JP3085839U - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] An ink carrier operation control suppresses a collision of an ink carrier with a chassis and reduces noise generated during a printing operation. After the printing of the first page is completed, an ink carrier is printed.
To stop at the position Y which is a predetermined distance d from the home position HP. The stop position Y is a wiping position at which the maintenance unit 17 performs wiping.
The stop position Y is set as the start position of the printing operation for the second and subsequent pages, the ink carrier 5 is moved forward from the stop position Y to the printing area side, and after the wiping operation of the print head 10 by the wiper 20, Printing is performed by reciprocating the ink carrier 5. After printing is completed, ink carrier 5
To stop at the stop position Y. By repeating the above printing operation control, printing is performed without causing the ink carrier 5 to collide with the chassis 15 in the printing operation of the second and subsequent pages.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

 The present invention relates to movement control of an ink carrier in a printing device such as an ink jet printer.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 FIG. 4A is a front view showing a schematic mechanism of a conventional ink jet printer. In FIG. 4A, reference numeral 40 denotes an ink jet printer main body, 9 denotes an ink cartridge, 10 denotes a print head for discharging ink, and 5 denotes an ink carrier that holds and moves the ink cartridge 9. Reference numeral 4 denotes a DC motor, which is installed behind the front of the main body in the figure. The ink carrier 5 can reciprocate in a forward direction F and a reverse direction R by a belt 13 provided between a gear 11 that rotates together with the DC motor 4 and a pulley 12. Reference numeral 6 denotes an optical encoder serving as a position detecting unit, and 14 denotes an encoder slit. The encoder 6 moves together with the ink carrier 5 and outputs a pulse corresponding to the slit formed in the band-shaped encoder slit 14 to output ink. The position of the carrier 5 is detected. Reference numeral 15 denotes a chassis on the side surface of the ink jet printer, and reference numeral 16 denotes a guide shaft provided on the chassis 15 on both sides for guiding the ink carrier 5 to reciprocate. Reference numeral 17 denotes a maintenance unit. The cap 18 caps the print head 10 on the print head 10 provided in the ink cartridge 9 to protect the ink from drying and dust adhesion. A maintenance mechanism having a tray 19 for receiving ink ejected during the spit operation for preliminary ejection and a wiper 20 for wiping the surface of the print head 10 lightly to wipe excess ink, dust, paper dust, and the like are provided. When the ink carrier 5 moves back in the reverse direction R, the maintenance unit 17 hits the side surface of the ink cartridge 9 and is pushed by the ink carrier 5 to move the maintenance unit 17. A release lever shaft 23 is supported by a support portion 25 formed on the base member, and a release lever 22 is connected to the release lever shaft 23. The maintenance section cover 24 is attached to the chassis 15, and as shown in FIG. 4B, the support section 25 is formed on the upper surface in three steps of an upper stage 25a, a middle stage 25b, and a lower stage 25c. By supporting the release lever shaft 23, the maintenance part 17 is displaced in three stages by the forward movement of the ink carrier 5 in the forward direction F and the backward movement of the ink carrier 5 in the reverse direction R. 26 is a transport roller for transporting the paper to be printed, and 27 is a transport roller shaft.

Next, a series of operations of the ink carrier 5 and the maintenance unit 17 in the conventional inkjet printer will be described with reference to FIGS. The reference numerals in the figure are the same as those shown in the description of FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a state where the ink carrier 5 is waiting at a home position HP which is a reference position for a printing operation. The home position HP is a position where the side of the ink carrier 5 contacts the chassis 15 and the cap 18 of the maintenance unit 17 caps the print head 10. At this time, the maintenance unit 17 is at the movement limit position closest to the home position HP and the print head 10, and the release lever shaft 23 is located at the upper stage 25a of the support unit 25 (see FIG. 4B). The position of this upper stage 25a is the capping position.

When the printer starts operating in response to a print command from the host, the DC motor 4 rotates, and the ink carrier 5 moves forward in the forward direction F, which is opposite to the home position HP, as shown in FIG. . At this time, the maintenance portion 17 is pulled in the forward direction F by the side surface of the ink cartridge 9 being hooked by the wiper 20 by the forward movement of the ink carrier 5, and the release lever shaft 23 is moved to the middle stage of the support portion 25 of the maintenance portion cover 24. 25b (see FIG. 4B). The position of the middle stage 25b is the wiping position.

