JPH09277611A - Printer and reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer good in operability. SOLUTION: A frame 12 having an ink jet recording head 9 and a speed detection means arranged thereto is connected to a body part 10 by an elastic member 30 and the posture of the frame 12 is kept constant with respect to paper 11. The body part 10 extended from the frame is inclined at 60 deg. with respect to the printing surface of the ink jet recording head 9 and manual operability is enhanced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing device and a reading device which are provided with a gripping portion to be gripped by an operator and perform printing or reading by scanning.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a printing apparatus, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
A device as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-17630 is known. Such an apparatus is configured to record an image on a recording medium by a user manually scanning the apparatus. By using such a device,
It is possible to form an image at a free position on the recording medium. In recent years, thermal transfer recording means and ink jet recording means have been used as image forming means for such devices. With respect to these image forming means, the apparatus itself has been downsized due to the recent trend toward higher density, downsizing of recording heads, and lower power consumption. Therefore, the portability of the portable image forming apparatus can be improved.

FIG. 7a is an external view for explaining a conventional printing apparatus using an ink jet recording head 109 for the printing head of the above-mentioned apparatus, and FIG. 7b is an internal configuration diagram thereof.

The structure of a conventional printer will be described with reference to FIGS. 7a and 7b. In the printing apparatus 100, the user supports the body portion 101 by hand, and the paper 1 which is a recording medium is
While the roller 102 and the protrusion 103 are in contact with the recording medium 10, the body 101 is supported perpendicularly to the paper, and the ink jet recording head 109 maintaining a certain distance from the paper is driven, as if it were. It is a device for performing predetermined printing on an arbitrary position on the paper 110 by scanning like a writing instrument.

At the other end of the body portion 101, an infrared communication interface portion 104 for transmitting and receiving print data input by an external device (not shown) is provided. Further, switches 105a, b, c for turning on / off the power supply and selecting various printing modes are arranged on the side surface of the body portion 101.

The roller 102 is rotatably mounted on the body portion 101.
The gear train 10 is provided at the tip of the roller 102 and is provided at one end of the roller 102.
6 are constituted. The gear train 106 transmits the rotation of the roller 102 to the encoder disk 107. A slit is formed in the encoder disc 107, and the rotation speed of the roller is detected by a photointerrupter detection signal by a photointerrupter 108 arranged above the encoder disc 107. In accordance with the timing of this detection signal, the inkjet recording head 109 is driven in a predetermined pattern by the print data input from the above-mentioned interface unit 104 to form a print. Inkjet recording head 109, roller 102, encoder disk 1
07, the gear train 106, the photo interrupter 108 and the like are provided in the body portion 1.

An ink tank 111 for supplying ink to the inkjet recording head is arranged above the inkjet recording head. Further, a battery 112 for supplying electric power to various parts of the apparatus is arranged above the ink tank 111, and a control board 113 for processing various signals and performing printing and the like is arranged above the battery 112. In this manual scanning type printing device, a user manually inputs print data and the like input from an external device or the like.
For vertically performing a predetermined print on the recording medium (paper) by manually scanning the recording medium (paper or the like) in a direction of an arrow in FIG. The device is a device capable of printing data at a desired position.

There is also known a reading device which has a reading section instead of the ink jet recording head 109 and reads an image at a desired position printed on a print medium.

[0009]

However, as described above, in the conventional printing apparatus, in order to keep the distance between the ink jet recording head and the paper at a constant position, the printing apparatus is provided with the roller 102 and the protrusion with respect to the paper surface. It was necessary to bring the portion 103 into contact and support it vertically to perform printing. Therefore, the operator must always support the printer vertically to the paper, and although the portability of the printer itself has improved, the operability of the printer is similar to that of conventional printers. It was necessary to always support vertically, and no improvement was made. Therefore, it requires an operational nerve to keep the paper perpendicular to the paper, and
There was a problem with operability such as difficulty in checking printed characters, and operability like that of a writing instrument was not obtained.

This problem also applies to the reading device, and the printed image cannot be read with good operability.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device and a reading device having good operability when the printing device or the reading device is portable. .

