JPS6120780A - Detection of width of printer recording paper - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To arrange so that the size of a recording may be precisely detected by detecting location data on both edges of paper through an optical scanning by carriage movement and determining a paper size through the comparison of the location data with size data from a size width storage means. CONSTITUTION:When recording paper is inserted into a platen 1, the left and right end of the paper are detected through an optical scanning based on carriage movement by light emitting element 11 and light receiving element 12 mounted on the carriage 2. Then location data is detected by a counter value obtained through carriage movement and then is stored into a storage means 23. In the meantime, size data of a storage means 22 memorizing in advance width data corresponding to paper sizes, i.e. B4, B5, A4, etc. and size width data obtained through calculation of right/left edge location data are compared by CPU 15 to determine the size. After these procedures, a pinch roller 6 is to be positioned according to the paper size by separating the pinch roller 6 with the help of a rotary solenoid drive means 18 and moving/engaging the actuating member 10 of the carriage.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to a method for detecting the paper width of recording paper inserted into a position along a platen of a printer. In particular, when using recording paper of different sizes, the printer is equipped with a presser roller positioning device that can automatically set the position of the presser rollers that are placed opposite each other on the platen according to the paper size. 4-There is an effective paper width detection method in use.

<Prior Art> The general configuration of a conventional printer is shown in FIG.

That is, the platen 40 is rotated by a shaft 41 (shown by a chain line for convenience) connected to a rotation mechanism, and a plurality of feed rollers 43 are attached to a shaft 42 (shown by a chain line for convenience) parallel to the platen 40 on the lower surface of the platen 40. .43・
... are rotatably mounted and those rollers 43
, 43 . . . have their peripheral surfaces partially in contact with the platen 40.

Then, at the upper part of the platen 40, the platen 4
A plurality of presser rollers 4 are rotatably and freely slidable in the direction of this axis on an axis 44 (shown by a chain line for convenience) parallel to 0.
5, 45... are attached.

The shafts 44 of the presser rollers 45, 45, . is energized in the direction of the platen 40, and the presser rollers 45, 45, . . . press against the platen 40 and function to press the recording paper.

The recording paper is placed between a platen 40 and a feed roller 43.4.
' 3 . In this case, the horizontal positions of the presser rollers 45, 45, . . . are set at positions that do not affect the recording operation.

In a printer equipped with such a paper holding device, when printing on paper of different sizes, the operator manually moves the holding rollers 45, 45 each time the paper size is changed, and presses the paper on the left and right sides. It was set to the position corresponding to the printed part.

Therefore, in the past, the operator had to manually position the presser roller each time the paper size changed, which was cumbersome, and the operator often forgot to set the setting or made a setting error.

In particular, in inkjet printers that eject ink droplets to record, if the presser roller is set incorrectly, for example, if it is set outside the paper or within the printing area, the former may cause printing to be difficult due to the condition of the paper. The size of the characters changes, and in the latter case, the pressing roller presses the printed surface, which means that the ink is not completely dried, resulting in smudged prints and a significant deterioration in print quality.

Therefore, in conventional printers, when recording paper is inserted into a position along the platen, the presser roller automatically detects the paper size and automatically sets the presser roller to a position suitable for the paper. A position setting device was desired.

Purpose> In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides a detection method that can accurately detect the paper size of recording paper inserted in a position along a platen, and based on this, an automatic setting means for a presser roller. This is an advantageous feature of the company.

<Embodiment> FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the area around the platen of a printer equipped with the apparatus of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a platen connected to a rotation mechanism, and 2 is a carriage mounted with a print head that faces the platen 1 and moves back and forth on support shafts 3, 3 in the axial direction of the platen 1. . For example, in the case of an ink jet printer, the print head is equipped with an ink jet nozzle to jet ink droplets in one direction of the platen.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a paper presser device, which includes a plurality of presser rollers 6.6 that are rotatable on a shaft 5 parallel to the platen 1 and slidable in the axial direction. A separator 7 is interposed on the shaft 5 between the rollers 6 and 6 to separate the rollers from each other, and the separator 7 is smaller in diameter than the roller 6 and has a predetermined length in the axial direction. It has a cylindrical shape,
It is rotatably attached to the shaft 5 and slidably in the axial direction.

