for the sheet material P. Here, the pinch roller holder 30 has a rotating shaft attached to the chassis 11 and is rotated around the rotating shaft. Further, a paper guide flapper 33 for guiding the sheet material P is disposed at the entrance of the sheet feeding unit 3 to which the sheet material P is conveyed. The paper guide flapper 33 is fitted with the conveying roller 36 and can be rotated around a sliding bearing, and is positioned by contacting the chassis 11. The pinch roller holder 30 is provided with a PE sensor 32 for detecting the leading edge and the trailing edge of the sheet material P. Further, a pinch roller raising / lowering cam 38 is in contact with the pinch roller holder 30, and when the pinch roller raising / lowering motor (not shown) is driven, the raising / lowering cam 38 is rotated and the pinch roller 35 is released from the conveying roller 36. The As a result, a space through which a later-described CD printing tray 69 passes is secured.

  In the above configuration, the sheet material P sent to the paper feeding unit 3 is guided by the pinch roller holder 30 and the paper guide flapper 33 and fed into the nip portion between the transport roller 36 and the pinch roller 35. At this time, the leading edge of the conveyed sheet material P is detected by the PE sensor 32, thereby obtaining the recording position (printing position, image forming position) of the sheet material P. The sheet material P is transported on a platen 45 (described later) by the roller pair 36 and 35 being rotated by a transport motor (not shown), and reaches the paper discharge unit.

(C) Paper Discharge Unit The paper discharge unit 4 includes two paper discharge rollers 40 and 41 on a platen 45, and a spur 42 that can be driven and rotated by contacting the paper discharge roller with a predetermined pressure. 43 is configured. The spur holder 43 is urged against the platen by a holder urging spring 44 and is moved up and down by a release arm 61 described later. Further, a gear train for transmitting the driving of the conveying roller 36 to the paper discharge rollers 40 and 41 is formed on the chassis 11. On the platen 45, ribs serving as a conveyance reference surface are formed. This rib is intended to manage the gap with the recording head 7 and to control the sheet material P from being struck.

  In the above configuration, the sheet material P sent to the paper discharge unit 4 is transported by the paper discharge rollers 40 and 41 driven to follow the transport roller 36, and is discharged after the recording operation.

(D) Carriage Part The carriage part 5 has a carriage 50 to which the recording head 7 is attached. The carriage 50 is guided and supported by a guide shaft 52 and a guide rail 111 installed in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the sheet material P so as to be reciprocable in the main scanning direction. The carriage 50 is driven via a timing belt 531 by a carriage motor 53 attached to the chassis 11. The timing belt 531 is stretched and supported by an idler pulley 532. Eccentric cams 521 are provided at both ends of the guide shaft 52, and the guide shaft 52 can be moved up and down by motor drive. As the guide shaft is raised and lowered, the carriage 50 is similarly raised and lowered, and an appropriate gap can be secured for the sheet materials P having different thicknesses.

  Further, the carriage 50 includes a reflection type optical sensor for detecting a position detection mark 694 of a CD printing tray 69 for recording (printing) on a display portion of a small and thick recording material such as a CD-R. A tray position detection sensor 51 is attached. The tray position detection sensor 51 can detect the position of the tray 69 by emitting light from the light emitting element and receiving the reflected light.

  In the above configuration, when an image is formed on the sheet material P, the sheet material P is conveyed to a recording row position (a conveyance direction position of the sheet material P) by a pair of rollers (conveying rollers and pinch rollers 36 and 35). Then, the carriage 50 is moved to the image forming position (position perpendicular to the conveying direction of the sheet material P) by the carriage motor 53, and the recording head 7 is opposed to the image forming position, and then recording is performed by a signal from the electrical unit. When the head 7 ejects ink toward the sheet material P, image formation is performed.

