JP4089023B2 - Recording device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus having an improved method for controlling the leading end position of a sheet.
[0002]
[Prior art]
  Conventionally, in a paper feeding method of a recording device such as a portable printer, in order to emphasize portability, aiming to improve throughput by manually feeding paper by one paper manually without an automatic paper feeder, There has been a configuration that can be used in combination with paper feeding by a simple automatic paper feeding device (ACF) that places importance on printing efficiency for automatically supplying a large number of printing papers. With this configuration, a recording apparatus that achieves both portability and efficiency can be obtained.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
  However, according to this manual paper feeding, the user manually inserts the paper into the paper insertion port of the printer without guidance, and the paper is caught by the roller of the printer and transported. There were many cases that were not. Therefore, it is not guaranteed that the user inserts the paper straight when manually feeding, and there is a problem that the skew of the paper frequently occurs and the paper position tends to be inaccurate. On the other hand, when ACF paper is fed, the paper is guided by a guide and fed straight and accurately by a controlled motor. However, if a complicated paper cueing mechanism is provided for manual paper feeding, the ACF Despite the fact that the paper is being fed accurately, an unnecessary cueing operation will be performed, the throughput will be lowered, and the significance of attaching the ACF to increase printing efficiency will be diminished. There was also a problem.
[0004]
  The present invention solves the above-described problems. In the case of manual paper feeding, it is possible to achieve high printing efficiency without lowering throughput when ACF is used while achieving reliable paper conveyance. An object is to provide a good recording apparatus.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  In order to achieve the above object, in the recording apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, a recording unit for recording on a sheet, a conveying unit for conveying the sheet, and a sheet disposed upstream of the conveying unit in the sheet conveying direction. A paper feed sensor that detects the paper, a paper discharge sensor that is disposed downstream of the paper feed direction in the paper transport direction, and that detects the paper, and an attachment unit that can attach and detach an automatic paper feeder that feeds the paper. And an automatic paper feeder detecting means for detecting the automatic paper feeder when the automatic paper feeder is installed, and when the automatic paper feeder detector does not detect the automatic paper feeder, the paper discharge sensor Based on the detection of the leading edge position, the first leading edge control means for controlling the conveying means, and when the automatic paper feeding device detecting means detects the automatic paper feeding device, the paper feeding sensor detects the paper. Based on detecting the tip position of There are, and a second end controlling means for controlling said conveying meansThe printing start position by the recording means is a position where the front end of the paper is a predetermined distance from the paper discharge sensor on the upstream side in the paper transport direction and a position on the downstream side in the paper transport direction from the paper feed sensor. The leading edge control unit starts the printing by reversely transporting the paper upstream in the paper transport direction when the paper transported downstream by the transport unit is detected by the paper discharge sensor. The second leading edge control means stops the conveyance of the sheet by the automatic sheet feeder when the sheet conveyed from the automatic sheet feeder can be conveyed by the conveyance means, After the conveyance of the sheet by the automatic sheet feeder is stopped, the sheet is conveyed to the printing start position by the conveying unit.It is characterized by that.
[0006]
  In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, in the case of manual feeding without the automatic paper feeder, the first front edge control unit feeds paper, and when the automatic paper feeder is installed, the second front edge controller. By feeding by means, the paper feeding method can be properly used according to the purpose, and more appropriate paper feeding can be performed. Further, since these usages are performed by the automatic paper feeder detection means, they are automatically performed without a complicated setting operation for the user to use them properly.
  In addition, the leading edge of the paper at the print start position is downstream of the second paper detection sensor. This makes it possible to accurately control the front end position of the paper.
  Furthermore, by detecting the leading edge position of the paper with the paper discharge sensor at the position where the paper is transported and the inclination of the paper is corrected without detecting the position of the leading edge of the paper with the paper feed sensor at the position where the paper is more likely to tilt. Thus, the sheet can be conveyed more accurately and the print start position can be made accurate.
  In addition, the paper feeding operation from the automatic paper feeder can accurately feed the paper that has been fed to the recording device in succession, so the paper discharge sensor does not detect the leading edge of the paper. In addition, the position of the leading edge of the paper can be controlled. Accordingly, since the sheet can be transported to the print start position without useless operation, efficient printing can be performed without reducing the throughput of the recording apparatus.
[0007]
  Further, in the recording apparatus of the invention according to claim 2, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to claim 1, the transport means includes a transport roller for transporting the paper and a registration roller for correcting skew of the paper. It is characterized by having something that doubles as well.
[0008]
  In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, it is possible to correct the skew of the sheet by including a registration roller that performs skew correction, and further, an automatic sheet feeder that also serves as a transport roller for transporting the sheet. Combined with the fact that the printer can be attached and detached, the printer can be made compact.
[0009]
  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect of the recording apparatus, the paper feed sensor is a paper feed sensor that also serves as a paper presser.
[0010]
  In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, the printer can be made compact while achieving reliable paper conveyance by having the paper feed sensor also serve as a paper presser that achieves reliable conveyance by pressing the paper. it can.
[0011]
  According to a recording apparatus of a fourth aspect of the invention, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the paper discharge sensor is provided at a location where the conveying roller is disposed. It is characterized by.
[0012]
  In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, the paper discharge sensor is provided at a position where the conveyance roller is disposed, so that detection of paper discharge of the printed paper and cooperation with the paper feed sensor are provided in the recording apparatus. Jam can be detected.
[0013]
  In the recording apparatus of the invention according to claim 5, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the sheet is disposed on the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction with respect to the recording unit and discharges the sheet. A paper discharge roller is provided, and the paper discharge sensor is provided at a location where the paper discharge roller is provided.
[0014]
  The recording apparatus according to this configuration includes a discharge roller that is disposed downstream of the recording unit in the sheet conveyance direction and discharges the sheet, and the discharge sensor is provided at a position where the discharge roller is disposed. Therefore, the paper can be detected more reliably.
[0015]
  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the automatic paper feeder includes a paper placement unit for placing a plurality of paper. It is characterized by that.
[0016]
  In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, since the automatic paper feeder includes a paper placement unit for placing a plurality of papers, it can stack not only a plurality of papers but also manual papers.
[0017]
[0018]
[0019]
[0020]
[0021]
  Claim7In the recording apparatus of the invention according to claim1ThruClaim 6In addition to the configuration of the recording apparatus according to any one of the above, the print start position is a front end position of the sheet where the position where the recording unit starts printing of the sheet coincides with the position of the recording unit. It is characterized by that.
[0022]
  In the recording apparatus according to this configuration, the leading edge control of the paper is made to coincide with the actual print start position, thereby eliminating wasteful conveyance when determining the position of the edge of the paper uniformly and improving the throughput of the recording apparatus. It is.
[0023]
[0024]
[0025]
[0026]
[0027]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0028]
  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of an appearance in which an automatic paper feeder (ACF) F1 is mounted on a portable printer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the portable printer 1 includes a printer main body 3 which is a case formed in a substantially rectangular box shape. A paper discharge port 4, which is a rectangular opening formed wide in the longitudinal direction of the portable printer 1 (left and right direction in FIG. 1), is formed at a substantially central portion on the lower side of the printer body 3. The paper discharge port 4 is an opening for discharging the printed printing paper PP, and has a longitudinal width corresponding to the paper width of the printing paper PP. In the portable printer 1 of the present embodiment, the longitudinal width of the paper discharge port 4 is formed larger than the A4 size paper width (approximately 210 mm). An opening / closing lid 7 for replacing the ink cartridges 8 and 9 is pivotally attached to the upper part of the discharge port 4 of the printer body 3 so as to be freely opened and closed.
