JP2019181844A - Recording device and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

To solve a problem that, when back-feeding recording paper without removing partial-cut recording paper by a user, the clogging of the recording paper may occur, in a recording device which can partially cut printed recording paper.SOLUTION: A recording device having transport means capable of transporting a recording medium to a first direction or a second direction reverse to the first direction, and cutting means arranged at a downstream side of the recording means with respect to the first direction, and capable of fully cutting or partially cutting the recording medium performs the following control. That is, the transport means is controlled so that the recording medium which is partially cut by the cutting means is fully cut before the execution of succeeding printing, and after that, the recording medium is transported to the second direction until a tip part of the recording medium is located at an upstream side of the recording medium in the first direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a control method therefor, and more particularly to a recording apparatus that performs recording after recording on a continuous recording medium and a control method therefor.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a recording apparatus that prints on a recording medium such as a roll of continuous paper, cuts the recording paper printed by a cutter device, and outputs the cut printed recording paper as a printed matter is known.

  In such a recording apparatus, there is a certain distance between the printing position on the recording paper and the cutting position by the cutter apparatus. Therefore, after the printed recording paper is cut by the cutter device and the next printing is started from that position, a margin corresponding to the above distance is generated between the leading end of the cut recording paper and the printing position. End up. For this reason, not only the recording paper is consumed as much as the margin, but also the printed matter becomes unnecessarily large.

  In order to solve such a problem, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, after printing is completed and the recording paper is cut by the cutter device, the recording paper is transported in the reverse direction so that the blank space is removed. Techniques for reducing the size are known.

  The cutter device included in the recording apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a configuration capable of performing a full cut that completely cuts the recording paper and a partial cut that cuts the recording paper while leaving a part of the recording paper. . In this configuration, when a partial cut is performed, it is possible to prevent the cut recording paper from falling onto the ground and becoming difficult to remove or becoming dirty, and the user can receive it by tearing off the recorded material. It can be made easier. However, if the recording paper is transported in the reverse direction before the partially cut recorded matter is removed, the preceding page is drawn into the inside of the recording apparatus in an unstable state, and a paper jam (hereinafter referred to as paper jam) occurs. May occur.

  Therefore, as described in Patent Document 2, when the printed recording paper is cut by partial cut, the next print job is received, and the recording is performed in the reverse direction at the timing when the user seems to have removed the printed matter. A technique for preventing jamming by conveying paper is known.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-193712 JP 2003-260831 A

  The technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 is based on the premise that the printed matter is removed when the next print job is received. However, in reality, there are cases where the user does not take the printed matter, such as an unattended receipt ticketing machine, or receives the next print job without forgetting it, and it is possible to completely prevent the occurrence of jamming. There wasn't.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional example, and an object thereof is to provide a recording apparatus capable of preventing a jam of a partially cut recording medium, and a control method thereof.

  In order to achieve the above object, the recording apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration.

  A recording means for recording on a continuous recording medium; a transporting means capable of transporting the recording medium in a first direction or a second direction opposite to the first direction; 1, a cutting unit provided on the downstream side of the recording unit and capable of cutting the recording medium by a full cut or a partial cut according to an instruction from a user, and a recording medium partially cut by the cutting unit Is cut by the cutting means before the next printing is performed, and then the recording medium is moved to the second position until the leading end of the recording medium is located upstream of the recording means in the first direction. And a control means for controlling the transport means so as to transport in the direction.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, recording means for recording on a continuous recording medium, and transporting the recording medium in a first direction or a second direction opposite to the first direction. And a cutting means provided on the downstream side of the recording means with respect to the first direction and capable of cutting the recording medium by full cut or partial cut in accordance with an instruction from the user. The recording apparatus control method further comprising: cutting the recording medium partially cut by the cutting means by the cutting means before executing the next printing, and then the leading end of the recording medium is the recording means And a control method for controlling the conveying means to convey the recording medium in the second direction until the recording medium is positioned upstream of the first direction.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a jam of a partially cut recording paper.