[0012]

In order to achieve this object, a printing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention has a recording head having a plurality of recording elements formed in a line, and scans a recording medium. Thus, the printing apparatus for printing is provided with a grip portion provided above the recording head and gripped by the operator, and the grip portion extends obliquely with respect to the surface on which the recording element is arranged.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the grip portion is inclined in the range of 30 degrees or more and less than 90 degrees with respect to the scanning direction.

In the printing apparatus according to the third aspect, the grip portion is inclined toward the operator side in the range of 30 degrees or more and less than 90 degrees with respect to the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the recording head is fixed to the supporting means, and the supporting means is provided with speed detecting means for detecting the scanning speed of the printing apparatus with respect to the recording medium. There is.

In the printing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the recording head is connected to the grip portion via the elastic means.

The reading device according to claim 6 is
In a reading device that has a reading unit in which a plurality of reading elements are formed in a row and that reads an image printed on a print medium by scanning the print medium, the reading device is provided above the reading unit, and is operated by an operator. A gripping part to be gripped is provided, and the gripping part extends obliquely with respect to the surface on which the reading element is arranged.

Further, in the reading device according to the seventh aspect, the grip portion is inclined within the range of 30 degrees or more and less than 90 degrees with respect to the scanning direction.

Further, in the reading device according to the eighth aspect, the gripping portion is at least 30 degrees with respect to the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction.
It is tilted toward the operator within the range of less than degrees.

The reading device according to claim 9 is
The reading unit is fixed to the supporting means, and the supporting means includes
Speed detecting means is provided for detecting the scanning speed of the reading device with respect to the print medium.

Further, the reading device according to claim 10 is:
The reading unit is connected to the gripping unit via elastic means.

[0022]

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

FIG. 1 is an external view for explaining the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment. In the printing apparatus, the user manually supports the body portion 10 which is a grip portion, and the body portion 10 is moved to the paper sheet 11 while the roller 2 and the contact member 28, which will be described later, are brought into contact with the paper sheet 11 which is a recording medium. In order to perform printing on an arbitrary position on the paper 11 by driving the ink jet recording head 9 which is supported by a hand against the paper and maintaining a constant distance from the paper, and performing scanning like a writing instrument. It is a device. The inkjet recording head 9 is a known head having a plurality of recording elements formed in rows on the bottom surface thereof.

At the upper end of the body portion 10, there is provided an interface portion 4 for infrared communication for transmitting / receiving the print data input by an external device (not shown). Switches 5a and 5b for turning on / off the power source and selecting various printing modes are arranged on the side surface of the body portion 10 facing the operator. Further, a display window 6 for displaying a printing mode and the like and a status of various devices is arranged below the display window 6. The display window 6 is composed of a liquid crystal display device. Below the display window 6, a start switch 5c for placing the printing device in a printing state when printing is started is arranged.

FIG. 2 is for explaining the internal structure of the above-mentioned printing device. Inside the body portion 10, the above-mentioned switches 5a, b, c, the display device 6, and each control block described later are provided. A substrate 13 on which elements for controlling, for example, driver elements for controlling the above-mentioned inkjet print head 15 or elements corresponding to the interface section 4 are arranged. Further, a battery 14 for supplying electric power to each control block described later is arranged below the substrate 13. Battery 14
An ink tank 15 for supplying ink to the ink jet recording head 9 is arranged below.

A frame 12, which is a supporting means, is arranged at the lower end of the body portion 10. The structure of the frame 12 will be described with reference to FIG. The frame 12 has a box-like shape made of a material such as metal, and the ink jet recording head 9 is arranged inside the frame 12. A plurality of ink jet nozzles (not shown) are formed on the lower surface 80 of the ink jet recording head 9, and ink is ejected in a predetermined pattern from these nozzles to print on the paper 11.

Further, the roller 2 is arranged inside the frame 12 so as to be rotatable integrally with a central shaft (not shown). The central axis is rotatably supported by bearings (not shown) arranged on the side plate portions 20 and 21 of the frame 12. Further, on the side plate portion 20 side of the central shaft, there is arranged a gear 22 for transmitting the rotation to an encoder disk described later with the rotation of the central shaft.

