JPH11277807A - Recorder and record control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To correct shift of the recording position caused by a gap at the fixing part of a recording head carrying part and a guide shaft. SOLUTION: W address counter A 34 controls writing of an image data being recorded on the going path of a recording head carrying part and a W address counter B 35 controls writing of an image data being recorded on the returning path of the recording head carrying part. At the time of scanning on the going path and returning path, a data corresponding to a white image is written in any recording element part corresponding to an overlapped area.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recording control method for recording received data on recording paper or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some recording apparatuses reciprocate a recording head substantially perpendicularly to a recording paper feed direction and record received data on the recording paper. Hereinafter, regarding the recording processing of this type of recording apparatus, taking an inkjet recording apparatus as an example,
This will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0005] FIG. 5 is a top view showing the configuration of a peripheral portion of a recording head of an ink jet recording apparatus. As shown in FIG. 5, the inkjet recording apparatus includes a recording head 110 that ejects ink from a plurality of nozzles, a carriage case 111 on which the recording head 110 is mounted, and bearing portions 112a and 112b of the carriage case 111, A guide shaft 113 serving as a guide when moving the carriage case 111, and fixed to the carriage case 111, and rotated by driving a carriage motor (not shown),
Belt 114 for reciprocating carriage case 111
And

In the ink jet recording apparatus constructed as described above, the belt 114 is rotated forward and backward by driving a carriage motor (not shown), and the carriage case 111 fixed to the belt 114 is driven by the belt 114 to drive the guide shaft 113. And move it back and forth. Then, while the carriage case 111 is moving, ink is ejected from nozzles of the recording head 110 mounted on the carriage case 111 to form an image of a predetermined length on recording paper.

Here, a gap is usually provided between one of the bearings 112 and the guide shaft 111 so that the carriage case 111 slides smoothly.

In FIG. 5, if a clearance is provided in the bearing 112b, when the carriage case 111 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. Because the moment works,
The nozzle position of the recording head 110 is shifted toward the guide shaft 113 by a distance of ΔL1.

On the other hand, the direction indicated by arrow B in FIG.
When the carriage case 111 moves in the "return path"), a moment acts in the direction shown by the arrow C, so that the position of the nozzle of the recording head 110 is shifted to the opposite side of the guide shaft 113 by ΔL2.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the position of a recording head and a recorded image in a conventional recording apparatus. FIG.
, The print head positions 141 and 142 indicate the print head positions at the time of stoppage in the forward path and the return path, respectively, and the print head positions 143 and 144 indicate the print head positions at the time of movement in the forward path and the return path, respectively. Further, ranges 145 and 146 indicate the ink ejection ranges in the forward path and the return path, respectively.

[0009]

As shown in FIG. 6, since a moment acts on the carriage case, the landing positions of the recording pixels shift in opposite directions between the forward path and the backward path. The conventional recording apparatus controls the recording pixels without considering the moment acting on the carriage case and ejects ink from all the nozzles provided in the recording head. There is a problem that a blank portion having a width of (ΔL1 + ΔL2) and overlapping of images occur alternately in a portion corresponding to the boundary.

[0010] As a method of preventing the white spots and the overlapping of the images that occur in the recorded image, it is conceivable to reduce the gap between the guide shaft and the bearing to suppress the amount of inclination of the carriage case. It is necessary to machine the shaft with high precision, which leads to an increase in cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has a simple structure that corrects a displacement of a recording pixel caused by an inclination of a carriage case on which a recording head is mounted, and realizes a white spot and an image. An object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus for preventing overlap and a control method therefor.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention takes the following measures. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head records an image on a recording medium using a recording element group, head transport means for reciprocating the recording head substantially perpendicularly to a transport direction of the recording medium, and the recording medium. And a control unit for recording an image on a recording medium by using different areas of the recording element group in the forward path and the return path.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the medium transport means subtracts a shift amount of a print position caused by scanning of the print head from a width of the print element group or a value obtained by subtracting the value. A configuration is adopted in which the recording medium is conveyed by a smaller amount and stopped.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the control means controls the data so as to absorb a shift of a printing position caused by scanning of the printing head. And means for writing the data to the recording element group.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the control means controls the writing of data of the recording element group in the outward path. Means and a second write control means for controlling writing of data of the recording element group in the return path.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the recording control means controls the forward path and the backward path so that the recording on the recording medium does not overlap. And writing data corresponding to a white image to one of the recording element portions that scans on the same line.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording control method, wherein a recording medium is transported by a predetermined amount, and a recording head having a recording element group is moved substantially perpendicularly to a recording medium transport direction.
A step of recording an image on a recording medium by utilizing different areas of the recording element group for the forward path and the return path.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the recording control method according to the sixth aspect, the step of conveying the recording medium subtracts a shift amount of a recording position caused by scanning of the recording head from a width of the recording element group. A method is adopted in which the recording medium is conveyed and stopped by the set value or a smaller amount.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the recording control method according to the sixth or seventh aspect, the step of recording an image records a deviation of a recording position of a recording element group caused by scanning of a recording head. A method of absorbing data by controlling data written to the element group is adopted.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the recording control method according to any one of the sixth to eighth aspects,
The image recording step employs a method of writing data corresponding to a white image to one of the recording element portions that scans on the same line in the forward path and the return path so that the recording on the recording medium does not overlap.

