JP3937146B2 - Recording medium supply control method and recording apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a control method for supplying a stored recording medium and a recording apparatus to which the recording medium supply control method is applied.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In general, an ink jet printer, which is one of recording apparatuses, feeds a sheet as a recording medium set in a paper feed tray one by one by a feeding unit, and intermittently sets a set amount in the sub-scanning direction by a transport unit. While feeding, recording is performed by a recording head mounted on a carriage that reciprocates in the main scanning direction.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above-described ink jet printer, the paper feeding operation by the supplying unit is performed in the paper feeding mode, and the transporting operation by the transporting unit and the recording operation by the recording head are performed in the recording mode. Then, paper skewing and cueing are performed in the paper feeding mode, and paper feeding to the recording start position is performed in the recording mode. For this reason, since the motor is temporarily stopped when shifting from the paper cueing operation to the paper feeding operation from the recording start position, a loss occurs in the processing time.
[0004]
An object of the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a recording medium supply control method capable of eliminating a time loss when shifting from a cueing operation of a recording medium to a recording start positioning operation, and the method thereof To provide a recording apparatus to which the method is applied.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, in the recording medium supply control method according to the claims of the present invention, in the control method when supplying the stored recording medium, cueing of the recording medium , recording start positioning , and recording are performed. It is characterized in that the recording medium is continuously operated without stopping supply . In the recording medium supply control method according to the claims of the present invention, the information on the recording start position of the recording medium is added to the information on the cueing of the recording medium. This eliminates the need for the motor to stop once when shifting from the cueing operation of the recording medium to the recording start positioning operation, so that the time can be reduced as a series of processes.
[0006]
In order to achieve the above object, in the recording apparatus according to the claims of the present invention, in the recording apparatus that supplies the recording medium using the supply unit and records on the recording medium using the recording head, the supply control of each recording medium is performed. It is characterized by applying the method. Further, in the recording apparatus according to the present invention, the supply unit includes a feed roller that supplies the recording medium, starts the supply of the recording medium by rotating the feed roller forward, The feed roller is reversed to remove the skew of the supplied recording medium, and the recording medium is cued and recorded with respect to the recording medium from which the skew has been removed only by rotating the feed roller forward. It is characterized in that start positioning and recording are performed in a continuous operation. Thereby, it is possible to provide a recording apparatus that exhibits the above-described functions and effects.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0008]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entire external configuration of an ink jet printer, which is one of recording apparatuses according to an embodiment of the present invention, seen obliquely from the front. The ink jet printer 100 includes a rectangular parallelepiped upper housing 101 and a lower housing 102 that extend as a whole in the width direction. The upper housing 101 and the lower housing 102 are fastened by a snap fit.
[0009]
A paper feed port 103 is formed on the rear side of the upper housing 101. The paper feed port 103 is provided with a paper feed tray 110 on which papers to be fed are stacked and loaded, and a paper feed guide 111 aligned with one end of the paper feed tray 110. The paper feed tray 110 is disposed so as to protrude obliquely upward and rearward from the paper feed guide 111 and holds the paper in an inclined state.
[0010]
A paper discharge port 104 is formed on the front side of the upper housing 101. The paper discharge port 104 is provided with a paper discharge stacker 120 on which sheets to be discharged are stacked. The paper discharge stacker 120 can be stored on the back side of the lower housing 102 from the paper discharge port 104 when not in use, and can be pulled out obliquely upward and forward from the paper discharge port 104 when in use. It is supposed to be received in the state.
[0011]
Further, the paper discharge port 104 is provided with a stacker holding portion 121 that holds the non-paper discharge side end portion of the paper discharge stacker 120 along the width direction when the paper discharge stacker 120 is pulled out. In FIG. 1, a state where the paper discharge stacker 120 is housed on the back side of the lower housing 102 is shown.
[0012]
A window portion 105 is formed from the upper portion of the upper housing 101 to the front surface. The window 105 is covered with a transparent or translucent curved openable / closable cover 106. By opening the cover 106, ink cartridge replacement work, internal mechanism maintenance work, and the like can be easily performed. Further, on the left rear side of the upper housing 101, a push button type power system switch 131 and an operation system switch 132 are arranged.
[0013]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the entire internal structure when the upper housing 101 of the ink jet printer 100 of FIG. 1 is removed, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the main part thereof. A main board 130 shown in FIG. 2 constituting the printer controller is arranged vertically on the lower housing 102, and the recording means 140 shown in FIG. 2 constituting the print engine and the paper supply shown in FIG. Means 150, transport means 160 and the like are arranged.
[0014]
The main board 130 is mounted with control elements and storage elements such as CPU, ROM, RAM, and ASIC (not shown), and various other circuit elements, and the upper end thereof has the power switch 131 and the operation system. Light emitting diodes 133 and 134 are provided so that the user can confirm that the switch is turned on by emitting light when the switch 132 is pressed.
[0015]
The recording unit 140 includes a carriage 141, a recording head 142, a carriage motor 143, a timing belt 144, a suction pump 145, and the like. The sheet conveyed by the conveying means 160 is recorded by the recording head 142 mounted on the carriage 141 scanned by the carriage motor 143 and the timing belt 144. The recording head 142 is supplied with each color ink from a total of four ink cartridges 146, for example, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, housed in the carriage 141 so that full color printing is possible.
[0016]
