JP5834614B2 - Conveying apparatus, printing apparatus, and conveying method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet-like material conveyance device or the like held as a roll, and more particularly to a conveyance device or the like that can quickly and appropriately select a drive mode of a roll rotation unit during reverse conveyance.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an apparatus for processing a sheet-like medium (paper or the like) held in a roll shape such as a receipt printer is provided with an apparatus for transporting the medium to a processing position. The transport device is usually provided with a drive roller that feeds the medium held in a roll shape to the transport path, and a roll rotation device that rewinds the fed medium, and these drives cause the medium to move in the forward and reverse directions. Be transported.

  In such a transport device, the amount of the medium held in a roll shape due to the transport and consumption of the medium, that is, the diameter of the roll changes. In order to perform the control, it is necessary to grasp the value of the roll diameter and reflect it in the transport operation. In particular, when transporting in the reverse direction by driving the roll rotating device, since the transport speed is determined by the roll diameter, it is necessary to accurately grasp the value.

  In the following Patent Document 1, it is shown that a roll diameter is used for transport control in a small belt-like body winding device that always keeps the tension optimal and prevents winding loosening and winding deviation.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-147463

  In the above-described transport apparatus, generally, several drive modes having different speeds (number of rotations) are prepared for each drive unit, and an appropriate mode is appropriately selected and used according to a transport request.

  In the selection / determination of the driving mode, the above-described driving roller has a fixed roller diameter, and an appropriate driving mode can be determined relatively easily. Since the speed changes and it is necessary to consider the interrelationship with other drive units, the determination of the drive mode is a complicated process.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet conveying device that is held as a roll, and that can quickly and appropriately select a driving mode of a roll rotating unit during reverse conveyance. It is.

In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a driving roller that holds a sheet-like object as a roll and sends the sheet-like object from the roll to a conveyance path, and a plurality of driving modes having different rotation speeds. provided, the conveying device having said roll roll rotating part is rotated to rewind the sheet material sent out said, and a control unit for controlling the driving of the drive roller and the roll rotating unit, the previous SL controller When starting the conveying operation for rewinding the sheet-like material, driving mode determination information held in advance in association with each value of the conveyance amount of the sheet-like material to be conveyed in the conveying operation and the diameter of the roll see, determines the drive mode to be used in the transport operation from the plurality of driving modes is that.

  Further, in the above invention, a preferable aspect is that the determination of the drive mode is performed in the selected drive mode, wherein the transport amount is transported during acceleration and deceleration of the roll rotating unit. It is performed so that the 1st condition that it is larger than may be satisfy | filled.

  Furthermore, in the above-mentioned invention, a preferable aspect is that the determination of the drive mode further satisfies the second condition that the transport speed by the roll rotating unit is smaller than the transport speed by the drive roller in the selected drive mode. It is performed as follows.

  Furthermore, in the above invention, a preferable aspect is that the drive mode having the maximum rotation speed among the drive modes satisfying the first condition and the second condition is determined as the drive mode to be used. And

  In order to achieve the above object, another aspect of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that includes any one of the above-described conveyance devices and that performs printing on the fed sheet-like material.

In order to achieve the above object, still another aspect of the present invention provides a plurality of driving modes having different rotational speeds, and a driving roller for holding the sheet-like material as a roll and feeding the sheet-like material from the roll to the conveyance path. is provided, the roll and the roll rotating part is rotated to rewind the sheet material sent out said a, in the transport process in the transport device and a control unit for controlling the driving of the drive roller and the roll rotating unit, before When the control unit starts a transport operation for rewinding the sheet-like material, the control unit is held in advance in association with each value of the transport amount of the sheet-like material and the diameter of the roll to be transported in the transport operation . Referring to drive mode determination information, a drive mode to be used in the transport operation is determined from the plurality of drive modes.
Further, in the above invention, a preferable aspect is that the determination of the drive mode is performed in the selected drive mode, wherein the transport amount is transported during acceleration and deceleration of the roll rotating unit. Among the drive modes that satisfy the first condition that the rotation speed is greater than the second condition that the conveyance speed by the roll rotation unit is smaller than the conveyance speed by the drive roller, the drive mode having the maximum rotation speed is the It is determined as a driving mode to be used.

  Further objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the embodiments of the invention described below.