Then, while the ink carrier 5 moves forward in the forward direction F, preliminary ejection of ink is performed from the print head 10 toward the ink tray 19, and the print head 10 is moved by the wiper 20 as shown in FIG. It is wiped. At this time, the maintenance part 17 is locked to the maintenance part cover 24 by engaging a claw part (not shown) provided on the release lever 22 with a projection part (not shown) provided on the maintenance part cover 24. Therefore, even if the wiper 20 receives a force in the forward direction F from the print head 10, it does not move from the wiping position.

After the maintenance, as shown in FIG. 8, the ink carrier 5 comes into contact with a release lever 22, and as shown in FIG. At this time, the lock by the release lever 22 is released, the maintenance unit 17 is moved to the home position HP and the movement limit position farthest from the print head 10, and the release lever shaft 23 is moved to the lower stage 25c of the support unit 25 (FIG. b)). The position of the lower stage 25c is a lock release position where the maintenance unit 17 is released from the print head 10 in a non-contact state.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9, the ink carrier 5 ejects ink from the print head 10 to perform printing on the conveyed paper while reciprocating along the guide shaft 16 in the printing area. .

After the printing of the first page is completed, the ink carrier 5 moves back in the reverse direction R to perform maintenance of the print head 10. When the ink carrier 5 has returned to the upper part of the maintenance section 17, the side surface of the ink cartridge 9 hits the sled 21 as shown in FIG. 10, and the ink carrier 5 pushes the sled 21 in the reverse direction R as shown in FIG. As shown, the maintenance unit 17 is pulled up.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5, the side of the ink carrier 5 collides with the chassis 15 to return to the home position HP, and the print head 10 is once capped by the cap 18 in order to recognize the position again. . Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the ink carrier 5 moves in the forward direction F, and performs the wiping operation of the print head 10 by the wiper 20 at the wiping position as shown in FIG.

[0011] Further, in order to start the printing of the second and subsequent pages, the operations shown in FIGS. 8 to 11 are performed, and thereafter, the operation returns to FIG. 5, and the operations of FIGS. Repeat a series of operations.

[0012]

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

 However, in the above-described ink jet printer, after the printing of one page is completed, each time the maintenance operation is performed before the printing of the next page is performed, the ink carrier 5 returns to the home position HP, and the side surface of the ink carrier 5 is moved to the chassis. There is a problem that a large noise is generated by colliding with No. 15.

Meanwhile, a printing apparatus such as an ink jet printer for reducing noise generated by a printing operation is described in JP-A-6-143723. The object of this publication is to prevent the vibration of a motor that reciprocates the ink carrier from being transmitted to the chassis, and to prevent the entire chassis from vibrating and generating large noise. As a solution, an elastic body is arranged near the motor, and the elastic body absorbs vibration to reduce noise. Therefore, it is conceivable to suppress the noise caused by the collision of the ink carrier by providing an elastic body as described in this publication in the chassis. However, in this case, a separate member called an elastic body is required, and the elastic body is also required. Even if provided, the elastic body may be damaged by repeated collisions.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to suppress the collision of the ink carrier with the chassis every time a plurality of pages are printed without providing an extra member. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of reducing noise generated during a printing operation.

[0015]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In the printing apparatus according to the present invention, an ink carrier that can reciprocate while holding an ink cartridge, a DC motor for moving the ink carrier, a position detection unit that detects the position of the ink carrier, and a position detection unit A control unit that recognizes the position of the ink carrier from the detection result and controls the movement of the ink carrier based on a command sent from the host device.

In the above-described printing apparatus, before starting printing of the first page, the control unit moves the ink carrier to detect a home position, and performs printing by moving the ink carrier to the printing area side from the home position. . After printing is completed, the ink carrier is moved back and stopped at a position a predetermined distance before the home position. In the printing operation for the second and subsequent pages, the ink carrier is moved forward from the predetermined stop position, printing is performed in the printing area, and after printing, the ink carrier is returned to the stop position a predetermined distance before the home position again. The printing is performed by repeating the operation of moving.

