JP6269918B2 - Recording device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording medium in which a surface on one side includes a plurality of lenses and a surface on the other side includes a recording layer that can be recorded by a recording head.

  In a printer as an example of a recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording medium, particularly an inkjet printer, a period in which the recording medium and the recording head relatively move in a predetermined direction and the predetermined direction move in the opposite direction. A bidirectional recording mode in which ink is ejected from the recording head both in a period, and a unidirectional recording mode in which ink is ejected from the recording head only during a period in which the recording medium and the recording head relatively move in a predetermined direction. Some are selectable (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2011-240536 A

  By the way, using a lenticular lens, for example, a recorded image can be shown three-dimensionally (3D effect), a different image can be shown by changing the viewing angle (changing effect), or the viewing angle can be changed little by little. A medium capable of obtaining these various visual effects, such as giving motion to an image (motion effect), is conventionally known.

  A lenticular lens is a collection of lenses in which a plurality of semi-cylindrical elongated lens elements are arranged. When viewing an image through this lens, different images are given to the left and right eyes of the observer, thereby providing the various visual effects described above. Is obtained. As an example of an image recording method for obtaining such a visual effect, direct ink jet recording is performed on the ink absorbing layer of a medium having a surface opposite to the lenticular lens forming surface formed of an ink absorbing layer. There is a way.

  A recording medium provided with such a lenticular lens may be formed by cutting a large sheet into a desired size. In this case, the lens forming the edge of the recording medium may not be cut into a complete semi-cylindrical shape and may be in a defective state. More specifically, when the cutting position is located just between the lens elements and the valley between the lens elements, the lens elements forming the edge are completely semi-cylindrical. However, when the cutting position is located in the middle of the lens element, the lens element at the cutting position is not a complete semi-cylindrical shape.

Therefore, when recording is started with the cut surface of the incomplete semi-cylindrical lens element as a reference position, the image that should originally be recorded on one lens element is recorded across other adjacent lens elements. As a result, the various visual effects described above cannot be obtained satisfactorily.
Therefore, it has been desired to perform recording on a recording medium provided with a lenticular lens with high accuracy by a simple method.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to perform recording with high accuracy by a simple method on a recording medium in which one surface is constituted by a lens layer.

  In order to solve the above problems, a recording apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a first recording medium and a recording medium of a type different from the first recording medium, in the first direction. A recording head that performs recording on a second recording medium in the form of a sheet having a lens layer in which a plurality of lenses extending in parallel are arranged in a second direction, which is a direction orthogonal to the first direction, and the recording head A control unit that controls the recording medium, a discharge unit that discharges the first recording medium on which recording has been performed, and a recording area by the recording head, which is provided on the side far from the discharge unit, before the start of recording. The second recording medium is placed on the mounting unit, and the control unit performs the recording on the first recording medium when the first recording medium and the recording are performed. The period in which the head moves relatively in a predetermined direction is opposite to the predetermined direction. A bidirectional recording mode in which ink is ejected from the recording head in both a period in which the recording head moves in a direction, and a period in which the first recording medium and the recording head relatively move in a predetermined direction from the recording head. The unidirectional recording mode in which ink is ejected is selected, and the control means performs relative recording between the second recording medium and the recording head when recording on the second recording medium. In addition, a unidirectional recording mode in which ink is ejected from the recording head only during a period of movement in a predetermined direction is selected, and the second from the recording head so as to form an image corresponding to each lens of the plurality of lenses. When ink is ejected toward the recording medium, the second recording medium is moved from the reference side set at one edge in the second direction to the other edge. The recording head is controlled so as to perform recording, and the second recording medium is conveyed from the placement unit to the recording area, recorded, and discharged toward the discharge unit. Features.

  According to this aspect, the control unit of the recording apparatus performs the recording from the reference side set at the one side edge in the second direction to the other side edge in the second recording medium. Since the recording head is controlled, it is possible to easily and accurately record an image to be recorded on each lens without performing complicated control.

  Note that, when both edges in the direction intersecting the transport direction in the second recording medium are formed with higher accuracy than the other edge, the side of the accurately formed edge is the reference side. It becomes.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the second recording medium has a width in the second direction of the lens that forms the edge on the reference side in the lens that forms the edge. This corresponds to the width of the adjacent lens in the second direction.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the first direction is a conveyance direction of the second recording medium.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the recording head performs recording while moving in the second direction.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the first direction is a direction orthogonal to a transport direction of the second recording medium.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, the recording head is fixedly provided, and recording is performed in a process in which the second recording medium is conveyed.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the recording head ejects a predetermined color material along a transport direction of the second recording medium. It has a nozzle row in which holes are arranged.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the recording head ejects a predetermined color material along a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the second recording medium. It has a nozzle row in which a plurality of liquid discharge holes are arranged.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to eighth aspects, detection means for detecting an identification mark formed on the second recording medium for identifying the reference edge is provided. The control means controls the recording head to perform recording from the reference side toward the other edge based on detection of the identification mark by the detection means.

  According to this aspect, an identification mark is formed on the second recording medium, and the recording apparatus performs recording from the reference side toward the other side edge based on the detection of the identification mark. When the second recording medium is fed into the recording apparatus, recording can be reliably started from the reference side regardless of the orientation of the reference side.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect, the identification mark is a notch in which one corner of the second recording medium is notched.
According to this aspect, since the identification mark is a notch in which one corner portion of the second recording medium is notched, the identification mark can be formed easily and at low cost.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to tenth aspects, detection means for detecting an identification mark formed on the second recording medium for identifying the reference edge is provided. The control means causes the display unit to display content based on detection of the identification mark.

  According to this aspect, the identification mark is formed on the second recording medium, and the recording apparatus displays the content based on the detection of the identification mark on the display unit, so that the user is prompted for necessary processing. Thus, appropriate recording can be performed.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to eleventh aspects, a tray holding the second recording medium is configured to be transportable, and the second recording medium is the tray. In this state, recording is performed by the recording head.

  According to this aspect, the tray holding the second recording medium is configured to be transportable, and recording is performed by the recording head while the second recording medium is held on the tray. Even when the size of the second recording medium is small, the conveying path in the recording apparatus can be stably conveyed.

  In a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to twelfth aspects, the particle size of the liquid ejected from the recording head toward both end regions of the second recording medium is It is characterized by being larger than the particle size of the liquid discharged toward the region between the partial regions.

  When performing so-called borderless recording in which recording is performed without margins on the edge of the second recording medium, a part of the liquid that is discarded in the area off the edge of the second recording medium floats as mist. There is a possibility that the second recording medium adheres to the recording medium and becomes dirty, or it adheres to the components of the apparatus and has an adverse effect.

  Therefore, in this aspect, the particle size of the liquid discharged toward the both end regions of the second recording medium is made larger than the particle size of the liquid discharged toward the region between the both end regions. As a result, the liquid discarded into the area off the end of the second recording medium can easily fall, and the liquid can be prevented from floating as a mist.

