JP2007160756A - Method of initializing carriage position of recording device, recording device, and control program therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To carry out carriage position initialization motion of a serial recording device, which is implemented by colliding a carriage against a positioning member, without generating a large collision noise. <P>SOLUTION: There is provided a method of initializing a carriage position of a recording device. According to the method, in a first initialization motion after input of a power source, the carriage is moved from a standby position 303 in a direction toward A until it collides against a chassis side plate 114a to be positioned to a position 302. Then the carriage is moved in a direction toward B until it collides against a side plate 114b to be positioned to a reference position 301, and right after the positioning, carriage position information is initialized. During the movement, if the carriage is stopped at a location on one side of the position 304 toward B, due to increased load caused by interlocking of a cap slider, the power of a motor is increased until re-starting of the carriage, and a power value at the time of collision against the side plate 114b is stored. In a second initialization motion and later, the carriage is moved from the standby location 303 in the direction of B with the stored power value, and collided against the side plate 114b, to thereby initialize the carriage position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a carriage type initialization method for initializing a carriage position in a serial type recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by reciprocating a carriage on which a recording head is mounted, and a recording apparatus for performing the initialization operation. And a control program of the recording apparatus for performing the initialization operation.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, serial type recording apparatuses employ a configuration in which a carriage position of a recording head is detected by a linear encoder or the like, and the carriage position is controlled and managed based on the detected information. In such a recording apparatus, in general, the carriage position is initialized when the apparatus is turned on and when the recording operation is started from the standby state. This is because the carriage position information held in the counter or memory is lost when the power is turned off. Further, even in the standby state, the power saving mode is set and the carriage position information is lost. Furthermore, even if the carriage position information when entering the standby state is stored in a non-volatile memory or the like, the carriage position may be shifted due to vibration during standby.

  In the carriage position initialization operation, the carriage is moved to a predetermined reference position, and at the same time, the carriage position information detected by the encoder or the like is initialized to information corresponding to the reference position. The carriage position information is obtained, for example, as a count number obtained by counting the number of slits of the scale of the linear encoder as the carriage moves, and is initialized to 0, for example.

  For this initialization, a method is known in which a sensor is provided at a predetermined position within the carriage movement range, and initialization is performed using the carriage position at the moment when the sensor detects the moving carriage as a reference position (for example, patents). Reference 1). However, in this method, it is necessary to provide a sensor for initialization, which increases the cost accordingly.

In order to avoid this cost increase, there is a method that does not use the sensor. For example, a method of performing initialization by positioning one side plate in the carriage movement direction in the chassis of the recording apparatus main body as a reference position positioning member and positioning the carriage at the reference position by abutting against the side plate is used.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-1887

  In the serial type recording apparatus, there is a case where a device that causes a sudden increase in the load of carriage movement within the carriage movement range is provided. For example, in an ink jet recording apparatus, a head maintenance mechanism for performing capping of a recording head is provided in the vicinity of one end of a carriage movement range, and this mechanism is configured to engage and operate in conjunction with the carriage. There is a device. In this case, the load on the movement of the carriage is rapidly increased by the engagement and interlocking of the head maintenance mechanism.

  There is a problem in adopting a method of initializing the carriage position by abutting the carriage against the side plate of the chassis in such a recording apparatus. That is, there is a case where the reference position is erroneously detected by mistaking the load increase due to the load factor with respect to the movement of the carriage as a result of hitting the chassis side plate.

  In order to avoid this erroneous detection, there is a method of driving the carriage motor with strong power to overcome the load caused by the load factor. However, this method has a problem that a loud collision sound is generated at the moment when the carriage hits the chassis with strong power.

