JP7206997B2 - IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, STATE CONTROL METHOD, AND PROGRAM - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, state control method, and program.

2. Description of the Related Art When a user carries a smart phone, a notebook PC, or the like and uses it on the go, there is a need to print a document or the like with a printer. There is also a need to print various information on objects that are difficult to set in general printers.

In response to such needs, there is known an image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as HHP: handheld printer) that is miniaturized by removing the paper transport system from the printer apparatus (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-100003). In Patent Document 1, when a user holds an HHP and scans (moves) the surface of a notebook or the like, it detects its own position on the surface of the paper and ejects ink for forming an image according to the position. A HHP is disclosed that

However, the conventional HHP has a problem that no consideration is given to reducing the frequency of user operations. The HHP forms an image by scanning by the user, but if there are many situations in which the user needs to perform an operation for transitioning the system state in addition to scanning, the user may feel that the operation is troublesome. For example, even if the user completes printing, if some kind of operation (pressing of a button, etc.) is required to change the system state from scanning to image formation completion, the user's operation will increase.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of reducing the frequency of user operations.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a medium by being scanned by a user, in which an image forming unit that forms an image and a position of the image forming unit with respect to the medium are detected. a position detection unit; a control unit that controls the image formation unit based on the position of the image formation unit and image data detected by the position detection unit; and a state control unit for controlling the system state of the image forming unit based on position, wherein the image forming unit is imaged both when scanning from left to right and when scanning from right to left as viewed from a user. When the image forming section forms an image in a first scanning mode that forms a Characterized by maintaining state .

It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of reducing the frequency of user operations.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of control of system state transitions performed by the HHP; 1 is an example of a diagram schematically showing image formation by HHP; FIG. It is an example of the hardware block diagram of HHP. It is an example of the figure explaining the structure of a control part. It is an example of the hardware block diagram of an image data output device. It is an example of the functional block diagram which shows the function of an image data output device and a control part in block form. FIG. 10 is an example of a diagram for explaining nozzle positions and the like in an IJ print head; It is an example of the figure explaining the calculation method of the coordinate system of HHP, and a position. It is an example of the figure explaining the relationship between a target ejection position and the position of a nozzle. It is an example of the transition diagram of the system state of HHP. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an image area; It is an example of the figure explaining single pass mode. It is an example of a diagram for explaining a multipath mode. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a scanning direction setting screen viewed from a user displayed by an image data output device; It is an example of the flowchart figure explaining the operation|movement procedure of an image data output device and HHP. FIG. 10 is an example of a flowchart showing a procedure for a control unit to control the system state of the HHP; FIG. 10 is an example of a flow chart illustrating a control method for transitioning from scanning to completion of image formation in accordance with determination of inside/outside of image area and determination of floating. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between an image area and the positions of nozzles; FIG. 10 is an example of a flowchart showing a procedure for determining whether a nozzle position is inside or outside an image area by an image area inside/outside determination unit; FIG. 20 is an example of a flowchart for determining whether or not the image area inside/outside determination unit receives the result of the area inside/outside determination unit in FIG. 19 and notifies the state control unit that an area outside the image area has been detected. FIG. 10 is an example of a flowchart showing a procedure for determining whether or not floating has been detected by a floating determination unit; FIG. 12 is an example of a flowchart showing a procedure for determining whether the nozzle position is inside or outside the image area by the image area inside/outside determination unit (modification).

An image forming apparatus, a state control method performed by the image forming apparatus, and the like will be described below as an example of embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

<Example of system state transition control>
The handheld printer (hereinafter referred to as HHP) of this embodiment changes the system state of the HHP based on the state accompanying scanning of the HHP. For example, when it detects that the scanning position of the HHP is outside the image area, or when it detects that the HHP is floating with respect to the print medium, it transitions the system state from scanning to completion of image formation. Description will be made with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 shows an example of system state transition control performed by the HHP 20 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1(a), the HHP 20 sets an image area 80, which is a range for forming an image. A user scans HHP 20 over image area 80 . In this embodiment, when the user consciously or unintentionally moves the HHP 20 out of the image area, the system state is changed from scanning to image forming completion.

As another method, as shown in FIG. 1(b), when the HHP 20 detects that the HHP 20 is floating with respect to the print medium 12, the HHP 20 changes the system state from scanning to image scanning even if the operation position is within the image area. Transition to formation completion.

As described above, the HHP 20 of this embodiment can transition the system state of the HHP 20 based on the state associated with the scanning of the HHP 20 (detection of scanning outside the image area or floating). Since the user can start scanning the next page after printing is completed, the frequency of user operations can be reduced. Conventionally, the user has to press a predetermined button on the HHP 20 in order to change the system state to the completion of image formation. In addition, the user can forcibly complete printing even in the middle of printing image data and print the next image data.

<Terms>
Conditions associated with scanning the droplet ejector relative to the print medium are conditions consciously or unconsciously caused by the user scanning the droplet ejector. In the present embodiment, for example, scanning outside the image area or HHP floating from the print medium is taken as an example. In addition, if a scanning amount that can be determined to have exceeded the print medium in the X or Y direction regardless of the image area is detected, it may indicate that the user has finely vibrated the droplet ejection device on the print medium, or that the Grasping or the like may also be detected.

System state is the internal state of HHP operation. In each state, the action performed by the HHP is determined, and the transition conditions from one state to another state are determined.
Controlling the system state based on the position of the image forming unit can also be said to control the system state based on the position of the recording head, more specifically, the position of the nozzle. However, since the print head is fixed to the HHP 20, it also includes controlling the system state based on the position of the HHP 20 (any position such as center or edge).

<Image formation by HHP>
FIG. 2 is an example of a diagram schematically showing image formation by the HHP 20. As shown in FIG. For example, the HHP 20 receives image data from the image data output unit 11 and information about scanning (scanning mode (multi-pass mode, single-pass mode, and scanning direction as seen from the user), number of scanning passes, print job cancellation, or print job retry, etc.) is sent. A program that operates on the HHP 20 and the image data output device 11 , or on the HHP 20 and the image data output device 11 is called a droplet ejection system 100 . The user grips the HHP 20 and scans it freehand so that the HHP 20 does not rise from the printing medium 12 (for example, standard paper, notebook, etc.).

The image data output device 11 may be any information processing device having a function of communicating with the HHP 20 wirelessly or by wire. The image data output device 11 is, for example, a smart phone, a tablet terminal, a PC (Personal Computer), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a mobile phone, a handy terminal, a wearable PC (for example, wristwatch type, sunglasses type), or a portable game machine. , car navigation systems, digital cameras, projectors, or teleconference terminals.

As will be described later, the HHP 20 detects the position by using only the navigation sensor or the navigation sensor and the gyro sensor, and when the HHP 20 moves to the target ejection position, it ejects the ink of the color to be ejected at the target ejection position. Since the locations where ink has already been ejected are masked (because they are not subject to ink ejection), the user can form an image by scanning the HHP 20 in any direction on the print medium 12 .

The reason why the HHP 20 is preferably not lifted from the print medium 12 (apart from intentional lifting) is that the navigation sensor uses reflected light from the print medium 12 to detect the amount of movement. When the HHP 20 floats up from the print medium 12, reflected light cannot be detected, and the amount of movement cannot be detected. A group of image data (referred to as a page) such as Pn rows that can be formed by one operation is formed based on a certain initial position. If the HHP 20 cannot detect the position during the formation of a group of image data, the user instructs the image data output unit 11 to cancel or retry. In the present embodiment, there is a high possibility that floating will be detected in this state, so the transition to the state of image formation completion is made without user's operation.

The HHP 20 can be referred to as an inkjet printer because it ejects ink onto the print medium 12 to form an image. The fluid to be ejected is not limited to ink, and it may be called a droplet ejection device as long as it becomes liquid at least when ejected. Further, it may be called an image forming device or a printing device because it forms an image, and it may be called an image processing device because it processes an image. Also, the HHP 20 is sometimes called an HMP (Handy Mobile Printer) in the sense that it can be carried by a user's hand.
In this embodiment, the HHP 20 that forms an image by ejecting ink will be described, but the HHP 20 may form an image using a thermal transfer method or a dot impact method. The thermal transfer method may be a method in which an ink ribbon is transferred to the print medium 12 with a thermal head, or a method in which thermal paper is used on the print medium 12 and colors are developed with a thermal head. Further, if the dot impact method is used, an image can be formed at once on a copy type form such as an invoice or slip.

The print medium 12 may partially have a flat surface. The plane may be curved. Examples include paper and notebooks. The print medium can be horizontal or vertical to the desk or floor. Moreover, the print medium 12 is not limited to a sheet-like shape, and the HHP 20 can form an image on a wall, a ceiling, or the like. For example, it is possible to print on the sides, bottom, and top of corrugated cardboard. It is also possible to print on three-dimensional objects that are fixed to the ground, facilities, or the like.

