JP2007144720A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the issue of making a printer thin and its accompanying problems. <P>SOLUTION: (1) A paper feeder mechanism and its load are eliminated by segregating the paper. In this case, a display "printing completed" is issued after storing a printing head following the end of printing. (2) A nozzle protecting part which freely retreats during cleaning is set up, (3) A new layout which is printed with the inserted paper. The characteristics of this printer are changed depending on a paper insertion mode or an installation mode. An ink head is stored without passing over the paper after the end of printing. (4) The ink head retreating mode is changed depending on an accident occurrence time or a normal time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a new form for miniaturization in an ink jet printer, and more specifically, by performing printing by scanning ink nozzles in the X-Y2 directions, the printing paper feed mechanism is eliminated and miniaturization is achieved. This relates to increasing the versatility of the printer and improving the reliability.

  As a conventional printer, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-99214, printing paper is conveyed in one direction (sub-scanning), the paper is conveyed to a printing position, and ink tanks and ink nozzles are perpendicular to the sub-scanning direction. In general, printing is performed by scanning (main scanning) a head provided with the above.

  25 and 31 are diagrams for explaining the mechanism. In FIG. 25, the paper feed roller 5 and the paper feed cam 31 feed the paper P into the paper feeding unit 12.

  The paper P sent to the paper feeding unit 12 is guided by the platen 46 and fed between the transport roller 36 and the pinch roller 37.

  The paper P sent between the rollers 36 and 37 advances along the platen 46 by the conveyance roller 36 and the pinch roller 37 rotated by the conveyance motor 47 (sub scanning), and printing is performed by the recording head 49.

  The recording head 49 can be scanned (main scanning) in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the paper P by the guide unit 51, and is driven by the carriage motor 53 in this direction.

  Here, as can be seen from FIG. 31, the upper surface and the lower surface of the paper P are sandwiched between rollers.

  And the conveyance part 12 comprised by the roller 36 etc. for the conveyance operation | movement is also provided in the lower surface part of the paper P, and will result in thickening the whole printer.

  Further, the conveyance roller 36 and the pinch roller 37 are pressed against each other with a strong force so that the paper P does not slip during the sub-scanning.

  In order not to lose such a large load, the conveyance motor 47 is increased in size and requires a large amount of electric power for driving.

  Here, it is considered that paper feeding is abolished by scanning the ink nozzles also in the sub-scanning direction.

  At this time, since the transport unit 12 provided on the lower surface of the paper P is not necessary, the printer can be thinned.

  In addition, since driving of the ink nozzles in the sub-scanning direction has a smaller load than paper feeding, the driving motor for sub-scanning can be made smaller than the transport motor 47.

  Further, as the drive motor for sub-scanning is reduced in size, the drive power is also reduced, so that the printer can be driven by a small dry battery or a small number of dry batteries, and a small printer that is convenient to carry can be realized.

  FIG. 29 is a perspective view of a printer disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-235814. In FIG. 29, reference numeral 1 denotes a parent printer as described in FIG. 25, for example, a signal from a personal computer or a signal from a digital camera 2. Thus, printing is performed on the paper P.

  Reference numeral 3 denotes a printer slave connected to the printer master 1. The ink tank, the ink nozzles, the printing unit 4 having a drive unit for driving them in the main scanning and sub-scanning directions, and cleaning of the ink nozzles and ink clogging are eliminated. The cradle 5 is provided with an ink nozzle recovery system.

  Here, the printing unit 4 can be attached to and detached from the cradle 5. During printing, the printing unit 4 is removed from the cradle 5 and placed on the paper, and ink is ejected while scanning the ink nozzles in the main and sub-scanning directions. Print.

  After the printing is completed, the printing unit 4 is mounted on the cradle 5 and the cradle 5 performs a recovery operation for cleaning the ink nozzles and eliminating ink clogging, and the cradle 5 protects the ink nozzles.

In the case of this example, the printer slave unit 3 is connected to the printer master unit 1 and controlled, and the power supply is also received from the printer master unit 1, but the printer slave unit 3 has circuits for ink nozzle control and image processing. By providing and mounting a battery, the printer can be made a small portable printer that is independent from the printer base unit 1.
JP 2000-99214 A JP-A-11-235814

  By the way, in the printer slave unit 3 (hereinafter referred to as a paper separation printer) shown in FIG. 29, the printer main body is installed on a print medium (mainly paper) and printing is performed. Therefore, ink nozzles are directed toward the printing surface. Exposed.

  This creates three problems.

  In a normal printer, as shown in FIG. 31, the ink nozzle always faces the platen 46 and is protected by the outer cover of the printer, so that high reliability is maintained against disturbance.

  However, in the paper separation printer, the ink nozzles are exposed as described above, and the ink nozzles are hit to break the nozzles, or the user accidentally touches the ink nozzles, changing the performance of the nozzles. There is a problem.

  Also, when hard dust or the like is on the paper and a printer is installed on the paper and printing is performed, the ink nozzles drag the dust in the scanning direction and break the nozzles.

  Thus, there is a first problem that the reliability of the nozzle is lowered.

  Also, the paper separation printer can pull the printer away from the paper during printing.

  For this reason, the ink nozzles eject ink in a direction other than the paper, and the surroundings are stained with ink.

  Thus, there is a second problem called safety deterioration.

  In the case of thin printing paper, wrinkles may be caused by including ink.

  In the printer shown in FIG. 30, the paper area after printing is guided by the platen 46 and is transported by the transport roller 36 and the pinch roller 37 so as not to face the ink nozzle again.

  However, the paper separation printer has an operation of returning the ink nozzle to the initial position by driving the ink nozzle in the main and sub-scanning directions after the printing is completed.

  In this operation, the ink nozzle again faces the printed paper area.

  The interval between the paper and the printing nozzle is set to be extremely short in order to improve the printing quality. When the paper is wrinkled by printing, the paper and the ink nozzle may contact each other.

  As a result, dirt on the ink nozzles adheres to the paper.

  Thus, there is a third problem called print quality degradation.

  In addition to these three problems, in the case of a paper separation type printer, if the paper is not horizontal, the printer moves due to the driving vibration of the main and sub-scanning nozzles during printing, so that accurate printing cannot be performed.

  In order to prevent this, it is necessary to hold the printer against the paper during printing.

  As described above, there is a problem that the operability is deteriorated.

Therefore, in the present invention, these four problems, that is,
1. Improvement of nozzle reliability Improvement of safety Improvement of print quality The purpose is to solve the improvement of operability and realize a small and portable printer.

In the present invention, measures are taken in the form of a mechanical mechanism, a drive control method, and a printer for the above-described problems in the paper separation printer,
According to another aspect of the present invention, the printer is provided with an ink nozzle, an ink nozzle protector provided in the vicinity of the ink nozzle and retractable with respect to the ink nozzle, and a retracting drive means for retracting the ink nozzle protector. The means is configured to retract the ink nozzle protector by using the driving force of the scanning drive means that scans the ink nozzle along the print medium during printing, and the ink nozzle protector is retracted from the nozzle while the ink nozzle protector is retracted from the nozzle. Ink nozzle cleaning means for cleaning the nozzles is provided.

  The ink nozzle protection part is an ink nozzle protection protrusion extending from the vicinity of the ink nozzle to the print medium side, and the ink nozzle protection protrusion has a substantially circular bank shape surrounding the outer periphery of the ink nozzle. When composed of ink nozzles on a plurality of lines arranged for each color, the ink nozzle protection projection has a bank shape that surrounds the outer periphery of each ink nozzle.

  With the above configuration, the reliability of the ink nozzle is improved.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in a printer that prints a printing surface by being placed on the printing surface, ink discharge is performed by an output change of the grounding detection unit that detects installation on the printing surface and the grounding detection unit during printing. Discharge control means for controlling is provided in the printer, and the discharge control means prohibits ink discharge by changing the output of the ground detection means during printing. Further, the discharge control means is based on the output change of the ground detection means after the ink discharge is prohibited. Therefore, the safety is improved by adopting a configuration in which the ink ejection is not resumed.

In claim 10 and claim 11, ink discharge is performed based on an output of an ink nozzle, a scanning drive unit that scans the ink nozzle along the print medium during printing, and a ground detection unit that is scanned together with the ink nozzle by the scan drive unit. Ink control means for controlling is provided in the printer, and safety is improved by adopting a configuration in which ink ejection is prohibited when the output of the ground detection means changes during printing.

The printer according to claim 12, wherein the ink nozzle is driven in the first direction having the first standby position and the second direction having the second standby position to perform printing on the fixed print medium. After storing in the first standby position, it is driven only in the second direction and stored in the second standby position, thereby improving the print quality.

A printer main body and a paper tray that is pivotally supported with respect to the printer main body and that is opposed to the ink nozzles provided in the printer main body in the closed state. Employs a printer shape that prints with the print medium sandwiched between the trays, and the paper tray is detachable from the printer body. When the paper tray is installed in the printer body, it is placed between the paper tray and the printer body. It is possible to select a first printing form that performs printing with a print medium sandwiched therebetween, and a second printing form that performs printing by placing the printer body on the printing medium when the paper tray is removed from the printer body, Furthermore, it has state detection means for ink discharge control, and the ink discharge control mode by the state detection means is different between the first printing form and the second printing form. More specifically, the state detection unit detects the posture or vibration of the printer body and prohibits ink ejection in accordance with a comparison between the output and a predetermined threshold value. When the output of vibration exceeds the first level of the threshold value, at least in the second printing form, ink ejection is prohibited to improve operability.