(A) is a plan view of a lens sheet as an example of a second recording medium according to the present invention as viewed from the lens layer side, and (B) is a plan view of the lens sheet as viewed from the ink absorption layer side. Sectional drawing which cut | disconnected the lens sheet at xz plane. Sectional drawing which cut | disconnected the one side end surface in the x direction of a lens sheet by the xz plane. (A), (B), (C) is a figure which shows the process of affixing a label sheet on a lens sheet. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a main part of a printer that records on a lens sheet. FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit of the printer. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a medium conveyance path in the printer. FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a conveyance path in the printer. The flowchart which shows the control content at the time of lens sheet recording. The figure which shows these positional relationships of a lens sheet, a recording head, and a PW sensor. The figure which shows typically the magnitude | size of the ink droplet discharged with respect to a lens sheet. The top view which shows the tray which mounts a lens sheet. (A), (B) is a figure which shows other embodiment of a supporting member. (A), (B) is a figure which shows other embodiment of a supporting member. (A), (B) is a figure which shows different embodiment of a recording head. The figure which shows other embodiment of a medium conveyance path | route. The figure which shows other embodiment of a medium conveyance path | route.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the invention is not limited to the embodiment described below, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims. Assuming that these are also included in the scope of the present invention, one embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  1A is a plan view of a lens sheet 80 as an example of a recording medium according to the present invention as viewed from the lens layer 83 side, and FIG. 1B is a plan view of the lens sheet 80 as viewed from the ink absorption layer 86 side. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the lens sheet 80 cut along the xz plane. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of one end surface of the lens sheet 80 in the x direction cut along the xz plane. B) and (C) are diagrams showing a process of attaching the label sheet 90 to the lens sheet 80. FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a main configuration of an ink jet printer (hereinafter “printer”) 1 which is an example of a recording apparatus for recording on the lens sheet 80, FIG. 6 is an external perspective view of the printer 1, and FIG. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are side sectional views showing a medium transport path in the printer 1. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the control contents during recording on the lens sheet 80, and FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the lens sheet 80, the recording head 9, and the PW sensor 27.

  In the xyz orthogonal coordinate system shown in each figure, the x direction and the y direction are horizontal directions, of which the x direction is the medium width direction during recording (a direction perpendicular to the paper transport direction). It is also the left-right direction of the printer 1. Further, the y direction is a medium conveyance direction and is also an apparatus depth direction of the printer 1. Furthermore, the z direction is the direction of gravity and is also the device height direction of the printer 1. The xyz coordinate system in FIGS. 1 to 3 corresponds to the direction of the lens sheet 80 when the lens sheet 80 is conveyed in the printer 1. The x direction is an example of the “second direction” in the present invention, and the y direction is an example of the “first direction”.

  In the following, first, a lens sheet 80 according to an embodiment of the recording medium of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, and then an inkjet will be performed on the lens sheet 80 with reference to FIGS. A configuration of the printer 1 as an example of a recording apparatus that performs recording and recording on the lens sheet 80 by the printer 1 will be described.

■■■ 1. Lens sheet ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
The lens sheet 80 has a lens layer 83 that is a lenticular lens in which a plurality of lenses Gk (k is an integer from 1 to n) having a semi-cylindrical cross section and extending in the y direction are arranged in the x direction, And an ink absorbing layer 86 that is a recording layer and forms a surface opposite to the surface formed by the layer 83.

  The lens sheet 80 has a rectangular shape as a whole, and is formed in a postcard size as an example. 1 to 4, the one side edge in the x direction is denoted by reference numeral 81A, and the other side edge is denoted by reference numeral 81B. Further, one side edge in the y direction is indicated by reference numeral 82A, and the other side edge is indicated by reference numeral 82B, and each side (edge) constituting the four sides is distinguished.

  In FIG. 2, an adhesive layer 84 and a base layer 85 are provided as an intermediate layer between the lens layer 83 and the ink absorption layer 86 in this order from the lens layer 83 toward the ink absorption layer 86. The entire thickness is controlled precisely by lamination (lamination). The laminating method is easy to control the entire thickness, and is not dependent on the thickness of the lens layer 83 as compared with the method of feeding the sheet from the roll and forming the ink absorption layer on the sheet. Even if it exists, each layer can be laminated | stacked.

  Ink droplets as an example of a liquid ejected to the ink absorption layer 86 adhere to the ink absorption layer 86 and penetrate therethrough, and are fixed at the boundary with the base layer 85 to form an image.

  3 (1) to (8) are examples of images formed by ejecting ink by the printer 1 described later, and different images (1) to (8) are formed on one lens Gk. Is done. In this way, by forming a plurality of different images for one lens Gk, parallax is given between the right eye and the left eye when viewed from the lens layer 83 side, 3D effect, motion effect, etc. Produces a predetermined visual effect.

  Here, the ink ejected to the ink absorbing layer 86 is fixed near the boundary between the ink absorbing layer 86 and the base layer 85 as described above. In order to see this from the lens layer 83 side, the lens layer 83, the adhesive layer 84, and the base layer 85 are transparent and have substantially the same refractive index.

In FIG. 3, the symbol r is the radius of curvature of the lens Gk, and f is the focal length. The focal length f is given by the following equation (A).
1 / f = [n−1] × [(1 / r) × (1 / R)] (A)
Here, n is the refractive index of the lens Gk, and R is the radius of curvature of the rear surface side (ink absorption layer 86 side) of the lens Gk.
In this embodiment, since R is infinite, the expression (A) can be modified as follows (A) ′.
f = r / (n−1)... (A) ′

  In FIG. 3, symbol h4 corresponds to the combined thickness of the lens layer 83, the adhesive layer 84, and the base layer 85. The symbol h3 is the entire thickness of the lens sheet 80. In this embodiment, the thickness h4 corresponds to the focal length f. That is, since the focal position is set between the base layer 85 and the ink absorption layer 86, an image formed by ejecting ink from the ink absorption layer 86 side can be viewed well from the lens layer 83 side. can do.

The material of the lens layer 83 is not limited as long as it has the function of a lenticular lens, but a resin such as PET, PETG, APET, PP, PS, PVC, acrylic, UV curable resin, or the like can be used.
The ink absorbing layer 86 is not particularly limited as long as it is a composition capable of absorbing and fixing ink, and examples thereof include acrylic and urethane water-absorbing resins.

  The base layer 85 gives an appropriate rigidity (roughness) to the entire lens sheet 80, and the material is not limited as long as it has a high light transmittance. However, a resin such as PET, PETG, APET, PP, PS, PVC, acrylic, or the like can be used.

  The material of the adhesive layer 84 is not limited as long as it can satisfactorily adhere the base layer 85 and the lens layer 83 and has a high light transmittance. In this embodiment, a highly transparent double-sided tape is used. The double-sided tape may or may not have a base material, and for example, a double-sided tape composed only of an acrylic adhesive material can be used.

An ink transmission layer may be provided on the surface of the ink absorption layer 86. That is, the ink droplets ejected by the ink jet recording method may adhere to the ink permeable layer and penetrate into the ink permeable layer to reach the ink absorbing layer 86.
The material of the ink permeable layer is not particularly limited as long as it has a function of guiding ink droplets to the ink absorbing layer 86, but a material having a water non-absorbing porous structure is preferable.

  Further, by making either or both of the ink absorption layer 86 and the ink transmission layer non-transparent, a recording medium having a white background can be obtained.

