JP3518179B2 - 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 that ejects ink to form an image based on image data input from the outside.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a storage means for storing image data input from the outside and a recording head for ejecting ink to form an image based on the image data stored in the storage means have been provided. Inkjet printers are known. In this type of inkjet printer, it is possible to temporarily store image data input from the outside in the storage means, drive the recording head based on the image data, and form an image according to the image data.

[0003]

However, in this type of ink jet printer, a finite amount of ink is stored in a predetermined ink storage means, and the stored ink is ejected from the recording head to form an image. is doing. Therefore, the ink may run out during the formation of the image, in which case the image may be faint or may not be formed at all.

As a technique for solving this, the required amount of ink is calculated from the image data, the remaining amount of ink in the ink storing means is detected, and an alarm or the like is issued when the required amount of ink exceeds the remaining amount. It may occur. However, in this case, even if it is known that the ink is insufficient, it is not known to what extent the ink is insufficient. For this reason,
Ink cannot be managed systematically. For example, if the ink jet printer is not used for a long time and the ink is replenished too much, a large amount of ink is left in the ink storage means for a long time. This is not desirable for inkjet printers. In addition, when the amount of ink on hand is small, it is not clear whether new ink needs to be purchased or whether the ink on hand only needs to be replenished.

Therefore, the present invention has been made for the purpose of providing an ink jet printer in which the shortage amount can be easily recognized when the shortage of ink is caused.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention The invention according to claim 1 made in order to achieve the above object, is a storage means for storing image data inputted from the outside, and is stored in the storage means. In an inkjet printer including a recording head that ejects ink to form an image based on image data, an ink storage unit that stores the ink ejected from the recording head, and the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage unit. An ink remaining amount display means for displaying the amount, an ink necessary amount calculation means for calculating the ink required amount based on the image data stored in the storage means, and an ink necessary amount calculated by the ink required amount calculation means. And a required ink amount display means for displaying at a position adjacent to the remaining ink amount display means.

In the present invention thus constructed, the storage means stores the image data inputted from the outside, and the recording head ejects ink based on the image data to form an image. Therefore, an image corresponding to the image data can be formed. The ink storage means stores the ink ejected from the recording head, and the ink remaining amount display means displays the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage means. Further, the required ink amount calculation means calculates the required amount of ink based on the image data stored in the storage means, and the required ink amount display means displays the calculated required amount at a position adjacent to the remaining ink amount display means. indicate.

Therefore, the remaining amount of ink in the ink containing means and the required amount of ink corresponding to the image data are displayed at positions adjacent to each other. Therefore, by comparing the two displays, it is easy to see whether or not there is sufficient ink, and if there is a shortage, to what extent. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately replenish ink, and it is possible to manage ink easily and systematically.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the first aspect, the ink remaining amount display means is the ink storage means configured so that the remaining ink amount can be visually observed. . That is, as the ink remaining amount display means, a configuration in which the remaining amount of ink is detected by a sensor or the like and displayed on a liquid crystal display or the like is conceivable, but in the present invention, the ink storage means is configured to visually check the remaining amount of ink. It also serves as an ink remaining amount display means. Therefore, in the present invention,
There is no need to specially provide an ink remaining amount display means. Therefore, in the present invention, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1,
There is an effect that the configuration can be further simplified.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In addition to the configuration described above, the ink storage means is yellow,
Ink of four colors of magenta, cyan, and black is individually stored, and the required ink amount calculating means calculates the required amount of each of the four color inks, and the remaining ink amount display means and the required ink amount of the ink. It is characterized in that the display means individually displays the remaining amount or the required amount for each of the four color inks.

That is, in the present invention, the basic colors for forming a color image are yellow, magenta, cyan, black,
For the four colors, the ink storage means, the required amount calculation means, the remaining ink amount display means, and the required ink amount display means operate individually. For this reason, whether or not the ink is sufficient, and if it is insufficient,
The above four colors can be individually known. For this reason,
In addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1 or 2, the present invention has an effect that the ink of each color in the color image formation can be easily and systematically managed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure according to any one of the first to third aspects, the ink storing means stores solid ink solidified by a predetermined amount. The required amount display means displays the required number of the solid ink.

In an ink jet printer which uses solid ink (for example, so-called ink nugget) solidified by a predetermined amount, it is very easy to replenish the deficient amount (number) of ink. For this reason, the effect of recognizing the insufficient amount of ink in the above-described invention becomes more remarkable. Further, since the required ink amount display means displays the required number of solid inks, the configuration thereof can be made extremely simple. Therefore, in the present invention, claims 1 to
In addition to the effect of the invention described in any one of 3 above being more prominent, an effect that the configuration can be further simplified occurs.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an inkjet printer (hereinafter, simply referred to as a printer) 1 to which the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 is provided with a frame 5 that is movable by casters 3, and the following members are arranged in the frame 5.
First, the recording head 7 is provided on the upper part, and the platen roller 9 is arranged below the recording head 7 so as to face it. Platen roller 9
The roll paper 11 is stored in the storage portion 13 diagonally below. The roll paper 11 is rotatably stored in the storage portion 13 in the frame 5 with the mandrel 11a parallel to the platen roller 9. The roll paper 11 fed from here is guided between the platen roller 9 and the roller 17 via the roller 15. The roller 15
Bends the roll paper 11 in a direction opposite to the direction in which the roll paper 11 is wound in advance, and corrects the curl of the roll paper 11.

