JP2010023292A - Printer apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer apparatus which avoids waste by removing a printing medium discarded while reducing an operator's working burden. <P>SOLUTION: The inkjet printer 10 is configured to carry out printing to a printing sheet M by combining conveyance of the printing sheet M and movement of a printer head 22 in a direction to intersect a conveyance direction while the printer head 22 is opposed to the printing sheet M. The inkjet printer is equipped with a feed roller 12b which conveys the printing sheet M in the conveyance direction, a medium detecting sensor 23 which detects the presence or absence of the printing sheet M supported on a platen 12a and that an end position in the conveyance direction of the printing sheet M is located on a printing starting position, and a controlling part which moves the printing sheet M in a direction opposite to the conveyance direction when it is detected that the printing sheet M is supported on the platen 12a before starting of printing until it is detected by the medium detecting sensor 23 that the end position is located on the printing starting position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer apparatus that performs printing on a sheet-like print medium.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an inkjet printer is known as an example of a printer device that performs desired printing on a print medium. As an ink jet printer, for example, a configuration is known in which a sheet-like print medium is supported on a platen and a printer head is provided above the platen so as to face the print medium. During printing, for example, the printer head is reciprocated left and right, and ink is ejected from the nozzle openings formed on the lower surface of the printer head while feeding the print medium in a direction perpendicular to the print medium (feed direction). Thus, it is attached to the print medium in a desired pattern.

  Some printer apparatuses having the above-described configuration are configured to perform printing by sequentially feeding and placing sheet-like print media on a platen. In this apparatus, for example, when printing of one image is completed, the printed print medium (printed material) is cut and separated from the print medium that has not been printed. Before starting the printing, it is necessary to position a print medium that has not been printed below the printer head. Conventionally, printing is started in a state where the print medium is conveyed to some extent in the feed direction and is surely positioned below the printer head, and after printing, the excess part (the part where printing is not performed) is cut. Thus, for example, the margin lengths of the end portions of the printed material are aligned.

A method for cutting and aligning the edge of the print medium as described above is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1. In this patent document 1, when the auto feed switch changes from an ON operation to an OFF operation while calculating the roll paper leading edge position based on the roll paper moving speed and the roll paper leading edge detection timing of the two optical sensors. In addition, it is configured to determine whether or not the leading end position of the roll paper has been fed out beyond a predetermined length. As a result, when it is determined that the roll paper has been fed out beyond a predetermined length, the roll paper is cut and aligned to a length that can be grasped and taken out.
JP 2002-3021 A

  However, when the above-described print medium is transported to some extent and the method of cutting the excess portion after printing is used, the print medium (excess portion) cut and removed is discarded as it is. In addition, there is a problem that the print medium is wasted accordingly. In addition, in order to reduce the print media to be discarded as much as possible, the operator manually moved the printer device to move the print medium in the direction opposite to the feeding direction. In some cases, there is a risk of increasing the operator's workload.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer apparatus that eliminates waste by eliminating print media to be discarded while reducing the burden on the operator.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the printer device according to the present invention, the printer head is opposed to a print medium (for example, the print sheet M in the embodiment) supported by the medium support means (for example, the platen 12a in the embodiment). In the state, the print head is configured to perform desired printing on the surface of the print medium by combining the feed of the print medium and the movement of the printer head in a direction crossing the feed direction. Medium conveying means (for example, the feed roller 12b in the embodiment), the presence / absence of a printing medium supported by the medium supporting means, and the end position of the printing medium in the feeding direction are printed. Medium detecting means (for example, medium detecting sensor 23 in the embodiment) for detecting the position at the start position; Before starting, when the medium detecting means detects that the print medium is supported by the medium supporting means, the print medium is moved in a direction opposite to the feeding direction, and the end portion Is conveyed until it is detected by the medium detection means (for example, the control unit 13b in the embodiment).

  In the above-described printer apparatus, the printer head is configured to be mounted on a moving member (for example, the carriage 21 in the embodiment) that is movable in a direction that intersects the feeding direction. A configuration mounted on a member is preferable.

