JPH02198959A - Image recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To correctly detect the residual quantity of a recording medium by releasing the mark detection indication of a display means when the mark in the vicinity of the terminal of a recording medium is not detected by a detecting means and the roll diameter over a prescribed value is detected. CONSTITUTION:A strip-shaped sheet which is pulled out from a roll paper 1 stored in a holder 80 is cut to a prescribed length by a cutter 8 through a guide roller 6 and a pair of transport rollers 7, and an image corresponding to the image information is formed by an ink jet head 17. The top edge roller 3b of a detection lever 3 rolling-contacts the outer peripheral surface of the roll paper 1, and when the diameter reduces to a prescribed winding diameter, the other edge 3c rises to a photosensor 5, and the reduction of the residual quantity of the roll paper 1 to a prescribed quantity is detected, and the recording of a long material is alarmed and displayed. Further, when a black seal installed in the vicinity of the edge of the roll paper 1 is detected by a terminal sensor 20, replacement of paper is displayed. Further, when it is detected that each signal of the both sensors 5 and 20 is of L-level, display is released. Therefore, the residual quantity of the recording medium can be detected correctly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus that unwinds a recording medium wound into a roll and conveys it to a recording position to record an image.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in a printer using roll paper 703 as recording paper, a band-shaped mark 701 or the like having a different reflectance from the recording paper is printed at the end near the end of the recording paper, as shown in FIG. The mark 701 is read by the photosensor 702 to detect that the roll paper 703 is running low. In this way, when it is detected that the remaining amount of recording paper is low, a message indicating that there is no recording paper is displayed on the printer's display and the next recording operation is prohibited until new recording paper is set. I was trying to do that.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, if the end of the recording paper is detected by printing a band-like mark on the recording paper, a band-like mark will appear near the end of the recording paper near the recorded image, etc. mark is printed, which lowers the quality of the recorded image.

In addition, after it is detected that the remaining amount of recording paper is low and a message indicating that there is no recording paper is displayed, whether or not the recording paper has been replaced can be determined by opening or closing the door of the storage section that stores the recording paper. The judgment is based on whether the However, in this case, even when the door etc. is opened and closed and recording paper with a low amount of remaining paper is set again, the out-of-paper status will be canceled, and even though there is actually little remaining paper, the paper will not be displayed. There was a problem that no display was made.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus that can accurately detect the remaining amount of a recording medium.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image recording device that does not impair the quality of image recording on a recording medium by making it possible to remove or erase a mark indicating that the remaining amount of the recording medium is low. .

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the image recording apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, an image recording apparatus that unwinds a recording medium wound into a roll, conveys it to a recording position, and records an image on the recording medium, and detects a mark attached near the end of the recording medium. a detecting means, a display means for displaying that the detecting means has detected the mark, a detecting means for detecting that the roll diameter of the recording medium has become less than a predetermined value, and the mark is detected by the detecting means. and control means for controlling the display means to cancel the display when the roll diameter is not detected by the detection means to be less than or equal to a predetermined value.

[Operation] In the above configuration, when a mark attached near the end of the recording medium is detected, a message indicating that the mark has been detected is displayed. This display operates to be canceled when no mark is detected and the roll diameter of the recording medium is not detected to be less than a predetermined value by the detection means that detects that the roll diameter of the recording medium is less than a predetermined value. There is.

Further, the mark attached to the recording medium can be removed or erased.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Description of inkjet printer (Fig. 1, Fig. 2)] Fig. 1 shows a serial type inkjet printer 1 of the embodiment.
00 is a side cross-sectional explanatory view. Note that this inkjet printer 100 uses Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 54-5 as a printing method.
An ink recording type recording head described in Japanese Patent No. 9938 was used.

The printer 100 of this embodiment uses a roll paper 1, which is a long recording paper wound into a roll, as a recording medium, and a cut paper 9, which is the recording paper cut into a predetermined size, in a recording paper cassette 1.
0, and one of the roll paper 1 and cut paper 9 can be selected for recording.