<Configuration example>
<<HHP>>
FIG. 3 shows an example of a hardware configuration diagram of the HHP 20. As shown in FIG. The entire operation of the HHP 20 is controlled by a control unit 25. The control unit 25 includes a communication I/F 27, an IJ recording head drive circuit 23, an OPU 26, a ROM 28, a DRAM 29, a navigation sensor 30, a gyro sensor 31, and a floating detection sensor. 32 are electrically connected. Further, since the HHP 20 is driven by electric power, it has a power supply 22 and a power supply circuit 21 . The power generated by the power supply circuit 21 is supplied to the communication I/F 27, the IJ recording head driving circuit 23, the OPU 26, the ROM 28, the DRAM 29, the IJ recording head 24, the control unit 25, the navigation sensor 30, the gyro sensor, and the like through the wiring indicated by the dotted line 22a. 31 and a floating detection sensor 32 .

A battery is mainly used as the power supply 22 . The battery may be a commercially available dry battery or rechargeable battery, or a dedicated rechargeable battery. A solar battery, a commercial power supply (AC power supply), a fuel cell, or the like may be used. The power supply circuit 21 distributes the power supplied by the power supply 22 to each part of the HHP 20 . Also, the voltage of the power supply 22 is stepped down or stepped up to a voltage suitable for each part. When the power supply 22 is a rechargeable battery, the power supply circuit 21 detects the connection of the AC power supply and connects to the battery charging circuit to enable the power supply 22 to be charged.

The communication I/F 27 receives image data from an image data output device 11 such as a smartphone or a PC (Personal Computer). The communication I/F 27 is a communication device compatible with communication standards such as wireless LAN, Bluetooth (registered trademark), NFC (Near Field Communication), infrared rays, 3G (mobile phone), or LTE (Long Term Evolution). In addition to such wireless communication, a communication device that supports wired communication using a wired LAN, a USB cable, or the like may also be used.

The ROM 28 stores firmware for hardware control of the HHP 20, drive waveform data for the IJ recording head 24 (data defining voltage changes for ejecting droplets), initial setting data for the HHP 20, and the like.

The DRAM 29 is used for storing image data received by the communication I/F 27 or storing firmware expanded from the ROM 28 . Therefore, it is used as a work memory when the CPU 33 executes the firmware.

The navigation sensor 30 is a sensor that detects the amount of movement of the HHP 20 for each predetermined cycle time. The navigation sensor 30 has, for example, a light source such as a light emitting diode (LED) or a laser, and an imaging sensor that images the print medium 12 . When the HHP 20 is scanned over the print medium 12, minute edges of the print medium 12 are detected (imaged) one after another and the distance between the edges is analyzed to obtain the amount of movement. In this embodiment, only one navigation sensor 30 is mounted on the bottom surface of the HHP 20 . There may be two navigation sensors 30 . When there are two navigation sensors 30, the rotation angle (yaw angle of the HHP 20 with respect to the axis perpendicular to the print medium 12) can be calculated by the control unit 25 analyzing the respective movement amounts. The reason why only one navigation sensor 30 is required is that the gyro sensor 31 is mounted. A multi-axis acceleration sensor may be used as the navigation sensor 30, and the HHP 20 may detect the amount of movement of the HHP 20 only with the acceleration sensor.

The gyro sensor 31 is a sensor that detects angular velocity when the HHP 20 rotates about an axis perpendicular to the print medium 12 . The control unit 25 calculates the attitude of the HHP 20 by integrating this angular velocity. Posture is mainly a rotation angle (yaw angle). An example of a rotation angle reference is the longitudinal direction of the HHP 20 at the start of printing.

A floating detection sensor 32 is a sensor that detects the distance (floating amount) between the print medium and the HHP 20 . The HHP 20 floating with respect to the print medium means that the distance between the HHP 20 and the print medium is equal to or greater than a threshold. As the floating detection sensor 32 , there is a mechanical switch that is turned on by its own weight when the HHP 20 is in contact with the print medium 12 . This switch detects the amount of pushing into the HHP 20 as a distance. Only the presence or absence of pressing (ON or OFF of the switch) may be detected. The floating detection sensor 32 may be a ranging sensor. For example, the distance may be detected with an ultrasonic sensor or an infrared sensor. Further, since the navigation sensor 30 detects floating based on the amount of reflected light, the navigation sensor 30 can also serve as the floating detection sensor 32 .

An OPU (Operation panel Unit) 26 has an LED for displaying the state of the HHP 20, a switch for the user to instruct the HHP 20 to form an image, and the like. However, it is not limited to this, and may have a liquid crystal display and may also have a touch panel. Also, it may have a voice input function. The OPU 26 has a print button 26a. The print button 26a is a button for accepting the start of printing.

The IJ printhead drive circuit 23 uses the drive waveform data to generate a drive waveform (voltage) for driving the IJ printhead 24 . A driving waveform can be generated according to the size of ink droplets.

The IJ recording head 24 is a head that ejects ink to form an image. Because it forms an image, the IJ recording head 24 can be referred to as an image forming station. In the drawing, four colors of CMYK ink can be ejected, but a single color may be used, and five or more colors may be ejected. A plurality of nozzles (ejection units) for ejecting ink are arranged in a row (may be two or more rows) for each color. Further, the ink ejection method may be a piezo method, a thermal method, or other methods. The IJ recording head 24 is a functional component that ejects and ejects liquid from nozzles. The liquid to be ejected is not particularly limited as long as it has a viscosity and surface tension that can be ejected from the IJ recording head 24. However, the viscosity becomes 30 mPa·s or less at room temperature and pressure, or by heating or cooling. It is preferable to be More specifically, solvents such as water and organic solvents, colorants such as dyes and pigments, functional-imparting materials such as polymerizable compounds, resins, and surfactants, biocompatible materials such as DNA, amino acids, proteins, and calcium. , edible materials such as natural pigments, solutions, suspensions, emulsions, etc. These are, for example, inkjet inks, surface treatment liquids, components of electronic elements and light emitting elements, and formation of electronic circuit resist patterns It can be used for applications such as liquids for liquids and material liquids for three-dimensional modeling.

The control unit 25 has a CPU and controls the entire HHP 20 . Based on the movement amount detected by the navigation sensor 30 and the angular velocity detected by the gyro sensor 31, the control unit 25 determines the position of each nozzle of the IJ recording head 24 and the image to be formed according to the position. Judgment on whether ejection nozzles are possible or not is performed. Details of the control unit 25 will be described below.

FIG. 4 is an example of a diagram for explaining the configuration of the control unit 25. As shown in FIG. The control unit 25 has SoC 50 and ASIC/FPGA 40 . SoC 50 and ASIC/FPGA 40 communicate via buses 47 and 48 . This means that the ASIC/FPGA 40 may be designed with either implementation technology, and may be configured with implementation technologies other than the ASIC/FPGA 40 . Also, the SoC 50 and the ASIC/FPGA 40 may be configured as one chip or substrate without using separate chips. Alternatively, it may be mounted with three or more chips or substrates.

The SoC 50 has the functions of a CPU 33, a position calculation circuit 34, a memory CTL (controller) 35, a ROM CTL (controller) 36, etc., which are connected via a bus 48. FIG. Note that the components of the SoC 50 are not limited to these.

The ASIC/FPGA 40 includes an Image RAM 37, a DMAC 38, a rotator 39, an interrupt controller 41, a navigation sensor I/F 42, a print/sensor timing generator 43, an IJ recording head controller 44, a gyro It has a sensor I/F 45 and a floating detection sensor I/F 46 . Note that the components of the ASIC/FPGA 40 are not limited to these.

The CPU 33 executes firmware (programs) expanded from the ROM 28 to the DRAM 29, and controls the operations of the position calculation circuit 34, the memory CTL 35, and the ROM CTL 36 in the SoC 50. FIG. Image RAM 37 in ASIC/FPGA 40, DMAC 38, rotator 39, interrupt controller 41, navigation sensor I/F 42, print/sensor timing generator 43, IJ recording head controller 44, gyro sensor I/F 45, and floating It controls the operation of the detection sensor I/F 46 and the like.

The position calculation circuit 34 calculates the position (coordinate information) of the HHP 20 based on the amount of movement in each sampling period detected by the navigation sensor 30 and the angular velocity in each sampling period detected by the gyro sensor 31 . The position of the HHP 20 is the position of the nozzle. The directly detected position is the position of the navigation sensor 30, but if the position of the navigation sensor 30 is known, the position of the nozzle can be calculated. Note that the position calculation circuit 34 may be implemented by the CPU 33 as software.