One end of the shaft 5 is bent to form an angle 5a.
The angle 5a is connected to the rotation shaft 8a of a rotary linenoid 80. This rotarynoid E
The direction of rotation is controlled by a driver 9.

That is, the rotation of the shaft 5 is controlled (
At one stable point (the first stable point), the roller 6.6 of the shaft 5 presses the paper against the platen surface, and at the other stable point (the second stable point). Now, the roller 6.6 of the shaft 5 is rotated from the platen 1 side to the carriage 2 side, and the roller 6.6 is in the positioning state.

On the other hand, on the carriage 2 side, the rollers 6.6
engages with the roller 6.6 during the positioning state of the roller 6.
．． An actuating member 10 for moving the platen 6 in the axial direction projects toward the platen 1.

Therefore, this actuating member 10 can be moved in the direction along the platen l by the movement of the carriage 2. During printing, the actuating member IC1t also acts as an indicator to indicate the print position.

The actuating member 10 (d) is clearly visible in the side view of FIG.
A light emitting element 11 and a light receiving element 12 are provided on the front surface facing the platen 1 at the tip thereof.

These elements 11 and 12 are for detecting the paper size of paper loaded on the platen 1, and when the carriage 2 is moved along the platen 1, the light emitting element 11
The light receiving element 12 detects the reflected light from the paper and detects the position of the paper. In other words, the light emitting element 11 is only visible from the surface where the paper is present.
The irradiated light is reflected to the light receiving element 12.

Next, the configuration of the control circuit for automatically positioning the presser roller 6.6 according to the paper size is shown in FIG. This is a controller with built-in memory, etc. Reference numeral 16 denotes a memory for storing various data for automatic setting, and includes a plurality of storage means described later. Reference numeral 17 is a driver for driving a carriage carrying a print head under control from the cPu 15, 18 is a rotary solenoid drive driver, and 19 is a paper feeding drive means.

Reference numeral 20 denotes an operation selection means for generating a signal indicating whether or not there has been a change in the paper size, whether there has been a change in the setting position of the paper, or whether it is desired to set the correct position of the paper presser roller 6.6 again. , for example, is configured with a manual switch, and the CPU 15 executes the setting operation of the presser roller 6.6 in response to the switch input.

The memory 16 is provided with storage means 21 to 28.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a storage means for holding the initial setting position information of the presser roller 6.6, which is used to temporarily set the presser roller 6.6 to an initial setting position which becomes a reference position before setting it to a position suitable for the paper size; 22, various types of paper; For example, size width storage means stores width information corresponding to paper sizes such as B4, BS, A4, etc.; 23 is a light emitting and light receiving element 11 at the tip of the actuating member 10;
．． 12, when the carriage 2 is scanned along the platen 1 in order to detect the state of the paper mounted on the platen 1, a paper edge position storage means into which position information of the right and left edges of the paper is introduced; 24 is a length information storage means for storing the length of the presser roller 6.6, the length of the separator 7, etc., and 25 is a length information storage means for storing information about the distance from the start of movement to a stable point where the speed becomes constant when the carriage starts moving. The held stable distance storage means 26 is a storage means for storing the home position, and the home position is a relative position from a reference position (for example, the rightmost position), that is, in this example, the home position is It is set near the rightmost edge, and this value is the value obtained by subtracting the data in the stable distance storage means 25 from the paper right edge position data.

Reference numeral 27 represents a center storage means that stores position data of the carriage corresponding to the center of the platen 1, and 28 represents a limit position storage means that stores the positions of the leftmost and rightmost ends of the movable range of the carriage.

The operations of the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 described above are shown in the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, and the series of operations will be explained below based on this flowchart.

