JP3025558B2 - Printing device control method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control method of a printing apparatus for forming a color image by heating and recording on an image receiving paper by a thermal transfer recording method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a printing apparatus of this type transfers a thermal head comprising a plurality of heating elements to an image receiving paper which is fixed and conveyed to a platen drum via an ink sheet on which a plurality of color surfaces are sequentially formed. A color image is formed by pressing and heating and recording.

[0003] The ink sheet is formed, for example, by applying three color inks of yellow Y, magenta M , and cyan C on a transparent film in a sequential manner, and providing a color identification mark at a different position at a head position of each color. In some cases, these are detected by a plurality of sensors and cueing of each color is performed. In such a conventional printing apparatus, the color selection operation of these ink sheets is controlled to be performed simultaneously with the start of the printing operation.

Further, as shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 1-184184 and 184185, an interrupt signal is inputted to a control unit by opening a maintenance / inspection cover of a printing apparatus, and a part of the function is utilized. There is also known an apparatus in which manual operation is enabled, and a drive unit automatically returns to an initial state by closing a lid after a failure is eliminated.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-188821, when a printing apparatus is performing a printing operation, the printing operation is temporarily forcibly stopped by a host system, thereby immediately stopping the abnormal operation. There is also known a printer device which can prevent a failure beforehand and shorten a recovery time.

Further, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-199685, marks are selectively provided on a plurality of band-shaped mark display portions provided in the longitudinal direction of the ink carrier in accordance with each ink color. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-132375, which discloses an ink carrier color detecting device which can reliably detect each ink color by judging the ink color based on the detection result of the mark detecting portion facing each of the mark display portions. As shown in the publication, a cue detection mark is provided for each color of the ink sheet, and a first sensor for Y detection and a second sensor for M and C detection simultaneously operate at the end of the sheet. A thermal transfer printer in which the end of an ink sheet is detected by using a small number of sensors by disposing a detection mark to be detected, as disclosed in JP-A-61-242869. Tsu and distinction mark and color-coded mark, by specifying a positional relationship between the mark indicating the end of the ink sheet, a color transfer sheet is also known which eliminate the malfunction at the end detection.

[0007]

However, such conventional techniques have the following problems. That is, since the color selection operation of the ink sheet is performed simultaneously with the start of the printing operation, for example, when the printing operation is interrupted by a reset signal and the ink sheet is stopped halfway, the next printing operation is performed. There has been a problem that extra time is spent in the color selection operation of the ink sheet during printing, and a great waste of printing time occurs.

In the case where the interrupt signal is input to the control unit by opening the maintenance inspection cover, the abnormal state is restored only by opening and closing the cover. Even if the obstacle can be removed without opening and closing the lid, such as a defective paper feed or paper ejection, the lid must be opened and closed, and a reset operation is performed immediately after the lid is closed. If this is done, there is an inconvenience that causes a malfunction when a noise signal is input to the lid opening / closing operation detecting means.

In a printing apparatus in which a thermal head is mounted on a lid portion and a reset operation is performed by a reset switch or the like, when the thermal head is controlled to perform a reset operation even when the lid is open. Has a problem that the thermal head and the platen drum may be damaged.

[0010] Further, the printing apparatus which is performing a printing operation from the host system is stopped from the host system, and an arbitrary operation in a series of operations from a paper feeding operation to a paper discharging operation through a printing operation is performed. If it is possible to interrupt the printing operation at any time during the feeding and discharging operations, a paper jam may occur in the image receiving paper. It has been difficult to avoid color misregistration even if the printing operation is restarted later.

Further, in the apparatus in which a mark display portion provided in the longitudinal direction of the ink carrier is detected to determine the ink color, the color selection operation is reliably performed due to the ink sheet entangled or the malfunction of the ink motor. There is no description about the processing when the ink sheet is not performed, and the ink sheet replacement display is not performed for the detection of the ink sheet end portion only by the remaining amount detection.

In the ink sheet provided with a cue detection mark and an end detection mark for each color, the detection of the end is reliable, but the detection sensors for magenta M and cyan C are the same. Therefore, when a mark detection error of magenta M occurs, there is a possibility that a portion to be transferred with magenta M may be transferred with cyan C, and a mark for each block and a mark for each color and the end of the ink sheet are indicated. In the case where the positional relationship with the mark is specified, a dedicated sensor has to be provided for the end detection, so that the cost is increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and even when the printing operation is interrupted by a reset signal, the productivity and reliability do not require extra time for the next printing operation. It is an object to provide a high printing apparatus.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a platen drum for winding and transporting and receiving an image receiving paper, a gripper for fixing the image receiving paper to the platen drum, and heating and writing. A thermal head as a means, an ink sheet provided with a plurality of color identification marks and ink end display marks in which ink surfaces of a plurality of colors are sequentially formed, and a pair of ink sheets for performing a color selection operation of the ink sheet. In a control method of a printing apparatus for forming a color image by forming a color image by heating and recording on a receiving paper by pressing a thermal head with a receiving paper and an ink sheet interposed between a sensor and the platen drum and a thermal head, By detecting the reset signal as shown in FIG. 1, the printing operation is interrupted or the error state is released. Both there is provided a method of controlling a printing apparatus which controls so as to perform head color color selective operation of the ink sheet in parallel with the predetermined reset operation.

In the control method of the printing apparatus, the length of the color identification mark provided on the ink sheet in the ink sheet winding direction is set to be longer than the slack winding length of the ink sheet. It is preferable to control so as to wind up the slack of the ink sheet without the color identification mark coming off the pair of sensors.

When a resettable error occurs in the printing apparatus, the control unit detects that a reset signal has been input, thereby executing the error check operation and the resetting operation. When a reset signal is input from one of a reset signal input means provided in the operation unit, a means for detecting the open / closed state of the upper unit of the printing apparatus, and a higher-level device connected to the printing apparatus, the reset signal is detected. Good to do.

When the reset operation is performed by detecting the reset signal from the reset signal input means provided in the operation unit of the printing apparatus or the host device for performing such control, the upper unit of the printing apparatus is closed. It is more preferable to control the reset signal to be valid only at the time.

Further, it is also possible to control the means for detecting the open / closed state of the upper unit to generate a reset signal by detecting the open state and to make the reset signal valid by detecting the closed state. It is.

The reset signal generated when the upper unit changes from the closed state to the open state is valid after the closed state has been maintained for a predetermined time after the means for detecting the open / closed state of the upper unit detects the closed state. It is preferable to control so that

Further, when a reset signal is input to the control unit of the printing apparatus, if the printing apparatus is performing a printing operation or an ink sheet color selecting operation, the printing operation is immediately interrupted and a predetermined operation is stopped. Reset operation of
When the paper supply / discharge operation is being performed, it is preferable to perform control so that a predetermined reset operation is performed after the paper supply / discharge operation is completed.

When a pair of sensors for selecting a color of the ink sheet continue to detect the color identification mark even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the detection of the color identification mark, the pair of sensors together When the color identification mark is detected, control may be performed such that the ink sheet end is detected, and when only one of the color identification marks is detected, an ink sheet error is determined.

When it is determined that the ink sheet is at the end, the operation of discharging the image receiving paper wound around the platen drum is performed, and when it is determined that an ink sheet error occurs, the operation of discharging the image receiving paper is performed. It is more preferable to perform control so as not to perform.

Further, in the above control method of a printing apparatus, when a single color printing mode is selected by a color selection key provided on an operation section of the printing apparatus to select the single color printing mode, a reset signal is output. Thus, it is possible to interrupt the printing operation or cancel the error state, and to control the next same color selection operation in parallel with the predetermined reset operation.

[0024]

In the control method of the printing apparatus according to the present invention, by performing the above-described control, the printing operation is interrupted or the error state is released by the reset signal, and the ink is released in parallel with the predetermined reset operation. Since the color selection operation of the leading color of the sheet can be performed, it is not necessary to perform an extra ink sheet winding operation at the time of the next printing, and the printing operation can be performed promptly. Productivity can be significantly improved.

The length of the color identification mark of the ink sheet in the ink sheet winding direction is set to be longer than the slack length of the ink sheet, and the slack of the ink sheet is wound before starting printing. There is no risk that the color identification mark will fall out of the detection area of the ink sheet sensor, and wasteful consumption of the ink sheet due to a detection error can be prevented.

When a releasable error occurs in the printing apparatus, the error checking operation and the releasing operation are executed, a reset signal input means on the printing apparatus side, an upper unit open / close detection means of the printing apparatus, and a printing apparatus. By detecting a reset signal input from any of the higher-level devices connected to the device, the operability of error processing can be significantly improved.

When the reset operation is performed by detecting the reset signal from the reset signal input means provided in the operation unit of the printing apparatus which performs such control or the host device, only when the upper unit is in the closed state. By setting the reset signal to be valid, it is possible to eliminate the possibility that the thermal head or the like may be damaged by performing an error checking operation or a releasing operation while the upper unit is open.

Further, a reset signal is generated when the open / closed state detecting means of the upper unit detects the open state,
By making it effective by detecting the change from the open state to the closed state, the reset signal is automatically generated only by the opening / closing operation of the upper unit, so that the operability is improved.