  Furthermore, in order to avoid this, there is a method of performing initialization by abutting against the chassis side plate on the side opposite to the chassis side plate on the side having a load factor such as a head maintenance mechanism. However, normally, the carriage is on the head maintenance mechanism when the power is turned off or during standby. For this reason, in this method, it takes time to move the carriage to the side plate of the chassis in each of the initialization operations performed when the power is turned on and each time recording is started from the standby state. That is, each time the carriage position is initialized, it takes time and the throughput of the printing apparatus is reduced.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to enable a carriage position initialization operation that is performed by abutting a carriage against a positioning member in a serial type recording apparatus without producing a loud collision sound. Another object is to improve the throughput of the recording apparatus.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention (Claim 1)
In a (serial-type) recording apparatus that records an image on a recording medium by reciprocating a carriage mounted with a recording head, the carriage position is initialized at the same time as the carriage is positioned at a reference position at one end of the moving range. A method of
In the initial carriage position initialization operation after turning on the recording device,
A first step of moving the carriage in one direction from a predetermined standby position in the movement range until it hits a first positioning member provided at an end of the movement range opposite to the reference position and is positioned at the predetermined position. When,
After the first step, the carriage is moved in the reverse direction of the one direction until it comes into contact with the second positioning member provided at the end of the moving range on the reference position side and is positioned at the reference position. Performing a second step of initializing the location information;
In the second step, when the carriage stops due to an increase in load before it hits the second positioning member, the power of the driving means for moving the carriage is increased until the carriage movement is resumed, and the carriage is moved to the second position. The magnitude of the power when it hits the positioning member is stored in the storage means.

Furthermore, the present invention (Claim 2)
In the carriage position initialization operation for the second and subsequent times after the recording apparatus is turned on,
The carriage is moved in the reverse direction with the power stored in the storage unit until it is positioned at the reference position by striking the second positioning member from the standby position, and the carriage position information is initialized simultaneously with the positioning. The third step is performed.

  Further, according to the present invention (Claim 3), in the serial type recording apparatus, the carriage position initialization operation is performed by the carriage position initialization method according to the present invention (Claims 1 and 2). And

Furthermore, in the present invention (Claim 4),
A control program for performing a carriage position initial operation in a serial type recording apparatus, including a control procedure for performing a carriage position initialization operation by the carriage position initialization method according to the present invention (claims 1 and 2). It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention (Claim 1), in the initial carriage position initialization operation after the recording apparatus is turned on, the carriage is abutted against the second positioning member to be positioned at the reference position, and the carriage position information is initialized. In this case, the power of the driving means of the carriage can be minimized to prevent a loud collision sound. Further, by storing the magnitude of the power at that time, it can be used for the second and subsequent initialization operations.

  Further, according to the present invention (Claim 2), in the second and subsequent initialization operations, the carriage is abutted against the second positioning member with the power of the drive means stored in the minimum necessary size described above. It is possible to prevent the generation of a loud collision sound at the time of abutment. In addition, the moving distance of the carriage from the standby position to the abutting position (reference position) can be shortened, so that the initialization operation can be performed in a short time, and the throughput of the recording apparatus can be improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, an embodiment of an ink jet printer that is a serial type and includes a head maintenance mechanism that engages and interlocks with a carriage will be described. In the following description, “printing” includes not only the recording of character images, which is the original meaning, but also the recording of images other than character images.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an overall mechanical configuration of an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a recording head provided with an ink tank and provided with a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink droplets. For example, it is composed of two heads: a black head provided with 160 nozzles at a density corresponding to 600 DPI and a color head provided with 48 nozzles for each color of yellow, magenta, and cyan at the density.

  Reference numeral 102 denotes a carriage that carries the recording head 101 and moves back and forth. The carriage 102 is slidably provided on a guide shaft 103 installed along the main scanning direction. Both ends of the guide shaft 103 are fixed to the left and right side plates 114a and 114b of the chassis 114 of the printer body. The power of a carriage motor (DC motor) 105, which is a carriage driving means, is transmitted to the carriage 102 via a belt 104 coupled to the carriage 102. Then, by rotating the motor 105 in the forward direction and the reverse direction, the carriage 102 reciprocates in the directions of arrows A and B along the main scanning direction. The forward direction corresponds to the A direction, and the reverse direction corresponds to the B direction.

  An encoder sensor 121 is mounted on the carriage 102. On the chassis 114, there is provided an encoder scale 122 in which a large number of slits are formed at minute constant intervals. Position information of the carriage 102 is obtained by detecting the slits of the scale 122 by the sensor 121 and counting the number of slits detected as the carriage 102 moves. That is, the count of the number of slits at the reference position of the carriage 102 is set to 0, for example. When the carriage 102 moves in the A direction, the number of slits detected is counted up, and when the carriage 102 moves in the B direction, the carriage position information is obtained as the slit count number. In order to perform the counting, a slit number counter 206a is provided in the motor controller 206 in FIG.

