JP2017136777A - Printer and entering object discrimination method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which detects a foreign object entering into a housing part.SOLUTION: A printer includes: a printing part 7 which makes prints on a medium; a housing part 32 which houses the printing part 7; an imaging part 31 which images the interior of the housing part 32; a support part which supports the medium and may move into the housing part 32; and a control part which determines whether or not an object entering into the housing part 32 is the support part on the basis of images imaged by the imaging part 31. The printer is formed into such a structure to detect a foreign object entering into the housing part 32.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and an approaching object discrimination method.

Conventionally, various printing apparatuses are used. Among such printing apparatuses, there is a printing apparatus configured to include a casing unit that accommodates a printing unit that is a component of the printing apparatus and to move a medium support unit and the like inside the casing unit.
In addition, there is an apparatus in which a constituent member is accommodated in a housing unit, which includes an object sensor. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a single-wafer feeding device including a sensor formed as a light barrier capable of grasping entry into a stack chamber.

JP 2005-324964 A

In a printing apparatus that includes a housing unit that accommodates a printing unit and moves a medium support unit or the like into the housing unit, the support unit is moved into the housing unit. If a foreign substance other than the support part enters the inside of the housing part, there is a possibility that a problem occurs. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately determine whether or not an entering object that enters the inside of the housing is a support (whether it is a support or a foreign object).
However, in the conventional printing apparatus, it has not been possible to detect entry of foreign matter into the interior of the casing.
In addition, the single wafer delivery apparatus of patent document 2 is not the structure which can detect what an entering thing is.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to detect the entry of a foreign substance into the inside of the casing.

  A printing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention for solving the above problems includes a printing unit that prints on a medium, a housing unit that houses the printing unit, and a photographing unit that captures the inside of the housing unit. And a support unit that supports the medium and is movable inside the housing unit, and whether an entering object that has entered the housing unit based on a captured image captured by the imaging unit is the support unit. A control unit for determining whether or not.

According to this aspect, the imaging unit that images the inside of the housing unit is provided, and it is determined whether or not the entering object that has entered the inside of the housing unit is a support unit based on a captured image captured by the imaging unit. That is, it is possible to discriminate an entering object based on a captured image with high discrimination accuracy. For this reason, it is possible to determine whether the entering object that has entered the inside of the housing part is the support part or the foreign material, and it is possible to detect the entry of the foreign material into the inside of the housing part.
The “photographed image” means either a still image or a moving image.
In addition, “photographing the inside of the casing” means that it is only necessary to photograph the entry of an entering object into the casing, and also includes photographing the entrance to the inside of the casing. It is.

  The printing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the control unit is a length in a direction intersecting a moving direction of the support unit of the entering object in the photographed image. Based on the above, it is determined whether or not the entry object is the support part.

  According to this aspect, it is determined whether or not the entering object is a support part based on the width of the entering object in the captured image. For this reason, based on the width of the entering object in the photographed image, it is possible to easily detect the entry of a foreign substance into the housing.

  The printing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is the printing device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the control unit supports the support unit in the moving direction when the captured image includes the entering object. Based on the position information of the part, it is determined whether or not the entry object is the support part.

  According to this aspect, when there is an entering object in the captured image, it is determined whether or not the entering object is a support part based on the position information of the support part. For this reason, based on the positional information on the support portion, it is possible to suitably detect the entry of foreign matter into the inside of the housing portion.

  In the printing apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, when the control unit determines that the entering object is the support unit, Based on this, it is determined whether or not a foreign object is supported by the support portion.

  According to this aspect, when the control unit determines that the entering object is the support unit, the control unit determines whether or not a foreign object is supported by the support unit based on the captured image. That is, it can be detected that the foreign substance is supported by the support portion and enters the housing portion.

  In the printing apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the control unit performs a warning operation when determining that the entering object is not the support unit. It is characterized by that.