  Furthermore, in the above-described printer apparatus, when a print medium is transported in the feeding direction and supported by the medium support means before starting printing, a direction opposite to the feeding direction is applied when a force acts in the feeding direction. It is preferable to include a delivery unit (for example, the delivery unit 41 in the embodiment) that causes the resistance force of the print medium to act on the print medium.

  According to the printer device of the present invention, before the start of printing, until the end position in the print medium feeding direction is detected by the medium detection unit, the print medium is in the feed direction. It is configured to move in the opposite direction (back feed). Therefore, unlike the prior art, it is not necessary to cut off the extra portion of the printed material after printing, and there is no print medium to be discarded, thereby eliminating waste. Therefore, the print medium can be used effectively, so that the printing cost can be reduced. Further, since the back feed of the print medium is automatically performed based on the detection result of the medium detection means, for example, it is not necessary for the operator to manually perform the back feed as in the conventional case, thereby reducing the burden on the operator. Is possible.

  In the above-described printer device according to the present invention, it is preferable that the printer head and the medium detecting means are mounted on the moving member. With this configuration, when the print start position is to be set, for example, in the vicinity of the printer head, it can be realized with a simple apparatus configuration in which medium detecting means is installed in the vicinity of the printer head on the moving member. . Further, at this time, since the movement control of the printer head and the medium detection means can be performed by controlling the movement of only the moving member, for example, the printer apparatus is compared with the case where the movement control of the printer head and the medium detection means is performed separately. The control system can be configured simply.

  In the above-described printer device, when the printing medium is conveyed in the feeding direction and supported by the medium support means, for example, when an operator exerts a force in the feeding direction, a resistance force opposite to the feeding direction is applied. A configuration provided with delivery means for acting on the print medium is preferable. When configured in this way, the print medium can be supported by the medium support means in a state where the print medium is straight in the feeding direction and without wrinkles. Therefore, it is possible to perform printing while maintaining the positional relationship between the printer head and the print medium with high accuracy, thereby improving the print quality.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. For convenience of explanation, the arrow directions shown in the drawings are defined as front and rear, left and right, and up and down. 1 and 2 show an overall view of an inkjet printer 10 as an example of a printer apparatus to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 1 shows a view of the inkjet printer 10 as viewed from the front, and FIG. 2 shows a view of the inkjet printer 10 as viewed from the left.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the inkjet printer 10 is provided on the left side of the support body 11 having left and right support legs 11 a and 11 b, the center body part 12 supported by the support legs 11, and the center body part 12. A left body portion 13, a right body portion 14 provided on the right side of the central body portion 12, an upper body portion 15 that connects the left and right body portions 13, 14, and is spaced parallel to the upper side of the central body portion 12. It is configured with. The central body portion 12 is provided with a platen 12a that is exposed on the upper surface and extends to the left and right, and a plurality of clamping devices 15a are attached to the lower portion of the upper body portion 15 side by side. (See FIG. 3). The clamp device 15a has a pinch roller 15c rotatably attached to the front end portion thereof.

  A cylindrical feed roller 12b extending left and right is disposed below the pinch roller 15c so as to be exposed to the platen 12a (see FIG. 3). The feed roller 12b is disposed inside the central body portion 12. It rotates by the drive of the roller drive motor 12c installed in (see FIG. 1). Here, the clamp device 15a can be set to a clamp position where the pinch roller 15c is pressed against the feed roller 12b and an unclamp position where the pinch roller 15c is separated from the feed roller 12b. . With this configuration, the sheet-like print sheet M to be printed is sandwiched between the pinch roller 15c and the feed roller 12b, the clamp device 15a is set at the clamp position, and the roller drive motor 12c is driven. The printing sheet M can be fed forward or backward by a desired distance.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an operation unit 13 a composed of operation switches, display devices, and the like is provided on the front side of the left body unit 13, and maintenance is provided inside the left body unit 13. A station 30 and a control unit 13b are provided. The maintenance station 30 is provided with a head cap (not shown) formed on the upper surface according to the shape of the lower surface of the printer head 22 described later. When maintenance of the printer head 22 is performed, the inside of the head cap is sucked in a state where the head cap is in contact with the lower surface of the printer head 22 to recover from clogging of the nozzle openings described later, It is possible to remove the garbage etc. For example, the control unit 13b controls the operation by outputting an operation signal to the roller drive motor 12c, the medium detection sensor 23, the unit drive motor 24, and the like, which will be described later, so that a desired operation state is obtained. Yes. The control unit 13b receives a light reception result (light reception intensity) detected by a medium detection sensor 23 described later.