Then, the reset signal generated when the upper unit changes from the closed state to the open state becomes valid after the closed state has been continued for a predetermined time from the detection of the closed state by the upper unit open / close detecting means. When the closing operation of the upper unit is incompletely performed or when noise is input to the closed state detecting means, the error check and the canceling operation are not performed, so that the malfunction can be prevented.

Further, when a reset signal is input to the control unit of the printing apparatus, if the printing apparatus is performing a printing operation or an ink sheet color selecting operation, the printing operation is immediately interrupted and a predetermined operation is stopped. By performing a reset operation and performing a predetermined reset operation after completion of the paper supply / discharge operation, the printing apparatus can be promptly returned to a printable state,
Paper jams can be prevented beforehand.

Further, when the color selection sensor continues to detect the color identification mark even after a predetermined time has elapsed after detecting the color identification mark,
When the pair of color selection sensors detect both, it is determined that the ink sheet is at the end, and when only one of them is detected, it is determined that there is an ink sheet error. Can be detected.

When it is determined that the ink sheet is at the end, the image receiving paper wound around the platen drum is discharged, and when it is determined that there is an ink sheet error, the image receiving paper is not discharged. By doing so
When the ink sheet is in a slack state at the time of the ink sheet error, it is possible to prevent a problem that the ink sheet is wound around the platen drum or cut.

Furthermore, when a single color printing mode is selected in the printing apparatus provided with the single color printing mode, the next same color selecting operation is performed in parallel with the interruption of the printing operation by the reset signal and the operation of releasing the error state. By doing so, it is unnecessary to wind up the extra ink sheet at the time of the next printing, and it is possible to improve operability and productivity.

[0034]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows a basic configuration example of a printing apparatus embodying the present invention.

The printing apparatus 100 includes a platen drum 110 for winding, transporting and printing the image receiving paper P, a drum motor (not shown) for rotationally driving the platen drum 110, and the image receiving paper P on the platen drum 110. A gripper 120 for fixing, an ink sheet 150 accommodated in an ink sheet cassette 151 detachably provided in the printing apparatus 100 and conveyed by an ink motor (not shown), and an image receiving paper P between the platen drum 110 and the ink sheet 150. A thermal head 140 that forms an image on the image receiving paper P by applying pressure and heat through the ink sheet 150;

The ink sheet cassette 151 has a label 15 indicating the type of the ink sheet 150 to be stored.
2 is stuck. The thermal head 140 is configured to be pressed against the platen drum 110 by a thermal head pressing mechanism 141 operated by a head pressing motor (not shown).

As means for feeding the image receiving paper P to the platen drum 110, a paper feed roller 161 for transporting the image receiving paper P loaded on the paper feed cassette 160,
A manual paper feed roller 171 for feeding paper from the manual feed tray 170;
By 81, the paper is discharged and stacked on the paper discharge tray 180. Each of the above rollers is driven by a paper feeding / discharging motor (not shown) through a driving force transmitting means such as a gear or a belt, and the paper feeding roller 161 is driven only by a clutch (not shown) when a driving force is required. It is configured to be transmitted.

Further, a paper guide plate (not shown) slidable according to the paper width is provided on the paper feed cassette 160 and the manual feed stand 170, and a light shielding plate (see FIG. 1) formed integrally with the paper guide plate. (Not shown) is read by a paper size sensor described later, so that the paper width of the set image receiving paper P can be detected.

The printing apparatus 100 includes a hinge 10
The upper unit 101 can be opened and closed like a clamshell around the support shaft 104 of the hinge 103. The upper unit 101 holds a thermal head 140 and an ink sheet cassette 151, and detaches from the lower unit 102 while being held by the upper unit 101 in accordance with the opening operation. Indicated by a dashed line in the middle). When the upper unit 101 is closed, the upper unit 101 is closed.
Is fitted with a fitting pin 106 provided on the lower unit 102,
Further, the upper unit 101 is configured to be able to be set to the opening prohibition state by a cover lock solenoid (not shown) for locking.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a block diagram of a control unit of the printing apparatus according to the present invention. The control unit 200 of the printing apparatus 100 includes a system controller 210 for controlling a printing operation, an operation unit 240 for performing key input and status display, a driving unit 250 for driving each motor, and detecting various states of the apparatus. Sensor part 2 for performing
60, external device 290 (host 291 such as workstation or personal computer, FAX 292, etc.)
(I) for importing image data from
/ F) 280, an image processing unit for converting image data of a document read by the scanner 270 or image data taken in from the external device 290 into data suitable for the thermal head 140 by processing with shading correction, a filter or the like. 220, thermal head 140
And a heat control unit 230 for controlling the driving conditions.

FIG. 4 shows a circuit configuration of the system controller 210. The CPU 211 is a single-chip microcomputer including a data RAM, a plurality of 8-bit I / O ports, an A / D converter, a 16-bit software timer, a serial port, and the like.
The sequence control of 00 is performed. This CPU 21
In order to connect the PROM 213 for program and the RAM 214 for storing data to the
373) decodes the address bus. The data line is divided into two lines of an upper byte (D15 to D8) and a lower byte (D7 to D0).
One of is connected to PROM213 and RAM 214.

The decoder 215 includes a PROM 213 and RA
M214 and I / O expander 216 (eg, PP
Chip select signal (C inverted)
S) is an element (LS138 or the like) for generating S).
The CPU 211 drives a motor, transmits and receives data, and the like via the above-described I / O expander 216. Driver 2
Reference numeral 17 denotes a driving element for driving a motor, a clutch, a solenoid, and the like according to a signal from the I / O expander 216, and a driving element corresponding to each driven body is prepared.

A buffer 218 is used for transmitting and receiving the sensor and each control signal, and a resistance array 219 (RAY) which is a pull-up resistor is connected to each signal line. A / D conversion terminals ANA1, AN of CPU 211
Analog signals from the head resistance measurement unit 300 and the head temperature measurement unit 301 are input to A2.
The details of each of the above signals will be described later.

FIG. 5 is a layout diagram of each sensor of the printing apparatus 100. In the figure, S1 is a cover open sensor that detects the open / closed state of the upper unit 101, S2 is a head pressure sensor that detects the pressurized state of the thermal head 140, and S3 is the presence or absence of the ink sheet cassette 151 and the type of the ink sheet 150. S4 is an ink sheet sensor for determining the color of the ink sheet 150. S5 is a cassette paper presence / absence sensor for detecting the presence / absence of the image receiving paper P in the paper supply cassette 160;
Reference numeral 6 denotes a cassette paper size sensor for determining the size of the image receiving paper P in the paper feeding cassette 160, and reference numeral S7 denotes a cassette paper feeding sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the image receiving paper P in the cassette paper feeding path.

S8 is a manual feed tray sensor for detecting the setting state of the manual feed tray 170; S9 is a manual feed paper presence / absence sensor for detecting the image receiving paper P set on the manual feed tray 170;
Reference numeral 10 denotes a manual paper feed sensor that detects the presence or absence of an image receiving paper in the manual paper feed path, and reference numeral S11 denotes a manual paper size sensor that detects the size of the image receiving paper P set on the manual feed table 170. Further, S12 is a drum paper sensor for detecting the image receiving paper on the platen drum 110, and S13 is a paper discharge sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the image receiving paper in the paper discharge conveyance path.

A disk 117 is provided on the rotation shaft of the platen drum 110 so as to be rotatable in synchronization with the platen drum 110. Further, by detecting a slit 118 provided in the disk 117, Three drum position sensors DS1 to DS3 for determining the position of the gripper 120 are provided.
These sensors are respectively a printing start position sensor DS
1, a sheet feed position sensor DS2 and a head open position sensor DS3.

FIG. 6 shows the operation unit 2 of the printing apparatus 100.
40 shows an example. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a light-emitting diode (hereinafter, referred to as “LED”) for displaying a power ON state, 2 for a ready state, and 3 for a busy state. The online key 241 is a key for switching between online and offline. Each time the key 241 is pressed, the online mode and the offline mode are toggled, and the LED 16 for online display is turned on when in the online state.

The reset key 242 is a key for sending a reset signal to the system controller 210, and is used for interrupting a printing operation or canceling an error state. The LED 4 is an LED for displaying the size of the receiving paper, and one of the LEDs 4 is turned on when the size of the paper is detected. LED 5 is ink sheet 15
0 is a LED for displaying the type of No. 0, and a label 152 provided on the ink sheet cassette 151 is
, Either “standard” or “OHP” is lit.

LED6 to LED8 are yellow Y, respectively.
This is a lancer LED for displaying the printing state of each color of magenta M and cyan C. Two pairs of LEDs are provided for each color, that is, three sets are provided. These LEDs 6
8 are controlled so that one is lit at the start of printing of each color and the other is lit at the end of printing, so that the operator can grasp the printing status at a glance.

The operation unit 240 further includes a serviceman call display LED 9, a cassette paper-less cover LED 10, a manual paper feed display LED 11, a paper jam display LED 12,
It has an LED 13 for displaying no ink sheet cassette / ink sheet end, an LED 14 for displaying the cover open, and the like. Further, in the case where it cannot be represented by one display, for example, the type of error, the position of the paper jam, and the like are configured so that the details can be understood by a combination of the number displayed on the 7-segment LED 15 and another display. I have.