With these arrangements, it is possible to correct the positional deviation of the recording pixels which occurs in the recording medium conveyance direction due to the inclination of the carriage in the opposite direction, to prevent white spots and image overlap in the recorded image, and to provide good image quality. A recorded image can be obtained.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings, taking an ink jet recording apparatus as an example. FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, a cassette 1 for accommodating recording paper 2 as a recording material is provided in an ink jet recording apparatus.
The cams 3a and 3b are attached to both ends of the cassette 1 on the apparatus side, and the pickup rollers 4 for feeding out the recording paper 2 one by one are inserted through the cams 3a and 3b. The pickup roller 4 is attached to a body cover (not shown). A feed roller 5 that conveys the recording paper 2 fed by the pickup roller 4 is attached to the main body cover, and a gear box 6 that switches rotation transmission of the feed roller 5 is attached. Further, outside the gear box 6, a feed roller 5 is provided.
A feed motor 7 for rotating the motor is mounted.

On the plate 8 connected to the cams 3a and 3b, three pinch rollers 9 are arranged at equal intervals, and the recording paper 2 is sandwiched between the pinch roller 9 and the feed roller 5 so as to sandwich the recording paper. 2 is provided with a conveying force. The plate 8 is provided with a position sensor 10 for detecting the leading end of the conveyed recording paper 2. Also,
The pickup roller 4, the feed roller 5, and the pinch roller 9 are installed such that their roller axes are substantially parallel to each other.

A guide shaft 11 is attached to the main body cover so as to be substantially parallel to the above-mentioned roller shaft. A carriage case 13 having a recording head 12 having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink toward the recording paper 2 is attached to the guide shaft 11 so as to penetrate therethrough.

Below the carriage case 13, a belt 15 stretched over two pulleys 14a and 14b is stretched. A carriage motor 16 for rotating the belt 15 forward and reverse is connected to one pulley 14b. I have. With such a configuration, the carriage case 13 on which the recording head 12 is mounted is reciprocated in parallel along the guide shaft 11 (hereinafter referred to as “forward” when moving in the direction of arrow A, and “return” when moving in the direction of arrow B). "). In the vicinity of the belt 15, the carriage sensor 1
7, a member to be detected (not shown) attached to the carriage case 13 is detected to confirm the initial position of the carriage case 13.

In a region below the parallel movement region of the carriage case 13, there is provided a cap housing member 18 which reciprocates in parallel along the movement direction of the carriage case 13 and moves the cap 19 up and down. A cap 19 is stored in the cap storage member 18 with its opening facing upward. A suction pump 20 is connected to the cap 19 as suction means for depressurizing the inside of the cap and suctioning the inside of the nozzle during nozzle cleaning.

In the vicinity of the cap housing member 18,
A wiper 21 for wiping the nozzles of the recording head is provided. Recorded paper 2 on the cover
And a shaft 24 through which a pressing gear 23 is inserted.

Further, a control circuit section 30 for controlling the recording head 12 and other mechanical sections is built in the main body cover of the ink jet recording apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the recording head and the control circuit of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control circuit 30 reads out image data recorded on the outward path of the recording head 12 from the image memory 31 for storing received image data, and temporarily stores the image data. And a buffer memory (B) 33 for reading image data recorded on the return path of the recording head 12 from the image memory 31 and temporarily storing the image data.