(E) CD printing tray feeder
The CD printing tray paper feeding unit 6 includes a CD tray base 60 rotatably attached to the exterior, a release arm 61 having a cam that is driven by the CD tray base 60 and moves the spur holder up and down, and a spur holder 43. It consists of a spur holder sensor 62 that detects the ascending / descending state. The CD tray base 60 includes a pinch roller 63, a roller spring 68, and a pinch roller pressing rib 66. The CD printing tray 69 is urged by the spring pressure to the paper discharge rollers 40 and 41, and the paper discharge roller 40, A sufficient conveying force can be obtained when only 41 is conveyed. The pressing rib 66 is configured to work effectively during the conveyance of the CD printing tray 69 until the CD printing tray 69 reaches a pinch roller pressing rib escape portion 697 described later. Further, the CD tray base 60 is provided with a rib preventing rib 64 for preventing the CD printing tray 69 from being inserted obliquely with respect to the CD tray base 60 and a CD printing tray when the CD printing tray 69 is inserted. A discharge roller collision preventing rib 65 for preventing the front end of the tray 69 from colliding with the discharge roller 41 and a tray set mark 67 when the CD printing tray is mounted are provided.

  In the above configuration, when the CD tray base 60 is tilted forward, the release arm 61 follows the movement to lift the spur holder 43 upward, and a CD as a storage medium is mounted between the platen 45 and the spur holder 43. A space for allowing the CD printing tray 69 to pass therethrough is formed. When the spur holder 43 is lifted upward, a part of the spur holder pushes the spur holder sensor 62 so that the opening of the CD tray base 60 can be detected.

  The CD printing tray 69 is formed of a resin plate having a thickness of about 2 to 3 mm. The resin plate includes a CD mounting portion 692, an operation portion 693 that an operator grasps when inserting and removing the tray, Position detection mark 694 (in FIG. 6, three positions 694a, 694b, and 694c), a CD ejection hole 695, an insertion position alignment mark 696, an anti-backlash / pinch roller pressing rib escape portion 697, and a discharge roller collision prevention rib escape portion (Not shown) is provided. The front end of the CD printing tray 69 has a convex shape. This is to ensure that the transport roller 36 and the pinch roller 35 are engaged, and to prevent the front end portion from colliding with the paper guide flapper 33 when the CD printing tray 69 is pulled into the innermost position. It is. Further, at the front end of the CD printing tray 69, when the CD printing tray 69 is inserted up to the pinch roller holder 30, a tray rib for preventing the pinch roller from climbing up (not shown) so as not to easily run on the pinch roller holder 30. Is provided.

  The position detection mark 694 is provided on the front end side of the CD mounting portion 832 of the CD printing tray 69. Position detection marks 694a and 694b are squares of about 3 to 10 mm, and 694c is an annular shape provided with a member having high reflection performance. The position detection mark 694a is attached from the back side of the CD printing tray 69 using a reflection plate having high reflection performance and using a double-sided tape. Hot stamps are used for the position detection marks 694b and 694c.

  The CD printing tray 69 is provided with a cylindrical CD positioning portion 692 for positioning the CD and a mold claw 699 for fixing the CD, thereby performing positioning and backlash removal when the CD is mounted. ing. The operator attaches the CD by aligning the hole in the center of the CD with the CD attaching portion 692. When removing the CD, the operator can take out the CD by holding the outer edge of the CD using the CD removal hole 695. Further, the CD positioning portion 6921 is one step lower than the other surface of the tray 69. A media presence / absence detection mark 698 is provided on the lower surface. The media presence / absence detection mark 698 is configured by a hot stamp having a predetermined width, and is configured to determine that there is no media when the width is detected by a predetermined amount.

  The position detection mark 694c is formed on the upper surface portion of the CD positioning portion 692. Further, the position detection mark 694c is configured to be at a position lower than the CD when the recording material CD is mounted on the CD printing tray 69. This is to prevent the detection mark 694c from coming into contact with the pinch roller 35 and the like when the tray 69 is conveyed.

  Next, CD recording work in the recording apparatus having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the operator lowers the CD tray base 60 forward. At this time, the spur holder 43 is lifted upward by the release arm 61 driven by the CD tray base 60, and a space for the CD printing tray 69 to pass between the platen 34 and the spur holder 43 is secured. Further, at this time, the spur holder sensor 62 detects that the CD tray base 60 is opened.