The operation section 240 has color selection keys 243, 244, 245 for selecting a single color printing mode.
Are provided, and Y, M, and C can be respectively selected.
Pressing any of these keys will cause LED6,
A pair corresponding to 7 and 8 is simultaneously turned on to display the selected color, and at the time of printing, one of them is turned off to indicate the printing state.

Next, the operation of the embodiment having the above configuration will be described in detail. Note that the description of the operation here is for the basic operation of the printing apparatus alone, and the control of the scanner, transmission / reception to / from an external device by an interface, and the like are omitted.

When the power is turned on to the printing apparatus 100, as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
First, the CPU body and peripheral ICs are initialized. Next, in order to check the operation of the RAM 214, specific data is written to and read from the RAM 214. At this time, if an error occurs, a RAM error occurs, and an infinite loop is entered with the blinking display of the serviceman call. If the RAM 214 operates normally, the routine proceeds to an initial value setting routine for the thermal control unit 230.

FIG. 8 shows the initial value setting routine. In this initial value setting routine, an initial value setting start signal is transmitted, the maximum number of driving elements and the maximum applied pulse width are set, the negative / positive mode is selected, the resistance / element number correction data is transferred, the write address is set, The line synchronization signal (Lsync) and the level synchronization signal (LVsyn)
After the setting of the interval c) and the setting of the R / L margin, etc., an initial setting end signal is transmitted.

The transfer of the resistance value / element number correction data will be further described with reference to FIG. The total number of elements of the thermal head 140 is 2560 dots, which are divided into 40 blocks of 64 dots each.
The resistance value of the element of 64 dots in each block is measured by the head resistance value measuring unit 300, and this measured value (analog value) is input to the A / D conversion terminal ANA1 of the CPU 211 and converted into a digital value. This is Block N
o. The measurement is sequentially performed for 0 to 39, and the measurement result is transferred to the thermal control unit 230.

Further, an average resistance value is obtained from the resistance value of each element, element difference data for each element is calculated, and this result is also transferred to the thermal control unit 230. The calculation of the element difference data is performed to set the number of applied pulses corresponding to the resistance value of each element. The heat control unit 230 determines the pulse width and the number of pulses to be applied to each element based on these data so that printing without unevenness can be performed.

After the initial value setting is completed, returning to FIG. 7, the software timer used in the program is set, and the initial setting (mechanical initialization) on the machine of the apparatus is performed. FIG. 10 shows the routine of this initialization. In the mechanical initialization, first, the cover open sensor S1 is checked. If the cover open sensor S1 is open, an error occurs.

Next, the manual paper feed sensor S9, the cassette paper feed sensor S7, and the paper discharge sensor S13 are checked, and if any of them is detected, an error code is written to an error buffer. The error buffer is a conversion register for storing an error code, and will be described in detail in the section on error processing. If an error occurs, each motor and cover lock are turned off, a busy signal is output, an error flag is set, and the process returns to the main routine.

Next, the drum paper sensor S12 is checked, and a detection state (a state in which the image receiving paper P is wound on the drum) is detected.
, A paper discharge operation is performed, and if not, a paper discharge check is performed. In the discharge check routine, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, when the drum motor and the paper supply / discharge motor are driven at the same time and the discharge sensor S13 is turned on while the discharge roller 181 is driven by a predetermined distance, a paper discharge jam error occurs and a reinitialization routine is performed. Return to If not turned on, the paper supply / discharge motor is stopped, the platen drum 110 is driven until the head opening position sensor DS3 is turned on, and the routine returns to the mechanical initialization routine.

This discharge check operation is for judging whether or not the image receiving paper P has deviated from the gripper 120 and has reached the discharge conveyance path. By this operation, the jammed state of the image receiving sheet P that may occur when the main switch is turned off during the sheet discharging operation is detected at the time of initialization, so that the image receiving sheet P remaining in the apparatus can be completely eliminated. .

In FIG. 10, if no error has occurred in the paper discharge check routine, the drum paper sensor S1 is again activated.
Check 2 and, if turned on, perform the paper ejection operation.
If it is not on, the platen drum 110 is driven from that state to the printing start position (home position) and the process returns to the main routine. When returning from the initializing routine to the main routine of FIG. 7, the error flag is checked. If an error has occurred, the process proceeds to the error processing routine, and if there is no error, the process proceeds to the main loop.

FIG. 12 shows the flow of the main loop routine. In the main loop, check for errors, check ink sheet and paper size,
An off-line check, a print signal check, and an error check in each check operation are performed, and the above-described idling operation is repeated until a key input from the operation unit 240 or an external signal is input.

First, an error state check is performed. If a "serviceman call error" has already occurred when the processing has shifted to the main loop, the processing after entering the infinite loop is not performed. Next, other errors are checked, and if there is an error, the process jumps to an error processing routine. In the control of this device, when an error occurs, the upper unit 10
The setting is made so that the state returns from the error state to the ready state by changing the 1 from the open state to the closed state or pressing the reset key 242 and inputting a reset signal to the CPU 211.

That is, the "reset waiting" flag set in the error processing routine is reset when a reset signal is input, and the "reset input" flag is set instead. In the main loop,
Checking these flags, "Wait for reset"
If the flag is set and the reset key is not pressed, the apparatus enters a standby state until a reset signal is input. When a reset signal is input, reinitialization is performed, and each sensor is checked again as described above. Of course, if an error occurs during the initializing process, the process returns to the error processing routine.

Next, the ink sheet cassette 151 is checked. FIG. 13 shows an ink cassette check routine. In this routine, the presence / absence of the ink sheet cassette 151 and the type (standard / OHP) of the ink sheet 150 are determined. If the ink sheet cassette 151 is set, the standard or OHP is displayed by the LED 5, and if the ink sheet cassette 151 is not set, an ink sheet error (no ink sheet) is generated and the LED 5 is displayed.
13 is turned on.

The presence or absence of the ink sheet cassette 151 and the type of the ink sheet 150 are determined by the ink sheet cassette sensor S3 shown in FIG. The sensor S3 is composed of two reflective photosensors, and a label corresponding to the type of the ink sheet 150 is attached to the ink sheet cassette 151 at a position facing the sensor S3.

This label is made of a material whose surface reflects light from the sensor S3, and is attached so as to be detected on at least one of the two photosensors of the sensor S3. Therefore, the respective states can be determined such that one of the sensors is turned on for the standard, the other is turned on for the OHP, and if both are off, the ink sheet cassette is not set.

When the check of the ink sheet cassette 151 is completed, the process returns to the main loop of FIG. 12, and the size of the image receiving paper (paper size) is checked. FIG. 14 shows this paper size check routine. Here, since there are two types of paper feeding, manual paper feeding and cassette paper feeding, it is first checked which paper feeding is to be used. For this check, a manual feed tray sensor S8 is used. If this sensor S8 is on, that is, if the manual feed tray 170 is set, it is determined that manual paper feed is performed, and the LED 11 is turned on. The LED 11 is turned off.

In the case of manual paper feed, a manual paper presence sensor S
In step 9, it is checked whether or not the image receiving paper P is set on the manual feed tray 170, and if so, the size is checked. A manual paper size sensor S11 is used to check this size, and the detected paper size is
The information is displayed on 40 LEDs 4.

In the case of cassette paper feeding, first, it is checked whether manual paper is set by the manual paper presence sensor S9, and if paper is present, a manual paper jam error occurs and the LED 12 is turned on. Displays the number corresponding to. This check is performed in order to prevent the paper on the manual feed tray 170 from being simultaneously fed during cassette feeding. Next, whether or not there is paper in the paper feed cassette 160 is determined by a cassette paper presence sensor S.
Check at 5, if there is paper, cassette paper size sensor S
The size is checked by 6 and the result is displayed on the LED 4. If there is no paper, it is determined that there is no cassette paper error and the LED 10 is turned on.

Next, returning to the main loop of FIG. 12, the online key 241 of the operation unit 240 is checked. FIG. 15 shows the online check routine. If the online key 241 has been pressed, the current state is checked. If the remote state, the local mode is set. If the local state, the remote mode is reset. When online, the LED 16 is turned on to indicate the state. Also,
If the online key 241 has not been pressed or is in the test printing mode, the process exits this routine without any processing and returns to the main loop of FIG.

Here, it is checked whether or not the printing apparatus is ready, and if it is ready, it is checked whether or not it is a test printing. If it is a test printing, the process directly proceeds to the print operation routine, and if not, it is checked whether it is in the remote mode or the local mode. In the remote mode, if the print signal has been sent from the host side, the operation proceeds to the print operation. In other cases, the operation returns to the head of the main loop to be in a standby state, and the above-described checks are repeated.

FIG. 16 shows an error processing routine. When an error occurs in each routine, error processing is always performed by this routine. When the control is transferred to the error processing routine, first, each drive means, that is, the drum motor, the ink motor, and the paper supply / discharge motor are turned off.
Next, the type of the error is determined by referring to the error buffer.