The roll paper l is loaded in a roll paper holder section 80 which is a storage section, and is passed from this holder section 8o to a roll paper conveyance path 81.
The paper is conveyed to the recording position by the rad 17 to the inkjet which performs recording using the inkjet method. on the other hand,
The cut recording paper 9 stored in the recording paper cassette 10 is sent out to the cut paper conveyance path 82 by the rotation of the pickup roller 11, and is conveyed by the conveyance rollers 12a, 12b-1.
Rad 1 to the inkjet by rotating 6a, 16b, etc.
It is conveyed to the recording position indicated by 7, and recording of the image is executed. Further, 83 is a manual feed port for inserting cut paper, and the cut paper inserted through this manual feed port 83 is merged at the upper part of the cut paper conveyance path 82 and is conveyed to the inkjet to the position of the rad 17. It is configured.

The roll paper 1 is wound on a reel la, and is rotatably attached and stored in a holder 80.

A conveyance path 81 for the roll paper 1 is configured to pass through a guide roller 6, a pair of set rollers 7b, 7a, and a cutter 8, and then reach a pair of conveyance rollers 16a, 16b. One of the rollers 7 and b of the pair of set rollers 7a and 7b is a metal drive roller, which is rotated by the drive of a roll paper conveyance motor 58, which will be described later, and a rubber driven roller that comes into pressure contact with this and rotates as a result. The roll paper 1 is conveyed in the direction of the cutter 8 by cooperation with the cutter 7a.

The cutter 8 is a rotary cutter consisting of a driving blade 8a and a biasing blade 8b, and the double-edged blade 8a,
The roll paper 1 conveyed between the sections 8b can be cut into a predetermined size. Furthermore, the conveyance rollers 16a and 16b are
The driving roller 16b and the driven roller 18a are arranged in pressure contact with each other, and the driving roller 16 is moved by a conveyance motor (not shown).
By rotating b in the direction of the arrow, the driven roller 16
The conveyed roll paper 1 is conveyed to the inkjet rad 17 by cooperation with the inkjet printer 1.

This inkjet head 17 is mounted on a carriage (not shown), and is reciprocated in the front and back directions in FIG. 1 by the drive of a carriage motor 57, which will be described later. By ejecting ink, an image is recorded on the roll paper l or cut paper 9 that has been conveyed to the recording position.

A platen 18 supports the roll paper 1 or the cut recording paper 9, which has been sucked toward the platen 18 by a suction pump (not shown), from the back side at the recording position. Reference numeral 19 denotes a discharge roller, and by rotating the drive roller 19b in the direction of the arrow by a strip discharge motor 60 (to be described later), the recording paper on which recording has been recorded is delivered to the discharge port through cooperation with the driven roller 19b. It is discharged from 84.

3 is a detection lever for detecting the diameter of the roll paper 1, and is supported by a fulcrum 3a. A roller 3b is attached to the tip of the lever 3 on the roll paper 1 side.
is pressed against the roll paper 1 with a predetermined pressure by the action of the spring 4. Therefore, the usable length of the roll paper 1 becomes longer,
As the diameter of the roll paper l becomes smaller, the lever 3 moves in the direction of arrow C.
move in the direction. As a result, the end 3C of the lever 3 opposite to the side to which the roller 3b is attached rises to the position of the photosensor 5, so that the remaining amount (diameter) of the roll paper 1 can be detected. .

Since the printer 100 of this embodiment is capable of long-length printing, it is ensured that the roll paper does not run out during long-length printing. This is, for example, a maximum of 1
If 0m printing is possible, the remaining amount of roll paper 1 is 10
at a position where the photo sensor 5 can detect the end 3C of the lever 3 when the diameter of the roll paper 1 reaches m.
A photosensor 5 is provided. In this way, when the photosensor 5 detects the end 3c of the lever, it performs processing such as prohibiting long recording or displaying a warning. A mark M5, such as a removable black sticker M, attached to the end near the end of the roll paper 1 is detected by reflected light to detect that the remaining amount of the roll paper 1 is low.

FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the mounting position of the sensor 20 for detecting the black seal M on the roll paper 1 and the black seal M attached to the roll paper 1.

Furthermore, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another mechanism for detecting a change in the diameter of the roll paper l.

Here, as in the case of FIG. 1, the end of the lever 91 is held in contact with the outer periphery of the roll paper 1. This lever 91 is designed to be rotatable about a fulcrum 95, and is pulled in the direction of arrow F by a spring 94. When the diameter of the roll paper 1 decreases as the used length of the roll paper 1 increases, the protrusion 93 attached to the lever 91 blocks the photointerrupter 92. Therefore, by adjusting the mounting position of the photo ink printer 92, it is possible to detect when the remaining amount of the roll paper reaches a predetermined length.

FIG. 2 shows a control unit 110 in the printer 100 of the embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an electrical connection between the recording unit 111 and the recording unit 111. FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 110 denotes a control unit that controls the entire printer device of the embodiment, for example, a CPU such as a microprocessor.
U31, CPU31 shown in the flowchart of FIG.
ROM3 that stores control programs and various data, etc.
2, it further includes a RAM 33, which is used as a work area for the CPU 31 and temporarily stores various data. 330 is a paper out flag that is turned on by the end sensor 20 when the roll paper 1 approaches the end; 331
is a paper out exchange flag that is turned on when the paper out flag 330 is on and the door 12, which will be described later, is opened to replace the roll paper 1, and these flags are set in the RAM 33.

A display section 112 displays the status of the printer 100, messages and warnings to the operator, and displays, for example, that the roll paper 1 is out of paper or that the cut recording paper 9 is out of paper. Reference numeral 113 denotes an input unit for inputting recorded data from an external device and instructions from an operation unit (not shown).

A recording unit 111 includes various motors, an inkjet head 17, and the like, and records an image on the roll paper 1 or the cut paper 9. A schematic configuration of this recording section 111 will be described below.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a serial type inkjet head, which includes a plurality of heads capable of ejecting ink stations corresponding to each color so as to enable color recording. 50 is a drive unit that drives the inkjet rad 17 according to the image data to be recorded;
Reference numeral 57 denotes a carriage motor that transports the carriage on which the inkjet head 17 and the like are mounted in the front and back directions in FIG. Reference numeral 58 denotes a roll paper conveyance motor that rotationally drives the conveyance rollers on the conveyance path 81 of the roll paper 1. 5
9 is a motor for transporting cut paper, and a cut paper transport path 82
It rotates various drive rollers. Reference numeral 60 denotes a paper ejection motor which rotates the paper ejection drive roller 19b and conveys the recorded and cut roll paper 1 or cut paper 9 to the ejection port 84 and ejects it. A pick-up motor 61 rotates the pick-up roller 11 and takes out the cut sheets 9 one by one from the recording paper cassette 10. Each of 51 to 55 is a driver circuit for driving each of the aforementioned motors. Reference numeral 56 denotes a drive unit for driving the cutter 8, which rotationally drives the drive blade 8b by the driving force of a motor (not shown).

Reference numeral 20 denotes a termination sensor which detects the absence of reflected light from a black seal M attached to or near the termination of the roll paper 1, and detects the remaining amount of the roll paper 1.

A roll diameter sensor 5 detects when the diameter of the roll paper l has reached a predetermined length. A door sensor 63 detects opening/closing of the door 12, which will be described later, and detects when the door 12 is opened to replace the roll paper 1, such as when an out-of-paper message is displayed.

[Description of Door Section 12 (FIG. 3)] FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B) are views showing the states when the door 12 is opened and closed, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 3(A), the door 12 is rotatably mounted around a shaft 12a. 85 and 86 are guide plates for the cut paper conveyance path 82.