[0029]
  The automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted on the back surface (back side in FIG. 1) of the portable printer 1, and automatically feeds a large number of printing sheets PP that are cut sheets to the portable printer. The overall shape is a substantially rectangular horizontally long plate shape, and is mounted on the printer with its rear part raised about 60 degrees from the horizontal angle. In the automatic paper feeder F1, a plurality of printing papers PP are placed on the paper placement part F5 of the main body F2, and the upper part of the printing paper PP is supported by the left paper support part F4L and the right paper support part F4R. The paper support portions F4L and F4R are pivotally supported by the main body F2 so as to be unfolded to support the printing paper PP or to be accommodated in the main body F2. In FIG. The portion F4L is in the unfolded state, and the right paper support portion F4R is in the stored state. An opening / closing lid F3 is pivotally supported on the sheet placing portion F5 so that the printing paper PP can be easily replenished. In this figure, the opening / closing lid F3 is shown open.
[0030]
  Next, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view schematically showing the internal structure of the portable printer 1. The arrow X in the figure indicates the conveyance direction of the printing paper PP, and the arrow Y in the figure indicates the movement direction of the print heads 15 and 16 during main scanning.
[0031]
  As shown in FIG. 2, the printer main body 3 also serves as a substantially rectangular box-shaped main body frame 6, and a rectangular shelf-like cartridge frame 5 is provided in the upper space 1 a of the main body frame 6. A partition plate 5a is provided on the entire back side below the cartridge frame 5 to partition the upper space 1a and the lower space 1b, and the front side of the upper space 1a is open to the lower space 1b.
[0032]
  Here, the ink cartridges 8 and 9 will be described. In the cartridge frame 5 on the partition plate 5a in the upper space 1a of the portable printer 1, two ink cartridges 8 and 9 formed in a substantially rectangular box shape are detachably stored in a horizontal state with their upper ends aligned. Yes. Of these ink cartridges 8 and 9, the large ink cartridge 8 disposed on the left side in FIG. 2 houses an ink package 8a (see FIG. 3) filled with ink discharged from the print head right 15. The ink package 8a is composed of two ink packages, each of which is filled with magenta and black ink. In the ink cartridge small 9 disposed on the right side in FIG. 2, an ink package 9a (see FIG. 3) filled with ink discharged from the print head left 16 is accommodated, and cyan and yellow inks 1 Each color is filled.
[0033]
  The ink packages 8a and 9a (see FIG. 3) housed in the ink cartridges 8 and 9 are formed in a substantially rectangular bag, and a plurality of film sheets made of polyethylene resin or the like, for example, The film is made of a laminated film material having about 10 laminated layers. The laminated structure film material forming the ink packages 8a and 9a is provided with a shape restoring property by forming a large rigidity strength, and can suppress the shape change of the ink packages 8a and 9a. Therefore, even if ink is supplied from the ink packages 8a and 9a to the print heads 15 and 16 and the ink in the ink packages 8a and 9a is reduced, the ink packages 8a and 9a are not crushed to atmospheric pressure or the like. The internal pressure can be maintained at an appropriate negative pressure. In addition, as described above, the ink packages 8a and 9a are arranged horizontally, there is no difference in height, and the ink supply pressure derived from gravity applied to each ink nozzle port 18 is uniform.
[0034]
  As described above, the ink liquid at the nozzle openings of the nozzles 15a / 16a of the print heads 15 and 16 is maintained by maintaining the ink supply pressure of the ink supplied to the ink print heads 15 and 16 at a uniform and appropriate negative pressure. A concave meniscus (curved surface) is formed on the surface, and these internal pressures are kept uniform, so that the discharge performance of the ink discharged from the nozzles 15a / 16a of the print heads 15 and 16 is maintained uniformly. The print quality can be maintained satisfactorily. For example, in the print heads 15 and 16 of the present embodiment, if the ink supply pressure is in the range (operating pressure range) of about 0 mmAq (water column) to about −300 mmAq (water column) with respect to atmospheric pressure, the nozzle A concave meniscus can be formed on the ink liquid level in the nozzle openings of 15a / 16a. Note that the optimum operating pressure range (optimum operating pressure range) of the print heads 15 and 16 when performing printing with the portable printer 1 of the present embodiment is about −30 mmAq (water column) or less with respect to atmospheric pressure. The pressure value is -100 mmAq (water column) or more.
[0035]
  Next, the print heads 15 and 16 will be described. In the lower space 1 b of the main body frame 6 of the portable printer 1, the print heads 15 and 16 are arranged along the main scanning direction along a carriage 27 that can reciprocate in the printer main body 3 in the directions of the arrow Y and the opposite arrow Y. It is installed and installed. The print heads 15 and 16 perform printing by ejecting ink. A nozzle right 15a is disposed on the lower surface of the print head right 15 and a large number of nozzles composed of piezoelectric elements (piezoelectric elements). Two nozzle rows each including a mouth are formed along the paper transport direction X. One of these nozzle rows is filled with magenta ink supplied from each ink package of the ink package 8a, and the other row is filled with black ink. Further, the lower surface of the print head left 16 is also provided with a nozzle left 16a having the same configuration, and is filled with yellow and cyan inks. These nozzle rows enable color printing.
[0036]
  According to the print heads 15 and 16, when a voltage is applied to the plurality of nozzles 15a and 16a composed of piezo elements, a distortion proportional to the voltage value is generated in the nozzles 15a and 16a. Shrink. By this contraction, the ink filled in the nozzle openings 18 of the nozzles 15a and 16a is ejected onto the printing paper PP and printing is performed.
[0037]
  Next, the control unit 34 and the head driving FPC 35 will be described. On the left side of the ink cartridges 8 and 9 in the upper space 1a of the portable printer 1 in FIG. 2, a control unit 34 including a CPU, an input buffer, an output buffer memory, a head driving IC, and the like is provided. Four FPCs (flexible printed cables) for applying a voltage to each head are connected to the control unit 34, and the rear edge portion of the control unit 34 in the upper space 1a of the portable printer 1 (the back side in FIG. 2). ), The four head driving FPCs 35 are stacked, and further, the ink cartridges 8 and 9 to be described later are formed at the rear edge (back side in FIG. 2) of the large ink cartridge 8 in the upper space 1a of the portable printer 1. The ink supply tubes 12 stacked in the vertical direction are stacked on the front side in FIG. 2 and connected to the upper portions of the print heads 15 and 16. The head driving FPC 35 is in the form of a film in which a wiring pattern serving as a conductive layer is formed on a polyimide substrate, and this is covered with a protective film.
[0038]
  Next, the portable printer 1 will be described with a cross-sectional view taken from the side. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an outline of the portable printer 1 as viewed from the right direction along line IV-IV in FIG. For convenience, the CR motor (carriage motor) 30 is omitted. 4 is a schematic schematic view of the portable printer 1 as viewed from the front (front side in FIG. 2) along the line VV in FIG. In the upper part of FIG. 3, the ink extraction needles 10 are inserted into the ink packages 8a and 9a housed in the ink cartridges 8 and 9 described above for each color. At the rear edge portion (right side in FIG. 3) of the upper space 1a of the portable printer 1, the base portion (anti-tip portion (FIG. In the right side 4) 4), the ink supply tubes 12 are joined together. Each of the supply tubes 12 is a flexible, substantially hollow cylindrical tube formed of a synthetic resin such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyurethane, or polyvinyl chloride. The ink flows through the inside of the print head 15, Ink is supplied to 16. In the present embodiment, each supply tube 12 is composed of a TYGON (registered trademark) tube manufactured by NORTON, and each supply tube 12 has a tube wall thickness of about 0.8 mm and a tube inner diameter of about 0.2 mm. Each of the supply tubes 12 is 8 mm, and is constituted by a TYGON tube having an outer diameter (the sum of twice the tube thickness and the tube inner diameter) of approximately 2.4 mm. In addition, the minimum value (minimum curvature radius) of the curvature radius of the curved part in the state which bent each supply tube 12 is about 20 mm.