This error buffer is a variable register provided in the internal register file of the CPU 211 for storing an error code. When an error occurs, an error code corresponding to the error is stored in the error buffer. . The errors include a serviceman call error, a cover open error, a paper jam error, a motor operation error, a paper / ink sheet empty error, and the like. The priority order is a serviceman call error, a cover open error, and so on. .

In the case of a serviceman call error, after setting the "error present" and "serviceman call" flags in the error state flag, error processing, that is, turning off each drive system, a busy signal to the host, and an error A signal is output, an error is displayed by the LED 9 or the LED 14, the error buffer is cleared, and the process exits the error processing routine.

In the case of a cover open error, after setting "error present", "cover open error" and "reset waiting" flags in the error state flag,
The error processing described above is performed. Also, the thermal head 140
Is released, the pressure of the head is released. The purpose of this is to prevent the thermal head 140 from colliding with the platen drum 110 when the cover (upper unit 101) is closed by raising the thermal head 140.

Next, if the error status flag is checked and it is set to "error present" (during error display), other error displays except for the above-mentioned error have already been made, and the error is canceled. In this case, since the state has not been made, the routine is exited only by clearing the error buffer. This means that the display of a previously generated error has priority, and the display of the next error will not be performed unless this error is cleared.

In the case of a drive system error among other errors, the error counter (ERR-CNT) is incremented each time the processing jumps to this error processing routine. A man call error occurs, and “service man call error” is set in the error state flag. This means that the error clearing operation is performed by inputting a reset signal when an error occurs, but a serviceman call error occurs when the error is not cleared even if the reset signal is input twice or more. Means that. Possible causes of such an error include a failure of a motor or a motor driver, a failure of a drive transmission system, a failure of each sensor, and the like.

In the case of a paper-out error, a busy signal and an error signal are output, a paper-out error is displayed by the LED 10, and the error buffer is cleared, but the error flag is not set. This error is eliminated by setting the paper, and there is no need to input a reset signal.

In the case of other errors, for example, a paper jam error, an ink sheet error, or the like, "error present" and "reset standby" are set in the error state flag, the above-described error processing is performed, and the routine exits. In the case of a jam error, the excitation current of the drum motor and the paper supply / discharge motor is turned off, so that the platen drum and the paper supply / discharge roller can rotate freely, and the jam paper can be easily removed. Can be.

The following briefly summarizes the method of releasing each error state. In the case of a RAM check error or a thermal head high temperature error, a serviceman call error occurs and the operation does not return. In the case of a drive system error such as a thermal head motor or a platen drum motor, the operation is restored by inputting a reset signal. However, if the reset signal is not recovered even if the reset signal is input twice or more after other error recovery, a serviceman call error occurs.

In the case of a cover open error, the operation is restored by closing the upper unit 101. In the case of an ink sheet end error, the ink sheet cassette 151 is replaced with a new one and the upper unit 101 is closed to recover. If there is no ink sheet error, the ink sheet cassette 151 is set and the upper unit 10
It returns by closing 1. In the case of an image-receiving paper jam error, the sheet is recovered by removing the jammed paper and receiving a reset signal.

In the case of a paper-out error, the paper cassette 16
If the image receiving paper P is set to 0 or the manual feed tray 170, the process returns. Here, the reset signal is generated when any one of a pressing operation of the reset key 242, an opening / closing operation of the upper unit 101, and a reset signal input from a host device is performed.

In the printing apparatus 100, the CPU 21
Out of one interrupt process, two types of interrupt processes are performed, that is, an external interrupt process and a timer interrupt process. In the external interrupt processing, an input signal of the reset key 242 from the operation unit 240, a reset signal from an external device,
After receiving a signal from the cover open sensor, a line synchronizing signal, and the like, and determining which signal the external interrupt signal is, processing corresponding to each signal is performed. Further, in the timer interrupt processing, it performs driving of a stepping motor, management of a timer used by software, control of LED display of the operation unit 240, management of temperature measurement of a thermal head, management of a watchdog timer, and the like.

Hereinafter, each interrupt processing will be described in detail. The reset operation by the reset signal includes an error canceling operation and an interruption of the printing operation. The former has already been described, so only the latter will be described. Here, during the printing operation, since the upper unit 101 is held in the open prohibition state by the cover lock unit (not shown), the reset signal due to the cover open is not generated.

When a signal of the reset key 242 or a reset signal from an external device is input to the external interrupt terminal of the CPU 211 during the printing operation, the CPU 211 immediately performs an interrupt process, and sets a reset input flag in this process. set. When the reset input flag is set, the printing apparatus 100 stops the printing operation and performs the reset operation. At this time, the reset operation is slightly different depending on what operation the printing apparatus 100 is performing.

During the paper feeding operation, the paper feeding operation is continued even if a reset signal is input in the middle. When the operation is completed, the reset input flag is checked, and if the reset input flag is set, Perform a reset operation. Here, the reset operation is a discharge operation of the image receiving paper P set on the platen drum 110 and an operation of checking whether there is an error. If there is no error, the local mode is set, and the operation returns to the ready state. Means that.

If the ink sheet setting operation is being performed, the ink sheet motor is immediately stopped, and the above-described reset operation is performed. If the printing operation is being performed, the power supply for driving supplied to the thermal head 140 is immediately turned off to release the pressurized state, and then the above-described reset operation is performed. If the paper discharge operation is being performed, the paper discharge operation is completed, and if there is no error, the printer is set to the local mode and returns to the ready state.

Here, when a reset signal is input during the ink sheet setting and the printing operation, the resetting operation is immediately performed even during the printing operation. As a result, extra time must be spent for cueing the ink sheet 150 when performing the next printing.

In order to solve this problem, when a reset signal is input during printing, the color selection operation of the ink sheet 150 may be performed in parallel with the reset operation. The details of the ink sheet color selection operation will be described later in the section of the ink sheet set of the printing operation.

That is, the ink motor is started simultaneously with the start of the reset operation. For example, by checking the output of the ink sheet sensor S4 in a timer interrupt routine, the ink motor can be stopped at a desired color. In this case, the color to be first printed out of the plurality of colors formed on the ink sheet 150, for example, Y →
If the printing is performed in the order of M → C, the ink sheet motor is preferably stopped when the Y color identification mark is detected.

It should be noted here that the mark MK for identifying Y is printed on the ink sheet 1 immediately after the start of the printing operation.
That is, it must be longer than the length wound by the slack winding operation performed to prevent the slack of 50.

As another means, there is a method in which the ink sheet motor is stopped when cyan C is detected. According to this method, at the start of the next printing operation, the ink sheet 150 needs to be wound up by an extra amount for one color, so that a corresponding effect can be obtained. However, in this method, if a reset signal is input while cyan C is being printed, it is needless to say that the ink sheet 150 is not wound up.

When the single-color printing mode is selected, Y and M are skipped in the case of printing with the next same color, for example, C, in parallel with a predetermined reset operation. Stop the motor.

The cover open interrupt is issued to the upper unit 1
This occurs when a signal from the cover open sensor S1 is input to an external interrupt terminal of the CPU 211 when 01 is in an open state. In this interrupt, processing such as turning off the power for driving the head, releasing the pressurization of the head, turning off each drive system and the cover lock solenoid, and outputting a cover open error are performed.

Further, the flag of "reset signal input" is set in the CPU 211 by this interrupt, and when the cover open sensor S1 detects the closed state of the cover, the reset signal becomes valid and a predetermined reset operation is performed. That is, when a paper jam error or ink sheet end occurs, the cover is opened, the cause of the error is removed, and then the cover is automatically reset when the cover is closed.

Here, if the reset operation is performed after confirming that the closed state continues for a predetermined time after the cover is closed, the cover may be incompletely closed or the cover open sensor S1 may be closed. Can be prevented from malfunctioning when noise is mixed into the device.

The interruption by the line synchronization signal (Lsync) is performed in order to rotate the platen drum 110 in synchronization with the writing operation of the thermal head 140, and every time the interruption by the line synchronization signal causes the drum motor to rotate in a predetermined step. Drive the platen drum 1
10 is controlled to rotate by one line. This operation will be described in detail in the description of the printing operation.

In the printing apparatus 100, a stepping motor is used for the drum motor and the paper supply / discharge motor, and the driving of this motor is controlled by a timer interrupt of the CPU 211. By setting a timer value according to the driving speed of the stepping motor in the software timer, a timer interrupt occurs after a predetermined time. Therefore, the motor is driven by changing the phase to be excited each time this interrupt occurs. Further, during the interrupt processing, for example, by performing an operation such as checking the output state of the sensor and stopping the motor, it is possible to execute a different control apparently in parallel with the main flow.

In the control of the printing apparatus, a free-run timer interrupt such that a timer interrupt occurs periodically is executed. The counter buffer for the timer used when checking the set time in the program is managed by this free-run timer interrupt. That is, after a predetermined value is set in this buffer, it is periodically decremented until it becomes 0 by a free-run timer interrupt. Therefore, by checking this buffer on the program, it is possible to determine whether a predetermined time has elapsed. Here, by setting a plurality of timer buffers, management of different set times can be performed in parallel.

The timer interrupt routine is used when performing a different operation in parallel with other operations, such as a sensor output check, like the color selection operation of the ink sheet 150 in the above-described reset operation. be able to.