19. The printer according to claim 18, wherein the printer is installed on the printing surface and prints the entire printing surface by ejecting ink from the ink nozzle while scanning the ink nozzle in a two-dimensional direction from the retracted position. The ink discharge end detection means for detecting the end of ink discharge from the ink nozzle, the nozzle setting means for setting the ink nozzle to the retreat position based on the output of the ink discharge end detection means, and the ink nozzle at the retreat position. Print end display means for displaying the end of printing after setting is provided.

  Since the end of printing is displayed after the ink nozzle is set at the retracted position in this way, the printer is removed from the printing surface before the ink nozzle is set at the retracted position, the ink nozzle is exposed, and the ink nozzle is damaged. Accidents can be prevented.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in a printer that prints the entire printing surface by ejecting ink from the ink nozzle while scanning the ink nozzle in a two-dimensional direction from the retracted position, installation on the printing surface is detected. By providing the ground detection means and the return means for returning the ink nozzle to the retracted position when the output change of the ground detection means occurs during printing, it is possible to prevent the ink nozzle during printing from being exposed to the outside and reliability. A high-quality printer can be realized.

In the present invention, measures are taken in the form of a mechanical mechanism, a drive control method, and a printer for the above-described problems in the paper separation printer,
In the first to sixth aspects, the printer is provided with an ink nozzle, an ink nozzle protection unit provided in the vicinity of the ink nozzle and retractable with respect to the ink nozzle, and a retracting drive unit for retracting the ink nozzle protection unit. The configuration is such that the ink nozzle protector is retracted by using the driving force of the scanning drive means that scans the ink nozzle along the print medium during printing, and the ink nozzle protector is retracted from the nozzle while the ink nozzle protector is retracted from the nozzle. Ink nozzle cleaning means for cleaning is provided.

  The ink nozzle protection part is an ink nozzle protection protrusion extending from the vicinity of the ink nozzle to the print medium side, and the ink nozzle protection protrusion has a substantially circular bank shape surrounding the outer periphery of the ink nozzle. When composed of ink nozzles on a plurality of lines arranged for each color, the ink nozzle protection projection has a bank shape that surrounds the outer periphery of each ink nozzle.

  With the above configuration, the reliability of the ink nozzle is improved.

In the printer which prints a printing surface by installing on a printing surface, the ink discharge is controlled by the output change of the ground detection means for detecting the installation on the printing surface and the ground detection device during printing. Discharge control means is provided in the printer, and the discharge control means prohibits ink discharge by changing the output of the ground detection means during printing. Further, after the ink discharge is prohibited, the discharge control means is ink based on the change in output of the ground detection means. The safety is improved by adopting a configuration in which the discharge is not resumed.

The ink ejection is controlled based on the output of the ink nozzle, the scanning drive unit that scans the ink nozzle along the print medium at the time of printing, and the ground detection unit that is scanned together with the ink nozzle by the scanning drive unit. The safety is improved by providing the ink control means in the printer and prohibiting ink discharge when the output of the ground detection means changes during printing.

The printer according to claim 12, wherein the ink nozzle is driven in the first direction having the first standby position and the second direction having the second standby position to perform printing on the fixed print medium. After storing in the first standby position, it is driven only in the second direction and stored in the second standby position, thereby improving the print quality.

A printer main body and a paper tray that is pivotally supported with respect to the printer main body and that is in a closed state and that faces the ink nozzles provided in the printer main body. Employs a printer shape that prints with a print medium in between, the paper tray is detachable from the printer body, and when the paper tray is mounted on the printer body, the print medium is between the paper tray and the printer body A first printing form that performs printing with the paper in between, and a second printing form that performs printing by placing the printer main body on a print medium when the paper tray is removed from the printer main body. It has state detection means for discharge control, and the ink discharge control mode by the state detection means is different between the first printing form and the second printing form. Specifically, the state detection unit detects the posture or vibration of the printer body, and prohibits ink ejection in accordance with a comparison between the output and a predetermined threshold value. The state detection unit detects the posture or vibration of the state detection unit. When the output exceeds the first level of the threshold, operability is improved by prohibiting ink ejection in at least the second printing form.

19. The printer according to claim 18, wherein the printer is installed on the printing surface and prints the entire printing surface by ejecting ink from the ink nozzle while scanning the ink nozzle in a two-dimensional direction from the retracted position. The ink discharge end detection means for detecting the end of ink discharge from the ink nozzle, the nozzle setting means for setting the ink nozzle to the retreat position based on the output of the ink discharge end detection means, and the ink nozzle at the retreat position. Print end display means for displaying the end of printing after setting is provided.

  Since the end of printing is displayed after the ink nozzle is set at the retracted position in this way, the printer is removed from the printing surface before the ink nozzle is set at the retracted position, the ink nozzle is exposed, and the ink nozzle is damaged. Accidents can be prevented.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in a printer that prints the entire printing surface by ejecting ink from the ink nozzle while scanning the ink nozzle in a two-dimensional direction from the retracted position, installation on the printing surface is detected. By providing the ground detection means and the return means for returning the ink nozzle to the retracted position when the output change of the ground detection means occurs during printing, it is possible to prevent the ink nozzle during printing from being exposed to the outside and reliability. A high-quality printer can be realized.

  Next, details of the present invention will be described in accordance with the description of the embodiments.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a paper separating printer of the present invention. The printer 1 is rotatable about a printer main body 11 and a hinge which will be described later with respect to the printer main body. It is configured.

  In FIG. 1, a window 12 provided in the printer main body 11 is formed of transparent acrylic so that a printing state of a sheet placed on the lower surface can be seen through the window.

  Reference numeral 14 denotes a main switch. The main switch 14 is operated to turn on the power of the printer main body 11 to prepare for printing.

  Reference numeral 15 denotes a display unit such as an LED that displays whether or not the printer main body 11 is in a power-on state, and displays power-on when it is lit, and displays battery consumption by blinking.

  Further, the display unit 15 is configured to display the end of printing by turning off.

  Further, when printing is finished, a print end display sound is generated by a sounding body (not shown), so that the user can easily understand the end of printing.

  Here, the end of printing means a state in which the nozzle is retracted to the retracted position after the ink ejection to the printing surface is completed.

  Reference numeral 16 denotes a nozzle cleaning operation button, which is operated when the print quality deteriorates due to continuous use of the nozzle or when the ink is replaced, and a certain amount of ink is forcibly discharged from the nozzle to clog the inside of the nozzle. Drain the ink and wipe the dirt around the nozzle.

  Reference numeral 17 denotes a display unit such as an LED that is turned on when ink replacement is necessary. When printing is stopped due to disturbance during printing, the display blinks and displays an error.

  Reference numeral 18 denotes a connection portion of a data communication cable such as a USB, which connects the digital camera and the printer main body 11 with a USB cable and transfers an image.

Although not connected to the digital camera in Fig. 1, when performing actual printing ・ Connect the digital camera and the printer main body 11 with a cable ・ Turn on the main switch 14 of the printer main body ・ Turn on the main switch of the digital camera ・ Turn on the digital camera Display the image you want to print on the display unit-Operate the digital camera print command-Print-Check the end of printing with the display unit 15 and pronunciation-Turn off the main switch of the digital camera-Turn off the main switch of the printer 11-Disconnect the cable Print using the operating procedure.

  Instead of connecting to a digital camera with a USB cable or the like, a slot for inserting a recording medium such as a compact flash (registered trademark) or smart media may be provided in the printer main body 11 to perform printing without a cable.

  FIG. 2 shows a state in which the paper tray 13 is opened with respect to the printer main body 11, and is a view in which the printer main body 11 is flipped up around the hinge 19.

  In FIG. 2, the printer head 110 can be seen from the back side of the printer main body 11.

  The printer head 110 is provided with an ink tank 110a, an ink nozzle drive circuit 110b, an ink nozzle 110c (both not shown in FIG. 2), and an ink nozzle protection unit 111.

  The printer head 110 is supported by a guide shaft 112, and further provided with a detent shaft 113 that suppresses rotation of the printer head around the guide shaft 112.

  The printer head is scanned in the direction of the arrow 115 by rotating the lead screw shaft 114 engaged with the printer head 110 with a nut by a main scanning motor (not shown).

  In addition, in the figure, a mechanism for sub-scanning the guide shaft 112, the detent shaft 113, and the lead screw shaft 114 in the direction of the arrow 116 is provided, although it is hidden behind the printer main body 11. 116 is scanned in two directions, and printing is performed on paper by controlling ink ejection from the nozzles according to the scanning amount.

  In FIG. 2, the printer head 110 is arranged so that it can be seen on the back side of the printer main body 1 for the sake of explanation. However, when the printer main body 11 is actually flipped up as shown in FIG. It is located at the initial position inside the printer body 1.

  Therefore, the printer head 110 is not exposed as shown in FIG.

  Paper guides 118 and 119 are provided in the paper tray 13, and printing is performed at an appropriate position of the paper by placing the print paper 117 in accordance with the paper guide.

  Here, the paper guide 118 is a guide for printing on, for example, card-size paper, and the paper guide 119 is a guide for printing on L-size paper.

  When printing on card-size paper or printing on L-size paper, the actual printing area does not change, and the printing size of the paper separation printer of the present invention is the card size.

  However, the feature of the paper separation printer of the present invention is that the size of the paper does not matter. When L-size paper is used, the printing range is the card size, but it can be used for entering a comment in the margin.

  In addition, when using a postcard size paper, an address or the like can be entered in the margin.

  Further, if the paper guides 118 and 119 are ignored, printing can be performed on any part of the paper.

  FIG. 3 is a side view of the printer main body 11, and the paper tray 13, the printing paper 117, and the connection unit 18 can be seen.

  In FIG. 3, the hinge 19 of the paper tray 13 is engaged with the support shaft 123 provided at the end of the printer main body 11.

  FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the hinge. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the hinge 19 can be rotated around the support shaft 123, and when the paper tray 13 is slightly rotated with respect to the printer main body 11 and pulled slightly, the hinge 19 The paper tray 13 can be separated from the printer main body 11 with a weak force.

  Here, reference numeral 141 denotes a tray attachment / detachment switch. When the paper tray is attached to the printer main body 11 (the state shown in FIG. 4), the tray attachment / detachment switch 141 is turned on by the thickness of the hinge 19, and the paper tray 13 is removed from the printer main body 11. When removed, the tray attachment / detachment switch 141 is turned off.

  The role of the tray attaching / detaching switch 141 will be described later.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram of the printer main body 11 with the paper tray 13 separated, and is a diagram for explaining that printing is possible even in this state.

  In FIG. 5, the printer main body 11 performs printing on the printing paper 120 on the printing paper 120, and the order will be described below.

  1. A position where the printing paper 120 is desired to be printed is found through the window 12, and the printer main body 11 is set on the printing paper 120 by aligning with the position.

2. Printing 3. Confirm the end of printing by displaying the end of printing (lamp and sound). The printer main body 11 is separated from the printing paper 120. (State of FIG. 5)
The print 121 is completed by the above operation.

  The print 121 can be printed only up to the card size as described above.

  However, since the printer main body 11 can be installed at an arbitrary position on the printing paper 120 as described above, it is possible to repeat the card-size printing and create the connecting pictures (prints 121a, 121b, 121c) as shown in FIG. 6, which is powerful. Printing is realized.

  As described above, the printer according to the present invention can take the first printing form in which the paper is placed on the paper tray 13 and the second printing form in which the printer is placed directly on the printing paper.

FIG. 7 is a plan view and a side view of the printer main body 11 as viewed from the printing surface side.
FIG. 7 shows the printer 1 in a standby state, and the ink head 110 is located at the retracted position.

  The ink head 110 is provided with a nozzle base 110d having three color nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c.

  These ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c are provided with, for example, 256 nozzles for each color (cyan, magenta, and yellow) of the ink tanks 142a, 142b, and 142c. Print the desired color with darkness.

  The nozzle base 110d is normally protected by the ink nozzle protection part 111, but in FIG. 7, the nozzle protection part 111 is detached from the ink nozzle base 110d.

  The ink nozzle protection unit 111 is normally positioned on the ink nozzle base 110d because it is biased in the direction of the arrow 111b by the protection springs 144a and 144b with respect to the ink nozzle base 110d. When 110 is in the retracted position, the ink nozzle protection unit 111 moves against the protection springs 144a and 144b so that the ink nozzle base 110d is exposed.

  Therefore, the ink nozzle base 110d is exposed when the ink head 110 is in the retracted position as shown in FIG.

  When the ink head is not in the retracted position (during printing), the ink nozzle protection unit 111 is positioned on the ink nozzle base by the protection springs 144a and 144b (not shown in FIG. 8) as shown in FIG. The nozzles 111c1, 111c2, and 111c3 are protected.

  Here, the relationship between the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c and the ink nozzle protection unit 110d will be described.

  As can be seen from the cross-sections AA and BB, the ink nozzle protection unit 111 is a protrusion extending from the ink nozzle base 110d toward the printing paper, and each color (cyan, magenta, yellow) of the ink tanks 142a, 142b, 142c. ) Is a bank that circulates substantially around the outer periphery of each of the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c.

  In this way, when the bank structure that surrounds the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c, the opening area of the ink nozzle becomes narrow. For example, even if you try to touch the ink nozzle with a finger, the bank is blocked by the bank. Does not reach the place where it contacts the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 9, when the ink nozzle protection unit 111 is a bank that surrounds the entire three ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c, finger nails or the like enter the opening to damage the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c. Although there is a fear, if a revolving bank is formed for each of the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c as shown in FIG. 8, the accident of nozzle breakage is reduced.

  At the time of printing, as shown in FIG. 10, while the ink head 115 is scanned in the direction of the arrow 115 (main scanning), the ink nozzle ejects a predetermined amount of ink toward the printing paper 120. When dust adheres to the printing paper 120, the nozzle protection unit 111 splashes away and protects the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c.

  After the ink head is scanned in the direction of the arrow 115 to perform printing, the ink head returns along the same path and moves to the next printing area.

  Therefore, when the ink head 110 is driven in the direction opposite to the arrow 115, the dust has already been skipped.

  Therefore, when scanning in this direction, the ink nozzle protection unit 111 does not lose the urging force of the protection springs 144a and 144b from the ink nozzle base 110d due to dust.

  There may be a case where the dust protection unit 111 cannot jump the dust 120a even if the dust 120a is strongly attached to the printing paper 120 and the ink head 110 is scanned in the direction of the arrow 115.

  When such a large load is applied, the nozzle is damaged by detecting this by the load of the motor that scans the ink head 110 (current change or the output waveform of the encoder pulse for scanning detection) and stopping printing. To prevent.

  Returning to FIG. 7, the printer head 110 is supported by the guide shaft 112, and further provided with a detent shaft 113 for suppressing the rotation of the printer head around the guide shaft 112.

Furthermore, a lead screw shaft 114 is engaged with the printer head 110 with a nut, and the guide shaft 112, the rotation preventing shaft 113, and the lead screw shaft 114 are supported by the main scanning base plate 125 at both ends thereof. (Hidden by the ink head and one is not visible)
The printer head 110 is scanned in the direction of the arrow 115 by rotating the lead screw shaft 114 by the main scanning motor 126 attached to the main plate 125.

  Here, the main scanning motor 126 is a step motor, and its rotation angle corresponds to the drive input step. By transmitting the rotation to the lead screw shaft 114, the ink head 110 is driven in the direction of the arrow 115.

  Therefore, an appropriate image can be obtained by controlling whether or not ink is ejected from each of the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c of the ink head 110 according to the driving step of the main scanning motor 126.

The guide shaft 112, the detent shaft 113, and the lead screw shaft 1114 are supported by the main scanning base plate 125 at both ends thereof. (Hidden by the ink head and one is not visible)
The main scanning base plate 125 is supported by the sub guide shaft 123, and further provided with a detent shaft 124 that suppresses the rotation of the base plate 125 around the guide shaft 123.

Then, the lead screw shaft 122 meshed with the base plate 125 by the nut is rotated by the sub-scanning motor 127 attached to the printer main body 11 so that the base plate 125 is scanned in the direction of the arrow 116. (Sub scan)
The sub-scanning driving members (base plate 125, main scanning motor 126, guide shaft 112, detent shaft 113, lead screw shaft 114, printer head 110) are heavier than the main scanning driving members (printer head 110), but main scanning is performed. Since the speed is not required in the direction, the sub-scanning motor 127 may be a motor that generates the same level of torque as the main scanning motor.

  In this way, the ink head 110 performs printing on the printing paper 120 by ejecting ink from the ink nozzles while scanning in the two-dimensional direction of the main scanning 115 and the sub-scanning 116.

  In FIG. 7, the ink head 142 as a line drawing is the position of the ink head 110 when the ink nozzles 143 a, 143 b, and 143 c are retracted from the area of the printing paper 120 after the two-dimensional scanning is finished.

  After printing, the ink head 110 returns from this position to the initial sub-scanning position, and then returns to the main scanning initial position (the position of the ink head 110 in FIG. 7).

  Reference numeral 128 denotes a mounting unit and a power storage unit for controlling the printer 1.

  The mounting unit 128 is provided with a posture sensor 140.

  The posture sensor 140 detects the posture of the printer main body 11 based on a known pendulum weight or ball rolling position. In the case where the printer main body 11 is directly placed on the printing paper 120 as shown in FIG. If the printer main body 11 is not close to the horizontal state, the printer main body 11 is displaced from the printing paper 120 due to vibration during printing or a change in the center of gravity, and good printing cannot be performed.

  Therefore, in the case of the second printing mode, printing is prohibited or interrupted when it is detected that the printer body 11 is not horizontal.

  FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of the ink head 110 in the retracted position.

  Here, in order to position the ink head 110 at the retracted position, the sub-scan motor 127 is driven from the position of the ink head 142 in FIG. 7 to position the ink head 110 at the sub-scan initial position, and then the main scan motor 126 is moved. The ink head is driven to move to the retracted position shown in FIGS.

  At this time, the ink head is driven from the direction of the arrow 130, but the ink nozzle protector 111 hits the end 11 a of the printer main body 11, thereby preventing the ink head 110 from moving.

However, since the ink head 110 is connected to the ink nozzle protection unit 111 by the protection springs 144a and 144b, the ink head 110 is positioned at the retracted position against the urging force of the protection springs 144a and 144b. (The ink nozzle protection unit 111 can be kept)
The ink nozzles are wiped by a cleaner 129 made of silicon rubber or the like in the middle of being positioned at the retracted position from the direction of the arrow 130, so that the ink attached around the ink nozzles is removed.

  The ink nozzle 110 of the ink head 110 located at the retracted position is protected by the cap 130.

  The cap 130 includes a receiving tank 130a, an ink absorber 130c provided in the receiving tank 130a, and an O-ring 130b for connecting the ink nozzle base 110d and the receiving tank 130a without any gap. The cap 130 is formed by the ink head 110. When the retracted position in FIG. 11 is reached, it is pressed against the ink nozzle base 110d by a leaf spring (not shown).

  The cap is small in the cross section of FIG. 11 and has a small ink receiving volume.

  Here, the receiving tank 130a was discharged from all the nozzles for the purpose of preventing the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c from directly contacting outside air and drying, and for the purpose of stabilizing the printing at the start of printing or at intervals during printing. Serves to receive ink.

