JP2007253489A - Printer, and position sensor adjusting method used for it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a series of operations by providing a means of automatically calculating and storing a distance in order to solve the problem that a printer which prints a continuous paper does not have a means for automatically calculating the distance between a printing mechanism section and a printing paper starting end detecting sensor which detects the printing paper starting end, and therefore, operations up to the adjustment of an error in the attaching position of the printing paper starting end detecting sensor are complicated. <P>SOLUTION: A means which calculates a distance between a recording paper final end detecting sensor and a recording paper starting end detecting sensor, a means which calculates a distance between a printing mechanism section and the recording paper starting end detecting sensor, and a means which stores the distances in a non-volatile storage element are added to a conventional printer. Thus, the distance between the printing mechanism section and the recording paper starting end detecting sensor can automatically be calculated, and the error adjustment for the attaching position of the recording paper starting end detecting sensor can be simplified. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that uses continuous paper as printing paper.

  The adjustment of the paper end detection sensor mounting position of a printing apparatus that performs printing using continuous paper is performed by activating the pattern printing means of the print control unit after the end of the print paper passes the paper end detection sensor. Print, stop printing after the printing paper has completely passed through the printing mechanism, visually count the number of vertical dots printed on the paper, determine the distance between the printing mechanism and the paper end detection sensor, and The distance is stored in the non-volatile storage element by an operation, read out from the non-volatile storage element in a normal printing operation, and the distance is reflected in the remaining printable paper amount calculating means.

Japanese Patent No. 3659371

  A problem to be solved by the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In FIG. 4, 401 is a printing mechanism unit that executes printing, 402 is a printing sheet, 403 is a sheet end detection sensor that detects the end of the sheet, and 404 is a sheet start end detection sensor that detects the sheet start end.

Conventionally, adjustment of the sheet end detection sensor mounting position has been performed by the following method.
Start feeding paper one dot at a time from the state shown in FIG.
After the paper end passes through the paper end detection sensor 403, the pattern printing unit of the print control unit is activated to print a predetermined pattern,
Printing is stopped after the printing paper 402 has completely passed through the printing mechanism 401,
The number of vertical dots printed on the paper is visually counted to obtain the distance B between the printing mechanism 401 and the paper end detection sensor 403,
Storing the distance in a non-volatile storage element;
In normal operation, the distance read from the nonvolatile storage element is reflected as the remaining amount of printable paper.

  However, even after the adjustment of the attachment position of the sheet end detection sensor, if the operator sets the print start position to the upstream side with respect to the print sheet 402, the interval between the print mechanism unit 401 and the sheet end detection sensor 403 is set. When printing a page length shorter than this distance, the last page cannot be printed and the paper is wasted. When printing a page length longer than the distance between the printing mechanism 401 and the paper end detection sensor 403, the last page is printed. There is a problem that printing near the end of the page becomes impossible because printing is performed without being detected. Conversely, when the page length is long, the last line of the page may not be printed. Therefore, in order to print the last page of the printing paper up to the last line, it is necessary to accurately set the printing start position of the printing paper 402 in the printing mechanism unit 401.

  On the other hand, the setting of the print start position conventionally employed is that the print start position of the print paper 402 is aligned on the paper start edge detection sensor 404 and the print mechanism 401 read from the nonvolatile storage element and the paper start edge detection sensor 404 are read. The printing start position of the printing paper 402 is set in the printing mechanism unit 401 by executing paper feeding in the reverse direction from the distance A. However, since the sheet start edge detection sensor 404 has an error in the mounting position, it is necessary to adjust the sensor mounting position in advance.

  The adjustment of the attachment position of the paper start sensor 404 described above is performed by performing reverse paper feed from the distance A between the print mechanism 401 read from the nonvolatile storage element and the paper start detection sensor 404 in the state shown in FIG. After the start position is moved to the printing mechanism unit 401, the pattern printing unit of the printing control unit is activated to print a predetermined pattern, and the distance between the pattern printed on the paper and the printing start position is calculated visually, and the printing mechanism The distance A between the unit 401 and the sheet start edge detection sensor 404 is obtained, and the distance is stored in the nonvolatile storage element by operation. For this reason, a series of operations were complicated. An object of the present invention is to simplify the series of operations by providing means for automatically calculating and storing the distance A.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing mechanism unit that executes printing, a sheet conveying unit, a printing control unit that controls the printing mechanism unit, and a sheet termination that detects a sheet termination upstream of the printing mechanism unit. Detection sensor, paper start edge detection sensor for detecting the paper start edge on the downstream side of the printing mechanism, means for feeding paper one dot at a time, a non-volatile storage element, a display device, and a rear end of the printing machine and printing from the paper end detection sensor It has means for calculating the distance between the sheet rear end detection sensor from the rear part of the machine, means for calculating the distance between the printing mechanism part and the sheet start end detection sensor from the distance, and means for storing in the nonvolatile storage element. And