[0039]
  An arrow X in FIG. 3 illustrates the conveyance direction of the printing paper PP. As shown in FIG. 4, an insertion port 22 for inserting an unused printing paper PP is formed in the lower rear side of the printer main body 3 (lower right side in FIG. 3). Transport driven by an LF motor (line feed motor) 31 including a pulse motor for transporting the printing paper PP is provided downstream in the transporting direction (arrow X direction) of the printing paper PP inserted from the insertion port 22. A roller 23 and a pressing roller 24 for pressing the printing paper PP against the conveying roller 23 are provided, and both of them cooperate to press and hold the printing paper PP while conveying it. The paper feed roller 23 is coaxially provided with a transport roller gear 40 for supplying a driving force to the automatic paper feeder F1, and supplies a driving force to the automatic paper feeder F1.
[0040]
  On the downstream side of the transport roller 23 and the pressing roller 24, a paper discharge roller 25 driven by an LF motor 31 for discharging the printing paper PP transported from the transport roller 23 to the outside of the printer main body 3, and the paper discharge roller A presser roller (spur) 26 for pressing the printing paper PP to 25 is disposed. The paper discharge roller 25 and the pressing roller 26 cooperate to discharge the printing paper PP from the paper discharge port 4.
[0041]
  A platen 32 that horizontally supports the printing paper PP for printing is disposed between the transport roller 23 and the paper discharge roller 25. Above the printing paper PP placed on the platen 32, the platen 32 is disposed above. The print heads 15 and 16 are disposed. The print heads 15 and 16 are directed along a guide bar 29 horizontally mounted on the main body frame 6 of the printer body 3 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. The carriage 27 is detachably attached to the reciprocally movable carriage 27. The plurality of nozzles 15a and 16a described above are formed on the side of the print paper PP of the print heads 15 and 16 to eject ink onto the print paper PP sandwiched by the transport roller 23 and the like.
[0042]
  As shown in FIG. 4, a driving force for reciprocating the carriage 27 in the left-right direction (arrow Y and counter-arrow Y direction) in FIG. A CR motor 30 to be supplied is disposed, and below that, the driving force of the LF motor 31 and the LF motor 31 that rotate the transport roller 23 and the paper discharge roller 25 is decelerated to the transport roller 23 and the paper discharge roller 25. An LF motor gear 37 for transmission is disposed. The caps 62 and 63 for sucking the nozzles 15 a and 16 a of the print heads 15 and 16, the cap lifting and lowering unit 69 for lifting and lowering the caps 62 and 63, the pump 65 for suction, and the pump for driving the pump 65 A drive cam 64, a photo sensor 68 for detecting the initial position of the cam, and the like are arranged.
[0043]
  Next, the carriage 27 on which the print heads 15 and 16 are mounted will be described with reference to FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. The carriage 27 disposed in the main body lower space 1b allows a guide bar 29 extending in the main scanning direction to pass through to the back side (right side in FIG. 3), and is movable in the main scanning direction while being guided by the guide bar. Is provided. A timing belt 36 is wound around a driving pulley 38 and a driven pulley 39 disposed at the left end of FIG. 2 that are supported by the rotation shaft of the CR motor 30 disposed at the right end of FIG. The carriage 27 is fixed at one place. When a voltage is applied to the CR motor 30 by the control unit 34, the CR motor 30 rotates to rotate the driving pulley 38, and the timing belt 36 is rotated to guide the carriage 27 to the guard bar 29 while moving in the main scanning direction. (Y direction and anti-Y direction in FIG. 2).
[0044]
  In order to recognize the position of the carriage 27, a timing fence 33 is provided on the back side (right side in FIG. 3) of the carriage 27. The timing fence 33 is a linear encoder, which is a glass plate with fine slits, a photosensor consisting of a combination of a light projector made up of two sets of LEDs and a photoreceiver made up of a phototransistor slightly shifted in phase, and the origin. Light from a light projector (not shown) provided on the opposite side of the timing fence 33 that has passed through the timing fence 33 is detected by a light receiver (not shown) by a set of photosensors (not shown) for detection. To do. Of these, two sets of photosensors are arranged so as to have a phase difference of ½ of the slit so that the traveling direction can be understood. One set of photosensors is now used for origin detection. Incremental control for recognizing the position of the carriage 27 is performed by accumulating and analyzing by a CPU provided in the control unit 34 based on data by pulses obtained from the photosensor. In addition to the transmission type timing fence 33 described above, as the timing fence 33, a fine stripe pattern is printed or baked on a plate of aluminum or the like, and is projected by a laser projector. Alternatively, a reflection type timing fence 33 that detects the reflected light by a light receiver and similarly recognizes the position may be used. A timing fence having an absolute scale may also be used.
[0045]
  The CR motor 30 is a DC motor, and can be controlled by PWM control or current value control. The current position is recognized from the position information from the timing fence 33, and the speed and acceleration of the carriage 27 are obtained. From these data, feedback control by PDI control is performed.
[0046]
  FIG. 6 is a detailed view of the paper feed sensor 51 and the paper discharge sensor 52 in the lower part of FIG. The paper feed sensor 51 and the paper discharge sensor 52 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which the printing paper PP is being conveyed in FIG. Hereinafter, the paper feed sensor 51, the paper discharge sensor 52, and the ACF sensor 53 will be described with reference to FIGS. The transport roller 23 is a roller composed of a rubber layer 23a whose surface is covered with a rubber material having a large friction coefficient and a stainless steel cylindrical shaft portion 23b, and is slightly longer than the paper width of the printing paper PP as shown in FIG. The size is provided in the vicinity of the insertion port 22. The conveying roller 23 is rotated by transmitting the driving force of the LF motor 31 shown in FIG. 4 via an LF motor gear 37 that shifts and transmits the driving force from the LF motor 31, as described later. Also serves as. The driven roller 24 is in contact with the driven roller 24 disposed below the conveying roller 23, and the driven roller 24 rotates with the conveying roller 23.
[0047]
  The paper feed sensor 51 is provided in the vicinity of the transport roller 23 and detects the insertion of the print paper PP before being transported by the transport roller 23 when the print paper PP is inserted from the insertion port 22.
[0048]
  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a detailed structure near the paper feed sensor 51 when the printing paper PP is being conveyed. Hereinafter, in FIG. 8, the paper feed sensor 51 before the printing paper PP is transported is indicated by a two-dot chain line, and the paper feed sensor 51 at the time of paper transport is indicated by a solid line. The paper feed sensor 51 is supported by a support shaft 518 so as to be swingable by an attachment stay 517 fixed to the main body frame 6. The paper feed sensor 51 is a member formed by bending a stainless steel thin plate. A paper contact portion 512 extends obliquely downward from the support portion, and is bent horizontally slightly below the conveyance path of the printing paper PP to form a base portion 513 that is a surface parallel to the printing paper PP. The sheet presser 512 and the base 513 also have functions as a sheet transport guide and a sheet presser, stabilize the biting of the printing paper PP when transported to the transport roller 23, and transport rollers 23 as registration rollers. This function serves to prevent jamming when the is reversed. A push-up portion 514 that projects obliquely downward is formed at a portion of the base portion 513 on the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction. The push-up unit 514 serves to reliably push up the paper feed sensor 51 when the printing paper PP passes.