The position of the navigation sensor 30 is calculated based on, for example, a predetermined origin (the initial position of the HHP 20 when image formation is started), as will be described later. Further, the position calculation circuit 34 estimates the moving direction and acceleration based on the difference between the past position and the latest position, and predicts the position of the navigation sensor 30 at the next ejection timing, for example. In this way, ink can be ejected while suppressing a delay in scanning by the user.

The memory CTL 35 is an interface with the DRAM 29 , requests data from the DRAM 29 , sends acquired firmware to the CPU 33 , and sends acquired image data to the ASIC/FPGA 40 .

The ROM CTL 36 is an interface with the ROM 28 , requests data from the ROM 28 , and sends the acquired data to the CPU 33 and ASIC/FPGA 40 .

The rotator 39 rotates the image data acquired by the DMAC 38 according to the head that ejects ink, the position of the nozzles in the head, and the tilt of the head caused by an installation error or the like. The DMAC 38 outputs the rotated image data to the IJ recording head controller 44 .

Image RAM 37 temporarily stores the image data acquired by DMAC 38 . That is, a certain amount of image data is buffered and read according to the position of the HHP 20 .

The IJ recording head control unit 44 converts the image data (for example, data in Tiff format) into a set of points representing an image in terms of size and density by dithering the image data. As a result, the image data becomes data of the ejection position and the dot size. The IJ printhead control unit 44 outputs a control signal corresponding to the dot size to the IJ printhead drive circuit 23 .

The IJ recording head driving circuit 23 generates a driving waveform (voltage) using the driving waveform data corresponding to the control signal as described above.

The navigation sensor I/F 42 communicates with the navigation sensor 30, receives movement amounts ΔX' and ΔY' as information from the navigation sensor 30, and stores the values in an internal register.

The print/sensor timing generation unit 43 notifies the navigation sensor I/F 42, the gyro sensor I/F 45, and the floating detection sensor 32 of the timing for reading information, and notifies the IJ recording head control unit 44 of the driving timing. The cycle of timing for reading information is longer than the cycle of ink ejection timing. The IJ recording head control unit 44 determines whether or not ink is to be ejected, and determines that ink is ejected if there is a target ejection position to which ink should be ejected, and that ink is not ejected if there is no target ejection position.

The gyro sensor I/F 45 acquires the angular velocity detected by the gyro sensor 31 at the timing generated by the print/sensor timing generator 43 and stores the value in a register.

The float detection sensor I/F 46 acquires the distance between the print medium 12 detected by the float detection sensor 32 and the bottom surface of the HHP 20 (or information indicating whether there is float or not) at the timing generated by the print/sensor timing generator 43. and store the value in a register.

The interrupt controller 41 detects that the navigation sensor I/F 42 has completed communication with the navigation sensor 30 and outputs an interrupt signal to notify the SoC 50 of this. By this interrupt, the CPU 33 acquires ΔX′ and ΔY′ stored in the internal register by the navigation sensor I/F 42 . In addition, it also has a status notification function such as an error. Similarly, regarding the gyro sensor I/F 45, the interrupt controller 41 outputs an interrupt signal to the SoC 50 to notify that communication with the gyro sensor 31 has ended. The floating detection sensor 32 similarly outputs an interrupt signal.

<<Hardware Configuration Example of Image Data Output Device>>
FIG. 5 is an example of a hardware configuration diagram of the image data output device 11. As shown in FIG. The illustrated image data output device 11 includes a CPU 201 , a flash ROM 202 , a RAM 203 , a wireless communication module 204 , an antenna 205 , a camera 206 , an LCD 207 , a touch panel 208 , an external I/F 209 , a microphone 210 and a speaker 211 . These are connected to a bus 212 and can exchange data. The image data output device 11 also has a battery 213, which supplies power to each of the above devices.

The CPU 201 controls the entire image data output device 11 by arithmetic processing of various data according to programs stored in the flash ROM 202 . The flash ROM 202 stores a program 202p for controlling the entire image data output device 11, and also functions as storage for storing various data. Program 202p is an application developed for HHP 20 to operate properly.

A RAM 203 is used as a work memory for the CPU 201 . A program 202 p stored in the flash ROM 202 is loaded into the RAM 203 and executed by the CPU 201 .

The wireless communication module 204 communicates with the HHP 20 using Bluetooth (registered trademark), wireless LAN, NFC, infrared rays, or the like. Voice communication and data communication using mobile phone lines such as 3G and LTE may be performed.

The camera 206 A/D-converts the image signal output from the imaging device. The LCD 207 displays icons for operating the image data output device 11 and various data. The touch panel 208 is superimposed and closely attached to the LCD 207, and detects the position touched by the finger.

The external I/F 209 is, for example, a USB interface, and is an interface for connecting external devices. The microphone 210 converts the input audio signal into A (Analog)/D (Digital). A speaker 211 D/A converts sound data and outputs an audible signal.

<About functions>
FIG. 6 is an example of a functional block diagram showing functions of the image data output unit 11 and the control unit 25 in block form.

<<Image data output device>>
The image data output device 11 has functions of a communication section 51 , a display control section 52 , an operation reception section 53 , a print control section 54 , a preview generation section 55 and a storage section 59 . These functional units of the image data output device 11 are functions or means implemented by the CPU 201 executing the program 202p and cooperating with the hardware shown in FIG. The program 202p may be distributed from a program distribution server, or may be distributed while being stored in a portable storage medium such as a USB memory or an optical storage medium.

The communication unit 51 transmits and receives various information to and from the HHP 20 . In this embodiment, image data and scanning information is sent to HHP 20 and system status is received from HHP 20 . The communication unit 51 is implemented by the CPU 201 executing a program 202p developed in the RAM 203 from the flash ROM 202 and controlling the wireless communication module.

The display control unit 52 controls display of various screens displayed on the LCD 207 . In this embodiment, the preview screen displays a preview of the image data (an image of the finished print). The display control unit 52 is implemented by the CPU 201 executing a program 202p expanded from the flash ROM 202 to the RAM 203 and controlling the LCD 207, for example.

The operation reception unit 53 receives various operations on the image data output device 11 by the user. The operation reception unit 53 is implemented by the CPU 201 executing a program 202p developed in the RAM 203 from the flash ROM 202 and controlling the touch panel 208, for example.

The print control unit 54 controls printing of image data. That is, it controls communication with the HHP 20, generation of image data, and interruption/resumption of printing. The print control unit 54 is implemented by the CPU 201 executing a program 202p developed in the RAM 203 from the flash ROM 202, or the like.

Preview generator 55 generates a preview screen. In addition, the preview generation unit 55 may generate the position, orientation, shape, color, etc. of the arrow indicating the scanning direction as viewed by the user. The preview generation unit 55 is implemented by the CPU 201 executing a program 202p developed in the RAM 203 from the flash ROM 202, or the like.

The storage unit 59 stores image data 591 . The image data 591 may be of any file format, such as TIFF, JPEG, and BMP image files. Alternatively, print data (postscript, PDF, etc.) written in PDL (Page Description Language) may be used.

<<control section>>
The control unit 25 includes an information acquisition control unit 61, a position management unit 62, a float determination unit 63, an image data storage unit 64, a communication unit 65, an image area inside/outside determination unit 66, a state control unit 67, a print control unit 68, and a start process. It has a unit 69 and a display control unit 70 . These functions of the control unit 25 are functions or means implemented by the CPU 33 shown in FIG. 4 executing a program stored in the ROM 28 .

The information acquisition control unit 61 determines whether or not it is time to acquire information detected by the sensors from various sensors, and acquires information from each sensor if it is time to acquire information. The position management unit 62 determines the origin according to the user's operation to start printing, and manages the positions of the nozzles calculated by the position calculation circuit 34 with respect to this origin.

When the power of the HHP 20 is turned on, the startup processing unit 69 performs processing necessary for startup, such as initialization of hardware and detection of the state of each hardware. The display control unit 70 generates information to be displayed by the OPU 26 and displays it on the OPU 26 .

The communication unit 65 communicates with the image data output device 11 to transmit and receive various information. In this embodiment, the image data and scanning information are received from the image data output device 11 and the system status is sent to the image data output device 11 .

The image data storage unit 64 is storage means for storing image data constructed in the image RAM 37 or the like, and the image data received by the communication unit 65 is stored in the image data storage unit 64 .

A floating determination unit 63 determines whether the HHP 20 is floating with respect to the printing medium 12 based on the distance detected by the floating detection sensor 32, and measures the time when the HHP 20 is floating. When the floating time is equal to or longer than a predetermined time, the state control unit 67 is notified that the floating has been detected.