FIG. 3(B) is a diagram showing a state in which the door 12 is opened from the state in FIG. 3(A). As a result, a part of the cut paper conveyance path 82 is evacuated, and the holder 80 located deep inside the apparatus is
The roll paper 1 can be replaced by pulling it out.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 6(C), the door 12 is configured to cover the opening from the upper part of the cassette loading part 85 to the lower part of the discharge port 84, and has a manual feed port 83 at a predetermined position. It is. The door sensor 63 is as shown in FIG. 3(B).
It is attached to the door side end of the chassis frame 120 of the main body. As a result, when the door 12 is closed as shown in FIG. 3(A), it is pressed by the projection 63a of the door 12 and is in the off state, and as shown in FIG. 3(B), the door 12 is opened. When it is closed, it is in the on state.

In addition, in FIG. 3(B), <64 is an opening.

[Description of Sensor Circuit (FIG. 4)] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the end sensor 20 of the roll paper 1 and the roll diameter sensor 5, and the connection between these sensors and the CPU 31.

The end sensor 20 is configured such that a phototransistor 47 receives light from a light emitting diode 45 that is reflected by a mark provided near the end of the roll paper 1 . 41 is a pull-up resistor for the phototransistor 47, and 4o is an inverter. When the sensor 20 detects a black seal near the end of the roll paper 1, the reflected light that had been input to the phototransistor 47 disappears, so the inverter 40 The output goes from high level to low level. Similarly, the roll diameter sensor 5 includes a light emitting diode 44 and a phototransistor 42. Then, when the end portion 3C of the lever 3 comes between the light emitting diode 44 and the phototransistor 42, light from the light emitting diode 44 is blocked, and the phototransistor 42 is turned off. Therefore, when the roll diameter sensor 5 detects that the diameter of the roll paper 1 has become smaller than a predetermined value,
The output of the inverter 38 becomes low level. 43.46
is a current limiting resistor of each light emitting diode, and 39 is a pull-up resistor.

30 is a parallel interface section, and the signals from the sensors 5 and 20 are sent to this parallel interface section 30.
is input to the CPU 31 via the . 34 is a battery for backing up RAM 33, and its output voltage is VCC.
It is smaller than. Therefore, when the power of the printer 100 is on, power is supplied to the RAM 33 through the diode 37, and when the power is turned off, power is supplied to the RAM 33 through the diode 35. As a result, even if the printer 10o is powered off, the data in the RAM 33 is not erased and is held in a non-volatile manner. 35 is a current limiting resistor that limits the current flowing to the RAM 33 during backup.

[Operation Description (Figs. 1 to 5)] Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the remaining amount detection process of the roll paper 1 that is executed before the recording process using the roll paper 1 in the inkjet printer 100 of the embodiment. The operation will be explained below based on this flowchart. Here, a case will be described in which an image is recorded on the roll paper 1 due to reasons such as whether recording on the roll paper 1 has been previously instructed by the input unit 113 or whether the cut paper 9 is not attached.

First, in step S1, it is checked whether the paper out flag 330 is on. This is to check whether the vicinity of the end of the roll paper 1 is detected by the end sensor 2o. If the out-of-paper flag 330 is not on, recording processing is possible, so the process advances to step S2, and waits for a print start command to be input from an external device, etc. When printing starts, the process advances to step S3, where the roll paper conveyance motor is activated. 58 to start transporting the roll paper 1.

In step S4, it is checked whether the vicinity of the end of the roll paper 1 is detected by the end sensor 20 while the roll paper 1 is being conveyed by checking whether the output of the inverter 40 is at a low level. If the level is low (if the end has been detected), the process advances to step S5, where the out-of-paper flag 330 of the RAM 33 is turned on.Next, in step S6, wait for the end of conveyance of the roll paper 1, and When the conveyance of the fixed amount is completed, the process proceeds to step S7. At this time, the black seal M
By setting the position at a position equal to or more than one print remaining, even if a black seal is detected, the print processing is executed by driving the rad 17 to the inkjet in step S7.