An LED is used for the display section of the operation section 240, and this LED is lit by dynamic driving. In this dynamic drive, signal lines are wired in a matrix to send on / off signals, so that the number of signal lines can be reduced as compared to static drive in which LEDs are directly driven. One needs to load data and the other needs to be scanned periodically. Therefore, it is turned on / off by the above-mentioned free-run interrupt.
Off data and scan signals are loaded periodically.

The thermal head 140 gradually accumulates heat by continuing the printing operation, but is usually controlled by a cooling means so as not to rise above a certain temperature. However, it is necessary to always check the head temperature because the head temperature may abnormally rise due to the influence of the environmental temperature, the failure of the thermal head 140, or the like, and a proper printing operation may not be performed. The head temperature is measured by a head temperature measuring unit 301 built in the thermal head 140.
(For example, a thermistor), and the analog data is input to the A / D conversion terminal ANA2 of the CPU 211.

This measurement result is A / D converted each time the above-mentioned free-run interrupt occurs (however, if the A / D conversion is being executed at the time of occurrence of the interrupt, the process proceeds to the next process) and is set in advance. It is compared with the upper temperature limit. If the measurement result exceeds the temperature upper limit for a certain period of time, a head temperature error error occurs, the operation being executed at that time is interrupted, and a serviceman call error display is performed.

The CPU 211 has a watchdog timer function to quickly recover from an accident that has occurred on the system. This watchdog timer (hereinafter referred to as "WDT") is initialized when the system starts up, and is periodically reset in the processing of the free-run timer interrupt. If within a predetermined time W
If the DT is not reset, the WDT timer times out, and the CPU 211 resets itself and initializes. With this function, even if the system runs away,
11 can automatically return after a predetermined time.

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart of the printing operation. The printing apparatus 100 starts a printing operation when receiving a print signal from the host in the ready state and in the remote mode. In the print operation routine shown in FIG. 17, first, a margin is set. The set value of the margin is selected according to each size when the paper size is checked. Here, the print counter is reset, and then the jam sensor is checked. If no jam has occurred, a paper feeding operation is performed and the image receiving paper P is wound around the platen drum 110.

Next, the color matching of the ink sheet 150, that is, yellow Y is selected. In the ink sheet setting routine, the end detection of the ink sheet 150 is performed in addition to the color selection operation of the ink sheet 150, the details of which will be described later. After the ink sheet 150 is set and the printing operation is performed for the three colors of yellow Y, magenta M , and cyan C, the receiving operation of the image receiving paper P wound around the platen drum 110 is performed to complete a series of printing operations. I do.

In this routine, the jam sensor check,
If any jam is detected in any of the sheet feeding operation, drum sheet sensor check, and sheet discharging operation, the printing operation is stopped, the jam is displayed, each driving unit is stopped, the error buffer and the error flag are set. Exit this leverage routine. When an ink sheet end error occurs, the image receiving paper P has already been wound around the platen drum 110, so that the display of the ink sheet end error, the setting of the error buffer and the error flag, and the discharge operation are performed. Do.

Although not shown in the figure, if the reset key 242 is pressed during the printing operation, the printing operation is immediately interrupted and the operation jumps to the position indicated by A in FIG. To finish the printing operation. However, if the sheet feeding operation is being performed when the reset key is pressed, the sheet discharging operation is performed after the sheet feeding operation is completely completed. If the printing operation is being performed, the voltage applied to the thermal head is turned off, the pressurized state of the head is released, and then the paper discharging operation is performed.

In the printing operation shown in FIG. 17, four operations of a paper feeding operation, a paper discharging operation, an ink sheet setting, and a printing operation are performed.
The two operations will be described in detail below. First, FIG.
The sheet feeding operation will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 18 to 20 show flowcharts of the sheet feeding operation, and FIGS.
1 shows the state of each stage of the sheet feeding operation.

As shown in FIG. 18, when the paper feeding operation is started, first, the state of the thermal head 140 is checked. If the thermal head 140 is in the pressurized state, the pressurization is released.
The ink sheet 150 is wound up by a predetermined amount. The winding operation of the ink sheet 150 is performed by
When the platen drum 110 is rotated in a loose state, a phenomenon that the ink sheet 150 winds around the platen drum 110 may occur.

Next, it is checked whether the platen drum 110 is located at the printing start position (DS1), and if it is at another position, it is moved to the printing start position. The state at this time is shown in FIG. here,
As shown in FIG. 18, after turning on the supply / discharge solenoid and starting the drum motor, it is determined whether manual paper feeding or cassette paper feeding is performed.
In the case of manual feed, the process jumps to B in FIG. Since the cassette paper feeding and the manual paper feeding are almost the same operation except for a part, the cassette paper feeding will be mainly described below with reference to FIG. 21, and only the differences in the manual paper feeding will be described.

As shown in the flow charts of FIGS. 18 and 19, the drum motor and the paper supply / discharge motor are started with the start of the paper supply operation. A paper feed roller clutch (not shown) for transmitting the driving force of the motor is turned on. In the case of manual paper feed, the driving force of the manual paper feed roller is constantly transmitted from the paper supply / discharge motor, so that the ON operation of the clutch or the like is not required.

Next, the output of the cassette paper feed sensor S7 (in the case of manual paper feed, the manual paper feed sensor S10 on the manual paper feed path 172) disposed on the paper feed path 162 and the output of the paper feed position sensor DS2 are provided. The output is checked, and if the cassette paper feed sensor S7 (or manual paper feed sensor S10) is turned on, the paper feed / discharge motor is stopped, and the platen drum 1 is stopped.
The driving of the drum motor is continued until 10 reaches the sheet feeding position (DS2) ((b) in FIG. 21).

At this time, the gripper 120 is opened by the paper supply / discharge solenoid 190 (see FIG. 29) (opening and closing operations of the gripper 120 will be described later). When the paper feed position sensor DS2 is turned on, the drum motor is stopped (FIG. 21 (c)), and it is confirmed that both the drum motor and the paper supply / discharge motor are stopped.
And the paper supply / discharge motor is driven again to cause the image receiving paper P to enter the gripper 120.

At this time, the conveyance amount of the paper supply / discharge motor is determined by the cassette paper feed sensor S7 (or the manual paper feed sensor S10).
It is desirable to set the distance to be about 5 to 10 mm longer than the distance from the gripper 120 to the gripper 120. This is because the skew generated at the time of paper feeding is corrected by abutting the leading end of the image receiving paper P against the gripper 120 and further transporting and slightly bending the image receiving paper P.

That is, in this case, the gripper 120 is used as a skew correction stopper. In the flowchart of FIG.
It is set to 5 mm. The state at this time is shown in FIG.

Subsequently, when the drum motor is started with the paper supply / discharge motor being driven, the gripper 120 starts to close, and the image receiving paper P is fixed to the platen drum 110. In a state where the image receiving paper P is gripped and wound around the platen drum 110 and is sufficiently fixed (in the flowchart of FIG. 20, it is set so as to convey 50 mm).
The paper supply / discharge motor is stopped (FIG. 21E).

Since the roller clutch is also turned off simultaneously with the stop of the paper supply / discharge motor, and the paper supply roller 161 is in a free state, the load becomes a load when the platen drum 110 winds and rotates the image receiving paper P. There is no. In this state, the drum motor is stopped after rotating the platen drum 110 until the gripper 120 reaches the head release position (DS3) (FIG. 21 (f)).

Here, the drum paper sensor S12 is checked, and if turned on, the length in the paper transport direction is set and the paper feeding operation is completed. If the drum paper sensor S12 is off, paper jam occurs because the image receiving paper P is not fixed on the platen drum 110.

FIG. 22 shows a flowchart of the sheet discharging operation. In the sheet discharging operation, first, in a state where the platen drum 110 is located at the printing start position DS1, the sheet feeding and discharging solenoid 1 is set.
90 is turned on, and at the same time, the drum motor and the paper supply / discharge motor are started. When the platen drum 110 rotates with the paper supply / discharge solenoid 190 turned on, the gripper 120 is opened and the eject pin 130 (see FIG. 24) pushes out the image receiving paper P as described later. After being separated, the sheet is sent to the sheet discharge conveyance path 182.

Here, the output of the paper discharge sensor S13 is checked, and if the paper discharge sensor S13 is not turned on even after the paper supply / discharge motor has conveyed by a predetermined length (in the figure, 230 mm), a paper discharge error is detected. Judge and perform the paper discharge jam processing. When the paper discharge sensor S13 is turned on, the conveyance distance (370 mm in the figure) of the paper supply / discharge motor is set in the step counter of the paper supply / discharge motor, and the operation proceeds to the check operation of the printing start position sensor DS1.

When the platen drum 110 is at the printing start position DS
When the number reaches 1, the drum motor is stopped and it is checked whether the paper supply / discharge motor is stopped. In the interruption process for driving the paper supply / discharge motor, the above-described step counter is decremented every time an interruption occurs.
It is set so that the drive of the motor is stopped when it becomes zero and the stop flag is set.

Therefore, the stop check of the sheet feeding / discharging motor can be performed by checking this stop flag. If the paper supply / discharge motor is stopped, the paper discharge sensor is checked again, and if it is off, the supply / discharge solenoid 190 is turned off, the error flag is cleared, and the routine exits.

