JP2008082763A - Detecting apparatus and detecting method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a detecting apparatus and a detecting method, capable of bringing each light receiving means to receive light having the optimal intensity, without disposing any circuit additionally for controlling switching of intensities of light emission, even when a plurality of light receiving means fluctuate in light-receiving sensitivity. <P>SOLUTION: The detecting apparatus comprises: a memory section 11 for storing a duty ratio for each light receiving section; a reading section 12-2 for reading the duty ratio stored in the memory section 11, at every prescribed clock time; a voltage outputting section 12-1 for outputting a voltage of the duty ratio read by the reading section 12-2; a smoothing section 13 for smoothing the voltage output by the voltage outputting section 12-1; a current outputting section 14 for outputting current corresponding to the voltage smoothed by the smoothing section 13; and a plurality of light emitting sections 16-1 to 16-4 for emitting light beams by using the current output by the current outputting section 14. The light beams emitted by the plurality of light emitting sections 16-1 to 16-4 are respectively received by a plurality of light receiving sections 17-1 to 17-4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a detection apparatus and a detection method, and more particularly, to a detection apparatus and a detection method including a plurality of light emitting elements and a plurality of light receiving elements.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for detecting a position of an ink ribbon or print paper by installing a light receiving sensor (light receiving unit) in a printer is known. Here, when a plurality of light receiving sensors are installed in the printer, the light receiving sensitivity of each light receiving sensor may be different. Therefore, a technology for selecting light receiving sensors having the same light receiving sensitivity and incorporating them in the printer is known. It was.
In addition, when incorporating light receiving sensors with different light receiving sensitivities into a printer, by providing a circuit for switching the light emission intensity of a light emitting diode (light emitting unit) that emits light to each light receiving sensor, light having an intensity corresponding to each light receiving sensor is provided. Has been known (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-156253 A

However, the technology for selecting light receiving sensors having the same light receiving sensitivity and incorporating them into the printer requires that the light receiving sensors having the same light receiving sensitivity be manually selected, which increases the amount of work when manufacturing a printer or the like. There was a problem.
In addition, the technology for switching the light emission intensity of the light emitting diode has a problem that the cost increases because a circuit for controlling the switching of the light emission intensity needs to be provided separately in the printer.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a circuit for controlling the switching of the emission intensity without providing a separate circuit even when the light receiving sensitivity of the plurality of light receiving means varies. It is an object of the present invention to provide a detection device and a detection method that allow each light receiving means to receive light having an optimum intensity.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the invention according to claim 1 is a detection device including a plurality of light receiving means, a voltage output means for outputting a predetermined voltage, and the voltage The smoothing means for smoothing the voltage output from the output means, the current output means for outputting a current according to the voltage smoothed by the smoothing means, and the light output using the current output from the current output means A plurality of light emitting means; storage means for storing the duty ratio of the voltage output from the voltage output means for each light receiving means; and reading means for reading out the duty ratio stored in the storage means at a predetermined time. The voltage output means outputs the voltage of the duty ratio read by the reading means as a predetermined voltage, and the plurality of light receiving means respectively receive light emitted by the plurality of light emitting means. A detection device for the butterflies.
In the present invention, the duty ratio is stored in the storage means for each light receiving means, the duty ratio stored in the storage means is read by the reading means at every predetermined time, and the voltage of the duty ratio read by the reading means is output to the voltage output means. And the voltage output from the voltage output means is smoothed by the smoothing means, the current according to the voltage smoothed by the smoothing means is output by the current output means, and the current output from the current output means is utilized. Light was emitted by a plurality of light emitting means.
Accordingly, each light receiving unit can receive light from the light emitting unit with light emission intensity determined based on the duty ratio set for the self light receiving unit. Therefore, each light receiving unit receives light according to the light receiving characteristics. be able to.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the storage means stores the light emission order of a plurality of light emission means, and the reading means stores the duty stored in the storage means in accordance with the light emission order stored in the storage means. The detection device according to claim 1, wherein the ratio is read at every predetermined time.
In the present invention, the light emission order of the plurality of light emitting means is stored in the storage means, and the duty ratio stored in the storage means is read out by the reading means at every predetermined time according to the light emission order stored in the storage means.
As a result, each light receiving means can receive from the light emitting means light having a light emission intensity determined based on the duty ratio set for the self light receiving means every time the light emission sequence is completed. It is possible to reliably receive light corresponding to the light receiving characteristics at every time interval.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the storage means stores, for each light receiving means, a duty ratio for causing the plurality of light emitting means to emit light having an intensity at which the light receiving sensitivity of each light receiving means is optimal. The detection device according to claim 1, wherein:
In the present invention, the duty ratio for causing the plurality of light emitting means to emit light having the best light receiving sensitivity of each light receiving means is stored in the storage means for each light receiving means.
As a result, each light receiving means can receive light of the intensity at which the light receiving sensitivity of the light receiving means is the best, so even if there are variations in the light receiving sensitivity of the plurality of light receiving means, those light receiving means Can be incorporated into the detection device.