  Reference numeral 106 denotes a paper feed base, on which a plurality of print papers 115 are stacked and set. At the start of printing, the pickup roller 133 is rotated by driving the pickup motor 130. As a result, the top sheet of the printing paper 115 on the paper supply base 106 is separated and fed. A paper end sensor (not shown) is provided on the lower side of the pinch roller 111 in order to control the amount of heading of the printing paper when the paper is fed. A slit (not shown) of a code wheel (rotary encoder film) 131 attached to the shaft of the pickup roller 133 is detected by an encoder sensor 132, and the number of slits corresponding to the amount of rotation is counted. A slit number counter (not shown) for this purpose is also provided in the motor controller 206. As a result, information on the transport amount of the fed printing paper 115 is obtained, and the transport amount is managed based on the information.

  In order to further convey the fed printing paper 115 along the upper surface of the platen 112, a paper conveyance motor 107 composed of a DC motor is driven. Due to the power, the transport roller 110 rotates through the motor gear 108 and the transport roller gear 109. A pinch roller 111 is pressed against the transport roller 110 by a pinch roller spring (not shown), and is rotated by being driven by the transport roller 110. The printing paper 115 is conveyed by an appropriate conveyance amount by the conveyance roller 110 and the pinch roller 111. A code wheel 116 is attached to the transport roller 109. A slit (not shown) of the wheel 116 is detected by the encoder sensor 117, and the number of slits corresponding to the amount of rotation is counted. A counter (not shown) for this purpose is also provided in the motor controller 206. As a result, information on the conveyance amount of the printing paper 115 by the rotation of the conveyance roller 110 is obtained. Based on this information, the conveyance amount is managed to enable high-precision feeding.

  At the time of printing, one sheet of printing paper 115 is first fed and conveyed until the leading end is positioned on the platen 112. Subsequently, the carriage 102 is driven to reciprocate in the A direction and the B direction along the main scanning direction, and the recording head 101 is driven according to the print data to eject ink droplets from the nozzles. As a result, one band is printed on the printing paper 115. When the printing is completed, the printing paper is conveyed along the sub-scanning direction by a predetermined conveyance amount corresponding to one band. This is repeated to sequentially print one band at a time. When printing for one page is completed, the printed printing paper 115 is discharged by driving the paper discharge roller 113.

  Although not shown in FIG. 1, a cap slider 400 constituting the head maintenance mechanism shown in FIGS. 4.a and 4.b is provided below the right end portion in FIG. .

  The cap slider 400 is provided to be movable in both the arrow A direction and the B direction of the movement direction of the carriage 102 within a narrow movement range corresponding to the right end portion of the movement range of the carriage 102. FIG. 4.a shows a state where the cap slider 400 is located at the end of the moving range in the A direction. The cap slider 400 includes caps 404 and 405 and a wiper blade 410. The caps 404 and 405 perform capping to cover and protect the nozzle surface on which the nozzles of the recording head 101 are formed. Further, wiping is performed by wiping the nozzle surface with the wiper blade 410 for cleaning. Further, the cap slider 400 is provided with fitting pins 406 and 407 and rollers 408 and 409. The rollers 408 and 409 are pressed against a cam portion 411 provided on the base of the apparatus main body by the force of a spring (not shown).

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system of the printer of the embodiment. In FIG. 2, a CPU 201 executes a control program stored in a ROM 202, performs various processes, and controls each part of the printer to perform a printing operation, a carriage position initialization operation, and the like. Specifically, it analyzes the command transferred from the host device (not shown) to the printer and generates print data based on the print data. In addition, various settings are made according to the input from the operation panel 208. Further, drive control of each motor 105, 107, 130 in FIG. 1 and drive control (ink ejection control) of the recording head 101 are performed.

  The ROM 202 stores a printer control program, various data, font data used for print data generation, and the like. Various data may be used as an initial value as it is, or may be used after being developed in the RAM 203 and processed by the CPU 201. As the font data, the font data designated by the print data is read out by the CPU 201, modified by the modification method designated on the RAM 203, and developed as print data. Similarly, image data included in the print data is read by the CPU 201 and developed at a print position designated on the RAM 203 to be used as print data.