The image area inside/outside determining unit 66 determines whether the nozzle position is inside or outside the image area 80 . Further, the time outside the image area is measured, and when the time outside the image area exceeds a predetermined time, the state control unit 67 is notified that the outside the image area has been detected.

The state control unit 67 controls the system state of the HHP 20 based on detection of floating or detection of outside the image area. System states include I. Standby, II. Warming up, III. Printing (IV. Ready to print, V. Scanning, and VI. Image forming complete).

When the system state is scanning, the print control unit 68 controls the IJ print head drive circuit 23 using image data based on the nozzle positions. Do not print in any other system state.

<Nozzle Position in IJ Print Head>
Next, nozzle positions and the like in the IJ recording head 24 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 shows the bottom of HHP 20. FIG. This bottom surface is the surface facing the print medium 12 .

FIG. 7 shows HHP 20 with one navigation sensor 30 . The distance from the navigation sensor 30 to the IJ recording head 24 is a. The distance a may be zero (in contact with the IJ recording head 24). If there is one navigation sensor 30 , the navigation sensor 30 may be placed anywhere around the IJ recording head 24 . The illustrated position of the navigation sensor 30 is an example. However, the short distance between the IJ recording head 24 and the navigation sensor 30 makes it easier to reduce the size of the bottom surface of the HHP 20 .

When there are two navigation sensors 30, the longer the distance between the two navigation sensors 30, the better the detection accuracy of the rotation angle. Therefore, two navigation sensors 30 are preferably arranged in the longitudinal direction of the HHP 20 , but even when there are two navigation sensors 30 , the navigation sensors 30 may be arranged anywhere around the IJ recording head 24 .

The distance from the end of the IJ recording head 24 to the first nozzle 71 is distance d, and the distance between adjacent nozzles is distance e. The values of a to e are pre-stored in the ROM 28 or the like.

If the position calculation circuit 34 or the like calculates the position of the navigation sensor 30 and detects the tilt with the gyro sensor, the position calculation circuit 34 calculates an arbitrary nozzle position of the nozzle 71 using the distances a, d and e. can.

The nozzle 71 is located above the HHP 20 in the longitudinal direction. This is because the user can intuitively grasp the position of the nozzle 71 when holding the HHP 20 . However, nozzle 71 may be located in the center of HHP 20 or elsewhere.

The nozzle 71 has N nozzles. Each nozzle is numbered sequentially from the center, such as nozzle 1, nozzle 2, . . . , nozzle N, and the HHP 20 calculates the position of each nozzle. The nozzle numbers may be assigned in order from the top end. If the distance e is constant, a higher resolution image can be obtained as the number of nozzles N increases. As an example, N may be 192, but N is not limited to 192.

<Regarding the position of the nozzle>
FIG. 8 is an example of a diagram illustrating a coordinate system of the HHP 20 and a method of calculating the position. In this embodiment, the horizontal direction to the print medium 12 is set to the X axis, and the vertical direction to the printing medium 12 is set to the Y axis. The origin is the position of nozzle N or nozzle 1 at the start of printing. These coordinates will be referred to as print media coordinates. On the other hand, the navigation sensor 30 outputs the amount of movement on the coordinate axes (X'-axis, Y'-axis) in FIG. That is, the movement amount is output with the arrangement direction of the nozzles 71 as the Y'-axis and the direction orthogonal to the Y'-axis as the X'-axis.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the case where the HHP 20 rotates θ clockwise with respect to the print medium 12 will be described as an example. It is believed that the non-zero θ occurs because it is difficult for the user to scan the HHP 20 without tilting it at all with respect to the print media coordinates. If not rotated at all, then X=X' and Y=Y'. However, when the HHP 20 is rotated by a rotation angle θ with respect to the print medium 12 , the output of the navigation sensor 30 and the actual position of the HHP 20 on the print medium 12 do not match. The clockwise direction of the rotation angle θ is positive, the right direction of X and X′ is positive, and the downward direction of Y and Y′ is positive.

FIG. 8A is an example of a diagram explaining the X coordinate of the HHP 20. FIG. In FIG. 8(a), when the navigation sensor 30 moves from t1 to t2 with the HHP 20 of the rotation angle .theta. Y correspondence is shown. Note that when there are two navigation sensors 30, since the relative positions are fixed, the outputs (movement amounts) of the two navigation sensors 30 are the same. The X coordinate of the navigation sensor 30 changes in the plus direction by X1+X2. X1+X2 is obtained from ΔX', ΔY' and the rotation angle θ.

FIG. 8(b) shows the correspondence between movement amounts ΔX′ and ΔY′ detected by the navigation sensor 30 and X and Y when the HHP 20 with the rotation angle θ moves from t1 to t2 only in the Y direction with the same rotation angle θ. showing. The Y coordinate of the navigation sensor 30 changes in the positive direction by Y1+Y2. Y1+Y2 is obtained from ΔX', ΔY' and the rotation angle θ.

Therefore, when the HHP 20 moves in the X and Y directions with the rotation angle .theta., .DELTA.X' and .DELTA.Y' output from the navigation sensor 30 can be converted into X and Y coordinates of the print medium as follows.
X = ΔX'cos θ - ΔY'sin θ (1)
Y=ΔX'sin θ+ΔY'cos θ (2)

<Rotation angle θ>
Next, a method of calculating the rotation angle θ using the output of the gyro sensor 31 will be described. The output of the gyro sensor 31 is the angular velocity ω.
ω=dθ/dt
Therefore, if dt is the sampling period, the rotation angle dθ can be expressed as follows.
dθ=ω×dt
Therefore, the current rotation angle θ (time t=0 to N) is as follows.

このように、ジャイロセンサ３１により回転角θを求めることができる。式（１）（２）に示すように、回転角θを用いて位置を算出できる。ナビゲーションセンサ３０の位置を算出できれば、図７に示したａ～ｅの値により、位置算出回路３４は各ノズル７１の座標を算出することができる。なお、式（１）のＸ、式（２）のＹはそれぞれサンプリング周期における変化量なのでこのＸ，Ｙを累積することで現在の位置が求められる。

Thus, the gyro sensor 31 can obtain the rotation angle θ. As shown in equations (1) and (2), the position can be calculated using the rotation angle θ. If the position of the navigation sensor 30 can be calculated, the position calculation circuit 34 can calculate the coordinates of each nozzle 71 from the values a to e shown in FIG. Since X in Equation (1) and Y in Equation (2) are the amount of change in each sampling period, the current position can be obtained by accumulating X and Y.

<Target discharge position>
Next, the target ejection position will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is an example of a diagram for explaining the relationship between the target ejection position and the position of the nozzle 71. As shown in FIG. The target ejection positions G 1 to G 9 are target positions (pixel formation destinations) where the HHP 20 causes the ink to land from the nozzles 71 . The target ejection positions G1 to G9 can be obtained from the initial position of the HHP 20 and the resolution (Xdpi, Ydpi) of the HHP 20 in the X-axis/Y-axis directions.

For example, when the resolution is 300 dpi, target ejection positions are set at intervals of approximately 0.084 [mm] in the longitudinal direction of the IJ print head 24 and in the direction perpendicular thereto, based on the initial position of the HHP 20 . If there are pixels to be ejected at these target ejection positions G1 to G9, the HHP 20 ejects ink.

However, in practice, it is difficult to catch the timing at which the nozzles 71 and the target ejection positions completely match. Then, when the current position of the nozzle 71 is within the allowable error range 73 from the target ejection position, ink is ejected from the nozzle 71 (providing such an allowable range is referred to as "ejection nozzle propriety determination").

Also, as indicated by an arrow 72, the HHP 20 monitors the moving direction and acceleration of the nozzle 71, and predicts the position of the nozzle 71 at the next ejection timing. Therefore, it becomes possible to prepare for ink ejection by comparing the predicted position with the range of the allowable error 73 .

<About system status>
Next, the system state of the HHP 20 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is an example of a system state transition diagram of the HHP 20 . As shown, the system status mainly includes I. Standby, II. Warming up, III. Printing, III. Printing, IV. Ready to print, V. Scanning, and VI. There is image formation completion. The illustrated system state is merely an example, and there may be many states other than those illustrated.

I. Standby is a standby state, II. Warm-up is a state in which printing is prepared, and III. IV. Print ready is a state of waiting for the user to press the print button 26a, V. During scanning is a state in which the user is scanning, and VI. This is a temporary state that means that one page has been printed.