[0049]
  An extension portion 515 is provided below the base portion 513 in a substantially triangular plate shape with a tapered lower portion, and transmits the movement of the upper portion of the paper feed sensor 51 to the lower portion. The extension portion 515 enlarges and transmits the detection operation of the upper printing paper PP to the lower portion, and a light shielding portion 516 is provided at the lower end portion of the extension portion 516. The light shielding unit 516 detects that the printing paper PP does not exist by entering between the detection units 541 of the paper feed photo sensor 54 described later and blocking the light beam of the light projecting unit. By making a light beam reach the light receiving portion, the approach of the printing paper PP to the vicinity of the conveyance roller 23 is detected. A stopper 511 is provided in the vicinity of the support portion for the mounting stay 517 so as to protrude downstream in the sheet conveyance direction. For example, when the printing sheet PP is bent or jammed, the sheet pressing section 512 or the base section is provided. Abnormal bending when 513 is pushed up abnormally is prevented, and damage to the paper feed sensor 51 is prevented.
[0050]
  FIG. 5 is a diagram of the paper feed sensor 51 and the paper feed roller 23 as seen from the downstream side in the paper transport direction. As shown in FIG. 5, the paper feed roller shaft 23b of the paper feed roller 23 is connected to the LF motor gear 37, and a rubber layer 23a is formed at four locations. A base portion 513 of the paper feed sensor 51 is disposed below the shaft portion 23b where the metal portion between the rubber layers 23a is exposed. When the printing paper PP is transported by the rubber layer 23a, the base portion 513 is transported. If it is flipped up so as not to hinder the movement of the printing paper PP, it moves in the direction of the rotation axis from the surface of the rubber layer 23a, so that it does not hinder the conveyance of the printing paper PP (see FIG. 8). On the other hand, since the base portion 513 contacts the shaft portion 23b of the transport roller 23 and does not jump up any more, it is possible to hold the printing paper PP effectively and maintain the flatness of the printing paper PP so as to print properly. The width of the sheet pressing portion 512 is slightly larger than the maximum sheet width of the printing sheet PP that can be handled by the portable printer 1. Specifically, for example, for the US, the width is larger than the paper width of the US letter size, and for Japan, the width is larger than the paper width of the JIS A4 series. Therefore, if the printing paper can be handled by the portable printer 1, the paper pressing portion 512 can effectively guide all the leading ends of the printing paper PP to the portion where the paper feeding roller 23 and the pressing roller 24 are in contact with each other. Therefore, skew correction is performed appropriately and jamming is prevented. Support shafts 518 are provided on both ends of the upper portion of the paper feed sensor 51 so as to be coaxial with each other and are pivotally supported by the mounting stay 517. The support shaft 518 is loosely fitted to the mounting stay 517 and moves with a very small force. Further, since the paper feed sensor 51 itself is made of thin stainless steel and is lightweight, it does not hinder the entry of the printing paper PP, The entry of the printing paper PP can be detected extremely sensitively. In FIG. 5, an extension 515 extends downward from the lower left side, and a light shielding part 516 disposed at the tip of the extension part 515 can shield or open light between the light projector and the light receiver of the detection part 541 of the paper feed photosensor 54. Placed in.
[0051]
  When the printing paper PP enters the vicinity of the paper feed sensor 51, the leading edge of the printing paper PP abuts on the paper abutting portion 512, and the leading edge of the printing paper PP is guided slightly by the paper abutting portion 512. Then, it enters in the direction of the contact surface between the transport roller 23 and the presser roller 24 while directing the front end. At this time, the base 513 is pushed up by pressing the contact surface of the paper presser 512, so that the extension 515 is pulled up, and the light shielding part 516 is detached from the detection part 541 of the photosensor 54, so The ingress of PP is detected, and this detection signal is transmitted to the control unit 34 by the FPC connected to the wiring unit 542.
[0052]
  A platen 32 on which a printing paper PP for printing is placed is arranged in the center of FIG. 6 and downstream of the conveying roller 23, and above that, print heads 15 and 16 by an ink jet head are placed on the carriage at a predetermined distance. It moves and passes. The position through which the print head passes is the actual print start position.
[0053]
  Further, a discharge roller 25 is disposed on the downstream side of the platen 32 in the sheet conveyance direction. Hereinafter, the paper discharge roller 25 will be described. The paper discharge roller 25 is a stainless steel cylindrical roller whose surface is covered with a rubber material having a large friction coefficient, and has a size slightly longer than the paper width of the printing paper PP as shown in FIG. 4 is provided in the vicinity. The sheet discharge roller 25 is rotated by transmitting the driving force of the LF motor 31 shown in FIG. 4 via an LF motor gear 37 that shifts and transmits the driving force from the LF motor 31. In addition, the press roller 26 is in contact with a gear-type press roller (spur) 26 disposed so as to be opposed to the upper side of the discharge roller 25, and the press roller 26 rotates with the discharge roller 25.
[0054]
  The paper discharge sensor 52 is provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge roller 25, and detects the passage of the print paper PP substantially simultaneously with the conveyance of the print paper PP when the print paper PP passes through the platen 32. is there. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a detailed structure in the vicinity of the paper discharge sensor 52 when the printing paper PP is being conveyed. In FIG. 9, the paper discharge sensor 52 before the printing paper PP passes is indicated by a two-dot chain line, and the paper discharge sensor 52 at the time of paper discharge is indicated by a solid line.
[0055]
  The paper discharge sensor 52 is swingably supported by a support portion 524 supported by the main body frame 6 (not shown). A horizontal base portion 523 is formed substantially horizontally from the support portion 524 on the upstream side in the paper conveyance direction, and the paper contact portion 522 extends substantially along the paper discharge roller 25 from the upstream end of the base portion 523 upward. It is curved in shape and extends slightly downstream from the position where the paper discharge roller 25 and the presser roller 26 abut. The sheet abutting portion 522 abuts on the printing sheet PP entering from the platen 32 side toward the sheet discharge roller 25, and detects this. Further, the front end of the paper contact portion 522 is bent in the direction opposite to the rotation center of the paper discharge roller 25 to form a front end portion 521. The leading end 521 is a protrusion for causing the paper discharge sensor 52 to operate more reliably by the printing paper PP.
[0056]
  An extension portion 525 that is an elongated rectangular plate-like member extends downward from the lower portion of the base portion 523. The extension portion 525 is a member that expands the detection operation of the printing paper PP, and a light shielding portion 526 that is a rectangular plate member is provided at the lower end thereof. The light shielding unit 526 detects that the printing paper PP is not present by entering between the light detecting unit 551 including the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit of the paper discharge photosensor 55 and blocking the light beam from the light projecting unit. The passage of the printing paper PP in the vicinity of the discharge roller 25 is detected by stopping the light shielding and allowing the light to reach the light receiving portion.
[0057]
  Since the paper feed photo sensor 54 and the paper discharge photo sensor 55 have the same configuration, the paper discharge photo sensor 55 will be described. FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the configuration of the paper discharge sensor shown in FIG. 9 as viewed from the downstream side in the paper transport direction. The paper discharge roller 25 and the presser roller 26 are omitted, and a part of the main body frame 6 is added. This will be described below with reference to FIG.
