JPH09323423A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To change over printing modes of normal printing and economy printing corresponding to a scanning moving speed even on the way of printing. SOLUTION: The rotational speed of an encoder is converted to an electric pulse signal which is, in turn, inputted not only to a CPU 20 but also to a speed comparing processing part 5 to be guided to an F/V converter. The voltage (v) corresponding to the frequency of the inputted signal is outputted to a level comparator from the F/V converter. This voltage (v) is compared with reference voltage v1 preset to the level comparator. A CPU 20 sends different jet timing signals to a head driver 23 corresponding to the output of the level comparator to control the liquid droplet amt. of emitted ink.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing by manually or automatically scanning and moving on a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printing apparatus which is manually moved by scanning, the speed of movement on a recording medium is not constant.
For example, as shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 48-17630, a displacement detecting device is provided for detecting a relative positional change of the print head with respect to the recording medium.
This displacement detecting device is performed by a roller moving along with the print head contacting and rotating a relative position change caused by the print head moving on the print medium. That is, by detecting the rotation angle of the roller, the relative positional change between the print head and the recording medium is detected, and thus the position of the print head is detected.

As described above, in the conventional printing apparatus, the displacement detecting apparatus detects the relative positional change between the print head and the recording medium, and controls the print head in synchronization with the detection result to move the printing apparatus. It is considered that good printing can be performed even when the speed is not constant.

Therefore, the printing apparatus having such a configuration can easily print on an arbitrary position on the recording medium, and printing which cannot be printed by the conventional stationary printer, for example, bookbinding has been completed. It has the feature that it can print on thick books and documents, large-sized paper, and the like.

Further, in recent years, as an image forming means of such a printing apparatus, there is one using an ink jet recording system. The printing device using the inkjet recording system,
In addition to the normal print mode, there is a printer provided with an economy print mode in which the amount of ink consumption is suppressed, and these are configured to be switched by a mode switch. The economy printing mode is realized by reducing the amount of ink droplets to be ejected by controlling the voltage or signal waveform for driving the inkjet recording head.

The economy printing mode is used for so-called test printing for confirming the layout of printed matter and for proofreading, and it suppresses the amount of ink, which is a consumable item, to improve the economic effect.

[0007]

However, this type of conventional printing apparatus requires a mode changeover switch for changing over the printing mode, and in addition to the power switch, online switch, etc., the number of switches is further increased. The cost was increased. Therefore, if this function is assigned to another switch without increasing the number of switches, the switch operation becomes complicated and it becomes difficult for the user to operate.

Further, since the conventional printing apparatus has a structure in which the printing mode cannot be switched during the printing scan, in order to switch the printing mode during the printing of one line, the printing is temporarily interrupted. There is also a problem in that it is necessary to switch the print mode.

However, the present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and makes it possible to switch the printing mode between normal printing and economy printing according to the scanning movement speed, and further, during printing. However, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device capable of switching these printing modes.

[0010]

In order to achieve this object, the printing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention scans and moves on a recording medium, so that characters and characters are recorded on the recording medium. Recording means for printing an image such as a figure, speed detection means for detecting the scanning movement speed of the recording means, and speed for comparing the scanning movement speed detected by the speed detection means with a preset reference speed. Comparing means and driving means for driving the recording means in different modes according to the comparison result by the speed comparing means.

According to this printing apparatus, by scanning and moving the recording means on the recording medium, it is possible to print an image such as characters or figures on the recording medium. During the printing, the speed detecting means detects the scanning moving speed of the recording means, and the speed comparing means compares the scanning moving speed detected by the speed detecting means with a preset reference speed. . Then, the drive means drives the recording means in different modes according to the comparison result by the speed comparison means. Therefore, by changing the scanning movement speed of the recording means, the printing mode of the recording means changes and different printing results can be obtained.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the recording means is an inkjet head,
The drive unit is configured to change the amount of ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head according to the comparison result by the speed comparison unit. Therefore, by changing the scanning movement speed of the inkjet head, the driving unit changes the amount of ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head. For this reason, it is possible to suppress the ink consumption as needed, and it is possible to obtain printing of substantially constant density and quality regardless of the change in the scanning movement speed of the inkjet head.

Further, according to the printing apparatus of the third aspect, the driving means is configured to drive the ink jet head when the speed comparing means determines that the scanning movement speed of the recording means is higher than the reference speed. The amount of ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head is increased, and the amount of ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head is decreased when it is determined that the scanning movement speed of the recording unit is lower than the reference speed. Then drive the inkjet head. Therefore, in particular, when the scanning movement speed of the inkjet head is high, the amount of ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head is large, so that the printed image does not become thin or faint.
It is possible to always obtain a print with substantially constant density and quality.

Further, the printing apparatus according to the fourth aspect comprises a reference speed setting means capable of arbitrarily setting the reference speed. Therefore, it is possible to set the desired scanning movement speed suitable for the user to the reference speed according to the operation skill of the user. Therefore, even if the user changes, it is possible to print with substantially constant density and quality. Can be obtained.

