JPH08321921A - Scanner printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make a read area wider than a print area and to set a white reference or the like to the spread read area by setting a carrier speed when a scanner unit is mounted to be a prescribed speed slower than the carrier speed when an ink jet cartridge is mounted. CONSTITUTION: A scanner unit is provided with a carrier 2 onto/from which a scanner unit 1 or an ink jet cartridge 11 is freely attached or detached selectively. The carrier 2 is engaged with a rotated read screw shaft 4, supported slidably by a carrier guide 8 and able to be reciprocated in parallel with an original or recording paper in a direction orthogonal to the carrying direction of the original or the recording paper carried by a roller pair comprising a platen roller 3 and a retainer roller 5 and a roller pair comprising a paper discharge roller 6 and a spur 7. Furthermore, the setting of the mobile speed of the carrier 2 is selected depending when the scanner unit 1 or the ink jet cartridge 11 is mounted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a serial type scanner printer in which a recording head cartridge for recording on a recording medium and a scanner unit for reading an image of an original can be selectively mounted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional scanner printer, a carrier that reciprocates in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which a recording medium or an original is conveyed is provided, and a recording head cartridge and a scanner unit can be exchanged with respect to the carrier. Has become. This recording head cartridge is one in which an ink jet recording head, which is a recording means, and an ink tank are integrated, and a scanner unit irradiates light from a lamp onto a document and makes its reflected light incident on a sensor to obtain image information. Is configured to read.

The above-mentioned scanner printer is constructed so that the sensor position of the scanner unit is the same position as the ink ejection port position of the recording head cartridge in the carrier movement direction so that the reading range and the printing range match.

Further, the scanner unit and the printer main body side are electrically connected by a cable or the like.

[0005]

However, the conventional example has the following drawbacks. (1) Generally, the scanner device is larger than the recording head, and the scanner device does not fit in the ink ejection port position, and it is difficult to make the recording head cartridge and the scanner unit compatible with each other. (2) If the scanner device section is arranged at the ink ejection port position, it will come into contact with the nozzle ejection recovery device on the printer side or the nozzle cap, and the reading section of the scanner will be soiled with ink, resulting in an incorrect input. (3) The white reference position of the scanner is within the print range,
Ink may stain the white reference. In addition, it may be possible that even a document of a specified size is hidden by the recording paper and the white reference cannot be read while the paper is passing. (4) In the case of a scanner unit that is used by replacing it with a ribbon cartridge in a thermal transfer printer or the like, an electric connection cable is required, and there is a concern that a cable load will be applied to the carrier.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a scanner printer in which the reading range of a scanner can be made wider than the printing range, the reading unit of the scanner and the white reference are not contaminated, and the white reference cannot be read.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ink jet cartridge for recording on a recording medium and a scanner unit for reading an image of an original in a predetermined straight line. In a serial type scanner printer selectively mounted for a carrier that reciprocates at a constant speed, the carrier speed when the scanner unit is mounted is set to a constant speed that is slower than the carrier speed when the inkjet cartridge is mounted. It is characterized by being done.

Further, in the scanner printer, when the carrier is moved in the backward direction when the scanner unit is mounted, the carrier speed becomes lower than the carrier speed when the inkjet cartridge is mounted.

The carrier is characterized in that an electric contact for transmitting and receiving an operation signal when mounted is shared by the scanner unit and the ink jet cartridge.

Further, when mounted on the carrier, the reading position of the scanner unit is displaced from the ink ejection port position of the ink jet cartridge by a predetermined distance in the forward movement direction of the carrier, or the carrier. Within the predetermined distance from the starting position of
It is preferable that a recovery device for the ink ejection port of the inkjet cartridge is arranged.

[0011]

According to the present invention configured as described above, when the scanner unit is mounted on the carrier instead of the ink jet cartridge, the carrier speed is set to a constant speed lower than the carrier speed when the ink jet cartridge is mounted. It When the carrier is moved at this set speed, the carrier run-up area until the reading speed reaches a constant speed becomes shorter, and the readable area becomes wider than the print area. This makes it possible to set the white reference in the readable area outside the expanded printing area without expanding the carrier stroke. In addition, the white reference does not need to be stained with ink and can be read even in a paper passing state.

Further, when the scanner unit is mounted on the carrier, the reading position of the scanner unit is displaced from the ink ejection port position of the ink jet cartridge by a predetermined distance in the forward movement direction of the carrier. The inkjet cartridge does not have to be enlarged according to the size, and the inkjet cartridge and the scanner unit are compatible in size.

Further, since the reading portion and the ink ejection port position are displaced by a predetermined distance, a recovery device for the ink ejection port of the ink jet cartridge is provided within a range of the predetermined distance from the starting position of the carrier. If arranged, the reading unit of the scanner unit will not be contaminated by the ink attached to the recovery device.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the main construction of a first embodiment of a scanner unit according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the scanner unit in this embodiment comprises a carrier 2 on which the scanner unit 1 or the ink jet cartridge 11 can be selectively and detachably mounted.

The carrier 2 is engaged with the lead screw shaft 4 which is rotated by transmitting the driving force of the predetermined driving means, and is slidably supported by the carrier guide 8 by the predetermined driving means. The platen roller 3 and the pressing roller 5 which are driven, and the discharge roller 6 and the spur 7 which are roller pairs reciprocate in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the original or recording paper and parallel to the original or recording paper. It is movable.

Further, a white reference 3a serving as a reading reference of the scanner unit 1 is installed in a portion corresponding to the outside of the printing area of the platen roller 3.

The carrier 2 has a structure in which electrical contacts for transmitting and receiving operation signals when mounted are shared by the scanner unit 1 and the ink jet cartridge 11.

