JP2012162035A - Recording apparatus, and method for controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent failure attributed to the fact that a recording head runs on a recording medium, and to thereby maintain high recording quality.SOLUTION: The recording apparatus includes the recording head 18 and a head moving unit including a carriage drive motor 35 for reciprocating the recording head 18. Control by a CPU 61 performs recording while moving the recording head 18 with respect to the recording medium within a moving range of the recording head 18. The CPU 61 moves the recording head 18 over an end of the recording medium to a recording start position on the recording medium 100 when the recording head 18 is located at a position out of the recording medium. Subsequently, the CPU changes an upper limit of a moving speed of the recording head 18 being moved, into a speed lower than the defined upper limit based on a moving start position.

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium, and a control method for the recording apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a recording apparatus that performs recording by scanning a recording head on a recording medium, the recording head moves away from the recording medium when the recording head rides on a step where the thickness of the recording medium changes or when the recording head runs over a thick recording medium. Therefore, it has been pointed out that problems such as some characters not being recorded occur. In order to solve this problem, for example, a change in the thickness of the recording medium is detected by an optical sensor, and when the thickness changes, the drive speed of the recording head is reduced (for example, see Patent Document 1). .

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-117277

By the way, the phenomenon that the recording head is separated from the recording medium can occur not only when the recording medium has a step, but also when the recording head rides over the end of the recording medium. There was a problem that it was difficult to detect the position. Therefore, the measure for preventing the recording quality from deteriorating when the recording head rides is to drive the recording head at a low speed, but there is a problem that the throughput is reduced.
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to prevent problems caused by a recording head riding on a recording medium and to maintain high recording quality.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a recording head, head moving means for reciprocating the recording head, and recording while moving the recording head with respect to a recording medium within the moving range of the recording head. Recording control means for performing, when the recording head is at a position deviated from the recording medium at the start of recording, the recording head is placed on the recording medium beyond the end of the recording medium. The upper limit of the moving speed of the moving recording head is changed to a speed lower than the set upper limit speed based on the moving start position.
According to the present invention, when the recording head moves beyond the end of the recording medium, the upper limit of the moving speed of the recording head is lowered based on the movement start position, so that the moving speed of the recording head is too high. Defects can be reliably prevented. In addition, when the movement start position of the recording head predicts that the moving speed of the recording head, for example, beyond the end of the recording medium does not reach a high speed, the upper limit of the moving speed of the recording head is not changed. For this reason, the frequency of changing the upper limit of the moving speed of the recording head can be suppressed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems due to the moving speed of the recording head, and to suppress the frequency of changing the upper limit value of the moving speed of the recording head, thereby preventing a decrease in throughput.

Further, in the recording apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to the recording operation, the recording control unit can execute control for moving the recording head to a predetermined position within a movable range of the recording head. When starting the recording operation after the control, the upper limit of the moving speed for moving the recording head beyond the end of the recording medium is changed.
According to the present invention, when the recording head is moved beyond the end of the recording medium, for example, when the recording head is moved to a predetermined position such as the end of the movable range by an operation other than the recording operation, the recording is started. When the moving speed of the recording head may reach a high speed, the moving speed of the recording head can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to suppress the movement speed of the recording head and prevent the occurrence of the trouble only in a situation where the trouble due to the moving speed of the recording head is likely to occur.

In the recording apparatus, the predetermined position may be a position set in advance at an end of a movable range of the recording head.
According to the present invention, the upper limit of the moving speed is suppressed when there is a high possibility that the moving speed when the recording head crosses the edge of the recording medium is high, so that a problem caused by the moving speed of the recording head occurs. And the frequency of changing the upper limit value of the moving speed of the recording head can be suppressed to prevent a decrease in throughput.

In the recording apparatus according to the present invention, the recording control unit may extend the recording head beyond the end of the recording medium when the upper limit of the moving speed of the recording head is set to a predetermined speed or more. The upper limit of the moving speed to be moved is changed.
According to the present invention, when the upper limit of the moving speed of the recording head is set to a high speed, the moving speed at the time of exceeding the end of the recording medium is suppressed, so that the occurrence of problems due to the moving speed of the recording head is prevented. In addition, the frequency of changing the upper limit value of the moving speed of the recording head can be suppressed to prevent a decrease in throughput.

In the recording apparatus according to the present invention, when the recording control unit moves the recording head beyond the end of the recording medium, the distance from the movement start position to the end of the recording medium is predetermined. In the above case, the upper limit of the moving speed of the recording head is changed.
According to the present invention, there is a possibility that the distance from the movement start position of the recording head to the end of the recording medium is long, the recording head is sufficiently accelerated before the end of the recording medium is exceeded, and the end of the recording medium is exceeded at high speed. In some cases, the moving speed of the recording head can be suppressed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems due to the moving speed of the recording head, and to suppress the frequency of changing the upper limit value of the moving speed of the recording head, thereby preventing a decrease in throughput.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a control method for controlling a recording apparatus comprising a recording head and a head moving means for reciprocating the recording head, wherein the moving range of the recording head is Recording is performed while moving the recording head with respect to the recording medium inside, and when the recording head is at a position away from the recording medium at the start of recording, the recording head is moved to the end of the recording medium. And moving to the recording start position on the recording medium, and changing the upper limit of the moving speed of the moving recording head to a speed lower than the set upper limit speed based on the movement start position. To do.
According to the present invention, when the recording head moves beyond the end of the recording medium, the upper limit of the moving speed of the recording head is lowered based on the movement start position, so that the moving speed of the recording head is too high. Defects can be reliably prevented. In addition, when the movement start position of the recording head predicts that the moving speed of the recording head, for example, beyond the end of the recording medium does not reach a high speed, the upper limit of the moving speed of the recording head is not changed. For this reason, the frequency of changing the upper limit of the moving speed of the recording head can be suppressed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems due to the moving speed of the recording head, and to suppress the frequency of changing the upper limit value of the moving speed of the recording head, thereby preventing a decrease in throughput.