It is a schematic block diagram concerning the example of an embodiment of a printing device provided with a conveyance device to which the present invention is applied. 6 is a diagram illustrating a driving mode of a roll rotating unit 36. FIG. It is the figure which illustrated the drive mode determination table. It is the flowchart which illustrated the procedure of the drive mode determination process.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, such an embodiment does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. In the drawings, the same or similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals or reference symbols.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram according to an embodiment of a printing apparatus including a transport device to which the present invention is applied. The printer 2 shown in FIG. 1 is a printing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the printing apparatus, the paper 26 held as the roll 25 is conveyed in the forward direction by a paper feed roller 29 (drive roller) and a conveyance roller 30. Then, the printing process is executed at the printing position. Further, in the printing apparatus, conveyance in the reverse direction is performed between jobs, and the operation of winding the paper 26 to a predetermined position by driving the paper feed roller 29 and the roll rotation unit 36 is performed. The conveyance system of the printing apparatus is intended to quickly and appropriately determine the drive mode of the roll rotation unit 36 used in the winding operation based on the required conveyance amount and the roll diameter at that time. .

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 2 is a device that executes a printing process in response to an instruction from a host device 1 such as a computer. Here, as an example, a paper 26 held as a roll 25 is used. The printing apparatus continuously executes printing while conveying the paper 26.

  In FIG. 1, the schematic configuration of the printer 2 is schematically illustrated. However, the printer 2 includes a printing system that controls printing contents and executes a printing process on the paper 26 and a transport system that transports the paper 26.

  The printing system is provided with a printing control unit 21, which receives a printing instruction from the host device 1, issues a printing command to the head unit 23 in accordance with the instruction, and conveys the conveyance control unit 22. The paper 26 is requested to be conveyed. The head unit 23 executes a printing process on the paper 26 that moves between the head unit 23 and the platen 24 at a predetermined speed in accordance with the print command.

  In the transport system, as shown in FIG. 1, the paper 26 held as a roll 25 at a print medium storage (holding) location is continuously transported in the forward direction (downstream direction) along the transport path 33 and printed. The section is cut by the cutter 34 and discharged from the printer 2 via the paper discharge roller 32. Further, after the transport operation, for example, a reverse transport operation in the reverse direction (upstream direction) is also performed so that the leading edge of the paper 26 comes to a predetermined position (cue position) upstream of the head portion 23.

  The transport system includes a paper feed roller 29 (upstream roller) and a transport roller 30 (downstream roller) driven by corresponding motors (27A and 27B). On both the rollers, driven rollers (28A and 28B) are arranged at positions facing each other with the paper 26 interposed therebetween. Each driven roller is movable in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the paper 26 and can take two positions, upper and lower. At a lower position in contact with the paper 26, a vertical downward force is applied to the surface of the paper 26, and the paper 26 is sandwiched by the rollers (29, 30) and the force of the paper 26 is perpendicular to the surface of the paper 26. Is holding down. Further, at the upper position away from the paper 26, the force for pressing the paper 26 does not act.

  The paper feed roller 29 has a function of supplying the paper 26 held as the roll 25 to the transport path 33, and rotates with the torque of the motor 27 </ b> A transmitted through the speed reducer and presses the paper 26 with the driven roller 28 </ b> A. The paper 26 is moved by the frictional force between the two. The roller is also used when the paper 26 is reversely conveyed.

  The transport roller 30 has a function of transporting the paper 26 supplied by the paper feed roller 29 to the printing position, that is, to the position of the head unit 23, and is rotated by the torque of the motor 27B transmitted through the speed reducer. The paper 26 is moved by the frictional force between the paper 26 pressed together with the driven roller 28B.

The paper feed roller 29 and the transport roller 30 are provided with encoders 31A and 31B, respectively, and values detected by the encoders 31A and 31B are notified to the transport control unit 22. Each encoder has a structure that is generally used, and is provided on the rollers 29 and 30 themselves or in a drive system (drive wheel train) for transmitting a pulse signal to the transport control unit 22 for transport. The control unit 22 obtains the rotation speed of each roller and the conveyance speed by each roller from the number of pulse signals received per unit time.

  Next, a roll rotation unit 36 is provided in the transport system. The roll rotating unit 36 performs an operation of rotating the paper 26 held as the roll 25 and winding up the fed paper 26. The roll rotating unit 36 is driven by a motor 27C, and passes through the core of the roll paper 25 rotated by the speed reducer (drive wheel train) that transmits the torque of the motor 27C and the torque transmitted through the speed reducer. Consists of shaft rods.

  The roll rotation unit 36 is provided with a plurality of drive modes in which the rotation speed of the motor 27C is different, and an appropriate drive mode is selected during the transport operation. The details of the drive mode and its determination method will be described later.