The rotation of the gear 22 is transmitted to the gear 23 formed on the side plate portion 20. The rotation of the gear 23 is configured to be transmitted to the encoder disk 24 also configured on the side plate portion 20.
The encoder disk 24 has a plurality of slits 25. Similarly, a photo interrupter 26 for detecting the rotation of the encoder disk 24 is arranged on the side plate portion 20. Photo interrupter 26
Is for detecting the rotation of the roller 2. The moving speed of the apparatus body 1 with respect to the sheet 11 is detected by detecting the passage of the slit 25 as the roller 2 rotates. Therefore, the ink droplets of the predetermined pattern discharged from the nozzles of the inkjet recording head 9 described above are controlled at a predetermined discharge interval by the detection signal of the photo interrupter 26, and printing is performed. The roller 2, the gears 22 and 23, the encoder disc 2 described above
4 and the photo interrupter 26 constitute speed detecting means.

A contact member 28 is disposed on the side surface 27 side of the frame 12 for contacting and moving the sheet and for keeping the posture of the frame 12 constant with respect to the sheet 11. The contact member 28 is made of a material such as resin having good slidability with respect to the paper 11. The contact surface between the contact member 28 and the sheet 11 of the roller 2 is configured to keep the posture of the frame 12 constant.

A plurality of elastic members 30, which are elastic means, are formed on the upper surface 29 of the frame 12. The elastic member 30 is made of an elastic body such as a coil spring, and has one end fixed to the upper surface 29 and the other end fixed to the lower end 31 of the body 10 as shown in FIG.
Therefore, even if the body portion 10 changes its posture with respect to the paper to some extent, the roller 2 and the contact member 28 come into contact with the paper, so that the elastic member 30 is deformed even if the posture of the body portion 10 moves. By doing frame 1
2 can maintain a predetermined posture with respect to the paper.

A signal for driving the above-mentioned ink jet recording head 9 is sent by the flexible cable 40 to the substrate 13.
It is connected to the. Similarly, the photo interrupter 26
Is connected to the substrate 13 with a flexible cable 41. Further, the inkjet recording head 9 is connected to the ink tank 15 by a movable pipe 32. Therefore, even if the frame 12 changes its posture with respect to the body portion 10, these connections are maintained without any inconvenience.

The body portion 10 is the paper 11 in this embodiment.
On the other hand, the inclination with respect to the scanning direction indicated by the arrow A is configured to be about 60 degrees. Therefore, the operator is
Can be held and operated like an ordinary writing instrument, and the printed part is not hidden by the operating hand, so you can easily check the printed characters and the printed place. It is possible. Although the inclination is set to 60 degrees in the present embodiment, it is possible to perform a good operation in the range of 30 degrees to 90 degrees depending on the size of the user and the apparatus body.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the electrical construction of the manual printer of this embodiment. In the figure, a control unit (CPU) 80 is connected to a storage device (ROM) 81 containing a control program for controlling each functional block according to a predetermined program. Control unit 80
The element of the interface unit 4 described above is connected to. Further, the signal after the rotational speed of the encoder slit 25 is converted into an electric pulse signal by the photo interrupter 26 is input to the control unit 80. Storage unit (RAM) 8 for storing print data input from the elements of the interface unit 4
2 is connected to the control unit 80. The drive unit 83 that drives the inkjet recording head 9 is also connected to the control unit 80. The signals input from the switches 5a, b, c are connected to the control unit 80 so that they can be detected. A display controller 84 that controls the display unit 6 is also connected to the control unit 80. Each of these functional blocks corresponds to the substrate 1 in the body portion 10 of the manual scanning printer of FIG.
It is located at 3.

The operation of the printing apparatus having the above configuration will be described. The printing apparatus of the present embodiment operates according to a predetermined program stored in the storage device 81 described above. The print data is input to the interface unit 4 by an infrared signal from an external device. The input state of the print data is performed by the control unit 80 judging the input state by selecting the mode of the switch 5b.