  A cartridge mounting portion 16 is provided on the upper portion of the right body portion 14, and a plurality of cartridge type ink tanks 18 are detachably mounted on the cartridge mounting portion 16 for each color from the front. In addition, a unit drive motor 24 that reciprocates a head unit 20 (to be described later) left and right is installed inside the right body portion 14. As shown in FIG. 3, a guide rail 15b extending left and right is provided inside the upper body portion 15, and a head unit 20 is attached so as to reciprocate left and right along the guide rail 15b.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the head unit 20 mainly includes a carriage 21, a printer head 22, and a medium detection sensor 23. The rear surface of the carriage 21 is fitted with the guide rail 15b, and can be reciprocated left and right along the guide rail 15b. The carriage 21 is a mounting base for the printer head 22 and the medium detection sensor 23. The printer head 22 includes, for example, magenta (M), yellow (Y), cyan (C), and black (K) printer heads 22M, 22Y, 22C, and 22K. Are connected through tubes. A plurality of nozzle openings (not shown) for discharging ink downward are formed on the lower surfaces of the printer heads 22M, 22Y, 22C, and 22K.

  The medium detection sensor 23 is attached to, for example, the right front end (front side of the printer head 22) of the carriage 21, and emits inspection light downward from a light emitting unit (not shown). The reflected light can be received by a light receiving unit (not shown). The light reception result (light reception intensity) at the light receiving unit is output to the control unit 13b as described above. The control unit 13b can detect whether or not the print sheet M exists on the platen 12a below the medium detection sensor 23 based on the input light reception intensity. Furthermore, by detecting that the received light intensity changes greatly while continuously receiving the received light intensity at the light receiving unit, the end of the print sheet M is positioned below the medium detection sensor 23 at that time. Can be detected.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the delivery unit 41 supports and sequentially feeds the unprinted printed sheets M wound in a roll shape, and is provided with a medium lock mechanism (not shown). The medium lock mechanism will be described. As will be described later, when the operator manually pulls out the print sheet M and places it on the platen 12a, the print sheet M is placed with wrinkles. In order to prevent this, for example, the drawer is temporarily stopped (locked) when it is pulled out 130 mm. Note that the medium lock mechanism may be configured to apply, for example, a certain force (a force that resists the pulling out) to the printing sheet M in a direction opposite to the pulling out direction.

  The constituent members of the ink jet printer 10 have been described so far, but the operation of each member when printing on the print sheet M using the ink jet printer 10 will be described below.

  At the time of printing, as shown in FIG. 3, the print sheet M is sandwiched between the pinch roller 15c and the feed roller 12b, and the clamp device 15a is set at the clamp position. In this state, while the carriage 21 is reciprocated left and right along the guide rail 15b with respect to the print sheet M positioned on the platen 12a, ink is ejected downward from the nozzle openings on the lower surface of each printer head. Thus, printing is performed by adhering to the upper surface of the print sheet M in a desired pattern. Then, the roller drive motor 12c is driven to send the print sheet M forward by a predetermined distance, and then the ink is ejected and adhered to the print sheet M while the carriage 21 is reciprocated back and forth again. By repeating this operation, desired printing is performed on the printing sheet M.