  The roll rotating unit 36 is also provided with an encoder 31 </ b> C, and a value detected by the encoder 31 </ b> C is notified to the conveyance control unit 22. The specific configuration and function are the same as those of the encoders 31A and 31B described above.

  Next, the conveyance control unit 22 shown in FIG. 1 is a part that controls the conveyance system, and controls the conveyance operation of the paper 26 based on an instruction from the print control unit 21. In particular, the drive and stop of the paper feed roller 29, the transport roller 30, and the roll rotating unit 36 are controlled so that the paper 26 is favorably transported in the forward direction and the reverse direction.

  Further, the conveyance control unit 22 performs a process of determining the drive mode of the roll rotation unit 36 during conveyance in the reverse direction. This process has a feature of the printer 2, and specific contents thereof will be described later. . Moreover, the conveyance control part 22 performs the process which calculates | requires the value of the diameter of the roll 25 suitably, and hold | maintains the newest roll diameter as roll diameter information. For the process of obtaining the roll diameter, a method of calculating from the number of rotations of the paper feed roller 29 and the roll 25 during the forward conveyance process can be used.

  Although not shown, the transport control unit 22 is configured by a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an NVRAM (nonvolatile memory), and the like, and the processing executed by the transport control unit 22 is mainly a program stored in the ROM. It is executed by the CPU operating according to the above.

  Each data necessary for processing is temporarily stored in the RAM, and detection values of the encoders 31 necessary for driving / stopping control of the paper feed roller 29, the transport roller 30, the roll rotating unit 36, and the like are stored. Is done. Further, the roll diameter information of the roll 25 is stored in the RAM or the NVRAM. Further, a drive mode determination table (drive mode determination information) described later is stored in the ROM.

  In addition, the said conveyance system containing the paper feed roller 29, the conveyance roller 30, the roll rotation part 36, and the conveyance control part 22 corresponds to the conveying apparatus of this invention.

  In the printer 2 having the above-described configuration, as described above, the paper 26 is transported in the forward direction during printing and is transported in the reverse direction during rewinding. There is a feature in the method for determining the drive mode, in particular, the method for determining the drive mode of the roll rotating unit 36 during conveyance in the reverse direction, and the specific contents will be described below.

First, a plurality of drive modes provided in the roll rotating unit 36 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the drive mode of the roll rotating unit 36. As shown in FIG. 2, here, eight drive modes (RS1-RS8) having different rotational speeds of the motor 27C are prepared, and the rotational speed of the RS1 mode is the fastest, and the speed increases as the number increases sequentially. Become slow.

  In each drive mode, an “acceleration / deceleration distance” is defined as shown in FIG. This “acceleration / deceleration distance” is the rotation distance (rotation speed) required to reach the rotation speed determined for each mode, that is, the rotation distance (rotation speed) during acceleration and the stop from the rotation speed. Is added to the rotation distance (rotation speed) required for the above, that is, the rotation distance (rotation speed) during deceleration, and is represented by the encoder pulse number (EP) detected by the encoder 31C.

  Therefore, when each drive mode is used, at least the rotation (conveyance) greater than or equal to the “acceleration / deceleration distance” is required in order to use it at the rotational speed determined in that mode. The drive (use) condition is the “driveable distance” shown in FIG. 2, and is similarly expressed here by the number of encoder pulses (EP) of the encoder 31C.

  Therefore, in determining the drive mode of the roll rotating unit 36, it is first necessary to check whether or not the transport amount in the transport operation satisfies this “driveable distance”. When starting the conveyance operation in the reverse direction, information on the distance (conveyance amount, for example, mm) to be conveyed is obtained from the print control unit 21, and the value is obtained at that time point obtained from the roll diameter information. By converting the value of the roll diameter into the encoder pulse number (EP), it is possible to determine whether the value is equal to or greater than the “driveable distance”. In this respect, that is, the first condition for determining the drive mode is that the carry amount is equal to or greater than the “driveable distance”.

  The second condition in determining the drive mode is that the conveyance speed by the roll rotation unit 36 is made smaller than the conveyance speed by the paper feed roller 29. In the printer 2, the paper feed roller 29 is also driven when transported in the reverse direction. Therefore, when the transport speed by the roll rotating unit 36 becomes larger, the paper feed roller 29 slips between the paper 26 and the roller. In the present printer 2, the paper 26 is slackened and conveyed between the paper feed roller 29 and the roll 25, so the above condition is necessary.

  As described above, since the value of the roll diameter at that time point is obtained, the conveyance speed in each drive mode of the roll rotation unit 36 can be calculated, and each drive command (instruction) from the print control unit 21 is preceded. In addition, since the conveyance speed of the paper feed roller 29 is determined, the condition can be determined.