It is a sectional side view which shows schematic structure of the recording device provided with the cutter according to the typical Example of this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed control configuration of the recording apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the cutter of the recording device shown in FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating first printing control after setting a recording sheet. It is a figure which shows the conveyance condition of a recording paper. It is a flowchart which shows the control after printing until the next printing operation start. FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing an outline of an internal structure of a recording apparatus according to a second embodiment. 12 is a flowchart illustrating print control when a next print job after a print job according to the second embodiment is executed.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described more specifically and in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the examples described below, and there may be changes and additions within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.

  In this specification, “recording” (sometimes referred to as “printing”) is not limited to the case of forming significant information such as characters and graphics, but may be significant. Furthermore, it also represents a case where an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like is widely formed on a recording medium or a medium is processed regardless of whether or not it is manifested so that a human can perceive it visually.

<Configuration of Recording Apparatus (FIGS. 1-2)>
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an outline of the internal structure of a recording apparatus 100 equipped with an ink jet recording head according to a typical embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a recording apparatus 100 and a host computer (hereinafter referred to as host) 101 are connected via a USB cable 111. The recording apparatus 100 includes four full-line recording heads (hereinafter referred to as recording heads) 102 to 105 in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged over the entire width of a recording medium such as recording paper, along the conveyance direction of the recording paper. .

  Each of the four recording heads 102 to 105 performs image recording by ejecting black ink, cyan ink, magenta ink, and yellow ink, and prints a full-color image with four colors of ink ejected from the four recording heads. The four recording heads 102 to 105 can be replaced for each recording head.

  The host 101 transmits density image data generated and separated into a black (Bk) component, a cyan (C) component, a magenta (M) component, and a yellow (Y) component corresponding to four colors of ink. Receiving the image data, the recording apparatus 100 feeds the roll-shaped recording paper 106, conveys it while being sandwiched between the pressing roller 107 and the conveyor belt 108, and sequentially prints with each color ink by the recording heads 102 to 105. I do. In the printing, the leading edge of the recording paper 106 to be printed is detected by the paper leading edge detection sensor 109, and each color ink is ejected from the recording heads 102 to 105 onto the recording paper according to the timing determined based on the moving distance therefrom. Is done. Further, after the printing operation is completed, the recording paper is cut by the cutter device 110 provided at a fixed distance downstream in the recording paper conveyance direction, and the printed matter is discharged.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a CPU 201 provided in the controller 200 of the recording apparatus 100 executes a control program stored in a ROM 202 by using a RAM 203 as a work area to control each component. In addition, the controller 200 uses the RAM 203 as a work area for various data processing and a reception buffer, and uses the image memory 204 as an image development unit. Further, the controller 200 includes a head driving circuit 208 that drives the recording heads 102 to 105, and a motor driver 210 that drives various motors 209 that control the cleaning operation and the recording operation for keeping each recording head in an optimum state for recording. Is provided. Furthermore, an ASIC 205 for controlling a sensor 211 and the like for controlling various operations and detecting a recording sheet is provided.

  The recording apparatus 100 also includes a USB controller 212 that receives image data, a cleaning command, and the like transmitted from the host 101 via the USB cable 111, and operates according to the received various command instructions. However, the interface with the host is not limited to USB, and may be connected to the host 101 via a wired or wireless network.

  3 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an example of the cutter device 110 of the recording apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram viewed from the conveyance direction of the recording paper, and is viewed from a direction orthogonal to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cutter device 110 includes a fixed blade 301 and a movable blade 302, and the movable blade 302 is driven toward the fixed blade 301 by a drive mechanism (not shown). The movable blade 302 has a groove 303 at the center. When the groove 303 of the movable blade 302 is driven to a position exceeding the edge 301e of the fixed blade 301, full cut is performed, and when the groove 303 of the movable blade 302 is driven to a position not exceeding the edge 301e of the fixed blade 301, partial cut is performed.