  The RAM 203 is also used as a work memory necessary for program execution of the CPU 201 and a temporary storage location (reception buffer) of input data from the I / F (interface) 204.

  The I / F 204 is connected to a host device (not shown) for communication and receives data such as print data and a print instruction command. The I / F 204 is assumed to be capable of two-way communication with electrical specifications compliant with, for example, IEEE-1284, and can receive not only data from the host device but also the printer status to the host.

  The EEPROM 205 stores data on the printer setting state, and also stores other data such as the number of printed sheets and the remaining amount of ink. The printer setting state data includes data such as font type, corresponding paper, and function items such as automatic power on / off.

  The motor controller 206 controls the drive of the carriage motor 105, the paper transport motor 107, and the pickup motor 130 in FIG. At the time of printing, the pickup motor 130 is first driven to feed one sheet of printing paper 115 from the paper feed base 106. Then, the paper transport motor 107 is driven to transport to a predetermined position where the print paper is transported. Subsequently, the carriage motor 105 and the paper transport motor 107 are driven alternately. Thus, the reciprocating movement of the carriage 102 along the main scanning direction and a predetermined amount of paper feeding operation for one band of the printing paper 115 are alternately performed.

  In addition, the motor controller 206 drives the carriage motor 105, particularly a DC motor, by PWM (pulse width modulation) control according to the drive control data from the CPU 201. That is, the CPU 201 outputs, as control data for the motor 105, the data of the pulse width of the drive signal of the motor 105, that is, the duty ratio, to the motor controller 206 along with the forward and reverse rotation directions. The motor controller 206 drives the motor 105 with the rotation direction and the duty ratio based on the control data. As the duty ratio is increased, the power of the motor 105 can be increased.

  The motor controller 206 is provided with the above-described slit number counter 206a and two slit number counters (not shown). Based on the count values of these counters, the driving of the carriage motor 105, the paper transport motor 107, and the pickup motor 130 is controlled.

  The recording head controller 207 controls driving of the recording head 101 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 201 and discharges ink droplets from each nozzle of the recording head 101. When the recording head 101 is a bubble jet (registered trademark) system, application of a drive signal (heat pulse) to a heating element provided in each nozzle is controlled. Also, processing such as preliminary ejection for maintenance of the recording head 101 and detection of the amount of ink in the ink tank of the recording head 101 are performed.

  The operation panel 208 is provided on the upper part of the printer main body, and displays a power key, various keys such as a recovery key for specifying recovery, test print, and recovery from an error, and an LED for displaying data reception, power status, etc. Means.

  The above units are connected to each other via a bus line 209 including a data bus and an address bus for transferring data.

  Next, the positional relationship between the carriage 102, the side plates 114a and 114b of the chassis 114, and the cap slider 400 related to the initialization operation of the carriage position will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, the resolution of the encoder sensor 121 corresponding to the slit interval of the encoder scale 122 is 150 DPI as an example. The carriage position information is indicated and managed by the number of slits from the reference position based on the distance corresponding to the number of slits with the distance of the slit interval corresponding to the resolution as a unit. In the following, the number of slits is indicated by a number with a symbol “slit”.

  In this embodiment, the left and right side plates 114a and 114b of the chassis with both ends of the guide shaft 103 shown in FIG. 3 fixed are used as positioning members, and the carriage 102 is abutted against these to position them. Reference numerals 301 to 304 denote positions of the carriage 102 related to the initialization operation. Reference numeral 301 denotes a position when the carriage 102 is positioned by abutting against the right side plate 114b, which is set as a reference position of the carriage 102 and a 0 slit position. Reference numeral 302 denotes a predetermined position when it is positioned against the side plate 114a on the opposite side (left side). As an example, the distance D1 between the positions 301 and 302 is 13 inches (about 330 mm), that is, a distance corresponding to 1950 slits, and the position 302 becomes a position of 1950 slits.

  The position 303 is a position where the carriage 102 is in the positional relationship shown in FIG. That is, the caps 404 and 405 are capping positions where the recording head 101 is protected by performing capping to cover the nozzle surface of the recording head 101. This position 303 is also a standby position where the carriage 102 is positioned in a standby state when the recording apparatus is powered off and during a non-printing operation. The distance D2 from the reference position 301 to this position 303 is 55 slits, for example.