  The printer 2 determines (selects) the drive mode that uses the maximum rotation speed among the drive modes that satisfy the above two conditions.

  The above is the principle for determining the drive mode of the roll rotation unit 36. Specifically, the determination process is performed by the following method.

The first method is to prepare and store the drive mode determination table in advance and refer to the table when determining the drive mode of the roll rotation unit 36. The specifications relating to the drive mode illustrated in FIG. 2 are predetermined, and if the conveyance amount is given, the conveyance speed by the paper feed roller 29 can be determined by the apparatus specifications. If the value of the diameter is obtained, the above two conditions can be determined, and the driving mode to be used can be determined based on the above principle. Therefore, the drive mode can be determined in advance for each value of the transport amount and the roll diameter, and the predetermined relationship between the transport amount and the roll diameter and the drive mode to be selected is stored. The table is a drive mode determination table.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a drive mode determination table. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, for example, when the conveyance amount L of the conveyance request is 200 (mm) and the roll diameter D at that time is 3.0 type , the conveyance control unit 22 refers to the table. Then, it determines as a mode which uses drive mode RS1. Further, for example, when the transport amount L is 100 (mm) and the roll diameter D at that time is 6.2 type , the drive mode RS7 is selected. When the transport amount L and the roll diameter D are intermediate values defined in the drive mode determination table, a mode with a slow rotation speed is selected from the drive mode defined for the preceding and following specified values. The drive mode can be determined by selecting.

  Next, the second method is a method of executing processing for determining a mode to be used by the transport control unit 22 according to the above principle when there is a drive request in the reverse direction. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of the drive mode determination process. First, when receiving a transport instruction in the reverse direction from the print control unit 21, the transport control unit 22 starts the drive mode determination process, and determines the transport amount value to be transported in the transport operation that has received the instruction, The value of the roll diameter of the roll 25 at the time is acquired (step S1). The value of the conveyance amount is acquired from the contents included in the conveyance instruction, and the value of the roll diameter is acquired from the above-described roll diameter information held at that time.

  Next, the conveyance control unit 22 selects RS1 as the initial value of the drive mode of the roll rotation unit 36 (step S2). That is, the mode with the fastest rotation speed is selected.

  Next, the transport control unit 22 converts the acquired transport amount into the number of encoder pulses (EP) of the encoder 31C described above (step S3). In the conversion, the transport amount (length) is converted into the rotation number of the roll 25 using the acquired roll diameter at that time, and the rotation number is converted into the EP value with a constant determined in advance by the apparatus specification. , Do by.

  Thereafter, the conveyance control unit 22 checks the first condition. That is, it is checked whether or not the obtained EP value transport amount is equal to or longer than the driveable distance of the EP value in the currently selected drive mode (step S4).

  As a result of the check, if the transport amount is not equal to or greater than the driveable distance (No in step S4), the transport control unit 22 selects the next lower drive mode (slow rotation speed) (step S5), and the above again Check (S4) is executed. That is, if the above condition is not satisfied in the state where the drive mode RS1 is selected, the drive mode RS2 is selected, and the process returns to step S4.

  In the above check, the drive mode is lowered until the result that the transport amount is equal to or greater than the driveable distance (Yes in step S4) is obtained, that is, until the first condition is satisfied.

  If the transport amount is equal to or greater than the drivable distance (Yes in step S4), the transport control unit 22 transports by the paper feed roller 29 determined in response to the transport instruction to determine the second condition. The speed (Vk) is acquired (step S6).

Next, the conveyance control part 22 calculates the conveyance speed (Vr) by the roll rotation part 36 (step S7). Specifically, the rotational speed of the roll 25 is obtained by multiplying the motor rotational speed (rotational speed) of the drive mode selected at this time by a constant determined in advance by the apparatus specifications.
The conveyance speed (Vr) is calculated from the value and the acquired roll diameter.

  Thereafter, the transport control unit 22 compares the acquired transport speed (Vk) with the calculated transport speed (Vr) and checks whether the transport speed (Vk) is greater than the transport speed (Vr) ( Step S8). That is, the second condition is determined.

  If the transport speed (Vk) is not greater than the transport speed (Vr) as a result of the check (No in step S8), the transport control unit 22 selects the next lower drive speed (slow rotation speed) ( In step S9), the process returns to step S7. And the process of step S9 and S7 is repeated until conveyance speed (Vk) becomes larger than conveyance speed (Vr) (Yes of step S8). That is, the drive mode is lowered until the second condition is satisfied.