  When transmitting a print job from the host 101, the user can select a cut operation after printing from “no cut / full cut / partial cut”. The print job can designate “no cut = 0”, “full cut = 1”, and “partial cut = 2” as cut parameters for each page. The recording apparatus 100 that has received the print job analyzes the value of the cut parameter, and reflects the value in the cut control after printing according to the content. Thereby, full cut, partial cut, and no cut can be selected for each page according to the user's setting.

  Here, full cut, partial cut, and no cut are switched according to the print job parameters, but the cut selection may be common to all print jobs according to the setting on the recording apparatus side.

  Next, an embodiment of cut control when printing on continuous recording paper using the recording apparatus having the above-described configuration will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the first printing control after setting the recording paper.

  First, in step S500, printing of a predetermined page is executed in accordance with an instruction from the host 101. Then, in step S501, the value of the cut parameter is analyzed, and the value is “0”, that is, no cut instruction is specified. Find out if. If it is determined that there is no cut instruction, the process advances to step S506 to set a back feed flag, which will be described in detail later, to ON, and the printing operation is ended. On the other hand, if the value of the cut parameter is not “0”, that is, it is determined that there is a full cut or partial cut instruction, the process proceeds to step S502.

  In step S502, it is further checked whether the value of the cut parameter is “2”, that is, whether there is a partial cut instruction. If it is determined that the value is “1”, that is, a full cut instruction, the process advances to step S503 to cut the sheet by full cut. Thereafter, in step S507, the recording paper 106 is back-fed to the upstream side of the sensor 109 with respect to the conveyance direction of the recording paper, and then the printing operation is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the value of the cut parameter is “2”, that is, a partial cut instruction, the process proceeds to step S504, where the partial cut is performed, that is, cutting is performed while leaving a part of the recording paper. . Thereafter, in step S505, the process sets a pre-backfeed cut flag, which will be described in detail later, to ON, and in step S508, sets the backfeed flag to ON, and then ends the printing operation.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a conveyance state of the recording paper 106.

  FIG. 5A shows a state in which printing is finished and the printed material is cut by full cut or cut by a partial cut and then is torn by the user.

  As described in the background section, as shown in FIG. 5, there is a certain distance between the recording heads 102 to 105 and the cutter device 110. Accordingly, when printing is started as it is in accordance with the next printing instruction, a margin is generated at the leading edge of the recording paper for each distance from the cutter device 110 to the recording heads 102 to 105. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is unnecessary by rotating the conveyance belt 108 in the reverse direction and returning the recording paper (hereinafter referred to as back feed) so that the recording paper is positioned upstream in the conveyance direction from the recording head before printing is started. Eliminates margins.

  FIG. 5B shows a state where the back feed is performed. By performing the back feed, the front end of the recording paper 106 can be detected by the paper front end detection sensor 109, and printing can be performed from the vicinity of the front end.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the control after printing until the start of the next printing operation (printing control for the second and subsequent times after setting the recording paper).

  The recording apparatus 100 first prints the first page according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, and sets the back feed flag and the pre-back feed cut flag according to the value of the cut parameter.

  When the next print job is received, first, in step S601, it is checked whether or not the pre-backfeed cut flag referred to in FIG. 4 is ON. This flag is ON if partial cut is specified in the previous print job.

  As described above, in order to eliminate the margin at the leading edge of the recording paper in the next printing, back feed is performed so that the leading edge of the recording paper is positioned upstream of the recording head before the start of printing. However, when this control is executed, if the printed recording paper is partially cut by the previous execution of the print job and the backfeed is performed in a state where the recording paper is not removed, the printed recording paper is recorded in the recording device. There is a possibility that jamming occurs due to clogging inside 100.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, when the printed matter generated in the previous print job is partially cut, that is, when the pre-backfeed cut flag is turned ON by the print control shown in FIG. 4, the process proceeds to step S604. move on. Then, before executing the back feed, the cutter device 110 is driven to perform a full cut, and then the pre-back feed cut flag is turned OFF in step S605. As a result, the part that remains partially connected by the partial cut is completely cut, and even if the user has not removed the partially cut recording paper, it should not cause jamming during backfeeding. Can do. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S602.