The input print data is temporarily stored in the storage unit 82. When the control unit 80 receives the print start signal by selecting the mode by operating the switch 5c, it confirms that the print data is stored in the storage unit 82, and the print standby state is set. Then, when the operator manually scans the sheet 11 while holding the body section 10, the control section 80 determines whether or not the encoder disk 24 (roller 2) has rotated based on the detection waveform of the photo interrupter 26, and the roller 2 When it is determined that the inkjet recording head 9 has been rotated, the print timing is determined based on the rotation amount of the roller 2, that is, the timing of the detection waveform of the photo interrupter 26, and the output of print data is controlled to drive the inkjet recording head 9. Thus, printing is performed on the paper 11.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The configuration of the second embodiment is different from that of the first embodiment described above only in the direction in which the body portion inclines. Therefore, the same members as those of the first embodiment are the same. And the description thereof is omitted.

The second embodiment is different from the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 2 described above, and is 60 degrees with respect to the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction on the surface (lower surface) of the ink jet recording head 9 on which the recording elements are arranged. Body part 50 as a grip part
Is inclined toward the operator side.

At the upper end of the body portion 10, there is provided an infrared communication interface portion 4 for transmitting and receiving print data input by an external device (not shown). Switches 5a and 5b for turning the power on and off and selecting various printing modes are arranged on the side surface of the body portion 10 on the left side in the operator direction. Also,
A display window 6 for displaying the printing mode and the like and displaying the states of various devices is disposed below the display window 6. The display window 6 is composed of a liquid crystal display device. Below the display window 6, a print start switch 5c for placing the apparatus 1 in the print state when printing is started is arranged.

A frame 42, on which the ink jet recording head 9 and the roller 2 are arranged, is arranged at the lower end of the apparatus. The frame 42 has the same structure as that described with reference to FIG. 3, and as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of elastic members 53 are formed on the upper surface of the frame 42 at the lower end of the body portion 10. The elastic member 53 has one end fixed to the upper surface of the frame 42 and the other end fixed to the lower end portion 51 of the body portion 50. Therefore, similar to the above-described embodiment, even if the body portion 50 changes its posture with respect to the paper to some extent, the posture of the body portion 50 moves even if the roller 2 and the contact member 28 contact the paper. By deforming the elastic member 53, the frame 42 can maintain a predetermined posture with respect to the paper. still,
In the present embodiment, the inclination is set to 30 degrees, but it is possible to perform a good operation in the range of 30 degrees to 90 degrees depending on the user and the size of the apparatus body 1.

In each of the embodiments, the case where an ink jet recording head is used as the recording element has been described, but a toner flying method of a type in which powder of toner or the like is jetted to form an image, or a thermal transfer method is used. The same effect can be obtained even with the above printing method.

In the above, in the first and second embodiments, the printer in which the body portion is inclined has been described.
The present invention can be applied not only to the printing device but also to the reading device. That is, the inkjet recording head 9 of the first and second embodiments is replaced with a reading unit 79 for reading an image on a print medium on which an image is printed.

The reading device will be described below.
Since the external structure is the same as that of the printing apparatus, it will be described with reference to FIGS. The specific internal structure is the same as that of the conventional reading device, and therefore its explanation is omitted. However, when the operator holds the body portion 10 and manually scans an arbitrary position on the print medium, The reading unit 79 reads the image on the print medium in accordance with the rotation and stores the image data in the storage unit 82.

Further, during the manual scanning, since the body portion 10 is configured to be inclined with respect to the scanning direction, it is easy to handle like a printing device and is excellent in operability.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the body portion 50 is moved to the operator side by 60 degrees with respect to the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction on the surface (lower surface) of the reading unit 79 on which the reading elements are arranged. It may be inclined.

Further, in the reading device, the speed detecting means consisting of the roller 2, the gears 22 and 23, the encoder disk 24, and the photo interrupter 26 is arranged on the frame 12 as the supporting means, and the frame 12 is the elastic means. It is similar to the printing device in that it is fixed to the body portion 10 via the elastic member 30.