  According to the present invention, when the recording head moves beyond the end of the recording medium, it is possible to reliably prevent problems caused by the moving speed of the recording head being too fast, and to change the upper limit value of the moving speed of the recording head. It is possible to prevent a decrease in throughput by suppressing the frequency of the transmission.

1 is an external perspective view of a printer according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a printer body. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the printer body. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a state where an upper part of the printer main body is removed. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of the printer body. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of the printer body. 2 is a functional block diagram of a printer control system. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the conventional operation | movement of the printer at the time of recording. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of the printer according to the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a printer. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of the printer which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a printer according to a second embodiment.

[First Embodiment]
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a printer 10 as a recording apparatus according to a first embodiment to which the present invention is applied. The printer 10 of the present embodiment is a dot impact printer that includes a recording head 18 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) that includes a plurality of recording wires, and the recording wire is recorded from the recording head 18 via an ink ribbon. By striking toward the medium, dots are formed on the recording surface of the recording medium, and characters, images, symbols, etc. are recorded. An image or the like recorded by the printer 10 is composed of one line or a plurality of lines, and is recorded for each line.
A host computer 68 (FIG. 7) is connected to the printer 10 as an external device, and the printer 10 records (prints) in units of lines or pages based on various commands and data input from the host computer 68. Execute.

As a recording medium usable in the printer 10, there are continuous sheets such as roll paper and fanfold paper, in addition to a cut sheet having a fixed size or an arbitrary size other than a fixed size. These cut sheets and continuous sheets may be made of paper such as plain paper, copy paper, cardboard, or the like, or a sheet made of synthetic resin, and these sheets may be processed by coating or infiltration. Further, as a cut sheet, in addition to a standard size cut paper (PPC paper, postcard, etc.), it is also possible to record in a booklet passbook or the like in which a plurality of sheets are bound.
In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which an image is recorded on the recording medium 100 that is the cut sheet or passbook by the printer 10.

  The printer 10 shown in FIG. 1 has a configuration in which a main body is housed in an exterior formed by connecting an upper case 13 and a lower case 14 vertically below a cover 12 that is disposed at the top so as to be openable and closable. A manual feed port 15 for manually supplying and discharging the recording medium 100 is provided on the front surface of the exterior. In the present embodiment, the direction in which the recording medium 100 is inserted into the manual feed slot 15 is designated as direction A, the direction in which the recording medium 100 is ejected from the manual feed slot 15 is designated as direction B, and arrows A and B in the figure. Show.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the printer main body 11 housed in the exterior of the printer 10, and FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the printer 10. A symbol C shown in FIG. 3 indicates a conveyance path of the recording medium 100.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the printer main body 11 has a main body frame including a left side frame 16 and a right side frame 17, and the main body frame includes a recording head 18 and a carriage 19. A mechanism unit 20, a platen 21 facing the recording head 18, a first transport mechanism unit 24 including a first transport roller 22 and a second transport roller 23, a second transport roller 26 including a third transport roller 25 and a fourth transport roller 26. The conveyance mechanism unit 27, the magnetic data reading unit 29 including the magnetic head 34 for reading / writing magnetic information of the magnetic stripe 101 included in the recording medium 100, and the recording medium 100 floating when reading / writing the magnetic information It is the structure which provided the sheet pressing part 30 which presses from above.

The left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 are erected so as to face each other at the left and right ends of the printer main body 11. A carriage shaft 31 is bridged between the side frames 16, 17. , 17, the flat sheet-shaped front sheet guide 32 and the rear sheet guide 33 are fixed, and constitute the floor surface of the conveyance path C in which the recording medium 100 is conveyed. A platen 21 described later is arranged between the front seat guide 32 and the rear seat guide 33.
The left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 constitute a ceiling surface of the conveyance path C of the recording medium 100, and a front frame 45 and a rear that support a second conveyance roller 23 and a fourth conveyance roller 26 described later. The frame 46 is fixed.

  The first transport mechanism 24 is positioned on the front side of the platen 21, and the second transport mechanism 27 is positioned on the rear side of the platen 21. The first transport roller 22 and the third transport roller 25 are drive rollers that are rotationally driven by a transport motor 36 (FIG. 7) and a driving wheel train (not shown), and the second transport roller 23 and the fourth transport roller 26 are respectively , A driven roller that rotates as the first transport roller 22 and the third transport roller 25 rotate. The 1st conveyance mechanism part 24 and the 2nd conveyance mechanism part 27 comprise a conveyance means with the conveyance motor 36 mentioned later.

As shown in FIG. 3, an alignment plate 54 is disposed between the platen 21 and the first transport roller 22. The alignment plate 54 is a plate-like member that extends along the width direction of the recording medium 100, that is, the digit direction, and is perpendicular to the conveyance path C. The alignment plate 54 is embedded under the transport path C, and moves forward and backward in the transport path C by the operation of the alignment motor 37 (FIG. 7). By causing the alignment plate 37 to protrude in the conveyance path C by the operation of the alignment motor 37 and conveying the recording medium 100 so as to abut against the alignment plate 54 by the first conveyance mechanism 24, the skew of the recording medium 100 is corrected. . This aligning plate 54 and the aligning motor 37 that drives the aligning plate 54 are combined to constitute an aligning means.
The magnetic head 34 is reciprocally driven by a magnetic motor 38 (FIG. 7) along two magnetic head guides that are bridged in parallel between the side frames 16 and 17. The magnetic head 34 magnetically records various information on the magnetic stripe 101 (FIG. 1) of the passbook used as the recording medium 100 and reads the information.

