JPH09131927A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To print while carrying out scan checking visually on the vicinity of a printing position on a medium to be subjected to printing. SOLUTION: A mirror 21 reflects the vicinity of a printing position on a medium to be subjected to printing, the reflected image reaches, via mirrors 23, 25, and 27, a glass 30, fitted in an opening window 29, in the form of a normal image. From the opening window 29 an operator can visually check the vicinity of the printing position on the medium to be subjected to printing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing device that prints on an arbitrary position on a print medium by manually or automatically operating the print medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the following techniques have been used for a printing apparatus, particularly a printing apparatus in which the printing apparatus main body does not have a paper conveying means and the operator can manually determine the position. It was

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a print data input portion of the printer, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a print portion of the printer. The operator should print using the hiragana key 102 and the conversion key 104 provided on the front surface of the print data input unit 100 while confirming on the liquid crystal display device 106 also provided on the front surface of the print data input device 100. Enter the text. The input text is converted into print image data by a CPU (not shown) provided therein and transmitted to a head controller 112 provided in the print unit 110.

Next, the operator presses the print surface of the printer, that is, the lower surface in the figure, against the paper 114 and sweeps it in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Then, the ink ribbon 120 is pressed against the paper 114 and rotated, and at the same time, the head 122 is controlled by the head controller 112, and the print image data is printed on the paper 114.

[0005]

However, in the case of such a printing apparatus, the ink ribbon is in direct contact with the medium to be printed, and the head is also in contact with the ink ribbon, so that the operator The print position cannot be visually inspected directly. Therefore, there is a problem that the operator cannot accurately grasp and adjust the print start position.
Further, since the position of the end of printing cannot be accurately grasped, all desired print images are stopped before printing is finished.
Alternatively, there was a problem that the line should be overwritten in the middle.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and by providing means for visually confirming a portion near a printing position on a printing medium, the operator is always able to receive the same. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus which can be operated while confirming a printing position on a printing medium and can always perform accurate printing at a desired position.

[0007]

To achieve this object, a printer according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a printing means for printing characters and the like, and the printing means is manually scanned or automatically printed on a printing medium. By scanning, targeting the one configured to print at any position on the print medium,
In particular, since the confirmation means for visually confirming at least the portion near the print position on the print medium is provided, the print position can be adjusted accurately.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing device, the confirmation means reflects at least one visual recognition portion and at least a portion near the printing position on the print medium to the visual recognition portion. Since it is constituted by, the printing position can be confirmed more easily than the visual recognition part.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the third aspect of the invention, since the confirmation means includes the marker indicating the print start position, the print start position can be easily confirmed.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, since the reflector is composed of an even number of mirrors, it is possible to confirm a normal image at least in the vicinity of the printing position on the printing medium. it can.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, since the printing means is composed of a non-contact type print head, the printing position and a portion near the printing position can be visually confirmed.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the printing device includes a spacing means for maintaining a constant spacing between the non-contact type print head and the printing position on the print medium. Therefore, the print position and the portion in the vicinity of the print position can always be visually and accurately confirmed.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the printer 1 as a whole, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the internal structure. Housing 3 of printer 1
Two sweeping rollers 5 are rotatably supported at the tip of the rotary shaft 7 about a rotary shaft 7. In FIG. 1, the operator holds the casing 3 so that the sweep roller 5 is pressed against the paper 9 which is a print medium with a constant pressure. An inkjet head 10 is provided between the two sweeping rollers 5.
Is supported by the housing 3 so that the nozzle faces the paper 9. The sweep roller 5 constitutes the interval holding means of the present invention.

A head controller 11, an ink tank 13, an infrared communication control circuit 15, and an infrared communication device 17 are arranged in the housing 3 as shown in FIG. 1 or 2.

The infrared communication device 17 performs infrared communication with an external PC (personal computer) (not shown). The PC is for the operator to edit the contents to be printed, and the contents to be printed are the infrared communication control circuit 15 described above.
Is transmitted to the head controller 11 via the. The head controller 11 controls the inkjet head 10 so as to follow the transmitted content to be printed, and prints an image on the paper 9.

The ink jet head 10 and the head controller 11 constitute the printing means of the present invention, the ink jet head 10 constitutes a non-contact type print head, and the sweep roller 5 constitutes a space holding means.

The sweep roller 5 transmits the rotation of the sweep roller 5 to an encoder (not shown) by a belt (not shown). When the encoder rotates, a speed detector (not shown) detects the rotation speed of the sweep roller 5 from the passing speed of slits provided evenly in the encoder.

A first mirror 21 is provided on the back side of FIG. 1 of the ink jet head 10 and on the left side of FIG.
Second mirrors 23 are arranged on the right side of the center. Furthermore, a third mirror 25 is provided above the second mirror 23.
However, a fourth mirror 27 is arranged above the first mirror 21. The first mirror 21 sends the reflected image of the vicinity of the inkjet head 10 to the second mirror 23. This reflected image is sent to the fourth mirror 27 through the second mirror 23 and the third mirror 25. Here, at the time of the first mirror 21 and the third mirror 25, a mirror image of the portion in the vicinity of the inkjet head 10 is formed, but at the time of being reflected on the second mirror 23 and the fourth mirror 27, It is a normal image. Incidentally, the mirror 21, the mirror 23, the mirror 2
5 and the mirror 27 are mirrors of the present invention and constitute a reflector.