Immediately after the HHP 20 is powered on is I. Standby. From I. standby to II. during warm-up, transition is made under the following transition conditions.
(i) I. Standby → II. Data in during warm-up, long press of print button 26a (for maintenance), remaining pages (remaining pages will be described later)
From II. during warm-up to III. during printing, transition is made under the following transition conditions.
(ii) II. Warming up → III. Printing Data reception complete, temperature ready, and gyro offset correction complete
III. Immediately after transitioning to printing, the system state becomes IV. Ready to print. From IV. Print ready to V. During scanning, transition is made under the following transition conditions.
(iii) IV. Ready to print → V. Scanning Pressing the print button 26a
Transition from V. during scanning to VI. completion of image formation is performed under the following transition conditions.
(iv) V. Scanning → VI. Image formation completed Out of image area, floating detection, stop timeout, press of print button 26a Transition from image formation completion to IV. print ready under the following transition conditions.
(v) Completion of image formation → IV. Print ready with remaining pages From the completion of image formation to II. during warm-up, transition is made under the following transition conditions.
(vi) VI. Image formation completed → II. Warming up No remaining pages and data in
The transition from VI. Image formation completion to I. Standby is performed under the following transition conditions.
(vii) VI. Completion of image formation → I. Standby No remaining pages For example, in the transition of (v), the transition is made to completion of image formation, but if there are remaining pages, the state transitions to print ready, so the user presses the print button 26a. By pressing , you can transition to V. during scanning. A remaining page means that there are still passes to be scanned when image data is divided into Pn passes and printed in a single pass mode, which will be described later. Therefore, even if several operations are required in the single pass mode, the user can press the print button 26a to start the next scan by moving the HHP 20 out of the image area, thereby improving operability.

Conventionally, the HHP 20 sometimes detects an error due to floating, but no control is performed to transition to the completion of image formation when an error is detected. In this case, the user's work steps are often increased in order to recover from the error.

<Image area>
Next, the image area 80 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 shows an example of an image area 80. FIG. Image area 80 is the bounding rectangle of the image data. First, the position of the uppermost nozzle N when the print button 26a is pressed is the origin (0, 0). Assuming that the horizontal direction is the X direction and the vertical direction is the Y direction, the maximum value Xmax of the X coordinate among the coordinates of the image data, the maximum value Ymax of the Y coordinate among the coordinates of the image data, and the origin (0, 0). The area defined by is the image area 80 .

Since the image data transmitted from the image data output device 11 to the HHP 20 is already in the format of an image rather than text data, the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 selects the maximum X coordinate value Xmax and the Y It is sufficient to detect the maximum value Ymax of the coordinates.

As will be described with reference to FIG. 12, in the single pass mode, the image data output unit 11 transmits image data that can be printed in one scan to the HHP 20, so the areas indicated by dotted lines are image areas 80, respectively. Therefore, if the user scans only the image area 80a in one scan, the scan of the next image area 80b can be started (the same applies to the image area 80b→80c).

<Single path mode and multipath mode>
Next, a single-pass mode (second scanning mode) and a multi-pass mode (first scanning mode), which are scanning modes of the HHP 20, will be described. The method of determining whether the image area is inside or outside differs depending on the single-pass mode and the multi-pass mode. As will be described with reference to FIG. 14, the user sets the single-pass mode or multi-pass mode in the image data output device 11 in advance.

FIG. 12 is an example of a diagram for explaining the single pass mode. Single-pass mode is a scanning mode that prints only when scanning in one direction. In FIG. 12, ink is ejected only when scanning from right to left as seen from the user. Therefore, in the single pass mode, the HHP 20 does not calculate the Y coordinate (even if calculated, it is not used for ejection control). Further, the position management unit 62 treats one of the nozzles 1 to N or the average as the X coordinates of all the nozzles 1 to N. This is because the nozzles 1 to N print image data having the same X coordinate at the same timing, and the image quality in the single pass mode can be improved.

In single-pass mode, there is also a setting for scanning from left to right as viewed from the user. In both the single-pass mode in which the user scans from right to left and the single-pass mode in which the user scans from left to right, the relative positions of the image data and the HHP 20 are determined when the origin is determined. When scanning from left to right as seen from the user, the coordinates of the image data and the coordinates of the nozzle 71 match only when scanning from left to right. , the coordinates of the image data and the coordinates of the nozzle 71 match only when scanning is performed from right to left. Therefore, in the single-pass mode, ink can be ejected only when scanning is performed in a fixed scanning direction.

Note that the single-pass mode includes a printing method called continuous single-pass printing. Continuous single-pass printing allows the user to change the scan direction line by line.

The image data output unit 11 calculates how many scans (passes) are required to print the image data. The image data output unit 11 calculates the number of passes Pn required to print the text data from the character size and number of lines of the text data and the height h [mm] of the nozzles 1 to N, and outputs Pn pieces of image data. to HHP 20. Printing by dividing into Pn pieces in this way is called Pn pass printing.

For example, when the character size is 16 points, the height of one line is "16×0.35 [mm]=5.6 [mm]". This "0.35" is a conversion value of 1 point to mm. The height at which the HHP 20 can print in one scan is equal to or less than the length of the IJ recording head 24 determined as specifications. Let this length be h [mm]. Since the size (points) of a single character is limited in advance to h or less, scanning a line of text does not require multiple scan passes. As a result, it is possible to prevent the character from being interrupted in the middle and the image quality from deteriorating.

The image data output unit 11 increases the number of lines one by one, and determines whether the height of the number of lines is h or less. It is preferable to consider line spacing as well. Considering the character size and line spacing, the height for two lines is calculated and compared with the height h of the IJ recording head 24 . This comparison is repeated until the height of k rows becomes larger than the height h of the IJ recording head 24 . k-1 lines is the maximum number of lines that can be printed in one scan.

The image data output unit 11 thus calculates the number of lines that can be printed in one scan, and transmits the image data to the HHP 20 in Pn scans. In FIG. 12 it is determined that three scans are required.

Next, FIG. 13 is an example of a diagram for explaining the multipath mode. The multi-pass mode is a scanning mode in which ink is ejected in both scanning from left to right and scanning from right to left as seen from the user. There is an advantage that the amount of scanning by the user is small, and there is an advantage that an image of a large size that cannot be printed in one scanning can be printed.

It is also possible to print text data in multipass mode. However, characters printed in multi-pass mode may have poor image quality due to restrictions on nozzle height h.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a scanning direction setting screen 421 displayed by the image data output device 11 as seen from the user. A setting screen 421 for the scanning direction as viewed by the user is associated with a message 422 "Please set the scanning direction as viewed by the user" and "unidirectional right", "unidirectional left", and "bidirectional". radio buttons 423, 424, 425. "Unidirectional right" and "unidirectional left" correspond to single-pass mode, and "bidirectional" corresponds to multi-pass mode. In addition, a printing method called continuous single-pass printing can be selected.

The user selects one of the three radio buttons 423-425. Note that the default value is determined even when the user does not select the scanning direction viewed from the user. The set scan mode is sent to HHP 20 .

It should be noted that the user can set to the image data output unit 11 whether or not to automatically transition the system state of the HHP 20 based on the state associated with the scanning of the HHP 20 (detection of scanning outside the image area or floating). This is because some users may not like automatic transition.

<Status Transition from Scanning to Image Formation Completion>
15 to 22, control of state transition from scanning to completion of image formation will be described below.

First, based on FIG. 15, the overall operation will be described. FIG. 15 is an example of a flow chart for explaining the operation procedure of the image data output device 11 and the HHP 20. As shown in FIG. First, the user presses the power button of the image data output device 11 (U101). The image data output device 11 accepts it and is powered by a battery or the like to start up.

The user inputs text to be printed on the text input screen of the image data output device 11 (U102). The operation reception unit 53 of the image data output device 11 receives input of text. The object to be printed does not have to be text data, in which case image data to be printed is selected.

The user performs an operation to execute the input text as a print job (U103). That is, the user presses a button for starting printing. The operation accepting unit 53 of the HHP 20 accepts a print job execution request. The print job request sends the image data and information about the scan to the HHP 20 .

The user holds the HHP 20 and determines its initial position on the print medium 12 (eg notebook) (U104).

Then, the user presses the print button 26a of the HHP 20 (U105). The HHP 20 accepts pressing of the print button 26a.

The user freely scans the HHP 20 by sliding it over the print medium 12 (U106).

Next, the operation of the HHP 20 will be explained. The following operations are performed by the CPU 33 executing the firmware.

The HHP 20 is also started when the power is turned on. The startup processing unit 69 of the HHP 20 initializes the hardware elements of FIGS. 3 and 4 incorporated in the HHP 20 (S101). For example, it initializes the registers of the navigation sensor I/F 42 and the gyro sensor I/F 45 and sets the timing value in the print/sensor timing generator 43 . Also, communication between the HHP 20 and the image data output device 11 is established. For example, when communicating by Bluetooth (registered trademark), the user performs pairing between the image data output device 11 and the HHP 20 in advance. This puts it in a standby state.