The control circuit unit 30 controls a W address counter (A) 34 for controlling a write address of image data to the buffer memory (A) 32 and a write address of image data to the buffer memory (B) 33. W address counter (B) 35, R address counter 36 for controlling the read address of the image data to buffer memory (A) 32 and buffer memory (B) 33, buffer memory (A) 32 and buffer memory (B) 33 And a P / S converter 37 for converting the image data stored in the printer 1 into serial data and transferring the serial data to the recording head 12.

Further, the control circuit section 30 has a timing control section 38 for controlling writing and reading of data and processing timing of each section of the apparatus.

The recording head 12 arranges the serial data transmitted from the P / S converter 37 in the order of nozzles.
It has a conversion unit 12a, a latch circuit 12b for holding the serial data arranged, and a driver 12c for ejecting ink from nozzles according to the serial data.

Next, the recording operation of the ink jet recording apparatus according to this embodiment will be described. Here, in the present embodiment, the number of nozzles of the recording head is 60,
The displacement amount Δ of the recording pixel due to the inclination of the carriage case
The case where L1 and ΔL2 are for one nozzle will be described.

First, image data is transmitted to the image memory 31 of the control circuit unit 30 through an interface or the like, and
When image data for a page is accumulated, a recording start signal is output from the timing control unit to each unit.

When the recording start signal is output, under the control of the W address counter (A) 34, 60 lines of image data to be recorded on the outward path of the recording head 12 from the image memory 31 to the buffer memory (A) 32. Are written in the order of the nozzles. Here, of the image data to be written to the buffer memory (A) 32, the lines to which the image data to be recorded are written are from the fourth line to the 59th line,
Data (0) corresponding to a white image is inserted in the first to third lines and the 60th line.

When the recording start signal is output, the feed motor 7 is operated (the connection cable is not shown in FIG. 1), and the pickup roller 4 and the feed roller 5 are rotated by the operation of the gear box 6. I do. When the pickup roller 4 rotates, the cams 3a and 3b provided at both ends rotate, and the tip of the cassette 1 which is urged upward according to the rotation of the cams 3a and 3b rises. The recording paper 2 is extruded in contact with the uppermost sheet.

When the leading end of the recording paper 2 passes through the position sensor 10, the passage information of the recording paper 2 is sent to the control circuit 30, and
The control circuit 30 starts counting until the recording paper 2 reaches the recording start position. The leading end of the recording paper 2 that has passed through the position sensor 10 reaches the pinch roller 9, is sandwiched between the pinch roller 9 and the feed roller 5, is conveyed by the conveyance force of the feed roller 5, and the recording paper 2 advances to the recording position. Note that recording paper 2
Begins to advance, the tip of the cassette 1 is lowered by the action of the cams 3a and 3b, and the driving force of the pickup roller 4 is no longer effective on the recording paper 2.

When the count of the control circuit unit 30 detects that the leading end of the recording paper 2 sandwiched between the pinch roller 9 and the feed roller 5 has reached the recording position, the feed roller 5 is stopped, and the recording paper 2 is discharged. Stop.

When the writing of the image data to the buffer memory (A) 24 is completed and the recording paper 2 stops, the carriage motor 16 rotates at a constant speed by a signal from the control circuit unit 30 and is fixed to the belt 15. The moved carriage case 13 moves in the direction of arrow A. Then, by detecting the detected member of the carriage case 13 by the carriage sensor 17, the carriage case 13 is moved along the guide shaft 11 from a preset initial position to a predetermined recording start position.
This movement amount is controlled in advance by a control circuit unit for a fixed time for operating the carriage motor 16 or by the number of motor drive steps.

When the carriage case 13 on which the recording head 12 is mounted is transported to the recording start position, the control circuit 3
0, a control signal is output from the timing control unit 38 to the R address counter 36, and under the control of the R address counter 36, the image data for 60 nozzles is transferred from the buffer memory (A) 32 in 8-bit units The P / S converter 37 converts the read image data into serial data, and the converted serial data is transmitted to the recording head 12.

When the image data for 60 nozzles is completed, it is synchronized with the drive signal of the carriage motor 16 at a constant period (when the dot formation density of ink is 8 dots / mm, this corresponds to the movement of the belt 15 by 1/8 mm). Carriage motor 1
The ejection control signal is sent to the recording head 12 (every rotation cycle of 6), and the carriage case 13 on which the recording head 12 is mounted moves along the guide shaft 11 across the recording paper 2 in the direction of arrow A in the figure, An image is formed by ejecting ink from the nozzles of the recording head 12.