The main operations include (1) setting the initial position of the paper, (2) detecting the paper width and paper set position, (3) initial setting of the presser roller 6.6, (4) setting the position of the presser roller, (5) There is a printing operation. Each of these operations will be explained in detail.

(1) Setting the initial position of paper First, when a new paper is inserted into the platen 1 side of the printer, the insertion state of the paper is detected by a detection means (not shown), and this detection signal is input to the CPU 15. This is step 3 in the flowchart in Figure 4 (al.
It is 1.

Subsequently, the CPU 15 receives an instruction from the operation selection means 20 as to whether or not there has been a change in the paper size or the setting position of the paper, and whether or not it is desired to set the correct position of the presser roller 6.6 again. A determination is made (step 32). That is, when there is a change in the paper size, when there is a change in the set position of the paper, and when it is desired to set the position accurately, the operation selection means (manual switch) 20 inputs the information to the CPUI 5.

In step 32, if it is not necessary to detect the paper size, the process moves to step 74, where the carriage is returned to the home position, and then the process moves to the printing operation after step 68 in FIG. 4 (C1).

Further, if it is necessary to detect the paper size in step 32, the process proceeds to step 33 and subsequent steps.

In this step 33, when the paper is sent by the rotation of the platen 1, the carriage is moved to the center position of the platen 1 in order to check whether the paper is at the initial position. This movement is controlled based on data in the central storage means 27.

- Also, at this time, the presser roller 6.6 is in the paper-pressing state, which is the dotted line position in FIG.

Subsequently, the light emitting and light receiving elements 11.12 provided on the operating member 10 of the carriage detect whether or not the paper has been fed to the initial setting position, and when the paper has been fed to that position, the paper feeding operation is stopped. The carriage is moved to the rightmost end of this movable range and stopped (steps 34-
Step 36).

The movement of the carriage to the right end is performed based on the right end position data held by the limit position memory 28.

The series of operations described above is the process of setting the initial position of the paper.

(2) Detection of paper width and paper set position After the initial position of the paper is set as described above, this detection operation is performed.

At the time of this detection operation, the carriage is at the rightmost position, and this rightmost position is the most basic position for carriage operation, and all other position information is expressed as a relative position from this position. It is something.

Now, in the detection operation, first, the rightmost carriage is moved to the left and optically scanned by the light emitting and light receiving elements 11. .38).

In response to this movement of the carriage, the position of the carriage is counted by a counter means (not particularly shown), and the value of this position counter is determined based on the rightmost position described above.

Therefore, when the right edge of the paper is detected by the optical scanning, the value of the position counter at that time is input to the right edge position storage section in the paper edge storage means 23 (step 39).

Following the detection, the carriage further moves to the left and enters the left edge detection operation of the paper, and in response to the detection of the left edge of the paper, the old value of the position counter is stored in the paper edge storage means 23 in the same manner as described above. is introduced into the left end position storage section (step 40
．． 41).

Thereafter, the carriage continues to move to the left and is moved to that position according to the leftmost position data held in the limited position storage means 28 (step 43).

Through the series of operations described above, the paper width and the like are detected, and then the presser roller 6.6 is set.

(3) Initial Setting of Presser Roller Prior to setting the presser roller 6.6 at the edge of the paper, the insertion/extraction roller 6.6 is moved to the initial position, which is the reference position.

This is done by executing the flow shown in FIG. 4 Fbl. First, the rotary solenoid drive driver 18 is driven, the rotary solenoid 8 shown in FIG. solid line state) (step 44).

This displacement setting of the hold-down roller 6.6 makes it possible, upon movement of the carriage, to engage this actuating member lO with said roller 6.6 and to cause said roller 6.6 to slide.

Therefore, the carriage is moved rightward from the leftmost position, and the operating member 10 sequentially presses the left presser roller 6, the separator 7, and the right presser roller 6 to slide it rightward (step 45).