[0058]
  The light-shielding portion 526 provided at the tip of the extension portion 525 extending below the paper discharge sensor 52 is between the detection portions 551 of the paper discharge photosensor 55 as described above when the printing paper PP is not present. Placed in. The detection unit 551 of the paper discharge photosensor 54 is a U-shaped member having an open space at the center, and a projection provided with a near infrared light emitting diode (LED) on the left side of FIG. A light portion 553 is disposed, and a light receiving portion 554 including a phototransistor is disposed on the right side. Then, light is projected from the LED from the light projecting unit 553 toward the light receiving unit 554, and this light is detected by the phototransistor of the light receiving unit 554. Therefore, if the light shielding unit 526 is disposed between the light projecting unit 553 and the light receiving unit 554, light from the light projecting unit 553 does not reach the light receiving unit 554, and a signal from the light receiving unit 554 is not generated. The control unit 34 connected from the wiring unit 552 to the detection unit 551 by the FPC determines that the printing paper PP does not exist.
[0059]
  On the other hand, if there is printing paper PP on the paper discharge roller 23, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 9, the light shielding unit 526 separates from between the detection units 551 as in the paper discharge sensor 52. The light reaches the light receiving unit 554, and the current generated by receiving the light of the LED at the light receiving unit 554 is sent to the control unit 34 via the FPC connected to the wiring unit 552. The control unit 34 Is detected, and it is determined that the print paper PP exists in the paper discharge sensor 52 portion.
[0060]
  By using this paper discharge photosensor 55, the signal detection itself has no contact resistance or resistance due to a spring, and the paper discharge sensor 52 has a very small force compared to the case where other mechanical switches such as push switches are used. Displace at. Further, since the discharge sensor 52 itself is supported by the support portion 524 in a well-balanced manner, it moves with a very small force, and since the upper extension portion 525 is provided, the small movement can be enlarged and detected. Together, it can be a sensitive sensor that does not give resistance to the printing paper PP.
[0061]
  For the same reason, the paper feed sensor 51 can be a sensitive sensor that moves with a very small force by using a photo sensor.
[0062]
  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a case where the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted on the portable printer 1. The ACF sensor 53 will be described with reference to FIG. First, when the mounting hook F6 of the automatic paper feeder F1 is inserted into the mounting port 21 in the portable printer 1 and the automatic paper feeder F1 is moved downward as it is, the lower peripheral edge of the mounting port 21 is placed in the recess of the mounting hook F6. At the same time, the mounting projection F7 of the automatic paper feeder F1 can be inserted into the ACF detection port 20. Therefore, when the mounting hook F6 is incomplete, the mounting protrusion F7 cannot be inserted into the ACF detection port 20, and thus incomplete mounting can be prevented. Here, when the automatic paper feeder F1 is rotated slightly in the clockwise direction in FIG. 11, a lock device (not shown) is joined, and the mounting is completed. At this time, since the weight of the ACF works in the direction of inserting the mounting projection F7 with the mounting hook F6 as a fulcrum, inadvertent release of the lock is prevented. When the mounting is completed, the mounting projection F7 enters the ACF detection port 20, and presses the contact portion 531 of the ACF sensor 53 disposed here.
[0063]
  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the ACF sensor 53 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted on a portable printer. A portion indicated by a two-dot chain line represents a state when the automatic paper feeder F1 is not mounted. The ACF sensor has an L-shaped arm 532, a contact portion 531 is provided at the tip of the horizontally provided portion of the arm 532, and an external direction (from the ACF detection port 21 drilled in the main body frame 6 ( (Right direction in FIG. 12). The arm 532 extends downward with a bent portion on the opposite side of the abutting portion 531 of the horizontal portion of the arm 532. The end portion of the arm 532 extending downward is pivotally supported by a support shaft 533 so that the entire ACF sensor 53 can rotate. An extending portion 534 in the inner direction (left direction in FIG. 12) is provided horizontally from the support shaft 533, and a pressing portion 535 is provided at the lower end of the tip. The pressing portion 535 is formed in a groove shape, and the tip of a push portion 561 provided so as to protrude above the push switch 56 is fitted into the pressing portion 535.
[0064]
  In the push switch 56, the push portion is pressed by the push portion 535 of the ACF sensor 53, and the push portion 561 is pressed down, and is electrically connected by the control portion 34 and the FPC, and the wiring portions 562 and 562 to which a minute voltage is applied. This circuit is closed by mechanical contact so that the controller 34 detects the mounting of the automatic paper feeder F1. In this way, the control unit 34 detects the mounting of the automatic paper feeding device F1, and changes the paper feeding control method described later from when the automatic paper feeding device F1 is not mounted.
[0065]
  Here, FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure for a method for controlling the leading edge position of the printing paper PP in the portable printer 1 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is not mounted. A method for controlling the leading edge position of the printing paper PP in the portable printer 1 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is not mounted will be described below with reference to this flowchart. First, the paper feed sensor 51 waits for the user to insert the print paper PP (step 1: NO (hereinafter, step is abbreviated as S)), and when the paper feed sensor 51 detects the print paper PP (S1: YES). ), And waits for the skew to be corrected (S3). In the skew correction, the transport roller 23 is reversely rotated or stopped for a predetermined time, and the user waits for a time for the user to press the front end of the printing paper PP uniformly against the transport roller 23, and then forward transport is performed. The conveyance roller 23, which has been reversely rotated or stopped for a predetermined time, starts to rotate and conveys the paper (S5). When the printing paper PP is conveyed and reaches the paper discharge sensor 52 (S7: YES), the upper margin of printing is read out from the printing data stored in the output buffer (not shown) of the control unit 34 (S9). Here, the margin length is compared with the length D1 between the nozzle 18 on the most downstream side of the print head and the paper discharge sensor 52 shown in FIG. 7, and the margin length is larger than D1. (S11: YES), the printing paper P is transported in the paper transporting direction X (see FIG. 3) by a distance obtained by subtracting D1 from the margin length (S13), and D1 is smaller than the margin length. In this case (S11: NO), the printing paper PP is reversely conveyed by a distance obtained by subtracting the margin length from D1 in the direction opposite to the paper conveying direction X (S15). When the forward conveyance (S13) or the reverse conveyance (S15) is completed, the carriage is reciprocated to perform printing (S17), and the paper leading edge control is terminated (end).
[0066]
  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a method for controlling the leading edge position of the printing paper PP in the portable printer 1 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted. A method for controlling the leading edge position of the printing paper PP in the portable printer 1 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted will be described below with reference to this flowchart. First, the printing paper is conveyed by the automatic paper feeder (ACF) (S21), and when the printing paper PP is detected by the paper feeding sensor 51 (S23: YES), the conveyance roller 23 rotates in the reverse direction to the paper conveyance direction X. Then, skew correction of the printing paper PP is performed (S25). When the skew correction is completed, the upper margin of printing is read from the print data stored in the output buffer of the control unit 34 (S27). Then, the printing paper PP is printed by a distance obtained by adding the length of the read margin and the length D2 (see FIG. 11) between the nozzle 18 on the most downstream side of the print head and the contact position of the conveying roller and the pressing roller 24. Is conveyed (S29). When the conveyance is finished, printing is performed from that position (S31), and the paper leading edge control is finished (end).
[0067]
  Next, referring to FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, a method of using the portable printer 1 when manually printing without attaching the automatic paper feeder (ACF) F1, a method of controlling the leading edge position of the printing paper, The operation thereof will be specifically described. First, as a preparation, the opening / closing lid 7 (see FIG. 1) is opened, and the cartridges 8 and 9 filled with ink are mounted on the cartridge frame 5. When the power is turned on after the ink cartridges 8 and 9 are installed, before the start of printing, the nozzle opening 18 is dried, ink containing bubbles, or ink with dust attached thereto is sucked and discharged. A purge operation is performed prior to printing in order to perform printing. The initial position of the carriage 27 when the power is turned on is such that the nozzles 15a and 16a of the print heads 15 and 16 are sealed by caps 62 and 63, so that the LF motor gear is driven by the LF motor 31 as shown in FIG. The driving force is transmitted to the pump drive gear 61 via 37, and the purge operation is performed.