The carriage 19 is slidably inserted into the carriage shaft 31 and travels (scans) along the carriage shaft 31 by forward or reverse operation of a carriage drive motor 35 (FIG. 7) as a head moving means. The scanning direction of the carriage 19 is defined as the main scanning direction. The main scanning direction coincides with the digit direction.
A recording head 18 is mounted on the carriage 19 and moves along the main scanning direction on the recording surface of the recording medium 100 together with the carriage 19.
A platen 21 is disposed directly below the recording head 18 along the main scanning direction. The platen 21 is elastically supported while being urged by a biasing spring 40 (FIG. 3) from below, and the recording head is caused by this elastic force. The recording output of the recording wire protruding from 18 is received.
In addition, an ink ribbon drawn from the ribbon cartridge 39 is disposed on the carriage 19 so as to be positioned in front of the recording head 18. The recording head 18 protrudes a recording wire while running in the main scanning direction, and strikes the recording surface of the recording medium 100 via the ink ribbon. The ink of the ink ribbon is applied between the platen 21 and the recording head 18. An image including characters is recorded on the recording medium 100 by being attached to the recording medium 100 conveyed in between.

A gap roller 41 is mounted on the carriage 19 side by side with the recording head 18. The gap roller 41 is located on the side of the surface from which the recording head 18 protrudes the recording wire. The lower end of the gap roller 41 is positioned below the front end surface of the recording head 18 in a state in which the recording wire is not driven out, and resists the urging force of the urging spring 40 that pushes up the platen 21, on the platen 21 or the platen 21. The recording medium 100. Since the gap roller 41 is rotatably supported by the carriage 19, the gap roller 41 can move while being in contact with the platen 21 or the recording medium 100 while rotating when the carriage 19 is scanned.
Therefore, when the recording head 18 records on the recording medium 100, the distance (gap) between the leading end surface of the recording head 18 and the recording surface of the recording medium 100 is maintained at an appropriate size by the gap roller 41. Even if the thickness of the recording medium 100 changes during recording, the platen 21 elastically supported by the biasing spring 40 is displaced up and down to absorb the difference in thickness, and the gap is kept at an appropriate size. Be drunk.

The printer 10 also includes various sensors for controlling the recording operation.
As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of alignment sensors 52 are disposed on the front side of the alignment plate 54. The alignment sensor 52 is, for example, a transmissive optical sensor that detects the presence or absence of the recording medium 100 by using a light emitting unit (such as an LED) and a light receiving unit (such as a phototransistor) that are opposed to each other with the conveyance path C interposed therebetween. The plurality of alignment sensors 52 are arranged side by side in the main scanning direction at predetermined intervals, and based on the detection state of the plurality of alignment sensors 52, whether or not the leading edge of the recording medium 100 is aligned along the alignment sensor 52, that is, the recording medium 100. It is possible to determine whether or not the alignment is successful. Further, since the leading end of the recording medium 100 is at the position of the alignment plate 54 when the alignment of the recording medium 100 is completed, it is based on the number of operation steps of the transport motor 36 after the alignment completion is detected by the alignment sensor 52. The position of the recording medium 100 in the transport direction can be obtained.

A medium width detection sensor 55 is mounted on the carriage 19 on the rear side of the recording head 18. The medium width detection sensor 55 is a reflective optical sensor in which a light emitting unit (LED or the like) and a light receiving unit (phototransistor or the like) are arranged side by side toward the conveyance path C, for example. The medium width detection sensor 55 moves on the platen 21 as the carriage 19 scans. During this movement, the detected value of the medium width detection sensor 55 and the scanning position of the carriage 19 are made to correspond to each other. And the width of the recording medium 100 are required.
Further, an insertion sensor 53 (FIG. 7) is disposed on the front side of the second transport roller 23 of the printer 10. The insertion sensor 53 is a transmissive optical sensor composed of, for example, a light emitting unit (LED or the like) and a light receiving unit (phototransistor or the like) disposed opposite to each other across the conveyance path C, and is manually inserted from the manual feed port 15. The recording medium 100 detected is detected.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the upper part of the printer main body 11 is removed. FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of the printer main body 11 showing the vicinity of the recording head 18. FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part in the vicinity of the recording head 18.
As shown in FIG. 4, a sheet guide 60 made of an elongated resin film is extended on the platen 21 in the main scanning direction.
As shown in FIG. 6, the front side of the sheet guide 60 is supported by the guide support portion 70, and the opposite side is in contact with the upper surface of the platen 21. When the recording medium 100 is inserted from the manual feed port 15 and conveyed along the conveyance path C toward the recording head 18, the sheet guide 60 comes into contact with the recording surface of the recording medium 100, and the gap roller 41 is placed on the sheet guide 60. Abut.
The gap roller 41 is located on the front side of the surface from which the recording head 18 protrudes the recording wire, and a part of the circumferential surface of the gap roller 41 is on the sheet guide 60 extending from the front side. During scanning, the gap roller 41 reciprocates on the sheet guide 60.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the guide support portion 70 that supports the seat guide 60 rotates the guide support shaft 71 spanned between the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 and the guide support shaft 71. A guide support bearing 72 that is freely supported, a spring support plate 73 that is fixed to an end portion of the guide support shaft 71 on the right side frame 17 side, and protrudes toward the recording head 18 side, and the guide support shaft 71 together with the spring support plate 73. A fixed contact portion 73A that protrudes on the opposite side of the spring receiving plate 73, an urging spring 75 that urges the spring receiving plate 73 from below, and a lower portion of the urging spring 75 are accommodated and supported from below. And a spring accommodating portion 74 that is configured. The base end portion of the sheet guide 60 is bonded and fixed to the guide support shaft 71 with, for example, a double-sided tape or an adhesive.
The right side frame 17 is provided with a presser lever 76 adjacent to the guide support portion 70. The presser lever 76 includes a rotary shaft 78 that is rotatably supported by the right side frame 17, a presser protrusion 79 that protrudes from the rotary shaft 78 toward the guide support portion 70, and a side opposite to the presser protrusion 79. A cam contact portion 77 protruding substantially upward is provided. The presser lever 76 is urged counterclockwise in FIGS. 5 and 6 by a presser spring (not shown). The presser protrusion 79 of the presser lever 76 is engaged in a state of being on the spring receiving plate 73 of the guide support part 70.