If the paper discharge sensor S13 is on, the paper receiving jam has occurred because the image receiving paper P has not been completely discharged, a paper discharge jam error display is performed, and the paper supply / discharge solenoid 190 is turned off. Then, an error flag is set and the process exits from this routine.

Here, a more detailed description will be given of the sheet supply / discharge operation with reference to FIGS. FIG. 23 shows a plan view of the platen drum 110. FIG. The cylindrical platen drum 110 has a flat portion 114, and the flat portion 114 penetrates to the hollow portion of the platen drum 110 and holds the gripper 1.
A plurality of through-holes 115 for projecting the protrusion 20 to the outside and a plurality of through-holes 116 for projecting the eject pin 130 are arranged in a substantially straight line so as to be alternately positioned.

FIGS. 24A and 24B show the gripper 1.
This shows a state in which 20 is located at the home position (printing start position: DS1). FIG. 24A shows the gripper 120 and the eject pin 130 provided in the platen drum 110.

The platen drum 110 is composed of a core part 111 and a surface part 112 made of an elastic member coated on the core part 111 with a constant thickness. A plane portion 114 is provided. 12
Reference numeral 1 denotes a support shaft that supports the gripper 120, and 131 denotes a support shaft that supports the eject pin 130, each of which is configured to be rotatable.

The diameter of the eject pin 130 on the supporting end side is large as shown in FIG.
A coil spring 133 is provided between the inner wall 11 and the inner wall 11 so as to cover the eject pin 130. For this reason, the eject pin 130 always keeps the platen drum 11
0 on the opposite side of the inner wall and eject pin 1
The tip of 30 is normally stored in the platen drum 110.

FIG. 24B shows the state of the platen drum 110.
In the figure, reference numeral 122 denotes an arc-shaped arm-shaped member having one end coupled to the support shaft 121 of the gripper 120 (hereinafter, referred to as an "arc-shaped arm"). And is rotatable about the support shaft 121. Further, a spring locking pin 124 provided on the other end of the bow-shaped arm 122 and the end face portion 113 is provided.
Between them, a spring 123 is engaged, and the entire bow-shaped arm 122 is urged in the axial direction of the platen drum 110. Therefore, the gripper 120 is in a closed state in a normal state.

132 is one end of the eject pin 130.
Arm (hereinafter, referred to as an “ejection arm”) coupled to the support shaft 131, and the eject pin 130 is urged by the spring 133 as described above.
In the same manner as described above, the platen drum 110 is urged in the axial direction.

As shown in FIG. 29, reference numeral 191 denotes a paper supply / discharge pin pushed out by a paper supply / discharge solenoid 190.
It is loosely inserted into a pin guide 192 provided on the side plate 102 a of the lower unit 102, and is urged by a spring 193 in a direction opposite to the platen drum 110. The paper supply / discharge pin 191 slides to the position shown by the imaginary line when the paper supply / discharge solenoid 190 attached to the support member 102b is turned on, and the spring 1
93 returns to the original position.

When the sheet feeding operation is started, the platen drum 1
Numeral 10 starts rotating in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 24B, and at the same time, the paper supply / discharge solenoid 190 in FIG. 29 is turned on. When the paper supply / discharge solenoid 190 is turned on, the paper supply / discharge pin 191 is pushed out in the direction of arrow B in FIG. When the platen drum 110 further rotates with the paper supply / discharge pin 191 being pushed out, the paper supply / discharge pin 191 first comes into contact with the inner side surface of the bow-shaped arm 122, and the bow-shaped arm 122 is rotated clockwise about the support shaft 121. Gripper 12 coupled to a support shaft 121 to rotate the gripper 12
0 starts to open.

FIGS. 25A and 25B show the gripper 120.
Has reached the paper feed position (DS2). In this position, the paper supply / discharge pin 191 is disengaged from the eject arm 131 as shown in FIG. 4B, and the eject pin 130 shown in FIG. 4A is stored in the platen drum 110. I have. The platen drum 110 temporarily stops rotating at this position, and
In a state where 0 is opened, the apparatus waits until the image receiving paper P enters.

When the platen drum 110 is rotated again after the image receiving paper P has entered the gripper 120, the paper supply / discharge pin 191 is disengaged from the inner side surface of the bow-shaped arm 122. The gripper 120 is pulled back and closed, and the head is opened (DS
When 3) is reached, as shown in FIGS. 26A and 26B, the image receiving paper P is fixed to the platen drum 110, and the paper feeding operation ends.

In the paper discharging operation, the platen drum 110 starts rotating from the state where the gripper 120 fixing the image receiving paper P is located at the printing start position DS1, and the paper supply / discharge solenoid 190 shown in FIG. Turn on and feed / discharge pin 1
91 is extruded. With the rotation of the platen drum 110, the bow-shaped arm 122 first comes into contact with the paper supply / discharge pin 191 to open the gripper 120, and then the eject arm 132 connected to the eject pin 130 is connected to the paper supply / discharge pin 191. The eject arm 132 is rotated clockwise about the support shaft 131 so that the
The eject pin 130 connected to the first pin 1 starts to protrude from the surface of the platen drum 110.

As a result, as shown in FIGS. 27A and 27B, the image receiving paper P fixed to the platen drum 110 by the gripper 120 is released from the gripper 120, and the platen drum 110 is released by the eject pin 130. Forcibly peeled off from the surface,
Will be pushed up.

If the platen drum 110 continues to rotate in this state, the image receiving paper P is transported on the paper discharge transport path 182 and reaches the paper discharge roller 181 rotating at the same linear speed as the platen drum 110. The paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 180 by the paper roller 181 and the paper discharge operation ends.

FIG. 28 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the above-described series of operations, in which the supply / discharge solenoid 190 is turned on.
FIG. 3 illustrates an area where the states of the gripper 120 and the eject pin 130 change when the platen drum 110 makes one rotation while the paper supply / discharge pin 191 is pushed out.

In the figure, a region a is a state where the gripper 120 is closed and the eject pin 130 is stored in the platen drum 110, a region b is a region where the gripper 120 performs an opening operation, and a region c is a region where the eject pin 130 is a projecting operation. The area to be performed, the area d is an area where the eject pin 130 performs the storing operation, the area e is an area where the gripper 120 is in the opened state and the eject pin 130 is in the stored state, and the area f is an area where the gripper 120 performs the closing operation from the opened state. is there.

Next, FIG. 30 shows the configuration of the ink sheet 150. The ink sheet 150 is formed by applying three color inks of yellow Y, magenta M , and cyan C on a transparent film in a face-sequential manner, and is provided with color identification marks MK1 to MK4 at the leading position of each color. . Here, as described above, the color identification marks MK1 to MK are used.
4 (hereinafter collectively referred to as “mark MK”) is set to be longer than the length of the ink sheet 150 wound by the slack winding operation.

Each of the marks MK is formed of a material that shields and does not reflect light, and the ink sheet sensor S4 (reflective photo sensor) can distinguish the transparent portion of the film from the opaque portion of the mark MK. It is configured as follows. FIG. 31 shows the details of the peripheral portion of the ink sheet sensor S4. A reflector R for reflecting light from the sensor is opposed to the opposite side of the ink sheet sensor S4 with the ink sheet 150 interposed therebetween. It is arranged as follows.

Therefore, in a portion where there is no mark MK between the sensor S4 and the reflection plate R, the irradiation light from the light emitting portion of the sensor S4 passes through the transparent portion of the ink sheet 150 and is reflected by the reflection plate R, and the ink is returned again. Since the light passes through the transparent portion of the sheet 150 and is received by the light receiving portion of the sensor S4, the sensor S4 is turned on. If there is a mark MK, the irradiation light from the sensor S4 is blocked by the mark MK, so that the sensor S4 is turned off.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Is provided, in the case of yellow Y, a pair of sensors S4
By detecting the marks MK1 and MK2 by a and S4b, respectively, it is possible to locate the yellow surface of the ink sheet. Similarly, when the sensor S4a detects the mark MK3, magenta, and when the sensor S4b detects the mark MK4.
Is detected as the head position of each of cyan.

Although not shown, the ink sheet 150
The same material as the material forming the mark MK is applied to the entire surface of the end portion, and when this end portion is detected by the ink sheet sensor S4 for a predetermined time or longer, it is determined that the ink sheet has run out. Controlled.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart of the ink sheet setting main routine, and FIGS. 33 and 34 are flowcharts of the ink sheet setting interrupt processing routine. In these routines, the end detection of the ink sheet 150 and the detection of an ink sheet error are performed in addition to the color matching of the ink sheet 150. Further, the home position return of the platen drum 110 and the pressurizing operation of the thermal head 140 are simultaneously performed.

As shown in FIG. 32, first, a predetermined value is set in a timer counter buffer (C-TIME) of the CPU 211. This value is a time limit until the ink sheet sensor S4 detects the mark MK, and the counter buffer is decremented at regular intervals as described above. If the mark MK is not detected within this time, it is determined that there is an abnormality in the ink sheet 150 and an ink sheet error occurs. This error occurs, for example, when the ink sheet 150 is jammed, cut for some reason, or when there is an abnormality in the ink motor.