The supply unit 150 includes a paper feed tray 110, a paper feed guide 111, a paper feed roller 151, a hopper 152, a separation pad 153, and the like. The paper P stacked and placed on the paper feed tray 110 and aligned by the paper feed guide 111 is pressed against the paper feed roller 151 by the separation pad 153 as the hopper 152 rises as the paper feed roller 151 rotates, so that the topmost paper. The sheets are separated from P one by one and fed to the conveying means 160.
[0017]
The transport unit 160 includes a paper feed roller 161 and a driven roller 162, a paper discharge roller 163 and a jagged roller 164, a paper feed motor 165, a paper discharge stacker 120, and the like. The paper P supplied from the supply means 150 is nipped by the paper feed roller 161 and the driven roller 162 driven by the paper feed motor 165, conveyed to the recording means 140, and further discharged by the paper feed motor 165. The paper is sandwiched between the paper roller 163 and the jagged roller 164 and conveyed to the paper discharge stacker 120.
[0018]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a schematic operation from paper feeding to recording in the ink jet printer 100. When the paper feed mode is selected (step S1), the paper on the paper feed tray 110 is pressed against the paper feed roller 151 by the separation pad 153 as the hopper 152 is lifted, and separated one by one from the uppermost paper. It is fed (step S2).
[0019]
When the fed paper is nipped between the paper feed roller 161 and the driven roller 162 (step S3), the skew is first removed (step S4), and then the cueing and the recording start positioning are continuously performed. (Step S5). This is because information on the recording start position of the paper is added to the information on the cueing of the paper. Then, when the recording mode is entered (step S6), the carriage 141 is scanned and the paper is conveyed, and recording is started by the recording head 142 based on the raster data (steps S7 and S8).
[0020]
5A and 5B are time charts comparing the rotation operations of the conventional paper feed motor from paper feed to recording and the paper feed motor 165 of this embodiment. Forward rotation (+) starts the paper feeding operation (time t0), and once the paper is detected, it temporarily stops (time t1). Then, the rotation is reversed (−) and the skew removal is started (time t2). When the skew removal is completed, the skew removal is stopped (time t3). The above rotation operation is the same between the conventional paper feed motor and the paper feed motor 165 of this embodiment.
[0021]
Next, in the conventional paper feed motor, normal rotation (+) is performed and cueing is started (time t4), and once cueing is completed, it is temporarily stopped (time t5). Then, the recording operation is started, the forward rotation (+) is again performed, the paper feed to the recording start position is started (time t6), the recording start positioning is performed (time t7), and the recording is started.
[0022]
On the other hand, in the paper feed motor 165 of this embodiment, forward rotation (+) is performed to start the paper feed and the paper feed to the recording start position (time point t4), and the recording start positioning including the cueing is performed (time point). t8) Recording is started. As described above, since the paper feed motor 165 does not need to be stopped once when the paper start operation is shifted to the recording start positioning operation, a series of processes is performed from time t6 to time t5 (= time t7 to time t8). You can save time by minutes. For example, what was conventionally 12 ppm: 5.00 s is 12.12 ppm: 4.95 s in the present embodiment, and can be shortened by 50 ms per sheet.
[0023]
Although the present invention has been described with reference to various embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may be applied to other embodiments within the scope of the invention described in the claims. Of course. For example, the ink jet printer has been described as an example of the recording apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any recording apparatus having a recording medium supply mode and a recording mode may be used. The present invention is also applicable to a thermal transfer type facsimile machine, a copying machine, and the like.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the recording medium supply control method and the recording apparatus to which the method is applied according to the present invention, it is necessary to stop the motor once when the recording medium is moved from the cueing operation to the recording start positioning operation. Therefore, time can be reduced as a series of processes.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an entire external configuration of an ink jet printer that is one of recording apparatuses according to an embodiment of the present invention, viewed obliquely from the front.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the entire internal configuration when the upper housing of the ink jet printer of FIG. 1 is removed, as viewed obliquely from the front.
3 is a cross-sectional side view of a main part of the ink jet printer of FIG. 2;
4 is a flowchart for explaining a schematic operation from paper feeding to recording in the ink jet printer shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a time chart comparing the rotation operations of a conventional paper feed motor from paper feeding to recording and the paper feed motor of the present embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Inkjet printer 101 Upper housing 102 Lower housing 103 Paper feed port 104 Paper discharge port 105 Window part 106 Cover 110 Paper feed tray 111 Paper feed guide 120 Paper discharge stacker 130 Main board 140 Recording means 141 Carriage 142 Recording head 143 Carriage motor 144 Timing belt 145 Suction pump 146 Ink cartridge 150 Supply means 151 Paper feed roller 160 Conveyance means 161 Paper feed roller 165 Paper feed motor

Claims (4)

In a control method for supplying a stored recording medium,
Cueing, recording start positioning and recording of the recording medium,
A recording medium supply control method, which is performed in a continuous operation without stopping the supply of the recording medium.   2. The recording medium supply control method according to claim 1, wherein information on a recording start position of the recording medium is added to the information on the cueing of the recording medium. In a recording apparatus for supplying a recording medium using a supply means and recording on the recording medium using a recording head,
A recording apparatus to which the recording medium supply control method according to claim 1 is applied. The supply means includes a feed roller for supplying the recording medium,
The feed roller is rotated forward to start supplying the recording medium,
Reversing the feed roller to remove the skew of the supplied recording medium,
4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: continuously rotating the recording medium, performing recording start positioning, and recording with respect to the recording medium from which the skew has been removed only by rotating the feed roller forward. The recording device described.

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