The guide support portion 70 is urged counterclockwise in FIG. 5 about the guide support shaft 71 by the urging force of the urging spring 75 housed in the spring housing portion 74. Here, the presser spring (not shown) that biases the presser lever 76 has a stronger biasing force than the biasing spring 75 that biases the guide support portion 70. Therefore, during the scanning of the carriage 19, as shown in FIG. 5, the presser lever 76 is urged by the urging force of the presser spring (not shown), and the presser projection 79 presses the spring receiving plate 73 downward. . Due to this pressing force, the guide support portion 70 rotates clockwise in the figure against the urging force of the urging spring 75, and the spring receiving plate 73 is kept pressed down. As a result, the sheet guide 60 is pressed against the platen 21 and is sandwiched between the gap roller 41 of the carriage 19 and the platen 21 or the recording medium 100.
When the carriage 19 moves to the sheet guide flip-up position set at the end on the right side frame 17 side, the gap roller 41 is detached from the end of the sheet guide 60 and the pressing force on the sheet guide 60 is released. At the same time, the carriage 19 moves to the sheet guide flip-up position, so that the cam inclined surface 19A formed on the side surface of the carriage 19 on the right side frame 17 side contacts the cam contact portion 77. The cam contact portion 77 is pushed downward against the urging force of the presser spring (not shown) as the cam slope 19A approaches, and the presser lever 76 rotates clockwise in the figure. Along with this, the pressing force applied to the spring receiving plate 73 by the pressing protrusion 79 of the pressing lever 76 is released, and the spring receiving plate 73 is pushed up by the urging force of the urging spring 75 instead. Then, the guide support portion 70 rotates counterclockwise in the figure, and the contact portion 73A hits the front seat guide 32 and stops.
For this reason, while the carriage 19 is in the sheet guide flip-up position, the guide support portion 70 maintains a state in which the spring receiving plate 73 is on the upper side and the contact portion 73A is on the lower side. That is, the sheet guide 60 is flipped upward away from the platen 21.

  Although not shown, an inclined surface extending downward is formed at the end of the platen 21 on the right side frame 17 side, and an end portion that is a flat step lower than the other portions is connected to the inclined surface. When the carriage 19 moves to the sheet guide flip-up position, the gap roller 41 moves while contacting the upper surface of the platen 21 and stops at the end portion. In this state, the guide support part 70 rotates and the sheet guide 60 is flipped up.

The sheet guide 60 guides the recording medium 100 manually inserted from the manual feed port 15 so as to be smoothly conveyed to the lower side of the recording head 18.
The gap roller 41 is a roller that rotates while being in contact with the recording surface of the platen 21 or the recording medium 100 as described above. In order to avoid idling, the gap roller 41 is made of rubber or the like so that the friction coefficient thereof is relatively high. Is arranged. Due to this friction, it is difficult to transport the recording medium 100 while the gap roller 41 is in contact with the recording medium 100, but the sheet guide 60 is interposed between the recording medium 100 and the gap roller 41. Friction between the recording medium 100 and the gap roller 41 is reduced, and the recording medium 100 can be easily conveyed in the direction A in the figure. Furthermore, when the sheet guide 60 is a recording medium 100 that has a step with varying height (thickness) such as a booklet or a passbook having a stitch, the gap roller 41 that moves in the main scanning direction has a step. It also has the effect of being able to get over smoothly.
When the recording medium 100 is transported in the direction B in the figure for feeding the recording medium 100 or discharging the recording medium 100, the sheet guide 60 jumps by moving the carriage 19 to the above-described sheet guide flip-up position. Raised. For this reason, the sheet guide 60 is separated from the recording medium 100 and does not hinder conveyance.

  The printer 10 includes the drive control of the first and second transport mechanisms 24 and 27, the travel control of the carriage 19, the control of the recording operation by the recording wire of the recording head 18, the read / write control of the magnetic data reading unit 29, and the like. As a control unit that controls the whole, for example, a control board unit 50 is provided below the rear side of the printer main body 11.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the printer 10, that is, the configuration of the control system provided in the control board unit 50.
As shown in FIG. 7, the printer 10 includes a CPU 61, a RAM 63 that temporarily stores programs and data executed by the CPU 61, and a flash memory 64 as storage means that stores control programs executed by the CPU 61. These units are connected to each other via a bus 62. Further, a gate array (G / A) 65 is connected to the bus 62, and the recording head 18, alignment sensor 52, insertion sensor 53, medium width detection sensor 55, and motor driver 66 are connected to the gate array 65. The The gate array 65 acquires the output voltage values of the alignment sensor 52, the insertion sensor 53, and the medium width detection sensor 55, and outputs them to the CPU 61. Further, the gate array 65 drives the recording head 18 under the control of the CPU 61 to cause a recording wire (not shown) provided in the recording head 18 to project. Further, the gate array 65 controls the motor driver 66 under the control of the CPU 61 to drive the carriage drive motor 35, the transport motor 36, the alignment motor 37, and the magnetic motor 38.

  The carriage drive motor 35 is a motor that moves the carriage 19 along the main scanning direction, and the carriage 19 reciprocates as the carriage drive motor 35 rotates forward and backward. The conveyance motor 36 is a motor that rotates the first conveyance roller 22 and the third conveyance roller 25 described above, and the alignment motor 37 is a motor that moves the alignment plate 54 into and out of the conveyance path of the recording medium 100. The magnetic motor 38 is a motor that scans the magnetic data reading unit 29 (FIG. 2). These motors are composed of, for example, stepping motors, and the number of operation steps follows a pulse input from the motor driver 66 to each motor. The number of operation steps of each motor can be monitored more accurately by using a rotary encoder (not shown) or a linear encoder (not shown). Further, the paper position and the paper edge position can be obtained by relating the carriage position obtained from the number of pulses and the output of the sensor.