As described above, by using the home position detected before the start of the printing operation of the first page as a reference, the position before the home position by a predetermined distance is set as the starting position of the printing operation of the second and subsequent pages. In the printing operation for the second and subsequent pages, the ink carrier does not collide with the chassis. As a result, the noise generated during the printing operation can be reduced as a whole of the multi-page printing.

In the printing apparatus according to the present invention, when the ink carrier is at the home position, capping is performed on the print head provided in the ink cartridge, and the ink carrier moves a predetermined distance from the home position. In some cases, a maintenance unit that performs wiping is provided. In the case of this printing apparatus, a position that is a predetermined distance before the home position where the ink carrier moves back and stops after printing the first page is a wiping position where the maintenance unit performs wiping on the print head.

As described above, by setting the position that is a predetermined distance before the home position as the wiping position, the print head is securely wiped before the start of the printing operation of the second and subsequent pages, and printing is performed without deteriorating the printing quality. It can be performed.

In the printing apparatus of the present invention, the encoder for detecting the position of the ink carrier and the reciprocating diagonally reciprocatingly interlocking with the movement of the ink carrier are provided to the print head provided on the ink cartridge. On the other hand, capping is performed when the ink carrier is at the home position, wiping is performed when the ink carrier moves a predetermined distance from the home position, and the position of the ink carrier is recognized from the detection result of the encoder. A control unit for controlling movement of the ink carrier based on a command sent from the host device.

In the above-described printing apparatus, the maintenance unit is a home position where the ink carrier contacts the chassis of the printing apparatus and a first position where the print head is capped, and a position where the ink carrier is located a predetermined distance before the chassis. The print head is displaced in three stages: a second position where the print head is wiped, and a third position where the maintenance unit is opened without contact with the print head. The maintenance unit is displaced from the first position to the third position via the second position by the forward movement of the ink carrier, and is moved from the third position to the second position by the ink carrier returning. To the first position. The control unit detects the first position by moving the ink carrier before starting printing the first page. After moving the ink carrier forward from the first position and displacing the maintenance unit to the second position and the third position, printing is performed in the print area. Then, after the printing is completed, the ink carrier is moved back, the second position is detected, and the printing operation for the second and subsequent pages is performed by moving the ink carrier forward from the second position and moving the maintenance section to the third position. After displacing to the position, printing is performed in the printing area. After printing is completed, the operation of returning the ink carrier to the second position is repeated to perform a printing operation for a plurality of pages.

As described above, the maintenance unit which moves in three stages in conjunction with the movement of the ink carrier is provided, and the start position of the printing operation for the second and subsequent pages is set to the second position where the wiping of the print head is performed. Is repeated, the ink carrier does not collide with the chassis in the printing operation of the second and subsequent pages. As a result, it is possible to reduce noise generated during the printing operation as a whole of a plurality of pages. In addition, the print head can be reliably wiped before starting the printing operation for the second and subsequent pages, and printing can be performed without deteriorating the printing quality.

[0023]

[Embodiment of the invention]

 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Since the schematic diagram of the ink jet printer is the same as that shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 4 will be referred to as an embodiment of the present invention, and reference numerals not shown in FIG. 1 will be referred to FIG. .

FIG. 1 is an electric block diagram of the ink jet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a control unit for controlling a printing operation in accordance with a printing command from a host, 2 is an operation unit including a power switch and a reset switch, 3 is a feed motor for conveying paper, and 4 is an ink carrier. It is a DC motor for carrying. Reference numeral 5 denotes an ink carrier transported by the DC motor 4, which holds and moves the ink cartridge 9 (FIG. 4A). Numeral 6 moves together with the ink carrier 5, outputs a pulse corresponding to the slit formed in the strip-shaped encoder slit 14 (FIG. 4A), and serves as an optical position detection unit for detecting the position of the ink carrier 5. An encoder 7 is a printing unit for printing on paper by discharging ink from a print head 10 (FIG. 4A) of an ink cartridge 9 (FIG. 4A), and 8 is a control unit for the control unit 1. This is a memory consisting of a ROM that stores an operation program and a RAM that temporarily stores data sent from the host.