  The position 304 is a position where the carriage 102 is in the positional relationship shown in FIG. That is, it is a slider contact position that contacts the abutting portion 403 of the cap slider 400 when the carriage 102 moves in the B direction. The distance D3 from the reference position 301 to this position 304 is, for example, 85 slit.

  When the carriage 102 moves in the B direction from the slider contact position 304, the cap slider 400 moves in the B direction in conjunction therewith. At the same time, the rollers 408 and 409 rolling on the cam portion 411 move up the slope of the cam portion 411 and the cap slider 400 is lifted. When the position 303 is reached, the state shown in FIG. In this state, the fitting pins 406 and 407 are fitted into the fitting portion of the carriage 102 and the carriage 102 and the cap slider 400 are locked. Further, the caps 404 and 405 are in a state where the nozzle surface of the recording head 103 is capped and protected.

  When the carriage 102 moves in the B direction from the position 304, the cap slider 400 is engaged and interlocked, thereby increasing the movement load of the carriage 102. For this reason, the reciprocating movement of the carriage 102 during printing is performed in an area on the A direction side from the position 304.

  When the carriage 102 is moved in the direction A from the state shown in FIG. 4.b (position 303 in FIG. 3), the cap slider 400 is moved in the same direction. Along with this, the rollers 408 and 409 move down the slope of the cam portion 411 and the cap slider 400 descends. The carriage 102 is disengaged from the cap slider 400, and the carriage 102 can move in the A direction in a free state, leaving the cap slider 400 at the position (position 304) in FIG. During this time, the nozzle surface of the recording head 103 is wiped and cleaned by the wiper blade 410.

  In the movement region between the positions 302 and 304, no special load is applied to the movement of the carriage 102, and the load is small. When the carriage 102 is moved in the direction B from the position 304, the load is increased by the cap slider 400. Between the positions 303 and 304, it is assumed that the load when moving in the A direction is considerably smaller than the load when moving in the B direction.

  Next, the outline of the carriage position initialization operation in the printer of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the printer of this embodiment, the carriage position initialization operation is performed immediately after the power is turned on and when the printing operation is started from the standby state (power saving mode) during the non-printing operation. In the power-off state and the standby state, the carriage 102 is at a standby position (capping position) 303 in FIG.

  The initialization operation performed immediately after power-on, that is, the first (first) initialization operation after power-on is performed as follows.

  First, the carriage 102 is moved from the standby position 303 in the A direction to the position 302 where the carriage 102 abuts against the side plate 114a and is positioned. During this time, the load on the movement of the carriage 102 is small. For this reason, the magnitude of the power of the carriage motor 105 during this period is set to a relatively small constant magnitude that can stably move the carriage 102 with respect to the small load. For this reason, the pulse width of the drive signal output from the motor controller 206 that drives the carriage motor 105, that is, the duty ratio is set to a constant value (hereinafter, 35% as an example) corresponding to the constant power level. This value is set appropriately at the design stage.

  Next, the carriage 102 is moved from the position 302 toward the reference position 301 in the B direction with the power having the constant magnitude. Here, when the carriage 102 moves from the position 304 to the region on the B direction side, the load increases due to the engagement and interlocking of the cap slider 400. As a result, when the carriage 102 stops, the power of the carriage motor 105 is increased until the movement of the carriage 102 is resumed. For this purpose, the duty ratio of the driving pulse of the carriage motor 105 is increased by 5% every time 1 mSec, for example. As a result, the carriage 102 resumes moving, and abuts against the side plate 114b to be positioned at the reference position 301. The duty ratio of the drive pulse corresponding to the magnitude of the power of the carriage motor 102 at this time is stored in the EEPROM 205 or the like. Then, the count number of the slit number counter 206a indicating the carriage position information is initialized to 0 corresponding to the reference position, and the initialization operation ends.

  Also, the carriage position initialization operation that is performed when the printing operation is started from the standby state, that is, the second and subsequent initialization operations after the power is turned on, is performed as follows.

  That is, the carriage 102 is moved from the standby position 303 toward the side plate 114b in the B direction. At this time, the duty ratio of the drive pulse of the carriage motor 105 is the duty ratio stored in the EEPROM 205. When the carriage 102 hits the side plate 114b and is positioned at the reference position 301, the count number of the slit number counter 206a is initialized to 0, and the initialization operation ends.