  The CPU 61 controls the gate array 65 and the motor driver 66 based on a control program stored in the flash memory 64 and acquires the detection state of each sensor via the gate array 65. For example, the CPU 61 samples these output voltage values of each sensor through a gate array 65 at a predetermined period (for example, 100 [ms (milliseconds)]) and performs A / D conversion to indicate these output voltages. Data is acquired, and the detection state of the recording medium 100 in each sensor is acquired based on this data.

Further, an interface (I / F) 67 connected to an external device of the printer 10 is connected to the bus 62. The interface 67 includes connectors conforming to various standards such as a serial interface, a parallel interface, a USB interface, and a network card interface, and is connected to an external device via this connector.
A host computer 68 outside the printer 10 is connected to the interface 67. The host computer 68 transmits / receives various information to / from the CPU 61 in accordance with the operation of the operator. This information includes various commands such as a recording start position designation command for instructing the start of recording by the recording head 18, a recording command, a transport command, and a discharge command, character and image data to be recorded on the recording medium 100, and the like. Here, the recording start position designation command includes the size of the recording medium 100, the distances from the top, bottom, left and right ends of the recording medium 100 to the recording area, the number of lines in the recording area, and the digits per line. Numbers etc. are included. Note that an operation unit that receives an input operation and a display unit that displays an operation result or the like may be connected to the bus 62.

8A and 8B are explanatory views showing the conventional operation of the printer during recording. FIG. 8A is a plan view showing the positional relationship between the scanning range of the carriage 19 and the recording medium 100, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a positional relationship between a range and a recording medium 100. FIG. 8C and 8D are charts showing changes in the moving speed of the carriage 19. In the following description, the moving speed of the carriage 19 will be described. However, the moving speed of the carriage 19 can be referred to as the moving speed of the recording head 18 as it is.
As described above, the printer 10 has a function of correcting the tilt of the recording medium 100 inserted from the manual feed slot 15 (FIG. 1) by the alignment plate 54. For this reason, the width of the recording medium 100 usable in the printer 10 is not particularly limited as long as it is smaller than the width of the manual feed port 15. Therefore, the position of the recording medium 100 in the scanning range Wa of the carriage 19 is not limited. For example, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the recording medium 100 is transported at a position away from either end of the scanning range Wa of the carriage 19. Sometimes it is done. The CPU 61 acquires the detection value of the medium width detection sensor 55 while scanning the carriage 19 and obtains the position where the detection value has changed, thereby detecting the end positions Pe on both sides of the recording medium 100. In the recording medium 100, a recording area 105 having a predetermined end margin from both ends is usually set.
Further, the CPU 61 acquires the positions of the end positions Ps on both sides of the recording area 105 in the recording medium 100 based on the recording start position designation command transmitted from the host computer 68. The printer 10 is a line printer that records one line in one pass indicating scanning in one direction while reciprocating the carriage 19. For this reason, the recording area 105 can be designated for each row (each pass).

As shown in FIGS. 8A to 8D, at the end of the scanning range Wa on the left side frame 16 side, a home position Pa where the carriage 19 is located during standby is set and is slightly apart from the home position Pa. The ribbon exchange position Pc is set at the position. In the state where the carriage 19 is located at the ribbon exchange position Pc, the ribbon cartridge 39 can be exchanged. The printer 10 moves the carriage 19 to the ribbon exchange position Pc when a predetermined time (for example, 3 seconds) has elapsed after the completion of recording by the recording head 18 so that the ribbon cartridge 39 can be easily exchanged at any time. While the printer 10 is stopped, the carriage 19 is often located at the ribbon exchange position Pc.
On the other hand, at the end of the scanning range Wa on the right side frame 17 side, the above-described sheet guide flip-up position Pb is present. As described above, when the recording medium 100 is conveyed, the sheet guide 60 may be flipped up, but each time the carriage 19 is moved to the sheet guide jumping position Pb. Further, a width detection start position Pd is set slightly toward the center from the sheet guide flip-up position Pb. When the CPU 61 detects the end position Pe of the recording medium 100 by the medium width detection sensor 55, the carriage 19 is moved from the width detection start position Pd.

  The carriage 19 is located at any one of the home position Pa, the sheet guide flip-up position Pb, the ribbon exchange position Pc, and the width detection start position Pd except when the recording medium 100 is recording. These positions correspond to the predetermined positions of the present invention. The carriage 19 is most often located at the ribbon exchange position Pc, and often moves to the sheet guide flip-up position Pb while the recording medium 100 is conveyed. When the recording medium 100 is not present in the printer 10, the carriage 19 is positioned at the home position Pa. When the recording medium 100 is inserted from the manual feed port 15, the width detection start position Pd is performed before recording is performed. Moved to. The operation of moving the carriage 19 to the home position Pa, the sheet guide flip-up position Pb, the ribbon exchange position Pc, and the width detection start position Pd is performed by the CPU 61 executing a dedicated command according to the control program. That is, unlike the operation of designating the position of the carriage 19 by coordinates or digit positions in the scanning range Wa, a command for instructing to move to the designated positions Pa, Pb, Pc, Pd is executed.