As a specific example of each layer, the lens pitch (dimension W1 in FIGS. 2 and 3) is 60 lpi (lens).
per inch). The lens layer 83 has a thickness of 0.43 mm and a refractive index of 0.1575. The adhesive layer 84 has a thickness of 0.25 mm. The base layer 85 has a thickness of 0.10 mm. The ink absorbing layer 86 has a thickness of 0.025 mm.
Note that the layer, material, thickness, refractive index, lens Gk shape, pitch, and the like constituting the lens sheet 80 described above are merely examples, and it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this.

  Subsequently, in the lens sheet 80, the one side edge 81A and the other side edge 81B in the x direction are formed asymmetrically. Specifically, a part of the edge 81B is notched (portion denoted by reference numeral 87), whereby the edge 81A and the edge 81B are asymmetrical. When this notch 87 becomes a mark (identification mark) and recording is performed by the printer 1 described later, one end face, that is, an end face to be used as a reference (edge 81A in this embodiment) is aligned in an appropriate direction. This can be done easily and reliably, and a better recording result can be obtained more reliably than the result.

  The notch 87 is formed in a so-called “C-plane” so as to form an angle of 45 ° with respect to the x-direction and the y-direction as an example. It may be formed, and other various forms may be adopted. That is, any shape, position, and size may be used as long as the user can identify which side the reference edge 81A is on.

Next, the label sheet 90 will be described with reference to FIGS. The label sheet 90 is attached to the ink absorbing layer 86 in order to protect the recording surface of the lens sheet 80, that is, the ink absorbing layer 86.
More specifically, the label sheet 90 has an adhesive layer on one surface of the base material 91, and the release sheets 92 and 93 are attached to the adhesive layer (FIG. 4A).

  The release sheet 92 has a shorter length than the release sheet 93. When the label sheet 90 is attached to the lens sheet 80, the release sheet 92 having a shorter length is first peeled to expose the adhesive layer. Next, the exposed adhesive layer is made to face the ink absorbing layer 86 of the lens sheet 80, and the lower edge 82A is applied to a flat surface such as a desk in a state where the adhesive layer is lightly overlapped without being adhered, that is, the edge 82A is applied. The label sheet 90 is aligned with the lens sheet 80 with reference to FIG. 4 (B).

Next, the region where the adhesive layer is exposed by peeling the release sheet 92 is sandwiched between fingers, and the upper region of the label sheet 90 and the lens sheet 80 is adhered in FIG. 4B to fix the positions of both. Next, in FIG. 4B, the lower release sheet 93 is peeled off to expose the remaining adhesive layer, and the label sheet 90 is completely attached to the lens sheet 80 by sandwiching with the fingers in the same manner as the upper region already bonded. to paste together.
By sticking the label sheet 90 to the lens sheet 80 as described above, the label sheet 90 can be easily attached to the lens sheet 80 without misalignment.

  It should be noted that the label sheet 90 is not cut off at all four corners, so that the corner of the label sheet 90 does not protrude from the notch 87 of the lens sheet 80 when bonded to the lens sheet 80. The length L2 of the label sheet 90 is shorter than the length L1 of the lens sheet 80, and the width M2 of the label sheet 90 is shorter than the width M1 of the lens sheet 80.

  Next, the edge 81A on the one side in the x direction of the lens sheet 80 and the edge 81B on the other side will be described. The thickness of the lens layer 83 at the edge 81A on one side in the x direction of the lens sheet 80 is represented by the symbol h1 in FIG. 2, and the width of the lens G1 forming the edge 81A is represented by the symbol w1. Similarly, the thickness of the lens layer 83 at the edge 81B on the other side is represented by the symbol h2 in FIG. 2, and the width of the lens Gn forming the edge 81B is represented by the symbol w2.

  The cutting device for forming (cutting) the lens sheet 80 and its cutting blade are not shown in the figure, but in the present invention, the cutting blade is precisely managed so that the cutting blade enters the position that just fits the valley of the adjacent lenses Gk, and the cutting is performed. The cut surface when the above is performed becomes an edge 81A. The edge 81B on the other side is a cut surface when the cutting position is cut without being strictly managed.

Accordingly, the thickness h1 of the lens layer 83 at the edge 81A is smaller than the thickness h2 of the lens layer 83 at the edge 81B. In addition, since the thickness of each layer other than the lens layer 83 is uniform, the entire thickness of the edge 81A is thinner than the entire thickness of the edge 81B.
The width w1 of the lens G1 forming the edge 81A is wider than the width w2 of the lens Gn forming the other edge 81B, and the width w1 of the lens G1 is the width (w1) of the lens G2 adjacent to the lens G1. It corresponds to. The width of the other lens Gk other than the end is w1.

  In other words, it is sufficient to precisely manage the cutting position when forming the one-side edge 81A, and it is not necessary to strictly manage the cutting position when forming the other-side edge 81B. Therefore, the complication and cost increase of the cutting device can be suppressed, and as a result, the cost increase of the lens sheet 80 can be prevented.

  If recording is performed on the lens sheet 80 with reference to the edge 81A formed by being precisely cut, an image to be recorded on one lens Gk is recorded across other adjacent lenses. Can be prevented. That is, in the example of FIG. 3, all the images (1) to (8) can be accurately stored in the lens G1, and a good visual effect can be obtained. The ink jet recording on the lens sheet 80 will be described in detail later.

  As described above, the lens sheet 80 includes the lens layer 83 in which a plurality of lenses Gk extending in the y direction as the first direction are arranged in parallel in the x direction as the second direction, which is a direction orthogonal to the first direction. And the width of the lens (G1) that forms an edge 81A that is one end face in the x direction of the lens layer 83, and an ink absorbing layer 86 that forms a surface opposite to the surface formed by the lens layer 83. Corresponds to the width (W1) of the lens (G2) adjacent to the lens (G1) forming the one end face.

In other words, the thickness of the edge 81A that is the one side end face is thinner than the thickness of the edge 81B that is the other end face. In other words, the width W1 of the lens G1 forming the edge 81A is wider than the width W2 of the lens Gn forming the edge 81B.
“The width of the lens G1 forming the edge 81A corresponds to the width of the adjacent lens G2” means that the width of the lens G1 and the width of the lens G2 are not necessarily the same. Instead, it also includes some dimensional errors, meaning that the width of the lens G1 and the width of the lens G2 are substantially the same.

  As described above, when forming the lens sheet 80, it is sufficient to precisely manage the cutting position when forming the one-side edge 81A, and it is necessary to strictly manage the cutting position when forming the other-side edge 81B. No significant increase in the cost of the lens sheet 80 can be prevented.

  In addition, as a feature that can be arbitrarily added to the feature of the lens sheet 80 according to the above-described embodiment, the lens sheet 80 has a rectangular shape as a whole, and one side edge and the other side edge in the x direction or the y direction. Can be formed in an asymmetric form. That is, in order to identify the reference edge 81A, in the above embodiment, the notch 87 is formed, and the edge 81A and the edge 81B are formed in an asymmetric form.

  Accordingly, when recording on the lens sheet 80 (when the lens sheet 80 is set on the tray 4), when the edge 81A to be a reference is aligned in an appropriate direction, it can be easily and reliably performed. As a result, a better recording result can be obtained.