According to this aspect, the control unit performs a warning operation when determining that the entering object is not the support unit. That is, the control unit performs a warning operation when it determines that the entering object is a foreign object. For this reason, the worker can know the entry of the foreign matter into the inside of the housing unit by the warning operation.
The “warning operation” includes, for example, sounding a warning sound or displaying a warning message.

  The printing apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the printing apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the control unit determines that the entering object is not the support unit during a printing operation. The operation is stopped.

  According to this aspect, the control unit stops the printing operation when determining that the entering object is not the support unit during the printing operation. That is, the control unit stops the printing operation when it determines that the entering object is a foreign object. For this reason, damage to the printing unit due to contact between the foreign matter and the printing unit, wasteful use of the medium, and the like can be suppressed.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for discriminating an entering matter, a printing unit that performs printing on a medium, a casing unit that accommodates the printing unit, a photographing unit that captures an inside of the casing unit, and the medium. And a support unit movable to the inside of the housing part, and a method for determining an entering matter in a printing apparatus, wherein the inside of the housing part is based on a photographed image photographed by the photographing unit. It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not the entering object that has entered is the support portion.

  According to this aspect, in the printing apparatus including the photographing unit that photographs the inside of the housing unit, it is determined whether or not the entering object that has entered the inside of the housing unit is the support unit based on the captured image captured by the photographing unit. To do. That is, it is possible to discriminate an entering object based on a captured image with high discrimination accuracy. For this reason, it is possible to determine whether the entering object that has entered the inside of the housing part is the support part or the foreign material, and it is possible to detect the entry of the foreign material into the inside of the housing part.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic front view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic side view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a printing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 and 2 are schematic perspective views of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, in which FIG. 1 shows a state in which the tray 4 as a medium support portion of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is in a printing start position. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the tray 4 is at the medium setting position.
3 is a schematic front view of the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment.

  The printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a medium support unit 2 that moves in the movement direction A while the medium is supported by the support surface 8 of the tray 4. The medium support unit 2 includes a tray 4 that is a medium support unit. The printing apparatus 1 includes a medium transport unit 3 that transports the medium supported by the tray 4 in the movement direction A. The moving direction A is a direction including a direction A1 and a direction A2 opposite to the direction A1. Further, the tray 4 is placed on the stage 5. The tray 4 moves together with the stage 5 in the height direction C by rotating the rotary lever 9. As shown in FIG. 4, the rotation lever 9 is provided on the arm portion of the medium support unit 2. As the medium, various materials such as textiles (woven fabric, cloth, etc.), paper, vinyl chloride resin can be used.

In addition, a print head 7 capable of printing on a medium by ejecting ink is provided inside the main body of the printing apparatus 1 (inside the housing portion 32). The printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment reciprocates the carriage 6 provided with the print head 7 in the scanning direction B intersecting the movement direction A, thereby reciprocating the print head 7 in the scanning direction B. Ink is ejected from the print head 7 onto the medium supported by the tray 4 to form a desired image.
In the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the front side (lower left direction) in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a medium setting position on the tray 4 (corresponding to FIG. 2). Then, after moving the tray 4 in which the medium is set in the direction A1 of the movement direction A to the print start position (corresponding to FIG. 1) on the back side (upper right direction) in FIG. 1 and FIG. Printing is performed while moving the tray 4 in the direction A2.

The printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes the print head 7 that performs printing while reciprocating in the scanning direction B. However, the printing apparatus 1 is provided with a plurality of nozzles that eject ink in a crossing direction that intersects the moving direction of the medium. A printing apparatus including a line head may be used.
Here, the “line head” is a nozzle area formed in a crossing direction that intersects the moving direction of the medium so as to cover the entire crossing direction, and relatively moves the print head or the medium. The print head is used in a printing apparatus that forms an image. Note that the nozzle area in the cross direction of the line head may not be able to cover the cross direction of all the media supported by the printing apparatus.
In addition, the carriage 6 including the print head 7 according to the present embodiment is a printing unit that can print by ejecting ink onto the medium. However, the printing unit 7 is not limited to such a printing unit. You may use the transfer-type printing part which transfers and prints.