  On the other hand, if it is confirmed in step S601 that the pre-backfeed cut flag is OFF, the process proceeds to step S602.

  In step S602, it is checked whether the back feed flag is ON. This flag is ON when there is no cut instruction or a partial cut instruction in the previous print job. If it is confirmed that the back feed flag is ON, the process proceeds to step S606, and the recording paper is back fed to the next print start position (the print position of the second page when there is no cut instruction). Do. Thereafter, the back feed flag is turned OFF in step S607. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S603, where the printing control shown in FIG. 4 is executed, and printing of the second page is started from the leading edge of the recording paper.

  On the other hand, if the back feed flag is OFF, the recording paper has already been drawn into the recording apparatus 100 after full cut in the previous print job, so the process proceeds to step S603 as it is, and the second page Print.

  Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, when a partial cut is performed after printing, a jam is caused by performing a full feed and cutting the recording paper after the next print job is received and then performing a back feed. It is possible to print from the leading edge of the recording paper without any problem.

  In this embodiment, the full cut is performed before the back feed regardless of whether the user has removed the partially cut recording paper. This is because, even if the user removes the recording paper as expected, there is no problem in performing the full cut operation, and the cutting blade simply rotates idle.

  Originally, the partially cut recording paper has the purpose of holding the printed recording paper without dropping it. For example, in a receipt ticket issuing machine, the previous recording paper is removed when the next print job is received. If not, the previous printed material is often unnecessary. For this reason, even if the recording paper is cut by performing a full cut, no practical problem occurs.

  In the first embodiment, the full cut operation is performed before the recording paper is back-fed regardless of whether or not the partially cut recording paper is removed by the user. In this embodiment, a paper detection sensor is provided in the vicinity of the recording paper discharge port of the recording apparatus 100, and the full cut operation is performed only when it is detected by the sensor that the recording paper partially cut is not removed by the user. The control to be performed will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing an outline of the internal structure of the recording apparatus 900 according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 7, the same constituent elements as those described in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof will be omitted, and only the constituent elements unique to this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, the recording apparatus 900 includes a sheet acquisition detection sensor 901 for detecting whether or not the partially cut recording sheet has been removed.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing print control when the next print job after the print job according to the second embodiment is executed. In FIG. 8, the same processing steps as those already described in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same step reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. Here, only processing unique to this embodiment will be described.

  First, in step S591, it is checked whether or not a pre-backfeed cut flag indicating that the partial cut has been completed is ON. If it is ON, the process proceeds to step S592, where the detection result of the paper acquisition detection sensor 901 is acquired, and it is determined whether the partially cut recording paper has been removed.

  Here, if the detection result indicates that there is no paper, it indicates that the recorded matter has been removed by the user, so the process proceeds to step S593 to execute backfeed of the recording paper, and in step S594, backfeed is performed. Turn off the flag. Further, if the recording paper has been removed, it is not necessary to perform a full cut operation. In step S595, the pre-backfeed cut flag is also turned OFF.

  On the other hand, in step S592, if the detection result of the paper acquisition detection sensor 901 indicates the presence of paper, it indicates that the recorded matter has not been removed by the user, and the process advances to step S601. Also, in step S591, when the pre-backfeed cut flag is OFF, the process proceeds to step S601.

  Thereafter, the same processing as that shown in FIG. 6 is executed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

  Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, since the paper acquisition detection sensor is provided, it is determined that the full cut operation is unnecessary when the partially cut recorded material is removed by the user, or the back feed is executed. It can be carried out. Thereby, when the next print job is received, the printing operation can be executed promptly, and the waiting time can be shortened.