Further, an adhesive layer 84 for adhering the layers can be provided between the lens layer 83 and the ink absorbing layer 86.
A base layer 85 can be provided between the adhesive layer 84 and the ink absorption layer 86.

  Further, the focal length f with respect to the incident light from the lens layer 83 side can be formed so as to correspond to the thickness h4 of the lens layer 83, the adhesive layer 84, and the base layer 85 combined. Thereby, an image formed by ejecting ink from the ink absorption layer 86 side can be viewed well from the lens layer 83 side.

■■■ 2. Printer configuration and recording on lens sheet ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
Hereinafter, the configuration of the printer 1 and the recording on the lens sheet 80 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
=== Printer configuration ===
The printer 1 according to the present embodiment performs recording on a plurality of types of recording media. In the present embodiment, the above-described lens is not provided with a sheet paper such as plain paper or dedicated paper as a “first recording medium” and a lens sheet 80 as a “second recording medium”. Make a recording. In the following, the “first recording medium” will be referred to as “paper P” as appropriate. Further, when it is not necessary to distinguish the lens sheet 80 and the paper P in particular, they are collectively referred to as “medium” as appropriate.

  In FIG. 5, reference numeral 9 denotes an ink jet recording head (hereinafter “recording head”) that ejects ink as an example of a liquid onto a medium. The recording head 9 is provided at the bottom of the carriage 7, and the carriage 7 reciprocates in the x direction while being guided by a carriage guide shaft 15 extending in the x direction.

  The carriage 7 includes ink cartridges 8 </ b> A, 8 </ b> B, 8 </ b> C, and 8 </ b> D in a detachable manner, and ink is supplied to the recording head 9 from the ink cartridges 8 </ b> A to 8 </ b> D. The ink cartridges 8A to 8D correspond to different colors of ink, for example, magenta, cyan, yellow, and black.

  Reference numeral 10 denotes a motor (hereinafter referred to as “CR motor”) serving as a drive source of the carriage 7, and reference numeral 11 denotes a drive pulley attached to a drive shaft of the CR motor 10. Reference numeral 12 denotes a driven pulley that can be driven and rotated. An endless belt 13 is wound around the drive pulley 11 and the driven pulley 12. The carriage 7 is fixed to a part of the endless belt 13, and when the drive shaft of the CR motor 10 is rotated as described above, the endless belt 13 is operated and the carriage 7 moves in the x direction.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a cap. When the carriage 7 moves to an upper portion of the cap 14, the cap 14 caps the recording head 9, and drying of a nozzle opening (not shown) for ejecting ink is prevented, or from the nozzle opening. Maintenance such as ink suction is performed. In the printer 1, the side (x-side) where the cap 14 is provided in the reciprocating region of the carriage 7 is the home position side.
Reference numeral 28 denotes a linear scale, which will be described later.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the external appearance of the printer 1 is configured by a housing 2. Reference numeral 2a indicates a front surface (hereinafter referred to as “device front surface”) among surfaces constituting the periphery of the casing 2, reference symbol 2b indicates an upper surface (hereinafter referred to as “device upper surface”), and reference symbol 2c indicates a rear surface (hereinafter referred to as “device rear surface”). Is shown.
On the apparatus upper surface 2b, an operation unit 3 is provided at a position near the apparatus front surface 2a in the apparatus depth direction, and at a position on the right side when viewed from the front side of the apparatus. The operation unit 3 includes operation buttons 3a including a power button, various print setting buttons, and the like, and a display unit 3b indicating various contents such as setting contents and apparatus states.

  A paper discharge port 2d as a “discharge unit” is formed on the front surface of the apparatus, and the recorded paper P is discharged from the paper discharge port 2d. An opening 2e is formed in the apparatus back surface 2c, and the lens sheet 80 is fed through the opening 2e. 6, 8, and 9, an arrow A is a direction (first direction) from the device back surface 2 c toward the device front surface 2 a. Reference numeral 5 denotes a tray that receives the paper P or the lens sheet 80 on which recording is performed and discharged in the A direction.

  Reference numeral 4 denotes a tray that functions as a “placement unit” on which the lens sheet 80 before the start of recording is placed. The tray 4 is a tray provided horizontally in this embodiment. The tray 4 is provided with edge guides 4a and 4b at a predetermined interval in the x direction.

  In the present embodiment, the medium is fed and transported with the center reference in the width direction. The edge guides 4a and 4b are provided to slide in synchronization with the medium width direction (x direction) according to the medium size. In addition, the rollers for transporting the medium, which will be described later, are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center in the width direction, and a roller load is applied equally to the center in the width direction of the medium, thereby preventing skew. It has been.

  Next, in this embodiment, the paper P is fed from a paper cassette 18 to be described later, recording is performed, and the paper P is discharged in the A direction toward the tray 5 and supported by the tray 5. The tray 5 is a tray provided horizontally in this embodiment. The lens sheet 80 is sent in the A direction from the tray 4 on the apparatus back surface 2c side, recording is performed, and the lens sheet 80 is discharged in the A direction toward the tray 5 provided on the apparatus front surface 2a side, and is supported by the tray 5 ( Reference numeral 80 ').

  In this embodiment, the edge guides 4a and 4b provided on the tray 4 exclusively guide the edge of the lens sheet 80 before recording. However, the thick paper P having low flexibility (hard to bend) is used as a lens. Similarly to the sheet 80, the sheet may be sent out in the A direction from the tray 4 on the apparatus rear surface 2c side, recorded, and discharged toward the tray 5 on the apparatus front surface 2a side in the A direction.

  Next, the medium conveyance path of the printer 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. A paper cassette 18 for storing paper P is provided at the bottom of the apparatus. A feeding roller 20 is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the paper P accommodated in the paper cassette 18, and the paper P is sent out in the rear direction of the apparatus by the rotation of the feeding roller 20, and is bent and reversed. It reaches the first driving roller 22 and the first driven roller 23 that constitute the conveying means. In FIG. 8, the broken line Pt indicates the transport locus of the paper P.

  The paper P is nipped between the first driving roller 22 that is rotationally driven and the first driven roller 23 that is driven to rotate, and is conveyed to a position (recording area) that faces the recording head 9. Reference numeral 21 denotes a support member that supports the medium. Reference numeral 21 a is a rib formed on the support member 21 for supporting the medium. A plurality of ribs 21a are provided in the y direction and at an appropriate interval in the x direction.

  A second driving roller 24 and a second driven roller 25 constituting a medium conveying means for conveying the recording paper P toward the tray 4 are provided on the apparatus front surface 2a side with respect to the recording head 9. Yes. The paper P is nipped between the second driving roller 24 that is rotated and the second driven roller 25 that is driven to rotate, and is discharged toward the tray 5 in the A direction.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9, the lens sheet 80 is nipped from the tray 4 to the first driven roller 22 and the first driven roller 23 that is driven to rotate, and is sent to a position facing the recording head 9 for recording. . Then, it is nipped between the second driving roller 24 and the second driven roller 25 and discharged in the A direction toward the tray 5 as indicated by reference numeral 80 ′.