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, the paper is fed one dot at a time, and after the paper end detection sensor detects the paper end position, the paper is detected as a paper start end detection sensor. The distance between the printing mechanism unit and the sheet end detection sensor is calculated from the distance and the distance between the printing mechanism unit and the sheet end detection sensor, and the distance is stored in the nonvolatile storage element. This information is reflected in the adjustment of the print start position.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to automatically calculate the distance between the printing mechanism unit and the sheet start edge detection sensor.

  According to the present invention, the distance between the printing mechanism unit and the sheet start edge detection sensor can be calculated in units of dots, and the operation until the distance is stored in the nonvolatile storage element can be automatically performed. Thereby, a series of operations until the distance calculated from the adjustment of the sheet start edge detection sensor position is stored in the nonvolatile storage element can be simplified.

  The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1, 2, and 3 are a schematic block diagram of a printing apparatus as an example of the present invention, a flowchart of a printing control unit, and a schematic diagram showing a paper feed mechanism.

  In FIG. 1, 101 is a printing mechanism unit that performs printing, 102 is a sheet end detection sensor that detects a sheet end, 103 is a sheet start end detection sensor that detects a sheet start end, and 104 is a print control unit that controls the printing mechanism unit. 105 is a paper feed means for feeding paper one dot at a time, 106 is a paper feed amount calculation means for counting the number of paper feed dots, 107 is a pattern printing means defined by the print control section, and 108 is a distance between the printing mechanism section and the paper end detection sensor. End sensor position setting means for setting, 109 is a start sensor position calculation means for calculating the distance between the printing mechanism and the sheet start edge detection sensor, 110 is a nonvolatile memory element, and 111 is a nonvolatile memory element. Storage means 112 for storing data, 112 for reading out the distance from the printing mechanism unit from the nonvolatile memory element, 113 for display It is the location.

  In FIG. 2, 201 is a process for feeding paper one dot at a time, 202 is a determination as to whether the printing paper has passed the paper end detection sensor, 203 is a process for counting the number of paper feed dots, and 204 is the end of pattern printing. 205, a process for printing the defined pattern, 206, a determination as to whether or not the printing paper has passed the paper start edge detection sensor, and 207 for setting a distance between the printing mechanism and the paper end detection sensor. A process 208 is a process for calculating the distance between the printing mechanism unit and the sheet start edge detection sensor. A process 209 is a process for storing the calculated distance in the nonvolatile storage element.

  In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes a paper start edge detection sensor that detects the paper start edge 103, 302 denotes a printing mechanism unit that executes printing 101, and 303 denotes a paper end detection sensor that detects the paper end 102.

  The attachment position of the paper end detection sensor 102 is adjusted such that the end of the print paper is located upstream of the paper end detection sensor 102 and the paper feed unit 105 of the print control unit 104 performs a paper feed process 201 for each dot. Implement by executing.

  When the end of the printing paper moves on the paper end detection sensor 102 and the end position of the printing paper is detected by the paper end sensor detection determination 202 of the paper feed amount calculation means 106, the paper feed amount count processing 203 is executed to make the paper feed dot Start counting the number. Further, when pattern printing is possible on the printing paper from the pattern printing end determination 204 of the pattern printing unit 107, the pattern printing process 205 is executed to start printing the defined pattern.

  When the paper feeding process 201, the paper feeding amount counting process 203, and the pattern printing process 205 are repeatedly executed for each dot, and the end of the printing paper completely passes through the printing mechanism unit 101, the pattern printing process 205 is performed by the pattern printing end determination 204. Exit. Even after the end of the printing paper passes through the printing mechanism unit 101, the paper feeding process 201 and the paper feeding amount counting process 203 for each dot are repeatedly executed, and the end of the printing paper is moved to the paper starting edge detection sensor 103, and the paper starting edge sensor is detected. When the end position of the printing paper is detected by the detection judgment 206, the paper feeding processing 201 and the paper feeding amount counting processing 203 for each dot that have been repeatedly executed are finished.

  By the above method, the distance C between the sheet end detection sensor 102 and the sheet start end detection sensor 103 can be accurately obtained in dot units from the sheet feed amount counted by the sheet feed amount counting process 203.