[0068]
  Thereafter, the operation of the carriage 27 is confirmed, and the carriage 27 is stopped at the initial position for starting printing. This completes the preparation of the portable printer 1 itself and enters a standby state.
[0069]
  When the print preparation on the portable printer 1 side is completed, the print data is transferred from the personal computer (PC) to the PC. In this case, if the printing paper PP is not prepared, insertion of the printing paper PP is prompted by a display on the PC side and a printer out-of-paper LED (not shown). In this case, the user prints the printing paper PP in the X direction from the insertion port 22 of the printing paper PP on the back side (right side in FIG. 2) of the portable printer 1 with the left end portion displayed outside the insertion port 22. From the upper part (printing start side) of the printing paper PP in accordance with a mark (not shown) indicating the position, the printing surface is turned up and inserted by hand.
[0070]
  As shown in FIG. 6, the printing paper PP inserted from the insertion opening 22 advances in the X direction (left side in FIG. 6) while the leading end of the printing paper PP slides on the upper surface of the main body frame 6. Abutting on the portion 512, the leading edge of the sheet is guided to the conveying roller 23 and the driven roller 24.
[0071]
  At this time, the leading edge of the printing paper PP pushes up the paper pressing portion 512, thereby pushing up the paper feed sensor 51. This movement is enlarged by the extension portion 515 to move the position of the light shielding portion 516. The light of the projector disposed in the detection unit 541 of the paper feed sensor 54 reaches the light receiver by the movement of the light shielding unit 516, which is transmitted as an electrical signal to the control unit 34, and the entry of the printing paper PP is recognized. The
[0072]
  When the entry of the printing paper PP is recognized, the rotation of the printing paper PP is stopped for a certain time, for example, about 2 to 3 seconds, and the leading edge of the printing paper PP is aligned with the recess between the transport roller 23 and the driven roller 24 during that time. Wait for it. Then, after waiting for a predetermined time in this way, a pulse current is applied to the LF motor 37 from the control unit 34 so that the transport roller rotates forward as if the leading ends of the printing paper PP are aligned, and the transport roller 23 and the driven roller 24 are The printing paper PP whose leading edge is aligned between them is bitten and conveyed.
[0073]
  In the same manner as when the automatic paper feeder F1 is installed, the controller 34 applies a voltage to the LF motor 31 so that the transport roller 23 is reversed, and the transport roller 23 is moved through the LF motor gear 37 for a predetermined time. For example, it may be configured such that it is rotated reversely for 2 to 3 seconds, and the driven roller 24 is also rotated in conjunction with it because it is in contact with the transport roller 23. The reversely rotated transport roller 23 does not bite the printing paper PP with the driven roller 24 even if the leading edge of the printing paper PP is inserted. For this reason, when the printing paper PP is inserted, the leading edge fits into a recess formed between the transport roller 23 and the driven roller 24 and is not transported by the two rollers, so that the leading edge of the printing paper PP is aligned here. That is, it functions as a so-called registration roller. However, even in this case, since it is manual feeding, it is assumed that the user correctly presses the transport roller 23. If the pressing itself exceeds the limit of the skew correction, the skew cannot be corrected.
[0074]
  The printing paper PP being conveyed by the conveying roller 23 and the driven roller 24 (see FIG. 7) advances along the upper surface of the platen 32 and contacts the paper discharge sensor 52 when it passes through the platen 32. The leading end of the printing paper PP in contact with the paper discharge sensor 52 presses the paper contact portion 522, and the pressed paper discharge sensor 52 is tilted to the downstream side in the paper transport direction with the instruction portion 523 serving as a fulcrum. 525 tilts downstream, and the light shielding portion 256 moves downstream. Then, the light shielding unit 256 arranged in the detection unit 551 of the paper discharge photo sensor 55 is detached from the detection unit 551, and the light from the light projecting unit 553 arranged in the detection unit 551 reaches the light receiving unit 554. The current generated by the phototransistor of the light receiving unit reaches the control unit 34 from the wiring unit 552 via the FPC, and the control unit 34 recognizes that the print paper PP exists in the paper discharge sensor 55.
[0075]
  When the control unit 34 recognizes that the printing paper PP exists at the position of the paper discharge sensor 52, the accurate position of the leading edge of the printing paper PP can be confirmed. For this reason, when recognizing this position, the control unit 34 stops the pulse current applied to the LF motor 31 and stops the rotation, thereby temporarily storing the front end position of the printing paper PP.
[0076]
  Next, the control unit 34 checks whether there is print data to be printed in the output buffer, and if it has already been input, checks whether the print margin is from the upper end of the print paper PP. The length from the leading edge of the printing paper PP to the position where printing starts is checked.
[0077]
  If the margin is larger than the distance D1 (see FIG. 7) from the discharge sensor 52 to the nozzle port 18 on the most downstream side of the inkjet heads 15 and 16, the printing paper is the distance obtained by subtracting the distance D1 from the margin. The PP is rotated in the direction opposite to the paper conveyance direction (X direction in FIG. 3) to rotate the conveyance roller 23 to the print start position. On the contrary, the margin is the nozzle port on the most downstream side of the inkjet heads 15 and 16 from the paper discharge sensor 52. If the distance is smaller than the distance D1 up to 18 (see FIG. 7), the printing roller PP is rotated in the sheet conveyance direction (X direction in FIG. 3) by the distance obtained by subtracting the margin from the distance D1 to be the print start position. . In this way, once the leading edge of the printing paper PP is controlled with reference to the leading edge of the printing paper PP, the printing paper PP is further moved to the actual printing start position after having once moved a predetermined distance from the leading edge. The throughput is improved.
[0078]
  If the control unit 34 cannot find the print data to be printed in the output buffer, it sets the leading end position of the printing paper PP so as to obtain a predetermined standard margin width as in the conventional case. When the paper discharge sensor 52 detects the printing paper PP, the printing paper PP is moved forward or backward. In this case, if the distance between the paper discharge sensor 52 and the nozzle port 18 described above matches the predetermined margin, the amount of movement of the paper discharge sensor 52 after the detection of the printing paper PP is minimized, which is preferable. It is.
[0079]
  Next, how to handle the automatic paper feeder F1 and how to control the front end position of the printing paper will be described. Here, FIG. 11 is a part of an arrow cross-sectional view seen from the IV-IV direction of FIG. 4 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is attached to the portable printer 1. FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 11, the automatic paper feeder inserts a mounting hook F <b> 6 provided on the front side of the main body F <b> 2 (left side in FIG. 11) into the mounting port 21 on the back side of the portable printer 1. While pushing down, the mounting projection F7 of the automatic paper feeder 1 is inserted into the ACF detection port 20 of the portable printer 1 and fixed. When the automatic paper feeder F1 is thus attached to the portable printer 1, the paper discharge port F9 of the automatic paper feeder F1 communicates with the insertion port 22 of the portable printer.
[0080]
  The operation when the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted on the portable printer 1 will be described below. FIG. 15 is a side sectional view showing the flow of the printing paper PP of the automatic paper feeder F1, and FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view showing the drive system of the automatic paper feeder F1. First, the open / close lid F3 is opened to expand the left and right paper support portions F4L and F4R, and the right side end portion of the predetermined number of printing paper PP is inserted into the paper placement portion F5 along the pressure plate F21. . At this time, the leading end portion of the printing paper PP is set in contact with the upper end of the separation pad F32.