When the recording in the forward path is started, image data for 60 lines to be recorded in the backward path is written in the buffer memory (B) 33. However, lines on which image data to be recorded are written are from the second line to the 57th line, and data (0) corresponding to a white image is inserted into the 1st and 58th to 60th lines.

The control circuit 30 rotates the carriage motor 16 for a predetermined time (the number of drive pulses), and moves the carriage case 13. Then, while the carriage case 13 moves, the recording head 12 forms an image. The control circuit unit 30 stops the rotation of the carriage motor 16 after the recording head 12 forms an image of a predetermined length.

When the recording of the outward path is completed, the control circuit 30
Control, the recording paper 2 has a width corresponding to 56 nozzles.
The feed motor 7 is rotated by a fixed amount so as to convey. At this time, the discharge roller 22 also rotates at the same time, and the recording paper 2 sandwiched between the holding gears 23 is sent out.

At this time, in order to prevent the recording paper 2 from loosening between the pinch roller 9 and the pressing gear 23, the rotation speed of the discharge roller 22 is set to be slightly larger than the transport amount of the feed roller 7. You. In addition, the pinch pressure of the holding gear 23 that presses the discharge roller 22 is set to be small so that the conveyance force of the discharge roller 22 does not become stronger than the conveyance force of the feed roller 7 and the accuracy of the conveyance amount of the recording paper 2 does not decrease. .

When the recording paper 2 is conveyed by a width corresponding to 56 nozzles, the carriage motor 16 is rotated in reverse at a constant speed, and the recording head 12 is moved in the direction of arrow B in FIG. An ejection control signal synchronized with the drive signal having a constant period is sent to the recording head 12, and the carriage motor 16 is rotated for a time (the number of drive pulses) determined in advance by the control circuit unit in the same manner as described above. After the image is recorded, the carriage motor 16 is stopped.

The above operation is repeated to record an image over the entire length of one sheet of recording paper 2. After the recording is completed, the carriage motor 16 is rotated to return the carriage case 13 to the initial position. Complete.

FIG. 3 is a top view showing the structure of the peripheral portion of the recording head of the ink jet recording apparatus. In FIG.
The guide shaft 11 is inserted through bearings 25a and 25b integrated with the carriage case 13. A gap is provided between the bearing 25b and the guide shaft 11 so that the carriage case 13 slides smoothly. When the carriage case 13 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow A (forward path) in FIG. 3A, a moment acts in the direction indicated by the arrow D. Therefore, the position of the nozzle of the recording head 12 is shifted by the distance ΔL1 toward the guide shaft 11. Deviate.

On the other hand, when the carriage case 13 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow B (return path) in FIG. 3B, a moment acts in the direction indicated by the arrow C, so that the nozzle position of the recording head 12 is guided by ΔL2. Move away from the shaft 11. As a result, the landing positions of the recording pixels on the forward path and the return path are shifted by ΔL1 + ΔL2 in opposite directions. This ΔL1 + Δ
L2 corresponds to the width of two nozzles.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the position of the recording head and the recorded image in the recording apparatus of the present embodiment. In FIG. 4, recording head positions 41 and 42 indicate the recording head positions at the time of stopping on the outward path and the returning path, respectively, and recording head positions 43 and 44 indicate the recording head positions at the time of movement on the outward path and the returning path, respectively. Also,
Circle marks in the recording head positions 41 to 44 indicate nozzles of each line, black circles indicate image data to be printed, and white circles indicate data (0) corresponding to a white image. Things. Further, ranges 45 and 46 indicate the ink ejection ranges in the forward path and the return path, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 4, the position 43 of the recording head during the forward movement is shifted to the guide shaft side (upper side in the figure) by ΔL1 (corresponding to one nozzle) from the position 41 of the recording head at the time of stopping, and recording is performed. The landing positions of the pixels are similarly shifted. On the other hand, the position 44 of the print head during the backward movement is shifted from the position 44 of the print head at the time of stop by ΔL2 (corresponding to one nozzle) to the opposite side (lower side in the figure) to the guide shaft, and the landing position of the print pixel is also changed. Similarly shift.

In the present embodiment, the feed amount of the recording paper by the feed motor 7 is set to 56 nozzles, which is smaller than the number obtained by subtracting two nozzles corresponding to the shift amount of the landing position from the number of nozzles 60. Furthermore, data (0) is inserted from the first line (L1) to the third line (L3) and the 60th line (L60) of the nozzles of the recording head 12 on the outward path, and the data of the nozzles of the recording head 12 on the backward path. One line (L
1) and the 58th line (L58) to the 60th line (L
Data (0) is inserted into (60).