  Further, the above-described conventional method, that is, the number of patterns printed on the printing paper is counted, and the count number is obtained from the distance setting processing 207 between the printing mechanism of the terminal sensor position setting means 108 and the terminal sensor. Thus, the distance B between the printing mechanism unit 101 and the sheet end detection sensor 102 can be accurately obtained in dot units. The distance can be stored in the nonvolatile storage element 110 by the storage unit 111.

  From the distance C between the sheet end detection sensor 102 and the sheet start end detection sensor 103 obtained by the above method and the distance B between the set printing mechanism 101 and the sheet end detection sensor 102, the start end sensor position calculating means 109 is obtained. By the distance calculation processing 208 between the printing mechanism unit and the start end sensor, the distance A between the printing mechanism unit 101 and the sheet start end detection sensor 103 can be accurately obtained in units of dots. The distance can be stored in the nonvolatile memory element 110 by the process 209 for storing the distance of the storage unit 111 in the nonvolatile memory element.

  By performing this adjustment, in setting the print start position in the normal operation, the distance A between the printing mechanism unit 101 and the sheet start edge detection sensor 103 is read from the nonvolatile storage element 110 by the reading unit 112, and the reverse paper of the distance is used. By executing the feeding, the printing start position of the printing paper can be accurately set in the printing mechanism unit 101.

  FIG. 5 is an example of an operation panel used for adjusting the sensor mounting position. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 501 denotes a display device, and 502 to 510 denote switches.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a human interface in adjusting the sensor mounting position. In FIG. 6, a display column 601 is a display example of the display device 501 of FIG. 5, and a content column 602 is the content of the means.

  In this interface, when the sensor mounting position is adjusted, the calculation of the distance between the printing mechanism unit 101 and the sheet start edge detection sensor 103 and the storage of the distance can be automatically executed by pressing the ready switch 504. it can.

1 is a block diagram according to print control according to an example of the present invention. Print control flowchart illustrating an example of the present invention 1 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a printing mechanism unit and a sheet end detection sensor as an example of the present invention. Schematic showing the relationship between a conventional printing mechanism and paper end detection sensor Plan view showing an example of a display device Schematic showing an example of a human interface

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Printing mechanism part 102 Paper end detection sensor 103 Paper start edge detection sensor 104 Print control part 105 Paper feed means 106 Paper feed amount calculation means 107 Pattern printing means 108 End sensor position setting means 109 Start edge sensor position calculation means 110 Non-volatile storage element 111 Storage means 112 Reading means 113 Display device 201 Paper feed processing for each dot 202 Paper end sensor detection judgment 203 Paper feed amount count processing 204 Pattern printing end judgment 205 Pattern printing processing 206 Paper start edge sensor detection judgment 207 Distance setting between printing mechanism and end sensor Processing 208 Processing for calculating distance between printing mechanism unit and start sensor 209 Processing for storing distance in nonvolatile storage element 301 Paper start end detection sensor 302 Printing mechanism unit 303 Paper end detection sensor 401 Printing mechanism unit 402 printing paper 403 sheet end detection sensor 404 sheet leading end detection sensor 501 display device 502 to 510 switch 601 Panel Display 602 panel display content

Claims (2)

  A printing mechanism unit that executes printing, a sheet transport unit, a printing control unit that controls the printing mechanism unit, a sheet end detection sensor that detects a sheet end upstream of the printing mechanism unit, and a sheet starting end downstream of the printing mechanism unit The sheet start edge detection sensor for detecting the sheet, the means for feeding the sheet one dot at a time, the non-volatile storage element, the display device, and the distance between the sheet end detection sensor to the rear of the printing press and the distance from the rear of the printing press to the sheet start detection sensor A printing apparatus comprising: means for calculating; means for calculating a distance between the printing mechanism unit and the sheet leading edge detection sensor from the distance; and means for storing in a non-volatile storage element. The printing apparatus according to claim 1.
After the paper conveying means performs paper feeding by one dot and the paper end detection sensor detects the paper end position, the distance between the paper completely passing through the paper start end detection sensor for detecting the paper start end is calculated. The distance between the printing mechanism unit and the sheet start end detection sensor is calculated from the distance and the distance between the printing mechanism unit and the sheet end detection sensor, and the distance is stored in the nonvolatile storage element and read from the nonvolatile storage element. A position adjustment method for a position sensor used in a printing apparatus, wherein the distance is reflected in adjustment of a print start position.

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