[0081]
  When predetermined image information is input to the portable printer 1 and printing is started, the LF motor 31 is rotated by a command from the control unit 34 of the portable printer 1. The LF motor 31 first rotates in the direction opposite to the paper transport direction. The rotation of the LF motor 31 rotates the transport roller gear 40 in the reverse direction via the LF motor gear 37, and the power transmission gear 41 rotates clockwise in FIG. 14 which is a right side cross section. Thus, the outer side 44a and the inner side 44b of the gear D rotate counterclockwise, and the pendulum gear E45 rotates and moves to the position 45a and meshes with the gear F46. The pendulum gear G47 is rotationally moved to the position 47b so that the mesh with the paper feed gear 48 is disengaged. Therefore, the driving force is transmitted from the pendulum gear E45a to the paper feed gear 48 via the gear F46 so as to always rotate clockwise in the drawing of FIG. 4, that is, to rotate the paper feed roller F31 in the paper transport direction. .
[0082]
  The paper feed roller F31 has a modified D shape having a contact surface F311 that can contact the printing paper PP and non-contact surfaces F312 and F313 that are flat surfaces that do not contact the printing paper PP, and is coaxial with the paper feeding roller F31. A resin having a small frictional force such as nylon having a radius smaller than the distance from the center of the paper feed roller F31 to the contact surface F311 and larger than the distance from the center of the paper feed roller F31 to the non-contact surfaces F312 and F313. A completed collar (not shown) is loosely fitted. In the initial position, the paper feed roller F31 is positioned below the pressure plate F21 being pressed by the pressure plate follower while the paper feed cam (not shown) and the pressure plate follower (not shown) are fitted. The non-contact surface F313 and the pressure plate F21 are in positions facing each other. Printing paper PP is laminated on the pressure plate F21. The separation pad F32 faces the non-contact surface F314 of the paper feed roller F31, and the separation pad F32 is in a state of being in contact with the collar. Along with the rotation of the paper feed roller F31, the paper feed roller F31 has a rotational phase that allows contact with the printing paper PP. That is, the contact surface F312 of the paper feed roller F31 contacts the printing paper PP, and the color does not contact the paper surface. A large number of stacked uppermost printing papers PP in contact with the contact surface are conveyed by the contact surface F312 of the paper feed roller F31, but the second and subsequent sheets are prevented from being conveyed by the friction of the separation pad F32. Then, it remains in the sheet placing portion F5 as it is. The conveyed printing paper PP is carried into the portable printer 1 from the paper discharge port F9 of the automatic paper feeder 1 through the paper insertion port 22 of the portable printer 1. When the leading edge of the conveyed printing paper PP reaches the conveying roller 23 of the portable printer 1, the conveying roller 23 is rotated in the direction opposite to the conveying direction, and the leading edge of the printing paper PP is interposed between the conveying roller 23 and the pressing roller 24. However, the printing paper PP is bent and the leading edge of the printing paper PP is uniformly pressed against the concave portion between the transport roller 23 and the pressing roller, so that the skew of the printing paper PP is corrected. In this case, the printing paper PP is conveyed by the contact surface 312 of the paper feed roller F31.
[0083]
  When the skew correction is completed, the paper feed sensor 51 causes the LF motor 31 to reverse and change the rotation direction from the reverse direction to the forward direction. When rotating in the forward direction, the driving force is transmitted from the pendulum gear G47 to the paper feed gear 48, and the paper feed gear 48 engaged with the pendulum gear G47 rotates the printing paper PP in the transport direction in the same way as in the reverse rotation. Then, the paper feed roller F31 continues to convey the printing paper PP. In this case, conveyance is started by the conveyance roller 23, but the printing paper PP is bent during the skew correction. The printing paper PP is nipped and conveyed between the conveyance roller 23 and the pressing roller 24 of the portable printer 1 rotating in the forward direction, but this bending is maintained. When the paper feed gear 48 rotates and the meshing part comes to the intermittent portion 481, the pendulum gear G47 is disengaged from the paper feed gear 48, and even if the pendulum gear G47 rotates, the paper feed gear 48 rotates. Do not stop. When the rotation of the paper feed gear 48 is stopped, the non-contact surfaces F313 / F314 of the paper feed roller F31 are opposed to the pressure plate F21 and the separation pad F32, respectively, and the paper feed roller F31 leaves the contact with the printing paper PP. Release this. The printing paper PP is continuously conveyed by the conveyance roller 23 and the pressing roller 24 of the portable printer 1 that has already been conveyed.
[0084]
  Here, when the paper is fed using the automatic paper feeder F1, the paper conveyance as described above is performed and the skew feeding correction is surely performed. Therefore, the printing in which the leading edge position is detected by the paper feed sensor 51 is performed. It is determined that the front end position of the paper PP is accurate. Accordingly, as in the above-described manual feed printing, the skew correction function cannot be completely removed even though the skew correction function is provided. However, when the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted, skew correction is reliably performed, so printing is performed based on the position of the front end of the paper detected by the paper feed sensor 51 without using the paper discharge sensor 52. It is possible to control the leading edge of the paper PP.
[0085]
  Therefore, unlike the tip control when the automatic paper feeder F1 is not mounted, the following control is performed. That is, when the transport roller 23 starts transporting the printing paper PP, first, the control unit 34 checks in advance whether there is print data to be printed in the output buffer. It is examined how much the printing margin is from the upper end of the printing paper PP. That is, the length of the printing paper PP from the leading edge of the paper to the position where printing is started is checked.
[0086]
  Then, the printing paper PP is fed in the paper conveyance direction (see FIG. 11) by a distance obtained by adding the distance D2 (see FIG. 11) from the paper feed roller 23 to the nozzle port 18 on the most downstream side of the inkjet heads 15 and 16 to the margin length. The conveyance roller 23 may be rotated in the (3X direction) to the printing start position. In this way, as in the case where the leading edge control of the printing paper PP is performed with reference to the discharging sensor 52, the leading edge portion is not transported to the discharging sensor 52 once, and the printing paper PP is transported at all. Since the printing can be started immediately without performing the above, the highest throughput can be achieved.
[0087]
  If the control unit 34 cannot find the print data to be printed in the output buffer, the leading end position of the print paper PP is set so as to obtain a predetermined standard margin width, and the print paper PP is set. Is conveyed for a predetermined distance. In this case as well, if the distance from the nozzle port 18 is conveyed so as to coincide with a predetermined margin, the conveyance amount of the printing paper PP thereafter is minimized, which is preferable.
[0088]
  As described above, the portable printer 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention detects the leading end position of the print paper PP by the paper discharge sensor 52 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is not installed, thereby enabling the print paper PP to be detected. Thus, it is possible to prevent the deviation of the print start position resulting from the deviation of the position when the paper feed sensor 51 detects the front end position of the paper, and to obtain an accurate print start position.
[0089]
  On the other hand, when the automatic paper feeder F1 is installed, unlike the case of manual feed printing, since the leading ends of the paper after the skew correction have been accurately aligned at the position where the conveyance roller 23 and the press roller 24 are in contact with each other, There is little useless movement to transport the printing paper PP to the printing start position, and an improvement in throughput can be achieved.
[0090]
  Since the portable printer 1 automatically determines whether or not the automatic paper feeding device F1 is to be mounted without the troublesome setting of the leading edge control of the paper and uses the control method properly, the recording is very convenient for the user. It can be a device.
[0091]
  Although the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment, it is needless to say that the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the scope of the claims.
[0092]
  For example, in the present embodiment, the paper feed photo sensor 54 and the push switch 56 are separately provided and detected, but the paper feed sensor 51 is not necessarily required when paper is fed using the automatic paper feeder F1. For this reason, it may be considered that these are also used. In this case, the pressing portion 535 of the ACF sensor 53 is used as a light shielding portion, and is configured to enter the detection portion of the paper feed photo sensor 54.