  As described above, in the printer 1, the lens sheet 80 is conveyed from the tray 4 serving as a placement unit to an area (recording area) facing the recording head 9, recorded, and discharged toward the tray 5. The The conveyance direction of the lens sheet 80 when recording is performed may be the direction A in FIG. 9 or the opposite direction.

  When the conveyance direction of the lens sheet 80 at the time of recording is the A direction, when recording is performed at the front end of the lens sheet 80, the lens sheet 80 may be nipped depending on the second driving roller 24 and the second driven roller 25. Instead, nipping is performed between the first driving roller 22 and the first driven roller 23. When recording is performed on the rear end of the lens sheet 80, the lens sheet 80 is not nipped by the first driving roller 22 and the first driven roller 23, but is nipped by the second driving roller 24 and the second driven roller 25. Is done.

  In addition, when the conveyance direction of the lens sheet 80 at the time of recording is the A direction, when the rear end of the lens sheet 80 is disengaged from between the first drive roller 22 and the first driven roller 23, When the rear end of the sheet is pushed out, a phenomenon that the conveyance amount temporarily increases (kicking) may occur, and the recording quality may deteriorate. However, since the extending direction of the lens Gk of the lens sheet 80 and the sheet conveying direction are parallel, even if the kicking occurs, the positioning of the images (1) to (8) in FIG. Is not affected, and a good recording result can be obtained.

  Next, the control unit 30 and its peripheral configuration as control means for performing various controls will be described with reference to FIG. On the back side of the carriage 7 is provided a linear sensor 29 that constitutes means for detecting the carriage speed. The linear sensor 29 includes a light emitting unit (not shown) and a light receiving unit (not shown), and a linear scale 28 (see also FIG. 5) extending along the x direction is sandwiched between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit. Is provided. As the carriage 7 moves, the linear sensor 29 transmits a rectangular wave signal associated with the passage of a number of slits formed in the linear scale 28 to the control unit 30, whereby the control unit 30 detects the position of the carriage 7 in the x direction, And the speed can be detected.

  Next, the first driving roller 22, the second driving roller 24, and the feeding roller 20 described above are driven by the PF motor 42. Among these, a disk-like rotary scale (rotation detecting means) is provided on at least one of the driving object rotated by the PF motor 42, that is, the roller or a gear or a pulley that transmits power to the roller. (Not shown) is provided, and the rotary encoder 43 reads the rotary scale. Reference numeral 39 denotes a PF motor driver that controls the PF motor 42.

  Along with the rotation of the PF motor 42, the rotary encoder 43 transmits a rectangular wave signal accompanying the passage of a number of slits formed in the rotary scale to the control unit 30, whereby the control unit 30 performs various operations driven by the PF motor 42. The rotation amount and rotation speed of the drive target can be detected.

  A PW sensor 27 is provided on the lower surface of the carriage 7, that is, the surface that can face the medium, as means for detecting the medium. As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 7, the PW sensor 27 includes a light emitting unit 27a that emits light to the medium and a light receiving unit 27b that receives reflected light from the medium. Since the PW sensor 27 faces the support member 21 and the reflectance of the upper surface of the support member 21 is different from that of the medium, when the signal indicating the light reception intensity of the light receiving unit 27b is sent to the control unit 30, the control unit 30 The presence / absence of the medium, the edge of the medium (the edge in the y direction, the edge in the x direction), the reflectance of the medium surface, and the like can be detected.

  Subsequently, the RAM 32, the ROM 33, the ASIC 31, the CPU 35, and the EEPROM (nonvolatile memory) 34 are connected to the system bus of the control unit 30. An output signal from the rotary encoder 43, the linear encoder 29, the operation unit 3, and the like is input to the CPU 35 via the ASIC 31. The CPU 35 performs arithmetic processing for executing recording control of the printer 1 and other necessary arithmetic processing based on the output signals of the sensors and switches.

  The ROM 33 stores a recording control program (firmware) necessary for the control of the printer 1 by the CPU 35, and various data necessary for the processing of the recording control program are stored in the EEPROM 34. The RAM 32 is used as a work area for the CPU 35 and a temporary storage area for recording data and the like.

  The ASIC 31 has a control circuit for performing rotation control of the PF motor 42 and the CR motor 10 which are DC motors and drive control of the recording head 9. Reference numeral 37 denotes a CR control unit that controls the rotation of the CR motor 10. The CR control unit 37 calculates the current speed of the carriage 7 based on a pulse signal (pulse period) output from the linear encoder 29. At the same time, the CR motor 10 is driven by PID control (feedback control) every minute time (control step, also referred to as PID control cycle) so that this speed is in accordance with a predetermined speed profile. To do. Reference numeral 40 denotes a CR motor driver that controls the CR motor 10.

  Similarly, the PF control unit 38 calculates the rotation speed (value proportional to the rotation amount) of each current driving object based on the pulse signal (pulse period) output from the rotary encoder 43, and this speed is The PF motor 42 is driven by PID control (feedback control) so that the speed profile is in accordance with a predetermined speed profile.

  The ASIC 31 calculates and generates a control signal for the recording head 9 based on the recording data sent from the CPU 35 and sends it to the head driver 41 to drive-control the recording head 9. Further, the ASIC 31 has an IF 36 that realizes information transmission with the external computer 100 as an information processing apparatus.

=== Control during lens sheet recording ===
The above is the configuration of the printer 1, and the control when recording on the lens sheet 80 will be described with reference to FIG. 10 and other drawings.
When the lens sheet 80 is placed on the tray 4 and execution of recording is instructed by a user operation in a state where a predetermined amount is inserted between the first driving roller 22 and the first driven roller 23, the lens sheet is placed. 80 is sent to a position facing the recording head 9.

  Next, the PW sensor 27 senses the lens sheet 80 so as to cross the entire width direction (x direction) (step S101). By this sensing, it is first determined whether or not the upper surface facing the recording head 9 is the ink absorbing layer 86 by the reflected light from the lens sheet 80. As a result, if the upper surface is not the ink absorbing layer 86 (No in step S102), an alert is displayed on the display unit 3b (step S109) to prompt the user to reverse the front and back of the lens sheet 80. The reflected light intensity is higher in the lens layer 83 than in the ink absorption layer 86.

  Next, when it can be determined that the upper surface of the lens sheet 80 that faces the recording head 9 is the ink absorbing layer 86 (Yes in Step S102), it is determined whether or not the sheet width obtained by sensing is appropriate (Step S103). . That is, it is determined whether the set direction of the lens sheet 80 is the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, and it is determined whether or not the set direction is appropriate in light of the driver information indicating the current print contents. As a result, when it can be determined that the lens sheet 80 is not set in an appropriate direction (No in step S103), an alert is displayed on the display unit 3b (step S109), and the lens sheet 80 is properly displayed to the user. Prompt to set.

  In addition to the sheet in which the lens Gk extends along the longitudinal direction (long direction) of the sheet as shown in FIG. 1, the lens sheet 80 has a lateral direction (short direction). There is also a type of sheet in which the lens Gk extends along the). In either case, the sheet conveyance direction and the lens extending direction are parallel to each other. Therefore, in the case of the latter type, unlike the lens sheet 80 shown in FIG. Therefore, the detection of the sheet set direction in step S103 can not only prevent an error in the set direction of the same sheet but also an error in the sheet type.