In the example shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, when characters are recorded in the recording area 105 of the recording medium 100, the CPU 61 controls the motor driver 66 to drive the carriage drive motor 35, thereby recording the carriage 19. The region 105 is moved to the end position Ps. The CPU 61 drives the recording head 18 while moving the carriage 19 as it is to record characters, and decelerates the carriage 19 from the opposite end position Ps of the recording area 105 to the end of the scanning range Wa.
FIG. 8C shows a change in the speed of the carriage 19 when the ribbon exchange position Pc is set as the movement start position, and FIG. 8D is a case where the position closer to the center of the ribbon exchange position Pc is set as the movement start position. Indicates the change in speed.
In the example of FIG. 8C, the carriage 19 is gradually accelerated in the acceleration section Ta after the carriage drive motor 35 is energized under the control of the CPU 61, and the upper limit speed, that is, until the end position Pe of the recording medium 100 is exceeded. Reach maximum speed. The maximum speed can be rephrased as a target speed for accelerating the carriage 19.
In contrast, in the example of FIG. 8D, the end position Pe of the recording medium 100 is reached before the acceleration section Ta passes after the carriage 19 starts to move. For this reason, the speed when the carriage 19 exceeds the end position Pe is lower than the maximum speed.

  When the carriage 19 exceeds the end position Pe, the gap roller 41 hits the recording medium 100, and the carriage 19 moves upward by the thickness of the recording medium 100. If the moving speed of the carriage 19 is high, the vertical movement of the carriage 19 is not settled until the recording head 18 reaches the recording area 105, and so-called character omission occurs in which characters and images are not recorded. As described with reference to FIGS. 8C and 8D, the speed when the carriage 19 exceeds the end position Pe is equal to the distance between the movement start position of the carriage 19 and the end position Pe. Longer than that, it has a big influence. For example, as shown in FIG. 8C, it easily occurs when the carriage 19 exceeds the end position Pe after reaching the maximum speed, and it hardly occurs when the end position Pe is exceeded at a low speed as shown in FIG. 8D. . Further, the set maximum speed of the carriage 19 is also affected.

The printer 10 according to the present embodiment performs control to suppress the maximum speed of the carriage 19 based on the movement start position of the carriage 19 when it is clear that the carriage 19 exceeds the end position Pe at high speed.
9A and 9B are explanatory diagrams showing the operation of the printer 10, where FIG. 9A is a cross-sectional view showing the positional relationship between the scanning range of the carriage 19 and the recording medium 100, and FIG. 9B is a chart showing changes in the moving speed of the carriage 19. It is.
When the printer 10 moves the carriage 19 under the control of the CPU 61, if the movement start position is the home position Pa or the ribbon exchange position Pc, the set maximum speed Vh of the carriage 19 is set to a lower speed. The carriage drive motor 35 is driven by changing to Vd. If the movement start position is not the end portion of the scanning range Wa, it is unlikely that the acceleration section Ta to the maximum speed Vh will be completed by the end position Pe of the recording medium 100, so that missing characters can be avoided. The same applies to the path for moving the carriage 19 in the reverse direction. When the sheet guide flip-up position Pb or the width detection start position Pd is set as the movement start position, the speed of the carriage 19 is reached before the carriage 19 reaches the end position Pe. Is likely to reach the maximum speed Vh.

  In the printer 10, the maximum speed Vh can be set to one of a plurality of stages. When the maximum speed Vh is set to a relatively low speed, the possibility of missing characters is small even if the movement of the carriage 19 is started from the home position Pa or the sheet guide flip-up position Pb. Accordingly, the above-described control is performed only when the set value of the maximum speed Vh is set to the maximum speed or a speed two to three steps below the maximum speed. The printer 10 has a plurality of setting values that can be set as the upper limit of the moving speed of the carriage 19, the setting value of the maximum speed Vh that is actually set among the setting values of the plurality of stages, and the maximum speed when the maximum speed is changed to a low speed. The setting value of the speed Vd is stored in the flash memory 64.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the printer 10.
The operation shown in FIG. 10 is realized by the CPU 61 reading and executing the control program stored in the flash memory 64. When executing the operation shown in FIG. 10, the CPU 61 functions as a recording control means.
When the CPU 61 of the printer 10 detects that the recording medium 100 has been inserted from the manual feed slot 15 by the insertion sensor 53 (step S11), the alignment motor 54 advances the alignment plate 54 to the transport path C by the alignment motor 37, and the transport motor 36. Thus, the first transport mechanism 24 is driven to align the recording medium 100 (step S12). When the CPU 61 detects that the alignment is completed based on the detection value of the alignment sensor 52, the CPU 61 receives the recording position designation command transmitted from the host computer 68 (step S13), and reaches the recording start position designated by this command. The recording medium 100 is conveyed (step S14).

  The CPU 61 receives a recording command and a transport command from the host computer 68 (step S15), and starts recording. That is, the CPU 61 obtains recording data for one pass (step S16), and obtains a setting value for the maximum speed of the carriage 19 from the flash memory 64 (step S17). Next, the CPU 61 determines whether or not the acquired maximum speed is an upper speed among a plurality of maximum speeds that can be set (step S18). This determination is performed by comparing the acquired maximum speed with a threshold value.

  When the maximum speed of the carriage 19 is equal to or less than the threshold value (step S18; No), the CPU 61 moves the carriage 19 to the recording start position using the set maximum speed (step S19), and records for one pass. And the recording medium 100 is conveyed according to the conveyance command (step S20). Thereafter, the CPU 61 determines whether or not the recording on the currently set recording medium 100 is completed (step S21). If the recording is not completed (step S21; No), the process returns to step S16. When recording is completed (step S21; Yes), the CPU 61 receives a paper discharge command transmitted from the host computer 68 (step S22), and conveys the recording medium 100 toward the manual feed port 15 (step S22). In step S23, the process shifts to a waiting state for waiting for a new recording medium 100 to be inserted into the manual feed slot 15 (step S24), and the process is terminated.