[0015]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows the appearance of the printing apparatus of this embodiment. The body portion 1 of the printing apparatus is formed in a cylindrical shape, and is configured so that a user can easily hold it by hand. The roller 6 is rotatably provided at the tip of the body 1. The surface of the roller 6 is formed of an elastic material having a high friction coefficient such as rubber. An inkjet head 7 is arranged on the side of the roller 6.
The inkjet head 7 constitutes the recording means of the present invention. At the other end of the body portion 1, an interface portion 3 for infrared communication for transmitting / receiving print data to / from an external device (not shown) is provided. Further, on the side surface of the body portion 1, a power switch 4 for turning on / off the power source of the printing apparatus and a print permission switch 2 for permitting a printing operation are provided.

That is, in the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the user holds the body portion 1 by hand with the print data or the like input from an external device or the like, and rotates the roller 6 on the recording medium (paper or the like) by contact. This is a device for performing predetermined printing on a recording medium by manually scanning while performing.

FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram for explaining the internal configuration of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the internal configuration of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

A roller 6 is supported at the tip of the body 1 so as to be rotatable about a horizontal rotation center axis. An inkjet head 7 is arranged immediately on the side of the roller 6. The nozzle at the tip of the inkjet head 7 is positioned so as to be disposed above the print surface of the recording medium (paper) with a certain gap.

An ink tank 13 for supplying ink to the inkjet head 7 is arranged above the inkjet head 7. A pulley 15 is arranged on the rotation center axis of the roller 6 so as to rotate integrally with the rotation of the roller 6. The pulley 15
A belt 9 is wound around the roller 9, and the rotational force of the pulley 8 that rotates with the rotation of the roller 6 is transmitted to the rotating disk 10 that constitutes an encoder to be described later via the belt 9 and the driven pulley 8. Is configured to communicate. The encoder is arranged inside the body portion 1 near the center thereof. The rotating disk 10 is provided with slits 10a on the circumference at predetermined intervals. The photo interrupter 14 of the encoder that is turned on / off by the rotation of the slit 10a changes the rotation speed of the rotating disk 10 into electric pulses. It is configured to be converted into a signal and input to the control unit 11 described later.

Above the rotary disk 10 in the body 1, the above-mentioned ink jet head 7 and photo interrupter 1 are provided.
4, a control unit 11 for controlling the interface unit 3 and the like provided for receiving the electric pulse signal 4 and print data from the outside, which will be described later, is arranged. Further, a power supply 12 for supplying electric power to each functional block described later is arranged in the vicinity thereof. The power supply 12 is
It is composed of a power supply unit such as a small-sized primary battery or a secondary battery and a device for stabilizing the power.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the electrical construction of the printing apparatus of this embodiment. In the figure, a CPU 20 has a storage device 21 (RO which stores a control program for controlling each functional block according to a predetermined program).
M) is connected. The above-mentioned interface unit 3 is connected to the CPU 20. Further, the signal after the rotation speed of the encoder is converted into the electric pulse signal is input to the CPU 20 and also to the speed comparison processing unit 5 described later. Further, the storage unit (RAM) 22 for storing the print data input from the interface unit 3 and the head drive 23 for driving the inkjet head 7 also have the same CP.
Connected to U20. Each of these functional blocks is built in the body portion 1 of the printer of FIG. The speed comparison processing section 5 is the speed comparison means of the present invention, and the head drive 23 is the drive means of the present invention.

Next, the detailed structure of the speed comparison processing section 5 in the printing apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

As described above, the photo interrupter 14
The electric signal whose rotational speed has been converted at is guided to a frequency / voltage converter 51 (hereinafter referred to as an F / V converter). The voltage v corresponding to the frequency of the input signal is output from the F / V converter 51 to the level comparator 52. This voltage v is compared in the level comparator 52 with a preset reference voltage v1. Here, the reference voltage v1 is obtained by converting a preset reference speed into a voltage. The level comparator 52 outputs a high level signal when the value of the voltage v exceeds the value of the reference voltage v1, and outputs a low level signal when the value of the voltage v is smaller than the value of the reference voltage v1. With this configuration, it is possible to determine whether the scanning movement speed exceeds the reference speed.

Next, a method of driving the head drive 23 in the printing apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Inkjet head 7 used in this embodiment
Is capable of controlling the amount of ink droplets ejected by controlling the pulse width of the drive waveform.
It is possible to eject different amounts of ink depending on the ejection timing waveforms shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. In the present embodiment, ejection is performed when the waveform shown in FIG. 7B is input to the head drive 23, rather than when the waveform shown in FIG. 7A is input to the head drive 23. The amount of ink droplets that are generated increases.

The operation of the printing apparatus of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.

The printing device of the present embodiment operates according to a predetermined program stored in the storage device 21 described above. In the following description, print data is input in advance from an external device, etc.
22 is assumed to be stored and held.