A guide plate 19 curved along the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 9 from the roller 17 to the vicinity of the recording head 7 is provided around the platen roller 9 and the platen roller 9 and the roller 1.
The roll paper 11 guided between the recording paper 7 and the paper 7 is conveyed along the guide plate 19 and passes below the recording head 7. In addition,
Rollers 21 and 23 for pressing the roll paper 11 onto the platen roller 9 are provided upstream and downstream of the recording head 7. A cutter 25 is provided on the downstream side of the platen roller 9, and the roll paper 11 passes through the cutter 25 and is discharged to the outside of the frame 5.

The recording head 7 is a well-known ink jet head which melts an ink nugget 27 formed by solidifying a predetermined amount of ink and jets it toward the roll paper 11 on the platen roller 9. An ink cartridge 31 that supplies the ink nugget 27 to the recording head 7 is provided on the upper surface of the frame 5.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the structure of the ink cartridge 31, and FIG. 3 is a left side view thereof. In addition, in FIG. 3, a side surface of an ink case 33 described below is partially cut away. The ink cartridge 31 includes an ink case 33 as an ink storage unit that stores the ink nugget 27. The ink case 33 is provided with four U-shaped cross-section grooves 35 for movably accommodating the cube-shaped ink nuggets 27, as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the ink case 33 is installed on the frame 5 while being obliquely inclined along the longitudinal direction of the groove 35. In addition, a hole 37 through which the ink nugget 27 can pass is formed at the bottom of one end (hereinafter referred to as the front end) of the groove 35 on the lower side.

In each groove 35, the yellow, magenta, cyan, and black ink nuggets 2 are arranged from the left side of FIG.
7 are stored individually. In addition, the inner diameter of the hole 37 is
Slightly smaller than the inner diameter of. Therefore, the ink nugget 27 moves downward in the groove 35 by its own weight, but cannot pass through the hole 37 by its own weight. 2, in order to clarify the structure of the holes 37 and the like, the state in which the ink nugget 27 is not housed in the groove 35 (corresponding to black) in the rightmost row is drawn.

Each hole 37 is formed in the front edge of the ink case 33.
And four notches 3 formed in the up-and-down direction to communicate with
3a is provided, and the following extrusion device 41 is provided on the outside thereof.
Is provided. This extruding device 41 is provided with each notch 33
This device is provided with four levers 43 that can be swung downward through "a", and by pushing the levers 43 downward, the ink nugget 27 on the hole 37 is pushed out below the hole 37. By the operation of the extrusion device 41, the ink nugget 2
7 passes through the hole 37 and falls into the frame 5. The recording head 7 has a known configuration in which the ink nuggets 27 that have fallen are stored and melted for each color, and jetted for each color toward the roll paper 11, whereby a color image is formed on the roll paper 11. It is formed. Further, the pushing device 41 is configured to be able to individually drive the four levers 43, and it is possible to drop only a desired one of the four color ink nuggets 27.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the ink case 33 is made of a transparent material that covers the entire ink case 33 except the hole 37, and is provided on the ink case 33 so as to be swingable via a hinge 45a. The large cover 45,
A small cover 47 is provided at the center of the large cover 45 so as to be swingable via a hinge 47a, and a small cover 47 that covers the ink case 33 from a position overlapping the front half of the large cover 45. In addition, as shown in FIG.
5, a window 47b is formed. Therefore, the number of the ink nuggets 27 stored in the ink case 33 can be visually counted through the large cover 45 or the window 47b. That is, the ink case 33
In particular, the groove 35, the large cover 45, and the window 47b correspond to the remaining ink amount display means.

Furthermore, at the rear of the ink case 33,
A display device 49 is provided as a required ink amount display means. The display device 49 includes a display portion 49a at each position adjacent to each groove 35, and the display portion 49a includes:
The necessary amount (number) of the corresponding ink nuggets 27 of each color is displayed as described later.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, a display device 49
Is connected to the electronic control circuit 51 together with the platen roller 9, the recording head 7, and the cutter 25, and is driven by a signal from the electronic control circuit 51. Further, the electronic control circuit 51 has an operation panel 53 to which various commands from an operator are input, a reception buffer 57 for temporarily storing information received from the network, and a page buffer as a storage unit for storing image data. 59 is connected.

When the electronic control circuit 51 receives the image data via the receiving buffer 57, the electronic control circuit 51 sequentially processes the page buffer 5
9 is stored. Further, based on the operation state of the operation panel 53, the image data is read from the page buffer 59, the platen roller 9, the recording head 7, and the cutter 25 are driven, and a well-known process of forming an image on the roll paper 11 is executed. The electronic control circuit 51 controls the display device 49 as follows.