On the other hand, when the CPU 61 determines that the set value of the maximum speed is higher than the threshold value (step S18; Yes), the CPU 61 determines whether or not the recording medium 100 is a thick booklet (step S25). . When the recording medium 100 is not in the booklet form (step S25; No), the CPU 61 proceeds to step S19. This is because when the recording medium 100 is a cut sheet with no thickness, there is almost no fear of missing characters. When the recording medium 100 is in the form of a booklet (step S25; Yes), the CPU 61 specifies the movement start position of the carriage 19 (step S26), and this position is a specific position Pa, Pb, Pc, Pd. Is determined (step S27). In step S26, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the CPU 61 has executed a command to move the carriage 19 to the positions Pa, Pb, Pc, and Pd before the start of recording.
If the movement start position of the carriage 19 is not a specific position (step S27; No), the CPU 61 proceeds to step S19 and executes recording. When the movement start position of the carriage 19 is a specific position Pa, Pb, Pc, Pd (step S27; Yes), the CPU 61 changes the maximum speed of the carriage 19 to a preset low speed side speed. The carriage 19 is moved to the movement start position (step S28), and the process proceeds to step S20. Here, after the upper limit (maximum speed) of the movement speed of the carriage 19 is changed, the upper limit of the changed movement speed is maintained in one pass, but the subsequent passes, that is, the scanning direction of the carriage 19 is changed. On the contrary, after switching, the upper limit of the moving speed is returned to the preset speed. As a result, the path that suppresses the upper limit of the moving speed of the carriage 19 is minimized, so that a reduction in throughput can be prevented.

  As described above, the printer 10 according to the first embodiment to which the present invention is applied includes the recording head 18, the carriage driving motor 35 that reciprocally moves the recording head 18, and the head moving means including the driving wheel train (not shown). Under the control of the CPU 61, recording is performed while moving the recording head 18 on the recording medium 100 within the moving range of the recording head 18, and the CPU 61 causes the recording head 18 to record on the recording medium 100 at the start of recording. When the recording head 18 is at a position off the surface, the recording head 18 is moved beyond the end position Pe of the recording medium 100 to the recording start position (end position Ps) on the recording medium 100, and the recording head 18 being moved is moved. The upper limit of the movement speed is changed to a speed lower than the set upper limit speed based on the movement start position. Thereby, when the carriage 19 on which the recording head 18 is mounted moves beyond the end position Pe, problems such as missing characters due to the vertical movement of the carriage 19 caused by the thickness of the recording medium 100 can be prevented.

  Specifically, in addition to the recording operation, the CPU 61 performs a recording head at a predetermined position (home position Pa, sheet guide flip-up position Pb, ribbon replacement position Pc, width detection start position Pd) in the scanning range Wa of the recording head 18. A control for moving 18 can be executed, and when the recording operation is started after this control, the upper limit of the moving speed of the carriage 19 is changed to a low speed. In this way, when the carriage 19 starts moving from the end of the scanning range Wa and the moving speed of the carriage 19 when reaching the end of the recording medium 100 may reach a high speed, the moving speed is suppressed. On the other hand, if the movement start position of the carriage 19 is not the above-mentioned predetermined position and the movement speed of the carriage 19 when it exceeds the end position Pe of the recording medium 100 is high, the carriage 19 is not likely to reach a high speed. Do not change the upper limit of movement speed. As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems caused by the moving speed of the carriage 19 and to suppress the frequency of changing the upper limit value of the moving speed of the carriage 19 and to prevent a decrease in throughput.

  Furthermore, since the CPU 61 performs control for changing the upper limit of the moving speed of the carriage 19 to a low speed when the upper limit of the moving speed is set to be equal to or higher than a predetermined speed, there is a possibility that the moving speed of the carriage 19 may cause a problem. Only in the case of a certain high speed, the moving speed is suppressed. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems caused by the moving speed of the carriage 19 and to suppress the frequency of changing the upper limit value of the moving speed of the carriage 19 to prevent a decrease in throughput.

  In the first embodiment, assuming that the movement speed when the carriage 19 exceeds the end position Pe of the recording medium 100 is high, the movement start position of the carriage 19 is a predetermined position (Pa, Pb, Pc, In the case of Pd), control was performed to lower the upper limit of the moving speed. The present invention is not limited to this, and based on the distance from the movement start position of the carriage 19 to the end position Pe, it may be determined whether or not the moving speed when exceeding the end position Pe is high. This case will be described as a second embodiment.

[Second Embodiment]
11A and 11B are explanatory views showing the operation of the printer 10 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 11A is a cross-sectional view showing the positional relationship between the scanning range of the carriage 19 and the recording medium 100, and FIG. It is a chart which shows change of movement speed.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printer 10.
In the second embodiment, the mechanical configuration of the printer 10 and each block of the control system shown in FIG. 7 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus illustration and description thereof are omitted.

  In the second embodiment, the printer 10 obtains the distance between the movement start position and the end position Pe of the recording medium 100 when the carriage 19 is moved under the control of the CPU 61, and this distance is the acceleration section Ta. If it is longer, the upper limit of the moving speed of the carriage 19 is changed to a lower speed.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, the distance L from the movement start position Cs of the carriage 19 to the end position Pe of the recording medium 100 is for accelerating to the set maximum speed Vh of the carriage 19. It is longer than the acceleration section Ta. For this reason, since the carriage 19 collides with the end position Pe at the maximum speed Vh, the vertical movement of the carriage 19 over the end position Pe does not stop until the carriage 19 reaches the end position Ps of the recording area 105, and the character There is a possibility of problems such as omission. Therefore, the CPU 61 changes the upper limit of the moving speed of the carriage 19 from the maximum speed Vh to the speed Vd. In this case, the moving speed of the carriage 19 reaches the upper limit speed Vd in a short time. However, since the speed Vd is not high, the carriage 19 reaches the end position Ps when the carriage 19 moves up and down when passing the end position Pe. Converge by. Since the length of the acceleration section Ta varies depending on the value of the maximum speed Vh, the CPU 61 uses the length of the acceleration section corresponding to the currently set maximum speed for comparison. Even if the distance L is equal to or shorter than the acceleration section Ta, if the speed of the carriage 19 exceeds the speed that may cause missing characters, the upper limit of the moving speed of the carriage 19 is changed. Also good. In this case, the distance L and a predetermined threshold value L1 shorter than the acceleration section Ta are stored in advance in the flash memory 64, and it is determined whether or not the distance L is longer than the threshold value L1.