After setting the counter buffer, the ink set flag (IF1) is turned on to start the ink motor, and after the pressurizing operation of the thermal head 140 is performed, the platen drum 110 is moved to the home position (printing). The drum motor is started to return to the start position: DS1).

Then, the output of the print start position sensor DS1 is checked, and when the platen drum 110 reaches the print start position (DS1), the drum motor is turned off. After the return of the home position of the platen drum 110 is completed, it is checked whether the ink motor is stopped, and if it is stopped, the error buffer is checked to determine whether an ink sheet end error or an ink sheet error has occurred. Check, and if there are no errors, exit this routine. In the case of an ink sheet end, a paper discharging process is performed, and in the case of an ink sheet error, an error flag is set and the routine exits.

Next, an ink sheet set interruption process for causing the ink sheet to be searched for in parallel with the home position return operation of the platen drum 110 will be described with reference to FIGS. 33 and 34. This interruption process is performed every time the above-mentioned free-run interruption occurs. It is determined whether or not the ink sheet setting is being executed based on the ink set flag IF1, and if the ink sheet setting is being executed, the operation proceeds to the ink sheet cueing operation.

First, it is checked whether or not the mark MK of the ink sheet 150 has been detected by the ink set flag IF2. If the mark MK has not been detected, the copy counter (C-COPY) is checked. Yellow when the value of the copy counter is 0, Mazets when the 1
Since the printing of cyan means printing of cyan, the output of the ink sheet sensor S4 is checked according to each color as described above.

If the target color mark MK is not detected, the aforementioned timer counter buffer (C-TIME)
Is checked, and if it is not 0 (the time is not over), the process exits this interrupt processing routine. Next, when an interrupt occurs, the ink set flag IF2 is checked again, and this operation is repeated each time an interrupt occurs until the mark MK is detected or the time is over. If the time is over here, an ink sheet error occurs, an error flag is set, the ink sheet motor is stopped, and the ink setting routine is exited.

When the mark MK is detected, the ink set flag IF2 is set (indicating that the mark has been detected), and another value is set in the counter buffer (C-TIME). This value is a time limit from when a mark MK of a certain color is detected to when the mark MK is not detected. If this time is exceeded, an ink sheet end or an ink sheet error occurs.

In other words, when the yellow head is searched, if the ink sheet sensors S4a and S4b indicate that the mark MK has been detected even after a certain period of time has elapsed since the detection of the mark MK, It is determined that the end of the ink sheet 150 has been detected, and the ink sheet end is detected. When the time is over in the case of cueing of another color, it is determined that the ink sheet 150 or the ink motor is abnormal, and an ink sheet error is determined. Become.

When the mark MK corresponding to each color changes from the detection state to the non-detection state, the ink sheet 150
Is completed, the ink motor is turned off, the flags IF1 and IF2 are cleared, and the routine exits. If an ink sheet error or an ink sheet end error has occurred, the ink motor is turned off, an error flag is set, and the routine exits.

As described above, by driving the ink motor until the ink sheet sensor S4 once detects the mark MK and stops detecting the mark MK, the color sorting operation of the ink sheet can be reliably performed.

That is, in the conventional method, the color selection operation is terminated when the ink sheet sensor detects the mark MK. Therefore, even if the ink motor malfunctions, for example, the ink sheet sensor can detect the mark MK. If it is located on the end mark, it is determined that the color selection has been performed normally, which causes a malfunction. However, such a problem can be solved by performing the above-described control.

When an error occurs in the ink sheet setting routine, the ink motor is controlled so as not to drive the ink motor until the error is cleared. In the case of the ink sheet end,
The image receiving paper P wound on the platen drum 110 is discharged. However, in the case of an ink sheet error, it is possible that the ink motor malfunctions, and the loose ink sheet 150 is wound around the platen drum 110. Therefore, it is desirable not to perform the discharging operation of the image receiving paper P because the problem of sticking is likely to occur.

Further, since the ink sheet setting operation is performed in the interrupt processing, the main routine only needs to manage the head pressure release operation and the drum home position return operation. Therefore, the time required for the ink sheet setting operation can be greatly reduced. When the single color printing mode is selected, the next same color selecting operation may be performed in parallel with a predetermined reset operation when a reset signal is input.

FIG. 35 shows a routine of the printing operation. In this routine, the thermal head 140 is brought into pressure contact with the platen drum 110, the drum motor and the ink motor are started, and one of the lancer LEDs 6 to 8 corresponding to the color to be printed is turned on.

Next, the output of the printing start position sensor DS1 is checked, and the detection state is changed from the detection state to the non-detection state (from HIGH to LO).
W), a frame gate signal (hereinafter referred to as an “FGATE signal”) after a certain time (about 1 msec) has passed beyond the point where the
Is enabled (low). This FGATE
The signal is a print permission signal to the heat control unit 230. The heat control unit 230 receives this signal and synchronizes one line of image data in the main scanning direction with a line synchronization signal (hereinafter, referred to as an “Lsync signal”). Transfer to head 140. The drum motor is also driven in synchronization with the line synchronization signal, and an image is formed in the sub-scanning direction.

The number of drive pulses (D-CNT) at the time of printing of the drum motor is set to a set number according to the paper size together with the R / L margin when the paper size is detected. Each time one pulse is driven in the motor drive routine, the value is decremented by one. When the set pulse number (D-CNT) becomes 0, control is performed so as to stop the drum motor in the interrupt processing.

Next, a stop check of the drum motor and a check of the reset key 242 are performed. If the reset key 242 has been pressed, the printing operation is stopped, the drum motor is stopped, the FGATE signal is turned off (L → H), the power of the thermal head is turned off, the head pressure is released, and the sheet is discharged. Move on to operation .

If the drum motor is stopped, the printing in the sub-scanning direction has been completed, so that the FGATE signal is turned off (L → H), head pressure is released, and the other of the lancer LED pair is turned on. After the copy counter (C-CN
T) is incremented. This copy counter (C-
Check the CNT), if there in 3 Y, because M, C3-color indicia copy means the completion, in the next discharging operation
Move on . If the number has not reached 3, jump to the ink setting routine to print the next color.

Referring to FIGS. 36 and 37, the relationship between the above signals and the driving pulse of the drum motor will be described in further detail. The Lsync signal is output from the heat control unit 230 from the time when the generation interval is set in the above-described initial value setting routine. Printing start position sensor DS
1 is input to the CPU 211 and the heat control unit 230, and is output to the Lsync signal generation unit of the heat control unit 230 at the falling edge of the output of the sensor DS1 (signal when the state changes from the detection state to the non-detection state). Triggered,
Reset and the drum motor stop.

FGAT output from CPU 211
Since the E signal is connected to the data input terminal of the flip-flop circuit element and the Lsync signal is input to the clock terminal, the FGATE signal is enabled (L) in synchronization with the Lsync signal. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 36, after the output of the printing start position sensor DS1 is turned off (L), the FGA is synchronized with the next generated Lsync signal.
Since the TE signal is enabled (L), that is, the printing is started, and the platen drum 110 is driven, printing is always started from the same position on the image receiving paper. Photography becomes possible.

As described in the section on interrupt processing, L
The sync signal is input to an external interrupt terminal of the CPU 211, and the external interrupt process controls the drum motor to be driven by the number of steps of one line. More specifically, the printing operation is started to drive the platen drum 110, and when the output of the printing start sensor DS1 becomes low, the driving of the drum motor is stopped and the external interrupt by the Lsync signal is enabled. .

When an external interrupt is generated by the next Lsync signal, the external interrupt processing routine determines whether or not a printing operation is being performed, and then sets a timer for driving the drum motor during the printing operation. Next, when a timer interrupt occurs by this timer , control is transferred to a drum motor driving routine. In this routine, the drum motor is driven by a predetermined number of steps.
The drum motor is stopped until an external interrupt is generated by the signal c.

As described above, the Lsync signal is reset at the falling edge of the printing start position sensor DS1 and the FGATE signal is output in synchronization with the Lsync signal, whereby the falling edge of the printing start position sensor DS1 is output. , The printing start position can always be kept constant, and the printing start positions of the three colors can be accurately matched. Further, by driving one line of the drum in synchronization with the Lsync signal, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of color misregistration of the three colors in the sub-scanning direction.

FIG. 38 is a timing chart showing the overall operation of the printing apparatus described above.

[0171]

As described above, the control method of the printing apparatus according to the present invention exerts the following effects by controlling as described above.

According to the control method of the first aspect, since the color selection operation of the leading color of the ink sheet is performed in parallel with the predetermined reset operation by the reset signal, the ink sheet stops at an intermediate position. Also in this case, the color selection operation is performed prior to the next printing operation, and it is not necessary to wind up an extra ink sheet at the time of the next printing operation. Operability and productivity can be greatly improved.

According to the control method of the second aspect, the length of the color identification mark provided on the ink sheet in the ink sheet winding direction is set to be longer than the slack removing length of the ink sheet.
Since the slack of the ink sheet is wound up before printing starts, it is possible to prevent the color identification mark from coming out of the detection area of the ink sheet sensor even if the slack of the ink sheet is removed, and a detection error Waste of the ink sheet due to the above can be prevented.