[0046]

As is apparent from the above description, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, the grip portion gripped by the operator extends obliquely with respect to the surface on which the recording element is arranged. Since the operator can operate the printing device as if he were writing instrument, the operability is improved.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the second aspect, since the grip portion is inclined in the range of 30 degrees or more and less than 90 degrees with respect to the scanning direction, the operator can easily confirm the printed characters. Is possible.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the third aspect, since the gripping portion is inclined within the range of 30 degrees or more and less than 90 degrees with respect to the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction, the apparatus can be easily supported and the operability is improved. It is possible to supply a good printing device.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, since the speed detecting means is provided in the supporting means for fixing the recording head, the apparatus can be constructed with a simple mechanism, and the gripping portion Even if the position of the supporting means changes, it is possible to easily detect the speed between the sheet and the apparatus main body.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, since the recording head is connected to the grip portion via the elastic means,
It is possible to maintain the positional relationship between the recording head and the recording medium at a constant interval even if the gripping portion slightly changes its posture, and thus it is possible to provide a printing device with better operability. Becomes

Further, in the reading apparatus according to the sixth aspect, since the gripping portion to be gripped by the operator extends obliquely with respect to the surface on which the reading element is arranged, the reading is performed so that the operator handles the writing instrument. Since the device can be operated, the operability is improved.

Further, in the reading device according to the seventh aspect, since the grip portion is inclined in the range of 30 degrees or more and less than 90 degrees with respect to the scanning direction, the operator can easily confirm the image read. Is possible.

Further, in the reading device according to the eighth aspect, the gripping portion is at least 30 degrees with respect to the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction.
Since the device is inclined within the range of less than a degree, it becomes easy to support the device and it becomes possible to supply a reading device having good operability.

Further, in the reading device according to the ninth aspect, since the speed detecting means is provided in the supporting means for fixing the reading portion, the device can be constructed with a simple mechanism, and the grasping portion can be Even if the position of the supporting means changes, it is possible to easily detect the speed between the sheet and the apparatus main body.

A reading device according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is
Since the reading unit is connected to the gripping unit via the elastic means, it is possible to maintain the positional relationship between the reading unit and the recording medium at a constant interval even if the gripping unit slightly changes its posture. Therefore, it is possible to provide a reading device with better operability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a printing device and a reading device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the printing device and the reading device.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a support portion.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a printing device and a reading device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an internal configuration diagram of a printing device and a reading device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an external view and an internal configuration diagram of a conventional printing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 roller 9 inkjet recording head 10 body part 12 frame 22 gear 23 gear 24 encoder disk 25 photointerrupter 30 elastic member 50 body part 79 reading part

Front page continued (72) Inventor Yoshiki Katayama 15-1 Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya City Brother Industries, Ltd.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A printer having a recording head having a plurality of recording elements formed in a line, and printing by scanning on a recording medium, the printer being provided above the recording head and held by an operator. A printing device, comprising: a gripping part, the gripping part extending obliquely with respect to a surface on which the recording element is arranged. 2. The grip portion is 30 in the scanning direction.
The printer according to claim 1, wherein the printer is inclined within a range of not less than 90 degrees and not more than 90 degrees. 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the grip portion is inclined toward the operator in a range of 30 degrees or more and less than 90 degrees with respect to a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. 4. The recording head is fixed to a supporting means,
4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the supporting means is provided with speed detecting means for detecting a scanning speed of the printing apparatus with respect to the recording medium. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is connected to the grip portion via an elastic means. 6. A reading device having a reading unit formed by arranging a plurality of reading elements in a row, and reading an image printed on the printing medium by scanning the printing medium, above the reading unit. A reading device, comprising: a grip portion provided and gripped by an operator, the grip portion extending obliquely with respect to a surface on which the reading element is arranged. 7. The grip portion is 30 with respect to the scanning direction.
The reading device according to claim 6, wherein the reading device is inclined in a range of not less than 90 degrees and not more than 90 degrees. 8. The reading device according to claim 6, wherein the grip portion is inclined toward the operator side in a range of 30 degrees or more and less than 90 degrees with respect to a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. 9. The reading unit is fixed to a supporting means,
9. The reading apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the supporting means is provided with speed detecting means for detecting a scanning speed of the reading apparatus with respect to the print medium. 10. The reading unit is provided with elastic means,
7. The device is connected to the grip portion.
9. The reading device according to any one of 8 to 8.