  In addition, as described above, the CPU 61 executes the width detection operation of detecting the end position Pe of the recording medium 100 by the medium width detection sensor 55, so that the position of the end position Pe in the scanning range Wa is set to the coordinate or digit position. And stored in the flash memory 64. On the other hand, the movement start position Cs of the carriage 19 can be specified by various methods. For example, the printer 10 may be configured to include a linear encoder (not shown) parallel to the carriage shaft 31 in order to detect the position of the carriage 19 in the scanning range Wa. In this case, the position of the carriage 19 at the start of movement, that is, the movement start position Cs can be specified by the detection value of the linear encoder.

Of the operations shown in FIG. 12, the operations in steps S11 to S25 and step S28 are the same as the operations described in the first embodiment (FIG. 10). When executing the operation shown in FIG. 12, the CPU 61 functions as a recording control means.
In the second embodiment, before executing one-pass printing, whether or not the upper limit of the moving speed of the carriage 19 is higher than a threshold value (step S18), and the booklet form in which the recording medium 100 is thick. (Step S25), and if the recording medium 100 is in the form of a booklet, the movement start position of the carriage 19 is specified (step S31).
Next, the CPU 61 determines whether or not the distance from the movement start position of the carriage 19 to the end position Pe of the recording medium 100 is longer than the acceleration section when the set maximum speed is applied (step S32). . When the distance is equal to or shorter than the acceleration section (step S32; No), the CPU 61 proceeds to step S19. When the distance is longer than the acceleration section (step S32; Yes), the CPU 61 proceeds to step S28. The maximum speed of 19 is changed to a low speed set in advance, the carriage 19 is moved to the movement start position, and the process proceeds to step S20.

  As described above, when the carriage 19 (recording head 18) is moved beyond the end position Pe of the recording medium 100, the carriage is moved when the distance from the movement start position to the end position Pe of the recording medium 100 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. Since the upper limit of the moving speed of 19 is changed, the moving speed of the carriage 19 can be suppressed when the carriage 19 is sufficiently accelerated and may exceed the end position Pe at a high speed. As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems due to the moving speed of the recording head 18 and to suppress the frequency of changing the upper limit value of the moving speed of the recording head 18 to prevent a decrease in throughput.

  The above-described embodiment is merely an aspect of the present invention, and can be arbitrarily modified and applied within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the upper limit of the moving speed of the carriage 19 can be set in a plurality of stages. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be arbitrarily set using a set value indicating the speed. It is good also as a structure which can be set at the speed of. In the above embodiment, the recording head 18 is mounted on the carriage 19 and reciprocally scanned in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium 100. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, the carriage 19 may be moved obliquely with respect to the conveyance direction of the recording medium 100, or the conveyance direction and the movement direction of the carriage 19 may meet in the same direction.

The recording head 18 is not particularly limited as long as the recording head 18 moves according to the thickness of the recording medium 100 when riding on the end of the recording medium 100. Specifically, the recording head 18 includes a dot impact head that projects a recording wire. In addition to the dot impact printer provided with the recording head 18, the present invention can be applied to an ink jet printer that performs recording by ejecting ink from the recording head 18.
Furthermore, the printer 10 is not limited to a form connected to one host computer 68, and may be connected to a plurality of host computers 68, or may be configured to be connected to a host computer via a communication network.
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the printer 10 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to a recording apparatus incorporated in another device (such as a copying machine). Is also possible. In addition, it is needless to say that other detailed configurations according to the above embodiment can be arbitrarily changed.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Printer (recording device), 18 ... Recording head, 19 ... Carriage, 21 ... Platen, 24 ... 1st conveyance mechanism part, 27 ... 2nd conveyance mechanism part, 35 ... Carriage drive motor (head moving means), 36 ... Conveyance motor, 41 ... Gap roller, 50 ... Control board, 60 ... Sheet guide, 61 ... CPU (recording control means), 64 ... Flash memory (storage means), 100 ... Recording medium, Wa ... Scanning range, Pa ... Home Position, Pb ... Sheet guide flip-up position, Pc ... Ribbon exchange position, Pd ... Width detection start position, Pe ... End position, Ta ... Acceleration section.

Claims (6)

A recording head;
Head moving means for reciprocating the recording head;
Recording control means for performing recording while moving the recording head with respect to a recording medium within the moving range of the recording head,
The recording control means moves the recording head beyond the end of the recording medium to a recording start position on the recording medium when the recording head is at a position away from the recording medium at the start of recording. Changing the upper limit of the moving speed of the moving recording head to a speed lower than the set upper limit speed based on the movement start position;
A recording apparatus.   In addition to the recording operation, the recording control means can execute control to move the recording head to a predetermined position within the movable range of the recording head, and when starting the recording operation after this control 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an upper limit of a moving speed for moving the recording head beyond the end of the recording medium is changed.   The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined position is a position preset at an end of a movable range of the recording head.   The recording control means changes the upper limit of the moving speed for moving the recording head beyond the end of the recording medium when the upper limit of the moving speed of the recording head is set to a predetermined speed or more. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is a recording apparatus.   The recording control means, when moving the recording head beyond the end of the recording medium, if the distance from the moving start position to the end of the recording medium is a predetermined distance or more, The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upper limit is changed. A control method for controlling a recording apparatus comprising a recording head and a head moving means for reciprocating the recording head,
Recording is performed while moving the recording head with respect to the recording medium within the moving range of the recording head, and when the recording head is at a position away from the recording medium at the start of recording, the recording head is The recording head is moved to the recording start position on the recording medium beyond the edge of the recording medium, and the upper limit of the moving speed of the moving recording head is set to a speed lower than the set upper limit speed based on the movement start position. Changing,
A control method for a recording apparatus.

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