Next, a printing operation of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. 5 to 11 are the same as those in the related art and the present invention in FIGS. 5 to 11. Therefore, FIGS. Quote as

The control unit 1 that has received the print command and print data of a plurality of pages sent from the host rotates the DC motor 4 based on these and moves the ink carrier 5. Before starting the printing operation, the DC motor 4 is once rotated in the forward direction F on the printing area side to move the ink carrier 5 in order to grasp the current position of the ink carrier 5. After moving forward to the printing area, the ink carrier 5 is switched to the maintenance area side in the reverse direction R and moved backward, and the ink carrier 5 collides with the chassis 15 so that the home position HP, which is the reference position of the printing operation, is set to the encoder. 6, the ink carrier 5 is made to stand by at the home position HP as shown in FIG. This position is the above-described capping position, and the cap 18 of the maintenance unit 17 caps the print head 10.

When the printing operation is started, the control unit 1 rotates the DC motor 4 to move the ink carrier 5 forward in the forward direction F opposite to the home position HP, and to the wiping position as shown in FIG. And move.

Thereafter, the ink carrier 5 preliminarily discharges ink from the print head 10 provided in the printing unit 7 toward the ink tray 19 while moving forward in the forward direction F. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. The print head 10 is wiped by the wiper 20. At this time, the maintenance portion 17 is locked by the maintenance portion cover 24 by engaging a claw portion (not shown) provided on the release lever 22 with a projection portion (not shown) provided on the maintenance portion cover 24. Therefore, even if the wiper 20 receives a force in the forward direction F from the print head 10, it does not move from the wiping position.

After the maintenance, the control unit 1 further moves the ink carrier 5 in the forward direction F. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the ink carrier 5 comes in contact with the release lever 22, and as shown in FIG. 9, the release lever 22 is tilted and moves forward to the printing area. When the release lever 22 is tilted, the lock of the maintenance unit 17 is released, and the maintenance unit 17 moves to the home position HP and the lock release position which is the movement limit position farthest from the print head 10.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9, the control unit 1 ejects ink from the print head 10 while reciprocating the ink carrier 5 along the guide shaft 16 in the printing area, and rotates the feed motor 3. Printing is performed on the paper transported by the transport rollers 26.

After the printing of the first page is completed, the control unit 1 moves the ink carrier 5 in the reverse direction R to perform maintenance of the print head 10. Then, when the ink carrier 5 has returned to the upper part of the maintenance section 17, as shown in FIG. 10, the side surface of the ink cartridge 9 hits the sled 21, and the ink carrier 5 pushes the sled 21 in the reverse direction R. As shown in FIG. 11, the maintenance unit 17 is pulled up.

After that, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, the ink carrier 5 collides with the chassis 15 and returns to the home position HP. However, in the present embodiment, the control unit 1 moves the ink carrier 5 to the position shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the vehicle is stopped at a position Y which is a predetermined distance d from the home position HP. The stop position Y is a wiping position where the maintenance unit 17 performs wiping.

Then, the control unit 1 moves the ink carrier 5 forward from the stop position Y in the forward direction F, moves to the position shown in FIG. 7 through FIG. 6, and performs the wiping operation of the print head 10 by the wiper 20. .

Thereafter, the ink carrier 5 performs the operations from FIG. 8 to FIG. 11 in order to start printing on the second and subsequent pages, and then stops at the position in FIG. I do. Thus, on the second and subsequent pages, a series of operations from FIG. 6 to FIG. 12 are repeated according to the number of pages for which the print command is given. During this time, the ink carrier 5 does not return to the home position HP, stops at the position shown in FIG. 12, and does not collide with the chassis 15, so that even if no elastic body for absorbing shock is provided, the Generation of noise can be suppressed. Since the ink carrier 5 does not return to the home position HP, the capping of the print head 10 is omitted, but there is no danger that the print head 10 dries even without capping during the printing operation, so there is no real harm. . On the other hand, since the wiping operation is performed as usual, the print head 10 can be cleaned to maintain good print quality.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation control of the ink carrier of the ink jet printer described above, and shows a procedure of the operation control of the ink carrier 5. Upon receiving a print command for a plurality of pages from the host, the ink carrier 5 is temporarily moved to the print area (step S21). At the time of movement, at the wiping position, a maintenance operation is performed by preliminary ejection of ink from the print head 10 and wiping (step S22), and the lock of the maintenance unit 17 is released by the release lever 22 (step S23). After the ink carrier 5 moves to the printing area, the moving direction is switched to move the ink carrier 5 to the home position HP (step S24). Then, the ink carrier 5 collides with the chassis 16, the home position HP which is the reference position of the printing operation is detected, and the print head 10 is capped at the same time (step S25). At this time, the maintenance unit 17 is locked by the maintenance unit cover 24 and its movement is restricted (step S26).