Also in the conventional invention, there is a disclosure in which a bank 17 for protection is attached to the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c as disclosed in JP-A-9-48121 shown in FIG.
The bank is extremely small compared to the ink nozzle protection unit 111 of the present invention, and the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c are easily soiled when the user touches the nozzle with a finger. .

  Further, in this conventional example, since the bank does not go around the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c, it is impossible to prevent a thin and long foreign object like the above-described nails.

  The bank 17 is fixed to the ink nozzle base 57.

  Therefore, the ink adhering around the nozzle cannot be removed by the cleaner 129 or the like.

In the cross-sectional view of FIG. 11, reference numeral 110 e denotes an optical sensor that is a paper sensor, which includes a light projecting unit and a light receiving unit, and detects reflected light of light projected toward the printing paper 120 through the protective glass 110 f. (Plan view in FIG. 9)
This paper sensor 110e detects the presence or absence of printing paper, and when there is printing paper, detects its reflection (printing paper is white) and gives permission to eject ink.

  If there is a change in the paper sensor 110e, it is determined that the printing paper has been removed, and ink ejection is prohibited.

  Also in the conventional example, as in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-11919 shown in FIG. 33, an optical sensor 510 is provided in the ink head 511 to detect the outer shape of the printing paper 512 prior to the start of printing, and thereafter, the outer shape does not protrude. There is disclosure to print.

  In the present invention, since the printing range is determined in advance, the print outline is not detected prior to printing, and the presence / absence of paper before printing and during printing is performed.

  Here, the paper sensor 110e is mounted on the ink head 110 for the purpose of preventing mischief.

  If the paper sensor 110e is mounted on the ink head 110, when printing is not performed, the ink head 110 is in the retracted position as shown in FIG. 7, so that the paper sensor cannot be touched from the outside.

  For this reason, for example, a reflective white paper or the like is pasted on the upper surface of the paper sensor, and the print presence / absence detection function cannot be always used.

  Further, if the battery is removed during printing, the ink head 110 remains exposed to the printing range, and at that time, a white paper or the like reflected on the protective glass on the upper surface of the paper sensor 110e can be pasted.

  However, when the battery is inserted again in this state, the ink head 110 returns to the retracted position.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 11, the ink nozzle protection unit 111 peels off the paper pasted to be positioned on the upper surface of the protective glass 110f.

  Alternatively, when the paper is firmly attached, the ink head 110 stops due to an overload detection before returning to the retracted position, and the printing cannot be performed.

  In this way, by providing a sensor for the presence / absence of paper in the ink head, the printer is resistant to disturbance.

  12 is a block diagram of the mounting unit 128 in FIG.

  Reference numeral 131 denotes an interface such as a USB that inputs a camera signal to the printer via the connection unit 18 and controls the stop of signal transmission to the camera.

  132a is an image processing unit (including a binarization processing unit that binarizes an image), 132b is a second memory used for image processing, 134a is a band memory control unit, 134c is a band memory, and 134b is a mask. A memory, 135 is a head controller, 110 is an ink head, and 136 is a remaining ink sensor.

  133 is a CPU for controlling the printer, 126a is a main scanning motor driver, 126 is a main scanning step motor, 137 is a main scanning end switch, 127a is a sub scanning motor driver, 127 is a sub scanning step motor, 138 is a sub operation end switch, 110e is a paper sensor, and 139 is a power supply unit of the printer.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of signal processing. An image signal input from the camera via the interface 131 is sent to the image processing unit 132a, where image data is converted into an RGB signal 132c, and input γ correction 132d according to the characteristics of the camera. Then, color correction and color conversion using a look-up table (LUT) 132e, and conversion into a binary signal for printing are performed. (132f)
In the binarized signal processing, the second memory 132b is used as the error memory 132h in order to perform error diffusion processing (ED) 132g.

  In the case of this example, the binarization processing in the image processing unit 132a performs error diffusion processing, but other processing such as binarization processing using dither pattern processing can also be performed.

  The binarized print data is temporarily stored in the band memory 134c of the band memory control unit 134a. Since the movement amount of the main scan of the ink head 110 corresponds to the drive pulse of the step motor 126, when the main scan drive is controlled, the position in the main scan direction is accurately recognized by the CPU 133.

  Therefore, print data is read from the band memory 134c and the mask memory 134b corresponding to the current position of the ink head 110 recognized by the CPU 133, and the head controller 135 controls the ink head 110 based on the print data. Print.

  The band memory control 134a in FIG. 13 will be described.

  A plurality of ink nozzles (256 nozzles formed in each of 143a, 143b, and 143c) in the ink head 110 are formed in a row so as to have a density of, for example, 600 dpi. When the ink head 110 is subjected to main scanning once to print an image using such an ink head 110, the recording data for the number of nozzles in the sub-scanning direction and the recording area in the main scanning direction (for one main scanning). Recording data) must be created in advance.

  The recording data is created by the image processing unit 132a and then temporarily stored in the band memory control unit 134a. After the recording data for one scan is stored in the band memory 134c, the ink head 110 is scanned in the main scanning direction.

  At this time, since the current position of the ink head 110 is recognized by the CPU 133, the recording data is read from the band memory 134c according to the recognition data, and ink droplets are ejected from the ink head 110 based on the recording data.

  When a bidirectional recording method is used in which printing is performed for both the forward and backward passes of the main scanning of the ink head 110, the recording data is read from the band memory 134c according to the scanning direction of the ink head 110.

  For example, the address of the recording data read from the band memory 134c is sequentially incremented in the forward path, and the address of the recording data read from the band memory 134c is sequentially decremented in the backward path.

  Actually, when the image data (C, M, Y) created by the image processing unit 132a is written in the band memory 134c and image data for one band is prepared, the ink head 110 can be scanned.

  The ink head 110 is scanned, image data is read from the band memory 134c, and the ink head 110 prints an image based on the image data. Image data to be recorded next during the printing operation is created by the image processing unit 132a, and the image data is written in an area of the band memory 134c corresponding to the print position.

  As described above, the band memory control 134 a records the recording data (C, M, Y) in accordance with the operation of writing the recording data (C, M, Y) created by the image processing unit 132 a into the band memory 134 c and the scanning operation of the ink head 110. Y) is performed while switching the reading operation for sending to the head control unit 135.

  The mask memory control 134d in FIG. 13 will be described.

  This mask memory control 134d is necessary when the multi-pass printing method is adopted.

  In the case of the multi-pass printing method, the print for one line having a width corresponding to the nozzle row length of the ink head 110 is recorded by being divided into a plurality of scans of the ink head 110.

  That is, the transport amount in the sub-scanning direction of the ink head 110 that is intermittently transported in the sub-scanning direction is 1 / N of the length of the nozzle row. For example, when N = 2, recording for one row is performed twice. Printing is divided into main scans (two-pass recording), and when N = 4, one line of recording is divided into four main scans and printed (four-pass recording). Similarly, when N = 8, 8-pass printing is performed, and when N = 16, 16-pass printing is performed.

  Therefore, the recorded image for one line is completed by scanning the ink head 110 a plurality of times.

  Actually, mask data for assigning image data to a plurality of scans of the ink head 110 is stored in the mask memory 134c, and the ink head 110 performs ink based on the logical product (AND) data of the image data and the mask data. To print.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a part representing the features of the present invention for the print control operation as described above.

  The flow in FIG. 14 mainly shows the relationship between the main scanning, sub-scanning, and ink ejection control of the ink head 110, and is not directly related to the operation (for example, battery remaining amount check, warning operation, image data). Read-out operation) is omitted.

  The flow of FIG. 14 starts when the user starts printing by operating the operating means of the printer or the operating means of the camera connected to the printer.

  In step # 1001, each ink nozzle 143a, 143b, 143c is caused to perform a suction operation.

  In the suction operation, the inside of the receiving tank 130a of the cap 130 is set to a negative pressure so that the ink in the ink head 110 is easily ejected from the nozzles. In this state, the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c are simultaneously controlled to perform ink ejection. This is a recovery operation that recovers the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c that have been dried and clogged.

  In step # 1002, main scanning driving of the ink head 110 is started.

  As a result, the ink head starts to be driven in the direction of the arrow 115a from the initial position shown in FIG.

  However, at this time, it is necessary to confirm whether the retracted position that has been on standby until now is an accurate position. Therefore, the accurate retraction position of the ink head 110 is obtained using the main scanning end switch 137 after step # 1003.

  The main scanning end switch 137 is a switch constituted by, for example, a leaf switch which is turned off when the ink head 110 is at the position of FIG.

  In step # 1003, the ink head 110 is driven until the main scanning end switch 137 is turned on.

  The time when the main scanning end switch 137 is turned on is set as the initial position of the ink head 110.

  Here, when the main scanning end switch 137 is already on at the time of step # 1002, the ink head 110 is driven in the direction of the arrow 115b in FIG. 7 until the main scanning end switch 137 is turned off. Then, the ink head 110 is driven in the direction of the arrow 115a in FIG.

  In step # 1004, since the main scanning end switch 137 is turned on, this position is set as the retracted position, the count of the driving step of the step motor as the main scanning motor 126 is reset, and recounting is started from this position.

  Thus, the pulses of the main scanning motor 126 counted thereafter correspond to the main scanning position from the retracted position (the main scanning end switch 137 is on).

  In step # 1005, the process waits until the main scanning motor 126 is driven for a predetermined number of pulses, and when it is driven for a predetermined number of pulses, the process proceeds to step # 1006.

  This is an operation of moving the ink head 110 from the position of FIG. 7 to the position of FIG. 15. By this operation, the ink nozzle protection unit 111 is positioned on the ink nozzle base 110d by the urging force of the protection springs 144a and 144b. 143a, 143b and 143c are protected.

(Up to now, the ink nozzle protection unit 111 has been retracted from the ink nozzle base 110d against the protection springs 144a and 144b by the end 11a of the printer body 11).
In step # 1006, the main scanning drive of the ink head 110 is temporarily stopped.

  In step # 1007, the sub-scan driving of the ink head 110 is started.

  As a result, the ink head 110 starts to be driven in the direction of the arrow 116a from the position shown in FIG.

  However, at this time, it is necessary to confirm whether the initial position in the sub-scanning direction that has been waiting until now is an accurate position. Therefore, the accurate initial sub-scanning position of the ink head 110 is obtained by using the sub-scanning end switch 138 after step # 1008.

  The sub-scanning end switch 138 is a switch composed of, for example, a leaf switch that is turned off when the ink head 110 is in the sub-scanning position of FIG. 7 or FIG. 15 and is turned on when in the other main scanning region. is there.

  In step # 1008, the ink head 110 is driven until the sub-scanning end switch 138 is turned on.

  The time when the sub-scanning end switch 138 is turned on is set as the sub-scanning initial position of the ink head 110.

  If the sub-scanning end switch 138 is already turned on at the time of step # 1007, the ink head 110 is driven in the direction of the arrow 116b in FIG. 15 until the sub-scanning end switch 138 is turned off, and the sub-scanning end switch 138 is driven. Then, the ink head 110 is driven in the direction of arrow 116a in FIG.

  In step # 1009, since the sub-scanning end switch 138 is turned on, this position is set as the sub-scanning initial position, the count of the driving step of the step motor which is the sub-scanning motor 127 is reset, and re-counting is started from this position.

  As a result, the pulses of the sub-scanning motor 127 counted thereafter correspond to the main scanning position accurately from the retracted position (the main scanning end switch 137 is on).

  In step # 1010, the process waits until the sub-scanning motor 127 is driven for a predetermined number of pulses, and when the predetermined number of pulses are driven, the process proceeds to step # 1011.

  In step # 1011, the sub-scanning motor 127 is stopped.

  The position of the ink head 110 at this time is the position shown in FIG. 16, and this position is the print start end position where printing starts.

  Step # 1012 is a subroutine for detecting the presence or absence of printing paper and determining whether or not to start ink ejection thereafter.

  Here, the subroutine will be described first.

  In step # 1033, the output of the paper sensor 110e mounted on the ink head 110 is observed.

  As described above, the paper sensor 110e detects the reflection of the light projected on the paper surface, and determines that the paper is installed when sufficient reflection is obtained.

  Here, the surface of the paper tray 13 facing the scanning of the ink head 110 has a shape (irregularity) or a color (black, etc.) that hardly reflects light. By setting a white paper, light is emitted from the paper sensor. It is configured to reflect.

  For this reason, in the case of black paper, it is not possible to check whether the paper is present or not, but it is not preferable to print on black paper because the ink does not color, so printing is not executed. Must not.

  If the sheet can be confirmed, the process proceeds to step # 1034. If the sheet cannot be confirmed, the process proceeds to step # 1037.

  The flow after step # 1037 is a flow in which it is determined that ink ejection is not preferable, the ink head 110 is stored in the retracted position, an error is displayed, and the printer main body 11 is turned off.

  In step # 1034, the output of the tray attaching / detaching switch 141 is observed, the first printing mode using the paper tray 13 or the paper tray 13 is removed, and the printer main body 11 is directly placed on the printing paper 120 for printing. Determine one of the forms.

  In the case of the first printing form, the process proceeds to step # 1035 and returns.

  In the case of the second printing form, the process proceeds to step # 1036.

  In step # 1036, the output of the attitude sensor 140 is observed to determine whether or not the printer main body 11 is in the horizontal state. If the printer body 11 is in the horizontal state, the process proceeds to step # 1035 and returns. Proceed to 1037.

  In other words, in the case of the second printing mode, the posture sensor 140 detects the posture of the printer main body 11 and permits ink ejection only when the paper 120 is provided and the printer main body 11 is in the horizontal state. Yes.

  In the case of the second printing mode in which the printer main body 11 is directly placed on the printing paper 120 as described above for printing, if the printer main body 11 is not close to a horizontal state, the printer main body 11 is caused by vibration during printing or a change in the center of gravity. This is because the printing paper 120 is displaced from the printing paper 120 and good printing cannot be performed.

  Returning to step # 1013, ink is ejected in step # 1013.

  This is because when the ink head 110 is scanned in the main scanning direction, the CPU 133 recognizes the current position of the ink head 110 one by one, so that the recording data is read from the band memory 134c according to the recognition data, and the recording data is stored in the recording data. Based on this, the ink droplets are ejected from the ink head 110.

  In this step, the process waits until ink ejection is completed.

  In step # 1014, the main scanning motor 126 is driven, the ink head 110 is driven in the direction of the arrow 115a, and the apparatus waits until the ink head 110 travels a predetermined pulse of the main scanning motor 126.

  As a result, the ink head 110 moves to the next printing place on the paper.

  Step # 1016 is a subroutine for detecting the presence / absence of a sheet as in step # 1012. If the printable state is reached, the process proceeds to step # 1017.

  Step # 1017 is the same as step # 10013, and print data is read from the band memory 134c based on the position in the main scanning direction of the new ink head 110 recognized by the CPU 133, and ink is printed based on the print data. Ink droplets are ejected from the head 110.

  And it waits until ink discharge is complete | finished.

  In step # 1018, it is determined whether or not the ink head 110 has traveled by a preset pulse. If the ink head 110 has traveled, the process proceeds to step # 1019. Otherwise, the process returns to step # 1014.

  This is an operation for advancing printing in all regions in the main scanning direction by repeating the operations from step 1014 to step # 1017 to eject ink to a desired position. The position of the ink head 110 shown in FIG. (Position where the ink head 110 has traveled by a preset pulse) is reached, printing in this band (all areas in the main scanning direction at this sub-scanning position) is completed, and the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c If it is determined that the print head 120 has come out of the print sheet 120 and has reached the position within the printer main body 11, the process proceeds to step # 1019, the ink head 110 is returned to the original position, and the next band (main scanning full print at the next sub-scanning position) The ink head 110 is moved to (region).

  In step # 1019 and subsequent steps, the ink head 110 is sub-scanned at a predetermined pitch to perform the next print.

  In step # 1019, it is first determined whether or not the ink head 110 has been driven to the set pulse in the sub-scanning direction.

  Here, the set pulse is a step driving pulse of the sub-scanning motor 127 necessary for completing the sub-scanning driving in the sub-scanning direction and completing the sub-scanning of all bands (printing of all the bands is completed).

  If the setting pulse drive is completed in the sub-scanning direction, it is determined that all printing is completed, and the process proceeds to step # 1020. If the sub-scan driving is not completed up to the setting pulse, there is an unprinted area. Determination is made and the process proceeds to step # 1028.

  In step # 1028, in order to return the ink head 110 at the position of FIG. 17 to the position of the ink head 110 of FIG. 16 (head printing start position of the main scanning method), the ink head 110 is reversely driven in the main scanning direction (in the direction of the arrow 115b). )

  Here, the “head printing start position of the main scanning method” is the position of the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c facing the left end of the paper at each sub-scanning position (each band).

  In step # 1029, the process waits until the ink head 110 returns to the print start end position.

  The start end position is detected by decrementing the set pulse in the main scanning direction described above.

  Step # 1030 stops driving in the main scanning direction.

  In step # 1031, sub-scanning driving is started.

In step # 1032, the process waits until a predetermined pulse is driven in the sub-scanning direction. When the predetermined pulse is driven, the process returns to step # 1011 to stop the sub-scan driving. (State of FIG. 18)
In this manner, the entire area of the paper is printed by circulating from step # 1011 to step # 1032.

  When the printing of all areas is completed, the process proceeds from step # 1019 to step # 10020 as described above.

  Step # 1020 and subsequent steps are the organizing operation after printing is completed.

  In step # 1020, the ink head 110 of FIG. 19 is reached.

  In the circulation of the flow from step # 1011 to step # 1032, the ink head 110 was returned to the head start position in the main scanning direction at this time. However, in step # 1020, this operation is not performed, and the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c are shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 19, the sub-scan return operation is started in the state where it is stored in the printer main body 11 (the position not covered with the paper surface and covered with the exterior member of the printer main body 11).

  This is because, when the sub-scanning is resumed with the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c exposed to the paper surface, the printed bent paper and the dirty ink nozzle protection unit 111 come into contact with each other and deteriorate the printing surface. In order to prevent this, the ink nozzle protection unit 111 performs the sub-scan return operation so as not to face the printing paper surface 120.

  That is, the sub scanning motor 127 is rotated in the reverse direction to return the ink head to the sub scanning initial position.

In step # 1021, the process waits until the sub-scanning end switch 138 is turned off.
In step # 1022, it is determined that the ink head 110 has returned to the initial sub-scanning position, and the driving of the sub-scanning motor 127 is stopped. (Position of FIG. 20)
In step # 1023, in order to return the ink head 110 at the position of FIG. 20 to the position (retracted position) of the ink head 110 of FIG. 7, the ink head 110 is reversely driven in the main scanning direction (the direction of the arrow 115b).

  Also in this case, as shown in FIG. 20, the ink nozzle protection unit 111 performs the retreat operation without facing the printing paper 120, so that the ink nozzle protection unit 111 comes into contact with the printing surface and stains the printing paper 120. Is preventing.

  In step # 1024, the ink head 110 stands by until the main scanning end switch 137 is turned off.

  At the final stage of the operation of returning the ink head 110 from the position shown in FIG. 20 to the position shown in FIG. 7, the end 11a of the printer main body 11 comes into contact with the ink nozzle protection part 111, which becomes the driving resistance of the ink head 110. Ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c of ink nozzle base 110d are exposed from ink nozzle protection unit 111 by driving ink head 110 to the retracted position against the force of protective springs 144a and 144b.

  At the same time, the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c are attached around the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c by being wiped by a cleaner 129 formed of silicon rubber or the like while being positioned at the retracted position from the direction of the arrow 130 in FIG. The ink nozzles 143 a, 143 b, and 143 c of the ink head 110 that is removed from the ink and positioned at the retracted position are protected by the cap 130.

  In step # 1026, the completion of printing is displayed by sounding continuously for about 1 second.

  In step # 1027, the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c are caused to perform a suction operation to clean the inside of the nozzles after completion of printing.

  Then, the printer body is turned off, and this flow ends.

  If printing is prohibited in the subroutine of steps # 1012, 1016, the process proceeds to step # 1037 as described above.

  In Step # 1037, the ink head 110 is driven in the sub-scanning direction from the position of the ink head 110 determined in Steps # 1033 and 1036 to the printing prohibition to the initial position in the sub-scanning direction.

  When printing is completed normally, the ink head 110 is stored in the printer main body 11 in the main scanning direction and then sub-scanning is performed. However, when printing is prohibited, the ink head 110 is retracted to the retracted position as soon as possible. Therefore, the ink nozzle protection unit is returned to the initial sub-scanning position while facing the paper.

  In step # 1038, the process waits until the sub-scanning end switch 138 is turned off.

  In step # 1039, it is determined that the ink head 110 has returned to the initial position of sub-scanning, and driving of the sub-scanning motor 127 is stopped.

  In step # 1040, the ink head 110 is reversely driven in the main scanning direction (in the direction of arrow 115b) in order to return the ink head 110 to the position (retracted position) of the ink head 110 in FIG.

  In step # 1041, the ink head 110 waits until the main scanning end switch 137 is turned off.

  Again, in the final stage of the operation of returning the ink head 110 to the position of FIG. 7, the end 11a of the printer main body 11 abuts against the ink nozzle protection unit 111 and thus serves as a driving resistance for the ink head 110. Ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c of ink nozzle base 110d are exposed from ink nozzle protector 111 by driving ink head 110 to the retracted position against the force of 144a and 144b.

  At the same time, the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c are attached around the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c by being wiped by a cleaner 129 formed of silicon rubber or the like in the middle of being positioned at the retracted position from the direction of the arrow 130 in FIG. The ink nozzles 143 a, 143 b, and 143 c of the ink head 110 that is removed from the ink and positioned at the retracted position are protected by the cap 130.

  In step # 1043, a 0.2 second sound is continuously generated for about 1.5 seconds at 0.2 second intervals to display a print error and the process proceeds to step # 1027.

  In step # 1027, the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c are caused to perform a suction operation to clean the inside of the nozzles after completion of printing.

  Then, the printer body is turned off, and this flow ends.

  As can be seen from this flow, when the output of the paper sensor 110e or the posture sensor 140 is abnormal, not only printing is stopped, but also the ink head 110 is stored in the retracted position and the power is turned off.

  Therefore, in order to resume printing, the user must perform an operation to turn on the printer main body 11 again.

  Although this is a troublesome operation, it is indispensable for safety.

  For example, ink discharge control (pause control) is performed such that ink discharge is temporarily stopped by the output of the paper sensor 110e or the posture sensor 140, and printing is resumed when the output of the paper sensor 110e or the posture sensor 140 indicates normal again. To do.

  At this time, for example, even when the paper 120 does not face the ink head 110, the output of the paper sensor 110e or the posture sensor 140 may indicate normality.

  This is because when the printer main body 11 is lifted during printing in the second printing mode and the ink discharge is temporarily stopped by the output of the paper sensor 110e or the attitude sensor 140, the printer main body 11 is further kept horizontal, 11 is a case where a strong light source is irradiated from the back surface of the lens 11.

  In such a case, the ink ejection is resumed by the pause control, and the surroundings are stained with ink.

  In the case of pause control, when ink ejection is prohibited, main scanning and sub-scanning mechanisms are not stored in the printer body 11 but are exposed.

  Therefore, since the printer main body 11 can be turned over in the paused state and these mechanisms can be touched, the reliability of these mechanisms becomes a problem.

  If the paper sensor 110e or the posture sensor 140 detects that the paper does not cover the printer main body 11 as in the present invention, the main scanning and sub-scanning mechanisms are stored, so that the reliability of the main scanning and the sub scanning becomes high. Although the power must be turned on again, it is difficult to turn on the main power while the printer main body 11 is held in the air while the printer main body 11 is gripped in the air, and ink discharge due to malfunction does not occur.

  As described above, the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c, the ink nozzle protection unit 111 provided in the vicinity of the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c and retractable with respect to the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c, and the ink nozzle protection unit 111 are provided. A retraction drive means (main scanning motor 126, etc.) for retraction is provided in the printer main body 11, and the retraction drive means (main scanning motor 126, etc.) moves the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c along the print medium (printing paper 120) during printing. The ink nozzle protection unit 111 is retracted using the driving force of the scanning drive means (main scanning motor 126, etc.) for scanning the ink nozzle, and the ink nozzle protection unit 111 is retracted from the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c. In this state, the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c Ink nozzle cleaning device (cleaner 129, cap 130) performing Ningu are provided.

  The ink nozzle protection portion 111 is an ink nozzle protection protrusion (such as FIG. 11) that extends from the vicinity of the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c to the print medium side (printing paper 120). The ink nozzle protection protrusion 111 is an ink nozzle. 143a, 143b, 143c has a substantially circular bank shape surrounding the outer periphery, and in particular, when the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c are composed of ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c on a plurality of lines arranged for each color. The ink nozzle protection protrusion has a bank shape that substantially circulates around the outer periphery of each ink nozzle 143a, 143b, 143c.

  In addition, in the printer main body 11 that prints the print surface by being placed on the print surface (on the print paper 120), the ground detection means (paper sensor 110e, attitude sensor 140) detects the placement on the print surface (print paper 120). ) And discharge control means (CPU 133, head control unit 135) for controlling ink discharge according to output changes of the ground detection means (paper sensor 110e, attitude sensor 140) during printing are provided in the printer main body 11, and the discharge control means (CPU 133). The head control unit 135) prohibits ink ejection by changing the output of the ground detection means during printing (paper sensor 110e, attitude sensor 140), and further, the ejection control means (CPU 133, head control unit 135) After the prohibition, the ink is based on the output change of the ground detection means (paper sensor 110e, attitude sensor 140). If not to resume construction of the output is improved safety.

  Also, the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c, scanning drive means (the main operation motor 126 and the sub operation motor 127) for scanning the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c along the print medium (printing paper 120) at the time of printing, and scanning Ink control means (CPU 133, head control) for controlling ink ejection based on the output of the ground detection means (paper sensor 110e) scanned together with the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c by the drive means (main operation motor 126 and sub operation motor 127) Section 135) is provided in the printer main body 11, and the safety is improved by prohibiting ink ejection when the output of the ground detection means (CPU 133, head control section 135) changes during printing.

  Here, “output change” indicates that ink discharge is prohibited once the output has changed, and ink discharge is not resumed by a subsequent change.

  The first standby position (the position where the ink head 110 finishes printing the band as shown in FIGS. 17 and 19 and is stored on the paper non-facing surface on the right side of the main surface of the printer main body 11). Ink nozzles in a second direction (sub-scan direction of arrow 116) having a direction (main scan direction of arrow 115) and a second standby position (initial position where the ink head 110 starts sub-scan as shown in FIG. 7) In a printer that prints on a print medium (printing paper 120) that is fixed by driving 143a, 143b, 143c, the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c are moved to the first standby position (as shown in FIGS. 17 and 19) at the end of printing. After the ink head 110 finishes printing the band and stores it in the right side of the main body of the printer main body 11, the ink head 110 stores the band in the second direction (arrow 11). Second standby position only by driving the sub-scanning direction) (ink head 110 as in FIG. 7 and the like are to improve and print quality in the manner accommodated in the initial position) to start the sub-scan.

  Further, the printer main body 11 and a shaft that is pivotally supported (hinge 19 and support shaft 123) so as to be rotatable with respect to the printer main body 11, and in a closed state, a sheet facing the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c provided in the printer main body 11. A tray 13 is used, and a printer shape is employed in which printing is performed with a printing medium (printing paper 120) sandwiched between the printer main body 11 and the paper tray 13, and the paper tray 13 is detachable from the printer main body 11. A first printing mode in which printing is performed with a printing medium (printing paper 120) sandwiched between the paper tray 13 and the printer body 11 when the paper tray 13 is mounted on the printer body 11, and the paper tray 13 is the printer body 11 When the printer is removed from the printer, the printer main body 11 is placed on the printing medium (printing paper 120) and the second printing mode for printing is selected. And a state detection unit (attitude sensor 140) for ink ejection control, and the ink ejection control mode by the state detection unit (attitude sensor 140) differs between the first printing form and the second printing form. Specifically, the state detecting means detects the posture of the printer body and prohibits ink ejection in accordance with a comparison between the output and a predetermined threshold value (whether it is horizontal). When the output of the posture detected by the detection means (posture sensor 140) exceeds the first level of the threshold value (when it is not horizontal), the operability is improved by prohibiting ink ejection in the second printing mode. I am letting.

  Further, the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c are installed on the printing surface (printing paper 120) and scanned from the retracted position (the position of the ink head 110 in FIG. 7) in two dimensions (main scanning direction and sub-scanning direction). In a printer that prints the entire printing surface (printing paper 120) (printing area determined by the printer body 11) by discharging ink from the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c, the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c are printed on the printing surface (printing paper). 120) Ink discharge end detection means (main scanning and sub-scanning drive pulses and CPU 133) for ending scanning of the entire region (printing area determined by the printer main body 11) and detecting the end of ink discharge from the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c. Output of the ink discharge end detection means (main scanning and sub-scanning driving pulses and CPU 133). Nozzle setting means (main scanning motor 126, sub-scanning motor 127, CPU 133) for setting the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c to the retracted position (the position of the ink head 110 in FIG. 7), and the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, Print end display means (sound generator and display unit 15) for displaying the end of printing after 143c is set to the retracted position (the position of the ink head 110 in FIG. 7).

  Since the printing end is displayed after the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c are set to the retracted positions (positions of the ink head 110 in FIG. 7) in this way, the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c are in the retracted positions (the ink in FIG. 7). Before setting to the position of the head 110, the printer main body 11 is removed from the printing surface (printing paper 120) to expose the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c, and the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c are damaged. It can be prevented beforehand.

  Further, the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c are installed on the printing surface (printing paper 120) and scanned in a two-dimensional direction (main scanning direction and sub-scanning direction) from the retracted position (position of the ink head 110 in FIG. 7). In the printer that prints the entire printing surface (printing paper 120) (printer area determined by the printer main body 11) by discharging ink from the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c, the installation on the printing surface (printing paper 120) is detected. The ink nozzles 143a, 143b, and 143c when the output change of the ground detection means (paper sensor 110e, attitude sensor 140) and the ground detection means (paper sensor 110e, attitude sensor 140) occurs during printing (see FIG. Return means (main scanning motor 126, sub-scanning motor 127) for returning to the position 7 ink head 110). The ink nozzles 143a during printing by providing the CPU133), 143b, 143c can be realized printer is high reliability prevents exposed to the outside.

  FIG. 21 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, which is different from the first embodiment in a paper presence / absence determination method.

  In the first embodiment, the paper sensor 110 e is an optical sensor provided on the ink head 110.

  In the second embodiment, the paper sensor is the contact switch 21, and the switch is pressed when it contacts the printing paper 120 to detect the presence or absence of the paper.

  The contact switch 21 is provided on the back surface of the printer main body 11 at a position near the printing surface of the printing paper, and a clearance hole 22 for the contact switch 21 is provided in the opposing paper tray 13.

  FIG. 22 is a side sectional view of the contact switch 21 and shows a state in which no printing paper is provided and the paper tray 13 is closed.

  At this time, the contact switch 21 is biased by the spring 23 and protrudes from the printer main body 11 and enters the escape hole 22 of the paper tray 13.

  In such a state, the switch is off and it is determined that no printing paper is set.

  When the printing paper is sandwiched between the printer main body 11 and the paper tray 13 as shown in FIG. 23, the contact switch 21 is pushed against the spring 23 by the end of the printing paper and the switch is turned on.

  Also, in the case of the second printing mode in which the paper tray 13 is removed, the contact switch 21 is pushed against the spring 23 and turned on as shown in FIG.

  In the first embodiment, the mounting unit 128 of the printer main body 11 is provided with the attitude sensor 140.

  However, in the second embodiment, a vibration detection sensor 24 such as an acceleration sensor is provided instead of the attitude sensor 140.

  The printer main body 11 is slightly shaken during printing by vibration of the main scanning and sub-scanning driving of the ink head 110.

  In the case of the first printing mode, the printing paper 120 is pressed by the paper tray 13, so the relationship between the paper and the printer head 110 does not shift.

  However, in the second printing mode, when the friction coefficient of the paper is small, or when the printer main body 11 is not installed horizontally, the printer main body 11 is printed by the vibration of the main scanning and sub scanning driving of the ink head 110. 120 may be shifted during printing.

  If such a thing occurs, good printing cannot be performed. Therefore, the vibration of the printer head 11 after the printing is started is detected, and if a large vibration occurs, the printing is stopped.

Here, the signal of the vibration detecting means 24 is used both in the case of the first printing form and in the case of the second printing form. (In the first embodiment, the signal of the posture sensor 140 is not used in the first printing mode.)
FIG. 25 shows a vibration detection waveform 25 of the vibration detection means. When the detection waveform exceeds the first threshold value 26, printing is prohibited only in the second printing mode, and the detection waveform is the second threshold value. If the number exceeds 27, printing is also prohibited in the first printing form and the second printing form.

  That is, in the first printing mode in which the printing paper 120 is sandwiched between the paper trays 13, even if the paper 120 is set, printing is prohibited if the vibration applied to the printer body 11 is large. .

  In the first printing mode, even when printing paper 120 is sandwiched between paper trays 13 and printing is carried while carrying printer main body 11, if a large vibration is applied, each part of printer main body 11 is distorted and the position of ink head 110 is shifted. This is because there is a risk of dropping the rank.

  Therefore, even in the first printing mode, printing is prohibited when the vibration of the printer main body 13 is large.

  FIG. 26 shows a flow for prohibiting printing, and the same steps as those in the first embodiment of FIG.

  FIG. 26 differs from FIG. 14 in the subroutine for determining whether or not a sheet exists in steps # 1012, 1016.

  In step # 2001, the output of the contact switch 21 provided in the printer main body 11 is observed.

  As described above, the contact switch 21 determines that the paper is set when the switch is turned on in both the first printing mode and the second printing mode.

  If the sheet can be confirmed, the process proceeds to step # 1034. If the sheet cannot be confirmed, the process proceeds to step # 1037.

  As described above, the flow after step # 1037 is a flow in which it is determined that ink ejection is not preferable, the ink head 110 is stored in the retracted position, an error is displayed, and the printer main body 11 is turned off.

  In step # 1034, the output of the tray attaching / detaching switch 141 is observed, the first printing mode using the paper tray 13 or the paper tray 13 is removed, and the printer main body 11 is directly placed on the printing paper 120 for printing. Determine one of the forms.

  In the case of the first printing mode, the process proceeds to step # 2002.

  In step # 2002, it is determined whether the output of the vibration detection sensor 24 is within the second threshold value, that is, whether a large blur is applied to the printer main body 11.

  When a large blur is applied, the process proceeds to step # 1037. When a large blur is not applied, the process returns to step # 1035 and returns to the main routine.

  In the case of the second printing mode, the process proceeds to step # 2003.

  In step # 2003, the output of the vibration detection sensor 24 is observed to determine whether the output is within the first threshold.

  If relatively large blurring is applied, the process proceeds to step # 1037. If not, the process returns to step # 1035 and returns to the main routine.

If the contact switch 21 is provided on the back surface of the printer main body 11 instead of the ink head 110 in this way, if printing is started while the switch is accidentally pressed, even if there is no paper in the second printing mode. Ink discharge seems to occur. (In the first embodiment, the paper sensor 110e is provided in the ink head 110 and moves around so that the switch does not easily malfunction artificially.)
However, in the second embodiment, the vibration detection sensor 24 is provided in place of the posture sensor 140, and when the user lifts the printer main body 11, the vibration is detected by the first threshold value in order to detect the camera shake. Will not start printing.

  If the contact switch 21 is provided in the printer main body 11 as in the second embodiment, there are advantages in the following points compared to the first embodiment.

  -The ink head 110 can be lightened and the driving load is reduced.

  -The communication line connected to the ink head 110 is reduced and the driving load is reduced.

  In both cases, the ink head 110 can be driven at a high speed, and the printing speed can be increased.

  As described above, in the second embodiment of the present invention, installation on the printing surface (printing paper 120) is detected in the printer main body 11 that prints the printing surface by installing on the printing surface (on the printing paper 120). Discharge control means (CPU 133, head control unit) for controlling ink discharge according to output changes of the ground detection means (contact switch 21, vibration detection sensor 24) and the ground detection means (contact switch 21, vibration detection sensor 24) during printing. 135) is provided in the printer main body 11, and the discharge control means (CPU 133, head control unit 135) prohibits ink discharge by changing the output of the ground detection means (contact switch 21, vibration detection sensor 24) during printing. Further, the ejection control means (CPU 133, head control unit 135) is the ground detection means (contact switch 21, vibration detection) after the ink ejection is prohibited. Capacitors 24) in the not resume constituting the ink discharge based on the output change thereby improving the safety.

  Further, the printer main body 11 and a shaft that is pivotally supported (hinge 19 and support shaft 123) so as to be rotatable with respect to the printer main body 11, and in a closed state, a sheet facing the ink nozzles 143a, 143b, 143c provided in the printer main body 11. A tray 13 is used, and a printer shape is employed in which printing is performed with a printing medium (printing paper 120) sandwiched between the printer main body 11 and the paper tray 13, and the paper tray 13 is detachable from the printer main body 11. A first printing mode in which printing is performed with a printing medium (printing paper 120) sandwiched between the paper tray 13 and the printer body 11 when the paper tray 13 is mounted on the printer body 11, and the paper tray 13 is the printer body 11 When the printer is removed from the printer, the printer main body 11 is placed on the printing medium (printing paper 120) and the second printing mode for printing is selected. And a state detection means (vibration detection sensor 24) for ink discharge control, and the ink discharge control mode by the state detection means (vibration detection sensor 24) is different between the first printing form and the second printing form. Specifically, the state detection means (vibration detection sensor 24) detects the vibration of the printer main body, and outputs the output and predetermined threshold values (first threshold value 26, second threshold value 27). When ink output is prohibited according to the comparison and the output of the posture detected by the state detection means (vibration detection sensor 24) exceeds the first threshold level (first threshold value 26). In the second printing mode, the operability is improved by prohibiting ink ejection.