The invention according to claim 4 is the detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plurality of light emitting means are connected in parallel.
In the present invention, since the plurality of light emitting means are connected in parallel, the detection apparatus can be provided with a large number of light emitting means and light receiving means corresponding to them.

The invention according to claim 5 is the detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the plurality of light emitting means are connected in series.
In the present invention, since a plurality of light emitting means are connected in series, a constant current flows through each light emitting means, and the light emission amount of each light emitting means can be stabilized.

  The invention according to claim 6 is a detection method by a detection device including a plurality of light receiving means, the first step of outputting a predetermined voltage by the voltage output means, and the voltage output by the voltage output means. A second step of smoothing the current by the smoothing means, a third step of outputting a current according to the voltage smoothed by the smoothing means by the current output means, and a current output by the current output means A fourth step of emitting light by a plurality of light emitting means, a fifth step of storing the duty ratio of the voltage output by the voltage output means by the storage means for each light receiving means, and the storage means A sixth step of reading out the duty ratio by the reading means at predetermined time intervals, and the voltage output means outputs the voltage of the duty ratio read by the reading means to a predetermined voltage. And outputs, said plurality of light receiving means is a detection method, each of the plurality of light emitting means, characterized in that for receiving the light emitted.

  According to the present invention, each light receiving unit can receive from the light emitting unit light having a light emission intensity determined based on the duty ratio set for the self light receiving unit. Can be received. Therefore, even when there is a variation in light receiving sensitivity among the plurality of light receiving means, these light receiving means can be used by being incorporated in the detection device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a detection apparatus 10a according to an embodiment of the present invention. The detection device 10a is built in a printer or the like. The detection device 10a includes a storage unit 11 (storage unit), a control unit 12, a smoothing unit 13 (smoothing unit), a current output unit 14 (current output unit), resistors 15-1 to 15-4, and a light emitting unit 16. -1 to 16-4 (light emitting means) and light receiving portions 17-1 to 17-4 (light receiving means). The control unit 12 includes a reading unit 12-2 (reading unit) and a voltage output unit 12-1 (voltage output unit).

The storage unit 11 includes a storage element such as an EEPROM (Electronically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory).
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the storage unit 11 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the storage unit 11 includes a light emitting unit name (such as the light emitting unit 16-1), a duty ratio (such as 0.5), and a light emission order (such as 1) of each of the light emitting units 16-1 to 16-4. Are stored in association with each other.
The duty ratio is expressed by the equation T _HI / (T _HI + T _LOW ). Here, T _HI is a time when the voltage output from the voltage output unit 12-1 of the control unit 12 is HI, and T _LOW is a time when the voltage is LOW.
The light emission order indicates the order in which the plurality of light emitting units emit light. Here, a case where light is emitted in the order of the light emitting unit 16-1, the light emitting unit 16-3, the light emitting unit 16-2, and the light emitting unit 16-4 is shown. After the light emitting unit 16-4 emits light, the light emitting unit 16-1 repeats light emission again.
In the present embodiment, the duty ratio for causing each light emitting section to emit light having the intensity with the best light receiving sensitivity of each light receiving section is stored in the storage section 11 as the duty ratio. Based on the intensity of the light emitted from the light receiving unit, the current value of the current output from the current output unit is calculated, and based on this current value, the voltage value of the voltage output from the smoothing unit is calculated. Based on the above, the duty ratio of the voltage output from the voltage output unit can be calculated. The administrator of the detection apparatus 10a records the calculated duty ratio in the storage unit 11 in advance.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the reading unit 12-2 reads the duty ratio stored in the storage unit 11 every predetermined time (for example, 0.1 second) in accordance with the light emission order stored in the storage unit 11. Specifically, the reading unit 12-2 reads 0.5, which is the duty ratio of the light emitting unit 16-1, from the storage unit 11. Similarly, the reading unit 12-2 reads out the duty ratios 0.75, 0.66, and 0.8 of the light emitting units 16-2, 16-3, and 16-4 from the storage unit 11, respectively.