  Next, details of the carriage position initialization operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of carriage position initialization processing performed by the CPU 201. A control program corresponding to this control procedure is stored in the ROM 202, and the CPU 201 executes the control program and performs an initialization process.

  When the initialization process is started, first, in step S1, it is determined whether the initialization process performed this time is the first (first) initialization process after the printer is turned on or the second and subsequent initialization processes. That is, it is determined whether the initialization process is performed immediately after the power is turned on or the initialization process is performed when the printing operation is started from the standby state after that. And if it is the 1st time, the process of step S2-S20 will be performed, and if it is the 2nd time or later, the process of step S21-S29 will be performed. First, the processing of steps S2 to S20 in the first case will be described.

  In step S2, a 1 mSec wait is performed in order to obtain timing for acquiring carriage position information. When the timer for measuring this time is up, in step S3, as the drive control data for the carriage motor 105 to the motor controller 206, the rotation direction is the normal rotation direction and the duty ratio of the drive signal is 35% of the initial value. Is output. As a result, the carriage motor 105 is rotationally driven in the forward rotation direction with a certain amount of power corresponding to a duty ratio of 35%. Then, the carriage 102 moves from the standby position 303 in the A direction toward the side plate 114a. Along with the movement, the count number of the slit number counter 206a is sequentially counted up.

  In step S4, the count number of the slit number counter 206a, which is the current carriage position information, is acquired. In step S5, the current and previous (1 mSec) carriage position information are compared, and it is determined whether or not the difference between the two is within 2 slits.

  Note that the count number of the counter 206a is not initialized to the count number corresponding to the actual carriage position from the start of the initialization process until the first processing of step S4. For this reason, the count number of the counter 206a at the time of step S4 does not correspond to the actual carriage position. However, there is no problem because it is only necessary to know the difference between the current count and the previous count in the determination in step S5.

  If the difference is not within 2 slits in step S5, it is determined that the carriage 102 is moving, and the abutting count is reset in step S18. And it returns to step S2 and repeats the process of step S2-S5.

  The abutting count is a count of the duration time in which the difference between the current and the previous (1 mSec before) carriage position information is within 2 slits. A counter (not shown) for this purpose is provided by software or hardware. This is for determining whether or not the carriage 102 stops due to the side plate 114a or 114b or due to the load of the cap slider 400 when moving in the B direction. If the count exceeds 200 mSec, it is determined that the operation has stopped. It is assumed that the count is initialized to 0 mSec when the initialization process is started or before that.

  If the difference is within 2 slits in step S5, the abutting count is incremented by 1 mSec in step S6. In step S7, it is determined whether or not the abutting count is 200 mSec or more. If it is not 200 mSec or more, the process returns to step S2, and the processes of steps S2 to S7 are repeated.

  If it is 200 mSec or more in step S7, it is determined that the carriage 102 has stopped by hitting the side plate 114a, and in step S8, the count number of the slit number counter 206a as the carriage position information is temporarily initialized. Here, since the carriage 102 should be at the position 302 in FIG. 3 at this time, the design value 1950 slit corresponding to the position 302 is written in the counter 206a as the count number.

  In step S9 and subsequent steps, abutment with the side plate 114b on the reference position side is performed. First, in step S9, 1 mSec wait is performed in order to obtain timing for acquiring carriage position information. When 1 mSec has elapsed, drive control data for the carriage motor 105 is output to the motor controller 206 in step S10. Here, the rotation direction is the reverse direction, and the duty ratio of the drive signal is initially 35%. As a result, the carriage motor 105 is rotationally driven in the reverse rotation direction with a certain amount of power corresponding to a duty ratio of 35%. Then, the carriage 102 moves from the position 302 in the B direction toward the side plate 114b. With the movement, the count number of the slit number counter 206a is sequentially counted down from 1950 slit.

  In step S11, the count number of the slit number counter 206a, which is the current carriage position information, is acquired.

  In step S12, the current and previous carriage position information is compared, and it is determined whether the difference between the two is within 2 slits. If the difference is not within 2 slits, it is determined that the carriage 102 is moving, and the abutting count is reset in step S19. And it returns to step S9 and repeats the process of step S9-S12.