  Further, the housing portion 32 of the present embodiment has an opening / closing portion 33, and is configured to be able to open and close the opening / closing portion 33 when performing maintenance work of the carriage 6. 1 to 4 all show a state in which the opening / closing portion 33 is closed. The opening / closing portion 33 is manually rotated by the user in the rotation direction D with reference to the rotation shaft 34 extending in the scanning direction B. It is configured to move.

  In addition, the printing apparatus 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment has a moving image and a still image as captured images on an upper portion of the opening portion 35 of the housing portion 32 in the moving path of the tray 4 (side on which a medium can be printed). Is provided with a photographing unit 31 (specifically, a video camera). The imaging unit 31 is configured to be capable of imaging from the upper part of the opening 35 in the scanning direction B from a part inside the casing 32 to the outside of the casing 32. That is, the photographing unit 31 is configured to be able to photograph the inside of the housing unit 32 and is configured to be able to photograph the entire area of the opening 35. For this reason, the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment can use three trays 4 having different sizes (S size, M size, and L size in ascending order) as the tray 4. Even when the camera is used, the entire tray 4 in the scanning direction B can be photographed.

Next, an electrical configuration of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment.
The control unit 19 is provided with a CPU 20 that controls the entire printing apparatus 1. The CPU 20 is connected via a system bus 21 to a ROM 22 that stores various control programs executed by the CPU 20 and a RAM 23 that can temporarily store data.

The CPU 20 is connected to a head drive unit 24 for driving the print head 7 via the system bus 21.
The CPU 20 is connected to the motor drive unit 25 via the system bus 21. The motor drive unit 25 is provided in the medium transport unit 3 for transporting the medium (that is, moving the medium support unit 2), the carriage motor 26 for moving the carriage 6 provided with the print head 7. The transfer motor 27 is connected.
Further, the CPU 20 is connected to the input / output unit 28 via the system bus 21. The input / output unit 28 is connected to the photographing unit 31 and a PC 29 for transmitting and receiving data and signals such as print data.

As described above, the printing apparatus 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes the print head 7 serving as a printing unit that performs printing on a medium, the housing unit 32 that houses the printing head 7, and the photographing that captures the inside of the housing unit 32. And a tray 4 that supports the medium and is movable inside the housing unit 32.
Then, the control unit 19 can determine whether the entering object that has entered the inside of the housing unit 32 is the tray 4 based on the captured image captured by the imaging unit 31. In other words, the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a photographing unit 31 that photographs the inside of the casing unit 32, and an entering object that has entered the inside of the casing unit 32 based on a photographed image photographed by the photographing unit 31 is a tray. Judge whether it is 4. For this reason, it is the structure which can discriminate | determine an approaching object based on the picked-up image with high discrimination | determination precision. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether the entering object that has entered the inside of the housing part 32 is the tray 4 or a foreign object, and to detect the entry of the foreign substance into the inside of the housing part 32.
Note that the imaging unit 31 of the present embodiment can capture both still images and moving images as captured images. However, you may provide the imaging | photography part 31 which can image | photograph only any one of a still image and a moving image. Furthermore, although the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is configured to include one imaging unit 31, a configuration including a plurality of imaging units 31 may be employed.
Further, “photographing the inside of the housing portion 32” means that it is only necessary to photograph the entry of the entering object into the inside of the housing portion 32, and an entrance to the inside of the housing portion 32 (for example, an opening portion). 35) is also included.

In other words, the print head 7 serving as a printing unit that performs printing on a medium, a casing unit 32 that accommodates the print head 7, a photographing unit 31 that captures the inside of the casing unit 32, and a medium The approaching object discriminating method that can be executed by the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment including the tray 4 that is movable inside the housing unit 32 is based on a captured image captured by the imaging unit 31. Then, it is determined whether or not the entering object that has entered the inside of the casing unit 32 is the tray 4.
That is, in the printing apparatus 1 including the photographing unit 31 that photographs the inside of the housing unit 32, it is determined whether or not the entry object that has entered the inside of the housing unit 32 is the tray 4 based on the photographed image photographed by the photographing unit. To do. For this reason, it is possible to discriminate an entering object based on a captured image with high discrimination accuracy. For this reason, it is possible to determine whether the entering object that has entered the inside of the housing part 32 is the tray 4 or a foreign object, and the entry of the foreign object into the inside of the housing part 32 can be detected.