According to the control method of claim 3, when the cause of the error is removed, a reset signal is automatically generated by opening and closing the upper unit, and when the error removing operation is performed with the upper unit closed, Since a reset signal can be generated by a signal input from an operation unit or a signal input from a higher-level device, operability in error processing can be significantly improved.

According to the control method of the fourth aspect, when the reset operation is performed by the reset signal input means of the operation unit or the reset signal detection means from the device, the reset signal is output only when the upper unit is in the closed state. Since it is made effective, there is no danger that the thermal head or the like will be damaged by performing an error checking operation or a releasing operation while the upper unit is in the open state and the closing operation will be performed, thereby improving the reliability of the printing apparatus. it can.

According to the control method of claim 5, the reset signal is generated by the open / closed state detecting means of the upper unit detecting the open state, and the reset signal becomes valid when the state changes from the open state to the closed state. The reset signal is automatically generated only by opening and closing the upper unit to improve operability, and the reset signal is not valid when the upper unit is open. Disappears.

According to the control method of the sixth aspect, the reset signal generated by the opening / closing operation of the upper unit is made valid after the closed state has been maintained for a predetermined time from the detection of the closed state by the upper unit open / close detecting means. In the case where the closing operation of the upper unit is incomplete or noise is input to the closed state detecting means, error checking and error cancellation are not performed, thereby preventing malfunction.

According to the control method of the seventh aspect, when a reset signal is input to the control unit of the printing apparatus from the operation unit or an external device, the printing apparatus performs a printing operation or an ink sheet color selection operation. If the printing operation is interrupted, the printing operation is immediately interrupted and a predetermined reset operation is performed.If the paper feeding and discharging operation is performed, the predetermined reset operation is performed after the paper feeding and discharging operation is completed. The device can be quickly returned to the printable state, and at the same time, the paper receiving and discharging paper jams on the paper transport path, and the operator has to work to remove the paper. Can be solved beforehand.

According to the control method of the eighth aspect, when the color selection sensor continues to detect the color identification mark even after the elapse of a predetermined time from the detection of the color identification mark, the pair of color selection sensors detect both. Sometimes, it is determined that the ink sheet is at the end, and when only one is detected, it is determined that the ink sheet is at an error. Therefore, it is possible to easily determine the ink sheet error and the in-sheet end, and as a result, the ink sheet There is no danger of cutting due to excessive tension acting on the sheet.

According to the control method of the ninth aspect, when it is determined that the ink sheet is exhausted by the control method of the preceding paragraph, the image receiving paper wound around the platen drum is discharged, and it is determined that an ink sheet error has occurred. In this case, since the discharge of the image receiving paper is not performed, the inconvenience such as the ink sheet being wound around the platen drum or being cut when an ink sheet error occurs when the ink sheet is slack is eliminated.

According to the control method of the tenth aspect, when the printing apparatus provided with the single color printing mode selects the single color printing mode, the next same color selecting operation is performed in parallel with the predetermined reset operation by the reset signal. In this case, the extra ink sheet winding operation is not required at the next printing, and the operability and productivity of the printing apparatus can be greatly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a control method of a printing apparatus when a reset signal is input according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a mechanism section showing an example of a printing apparatus that performs a control method according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the control unit.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a system controller 210 in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an arrangement state of each sensor in the printing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation unit of the printing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation at power-on by CPU 211 shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the initial value setting routine.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the resistance value correction routine.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the mechanical initialization routine.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the paper ejection check routine.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the main loop routine.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the ink cassette check routine.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the paper size check routine.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the online check routine.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of the error processing routine.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of the print operation routine.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of the sheet feeding operation routine.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a continuation of the sheet feeding operation routine.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the continuation of the paper feed operation routine.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a sheet feeding operation routine shown in FIGS. 18 to 20;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of a paper discharge operation routine by a CPU 211 shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 23 is a plan view of a platen drum of the printing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of the platen drum at the start of printing.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram showing a state when the platen drum is fed.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory view showing a state when the head of the platen drum is opened.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory view showing a state when the platen drum is discharged.

FIG. 28 is an explanatory view showing an operation area of the platen drum.

FIG. 29 is an explanatory view showing an operation state of the paper supply / discharge solenoid.

FIG. 30 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the ink sheet.

FIG. 31 is an explanatory view showing a detection unit of the ink sheet set.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart of an ink sheet setting routine by a CPU 211 shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 33 is a flowchart of the ink sheet interruption routine.

FIG. 34 is a flowchart showing the continuation of the ink sheet interruption routine.

FIG. 35 is a flowchart of the printing operation routine.

FIG. 36 is a timing chart when the printing operation is started.

FIG. 37 is a block diagram of a control unit for controlling the printing start operation.

FIG. 38 is a timing chart showing the operation timing of the entire embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 printing device 101
Upper unit 110 Platen drum 120
Gripper 130 Eject pin 140
Thermal head 150 Ink sheet 160
Paper cassette 170 Bypass stand 180
Discharge tray 190 Feed / discharge solenoid 200
Control unit 210 System controller 211
CPU 220 Image processing unit 230
Heat control unit 240 Operation unit 242
Reset key 250 Driver 260
Sensor unit 270 Scanner 280
Interface 290 External device 300
Head resistance measuring section MK (MK1 to MK4) Color identification mark S1
Cover open sensor S4 (S4a, S4b) Ink sheet sensor R Reflector P Image receiving paper

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ identification code FI B41J 35/18 B41J 3/20 109Z 35/36 29/12 C (58) Investigated field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/32-2/325 B41J 29/13 B41J 29/38 B41J 35/16 B41J 35/18 B41J 35/36 G06F 3/12

Claims (10)

(57) [Claims] 1. A platen drum on which an image receiving paper is wound to carry and print, a gripper for fixing the image receiving paper to the platen drum, a thermal head as a heating writing unit, and a plurality of color ink surfaces are sequentially arranged. An ink sheet provided with a plurality of color identification marks and an ink sheet end display mark, and a pair of sensors for performing a color selection operation of the ink sheet, wherein the platen drum and the thermal head A method of controlling a printing apparatus for forming a color image by heating and recording on the image receiving paper by pressing the image receiving paper and the ink sheet therebetween with the thermal head interposed therebetween, wherein a reset signal is detected, and a printing operation is performed. Performs the operation to cancel the interruption or the error state, and simultaneously performs the predetermined reset operation with the top color of the ink sheet. The method of the printing apparatus, characterized by controlling so as to perform color selection operation. 2. The printing method according to claim 1, wherein the length of the color identification mark provided on the ink sheet in the ink sheet winding direction is set to be longer than the slack winding length of the ink sheet. A method of controlling a printing apparatus, wherein the control is performed such that the slack of the ink sheet is wound up without the color identification mark coming off the pair of sensors before starting. 3. The printing apparatus control method according to claim 1, wherein after a resettable error occurs in the printing apparatus, reset signal input means provided in an operation unit of the printing apparatus, the printing apparatus. Means for detecting the open / closed state of the upper unit, and detecting the input of a reset signal from any of the higher-level devices connected to the printing apparatus to execute the error checking and releasing operations. How to control the device. 4. When a reset operation is performed by detecting a reset signal from a reset signal input means provided in an operation unit of the printing apparatus or a higher-level device, the reset operation is performed only when the upper unit of the printing apparatus is in a closed state. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the control is performed so that the signal is valid. 5. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the means for detecting the open / closed state of the upper unit generates a reset signal by detecting the open state, and controls the reset signal to be valid by detecting the closed state. The method for controlling a printing apparatus according to claim 3. 6. A reset signal generated when the upper unit changes from a closed state to an open state is effective after the closed state continues for a predetermined time after the means for detecting the open / closed state of the upper unit detects the closed state. 6. The control method for a printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control is performed such that: 7. When a reset signal is input to a control unit of the printing apparatus, if the printing apparatus is performing a printing operation or an ink sheet color selecting operation, the printing operation is immediately interrupted and a predetermined operation is stopped. 7. The control device according to claim 1, wherein when the sheet supply / discharge operation is performed, a predetermined reset operation is performed after the sheet supply / discharge operation is completed. The control method of a printing apparatus according to the paragraph. 8. When a pair of sensors for selecting a color of an ink sheet continue to detect the color identification mark even after a predetermined time has passed since the detection of the color identification mark, the pair of sensors together 8. The control method according to claim 1, wherein when the color identification mark is detected, it is determined that the ink sheet is at an end, and when only one of the color identification marks is detected, it is determined that an ink sheet error has occurred. 3. The method for controlling a printing apparatus according to claim 1. 9. When it is determined that the ink sheet is at the end, the discharge operation of the image receiving paper wound around the platen drum is performed, and when it is determined that the ink sheet is error, the discharge operation of the image receiving paper is performed. 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the control is performed such that the printing is not performed. 10. A printing apparatus control method according to claim 1, wherein a single color printing key is provided on an operation unit of said printing apparatus so as to select a single color printing mode. When the shooting mode is selected, control is performed so that the printing operation is interrupted or the error state is canceled by the reset signal, and the next same color selecting operation is performed in parallel with the predetermined resetting operation. A method for controlling a printing apparatus, comprising: