JP3282610B2 - Inkjet printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink-jet printer, and more particularly to an ink-jet printer having a carriage for holding ink and moving the carriage to an initial position when a reset command is given.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 5-70593 [B41J 19]
/ 18, 2/175] discloses an ink jet printer in which when exchanging an ink cartridge, the carriage is stopped at a fixed position other than both ends, and the user exchanges ink at the ink exchanging position. I have.
If the carriage moves for some reason during ink replacement, for example, a user's finger is caught between the carriage and the cover, which is dangerous.

On the other hand, when an ink jet printer is used as an output device of, for example, a personal computer (PC), a -INIT signal (initial signal or reset signal) is output to the ink jet printer when the PC is started or restarted. In the ink jet printer, in response to the -INIT signal, the CPU executes a reset operation to return the carriage to the initial position or the home position.

[0004]

When the -INIT signal is issued from the PC when the carriage is at the carriage ink replacement position, the carriage returns to the home position, and as a result, the user's fingers may be pinched. is there.

Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer which can avoid the above-mentioned danger.

[0006]

An ink jet printer according to the present invention has a carriage for holding ink, and executes a reset operation to move the carriage to an initial position when a reset command is given from a host. In the printer, the carriage
Equipped with a judgment means for judging whether or not the
It determined that the carriage is in the ink replacement position by means
An ink jet printer characterized in that the reset command is invalidated when the reset command is performed.

[0007]

When the reset command such as the -INIT signal is input from the host when the carriage is not at the position for ink replacement, the printer CPU executes a reset operation. Therefore, the carriage is moved to an initial position such as a home position.

For example, when the determination means determines that the carriage is at the ink replacement position and a reset command is input from the host , the printer CPU does not execute the movement of the carriage to the initial position. That is, the reset command is ignored or invalidated.

When the printer further includes a front cover for covering the carriage, and moving means for moving the carriage to the ink exchange position in response to opening the front cover, the determination means determines whether the front cover is open. And whether the carriage has moved to the ink replacement position may be determined.

If the printer further comprises input means for manually inputting ink exchange and moving means for moving the carriage to the ink exchange position in response to the input of the input means, the input means may be a judging means. What is necessary is just to determine whether it was operated.

[0011]

According to the present invention, when the carriage is located at the ink replacement position, a host such as the -INIT signal is output.
Since the reset command from the printer is invalidated, the carriage does not move from the ink replacement position, so that the danger of the user's fingers being pinched by the carriage can be reliably avoided. Therefore, it is possible to provide a user with a safe inkjet printer.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, an ink jet printer (hereinafter, simply referred to as "printer") 10 of this embodiment.
Includes an ink cartridge 12 movably supported by a carriage 11, and prints on paper 16 supplied from a paper feed tray 14 with ink from the ink cartridge 12, as is well known. FIG. 1 shows a state where the front cover 18 is opened. The above-described printing can be executed only in a state where the front cover 18 is closed.

Side covers 20 are provided on the left and right sides with the front cover 18 closed, and the inside of the right side cover 20 is set as an initial position or a home position. The ink cartridge 12 can be replaced at the ink cartridge replacement position shown in FIG. When the carriage 11, that is, the ink cartridge 12 is at the ink cartridge replacement position, when the reset operation is performed, the ink cartridge 12 moves toward the home position, and accordingly, the ink cartridge 12 moves between the ink cartridge 12 and the side cover 20. The user's fingers may be pinched. This embodiment avoids such danger.

The printer 10 of FIG. 1 includes a computer 22 as shown in FIG.
2 is connected to a host computer or a host computer via a parallel port 24. Therefore, the host computers, through the parallel port 24,
An INIT signal, another signal, or data is input.

In connection with the front cover 18 shown in FIG. 1, a cover opening / closing sensor 26 such as a limit switch or a photoelectric switch is provided, and the cover opening / closing signal is sent from the cover opening / closing sensor 26 to the computer 22. Is entered. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the printer 10 is provided with a power switch 28 and a paper supply / discharge switch 30. The power switch 28 is a switch for turning on / off the power of the printer 10, and the paper supply / discharge switch 30 is a switch for taking in the paper 16 from the paper supply tray 14 or discharging the paper from inside the printer.

The computer 22 supplies a drive signal to the ASIC 32, and the ASIC 32 supplies a necessary number of pulse signals to the carriage motor 36 through the motor driver 34 according to the drive signal. Therefore, the carriage 1
1 (FIG. 1), that is, the ink cartridge 12 (FIG. 1) is moved right and left. The carriage motor 36 is a stepping motor. The ASIC 32 also provides the computer 22 with the number of pulses provided to the motor driver 34, ie, the motor 36. Therefore, the computer 22
By using the number of pulse signals from the ASIC 32, the rotational position of the carriage motor 36, that is, the position of the carriage 11, that is, the position of the ink cartridge 12, can be grasped.