  FIG. 27 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the second embodiment of FIG. 21 is that contact switches 21 are provided at four points surrounding the printing surface, and all the contact switches 21 are turned on. Otherwise, it is determined that the printing paper is not set.

  Therefore, in the second printing mode, when the printer main body 11 is in the air while holding down one contact switch by mistake, printing is not performed even if a print start command is issued from the camera, and an accident can be prevented.

  Further, characteristic points of the third embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 28 shows a flow for prohibiting printing, and the same steps as those in the first embodiment of FIG.

  28 differs from FIG. 14 in the subroutine for determining whether or not a sheet exists in steps # 1012, 1016.

  In step # 1034, the output of the tray attaching / detaching switch 141 is observed, the first printing mode using the paper tray 13 or the paper tray 13 is removed, and the printer main body 11 is directly placed on the printing paper 120 for printing. Determine one of the forms.

  In the case of the first printing form, the process proceeds to step # 1033, and in the case of the second printing form, the process proceeds to step # 2001.

  In step # 1033, the paper is discriminated by the paper sensor 110e provided in the ink head 110 as in the first embodiment.

  In the first embodiment, the contact switch 21 does not detect the sheet when printing is performed by setting the printing sheet at an arbitrary position not along the indexes 118 and 119 when the sheet is sandwiched between the sheet tray 13 in the first embodiment. In order to cope with such a case, the paper sensor 110e is used in the first printing form.

  If the paper can be detected, the process proceeds to step # 2002. If not, the process proceeds to step # 1037.

  In step # 2002, it is determined whether the output of the vibration detection sensor 24 is within the second threshold value, that is, whether a large blur is applied to the printer main body 11.

  If a large blur is applied, the process proceeds to step # 1037. If a large blur is not applied, the process returns to step # 1035 and returns to the main routine.

  In the case of the second printing mode, the process proceeds from step # 1034 to step # 2001, and the outputs of the four contact switches 21 provided on the printer main body 11 are observed.

  If all four contact switches 21 are on, it is determined that a sheet is set.

  Here, the reason why the output of the paper sensor 110e is not used will be described.

  As described above, the paper sensor 110e uses reflection of paper, and in the case of paper that does not reflect, printing is prohibited at that time.

  However, in the case of the second printing mode, it is left to the user what kind of printing paper is used for printing, and there are papers and patterns that do not reflect and papers with uneven reflection.

  Since it is inconvenient for the user to actually print on such a sheet to prohibit printing, in the case of the second printing mode, the presence or absence of the printing sheet is determined using the contact switch 21.

  If the sheet can be confirmed, the process proceeds to step # 2003. If the sheet cannot be confirmed, the process proceeds to step # 1037.

  In step # 2003, the output of the vibration detection sensor 24 is observed to determine whether the output is within the first threshold.

  If relatively large blurring is applied, the process proceeds to step # 1037. If not, the process returns to step # 1035 and returns to the main routine.

  As described above, in the third embodiment of the present invention, the installation on the printing surface (printing paper 120) is detected in the printer main body 11 that prints the printing surface by installing on the printing surface (on the printing paper 120). Discharge that controls ink discharge by output changes of the ground detection means (paper sensor 110e, contact switch 21, vibration detection sensor 24) and the ground detection means during printing (paper sensor 110e, contact switch 21, vibration detection sensor 24) Control means (CPU 133, head control unit 135) is provided in the printer main body 11, and the discharge control means (CPU 133, head control unit 135) changes the output of the ground detection means during printing (paper sensor 110e, contact switch 21, vibration detection sensor 24). ) To inhibit ink ejection, and the ejection control means (CPU 133, head controller 135) Ink ejection after prohibited ground detection means (paper sensor 110e, the contact switch 21, the vibration detecting sensor 24) in the not resume constituting the ink discharge based on the output change thereby improving the safety.

1 is a perspective view of a printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view of a printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention (first printing form). 1 is a side view of a printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a side enlarged view of a printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. First Embodiment Printer Perspective View of the Present Invention (Second Printing Form) First embodiment of the present invention Printer printing sample diagram 1 is a plan perspective view and a side perspective view of a printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. First embodiment of the present invention Ink head explanation enlarged view First embodiment of the present invention Ink head explanation enlarged view 1 is a cross-sectional view of an ink head according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an ink head according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram of a printer configuration according to a first embodiment of the present invention. First Embodiment of the Invention Printer Image Processing Block Diagram First Embodiment Printer Flowchart of the Present Invention First embodiment of the present invention printer flowchart explanatory diagram First embodiment of the present invention printer flowchart explanatory diagram First embodiment of the present invention printer flowchart explanatory diagram First embodiment of the present invention printer flowchart explanatory diagram First embodiment of the present invention printer flowchart explanatory diagram First embodiment of the present invention printer flowchart explanatory diagram Second Embodiment Printer perspective view of the present invention Side sectional view of a printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention Side sectional view of a printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention Side sectional view of a printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention Second Embodiment Printer Signal Waveform Diagram of the Present Invention Second Embodiment Printer Flowchart of the Present Invention Third embodiment of the printer perspective view of the present invention Third Embodiment Printer Flowchart of the Present Invention Explanatory drawing of conventional paper feed mechanism Conventional printer illustration Conventional printer illustration Conventional printer illustration Conventional printer illustration

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Printer 13 Paper tray 110 Ink head 110e Paper sensor 111 Nozzle protection part 140 Attitude sensor 141 Tray attachment / detachment switch 21 Contact switch 24 Vibration detection sensor

Claims (19)

An ink nozzle;
An ink nozzle protector provided in the vicinity of the ink nozzle and retractable with respect to the ink nozzle;
A printer having retract drive means for retracting the ink nozzle protection unit. The printer according to claim 1.
Scanning means for scanning the ink nozzles along the print medium during printing;
The retreat driving unit is a printer that retreats the ink nozzle protection unit using a driving force of a scanning drive unit. The printer according to claim 1.
A printer having ink nozzle cleaning means for cleaning ink nozzles in a state where the ink nozzle protection part is retracted from the nozzles. In the printer according to claim 1,
The printer, wherein the ink nozzle protection part is an ink nozzle protection protrusion extending from the vicinity of the ink nozzle to the print medium side. In the printer according to claim 4,
The ink nozzle protection protrusion is a printer that is a bank that wraps around the outer periphery of the ink nozzle. The printer according to claim 4.
The ink nozzle is composed of ink nozzles on a plurality of lines arranged for each color,
The ink nozzle protective protrusion is a printer that is a substantially circular bank surrounding the outer periphery of each ink nozzle. In the printer that prints the printing surface by installing it on the printing surface,
Grounding detection means for detecting installation on the printing surface;
A printer having discharge control means for controlling ink discharge according to a change in output of a ground detection means during printing. The printer according to claim 7.
The discharge control means is a printer that prohibits the ink discharge by a change in output of the ground detection means during printing. The printer according to claim 8, wherein
The printer in which the ejection control means does not resume ink ejection based on a change in output of the ground detection means after the ink ejection is prohibited. An ink nozzle;
Scanning drive means for scanning ink nozzles along the print medium during printing;
A printer having ink control means for controlling ink ejection based on an output of a ground detection means scanned together with ink nozzles by a scanning drive means. The printer according to claim 10.
A printer that prohibits ink ejection when the output of the ground detection means changes during printing. In a printer that prints on a fixed print medium by driving ink nozzles in a first direction having a first standby position and a second direction having a second standby position,
A printer that stores ink nozzles in a first standby position and then drives them only in the second direction and stores them in a second standby position at the end of printing. The printer itself,
It is pivotally supported with respect to the printer main body, and in the closed state, it is composed of a paper tray facing the ink nozzles provided in the printer main body,
A printer that prints with a print medium sandwiched between the printer body and a paper tray. The printer according to claim 13.
The paper tray is detachable from the printer body,
A first printing mode for performing printing with a print medium sandwiched between the paper tray and the printer body when the paper tray is mounted on the printer body;
A printer capable of selecting a second printing mode in which printing is performed by installing the printer main body on a print medium when the paper tray is detached from the printer main body. The printer according to claim 14.
Having state detection means for ink ejection control;
A printer that changes the ink ejection control mode by the state detection means between the first printing form and the second printing form. In the printer according to claim 15,
The state detection unit is configured to detect the posture or vibration of the printer main body and prohibit ink ejection in accordance with a comparison between the output and a predetermined threshold value.
A printer that changes a threshold value between the first printing form and the second printing form. The printer according to claim 16, wherein
A printer that inhibits ink ejection in at least the second printing mode when the posture or vibration output detected by the state detection means exceeds the first level of the threshold. In a printer that is installed on the printing surface and prints the entire printing surface by discharging ink from the ink nozzle while scanning the ink nozzle in a two-dimensional direction from the retracted position,
An ink discharge end detecting means for detecting the end of ink discharge from the ink nozzle by the ink nozzle completing scanning of the entire printing surface;
Nozzle setting means for setting the ink nozzle to the retracted position based on the output of the ink discharge end detection means;
A printer comprising a print end display means for displaying a print end after the ink nozzle is set at the retracted position. In a printer that is installed on the printing surface and prints the entire printing surface by discharging ink from the ink nozzle while scanning the ink nozzle in a two-dimensional direction from the retracted position,
Grounding detection means for detecting installation on the printing surface;
A printer having return means for returning an ink nozzle to a retracted position when an output change of the ground contact detection means occurs during printing.

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