The voltage output unit 12-1 outputs the voltage of the duty ratio read by the reading unit 12-2 to the smoothing unit 13.
FIG. 3A to FIG. 3D are diagrams illustrating voltage waveforms output to the smoothing unit 13 by the voltage output unit 12-1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In these drawings, the horizontal axis indicates time, and the vertical axis indicates voltage.
FIGS. 3A to 3D show voltage waveforms with duty ratios (T _HI / (T _HI + T _LOW )) of 0.5, 0.75, 0.66, and 0.8, respectively. Yes.

The smoothing unit 13 includes a filter and smoothes the voltage output from the voltage output unit 12-1. The smoothing unit 13 smoothes the voltage output from the voltage output unit 12-1, so that the waveforms W1, W2, W3, and W4 in FIGS. 3A to 3D are the waveforms W5, W6, Smoothing is performed as in W7 and W8. Specifically, the smoothed voltages V1 to V4 of the waveforms W5, W6, W7, and W8 are expressed as (V _HI × T _HI + V _LOW × T _LOW ) / (T _HI + T _LOW ).
The current output unit 14 includes an amplifier, and outputs currents I corresponding to the voltages V1 to V4 smoothed by the smoothing unit 13 to the light emitting units 16-1 to 16-4 via the resistor 15, respectively. In the present embodiment, each light emitting unit 16 is supplied with an I / 4 current.

The light emitting unit 16 includes a light emitting element such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) and emits light using the current output from the current output unit 14. In the present embodiment, one terminal of the light emitting units 16-1 to 16-4 is connected to the current output unit 14 via the resistors 15-1 to 15-4, and the other terminal is grounded.
Moreover, the light emission parts 16-1 to 16-4 are connected in parallel. Thereby, many light-emitting parts and the light-receiving part corresponding to those light-emitting parts can be provided in the detection apparatus 10a.
The light receiving unit 17 includes a light receiving element such as a photosensor, and receives light emitted from the light emitting unit 16. One light receiving portion is provided for one light emitting portion.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a partial configuration of the detection apparatus 10a according to the embodiment of the present invention. The detection device 10a is incorporated in a printer.
On the upper surface side of the print paper 21 unwound from the roll paper 20 (supply side), an ink ribbon roll 24 (unused part) wound around a supply core 23 on the unwind side, an ink ribbon guide roll 25, a thermal The head 26, the ink ribbon guide roll 27, and the winding core 28 on the winding side are arranged in this order. The ink ribbon 29 that has been unwound from the ink ribbon roll 24 is superposed on the print paper 21 that has been guided by the guide roll 25 and unwound from the roll paper 20, and is conveyed between the thermal head 26 and the platen roll 30. After that, it is wound around the winding core 28 via the guide roll 27.

  On the lower surface side of the print paper 21, a platen roll 30 is disposed at a position facing the thermal head 26, and the print paper 21 is appropriately pressed by the heating resistor provided in the thermal head 26 by the platen roll 30. A feed roll 32 is disposed at a position facing the pinch roll 31. The print paper 21 is conveyed by sandwiching the print paper 21 between the pinch roll 31 and the feed roll 32 and rotating the feed roll 32.