When the front cover 18 is opened in the printer 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cover open signal is input from the cover open / close sensor 26 to the computer 22. In response, the computer 22 executes an interrupt routine shown in FIG.

That is, when the cover open signal is input,
First, in step S1, the computer 22 determines whether the printer 10 is in an idle state. This step S1 is specifically performed by the computer 2
It can be determined whether 2 is performing another task.

When the computer 22 is in the idle state, "YES" is determined in the step S1.
Moves the carriage 11, that is, the ink cartridge 12 (FIG. 1) to the ink cartridge replacement position in the next step S2. Specifically, the computer 22 supplies a drive signal to the ASIC 32 (FIG. 2) to drive the carriage motor 36. At this time, the computer 22 can know from the number of pulse signals from the ASIC 32 whether or not the ink cartridge 12 has reached the replacement position.

When the cover open signal is input but is not in the idle state, the computer 22 does not execute step S2. That is, the carriage 11, that is, the ink cartridge 12 is not moved to the replacement position.

The interrupt routine shown in FIG. 3 for moving the ink cartridge 12 to the replacement position is executed in response to a signal from the cover opening / closing sensor 26. You may. For example, when the power switch 28 and the paper supply / discharge switch 30 are simultaneously operated, the routine in FIG. 3 may be executed. That is, the routine for moving the ink cartridge 12 to the replacement position is performed by the cover open / close sensor 26.
Or the simultaneous operation of switches 28 and 30.

When the computer 22 receives the -INIT signal from the parallel port 24, an interrupt routine for the reset operation shown in FIG. 4 is executed.

In the first step S11 of FIG. 4, the computer 22 determines whether or not the ink cartridge 12 is at the replacement position. That is, the computer 22 determines whether or not step S2 in FIG. 3 has been executed. When "YES" is determined in the step S11, the computer 22 ends the process as it is.

On the other hand, "NO" in step S11
Is determined, the computer 22 proceeds to step S12
, The paper of the printer 10 is forcibly discharged, and the carriage 11, that is, the ink cartridge 12 is moved to the initial position or the home position in step S 13. That is, the reset operation is performed in steps S12 and S13.

As described above, in the routine of FIG. 4, even when the -INIT signal is input from the host computer when the ink cartridge 12 is at the ink cartridge replacement position, the computer 22 of the printer 10 causes the -INIT signal to be transmitted.
The signal is ignored or invalidated, and the reset operation that should be executed in response to the -INIT signal is not executed. Therefore, the carriage 11 at the replacement position, that is, the ink cartridge 12 does not move from the replacement position to the home position, and an unexpected situation in which the user's finger is pinched can be avoided.

When the front cover 18 is closed,
The interrupt routine shown in FIG. 5 is executed. More specifically, in the first step S21, the computer 22 drives the carriage motor 36 to return the carriage 11, that is, the ink cartridge 12, to the initial position or the home position. Thereafter, in step S22, it is determined whether the position where the front cover 18 is opened (open position), that is, the position where the routine of FIG. 3 is executed is the initial position or the home position. If "YES" is determined in the step S22, the carriage 11, that is, the ink cartridge 12 is already returned to the initial position in the step S21, and the routine in FIG.

However, when the open position is different from the initial position or the home position, the computer 22 drives the carriage motor 36 again to move the carriage 11, that is, the ink cartridge 12 to the open position. Therefore, when the front cover 18 is closed after the front cover 18 is opened and the ink cartridge is replaced, the ink cartridges 12 are automatically returned to the positions where they existed before.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view showing an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of moving a carriage, that is, an ink cartridge to a replacement position in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a reset operation in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an open position return operation in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Ink-jet printer 11 ... Carriage 12 ... Ink cartridge 18 ... Front cover 20 ... Side cover 22 ... Printer computer 24 ... Parallel port 26 ... Cover open / close sensor 28 ... Power switch 30 ... Feed / discharge switch 36 ... Carriage motor

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1, further comprising a carriage for holding the ink, phosphorylase
When a reset command is given from the printer, an inkjet printer that executes a reset operation to move the carriage to the initial position determines whether the carriage is at the ink replacement position.
An ink jet printer , comprising: a determination unit for making a reset , and when the determination unit determines that the carriage is at the ink replacement position, the reset command is invalidated. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a front cover that covers the carriage; and moving means for moving the carriage to the ink exchange position in response to opening the front cover, wherein the determining means determines that the front cover is in an open state. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, further comprising an open determination means for determining whether or not the printer is located. 3. An input means for manually inputting ink replacement,
And wherein in response to the input of the input means further includes moving means for moving the carriage in the ink replacement position, the judging unit includes an input determination means for determining whether said input means is operated, according to claim 1, wherein Inkjet printer.