JPH0615933A - Information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid problems such as the blur of printing or the clogging of an ink in a nozzle by detecting whether the recording unit is located at a posi tion where printing is possible by a position sensor when the operator gives a recording command. CONSTITUTION:A controller 800 which is a main control unit has a central operation processing device (CPU) 800 with a micro-computer form and a read only memory (ROM) 803, etc., which stores fixed data and programs corresponding to the procedures and others. Numeral 810 denotes a feeding device for image data, and image data and other command, status signals, etc., are transmitted/received to/from the controller 800 by an interface (I/F) 812. Ahead driver 840 drives an element which generates an energy to be used for an ink discharge of a recording head 861 provided on a head cartridge 101, in response to recording data, etc. A driver 852 moves a carriage in the horizontal scanning direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing device,
In particular, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, a word processor, an electronic typewriter, etc., which is provided with an inkjet type recording unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of device, a small device which does not require an installation space and which does not require a large installation space is becoming popular especially from the viewpoint of personal use. These are so-called laptop types and have portability. In such an information processing device, a device body as an information processing unit, a disk device as an external storage device, a display device as an information display means including a liquid crystal display, a recording device as an information output means, and an information input device. It also includes various devices such as a keyboard device for inputting and operating and inputting control commands.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a word processor as a conventional example of this type of device. The apparatus main body 1 includes a keyboard 3, a storage device (not shown) 5 as a data supply device, a display 7, and a recording unit 9 of an inkjet recording system, and a control unit is built in the main body.

[0004]

However, there is a problem to be solved in the information processing apparatus incorporating the above-mentioned ink jet type recording section.

That is, if the operator carries the information processing apparatus during the recording operation, the operator may deviate from the recordable position of the ink jet system. This is because, as shown in FIG. 5, a recording head (head cartridge 10) in an inkjet recording apparatus is used.
The recordable position of 1) is due to being limited to the range shown by the semicircle in FIG. 5, that is, the vertical direction downward from the horizontal direction.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to detect whether a recording head is at a recordable position by a position sensor,
An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus that prints if recording is possible and immediately stops printing if recording is not possible.

[0007]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides a detecting means for detecting the position of the recording means for recording information, and whether or not the recording means is recordable. It is characterized in that it comprises a judging means for judging whether or not it is based on the detection result of the detecting means, and a warning means for giving a warning when the judgment result of the judging means is a negative judgment.

[0008]

According to the present invention, printing is performed at a position not suitable for recording by the ink jet method by determining whether or not the recording means is in a printable position, such as when the operator gives a recording operation instruction. As a result, it is possible to avoid problems such as print fading and ink clogging in the nozzles.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a control system including a recording unit of an information processing apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 800 denotes a controller that forms a main control unit.
For example, it has a central processing unit (CPU) 801 in the form of a microcomputer for executing the procedure shown in (1), a read-only memory (ROM) 803 storing a program corresponding to the procedure and other fixed data. Reference numeral 810 denotes an image data supply device (which may be a disk device provided integrally with the main body or an external host device), and image data and other commands, status signals, etc., are transmitted via an interface (I / F) 812. Are transmitted to and received from the controller 800.

Reference numeral 826 is a recording command key provided on the keyboard. A position sensor 830 detects the horizontality of the position of the recording unit.

Reference numeral 840 is a head driver for driving an element (electrothermal conversion element in this example) that generates energy used for ink ejection of the recording head 861 provided in the head cartridge 101 according to recording data and the like. .
Reference numeral 852 is a driver for moving the carriage 103 in the main scanning direction. Reference numeral 854 denotes a driver of the sub-scanning motor 121 used to convey (sub-scan) the recording medium. Further, 856 is a display driver for driving the display 7.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a schematic configuration of a recording unit in the form of an ink jet recording apparatus as an example of the recording unit 9.

Here, reference numeral 101 is a head cartridge, which mainly comprises an ink jet recording head and an ink tank integrally formed.

The head cartridge 101 is detachably attached to, for example, the ink jet recording apparatus shown in FIG. 2, and can be replaced with a new head cartridge when the ink in the ink tank is used up. .

The recording head includes a substrate on which a plurality of electrothermal conversion elements that generate thermal energy used for ejecting ink and a drive circuit for driving the electrothermal conversion elements are formed, and the plurality of electrothermal conversion elements on the substrate. It is configured by stacking discharge ports and liquid passages corresponding to the respective elements, and a top plate for forming a common liquid chamber communicating with the respective liquid passages. Then, the recording head thus configured is mounted on the apparatus so that the ejection port surface on which the ejection ports are arranged faces the recording medium 11.

The ink tank is the head cartridge 10.
It occupies the most part of No. 1 and has an ink storage chamber for storing ink therein. If an appropriate ink supply path can be formed by passing through the back surface of the display device 7, instead of using the ink cartridge integrated head cartridge as in this example, only the recording head is mounted in the apparatus. You may do it.

The carriage 103 on which the head cartridge 101 is mounted has a pin which engages with a spiral groove 109 of a lead screw 107 which rotates via a transmission mechanism (not shown) in association with forward and reverse rotation of a drive motor 105. (Not shown), and reciprocates in the directions of arrows a and b as the lead screw 107 rotates. Reference numeral 108 denotes a carrier guide shaft that restricts rotation of the carrier.

A recovery unit 111 is a cap 113 facing the ejection opening surface of the head cartridge 101 at a predetermined position (for example, home position) outside the recording area of the head cartridge 101, and the cap 113 is brought into contact with the ejection opening surface. And a cap advancing / retreating drive unit (not shown) for protecting the same during non-recording. Also,
At the time of contact, a pump is provided to suck ink from the discharge port and discharge thickened ink, dust, bubbles, etc. to improve the ink discharge state, and a member for storing the sucked waste ink. May be.