On the supply side of the ink ribbon 29, a light emitting unit 16-1 and a light receiving unit 17-1 that receives light emitted from the light emitting unit 16-1 are provided. The light emitting unit 16-1 and the light receiving unit 17-1 detect the position of the ink ribbon 29 before printing.
On the discharge side of the ink ribbon 29, a light emitting unit 16-2 and a light receiving unit 17-2 that receives light emitted from the light emitting unit 16-2 are provided. The light emitting unit 16-2 and the light receiving unit 17-2 detect the position of the ink ribbon 29 after printing.

On the supply side of the print paper 21, a light emitting unit 16-3 and a light receiving unit 17-3 that receives light emitted from the light emitting unit 16-3 are provided. The light emitting unit 16-3 and the light receiving unit 17-3 detect the position of the print paper 21 before printing.
On the discharge side of the print paper 21, a light emitting unit 16-4 and a light receiving unit 17-4 that receives light emitted from the light emitting unit 16-4 are provided. The light emitting unit 16-4 and the light receiving unit 17-4 detect the position of the printed paper 21 after printing.

  In this embodiment, when the voltage of the duty ratio is smoothed by the smoothing unit 13 as the duty ratio of the light receiving unit 17-1, and a current corresponding to the smoothed voltage is output to each light emitting unit. The light-emitting unit 16-1 is set to emit light having the intensity with the best light-receiving sensitivity of the light-receiving unit 17-1. The duty ratios of the light receiving units 17-2, 17-3, and 17-4 are similarly set.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing of the control unit 12 according to the embodiment of the present invention.
First, the control unit 12 sets a variable N to 1 (step S1).
Then, the reading unit 12-2 of the control unit 12 reads the duty ratio of the receiving unit 17-N from the storage unit 11 (Step S2). Here, since the variable N is 1, the control unit 12 reads the duty ratio 0.5 of the reception unit 17-1 from the storage unit 11.
And the voltage output part 12-1 of the control part 12 outputs the voltage waveform of the duty ratio read from the memory | storage part 11 to the smoothing part 13 (step S3). The smoothing unit 13 smoothes the voltage output from the voltage output unit 12-1. The current output unit 14 outputs a current value corresponding to the voltage output from the voltage output unit 12-1 to each of the light emitting units 16-1 to 16-4. And an electric current flows into the light emission parts 16-1 to 16-4. Using this current, the light emitting unit 16-1 emits light having the intensity at which the light receiving sensitivity of the light receiving unit 17-1 is best.

And the control part 12 adds 1 to the variable N (step S4). Here, 1 is added to N = 1, and N = 2.
The control unit 12 determines whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 0.1 second) has elapsed by referring to a timer built in the control unit 12 (step S5). If the control unit 12 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed ("NO" in step S4), the process proceeds to step S5 again. On the other hand, when the control unit 12 determines that the predetermined time has elapsed (“YES” in step S4), the process proceeds to step S6.

Then, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the variable N is larger than the total number A (A = 4 in this case) of receiving units (step S6). When the variable N is smaller than the total number A of receiving units (“NO” in step S6), the process proceeds to step S2 and the process of step S3 is performed. Thereby, the light emitting unit 16-3 emits light having the intensity with which the light receiving sensitivity of the light receiving unit 17-3 is the best. Thereafter, the processes of steps S2 to S6 are performed for N = 3 and N = 4, respectively. As a result, the light emitting units 16-2 and 16-4 emit light having the intensity with the best light receiving sensitivity of the light receiving units 17-2 and 17-4, respectively.
When the variable N is smaller than the total number A (here, A = 4) of the receiving units (“YES” in step S6), that is, when N = 5, the process proceeds to step S1 and the variable N is set to 1 The process from step S1 is repeated again.

  According to the embodiment of the present invention, each light receiving unit 17-1 to 17-4 emits light having a light emission intensity determined based on the duty ratio set for the self light receiving unit every time the light emission sequence is completed. Since light can be received from -1 to 16-4, each light receiving unit can reliably receive light according to the light receiving characteristics at every predetermined time interval.