First, the CPU 20 causes the print permission switch 2
Confirm whether or not is pressed (Step 1, hereafter S
Abbreviated as 1. Other steps are the same). When it is detected that the print permission switch 2 has been pressed (S1: Yes), the apparatus waits for the user to hold the apparatus and print-scan the recording medium (S2). When the user starts the printing scan, the photo interrupter 14 generates an electric signal according to the scanning speed (S3). Further, the electric signal is input to the speed comparison processing unit 5, and a comparison signal is output depending on whether or not the reference speed set by the reference speed setting unit 24 in advance is exceeded (S4). When the comparison signal is at a low level (the scanning speed is slower than the reference speed) (S4: Yes), the CPU 20 reads the image information stored in the RAM 22 in synchronization with the electric signal, and the head drive 17 And the ink ejection timing signal 1 is sent to the head drive 23 (S5). Here, the waveform of the injection timing signal 1 when the scanning speed is slower than the reference speed is shown in FIG.

On the other hand, in S4, when the comparison signal is at a high level (the scanning speed is faster than the reference speed) (S4: N
o), the CPU 20 reads the image information stored in the RAM 22 and transfers it to the head drive 23, and at the same time, sends the ejection timing signal 2 to the head drive 23 (S6). Here, the waveform of the injection timing signal 2 when the scanning speed is slower than the reference speed is shown in FIG.

The head drive 23 drives the ink jet recording head 7 based on the image information and the ejection timing signal transferred from the CPU 20 to perform printing (S).
7). Each time the above various operations are completed, it is judged whether or not the print scanning is completed (S8), and if not completed (S8: N).
o), the operations of S1 to S7 are repeated until the print scanning is completed.

Since the printing apparatus is constructed and operates as described above, the amount of ink ejected from the ink jet head changes depending on the scanning speed. Therefore, by changing the scanning speed, the normal print mode,
It becomes possible to switch to the economy print mode,
Both can be switched even during printing.

In the present embodiment, the reference speed setting unit 24 is provided as shown in FIG. 3, but as shown in FIG. The reference voltage may be appropriately changed and input. This structure functions as the reference speed setting means of the present invention. In this case, the reference speed for mode switching can be set to a value that suits the user's preference, according to the user's operation skill.

[0033]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the printing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, by scanning and moving on the recording medium, characters and characters are recorded on the recording medium. Recording means for printing an image such as a figure, speed detection means for detecting the scanning movement speed of the recording means, and speed for comparing the scanning movement speed detected by the speed detection means with a preset reference speed. Since the comparison means and the driving means for driving the recording means in different modes according to the comparison result by the speed comparison means are provided, the recording means is changed in different modes according to the comparison result by the speed comparison means. The printing mode of the recording means can be changed to obtain different printing results by changing the scanning movement speed of the recording means.

Further, according to the printing apparatus of the second aspect, the recording means is constituted by an ink jet head, and the driving means is ejected from the ink jet head according to the comparison result by the speed comparing means. Since it is configured to change the amount of ink droplets, the drive unit changes the amount of ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head by changing the scanning movement speed of the inkjet head. As a result, it is possible to suppress the consumption of ink as needed, and it is possible to obtain printing with substantially constant density and quality regardless of the change in the scanning movement speed of the inkjet head.

Further, according to the printing apparatus of the third aspect, the drive means is configured to drive the ink jet head when the speed comparison means determines that the scanning movement speed of the recording means is higher than the reference speed. The amount of ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head is increased, and the amount of ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head is decreased when it is determined that the scanning movement speed of the recording unit is lower than the reference speed. Since the inkjet head is driven, the amount of ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head is large when the scanning movement speed of the inkjet head is high, so that the printed image becomes thin or faint. Without such a situation, it is possible to always obtain a print with a substantially constant density and quality.

Further, according to the printing device of the fourth aspect, since the reference speed setting means capable of arbitrarily setting the reference speed is provided, it is suitable for the user according to the operation skill of the user. Also, the desired scanning movement speed can be set to the reference speed, and even if the user changes, it is possible to always obtain a print with substantially constant density and quality.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an electrical block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a speed comparison processing unit of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an electrical block diagram showing a detailed configuration of another speed comparison processing unit of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a print control operation of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a head drive waveform of the printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Speed Comparison Processing Unit 6 Roller 7 Inkjet Head 11 Control Unit 20 CPU 23 Head Drive 24 Reference Speed Setting Unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A recording means for printing an image such as a character or a figure on the recording medium by scanning and moving the recording medium, and a speed detection for detecting a scanning movement speed of the recording means. Means, speed comparison means for comparing the scanning movement speed detected by the speed detection means with a preset reference speed, and drive for driving the recording means in different modes according to the comparison result by the speed comparison means. And a printing device. 2. The recording means is composed of an ink jet head, and the drive means is configured to change a droplet amount of ink ejected from the ink jet head according to a comparison result by the speed comparison means. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus drives an inkjet head. 3. The drive means increases the amount of ink droplets ejected from the ink jet head when the speed comparison means determines that the scanning movement speed of the recording means is higher than the reference speed. When it is determined that the scanning movement speed of the recording unit is lower than the reference speed, the inkjet head is driven so as to reduce the amount of ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head. The printing device according to claim 2. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reference speed setting unit capable of arbitrarily setting the reference speed.