Further, as described above, the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment can use three trays 4 having different sizes. The control unit 19 stores the width of the three trays 4 (the length in the scanning direction B that is the direction intersecting the moving direction A of the trays 4) in the ROM 22 as data. With such a configuration, the control unit 19 can determine whether the entering object is the tray 4 based on the width of the entering object that has entered from the opening 35 in the captured image captured by the imaging unit 31. . Specifically, it is compared whether or not the width of the entering object is the same as the width of the three trays 4 stored in the ROM 22, and if they are the same, it is determined as the tray 4, and if they are different, it is determined as a foreign object. For this reason, the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is configured to be able to easily detect the entry of a foreign substance into the housing portion 32 based on the width of the entering object in the captured image. In addition, when comparing the width of the entering object and the width of the tray 4, it is possible to determine that the entering object is the tray 4 as long as they are substantially the same even if they do not completely match. Good. In consideration of various errors, it is preferable to set such a margin.
The control unit 19 according to the present embodiment is configured to be able to detect the entry of foreign matter into the housing unit 32 based on the width of the tray 4. 4 may be configured to detect entry of a foreign substance into the housing 32 based on the shape and color of 4 (including the color of the medium set on the tray 4). As a specific example in the case where the shape of the tray 4 is used as a judgment material, the contour of the tray 4 is compared with the contour of the entering object, and whether the entering object is the tray 4 is determined by whether or not the degree of coincidence between the two is a predetermined value or more. Is to judge. In addition, as a specific example in which the color of the tray 4 (or the color of the medium set in the tray 4) is used as the determination material, the color of the tray 4 (or the color of the medium set in the tray 4) and the entry material The color is compared, and it is determined whether or not the entering object is the tray 4 based on whether or not the degree of coincidence between the two is not less than a predetermined value (whether the color difference is within a predetermined value).
In addition, the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which a predetermined width is stored in the ROM 22, but the configuration in which the width of the tray 4 can be input to the RAM 23, a nonvolatile memory, or the like using the PC 29 or the like is also possible. Good. Further, the width of the tray 4 can be input, and when a tray 4 having a width different from the assumed tray 4 is set in the printing apparatus 1, a warning operation (a warning sound or a warning display) is given. Etc.) may be executed.

Further, the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes an encoder (not shown) that can detect the position of the tray 4 in the moving direction A, and the control unit 19 of the present embodiment has an entrance object in the captured image. In the case (when it is determined from the captured image captured by the imaging unit 31 that the entering object has entered the inside of the housing unit 32), the entering object is based on the position information of the tray 4 in the moving direction A detected by the encoder. It is possible to determine whether or not is the tray 4. More specifically, from the timing at which it can be determined from the position information of the tray 4 in the moving direction A detected by the encoder that the tray 4 has entered the inside of the housing 32 from the opening 35, and the captured image captured by the capturing unit 31. It is possible to determine whether or not the entering object is the tray 4 by comparing with the timing at which it can be determined that the entering object has entered the inside of the housing portion 32. For this reason, based on the position information of the tray 4, it is possible to suitably detect the entry of foreign matter into the housing portion 32.
That is, the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can determine whether the entering object is the tray 4 based on the position information of the tray 4 together with the width of the entering object in the captured image. For this reason, it is particularly preferably configured to be able to detect the entry of foreign matter into the inside of the housing portion 32. Note that a method other than the above may be adopted as a method of determining whether or not the entering object that has entered the inside of the housing portion 32 is the tray 4. For example, the tray 4 and the foreign object image may be stored as a stored image, and the tray 4 and the foreign object may be detected by pattern matching with the stored image.