  The operator mounts the CD on the CD mounting portion 692 of the CD printing tray 69 and holds the operating portion 693 until the insertion alignment mark 696 coincides with the tray set mark 67 of the CD tray base 60. 69 is inserted.

  In this state, when a recording signal (printing signal, image signal) is sent from the host, the recording operation is started. First, by driving a pinch roller raising / lowering motor (not shown), the pinch roller raising / lowering cam 38 is rotated, and the pinch roller 35 is released from the conveying roller 36 to secure a CD printing tray passage space in the paper feeding section.

  Next, the transport roller 36, the paper discharge roller 40, and the paper discharge roller 41 are reversed. Here, the conveying force of the tray 69 is generated by pressing the CD printing tray 69 against the discharge roller 40 and the discharge roller 41 with a predetermined pressure by the pinch roller 63 and the roller spring 68. In response to the reverse rotation of the roller 41, the tray 69 is conveyed into the recording apparatus.

  After the tray 69 is transported to a position where the front end of the tray 69 sufficiently passes through the nip portion of the paper feeding section (a nip composed of the transport roller 36 and the pinch roller 35), a pinch roller lift motor (not shown) And the pinch roller 35 is brought into contact with the tray. As a result, the tray 69 is sandwiched between the transport roller 36 and the pinch roller 35, and the transport force in the printing area is ensured. When the tray 69 is conveyed in this state, the ratchet prevention / pinch roller pressing rib escape portion 697 of the tray 69 reaches the pinch roller pressing rib 66 of the CD tray base 60 and is conveyed by the discharge rollers 40 and 41 immediately. The force is lost, and the conveyance is performed only by the conveyance roller 36.

  Next, the carriage 50 on which the recording head 7 is mounted moves from the home position to the recording area (printing area) in order to detect the CD printing tray 69. At this time, the carriage lifting / lowering motor 54 operates to raise the guide shaft 52, and an optimum gap (inter-paper distance) can be formed between the recording head 7 and the tray 69.

  Next, the position detection marks 694a, 694b, and 694c of the tray 69 are detected by the tray position detection sensor 51 provided on the carriage, and the operation of adjusting the recording image position is performed.

  The position detection marks are detected in the order shown in FIG. 8 in the order of 694a, 694b, and 694c.

  First, in order to detect the position of 694a, the carriage 50 stops by aligning the tray position detection sensor 51 on the carriage with the position of the position detection mark 694a of the CD printing tray 69. Then, the tray 69 is conveyed to detect the upper edge position of the position detection mark 694a. The conveyance is continued as it is, and the lower edge of the mark 694a is detected. Next, as shown in FIG. 8B, the tray 69 is returned so that the tray position detection sensor 51 as the tray position detection means on the carriage 50 is positioned approximately at the center of the position detection mark 694 a of the tray 69. . Then, the carriage 50 is moved to the left and right to detect the right edge position and the left edge position of the position detection mark 694a as the detected means. From the above, the center position 694a ′ of the position detection mark 694a is calculated and set as the detection position of the position detection mark 694a.

  Next, in order to detect the position of 694b, the carriage 50 is moved to the left and right to detect the positions of the left end edge and the right end edge of the position detection mark 694b, and the center position is an appropriate distance from the previously detected 694a. If it is determined, the positional relationship (rotation amount) between the CD printing tray 69 and the recording device is estimated from the obtained result. If it is determined that the obtained distance is not appropriate, an error is displayed as no tray and the tray is ejected.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 8E, the position of the tray position detection sensor 51 as the tray position detection means of the carriage 50 and the medium as the detection means of the tray 69 in the transport direction of the CD printing tray 69. The tray 69 is conveyed so that the position of the presence / absence detection mark 698 (FIG. 6) matches.

  At this time, the carriage 50 is moved to the left and right to detect the left end and the right end edge of the medium presence / absence detection mark 698, and when the distance between the edges matches the predetermined width, it is determined that the CD is not mounted, and the recording operation (printing operation) ), The tray 69 is discharged to a predetermined position, and an error is displayed. Here, if the medium presence / absence detection mark 698 cannot be detected, it is determined that a CD is mounted, and the recording operation is continued.