Thereafter, the ink carrier 5 is moved forward in the forward direction F to start a printing operation. First, the print head 10 is moved forward to the wiping position to perform a preliminary ejection of ink from the print head 10 and perform a maintenance operation by wiping (step S27). Next, the lock of the maintenance unit 17 is released by the release lever 22 (step S28). The ink carrier 5 moves to the printing area. Then, the ink carrier 5 ejects ink from the print head 10 while performing reciprocating movement in the printing area to perform printing on the conveyed paper (step S29).

After printing the first page, the ink carrier 5 returns to the maintenance area to start the wiping operation (step S 30). After returning to the maintenance area, in order to detect the current position of the ink carrier 5, it is determined whether or not the current position is the home position HP (step S31). If the result of the determination is that the home position is HP (step S31: Yes) ), The control is shifted to step 37. If it is not the home position HP (Step S31: No), it is determined whether or not the current position of the ink carrier 5 is closer to the print area than the release lever 22 (Step S32). If the result of determination is that the current position is closer to the print area than the release lever 22 (step S32: Yes), control is transferred to step S35. If the current position is not on the printing area side from the release lever 22 (step S32: No), the ink carrier 5 is once moved to the printing area side to detect the current position. At this time, the wiping operation is performed at the wiping position before the ink carrier 5 moves to the printing area (step S33), and the lock of the maintenance unit 17 is released by the release lever 22 (step S34).

Thereafter, the direction of movement of the ink carrier 5 is switched again to the home position HP side, moves forward to the wiping position (step S35), and detects the stop position Y (FIG. 12) (step S36). This stop position Y is a reference position at which printing of the second and subsequent pages is started. At this position, it is determined whether or not there is a print command for the next page from the host (step S37). As a result of the determination, if there is a print command for the next page (step S37: Yes), the control is transferred to step 27, After performing the maintenance operation, the ink carrier 5 moves forward to the printing area to print the second page, and if there is no print command for the next page (step S37: No), the printing operation ends.

An example of the noise suppression effect when the above-described operation control of the ink carrier is performed will be described. FIG. 3 shows data obtained by measuring the sound pressure of noise generated during a multi-page printing operation of the ink jet printer. In FIG. 3, (a) shows the measurement data in the inkjet printer of the present invention, and (b) shows the measurement data in the conventional inkjet printer. The number on the horizontal axis is the number of samplings when printing a plurality of pages, and represents the time by multiplying the sampling interval by 50 msec. The vertical axis represents the acoustic power calculated from the sound pressure level measured for each sampling. Assuming that the sound pressure level is X, the sound power VLp is given by the following equation. VLp = 10 ^{(X / 10)} × sampling frequency Here, the sampling frequency is the number of times of sampling per unit time. The peak in the center of FIG. 3 shows the sound power when the ink carrier 5 is in the maintenance area in the printing operation of the second and subsequent pages. In the conventional case (b), the peak of the acoustic power is large because the ink carrier 5 collides with the chassis 15 in the maintenance area, but in the case of the present invention in (a), the ink carrier 5 is in the maintenance area. 5 does not collide with the chassis 15, so that the sound power is reduced as compared with FIG. From this, it is understood that the noise generated during the multi-page printing operation can be suppressed as compared with the related art by implementing the present invention.

In the embodiment described above, the ink carrier 5 is moved back after printing the first page, and is stopped at the wiping position which is a predetermined distance before the home position HP, but the present invention is not limited to this. It does not do. For example, the stop position may be set at a position where the ink carrier 5 does not collide with the chassis 15, such as an intermediate position between the wiping position and the capping position or a lock release position.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where only one ink cartridge 9 is held in the ink carrier 5 is taken as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, The present invention may be applied to a case where two or more ink cartridges 9 each of which is filled with ink and color ink are held.