  If the transport speed (Vk) is larger than the transport speed (Vr) as a result of the check (Yes in step S8), the transport control unit 22 uses the drive mode selected at that time for the transport operation. The driving mode is determined (step S10).

  When the drive mode determination process ends in this manner, the roll rotation unit 36 starts to be driven in the determined drive mode.

  In the above description, in order to determine the drive mode, as the speed limit of the transport speed (Vr) by the roll rotating unit 36, the second condition, that is, the transport speed (Vk) by the paper feed roller 29 is used. However, instead of the second condition described above, the condition that the allowable speed range is determined in advance and the conveyance speed (Vr) falls within the speed range is determined. It may be used in addition to the second condition.

  As described above, in the printer 2 according to the present embodiment, the driving mode of the roll rotating unit 36 that is driven when the paper 26 is conveyed in reverse is based on correct information that reflects the roll diameter at that time. Since it is determined so as to satisfy the condition, it is possible to appropriately execute the control during the reverse conveyance without causing any trouble.

  In particular, if the method of preliminarily holding the drive mode determination table described above is adopted, the drive mode can be determined quickly, the throughput of the printer 2 can be improved, and the processing load in the control can be increased. Can be reduced.

  In addition, by limiting the conveyance speed according to the driving mode to be used to be equal to or lower than a predetermined speed, it is possible to suppress problems caused by excessively high speed such as paper jam.

  In addition, since a mode having a high rotation speed is selected from among the drive modes that satisfy the above requirements, the throughput of the printer 2 can be improved also in this respect.

  In this embodiment, the print medium is paper, but the present invention is not limited to this as long as it is a sheet-like medium.

  In this embodiment, the transport device is provided in the printer. However, the transport device to which the present invention is applied is provided in a device that performs various processes such as machining, laser processing, and liquid jet processing on the sheet-like material. Can be used.

  The protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but covers the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Host apparatus, 2 Printer, 21 Print control part, 22 Conveyance control part, 23 Head part, 24 Platen, 25 Roll, 26 Paper, 27A, B, C motor, 28A, B Driven roller, 29 Feed roller, 30 Conveyance Roller, 31A, B, C Encoder, 32 Paper discharge roller, 33 Transport path, 34 Cutter, 36 Roll rotating part

Claims (7)

A drive roller that holds the sheet-like material as a roll and feeds the sheet-like material from the roll to the conveyance path and a plurality of drive modes having different rotation speeds are provided, and the roll-like sheet-like material is wound by rotating the roll. A transport device having a roll rotation unit to be returned, and a control unit that controls driving of the drive roller and the roll rotation unit,
When the control unit starts a transport operation for rewinding the sheet-like material, the control unit is held in advance in association with each value of the transport amount of the sheet-like material to be transported in the transport operation and the diameter of the roll . A transport apparatus that refers to drive mode determination information and determines a drive mode to be used in the transport operation from the plurality of drive modes. In claim 1,
The determination of the drive mode satisfies the first condition that, in the selected drive mode, the transport amount is larger than the transport amount of the sheet-like material that is transported during acceleration and deceleration of the roll rotating unit. It is performed so that it may be carried out. In claim 2,
The determination of the drive mode is further performed such that in the selected drive mode, a second condition is satisfied that the transport speed by the roll rotating unit is smaller than the transport speed by the drive roller. Conveying device. In claim 3,
The drive mode having the maximum rotation speed among the drive modes satisfying the first condition and the second condition is determined as the drive mode to be used. A printing apparatus comprising the transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and executing printing on the fed sheet-like material. A drive roller that holds the sheet-like material as a roll and feeds the sheet-like material from the roll to the conveyance path and a plurality of drive modes having different rotation speeds are provided, and the roll-like sheet-like material is wound by rotating the roll. A transport method in a transport device having a roll rotation unit to be returned and a control unit that controls driving of the drive roller and the roll rotation unit,
When the control unit starts a transport operation for rewinding the sheet-like material, the control unit is held in advance in association with each value of the transport amount of the sheet-like material to be transported in the transport operation and the diameter of the roll . A transport method comprising: referring to drive mode determination information to determine a drive mode to be used in the transport operation from the plurality of drive modes. In claim 6 ,
The determination of the drive mode is a first condition that, in the selected drive mode, the transport amount is larger than the transport amount of the sheet-like material transported during acceleration and deceleration of the roll rotating unit, and Among the drive modes that satisfy the second condition that the conveyance speed by the roll rotation unit is smaller than the conveyance speed by the drive roller, the drive mode having the maximum rotation speed is determined as the drive mode to be used. A characteristic transport method.

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