The startup processing unit 69 of the HHP 20 determines whether the initialization is completed, and repeats this determination if not completed (S102).

When the initialization is completed (Yes in S102), the display control unit 70 of the HHP 20 notifies the user that printing is possible by lighting the LED of the OPU 26, for example (S103). As a result, the user recognizes that printing is possible, and requests execution of the print job as described above.

In response to a print job execution request, the communication I/F 27 of the HHP 20 receives input of image data from the image data output device 11, and the display control unit 70 notifies the user that the image has been input by blinking the LED of the OPU 26. is notified (S104). As a result, the printer is warmed up, and when the reception of the image data is completed, the printer becomes print ready during printing.

When the user determines the initial position of the HHP 20 on the print medium 12 and presses the print button 26a, the OPU 26 of the HHP 20 accepts this operation, and the information acquisition control unit 61 causes the navigation sensor I/F 42 to read the position (S105). As a result, scanning is in progress. The navigation sensor I/F 42 communicates with the navigation sensor 30, acquires the movement amount detected by the navigation sensor 30, and stores it in a register or the like (S1001). The information acquisition control unit 61 reads the movement amount from the navigation sensor I/F42.

The movement amount acquired immediately after the user presses the print button 26a is zero, but even if it is not zero, the position management unit 62 stores it in the DRAM 29 or the register of the CPU 33 as the initial position of coordinates (0, 0), for example. (S106).

Further, when the initial position is acquired, the print/sensor timing generation unit 43 starts generation of timing (S107). The print/sensor timing generation unit 43 instructs the navigation sensor I/F 42, the gyro sensor I/F 45, and the float detection sensor I/F 46 when the timing for acquiring the amount of movement of the navigation sensor 30 set in the initialization is reached. . This is performed periodically and becomes the above sampling period.

The information acquisition control unit 61 of the HHP 20 determines whether or not it is time to acquire the movement amount, the angular velocity information, and the floating amount (S108). This determination is made by notification from the interrupt controller 41 , but may be determined by the information acquisition control section 61 counting the same timing as the print/sensor timing generation section 43 .

When it comes time to acquire the amount of movement, the angular velocity information, and the amount of floating, the information acquisition control unit 61 of the HHP 20 acquires the amount of movement from the navigation sensor I/F 42, acquires the angular velocity information from the gyro sensor I/F 45, and activates the floating detection sensor. The floating amount is detected from the I/F 46 (S109).

Next, the position calculation circuit 34 calculates the current position of the navigation sensor 30 using the angular velocity information and the amount of movement (S110). Specifically, the position calculation circuit 34 adds the position (X, Y) calculated in the previous cycle to the movement amount (ΔX′, ΔY′) acquired this time and the movement distance calculated from the angular velocity information, and obtains the current , the position of the navigation sensor 30 is calculated. If there is only the initial position and there is no position calculated last time, the current position of the navigation sensor 30 is calculated by adding the movement amount (ΔX', ΔY') acquired this time and the movement distance calculated from the angular velocity information to the initial position. do.

Next, the position calculation circuit 34 calculates the current position of each nozzle 71 using the current position of the navigation sensor 30 (S111).

In this manner, since the angular velocity information and the movement amount are obtained at the same time or substantially at the same time by the print/sensor timing generation unit 43, the position of the nozzle 71 is calculated based on the rotation angle and the movement amount obtained at the timing when the rotation angle is detected. can. Therefore, even if the position of the nozzle 71 is calculated using information from sensors of different types, the accuracy of the position of the nozzle 71 is unlikely to decrease.

Next, the CPU 33 controls the DMAC 38 to transmit the image data of the peripheral image of each nozzle 71 from the DRAM 29 to the image RAM 37 based on the calculated position of each nozzle 71 (S112). The rotator 39 rotates the image according to the head position (such as how to hold the HHP 20) and the inclination of the IJ recording head 24 designated by the user.

Next, the IJ recording head control unit 44 compares the position coordinates of each image element forming the peripheral image with the position coordinates of each nozzle 71 (S113). The position calculation circuit 34 calculates the acceleration of the nozzle 71 using the past position and current position of the nozzle 71 . Accordingly, the position calculation circuit 34 calculates the position of the nozzle 71 for each ink ejection cycle of the IJ recording head 24, which is shorter than the cycle in which the navigation sensor I/F 42 acquires the movement amount and the gyro sensor I/F 45 acquires the angular velocity information. Calculated. The IJ recording head control unit 44 determines whether or not the position coordinates of the image element are included within a predetermined range from the position of the nozzle 71 calculated by the position calculation circuit 34 .

If the ejection condition is not satisfied (No in S114), the process returns to step S108. If the ejection condition is satisfied (Yes in S114), the IJ print head control unit 44 outputs image element data to the IJ print head drive circuit 23 for each nozzle 71 (S115). As a result, ink is ejected onto the print medium 12 . The IJ recording head control unit 44 updates the ejection control table.

Next, the state control unit 67 determines whether the nozzle position is outside the image area, floating has been detected, all image data has been output, or the print button 26a has been pressed (S116). If the determination in step S116 is No, the processes from steps S108 to S115 are repeated.

If the determination in step S116 is Yes, the display control unit 70, for example, turns on the LED of the OPU 26 to notify the user that printing has been completed (S117). This completes image formation.

FIG. 16 is an example of a flowchart showing a procedure for the control unit 25 to control the system state of the HHP 20. As shown in FIG. The processing in FIG. 16 is a simplified version of the processing in FIG. 15, focusing on the state occupation. The process of FIG. 16 starts when the system state is III. printing shown in FIG.

The control unit 25 periodically acquires information from various sensors (S1). Therefore, determination of the inside/outside of the image area and floating is performed in this cycle. The cycle is, for example, several hundred nanoseconds to several milliseconds.

In step S2, the position calculation circuit 34 calculates the position based on the information detected by the navigation sensor 30 and the gyro sensor 31. FIG.

Next, the floating judging section 63 judges whether or not the HHP 20 has floated from the print medium 12 (S3).

Next, the image area inside/outside determining unit 66 determines whether or not the position of the nozzle 71 is outside the image area (S4).

Further, the control unit 25 periodically makes an alert determination (S5). For example, it determines that the scanning speed is above a certain level, or that the rotation speed is above a certain level, and if it is above a certain level, an alert (lighting of an LED lamp, output of an alarm sound, etc.) is given.

The print control unit 68 performs print control for ejecting ink based on the nozzle positions calculated by the position calculation circuit 34 (ejection nozzle propriety determination) (S6).

Then, the state control unit 67 performs state transition of the system state based on the above transition conditions (S7).

Steps S3, S4, and S7 will be described in detail below.

<<S7 Judgment of state transition>>
A method of determining the state transition will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 17 is an example of a flow chart illustrating a control method for transitioning from V. Scanning to VI. Image formation completion in accordance with the inside/outside image area determination and the floating determination.

First, the state control unit 67 determines whether the setting for transitioning from V. Scanning to VI. Image forming completion based on image area inside/outside judgment and floating judgment is ON or OFF (S11). This is because the user can cancel the automatic transition from scanning to VI. completion of image formation based on determination of inside/outside of image area and floating determination.

Therefore, if it is determined in step S11 that the automatic transition based on the image area inside/outside determination and floating determination is set to OFF, the processing of FIG. 17 ends.

If automatic transition based on image area inside/outside determination and floating determination is set to ON in step S11, the state control unit 67 determines whether the scanning mode is the single-pass mode or the multi-pass mode (S12).

In the single pass mode, the result of the image area inside/outside determination is used for state transition. Therefore, the state control unit 67 determines whether the result of the image area inside/outside determination is inside or outside the area (S13). The reason why the multi-pass mode does not use the image area inside/outside determination for state transition is that the user may mistakenly scan outside the image area in the multi-pass mode. In the multi-pass mode, even if the result of the inside/outside determination of the image area is outside the area, the system state of scanning is maintained. Therefore, in the multi-pass mode, by not using the image area inside/outside determination for the state transition, it is possible to prevent an erroneous transition to the image formation completion state.

If it is determined in step S13 that the result of the inside/outside determination of the image area is within the area, or if it is determined that the multipass mode is selected in step S12, the state control unit 67 determines whether the floating determination result is floating. It is determined whether the vehicle is grounded (S14).

If the result of the inside/outside determination of the image area is determined to be outside the area in step S13, or if it is determined to be in a floating state in step S14, the state control unit 67 changes the system state from V. during scanning to VI. Transition to completion of image formation is made (S15).