  Next, in order to detect the position detection mark 694c, the carriage 50 is moved to a predetermined position with reference to the positional relationship between the CD printing tray 69 and the recording apparatus calculated by the position detection up to the previous section, and the transport roller 36 is driven to convey the tray 69, and the positions of the upper edge and lower edge of the position detection mark 694c are detected. Next, the carriage 50 is moved so that the position detection sensor 51 on the carriage 50 comes to the center position of the upper and lower edges, the carriage 50 is moved to the left and right, and the positions of the left and right edges of the position detection mark 694c are set. The center of the detection is set as a detection position 694c ′ of the position detection mark 694c. The obtained 694c ′ is the center position of the CD as the recording material, and this value is used to correct the recording position of the recorded image.

  When the above series of initial operations is completed, the tray 69 is transported to a predetermined position where the entire CD behind the recording device (printer or the like) can be recorded (printed). Thereafter, recording (printing and printing) is started in accordance with recording data sent from the host. With respect to the recorded image, so-called multi-pass printing in which an image is formed by a plurality of scans can be used to reduce band unevenness of a recorded image due to CD conveyance accuracy and recording head 7 landing accuracy.

  After the recording (printing) is completed, the CD printing tray 69 is conveyed to a position where the operator has set the tray 69 on the CD tray base 60 before the above-described printing. In this state, the operator can take out the tray 69 on which the printed CD is mounted. Further, the CD tray base 60 can be stored by tilting the CD tray base 60 forward.

1 is a perspective view showing a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. It is the perspective view which looked at the internal mechanism of the recording device of FIG. 1 from the right front. It is sectional drawing of the recording device of FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the recording apparatus with the CD tray base opened in the recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, as viewed from the left front. FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing a state in which a CD tray base is opened and closed in a recording apparatus to which the invention is applied. It is a front view of a tray for CD printing in a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. It is a front view showing a state where a CD as a recording material is mounted on a CD printing tray in a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing a procedure for adjusting a recording position in a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied on a CD printing tray.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording device 2 Paper feed part 3 Paper feed part 4 Paper discharge part 5 Carriage part 6 CD printing tray paper feed part 20 Base 21 Pressure plate 22 Return lever 23 Separation roller 24 Paper feed roller 30 Pinch roller holder 31 Pinch roller spring 32 PE Sensor 33 Paper guide flapper 34 Pinch roller lifting cam 35 Pinch roller 36 Transport roller 40 Paper discharge roller 41 Paper discharge roller 42 Spur 43 Spur holder 44 Holder biasing spring 45 Platen 50 Carriage 51 Tray position detection sensor 52 Guide shaft 521 Eccentric cam 53 Carriage motor 531 Timing belt 532 Idler pulley 54 Carriage elevating motor 60 CD tray base 61 Release arm 62 Spur holder sensor 63 Pinch roller 64 Backlash prevention rib 65 Discharge roller collision prevention rib 6 6 Pinch roller pressing rib 67 Tray set mark 68 Roller spring 69 CD printing tray 6921 CD positioning part 6922 Mold claw 693 Operation part 694 Position detection mark 694a Position detection mark 694b Position detection mark 694c Position detection mark 695 CD removal hole 696 Insertion position Alignment mark 697 Backlash prevention and pinch roller pressing rib relief 698 Media presence / absence detection mark 699 Mold claw

Claims (4)

In a recording apparatus for recording on a recording material by a recording means,
A tray on which a recording material is mounted and mounted on the recording apparatus, a conveying means for conveying the tray, a recording material position detecting means provided in a recording material positioning portion of the tray, and the recording material position And a position detection means for detecting the detection means.   The recording material positioning portion is configured to fit into a center hole of the recording material, and the fixing portion of the recording material is configured to fix the outer peripheral portion of the recording material. The recording apparatus according to 1.   The tray position detecting means is provided on the tray in addition to the recording material position detecting means in order to prevent erroneous detection of the recording material position detecting means. Recording device.   The recording position of the recorded image is adjusted by calculating the position of the recording material fixed on the tray by the detection of the recording material position detecting means during the recording operation. Item 4. The recording device according to any one of Items 3 to 4.

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