When the printing is completed in step S8, the process advances to step S9, and it is checked whether the paper out flag 330 is on. If it is not on, the process ends, but if it is on, step SI
The process proceeds to O. In step SIO, the display section 112 displays that one roll paper is out. And step S
At 11, it is determined whether the door 12 is opened based on the signal from the door sensor 63. When the door 12 is opened, the process advances to step S12 to check whether the end sensor 20 detects the vicinity of the end of the roll paper 1 or detects that the roll paper 1 is removed.

If the vicinity of the end of the roll paper 1 or the absence of the roll paper 1 is detected, the process advances to step S13, the paper out replacement flag 331 is turned on, and the process returns to step Sll.

Next, when a new roll paper 1 is set, the end sensor 2
0, the process moves from step S12 to step S14 to detect reflected light, and in step S14, the paper out exchange flag 3 is set.
Check whether 31 is on or not 6 paper out exchange flag 331
is off, that is, when the door 12 is opened not because the amount of roll paper 1 remaining is low and to be replaced, but only for inspection inside the printer, etc., the process returns to step Sll. When the out-of-paper flag 331 is on in step S14, the process advances to step S15, where it is determined whether the roll diameter sensor 5 is on or not.
That is, it is checked whether the output of the inverter 38 is at a low level and the diameter of the roll paper l is smaller than a predetermined value. This roll diameter sensor 5 is located at the end 3 of the lever 3.
c is detected and the roll diameter is small, step S
Returning to step 11, when the roll paper 1 is newly replaced and the roll diameter sensor 5 detects that the roll diameter has become larger than a predetermined amount, the process advances to step S16, and both the paper out flag 330 and the paper out replacement flag are set. Reset.

Then, when the door 12 is closed in step Sll, the process advances to step S17, and it is checked whether both the paper out flag 330 and the paper out replacement flag 331 have been reset. If any flag is on here, roll paper 1
Since the amount remaining is still low, step SIO is performed again.
Return to the screen and display that the roll paper is to be replaced.Meanwhile,
If both the out-of-paper flag 330 and the out-of-paper exchange flag 331 are reset in step S17, the process advances to step 31B, where the indication that there is no roll paper displayed on the display unit 113 is cleared, and the process ends.

In this way, according to this embodiment, the above-mentioned black seal M
Since the roll paper out condition is detected only when the diameter of the roll paper l is larger than a predetermined amount by the roll diameter sensor 5, the out of roll paper condition is released. If you just fix it, the state of no roll paper 1 will not be released. This can eliminate problems such as deterioration of print quality near the end of the roll paper. In addition, there is a paper out flag 330 and a paper out exchange flag 3.
31 and the like are stored in the backed-up RAM 33, so even if the printer is turned off when replacing the roll paper 1, the remaining amount of roll paper will not be incorrectly displayed.

[Other Embodiments (FIG. 6)] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration for detecting the remaining amount of roll paper 604 according to another embodiment.

In the figure, 600 is a photo interrupter that detects reflected light from the side surface of roll paper 604.

As a result, when the diameter of the roll paper 604 becomes smaller than the position of the photo ink club 00, reflected light from the roll paper 604 is no longer detected. Thereby, like the roll diameter sensor 5 described above, the CPU 601 is notified that the remaining amount of the roll paper 604 is low. 602 is a photosensor similar to the termination sensor 20 described above, and the CPU 60
1 determines that the remaining amount of the roll paper 604 is low when reflected light from the roll paper 604 cannot be detected due to a black sticker attached near the end of the roll paper 604 or the like.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the end of the roll paper is detected using a removable black sticker, but the present invention is not limited to this. Alternatively, you may mark it with a pencil or marker.