Denoted at 115 is a transport roller for transporting the recording medium 11 in the f direction in the figure, and denoted at 117 and 150 are pinch rollers for pressing the recording medium 11 against the transport roller 115, and sandwiched between these rollers. During recording, the recording medium 11 is intermittently fed in the f direction in the figure. The recording medium fed from the paper feed port is fed to the conveyance roller 115 and the pinch roller 1.
A guide plate is provided on the 17 to smoothly hold it. The transport roller 115 has its shaft 119 engaged with the motor 121 via an appropriate transmission mechanism to receive the transmission of the driving force. Further, the pinch rollers 117 and 150 can be brought into contact with or separated from the transport roller 115 by operating the release lever 13.

Reference numeral 123 denotes a rotation shaft of the release lever 13, 1
Reference numeral 25 is a roller provided on the lever 13. 127 is a pinch roller shaft, and 129 is a pinch roller shaft 127.
It is a cam that engages with the roller 125 as the lever 13 rotates and receives a force that urges the pinch roller 117 in a direction away from the transport roller 115.

Reference numeral 131 is a platen for regulating the recording surface of the recording medium 11 to be flat, and in this example, it is constructed integrally with the printer housing (base) 133. Further, a member for bringing the recording medium 11 into close contact with the platen 131 and preventing the recording medium 11 from rising may be provided. Numerals 135 and 137 are a pair of sensors provided before and after the recording position in the recording medium conveyance direction f so as to detect the recording medium 11.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of the recording processing procedure of the CPU 801 according to this example. When a recording command is given, the CPU 801 first determines in step S1 whether or not there is the recording medium 11 in the recording unit 9, for example, the upper sensor 13.
It is judged by the output of 7. If the recording medium 11 does not exist, the CPU 801 proceeds to step S3 to display a message on the display 7 to set the recording medium 11 and urge this.

On the other hand, if a recording medium exists, the CPU 8
01 proceeds to step S5, and based on the output of the sensor 143, it is determined whether or not the pinch roller 117 is released. If a negative determination is made here, a message is displayed on the display 7 so that the operator operates the release lever 13 to obtain the pressed state of the pinch roller 117 against the transport roller 115. Thus, for example, it is possible to deal with a case where the operator releases the pinch roller 117 in order to quickly set the recording medium and forgets to return the lever 13 after inserting the recording medium. Note that, for example, the operation of returning the release lever 13 can be automatically performed by using the sub-scanning motor 121. In this case, the processes of step S7 and step S5 are unnecessary.

In step S9, the rollers 115 and 117 are used.
The CPU 801 starts the control process of running backward the recording medium held in between or abutted in between. This process is continued until the upper sensor 137 detects the upper edge of the recording medium (the leading edge during recording) (step S11),
When the upper edge is detected, the reverse feeding is stopped after performing an appropriate amount of the backward feeding corresponding to the distance between the upper sensor 137 and the recording position (steps S13 and S15).

If the distance is appropriate, the process of step S13 is unnecessary. As described above, the cueing of the recording medium is completed, and in step S19, the level sensor 830 detects the levelness of the recording section. One line of main scanning is printed in S27 to prepare for printing of the next line. The CPU 801 at the time of performing the determination process of step S19 operates as the determination unit of the present invention.

In step S29, the CPU 801 determines whether or not there is data to be recorded, and if there is recording data, the process returns to step S19 to execute the above operation. However, if there is no more data to record, this procedure ends. In step S19, if the horizontality detected by the position sensor is not within the allowable range, that is, if recording is not possible, the execution procedure of the CPU 801 proceeds to step S21, and a message such as "Please put the printer in the horizontal position." Is displayed. 7 and prompts the scanner to place the device in a recordable position. After that, in step S23, the CPU 801 checks the state of the position sensor again,
If it is not at the recordable position, the CPU 801 returns to step S21 to continue sending the message as a part of the warning means of the present invention, and if it is at the recordable position, step S2.
After the message 1 is cleared, the process of step S27 is executed.

Therefore, the CPU 801 and the display driver 8
56 and the display 7 comprise the warning means of this invention.

In the above description of the printer section, the case where an ink jet recording apparatus in the form of a serial printer is used has been described, but a full line type recording head in which ejection ports are arranged in a range corresponding to the width of recording paper is used. The used inkjet recording device may be used.

In addition, not only a warning is given by a message, but a recording instruction from an operator is sent to the CPU 801, for example.
If you do not accept, the actual recording will not be performed.

Further, when the judgment means of the present invention is constituted by an analog or digital comparator, and when the recording failure is detected, if the recording failure detection signal is input to the CPU 801 in the form of an interrupt signal, the CPU 801 is in the middle of recording. However, the recording can be stopped.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the operator gives a recording operation instruction, the position sensor detects whether or not the recording portion is in the printable position. It is possible to avoid problems such as print fading and ink clogging in the nozzle due to printing at a position unsuitable for recording.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a structural example of a recording unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a recording processing procedure of a CPU 801 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an appearance of a conventional device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a recordable range of a recording head in an inkjet system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Control Section 3 Keyboard Section 5 Storage Device 7 Display 9 Recording Section 10 Power Supply 11 Recording Medium 13 Release Lever 101 Head Cartridge 103 Carriage 115 Conveying Roller 117 Pinch Roller 135, 137 Sensor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A detecting means for detecting a position of a recording means for recording information, a judging means for judging whether or not the recording means is recordable based on a detection result of the detecting means, An information processing apparatus, comprising: warning means for issuing a warning when the judgment result of the judgment means is a negative judgment.