In FIG. 5, the electronic control circuit 51 has a display device 49.
5 is a flowchart showing a display control process executed for the control of FIG. Note that the electronic control circuit 51 uses the roll paper 1
This process is executed before the image forming process for 1. When the processing is started, first, in S1, the image data is read from the page buffer 59. In subsequent S3, the read image data is expanded in the frame buffer to create bitmap data. Further, in the subsequent S5, the amount of ink necessary for forming an image corresponding to the image data is calculated as the number of ink nuggets 27 for each color based on the bitmap data. Subsequently, in S7, the numbers calculated in S5 are displayed on the corresponding display units 49a, and the process is terminated.

In the printer 1 configured as described above, the display device 49 displays the required amount of the ink nugget 27 of the color at the position adjacent to the groove 35 corresponding to each color.
Display in a. Therefore, the ink nugget 2 in the groove 35
It is possible to easily compare the number (remaining amount) of 7 and the required amount (number) of the ink nugget 27 according to the image data. Therefore, it is possible to easily understand whether or not the ink nugget 27 is sufficient, and if it is insufficient, how much is it. Therefore, the ink nugget 27 can be appropriately replenished, and the ink nugget 27 can be managed easily and systematically. Moreover, the comparison and management of the remaining amount of the ink nugget 27 with the necessary amount are
It can be performed individually for four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. Therefore, a color image can be formed well.

The ink nugget 27 can be replenished by referring to FIG.
Then, the covers 45 and 47 are opened as indicated by the chain double-dashed line. In the display control process, S5 is a process corresponding to the required ink amount calculating means. Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above by way of examples, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various embodiments can be implemented without departing from the gist of the present invention. it can. For example, the recording head 7 may use liquid ink. However, since the printer 1 uses the ink nugget 27, it is extremely easy to replenish the ink nugget 27 in a shortage amount (number).
For this reason, the effect of the present invention, such as the fact that the shortage amount of ink is known, becomes more prominent. Also, the display unit 49a only needs to display the number, and the configuration of the display device 49 can be simplified.

Further, as the ink remaining amount display means, a structure in which the remaining amount of ink is detected by a sensor or the like and displayed on a liquid crystal display or the like may be adopted. However, in printer 1,
The ink case 33 as the ink storage means also serves as the remaining ink amount display means. For this reason, there is no need to specially provide the remaining ink amount display means, and the configuration can be further simplified.

Further, the present invention can be similarly applied to a monochrome ink jet printer and an ink jet printer handling single-cut sheets. However, the printer 1 using the roll paper 11 can form an extremely large image. Therefore, if the image data is too large, the ink nugget 27 may be insufficient even if the ink cartridge 31 is fully filled with the ink nugget 27. In this case, it is necessary to stop the operation of the printer 1 on the way to supplement the ink nugget 27 and divide the image data. Since the printer 1 does not display the shortage amount of the ink nugget 27, it displays the remaining amount and the required amount of the ink nugget 27 in parallel.
Even if the image data is too large, it can be easily determined.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an inkjet printer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a configuration of an ink cartridge of the printer.

FIG. 3 is a left side view showing a configuration of an ink cartridge of the printer.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the printer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a display control process in the control system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Inkjet printer 7 ... Recording head
9 ... Platen roller 11 ... Roll paper 27 ... Ink nugget 31
Ink cartridge 33 Ink case 35 Groove 41 Extrusion device 45 Large cover 47 Small cover 47b Window 49 Display device 49a Display 51 Electronic control circuit 57 Receive buffer 59
… Page buffer

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Masafumi Suzuki 15-1 Naedai-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Brother Industry Co., Ltd. Brother Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Makino Kuniku 15-1 Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Brother Industry Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-7-309018 (JP, A) JP-A-6- 126981 (JP, A) JP-A-9-11490 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/175 B41J 2/21

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An inkjet printer comprising: storage means for storing image data input from the outside; and a recording head for ejecting ink to form an image based on the image data stored in the storage means. An ink containing means for containing the ink ejected from the recording head, an ink remaining amount displaying means for displaying the remaining amount of ink in the ink containing means, and an ink storing means for displaying the ink based on the image data stored in the storing means. The required ink amount calculating means for calculating the required amount, and the required ink amount calculated by the required ink amount calculating means,
An ink jet printer comprising: a required ink amount display means for displaying at a position adjacent to the remaining ink amount display means. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the remaining ink amount display unit is the ink storage unit configured to visually check the remaining amount of ink. 3. The ink storage means individually stores four colors of ink of yellow, magenta, cyan and black, and the ink required amount calculation means individually calculates a required amount for each of the four color inks. 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the remaining ink amount display means and the required ink amount display means individually display the remaining amount or the required amount for each of the four color inks. 4. The ink storage means stores solid ink solidified by a predetermined amount, and the ink required amount display means displays the required number of the solid ink. Item 4. The inkjet printer according to any one of Items 1 to 3.