  In the embodiment described above, a jam is likely to occur when a partially cut recording paper is back-fed, so that a full cut operation is performed before starting the next printing operation for each page printed. However, when print jobs are received continuously, partial cut is performed until the last page is discharged, and the back feed flag is set when the next print job is not received for a predetermined time after printing of the last page is completed. You may do it. That is, the full cut operation may be performed before the start of the next printing operation when the printing interval of one page by the print job exceeds a predetermined time.

  In the embodiment described above, the recording apparatus that records on the roll-shaped recording paper has been described as an example. However, the present invention also applies to a recording apparatus that records on continuous recording paper such as fanfold paper. Applicable.

  Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the recording apparatus using the full line recording head has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the recording head may be a recording apparatus that performs recording by reciprocally moving the recording head in a direction perpendicular to the recording medium conveyance direction and intermittently conveying the recording paper accordingly. Alternatively, it may be a transfer type printer that forms an image by transferring the ink applied to the ink holding member onto a recording sheet.

  In the embodiment described above, the cutter device and the recording device are externally attached. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cutter device is built in the recording device. It may be configured.

100 inkjet recording apparatus, 101 host computer,
102 recording head (Bk), 103 recording head (C), 104 recording head (M),
105 recording head (Y), 106 recording paper, 107 pressing roller,
108 conveying belt, 109 paper leading edge detection sensor, 110 cutter device,
301 Fixed blade, 302 Movable blade, 303 Movable blade groove, 901 Paper acquisition detection sensor

Claims (9)

Recording means for recording on a continuous recording medium;
Conveying means capable of conveying the recording medium in a first direction or a second direction opposite to the first direction;
A cutting means provided on the downstream side of the recording means with respect to the first direction and capable of cutting the recording medium by a full cut or a partial cut in accordance with an instruction from a user;
The recording medium partially cut by the cutting means is fully cut by the cutting means before the next printing is performed, and then the leading end of the recording medium is located upstream of the recording means in the first direction. And a control unit that controls the transport unit to transport the recording medium in the second direction until it is positioned. A first sensor provided on the upstream side of the recording means with respect to the first direction and detecting a leading end of the recording medium;
2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the transport unit to transport the recording medium in the second direction until the leading end of the recording medium is detected by the first sensor. The recording device described.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the full cut before the next printing by the cutting unit is performed regardless of whether or not the partially cut recording medium is removed. A second sensor that is provided on the downstream side of the cutting means with respect to the first direction and detects whether the partially cut recording medium is removed;
The control unit controls the transport unit to transport the recording medium in the second direction when the second sensor detects that the partially cut recording medium is removed. The recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.   The control means controls the cutting means to fully cut the partially cut recording medium when it is detected by the second sensor that the partially cut recording medium is not removed. The recording apparatus according to claim 4.   The instruction from the user is performed by a host that transmits a print job to the recording apparatus, and a no-cut instruction, a partial cut instruction, or a full cut instruction is specified for the print job. Item 6. The recording device according to any one of Items 1 to 5.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control by the control unit is performed every time a print instruction for one page is received by a print job.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control by the control unit is performed when a printing interval of one page by a print job is equal to or longer than a predetermined time. Recording means for recording on a continuous recording medium; conveying means capable of conveying the recording medium in a first direction or a second direction opposite to the first direction; and the first A control method for a recording apparatus provided with a cutting unit provided on the downstream side of the recording unit with respect to the direction, and capable of cutting the recording medium by a full cut or a partial cut according to an instruction from a user,
The recording medium partially cut by the cutting means is fully cut by the cutting means before the next printing is performed, and then the leading end of the recording medium is located upstream of the recording means in the first direction. A control method comprising: controlling the transport unit so as to transport the recording medium in the second direction until it is positioned.

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