  The operation of each member when printing on the print sheet M has been described above. In the following, for example, when a plurality of types of printing are performed on the print sheet M, one (one type) of printing is completed. A procedure for resuming printing by cutting and separating a printed portion from an unprinted portion every time will be described. In the following, among the procedures for resuming the printing, in particular, the front end portion of the cut unprinted print sheet M is positioned at the print start position (below the medium detection sensor 23) on the platen 12a (hereinafter referred to as “the print detection position”). The procedure (simply referred to as “positioning”) will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition to the above, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a winding unit 51 is provided in the front portion of the inkjet printer 10, and the printed sheet M is wound while winding the printed sheet M printed by the winding unit 51. In the case where printing is performed continuously without cutting, the above positioning is required even before a new roll-shaped printing sheet M is attached to the delivery unit 41 and printing is started.

  4 (a), 4 (b), 5 (a) and 5 (b) are schematic views of the periphery of the platen 12a as viewed from the front on the left side of the paper, and the platen 12a on the right side of the paper. A schematic view of the periphery viewed from the left side is shown. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the positioning procedure. Steps 1 to 3 shown on the left side of the flowchart relate to the operation of the operator, and steps 4 to 7 shown on the right side are ink jet printers. 10 operations.

  The positioning procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6. First, the printed sheet M is present on the platen 12 a by cutting and separating the printed portion from the unprinted portion of the printed sheet M, for example. (See FIG. 4A). In this state, the head unit 20 is located near the left end of the guide rail 15b (above the maintenance station 30).

  In step 1, the operator grasps the end of the unprinted print sheet M and conveys the print sheet M onto the platen 12a. At this time, the print sheet M is pulled out stepwise by the above-described medium lock mechanism and placed on the platen 12a in a state where the print sheet M is straight and wrinkled. At this time, since printing cannot be started unless the print sheet M exists at least below the printer head 22, the print sheet M is placed on the platen 12a in a state where the print sheet M is conveyed to a certain extent.

  Next, the process proceeds to Step 2, and with the printing sheet M placed on the platen 12a, the clamping device 15a is set to the clamping position, and the printing sheet M is sandwiched between the pinch roller 15c and the feeding roller 12b. The state is set (see FIG. 4B). Subsequently, the process proceeds to step 3, and after confirming that the print sheet M placed on the platen 12 a has been pulled out to some extent forward, the operator is provided in the operation unit 13 a, for example. Press the “Media Set Key” (not shown).

  Proceeding to step 4, based on the operation in step 3, the head unit 20 is moved to the right along the guide rail 15b while the inspection light is emitted from the light emitting portion of the medium detection sensor 23. At this time, since the control unit 13b continuously detects the change in the received light intensity of the inspection light received by the light receiving unit and the moving position of the head unit 20 at that time, the left and right end positions of the print sheet M are detected. Can be detected, and the width of the printed sheet M can be detected (see FIG. 5A). For example, by inputting the left and right widths of the print sheet M to the control unit 13b in advance, whether or not the print sheet M is placed at a predetermined left and right position on the platen 12a, and the print sheet M in the feed direction ( It is also possible to detect whether it is placed straight with respect to the front-rear direction). If it is determined from the detection result that the placement state of the print sheet M is not preferable, the process does not proceed to step 5 described later, and for example, a warning is displayed on the operation unit 13a, thereby displaying the print sheet M to the operator. Can be urged to redo.

  Next, the process proceeds to step 5 where the head unit 20 is moved to the left along the guide rail 15b and the medium detection sensor 23 is positioned above the print sheet M. Subsequently, the process proceeds to step 6, and in the state of step 5, the control unit 13 b drives the roller drive motor 12 c while emitting inspection light from the light emitting unit of the medium detection sensor 23, and slowly moves the print sheet M backward. Move to (backfeed).

  Proceeding to step 7, when the front end portion of the print sheet M is positioned below the medium detection sensor 23 while the back feed is being performed, the received light intensity received by the light receiving portion of the medium detection sensor 23 is, for example, A large change from strong to weak is detected, and this light reception result is output to the control unit 13b. The control unit 13b determines that the front end of the print sheet M is positioned below the medium detection sensor 23 at this point in time when the large change in the received light intensity is input, and drives the roller drive motor 12c. Stop (see FIG. 5B). The print sheet M is held in a “printable state” in which the front end portion is positioned below the medium detection sensor 23, and this flow ends. In this printable state, desired printing can be performed on the printing sheet M by starting printing in which ink is ejected from the printer head 22 while the carriage 21 is reciprocated left and right as described above.