This makes it possible to correct the upward displacement of one nozzle in the forward pass and the downward displacement of one nozzle in the return pass. Image overlap can be prevented.

As described above, by controlling the ejection of the recording head in the forward path and the return path in consideration of the displacement of the recording area due to the scanning of the recording recording head, the recording element group used in the forward path and the return path is controlled. By controlling the respective areas, the positional deviation of the recording area can be absorbed, and a recorded image in which boundaries between the areas recorded on the forward path and the return path are accurately connected can be obtained.

In this embodiment, an example has been described in which the number of nozzles of the recording head is 60, and the positional deviation amounts ΔL1 and ΔL2 of the recording pixels due to the inclination of the carriage case are equivalent to one nozzle. The present invention is not limited to this, and the same effect can be obtained by appropriately changing the setting of the control circuit unit according to the device.

In the above-described embodiment, the initial position is on the left side of the paper, but the initial position can be set on the right side of the paper. In this case, the above operation is reversed left and right.

Further, a shift in the moving direction caused by the inclination of the carriage case is guaranteed by correcting the recording start position.

In the above-described embodiment, the recording apparatus in which the recording method is the ink jet method has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the recording method is a thermal recording method, an inter-thermal transfer recording method, and a thermal sublimation recording. The same effect can be obtained for a printing apparatus that prints an image by reciprocating the printing element group using another printing method such as a printing method.

[0061]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, even when there is a gap between the bearing and the guide shaft of the carriage case, the recording position can be adjusted with high accuracy, and white spots and image Can be obtained, and a recorded image can be obtained in which boundaries between areas recorded on the forward path and the return path are accurately connected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a control circuit unit and a print head of the inkjet printing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a top view illustrating a configuration of a peripheral portion of a recording head of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an output image of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a top view illustrating a configuration of a peripheral portion of a recording head in a conventional inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an output image in a conventional inkjet recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 cassette 2 recording paper 3 cam 4 pickup roller 5 feed roller 6 gear box 7 feed motor 8 plate 9 pinch roller 10 position sensor 11 guide shaft 12 recording head 13 carriage case 14 pulley 15 belt 16 carriage motor 17 carriage sensor 18 cap storage section DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 19 Cap 20 Suction pump 21 Wiper 22 Conveyance roller 23 Pressing gear 24 Shaft 25 Bearing 30 Control circuit part

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A recording head for recording an image on a recording medium using a recording element group, a head transport unit for reciprocating the recording head substantially perpendicular to a transport direction of the recording medium, and a medium for transporting the recording medium. A printing apparatus comprising: a transport unit; and a control unit that prints an image on a printing medium by using different areas of the printing element group in a forward pass and a return pass. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the medium conveying means conveys the print medium by a value obtained by subtracting a shift amount of a print position caused by a scan of a print head from a width of the print element group or an amount smaller than the value, and stops the print medium. The recording device according to claim 1. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit writes data to the printing element group so as to absorb a printing position shift caused by the printing head scanning. 4. The control means includes a first write control means for controlling writing of data of a recording element group in a forward path, and a second writing control means for controlling writing of data of a recording element group in a return path. The recording device according to claim 1, wherein: 5. The recording control means writes data corresponding to a white image to one of the recording element portions that scan on the same line in the forward path and the return path so that the recording on the recording medium does not overlap. The recording device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein 6. A step of conveying a recording medium by a predetermined amount, and moving a recording head having a recording element group substantially perpendicularly to a conveying direction of the recording medium to use different areas of the recording element group in a forward path and a return path. And recording an image on a recording medium. 7. The method of conveying a recording medium, comprising: conveying the recording medium at a value obtained by subtracting a shift amount of a print position caused by scanning of a print head from a width of a print element group or by narrowing the print medium. 7. The recording control method according to claim 6, wherein: 8. The image recording step according to claim 6, wherein a shift in the recording position of the recording element group caused by the scanning of the recording head is absorbed by controlling data written to the recording element group. The recording control method described in the above. 9. The step of recording an image includes writing data corresponding to a white image to one of the recording element portions that scans on the same line between the forward path and the backward path so that the recording on the recording medium does not overlap. Claims 6 to 8 characterized by the following:
The recording control method according to any one of the above.