  Further, in the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when the control unit 19 determines that the entering object that has entered from the opening 35 is the tray 4, the control unit 19 sets the tray 4 based on the captured image captured by the imaging unit 31. It is determined whether or not a foreign object is supported. Specifically, the control unit 19 stores the surface states of the three trays 4 (specifically, the shape and color, etc. including the shape and color when the medium is set) in the ROM 22, The surface state of the tray 4 in the photographed image taken by the unit 31 is compared with the surface state stored in the ROM 22, and it is determined from the comparison result whether or not foreign matter is supported on the tray 4. With such a configuration, the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is configured to be able to detect entry into the housing unit 32 in a state where foreign matter is supported on the tray 4.

In the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the control unit 19 performs a warning operation when it is determined that the entering matter that has entered from the opening 35 is not the tray 4 and when the foreign material is supported by the tray 4. Execute. Specifically, when such a determination is made, a warning message is displayed on the display unit of the PC 29. For this reason, the operator can know the entry of the foreign matter into the inside of the housing portion 32 by the warning operation.
The printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is configured to display a warning message as the warning operation, but may be configured to execute other warning operations such as sounding a warning sound.

  Further, in the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the control unit 19 performs the printing operation when it is determined that the entering matter that has entered from the opening 35 is not the tray 4 and when the foreign material is supported on the tray 4. Stop. That is, the control unit 19 stops the printing operation when the entering material that has entered from the opening 35 is determined as a foreign object during the printing operation. Specifically, the printing operation is an operation of moving the print head 7 in the scanning direction B to form an image on the medium, or an operation of moving the tray 4 in the moving direction A. For this reason, the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is configured to be able to suppress damage to the print head 7 due to contact between the foreign matter and the print head 7, wasteful use of the medium, and the like.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example, A various deformation | transformation is possible within the range of the invention described in the claim, and it cannot be overemphasized that they are also contained in the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printing apparatus, 2 ... Medium support unit, 3 ... Medium conveyance part, 4 ... Tray (support part),
5 ... Stage, 6 ... Carriage, 7 ... Print head (printing section), 8 ... Support surface,
9 ... Rotating lever, 19 ... Control unit, 20 ... CPU, 21 ... System bus, 22 ... ROM,
23 ... RAM, 24 ... head drive unit, 25 ... motor drive unit,
26 ... Carriage motor, 27 ... Conveyance motor, 28 ... Input / output unit, 29 ... PC,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 ... Medium receiving part, 31 ... Imaging | photography part, 32 ... Housing | casing part, 33 ... Opening / closing part, 34 ... Turning axis | shaft,
35 ... opening

Claims (7)

A printing section for printing on a medium;
A housing portion that houses the printing portion;
A photographing unit for photographing the inside of the housing unit;
A support unit that supports the medium and is movable into the housing unit;
A control unit that determines whether an entering object that has entered the inside of the housing unit is the support unit based on a captured image captured by the imaging unit;
A printing apparatus comprising: The printing apparatus according to claim 1,
The control unit determines whether the approaching object is the support part based on a width, which is a length in a direction intersecting a moving direction of the support part, of the approaching object in the captured image. Characteristic printing device. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The control unit determines whether the approaching object is the support part based on positional information of the support part in the moving direction of the support part when the approaching object is present in the captured image. A printing apparatus characterized by the above. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
When the control unit determines that the entering object is the support unit, the control unit determines whether or not a foreign object is supported by the support unit based on the captured image. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs a warning operation when determining that the entering object is not the support unit. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The control unit stops the printing operation when it is determined that the entering object is not the support unit during the printing operation. A printing unit that prints on a medium, a housing unit that houses the printing unit, a photographing unit that captures an image of the inside of the housing unit, and a support that supports the medium and is movable inside the housing unit A method for determining an entering object in a printing apparatus comprising:
An approaching object discrimination method comprising: determining whether an approaching object that has entered the inside of the housing part is the support part based on a photographed image photographed by the photographing part.

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