  As described above, conventionally, for example, printing is started in a state where the print sheet M is conveyed to some extent in the feeding direction and is surely positioned below the printer head, and the excess portion is cut after printing. , The length of the margin of the printed material was aligned. For this reason, every time one print is completed and the printed material is cut from the printed sheet M, it is necessary to cut the extra portion to make the length of the margin of the printed material, and the cut printed sheet M is discarded. In addition, since there is a wasteful printing sheet M, the printing cost is increased. On the other hand, according to the ink jet printer 10 to which the present invention is applied, it is not necessary to cut the print sheet M after printing to make the length of the blank portion uniform, so that the print sheet M is effectively used without being wasted. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the printing cost. Further, since the front end portion of the print sheet M can be automatically positioned below the medium detection sensor 23 simply by pressing the media set key, the operator's work load can be reduced.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the control unit 13b (medium detection sensor 23) performs the back feed until the front end portion of the print sheet M is detected has been described, but the configuration is not limited thereto. For example, a configuration in which the print sheet M is back-feeded by a predetermined length regardless of the length that is excessively pulled out forward may be used. In this way, the medium detection sensor 23 is not necessary, and a simple configuration can be achieved.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the medium detection sensor 23 is attached to the right front end portion of the carriage 21 is illustrated, but the configuration is not limited to this configuration. If the front end portion of the print sheet M can be detected while the print sheet M is being fed back, the medium detection sensor 23 may be attached to a portion other than the carriage 21, for example.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the front end portion of the print sheet M is detected by the medium detection sensor 23 and the driving of the roller drive motor 12c is stopped when the print sheet M is being fed back is shown. The configuration is not limited to this. In the above-described printable state, it is sufficient that the print sheet M exists below the printer head 22. For example, the roller drive motor 12 c of the roller drive motor 12 c is set according to the positional relationship between the printer head 22 and the medium detection sensor 23 on the carriage 21. The drive stop timing can be arbitrarily set.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where printing is performed while sequentially feeding the print sheets M wound in a roll shape has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the present invention can also be applied when printing on a printing sheet of a predetermined size (leaf-shaped printing sheet).

1 is a front view showing an ink jet printer according to the present invention. 1 is a side view showing an ink jet printer according to the present invention. It is the perspective view which showed the periphery of the head unit. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating a positioning procedure, (a) shows the state from which the printing sheet was removed, (b) shows the state by which the printing sheet was mounted in the platen. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining a positioning procedure, where (a) shows a state where a printed sheet is detected, and (b) shows a state where positioning is completed by backfeeding. It is the flowchart which showed the positioning procedure.

Explanation of symbols

M Print sheet (print medium)
10 Inkjet printer (printer device)
12a Platen (medium support means)
12b Feed roller (medium conveying means)
13b Control unit (conveyance control unit)
22 Printer head 21 Carriage (moving member)
23 Medium detection sensor (medium detection means)
41 Sending section (feeding means)

Claims (3)

In a state where the printer head is opposed to the print medium supported by the medium support means, the printing by the printer head is performed while combining the feeding of the printing medium and the movement of the printer head in the direction crossing the feeding direction. In a printer that performs desired printing on the surface of a medium,
Medium conveying means for conveying the print medium in the feeding direction;
Medium detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a print medium supported by the medium support means and that the end of the print medium in the feed direction is positioned at a print start position;
When the medium detecting means detects that the print medium is supported by the medium support means before the start of printing, the print medium is moved in a direction opposite to the feeding direction, and the end portion is A printer apparatus comprising: a conveyance control unit configured to move until it is detected by the medium detection unit to be positioned at a print start position. The printer head is configured to be mounted on a movable member that is movable in a direction intersecting the feeding direction,
The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the medium detection unit is configured to be mounted on the moving member.   When the print medium is transported in the feed direction and supported by the medium support means before printing is started, a resistance force opposite to the feed direction is applied to the print medium when a force acts in the feed direction. The printer apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a feeding unit for causing the printer to feed.

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