Further, although this embodiment has been explained using an inkjet printer, the present invention is not limited to this, and recording devices that record images using roll paper, such as thermal printers and wire dot printers, as well as electrophotographic printers, etc. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to recording devices, copying devices, and the like.

In addition, in this embodiment, the number of marks is one, but the number is not limited to this. If there is only one mark, the sensor may malfunction or the recording paper may be misaligned with respect to the sensor, causing the sensor to become unresponsive. Since detection may occur, multiple marks may be added.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, a removable or erasable mark is attached near the end of the roll paper, and by detecting the remaining amount of the roll paper based on the mark, the remaining amount of the roll paper is detected. Marks on the roll paper can be erased to improve the quality of recorded images near the end.

Furthermore, by detecting the roll diameter in addition to the remaining amount of roll paper, it is possible to prevent the remaining amount of roll paper from being erroneously detected. Furthermore, by constantly storing flags indicating that the end of the roll paper has been detected or that the door has been opened or closed to replace the roll paper, even if the power to the main unit is turned off, This has the effect of eliminating the possibility of incorrectly determining the remaining amount of roll paper.

Furthermore, by setting the mark at a position where the remaining amount of paper can be detected for the longest length that can be printed, a warning can be displayed before printing if the paper is about to run out during long printing.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the remaining amount of the recording medium can be accurately detected.

Further, by making it possible to remove or erase the mark indicating that the remaining amount of the recording medium is low, there is an effect that the quality of image recording on the recording medium is not impaired.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a side cross section of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment, and FIG. 3 (A) and (B) are inkjet printers according to an embodiment. FIG. 3(C) is a side view showing the printer door in an open/closed state; FIG. 3(C) is a front view showing the inkjet printer of the embodiment with the door closed; Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the process of detecting the remaining amount of roll paper in the inkjet printer of the embodiment. Figure 6 is a diagram showing the sensor of another embodiment and its installation status. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration for detecting a black seal in the embodiment, and FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating another example of detecting the remaining amount of roll paper. In the figure, l...roll paper, 3...detection lever 1.3b
... Roller, 5 ... Roll diameter sensor, 6 ... Guide roller, 8 ... Cutter, 9 ... Cut paper, 10.
...Recording paper cassette, 11...Pickup roller,
12...Door, 17...Inkjet head, 1
8...Platen, 19...Paper ejection roller, 2o...
・Terminal sensor, 31...CPU, 32...ROM,
33...RAM, 50...Head drive section, 51-5
5... Motor driver circuit, 56... Drive section, 57
... Carriage motor, 58 ... Motor for transporting roll paper, 59 ... Motor for transporting cut paper, 60 ... Motor for discharging paper, 61 ... Motor for pickup roller,
63... Door sensor, 81... Roll paper conveyance path,
82...Cut paper conveyance path, 83...Manual feed slot, 10
0... Inkjet printer, 110... Control unit, 111... Recording unit, 112... Display unit, 113...
...This is an input section.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) An image recording device that unwinds a recording medium wound into a roll, conveys it to a recording position, and records an image on the recording medium, and detects a mark attached near the end of the recording medium. a detection means for detecting that the mark has been detected by the detection means; a detection means for detecting that the roll diameter of the recording medium has become less than a predetermined value; and a display means for displaying that the detection means has detected the mark; An image recording apparatus comprising: control means for controlling the display means to cancel the display when the roll diameter is not detected and the roll diameter is not detected by the detection means to be less than or equal to a predetermined value. (2) The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mark is attached to the recording medium in a removable or erasable manner. (3) An image recording apparatus using a roll-shaped recording sheet, comprising: a first detection means that detects the remaining amount of the roll-shaped recording sheet in stages; and a mark provided at an end portion of the roll-shaped recording sheet. a second detection means for detecting the end of the recording sheet by detecting the end of the recording sheet; and a holding means for retaining the end detection information even when the power is cut off, An image recording device characterized by controlling the release of end detection information according to the amount of information. (4) The image recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein one or more of the marks are removable or erasable.