As described above, the control unit 25 of the present embodiment can change the system state of the HHP 20 based on the state of the scanning of the HHP 20 by the user, so that operations such as pressing buttons can be reduced.

Also, in FIG. 17, it was explained that the system state is not changed even if it is determined to be outside the image area in the multi-pass mode. good.

<<S4 Determining inside/outside area>>
Next, the inside/outside region determination will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 18 to 21. FIG. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the relationship between the image area 80 and the positions of the nozzles. First, a margin 81 is set around the image area 80 . The margin 81 may be determined as "R % of the image area", or may be a fixed length in the horizontal and vertical directions. The margin 81 is set by the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 .

The image area inside/outside determination unit 66 sets such a margin for the image area 80, and performs image area inside/outside determination for "image area+margin". In the following description, for ease of explanation, it is assumed that the image area inside/outside determination is performed for "image area+margin" unless otherwise specified.

Four nozzle positions AD are illustrated in FIG.
・Nozzle position A, B
Since all of the nozzles 1 to N are within the image area or "image area+margin", the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 determines that the HHP 20 is within the image area.
・Nozzle position C
Since all of the nozzles 1 to N are outside the "image area+margin", the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 determines that the HHP 20 is outside the image area. However, in the single-pass mode, coordinates in the Y direction (height direction) are not seen, so they are judged to be within the image area.
・Nozzle position D
Nozzle 1 is outside the "image area+margin", but nozzle N is inside the "image area+margin". However, when only the nozzle 1 is used for determination, it is determined that it is outside the image area. That is, it may be determined whether part of the image forming apparatus exceeds the right end or left end of the image data.

FIG. 19 is an example of a flow chart showing a procedure for the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 to determine whether the nozzle position is inside or outside the image area.

Since the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 changes the criteria for determining whether the nozzle position is inside or outside the image area depending on the scanning mode, it determines whether the mode is the multi-pass mode or the single-pass mode (S21).

In the case of the multi-pass mode, the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 sets four area inside/outside determination threshold values to the variables X1, X2, Y1, and Y2 as follows (S22).
X1=X coordinate of the right edge of the image X2=X coordinate of the left edge of the image Y1=Y coordinate of the upper edge of the image Y2=Y coordinate of the lower edge of the image As described above, these values can be detected from the image data.

In the case of the single-pass mode, the image area inside/outside determining unit 66 further determines whether the scanning is to the right or to the left (S23).

In the case of scanning in the right direction in the single-pass mode, only the right edge of the image area needs to be determined. Set (S24).
X1 = X coordinate of the right edge of the image X2 = Minimum settable value Y1 = Maximum settable value Y2 = Minimum settable value The minimum settable value is the minimum value that the HHP20 can handle as a numerical value, and the maximum settable value is a numerical value. is the maximum value that can be treated as Therefore, it can be considered that the nozzle position cannot become smaller than the settable minimum value or larger than the settable maximum value. By setting the minimum value that can be set for X2, it is possible not to determine that the area is outside the area even if the area is scanned in the opposite direction (to the left).

In the case of scanning in the left direction in the single-pass mode, only the left end of the image area needs to be determined. Set (S25).
X1=Maximum settable value X2=X coordinate of left edge of image Y1=Maximum settable value Y2=Minimum settable value Appropriate image area inside/outside determination can be performed. By setting the maximum value that can be set to X1, it is possible not to determine that the area is outside the area even if the area is scanned in the opposite direction (to the right).

Next, in steps S26 to S28, the image area inside/outside determining unit 66 sets a margin 81 in the image area 80. FIG. In step S26, margins are set for X1, X2, Y1 and Y2, respectively, since the mode is the multipass mode (S26).

In step S27, the margin is set only for X1 because the single-pass mode is scanning in the right direction (S27). In step S28, since leftward scanning is performed in the single pass mode, a margin is set only for X2 (S28).

Subsequently, the image area inside/outside determination unit 66
Nozzle 1 position X < X1 and Nozzle N position X < X1
(S29). That is, it is determined whether or not the entirety of the nozzles 1 to N has exceeded the right edge of the image data (whether the entirety of the HHP 20 has exceeded the right edge of the image data).

If not exceeded (Yes in S29), the image area inside/outside determination unit 66
Nozzle 1 position Y < Y1 and Nozzle N position Y < Y1
(S30). That is, it is determined whether the entire nozzles 1 to N have exceeded the upper end of the image data (whether the entire HHP 20 has exceeded the upper end of the image data).

If not exceeded (Yes in S30), the image area inside/outside determination unit 66
Nozzle 1 position X>X2 and Nozzle N position X>X2
(S31). That is, it is determined whether or not the entirety of the nozzles 1 to N has exceeded the left edge of the image data (whether the entirety of the HHP 20 has exceeded the left edge of the image data).

If not exceeded (Yes in S31), the image area inside/outside determination unit 66
Nozzle 1 position Y>Y2 and Nozzle N position Y>Y2
(S32). That is, it is determined whether or not the entirety of the nozzles 1 to N has exceeded the lower edge of the image data (whether the entirety of the HHP 20 has exceeded the lower edge of the image data).

In steps S29 to S32, the positions of both nozzle 1 and nozzle N are compared with variables X1 and X2. Just compare with X2. This is because the positions of nozzle 1 and nozzle N have the same value in the single pass mode. In other words, it is only necessary to determine whether a portion of the HHP 20 exceeds the right or left end of the image data.

If all of steps S29 to S32 result in Yes, the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 determines that the image area is within the image area (S33).

If even one of steps S29 to S32 determines No, the image area inside/outside determining unit 66 determines that the image area is outside the image area (S34).

Further, in FIG. 19, determination is made based on the nozzle position, but the coordinates of any part of the HHP 20 main body (housing) may be used as the determination target. Since the coordinates of the parts of the housing are determined relative to the nozzle positions, they can be calculated from the nozzle positions. Any one of the four corners of the bottom surface or the coordinates of the outermost edge can be used as the portion of the housing.

FIG. 20 is an example of a flow chart for determining whether or not the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 receives the result of the area inside/outside determination unit in FIG. is.

First, the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 performs the image area inside/outside determination described with reference to FIG. 19 (S41).

Next, the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 determines whether the determination result is outside the image area or inside the image area (S42).

If it is determined to be outside the image area, the image area inside/outside determining unit 66 counts up the measured value of time (S43).

If it is determined to be within the image area, the image area inside/outside determining unit 66 clears the time measurement value (S44).

Next, the image area inside/outside determining unit 66 determines whether or not the measured time value is equal to or longer than a predetermined time (S45). If the determination in step S45 is Yes, the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 sets the determination flag to ON (S46). If the determination flag is ON, the state control unit 67 is notified that the outside of the image area has been detected.

If the determination in step S45 is No, the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 sets the determination flag to OFF (S47).

Note that the certain period of time can be adjusted as appropriate. Also, it may be set by the user.

As described above, even if it is determined that the HHP 20 is out of the image area in the processing of FIG. In this case, it is possible to suppress the end of printing.

<<S3 floating judgment>>
Next, floating determination will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 21 is an example of a flow chart showing a procedure for determining whether or not floating has been detected by the floating determining section 63 .

The float determination unit 63 determines whether or not the float amount obtained from the float detection sensor 32 is equal to or greater than a threshold (S51). For example, when the float detection sensor 32 detects not only whether the float is floated but also the amount of float, a slight float can be ignored. If the float detection sensor 32 can only detect whether or not it is floating, it is determined that the float amount is greater than or equal to the threshold when the float detection sensor 32 detects that it is floating.

If the determination in step S51 is Yes, the float determining section 63 counts up the measured value of time (S52).

If the determination in step S51 is No, the float determining section 63 clears the time measurement value (S53).

Next, the float determination unit 63 determines whether or not the measured value of time is equal to or longer than a certain period of time (S54). If the determination in step S54 is Yes, the float determination unit 63 sets the determination flag to ON (S55). When the determination flag is ON, the state control unit 67 is notified that the floating has been detected.

If the determination in step S54 is No, the float determination unit 63 sets the determination flag to OFF (S56).

Note that the threshold can be adjusted as appropriate. Also, it may be set by the user. The fixed time in FIG. 21 may be the same as or different from the fixed time in FIG.

<Modified Example of Determining Inside/Outside Image Area>
A modification of the inside/outside determination of the image area explained with reference to FIG. 19 will be explained. In FIG. 19, rightward scanning and leftward scanning are determined separately in the single-pass mode, but they can also be determined without distinction. Since there is no change in the multipath mode, the single path mode will be explained.