In the detection apparatus 10a (see FIG. 1) according to the above-described embodiment, the light receiving units 17-1 to 17-4 are connected in parallel. However, as illustrated in FIG. -4 may be connected in series to form the detection device 10b. 6 that are the same as those of the detection apparatus 10a of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.
With such a circuit configuration, a constant current flows through each of the light emitting units 16-1 to 16-4, and the light emission amount of each light emitting unit can be stabilized.

  In the embodiment described above, the control unit 12 in FIG. 1 or a program for realizing a part of this function is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is stored in a computer system. The detection device 10a may be controlled by causing the detection device 10a to read and execute. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

  The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a storage device such as a flexible medium, a magneto-optical disk, a portable medium such as a ROM and a CD-ROM, and a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” dynamically holds a program for a short time, like a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In this case, it is also assumed that a server that holds a program for a certain time, such as a volatile memory inside a computer system that serves as a server or client. The program may be a program for realizing a part of the functions described above, and may be a program capable of realizing the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes designs and the like that do not depart from the gist of the present invention.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the detection apparatus 10a by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the information which the memory | storage part 11 by embodiment of this invention memorize | stores. It is a figure which shows the waveform of the voltage which the voltage output part 12-1 by embodiment of this invention outputs to the smoothing part 13. FIG. It is the schematic which shows the structure of a part of detection apparatus 10a by embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the control part 12 by embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the detection apparatus 10b by embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10a ... Detection apparatus, 11 ... Memory | storage part, 12 ... Control part, 13 ... Smoothing part, 14 ... Current output part, 15-1-15-4 ... Resistance, 16 -1 to 16-4 ... light emitting part, 17-1 to 17-4 ... light receiving part, 12 ... control part, 12-1 ... voltage output part, 12-2 ... reading part , 20 ... roll paper, 21 ... print paper, 23 ... supply core, 24 ... ink ribbon roll, 25 ... guide roll for ink ribbon, 26 ... thermal head, 27 ... Ink ribbon guide roll, 28 ... take-up core, 29 ... ink ribbon, 30 ... platen roll, 31 ... pinch roll, 32 ... feed roll

Claims (6)

A detection device comprising a plurality of light receiving means,
Voltage output means for outputting a predetermined voltage;
Smoothing means for smoothing the voltage output by the voltage output means;
Current output means for outputting a current corresponding to the voltage smoothed by the smoothing means;
A plurality of light emitting means for emitting light using the current output from the current output means;
Storage means for storing the duty ratio of the voltage output by the voltage output means for each light receiving means;
Read means for reading the duty ratio stored in the storage means at predetermined time intervals,
The voltage output means outputs the voltage of the duty ratio read by the reading means as a predetermined voltage,
The detection device, wherein the plurality of light receiving units respectively receive light emitted from the plurality of light emitting units. The storage means stores a light emission order of a plurality of light emitting means,
The detection device according to claim 1, wherein the reading unit reads the duty ratio stored in the storage unit at predetermined times in accordance with the light emission order stored in the storage unit.   The said storage means memorize | stores the duty ratio which makes the said several light emission means light-emit the intensity | strength with the best light reception sensitivity of each light reception means for every light reception means. Detection device.   The detection device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of light emitting units are connected in parallel.   The detection device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of light emitting units are connected in series. A detection method by a detection device comprising a plurality of light receiving means,
A first step of outputting a predetermined voltage by the voltage output means;
A second step of smoothing the voltage output by the voltage output means by the smoothing means;
A third step of outputting a current according to the voltage smoothed by the smoothing means by a current output means;
A fourth step of emitting light by a plurality of light emitting means using the current output from the current output means;
A fifth step of storing the duty ratio of the voltage output by the voltage output means by the storage means for each light receiving means;
And a sixth step of reading out the duty ratio stored in the storage means by the reading means at every predetermined time,
The voltage output means outputs the voltage of the duty ratio read by the reading means as a predetermined voltage,
The detection method characterized in that each of the plurality of light receiving means receives light emitted from the plurality of light emitting means.

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