  When it can be determined that the lens sheet 80 is set in an appropriate direction (Yes in step S103), the notch 87 is detected (step S104). The detection of the notch 87 is detected by, for example, sequentially sensing the edge positions of the edges 81A and 81B along the y direction.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the appropriate setting direction of the lens sheet 80 is such that the edge 81A (reference edge) is located on the home position side of the carriage 7 as shown in FIG. This is the direction in which the edge 81B where 87 is formed is located.

  As a result of detecting the notch 87, when the notch 87 is located on the home position side, that is, when it can be determined that the lens sheet 80 is not set in the proper orientation (No in step S105), display is performed. An alert is displayed on the unit 3b (step S109) to prompt the user to set the lens sheet 80 properly. When the notch 87 is located on the opposite side of the home position, that is, when it can be determined that the lens sheet 80 is set in an appropriate direction (Yes in step S105), the inclination of the lens sheet 80 is detected. (Step S106).

  The detection of the inclination of the lens sheet 80 is performed by detecting at least two edge positions along the edge direction for at least one of the edges 81A to 81D of the lens sheet 80, so that the lens sheet in the xy plane is detected. A slope of 80 can be calculated. If two or more edge positions of a predetermined edge have already been detected in the notch sensing in step S104, the inclination of the lens sheet 80 may be calculated using the detected positions.

  If the inclination of the lens sheet 80 exceeds a predetermined allowable value (No in step S107), an alert is displayed on the display unit 3b (step S109), and the user is urged to set the lens sheet 80 again. When the inclination of the lens sheet 80 is equal to or less than a predetermined allowable value (Yes in step S107), recording on the lens sheet 80 is executed (step S108). Recording on the lens sheet 80 is performed by alternately executing ink ejection from the recording head 9 accompanying the movement operation of the carriage 7 and a feeding operation of a predetermined amount of the lens sheet 80.

  If a retry instruction is issued by a user operation after the alert display in step S109 (Yes in step S110), the processing is repeated from step S101. If the retry instruction is not issued (in the case of the print cancel process), the process ends (No in step S110).

The above is an example of the flow of the recording operation with respect to the lens sheet 80, and the features of the present invention in the recording operation will be described below.
First, the control unit 30 performs bidirectional recording in which ink is ejected from the recording head 9 during both a period in which the medium and the recording head 9 relatively move in a predetermined direction and a period in which the medium moves in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction. The mode and the unidirectional recording mode in which ink is ejected from the recording head 9 only during a period in which the medium and the recording head 9 relatively move in a predetermined direction can be basically executed. When paper P having no lens, such as plain paper or special paper, is used as a medium, the above two recording modes can be selected. Each recording mode is printed based on driver information such as print image quality and printing speed. Selected for each job.
On the other hand, when recording on the lens sheet 80, only the unidirectional recording mode is selected.

Note that the above-mentioned “predetermined direction” in the bidirectional recording mode and the unidirectional recording mode when the paper P having no lens such as plain paper or special paper is used as the medium is opposite to the carriage 7 from the home position side. The direction of movement toward the direction may be the opposite direction.
When the lens sheet 80 is used as a medium, the “predetermined direction” in the unidirectional recording mode may basically be a moving direction from the home position side of the carriage 7 in the opposite direction. Although it may be in the reverse direction, the moving direction is limited with respect to the lens sheet 80 as follows.

  That is, when the control unit 30 of the printer 1 according to the present invention ejects ink from the recording head 9 so as to form an image corresponding to each of the plurality of lenses Gk, the x direction is a direction that intersects the transport direction. The recording head 9 is controlled so that recording is performed from the reference side set at one edge of the recording head toward the other edge.

In FIG. 3 and FIG. 11, Sk (k is an integer of 1 or more) indicates a pass (scanning) and its direction when the recording head 9 ejects ink. As shown in the figure, the control unit 30 performs recording based on an edge 81A formed by cutting precisely.
That is, all the paths Sk are performed from the edge 81A on the reference side toward the edge 81B on the other side, and are formed in the order of images (1) to (8) in the example of FIG. When the carriage 7 moves from the other edge 81B toward the reference edge 81A, ink is not ejected.

  That is, in the present embodiment, “predetermined direction” in “unidirectional recording mode in which ink is ejected from the recording head 9 only during a period in which the medium and the recording head 9 relatively move in a predetermined direction” refers to an edge on the reference side. This is the direction in which the recording head 9 moves from 81A to the other edge 81B.

  The edge 81A is an edge formed by cutting with high accuracy at the valley position of the lens Gk as described above. Therefore, by performing recording on the basis of the edge 81A, an image (1) to be recorded on one lens Gk. ) To (8) can be prevented from being recorded across other adjacent lenses, and a good visual effect can be obtained.

  Further, since recording can be performed with high accuracy by recording from the edge 81A on the reference side toward the edge 81B on the other side, recording can be performed easily and accurately on each lens without performing complicated control. An image to be recorded can be recorded.

  The control unit 30 performs a path Rk (k is an integer of 1 or more) before the path Sk. That is, at the start of the recording operation, the recording head and the PW sensor are at positions indicated by reference numerals 9 ′ and 27 ′ in FIG. 11 (opposite side with respect to the reference edge 81A). , 27 (path R1), the PW sensor 27 is used to detect the position of the reference edge 81A, and the detected edge position is It is set as the recording start position of the pass (pass S1).

Thereafter, similarly, the position of the edge 81A is detected in the pass Rk, and the detected edge position is set as the recording start position of the next pass Sk. Thereby, even if the lens sheet 80 is slightly inclined, recording can be performed with high accuracy.
In this embodiment, the PW sensor 27 is located on the opposite side of the recording head 9 from the home position side (left side in FIG. 11) in the x direction and closer to the opposite direction to the A direction in the y direction (upper side in FIG. 11). ). However, this is an example, and it may be provided at other positions.

  When recording is performed on the lens sheet 80, the moving speed of the carriage 7 (recording head 9) when ink is ejected (pass Sk) is set to the carriage 7 (recording head 9) when recording on the paper P such as plain paper. It may be slower than the moving speed. Thereby, ink droplets can be landed on each lens Gk with high accuracy.

  Similarly, the moving speed of the carriage 7 during the path Rk at the time of edge detection may be lower than the moving speed of the carriage 7 (recording head 9) when recording on the paper P such as plain paper. Accordingly, the edge position of the reference edge 81A can be detected with high accuracy. Furthermore, for the same reason, the moving speed of the carriage 7 during the path Rk at the time of edge detection may be lower than the moving speed of the carriage 7 during the pass Sk during ink ejection. It should be noted that the moving speed of the carriage 7 during the path Rk at the time of edge detection may be low as described above only before and after crossing the edge 81A, and the other areas may be high speed. Thereby, it is possible to detect the edge position of the reference edge 81A with high accuracy while suppressing a decrease in throughput.

  In the control shown in FIG. 10, if the orientation of the reference edge 81A is not appropriate as a result of the detection of the notch 87 in step S104, the user is prompted to re-set the lens sheet 80. Since the detection of the notch 87 reveals which side the reference edge 81A is on (the home position side or the opposite side), based on the detection result of the notch 87. Thus, control may be performed so as to perform recording from the side of the edge 81A that has been found.