FIG. 22 is an example of a flowchart showing a procedure for the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 to determine whether the nozzle position is inside or outside the image area. The image area inside/outside determination unit 66 sets four area inside/outside determination thresholds for variables X1, X2, Y1, and Y2 as follows (S61).
X1=X coordinate of right edge of image X2=X coordinate of left edge of image Y1=Maximum settable value Y2=Minimum settable value
Nozzle 1 position X < X1 and Nozzle N position X < X1
(S62). That is, it is determined whether or not all of the nozzles 1 to N have exceeded the right end of the image data.

If not exceeded (Yes in S62), the image area inside/outside determination unit 66
Nozzle 1 position X < X2 and Nozzle N position X < X2
(S63). That is, it is determined whether or not all of the nozzles 1 to N have exceeded the left edge of the image data.

If the determination in step S62 is No, the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 sets the right edge passage flag to ON (S65).

If the determination in step S63 is No, the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 sets the left end passage flag to ON (S64).

Next, if the right edge passage flag is ON in step S66, the image area inside/outside determining unit 66 determines outside the image area (S68).

If the right edge passage flag is OFF in step S66 and if the left edge passage flag is ON in step S67, the image area inside/outside determining unit 66 determines outside the image area (S68).

If both the right edge passage flag and the left edge passage flag are OFF in steps S66 and S67, the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 determines that the image area is within the image area (S69).

As described above, in the single-pass mode, it is possible to determine whether the image area is inside or outside without distinguishing between rightward scanning and leftward scanning. Since it is the single pass mode, it can be determined whether part of the HHP 20 exceeds the right end or left end of the image data, as in FIG.

<Summary>
As described above, the HHP 20 of this embodiment can transition the system state of the HHP 20 based on the state associated with the scanning of the HHP 20 (detection of scanning outside the image area or floating). Since the user can start scanning the next page after printing is completed, the frequency of user operations can be reduced. Conventionally, the user has to press a predetermined button on the HHP 20 in order to change the system state to the completion of image formation. In addition, the user can forcibly complete printing even in the middle of printing image data and print the next image data.

<Other application examples>
Although the best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described above using examples, the present invention is by no means limited to such examples, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. and substitutions can be added.
For example, the HHP 20 of this embodiment has both the single path mode and the multipath mode, but the HHP 20 may have either the single path mode or the multipath mode.

Also, the HHP 20 may communicate with the server. The user sends the image data to the server in advance so that it is recorded in association with the user ID or the like. When the HHP 20 sends the user ID to the server (logs in), the server sends the image data to the HHP 20 so that it can be printed.

Alternatively, the user may input the text to be printed by voice, or the image data output device 11 may transmit the voice data to the server, and the server may perform voice recognition processing.

Also, the HHP 20 may have a camera. The HHP 20 can print images captured by the camera.

Further, the configuration examples shown in FIG. 6 and the like shown in the above embodiment are divided according to the main functions in order to facilitate understanding of the processing of the image data output unit 11 and the HHP 20. FIG. However, the method of dividing each processing unit and the names thereof do not limit the present invention. The image data output unit 11 and the HHP 20 can be divided into more processing units according to the content of processing. Also, one processing unit can be divided to include more processing.

The position calculation circuit 34 is an example of a position detection unit, the IJ recording head control unit 44 is an example of an ejection drive unit, the state control unit 67 is an example of a state control unit, and the image area inside/outside determination unit 66 is an example of a state control unit. It is an example of an image area determination unit, and the floating determination unit 63 is an example of a distance detection unit.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 11 image data output device 12 print medium 30 navigation sensor 31 gyro sensor 32 floating detection sensor 71 nozzle 80 image area 81 margin 100 droplet discharge system

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2010-522650

Claims (14)

An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a medium as it is scanned by a user,
an image forming unit that forms an image;
a position detection unit that detects the position of the image forming unit with respect to the medium;
a control unit that controls the image forming unit based on the position of the image forming unit detected by the position detection unit and image data;
a state control unit that controls the system state of the image forming unit based on the position of the image forming unit as the image forming unit scans the medium;
When the image forming unit forms an image in a first scanning mode in which an image is formed both when scanning from the left to the right and when scanning from the right to the left when viewed from the user,
The image forming apparatus , wherein the state control section maintains the system state regardless of the position of the image forming section with respect to the image area where the image is formed based on the image data . An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a medium as it is scanned by a user,
an image forming unit that forms an image;
a position detection unit that detects the position of the image forming unit with respect to the medium;
a control unit that controls the image forming unit based on the position of the image forming unit detected by the position detection unit and image data;
a state control unit that controls a system state of the image forming unit based on the position of the image forming unit as the image forming unit scans the medium;
When the image forming unit forms an image in a first scanning mode in which an image is formed both when scanning from the left to the right and when scanning from the right to the left when viewed from the user,
The state control unit controls the system state when the image forming unit as a whole exceeds the right end, left end, top end, or bottom end of an image area in which an image is formed based on the image data. image forming apparatus. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said state control section controls said system state based on a position of said image forming section with respect to an image area in which an image is formed based on said image data. Device. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the state control unit controls the system state when the image forming apparatus is floating above the medium by a predetermined distance or more in the normal direction of the medium. Device. The control unit causes the image forming unit to form an image when the system state is scanning;
5. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the state control unit controls the system state of scanning from the system state of scanning to the system state of image formation completion, which completes the formation of the image, based on the position of the image forming unit. The image forming apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 3. 6. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the state control unit controls the system state of scanning from the system state of scanning to the system state of image formation completion even if the image formation based on the image data is not completed. Image forming device. When the state control unit controls the system state of scanning from the system state of the image formation to the system state of the image formation completion, if the image data not used for image formation remains,
The state control unit transitions the system state of image formation completion to a system state of print ready for accepting the start of image formation,
7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein when a predetermined operation is received in the system state of print ready, the system state of print ready is changed to the system state of scanning. When the image forming unit forms an image in a second scanning mode in which an image is formed only when scanning from left to right as seen from the user,
8. The state control unit controls the system state when the position of the image forming unit exceeds the right end of an image area in which an image is formed based on the image data. The image forming apparatus according to any one of . When the image forming unit forms an image in a second scanning mode that forms an image only when scanning from right to left as seen from the user,
8. The state control unit controls the system state when the position of the image forming unit exceeds the left edge of an image area in which an image is formed based on the image data. The image forming apparatus according to any one of . When the image forming unit forms an image in a second scanning mode in which an image is formed only when scanning from the left to the right or only when scanning from the right to the left when viewed from the user,
The state control unit controls the system state when part of the image forming unit exceeds either the right end or the left end of an image area in which an image is formed based on the image data. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 . A state control method performed by an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a medium by being scanned by a user, the method comprising:
detecting the position of an image forming station for forming an image with respect to a medium;
controlling the image forming unit based on the detected position of the image forming unit and image data;
controlling a system state of the image forming unit based on a position of the image forming unit as the image forming unit scans relative to a medium;
When the image forming unit forms an image in a first scanning mode in which an image is formed both when scanning from the left to the right and when scanning from the right to the left when viewed from the user,
A state control method , wherein the system state is maintained regardless of the position of the image forming unit with respect to the image area where the image is formed based on the image data . A state control method performed by an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a medium by being scanned by a user, the method comprising:
detecting the position of an image forming station for forming an image with respect to a medium;
controlling the image forming unit based on the detected position of the image forming unit and image data;
controlling a system state of the image forming unit based on a position of the image forming unit as the image forming unit scans relative to a medium;
When the image forming unit forms an image in a first scanning mode in which an image is formed both when scanning from the left to the right and when scanning from the right to the left when viewed from the user,
A state control method , wherein the system state is controlled when the entirety of the image forming unit exceeds the right end, left end, top end, or bottom end of an image area in which an image is formed based on the image data . An image forming device that forms an image on media as it is scanned by a user;
detecting the position of an image forming station for forming an image with respect to a medium;
controlling the image forming unit based on the detected position of the image forming unit and image data;
controlling a system state of the image forming station based on the position of the image forming station as the image forming station scans relative to a medium;
When the image forming unit forms an image in a first scanning mode in which an image is formed both when scanning from the left to the right and when scanning from the right to the left when viewed from the user,
A program for maintaining the system state regardless of the position of the image forming unit with respect to an image area where an image is formed based on the image data . An image forming device that forms an image on media as it is scanned by a user;
detecting the position of an image forming station for forming an image with respect to a medium;
controlling the image forming unit based on the detected position of the image forming unit and image data;
controlling a system state of the image forming station based on the position of the image forming station as the image forming station scans relative to a medium;
When the image forming unit forms an image in a first scanning mode in which an image is formed both when scanning from the left to the right and when scanning from the right to the left when viewed from the user,
A program for controlling the system state when the entire image forming unit exceeds the right edge, left edge, upper edge, or lower edge of an image area in which an image is formed based on the image data .

Images