Further, in this apparatus, the setting of the moving speed of the carrier 2 can be switched between when the scanner unit is mounted and when the ink jet cartridge is mounted.

The switching of the moving speed setting of the carrier 2 is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In FIG. 2, first, it is instructed to determine whether the one currently mounted on the carrier 2 is a scanner unit or an inkjet cartridge (step S1), and when the determination result of step S2 is an inkjet cartridge. Sets a constant carrier speed V1 (step S3). However, when the result of determination in step S2 is the scanner unit, the carrier velocity V
A constant carrier velocity V2 slower than 1 is set (step S4). The mounting head information is input manually or automatically at the time of mounting.

FIG. 3 shows the speed stroke relationship of the carrier 2 when the scanner unit is mounted, and FIG. 4 shows the speed slack relationship of the carrier 2 when the ink jet cartridge is mounted.

In FIG. 3, the optical axis of the scanner unit 1 and the ink ejection port position of the ink jet cartridge 11 are displaced by a minute distance x, and when the scanner unit 1 is used, the carrier 2 is slowed down to reduce the carrier 2 speed. 2 shows a state in which the run-up area is reduced and the readable area is widened, and the white reference necessary for the scanner unit 1 is provided in the white reference installation area in FIG. That is,
By setting the carrier speed during reading to a constant speed that is slower than recording / printing, the carrier run-up area becomes shorter than during recording, and the readable area expands beyond the printed area. It will be possible to set a white standard on. In this apparatus, the platen roller 3 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with the white reference 3a.

Further, in FIG. 4, if a recovery blade for wiping off the head portion is installed as a recovery device for the ink ejection portion of the ink jet cartridge 11 within a minute distance x from the movement start end of the carrier stroke, this blade will be scanned. Since it does not exist on the optical axis of the lens or the like of the unit 1, the blade does not contaminate the optical components such as the lens.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment described above,
When the scanner unit was installed, the carrier speed was set to a constant speed that was slower than when the inkjet cartridge was installed, but even if the carrier speed when the scanner unit is installed is switched between forward and backward movement, the scanner The reading range can be made wider than the printing range.

In other words, in the present embodiment, the scanning by the scanner unit 1 is performed only when the carrier is moving in the forward direction, and the constant speed area in the backward direction of the carrier is expanded to the carrier run-up area to print the white reference installation area. By setting the carrier speed outside the range to the same as that of the scanner unit and the ink jet cartridge 11 during the forward movement, and performing the carrier backward movement uncontrolled or at a low speed, the reading time for one page of the original document can be obtained. It will be possible to do it faster.

[0028]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects.

According to the first aspect of the invention, the carrier speed when the scanner unit is mounted is set to a constant speed that is slower than the carrier speed when the ink jet cartridge is mounted, so that it can be read more than the printing area. The area is expanded, and it is possible to install a white reference in the readable area outside the expanded printing area without expanding the carrier stroke.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the carrier is moved in the backward direction when the scanner unit is mounted, the carrier speed becomes slower than the carrier speed when the ink jet cartridge is mounted. Since the standard setting can be performed outside the printing range, and the reading speed does not have to be slowed when the carrier moves in the forward direction, the reading time for one page can be shortened compared to the one described in claim 1. can do.

The invention described in claim 3 is a carrier,
Since the electrical contact for transmitting and receiving the operation signal at the time of mounting is shared between the scanner unit and the inkjet cartridge, the contact on the carrier side of the ink head cartridge can be used for electrical connection of the scanner. The carrier load due to the above is eliminated.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, when mounted on a carrier, the reading position of the scanner unit is displaced from the ink ejection port position of the ink jet cartridge by a predetermined distance in the forward movement direction of the carrier. Therefore, the scanner device section larger than the recording head section can be used without changing the cartridge size, and the inkjet cartridge and the scanner unit can be made compatible sizes.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, the recovery device for the ink ejection port of the ink jet cartridge is arranged within the range of the predetermined distance from the starting position of the carrier, so that the optical head of the scanner unit is provided with the recording head. The blade of the recovery device does not come into contact with the optical part and it does not become dirty.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the main configuration of a first embodiment of a scanner unit of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing switching of carrier moving speed setting.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between carrier velocity strokes when a scanner unit is mounted.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between carrier velocity slack when an inkjet cartridge is mounted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Scanner Unit 2 Carrier 3 Platen Roller 3a White Reference 4 Lead Screw 5 Presser Roller 6 Paper Ejection Roller 7 Spur 8 Carrier Guide 11 Inkjet Cartridge

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Riki Kawai 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet cartridge for recording on a recording medium and a scanner unit for reading an image of an original are selectively mounted on a carrier which reciprocates along a straight line at a predetermined constant speed. A serial-type scanner printer, wherein a carrier speed when the scanner unit is mounted is set to a constant speed lower than a carrier speed when the inkjet cartridge is mounted. 2. The scanner printer according to claim 1, wherein, when the carrier moves in the backward direction when the scanner unit is mounted, the carrier speed becomes lower than the carrier speed when the inkjet cartridge is mounted. . 3. The scanner according to claim 1, wherein the carrier has a structure in which electrical contacts for transmitting and receiving an operation signal when mounted are shared by the scanner unit and the inkjet cartridge. Printer. 4. When mounted on the carrier, the reading position of the scanner unit is displaced from the ink ejection port position of the inkjet cartridge by a predetermined distance in the forward movement direction of the carrier. The scanner printer according to claim 1. 5. The scanner printer according to claim 4, wherein a recovery device for an ink ejection port of the inkjet cartridge is arranged within a range of the predetermined distance from a starting position of the carrier.