■■■ 3. Other examples ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
Hereinafter, features (1) to (6) that can be arbitrarily added to the above-described embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically showing the size of ink droplets ejected onto the lens sheet 80, FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a tray 95 on which the lens sheet 80 is placed, and FIGS. 14 (A), (B) and FIG. FIGS. 15A and 15B are views showing another embodiment of the support member. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a different embodiment of the recording head.

=== (1) ===
As shown in FIG. 12, the particle size of the ink Db ejected from the recording head 9 toward both end regions of the lens sheet 80 is determined from the particle size of the ink Ds ejected toward the region between both end regions. Can be bigger.

  That is, when performing so-called borderless recording in which recording is performed without margins on the end of the lens sheet 80, a part of the ink that is discarded in the area outside the end of the lens sheet 80 floats as mist and floats. There is a risk that it will be reattached to the surface and contaminated, or it may adhere to the components of the apparatus and adversely affect it. In addition, the edge part of the lens sheet 80 here means at least any one of the edge part of a width direction (x direction), and a conveyance direction (y direction).

  Therefore, as described above, the particle size of the ink Db ejected from the recording head 9 toward the both end regions of the lens sheet 80 is larger than the particle size of the ink Ds ejected toward the region between the both end regions. By doing so, the ink Db that is thrown away in the region off the end of the lens sheet 80 is likely to fall, and can be prevented from floating as mist.

=== (2) ===
As shown in FIG. 13, the lens sheet 80 may be set on a tray 95, and the lens sheet 80 may be conveyed in the printer while being set on the tray 95 to perform recording.
In FIG. 13, reference numeral 95 b indicates a recess formed in a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the lens sheet 80. The recess 95 b has a notch 95 c at a position corresponding to the notch 87 of the lens sheet 80.

The recess 95b is formed to a depth corresponding to the thickness of the lens sheet 80 so that the upper surface 95a of the tray 95 and the upper surface of the ink absorbing layer 86 are flush with each other with the lens sheet 80 set in the recess 95b. It is configured.
As described above, in the configuration in which recording is performed by the recording head 9 while the lens sheet 80 is held on the tray 95, the conveyance path of the printer 1 is stabilized even when the size of the lens sheet 80 is small. Can be transported.

=== (3) ===
As shown in FIGS. 14A, 14B, 15A, and 15B, the rib 21b moves up and down in conjunction with the displacement of the edge guides 4a ′ and 4b ′, and both edges of the lens sheet 80 are moved. You may comprise so that it may guide. The tray 4 and the support member 21 ′ are provided at substantially the same position in the z direction (height direction). However, for convenience of explanation, the tray 4 and the support member 21 ′ are shown in FIG. , (B) will be described separately. However, the positions in the x direction are the same in the two views (A) and (B).

  Among the plurality of ribs provided at appropriate intervals along the x direction in the support member 21 ′, the rib indicated by reference numeral 21a is fixedly provided, and the rib indicated by reference numeral 21b is provided so as to be slidable in the height direction. It has been. When recording is performed on a sheet P having a width different from that of the lens sheet 80, the tops of the ribs 21a and 21b are at the same height as shown in FIG.

  Cams 4c are respectively connected to edge guides 4a 'and 4b' provided to be slidable in the x direction on the tray 4 on which the lens sheet 80 is placed. The cam 4c is provided so as to be slidable in the x direction below the rib 21b. The cam 4c is omitted from FIGS. The edge guides 4a ′ and 4b ′ are connected to each other.

When the edge guides 4a ′ and 4b ′ are slid to the edge position of the lens sheet 80 for recording on the lens sheet 80 from the state of FIG. 14, the cam 4c is moved to the lower end portion 21c of the rib 21b as shown in FIG. And the rib 21b is pushed upward.
Accordingly, the rib 21b can guide both sides of the lens sheet 80.

  That is, since the ribs 21b and 21b guide the edge of the lens sheet 80 in addition to the edge guides 4a ′ and 4b ′ provided on the tray 4, the lens sheet 80 can be properly positioned particularly during recording. Good recording results can be obtained.

=== (4) ===
In the above embodiment, the printer 1 is a serial printer in which the recording head 9 performs recording while moving in the x direction as shown in FIG. 16 (A), but as shown in FIG. 16 (B), The printer may be a line head type printer that has a size that covers the entire sheet width direction and that includes a fixed recording head 9 ′.

  In FIG. 16A, the recording head 9 that ejects ink while moving in the x direction has a nozzle row 9a in which a plurality of ink ejection holes are arranged along the conveyance direction of the lens sheet 80 in the x direction. A plurality are provided at predetermined intervals along the line. That is, the extending direction of the nozzle row 9a and the extending direction of the lens Gk are parallel. Further, the direction in which the nozzle row 9a extends and the conveyance direction of the lens sheet 80 are parallel. Note that one (one) nozzle row 9a is a nozzle row that discharges a predetermined color material (for example, one of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black).

  On the other hand, the recording head 9 ′ shown in FIG. 6B has a nozzle row 9 a in which a plurality of ink ejection holes are arranged along a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the lens sheet 80, and the conveyance direction of the lens sheet 80. The lens Gk extends in the x direction, and is conveyed with the edge 81A serving as a reference as the tip. In the unidirectional recording mode in this embodiment, unlike the above-described embodiment, the medium and the recording head move relatively when the medium moves instead of the recording head.

  In FIG. 16A, the extending direction of the nozzle row 9a and the extending direction of the lens Gk may intersect (for example, orthogonal). In FIG. 16B, the extending direction of the nozzle row 9a and the extending direction of the lens Gk may intersect (for example, orthogonal).

=== (5) ===
The medium conveyance path in the printer 1 may be configured as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 are diagrams showing another embodiment of another medium conveyance path. 17 and 18, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and the description thereof will be omitted below.
In the medium conveyance path shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the tray 4 ′ provided on the apparatus back surface 2 c side is provided in an inclined posture instead of a horizontal posture. An opening 2f through which a medium can be inserted is formed on the upper surface of the apparatus.

  Further, an intermediate roller 45 that is rotationally driven and a driven roller 46 that is driven to rotate are provided upstream of the first driving roller 22 and the first driven roller 23. As indicated by a broken line Pt in FIG. 17, the paper P sent out from the paper cassette 18 is bent and reversed through the intermediate roller 45 and reaches the first driving roller 22 and the first driven roller 23.

  On the other hand, the lens sheet 80 is placed on the tray 4 '. At this time, the intermediate roller 45 is in a driving state, and the front end of the lens sheet 80 placed on the tray 4 ′ enters between the intermediate roller 45 and the driven roller 46, and the first driving roller 22 and the first driven roller 23. Sent to. Since the lens sheet 80 has flexibility, the lens sheet 80 can be bent in the conveyance path between the intermediate roller 45 and the first drive roller 22.