An opening window 2 is provided above the fourth mirror 27.
9 is provided and glass 30 is fitted therein. The operator can visually confirm the vicinity of the inkjet head 10 reflected on the fourth mirror 27 through the glass 30. Further, the glass 30 is provided with a marker 31 indicating the position of the inkjet head 10. The opening window 29 and the glass 30 form the visual recognition portion of the present invention.

Next, the operation of the printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, the operator holds the printing apparatus 1 and brings it closer to the paper 9 near the desired printing position. At this time, the paper 9 in the vicinity of the desired printing position is projected as a reflection image on the first mirror 21. This reflection image is
It is sent to the fourth mirror 27 through the second mirror 23 and the third mirror 25. At this time, the reflected image by the fourth mirror 27 is not a mirror image but a normal image because it is an image reflected by an even number of mirrors. Since the inkjet head 10 does not contact the paper 9,
The reflection image of the portion directly below the inkjet head 10 can also be seen. Further, the marker 31 can be used to confirm the accurate print start position.

The operator sees the ink jet head 1 reflected on the fourth mirror 27 through the opening window 29.
The reflection image of the paper 9 near 0 is confirmed, and the printer 1
Is placed exactly at the desired position for printing. At this position, the operator holds the printing apparatus 1 and makes it face the paper 9,
Lightly press the two sweeping rollers 5 against the paper 9.
Printed image data is output from the PC (not shown) via the infrared communication device 17 as necessary and input to the head controller 11.

The operator presses the two sweeping rollers 5 against the paper 9 in a desired printing direction and presses the printer 1.
To sweep. As a result, the sweep roller 5 rotates,
This rotation is transmitted to an encoder (not shown) by a belt (not shown), the speed detector (not shown) detects the rotation of the sweep roller 5, and outputs it to the head controller 11. The head controller 11 uses the PC (not shown) so as to match the speed of the sweep roller 5.
The ink jet head 10 is controlled so as to follow the print image data input more, and the ink in the ink tank 13 is ejected onto the paper 9 to obtain a print image.

If a line feed is required, the operator can see the ink jet head 1 projected on the fourth mirror 17 through the opening window 29 during the sweep operation.
Since the image near 0 is visually checked in a real-time corresponding state, it is recognized that the position where the line feed should be approached is approached, and the sweep operation of the printer 1 is interrupted at an appropriate place.

Next, the printer is conveyed again to a new desired printing position after the line feed, and the printing operation is restarted. As a result, the print can be obtained at the desired position.

In the above embodiment, the confirmation means is constituted by combining the opening window 29 and the four mirrors from the first mirror 21 to the fourth mirror 27. However, for example, six or The same effect can be achieved by combining an even number of mirrors such as eight mirrors.

Further, if it is composed of an odd number of mirrors,
A mirror image of at least a portion near the print position on the print medium can be visually confirmed.

Further, the confirmation means may be constituted by an opening window 29 and a hollow portion formed in the housing 3 so that the portion near the printing position can be directly visually confirmed through the opening window 29.

Further, the confirmation means may be constituted by a display medium such as a video camera and a liquid crystal display.

Further, although the ink jet head is adopted as the non-contact type print head in the above-mentioned embodiment, for example, the toner jet type print head is adopted and the counter electrode is arranged below the print medium. You may comprise.

Further, although the non-contact type print head is adopted in the above-mentioned embodiment, the contact type print head may be constituted by adopting, for example, a thermal type print head.

[0033]

As is apparent from the above description, the printing apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention is provided with the printing means for printing characters and the like, and the printing means is manually or automatically scanned on the print medium. As a result, especially for those configured to print at an arbitrary position on the print medium,
Since the confirmation means for visually confirming at least the portion near the print position on the print medium is provided, the print position can be adjusted accurately.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus, the confirmation means reflects at least one visual recognition portion and at least a portion near the printing position on the print medium to the visual recognition portion. Since it is constituted by, the printing position can be confirmed more easily than the visual recognition part.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the third aspect, since the confirmation means includes the marker indicating the print start position, the print start position can be easily confirmed.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, since the reflector is composed of an even number of mirrors, it is possible to confirm the normal image at least in the vicinity of the printing position on the printing medium. it can.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, since the printing means is composed of a non-contact type print head, the printing position and a portion in the vicinity of the printing position can be visually confirmed.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the printing means is provided with a spacing holding means for keeping a constant spacing between the non-contact type print head and the printing position on the printing medium. Therefore, the print position and the portion in the vicinity of the print position can always be visually and accurately confirmed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal configuration of a printing device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a print data input unit of a printing apparatus showing a conventional technique.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a main part of a printing unit of a printing apparatus showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Printing Device 5 Sweeping Roller 10 Inkjet Head 11 Head Controller 21 First Mirror 23 Second Mirror 25 Third Mirror 27 Fourth Mirror 29 Opening Window 30 Glass 31 Marker

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshiki Katayama 15-1 Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya City Brother Industries, Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A printing device comprising a printing unit for printing characters and the like, and the printing unit is configured to print at an arbitrary position on the printing medium by manually or automatically scanning the printing medium. A printing apparatus, comprising: a checking unit for visually checking at least a portion near a printing position on the printing medium. 2. The checking means includes: a visual recognition portion; and at least one reflector that reflects at least a portion near a printing position on the print medium to the visual recognition portion. The printing device according to claim 1. 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the confirmation unit includes a marker that indicates a print start position. 4. The reflector is composed of an even number of mirrors.
3. The printing device according to claim 1. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing unit is configured by a non-contact type print head. 6. The printing means further comprises spacing means for maintaining a constant spacing between the non-contact type print head and a printing position on the printing medium. The printing device according to item 5.