In the above embodiment, the support portion 25 provided on the maintenance portion cover 24 is formed by cutting out the upper surface of the maintenance portion cover 24 in a stepped manner. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Absent. For example, the support portion may be formed as a stepped hole on the side surface of the maintenance portion cover 24, and the maintenance portion 17 may be held through the release lever shaft 23.

[0043]

According to the present invention, the ink carrier can be prevented from colliding with the chassis every time a plurality of pages are printed, and noise generated during a printing operation can be reduced. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to newly provide another component, noise can be reduced at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an electric block diagram of an ink jet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating operation control of the ink carrier according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating measurement data of acoustic power of an ink jet printer.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a schematic mechanism of the ink jet printer.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an operation state of an ink carrier.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation state of an ink carrier.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation state of the ink carrier.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an operation state of an ink carrier.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an operation state of the ink carrier.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an operation state of an ink carrier.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an operation state of an ink carrier.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an operation state of an ink carrier.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part 4 DC motor 5 Ink carrier 6 Encoder 9 Ink cartridge 10 Print head 15 Chassis 17 Maintenance part 25 Support part 25a Support part upper part 25b Support part interruption 25c Support part lower part 40 Printer HP home position d Predetermined distance Y Stop position

Claims (3)

[Utility model registration claims] 1. A printing apparatus which receives a predetermined command and print data from a host device and performs a multi-page printing operation, comprising: an ink carrier holding an ink cartridge and capable of reciprocating in a horizontal direction; A DC motor for moving the ink carrier, an encoder for detecting the position of the ink carrier, and reciprocally reciprocate in an oblique direction in conjunction with the movement of the ink carrier, the print head provided in the ink cartridge, Capping is performed when the ink carrier is at the home position,
A maintenance unit that performs wiping when the ink carrier moves a predetermined distance from a home position; and a movement unit that recognizes a position of the ink carrier based on a detection result of the encoder and moves the ink carrier based on a command sent from a host device. A maintenance unit, wherein the maintenance unit is a home position where the ink carrier is in contact with a chassis of a printing apparatus and is a first position at which the print head is capped, and the ink carrier is a predetermined distance from the chassis. The print head is displaced in three stages of a second position for wiping the print head at a front position, and a third position for opening the maintenance unit to the print head in a non-contact manner. From the second position to the third position via the second position, In a printing apparatus which is displaced from a third position to a first position via a second position by the return of the carrier, the control unit moves the ink carrier before the start of printing the first page and moves the ink carrier to the first position. And the ink carrier is moved forward from this position, and the maintenance section is moved to the second position.
And the third position, printing is performed in the printing area. After printing is completed, the ink carrier is moved back, the second position is detected, and the printing operation of the second and subsequent pages is performed. No.
After moving the ink carrier forward from the position 2 and displacing the maintenance section to the third position, printing is performed in the printing area.
A printing device, which repeats an operation of returning to a position. 2. A printing device which receives a predetermined command and print data from a host device and performs a printing operation on a plurality of pages, comprising: an ink carrier capable of reciprocating while holding an ink cartridge; and moving the ink carrier. DC for
A motor, a position detection unit that detects the position of the ink carrier, and a position of the ink carrier that is recognized from the detection result of the position detection unit, and controls movement of the ink carrier based on a command sent from the host device. A control unit;
In the printing apparatus, the control unit moves the ink carrier before starting printing of the first page, detects a home position, moves the ink carrier forward from the home position, and prints in a print area. After printing is completed, the ink carrier is moved backward, stopped at a position a predetermined distance before the home position, and the printing operation of the second and subsequent pages is performed by moving the ink carrier forward from the predetermined stop position. A printing apparatus for performing printing in a printing area and repeating an operation of returning the ink carrier to the predetermined stop position again after printing is completed. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the ink carrier is at a home position, capping is performed on a print head provided in the ink cartridge, and the ink carrier is moved from the home position to a predetermined position. A maintenance section that performs wiping when the distance has been moved, the ink carrier stops after printing the first page, and a position a predetermined distance before the home position is a wiping position where the maintenance section performs wiping. A printing device characterized by the above-mentioned.