  If the difference is within 2 slits in step S12, the abutting count is incremented by 1 mSec in step S13. In step S14, it is determined whether or not the abutting count is 200 mSec or more. If it is not 200 mSec or more, the process returns to step S9 and the processes of steps S9 to S14 are repeated.

  If it is 200 mSec or more in step S14, the carriage 102 stops between the position 304 and the vicinity of 301 due to an increase in the load due to the engagement and interlocking of the cap slider 400, or when it hits the side plate 114b and reaches the reference position. This is a case of stopping at 301. For this reason, when it becomes 200 mSec or more in step S14, it is determined whether the current position of the carriage 102 is the reference position 301 or not. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the reference position 301 is based on whether or not the count number of the slit number counter 206a is 5 slits or less.

  Here, at the time of the previous step S8, that is, when the carriage 102 is at the position 302 where it hits the opposite side plate 114a, the count number is temporarily initialized to 1950slit. Therefore, if the carriage 102 is at the reference position 301 at the time of step S15, the count number should be 0 slit in design. However, in consideration of errors such as a butting error, if it is 5 slits or less, the reference position 301 is determined.

  If it is determined in step S15 that the count is 6 slits or more and not the reference position 301, the duty ratio of the drive signal of the carriage motor 105 is set to be increased by 5% in step S20. Then, it returns to step S9 and repeats the process of step S9-S15. In step S10 in the repetition, the duty ratio data increased by 5% in step S20 is output together with the reverse rotation direction data as the drive control data of the carriage motor 105. As a result, the duty ratio is increased by 5% every 1 msec until the carriage 102 stopped between the position 304 and the vicinity of 301 restarts the movement in the B direction, and the power of the carriage motor 105 is increased. Increased sequentially. When the power overcomes the load applied by the cap slider 400, the carriage 102 resumes moving in the direction B, stops against the side plate 114b, and stops at the reference position 301.

  Since the power of the carriage motor 105 at this time is the minimum power necessary to overcome the load applied by the cap slider 400, the force with which the carriage 102 strikes the side plate 114b is weak, and a large collision sound is produced at the end of the collision. There is no.

  If it is determined in step S15 that the current position of the carriage 102 is the reference position 301, that is, the carriage 102 is positioned at the reference position, the process proceeds to step S16.

  In step S16, the current duty ratio of the drive signal of the carriage motor 105 is stored in the EEPROM 205. This duty ratio corresponds to the magnitude of the power of the carriage motor 105 when the carriage 102 hits the side plate 114b by the processing in step S9 and subsequent steps. It goes without saying that the duty ratio is preserved by storing the data in the EEPROM 205 even when the power saving mode is entered in a later standby state.

  After step S16, the count number (current carriage position information) of the slit number counter 206a is initialized to 0 corresponding to the reference position in step S17, and the carriage position initialization process is terminated.

  Next, steps S21 to S29 are performed when it is determined in step S1 that the carriage position initialization process is performed for the second and subsequent times after the printer is turned on, that is, the initialization process that is performed when printing is started from the standby state. The process will be described.

  First, in step S21, information on the duty ratio of the drive signal of the carriage motor 105 stored in the EEPROM 205 in step S16 is acquired.

  In step S22, a 1 mSec wait is performed in order to obtain the carriage position information acquisition timing.

  In step S <b> 23, data on the reverse rotation direction and the duty ratio acquired in step S <b> 21 are output to the motor controller 206 as drive control data for the carriage motor 105. As a result, the carriage motor 105 is rotationally driven in the reverse direction, and the carriage 102 moves from the standby position 303 in the B direction. The power of the carriage motor 105 at this time is the power when the carriage 102 overcomes the load applied by the cap slider 400 and hits the side plate 114b by the processes of steps S9 to S15, S19, and S20 described above. Therefore, even if a load is applied by the cap slider 400, the carriage 102 can be overcome and moved in the B direction from the standby position 303.

  In step S24, the current carriage position information (the count number of the slit number counter 206a) is acquired.

  In step S25, the current carriage position information and the previous carriage position information are compared to determine whether or not it is within 2 slits. If it is not less than 2 slits, it is determined that the carriage 102 is moving, the abutting count is reset in step S29, the process returns to step S22, and the processes of steps S22 to S25 are repeated.