[0093]
【The invention's effect】
  As is apparent from the above description, according to the recording apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, in the case of manual sheet feeding without an automatic sheet feeding device, the sheet is fed by the first tip control means and the automatic feeding is performed. When the paper device is mounted, there is an effect that the paper feeding method can be properly used according to the purpose by feeding paper by the second tip control means. Therefore, more appropriate paper feeding can be performed.
[0094]
  Furthermore, since these usages are performed by the automatic paper feeder detection means, the control of the leading edge position of the printing paper can be automatically used properly without the user having to perform complicated setting operations. is there.
  In addition, since the leading edge of the sheet at the printing start position is on the downstream side of the second sheet detecting sensor, there is an effect that the accurate leading edge position of the sheet can be controlled.
  Furthermore, by detecting the leading edge position of the paper with the paper discharge sensor at the position where the paper is transported and the inclination of the paper is corrected without detecting the position of the leading edge of the paper with the paper feed sensor at the position where the paper is more likely to tilt. Thus, the sheet can be conveyed more accurately and the print start position can be made accurate.
  In addition, the paper feeding operation from the automatic paper feeder can accurately feed the paper that has been fed to the recording device in succession, so the paper discharge sensor does not detect the leading edge of the paper. In addition, there is an effect that the front end position of the paper can be controlled. Accordingly, since the sheet can be transported to the print start position without useless operation, there is an effect that efficient printing can be performed without reducing the throughput of the recording apparatus.
[0095]
  According to the recording apparatus of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the recording apparatus of the first aspect, it is possible to correct the skew of the sheet by providing the registration roller that performs the skew correction. In addition, there is an effect that the printer can be made compact in combination with the fact that the automatic paper feeder can be attached and detached by serving also as a transport roller for transporting paper.
[0096]
  According to the recording apparatus of the third aspect, in addition to the effects of the recording apparatus of the first or second aspect, the sheet presser that achieves reliable conveyance by pressing the sheet to the sheet feed sensor necessary for sheet detection. Thus, there is an effect that the printer can be made compact while achieving reliable paper conveyance.
[0097]
  According to the recording apparatus of the fourth aspect, in addition to the effect of the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the paper discharge sensor is provided at a place where the conveying roller is disposed. As a result, it is possible to detect the discharge of printed paper and to detect jams in the recording apparatus in cooperation with the paper feed sensor.
[0098]
  According to the recording apparatus of the fifth aspect, in addition to the effect of the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the sheet is disposed on the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction with respect to the recording unit, and the sheet is discharged. Since the paper discharge sensor is provided at the location where the paper discharge roller is disposed, the paper can be detected more reliably.
[0099]
  According to the recording apparatus of the sixth aspect, in addition to the effects of the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the automatic paper feeding device includes a paper placement unit for placing a plurality of papers. Therefore, not only can multiple sheets be loaded, but also manual feed sheets can be loaded.
[0100]
[0101]
[0102]
[0103]
  Claim7According to the recording device described in claim1ThruClaim 6In addition to the effect of the recording apparatus described in any of the above, there is an effect of eliminating unnecessary conveyance when the position of the edge of the paper is uniformly determined by matching the leading edge control of the paper with the actual printing start position. There is an effect of improving the throughput of the recording apparatus.
[0104]
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an automatic paper feeder (ACF) F1 mounted on a portable printer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view schematically showing the internal structure of the portable printer 1. FIG.
3 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing the portable printer 1 as viewed from the right in the line IV-IV in FIG.
4 is a schematic schematic view of the portable printer 1 as viewed from the front (front side in FIG. 2) along the line VV in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram of a paper feed sensor 51 and a paper feed roller 23 as viewed from the downstream side in the paper transport direction.
6 is a detailed view of a portion of a paper feed sensor 51 and a paper discharge sensor 52 in the lower part of FIG.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the printing paper PP is being conveyed in FIG.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a detailed structure in the vicinity of a paper feed sensor 51 when the printing paper PP is being conveyed.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a detailed structure in the vicinity of the paper discharge sensor 52 when the printing paper PP is being conveyed.
10 is a schematic view of the configuration of the paper discharge sensor shown in FIG. 9 as viewed from the downstream side in the paper transport direction.
11 is a diagram illustrating a case where the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted on the portable printer 1. FIG.
12 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the ACF sensor 53 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted on a portable printer. FIG.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the leading edge position of the printing paper PP in the portable printer 1 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is not installed.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the leading edge position of the printing paper PP in the portable printer 1 when the automatic paper feeder F1 is mounted.
FIG. 15 is a side sectional view showing the flow of the printing paper PP of the automatic paper feeder F1.
FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view showing a drive system of the automatic paper feeder F1.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Portable printer (recording device)
15, 16 Print head (recording means)
18 nozzles
23 Conveying roller (conveying means)
24 Presser roller (conveying means)
25 Paper discharge roller
26 Presser roller (spur)
27 Carriage
34 Control unit (control means)
51 Paper feed sensor
52 Paper discharge sensor
53 ACF sensor (automatic paper feeder detection means)
54 Feed Photo Sensor
55 Discharge Photo Sensor
56 Push switch
F1 Automatic paper feeder (ACF)
F6 hook for mounting
F7 mounting protrusion
PP printing paper (paper)

Claims (7)

Recording means for recording on paper;
Conveying means for conveying the paper;
A paper feed sensor disposed on the upstream side in the paper transport direction of the transport means for detecting paper;
A paper discharge sensor that is disposed downstream of the paper feed sensor in the paper transport direction and detects paper;
A mounting means for attaching and detaching an automatic paper feeder for feeding the paper;
Automatic sheet feeding device detection means for detecting when the automatic sheet feeding device is mounted;
A first leading edge control means for controlling the conveying means based on the detection of the leading edge position of the paper by the paper discharge sensor when the automatic feeding apparatus detection means does not detect the automatic feeding apparatus; ,
A second leading edge control means for controlling the conveying means based on the detection of the leading edge position of the paper by the feeding sensor when the automatic feeding apparatus detection means detects the automatic feeding apparatus; equipped with a,
The printing start position by the recording means is a position where the front end of the paper is a predetermined distance from the paper discharge sensor on the upstream side in the paper transport direction, and a position downstream from the paper feed sensor in the paper transport direction,
The first leading edge control means reversely conveys the paper to the upstream side in the paper conveyance direction when the paper conveyed to the downstream side in the paper conveyance direction by the conveyance means is detected by the paper discharge sensor. Move to the print start position,
The second leading edge control unit stops the conveyance of the sheet by the automatic sheet feeding device when the sheet conveyed from the automatic sheet feeding device becomes transportable by the conveying unit, and the automatic sheet feeding device After stopping the conveyance of the sheet by the recording apparatus, the sheet is conveyed to the printing start position by the conveyance unit.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance unit includes a conveyance roller that conveys a sheet and a registration roller that performs skew correction of the sheet.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the paper feed sensor is a paper feed sensor that also serves as a paper presser.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the paper feed sensor is provided at a place where the transport roller is provided. A paper discharge roller disposed on the downstream side in the paper transport direction with respect to the recording means and for discharging paper;
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet discharge sensor is provided at a position where the sheet discharge roller is provided.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the automatic paper feeder includes a paper placement unit for placing a plurality of paper. The printing start position, according to claim 1 to claim 6, wherein said by the recording means and a position that is the start of the printing paper and a position of said recording means is a leading edge position of the sheet to be matched position The recording device according to any one of the above.

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