  Here, control for correcting the skew of the lens sheet 80 can also be executed. For example, when the lens sheet 80 to which the feeding force is applied from the intermediate roller 45 reaches the first drive roller 22, the first drive roller 22 is rotated in the reverse direction (clockwise in FIG. 18), and the state The tip of the lens sheet 80 is abutted between the first driving roller 22 and the first driven roller 23. Since the intermediate roller 45 and the driven roller 46 are provided only at the central portion in the medium width direction, the lens sheet 80 has a leading end that hits between the first driving roller 22 and the first driven roller 23. The intermediate roller 45 and the driven roller 46 can rotate around the nip position. Thereby, the skew of the lens sheet 80 is corrected.

  Note that the control for correcting the skew of the paper P sent out from the paper cassette 18 can be made different from that for the lens sheet 80. For example, the state in which the leading end of the paper P bites between the first driving roller 22 and the first driven roller 23 and the intermediate roller 45 is stopped after the leading end is sent a predetermined amount downstream (direction A). Then, the first driving roller 22 is reversed, and the tip is discharged from between the first driving roller 22 and the first driven roller 23 to the upstream side. As a result, the sheet P bends between the first drive roller 22 and the intermediate roller 45, and the leading edge of the sheet follows the first drive roller 22 and the first driven roller 23, thereby correcting the skew.

  The recorded lens sheet 80 is discharged toward the tray 5 provided on the apparatus front surface 2 a side and supported by the tray 5. Of the paper P that does not have a lens, a strong (low flexibility) paper such as a thick paper can be fed through the tray 4 ′ in the same manner as the lens sheet 80.

=== (6) ===
As a liquid ejected from the recording head 9, for example, a coating agent for protecting the ink absorbing layer 86 after ejecting ink to the ink absorbing layer 86 of the lens sheet 80, or an ink absorbing layer 86 after forming an image, for example. White ink or the like that forms a base for printing an address or the like can be added.
In this case, the lens sheet 80 is sent out from the tray 4 on the rear side of the apparatus, and ink is ejected to form an image in the process of transporting in the A direction, and then the coating agent or white ink is ejected in the process of transporting in the B direction. For example, post-processing may be performed.

Further, it goes without saying that the constituent elements described above are not limited to the disclosed contents, and can be appropriately changed.
For example, the lens layer 83 of the lens sheet 80 uses a lenticular lens, but may be another lens layer in which a plurality of lens bodies are arranged in parallel, such as a fly array lens.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, the ink cartridges 8A to 8D are mounted on the carriage 7, which is a so-called on-carriage type. However, the ink cartridges 8A to 8D are provided independently from the carriage 7, and the ink cartridges 8A to 8D and the recording head are provided. A so-called off-carriage type in which 9 is connected with an ink tube may be used. In that case, the ink cartridges 8 </ b> A to 8 </ b> D as the ink storage portions may be provided inside the casing 2 or outside the casing 2.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printer, 2 housing | casing, 2a front surface, 2b upper surface, 2c back surface, 2d discharge port, 2e opening part, 2f opening, 3 operation panel, 3a operation part, 3b display part, 4 tray, 4a, 4b edge guide, 5 Tray, 7 Carriage, 8A-8D Ink cartridge, 9 Inkjet recording head, 10 CR motor, 11 Drive pulley, 12 Driven pulley, 13 Endless belt, 14 Cap, 15 Carriage guide shaft, 18 Paper cassette, 20 Feed roller, 21 support members, 21a, 21b ribs,
22 1st driven roller, 23 1st driven roller, 24 2nd driven roller, 25 2nd driven roller, 27 PW sensor, 27a Light emitting part, 27b Light receiving part, 28 Linear scale, 29 Linear encoder, 30 Control part, 31 ASIC 32 RAM, 33 ROM, 34 EEPROM, 35 CPU, 36 IF, 37 CR controller, 38 PF controller, 39 PF motor driver, 40 CR motor driver, 41 head driver, 42 PF motor, 43 rotary encoder, 80 Lens sheet, 81A edge (reference side), 81B edge, 82A edge, 82B edge, 83 Lens layer, 84 Adhesive layer, 85 Base layer, 86 Absorbing layer, 87 Notch, 90 Label sheet, 91 Base material, 92 Release sheet, 93 Release sheet, 95 Ray, 95a upper surface, 95b recess, 95c notches, 100 external computer, P recording paper

Claims (13)

A first recording medium and a recording medium of a different type from the first recording medium, wherein a plurality of lenses extending in the first direction are arranged in parallel in a second direction which is a direction orthogonal to the first direction. A recording head for recording on a second recording medium in the form of a sheet having a lens layer arranged;
Control means for controlling the recording head;
A discharge unit for discharging the first recording medium on which recording has been performed; and
A placement unit provided on a side farther from the discharge unit across the recording area of the recording head, on which the second recording medium before recording is placed,
When the recording is performed on the first recording medium, the control unit moves the first recording medium and the recording head relatively in a predetermined direction in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction. A bidirectional recording mode in which ink is ejected from the recording head in both the moving period;
Selecting any one of a unidirectional recording mode in which ink is ejected from the recording head only during a period in which the first recording medium and the recording head relatively move in a predetermined direction;
The control unit causes ink to be ejected from the recording head only during a period in which the second recording medium and the recording head relatively move in a predetermined direction when recording on the second recording medium. While selecting the unidirectional recording mode,
When ejecting ink from the recording head toward the second recording medium so as to form an image corresponding to each lens of the plurality of lenses, one of the second recording medium in the second direction The recording head is controlled so as to perform recording from the reference side set to the side edge toward the other side edge,
The second recording medium is conveyed from the placement unit to the recording area, recorded, and discharged toward the discharge unit.
A recording apparatus. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second recording medium has a width of the lens forming the edge on the reference side in the second direction of the lens adjacent to the lens forming the edge. 3. Corresponding to the width in the second direction,
A recording apparatus. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first direction is a conveyance direction of the second recording medium.
A recording apparatus. The recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the recording head performs recording while moving in the second direction.
A recording apparatus. The recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first direction is a direction orthogonal to a conveyance direction of the second recording medium.
A recording apparatus. The recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the recording head is fixedly provided and performs recording in a process in which the second recording medium is conveyed.
A recording apparatus. 7. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head includes a plurality of liquid discharge holes that discharge a predetermined color material along a conveyance direction of the second recording medium. Having a nozzle row arranged;
A recording apparatus. 7. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head discharges a predetermined color material along a direction orthogonal to a conveyance direction of the second recording medium. Having a nozzle row in which liquid discharge holes are arranged;
A recording apparatus. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a detection unit that detects an identification mark formed on the second recording medium that identifies the reference edge.
The control unit controls the recording head to perform recording from the reference side toward the other side edge based on the detection of the identification mark by the detection unit;
A recording apparatus. The recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the identification mark is a notch in which one corner of the second recording medium is notched.
A recording apparatus. In the recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, detecting means for detecting an identification mark formed on the second recording medium, which identifies the reference edge .
A display unit for displaying information ,
The control means causes the display unit to display content based on detection of the identification mark.
A recording apparatus. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the tray that holds the second recording medium is configured to be transportable,
The second recording medium is recorded by the recording head while being held on the tray.
A recording apparatus. 13. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a particle diameter of the liquid ejected from the recording head toward both end regions of the second recording medium is the both end regions. Larger than the particle size of the liquid discharged toward the area between
A recording apparatus.

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