  If it is within 2 slits, the abutting count is incremented by 1 mSec in step S26, and then it is determined in step S27 whether or not the abutting count is 200 mSec or more. And if it is not 200 mSec or more, it will return to step S22 and will repeat the process of step S22-S27.

  If it is 200 mSec or more, it is determined that the carriage 102 has come into contact with the side plate 114b and stopped (positioned) at the reference position 301. After the carriage position information is initialized to 0 in step S28, the carriage position initial value is set. The process is terminated.

  Even at the time of the abutting here, since the power of the carriage motor 105 is the necessary minimum reduction power based on the stored duty ratio, there is no loud collision sound. In the carriage position initialization operation for the first time (immediately after the power is turned on), the moving distance of the carriage 102 is long, but in the second and subsequent initialization operations, the movement distance is very short, so the initialization operation can be performed in a short time. , Printer throughput can be improved.

  In the above embodiments, the carriage motor is a DC motor and PWM control is performed. However, the type and control method of the motor are not limited to this, and the technique of the present invention is applicable to other motors or other control methods. Of course, can be applied. Further, the drive means for moving the carriage is not limited to the motor, and other drive means may be used. Of course, the technique of the present invention can be applied.

  In the embodiment, the side plate of the chassis is used as a positioning member (stopper) for the carriage, but another dedicated positioning member may be provided.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing an overall mechanical configuration of an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of the printer according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a positional relationship between a carriage, a chassis side plate, and a cap slider related to a carriage position initialization operation in the printer of the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that a carriage contacts the butting part of a cap slider in the position 304 in FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state where the recording head is capped at a position 303 in FIG. 3. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure of carriage position initialization processing performed by the CPU of the printer according to the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

101 Recording Head 102 Carriage 105 Carriage Motor 114 Chassis 114a, 114b Chassis Side Plate 115 Printing Paper 121 Encoder Sensor 122 Encoder Scale 201 CPU
202 ROM
203 RAM
205 EEPROM
206 Motor controller 206a Slit number counter 301 Carriage reference position 302 Abutting position 303 on the chassis side plate opposite to the reference position side Standby position (capping position)
304 Cap slider contact position 400 Cap slider 404, 405 Cap 410 Wiper blade

Claims (4)

In a recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by reciprocating a carriage mounted with a recording head, a carriage position initialization method for initializing carriage position information at the same time as positioning the carriage at a reference position at one end of a moving range. ,
In the initial carriage position initialization operation after turning on the recording device,
A first step of moving the carriage in one direction from a predetermined standby position in the movement range until it hits a first positioning member provided at an end opposite to the reference position in the movement range and is positioned at the predetermined position. When,
After the first step, the carriage is moved in the opposite direction of the one direction until it comes into contact with the second positioning member provided at the end of the moving range on the reference position side and is positioned at the reference position. Performing a second step of initializing the location information;
In the second step, when the carriage stops due to an increase in load before it hits the second positioning member, the power of the driving means for moving the carriage is increased until the carriage movement is resumed, and the carriage is moved to the second position. A method for initializing a carriage position of a recording apparatus, comprising: storing in a storage means the magnitude of the power when it hits the positioning member. In the carriage position initialization operation for the second and subsequent times after the recording apparatus is turned on,
The carriage is moved in the reverse direction with the power stored in the storage unit until it is positioned at the reference position by striking the second positioning member from the standby position, and the carriage position information is initialized simultaneously with the positioning. The method for initializing a carriage position of a recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the third step is performed. A recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by reciprocating a carriage having a recording head, and positioning a carriage at a reference position at one end of a moving range and simultaneously performing a carriage position initialization operation for initializing carriage position information. In the recording device to perform
A recording apparatus configured to perform a carriage position initialization operation according to the carriage position initialization method according to claim 1. In a recording apparatus that records an image on a recording medium by reciprocating a carriage mounted with a recording head, a carriage position initialization operation for initializing carriage position information at the same time as positioning the carriage at a reference position at one end of a moving range is performed. Control program
A control program for a recording apparatus, comprising a control procedure for performing a carriage position initialization operation by the carriage position initialization method according to claim 1.

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