This rightward slide is performed until the right end of the presser roller 6 disposed on the right side reaches the initial setting position held in the storage means 21 (step 46).

This initial setting position is located at a predetermined distance to the left of the rightmost position of the storage means 28, and the positioning here is determined by the length of the roller 6.6 held in the storage means 24 and the separator trough. This is executed by comparing the value obtained by adding the rightmost position data of the storage means 28 to the thickness data of the actuating member 10 and the initial setting position data of the storage means 21.

When the presser roller is set to the initial setting position, the rotary solenoid drive driver 18 is turned off and the first
The rotary solenoid 8 shown in the figure rotates the shaft 5, and the presser roller 6.6 returns to the paper pressing state in which the platen 1 surface is pressed (step 47).

Following this operation, the carriage further moves to the right to the rightmost position held in the limit position storage means 28 (step 49). At this time, the presser roller 6.6 is in the paper-pressing state, so when the carriage moves to the right, the actuating member 10 moves without engaging the presser roller 6.6.

Therefore, the presser roller 6.6 remains held at the initial setting position.

When the carriage is moved to the rightmost position, the rotary solenoid drive driver 18 is turned on again, and the presser roller 6.6 is moved to the solid line position in FIG. 1, that is, the position where it engages with the operating member 10 of the carriage. Prepare for the next setting operation of the presser roller 6.6 (step 49).

(4) Setting the position of the presser roller After the presser roller is set to the initial position as described above, move the carriage to the left and press the presser roller 6.
6 is disclosed (step 50).

When the carriage moves to the left from the rightmost position, in response, the position counter starts counting and maintains the current position of the carriage. Furthermore, as the carriage moves to the left, the actuating member 10 engages with the right side surface of the right presser roller 6, and sequentially presses the right presser roller 6, the separator 7, and the left presser roller 6, causing them to slide to the left together with the carriage.

Then, during this movement, the right edge position data of the paper is read from the paper edge position storage means 23 and compared with the current position of the carriage (step 52).

In the above comparison, when a match is detected, the rotary solenoid drive driver 18 is turned off and the presser roller 6.6 returns to the paper pressing state in which it presses against the platen surface, the state shown by the broken line in FIG. Set flag 1 to ON and move the carriage further to the left (step 53.
54).

At this time, the positioning of the right presser roller 6 is completed. When the carriage moves to the left, the actuating member 10 does not engage the presser roller 6 at all.

Next, the length data of the presser roller 6 on the right side is read out from the length storage means 24 (step 54), and the value obtained by adding this read length data to the right edge position data of the sheet and the counter means indicating the current position of the carriage are added. It is determined whether the actuating member 10 of the carriage has moved to the left of the positioned left end of the right presser roller 6 (step 56).
0 moves to the left, the rotary solenoid drive driver 18 is turned on again, and the presser roller 6.
It is set to the engagement position with the actuating member 10, which is the solid line position in the figure (step 57).

Next, in order to set the left presser roller 6, the carriage is further moved to the left, and the length data of the left presser roller 6 is read from the length storage means 24. read out the left edge position data of the paper from the paper edge position storage means 23 (step 59), calculate a value by subtracting the length data of the left presser roller 6 from this left edge position data (step 60), and calculate this value. and the current position of the carriage (step 61).
.

This operation is necessary to position the paper completely inside the left edge position.

Thereafter, a judgment is made as to whether or not the current position of the carriage matches the value obtained by the calculation (step 61).
), when this coincidence is detected, the rotary solenoid drive driver 18 is turned off, and the presser roller 6.6 is turned off.
It is moved to the paper holding state shown by the broken line in the figure. This completes the positioning of the left presser roller 6.

The carriage then moves to the right, stops at the home position, and waits for a print start signal to be input (step 63).

The above operation is the positioning process for the presser roller 6.6.

In addition, in the positioning operation, the right presser roller 6
A separator 7 is interposed between the presser roller 6 and the presser roller 6 on the left side, but as described above, this separator 7 is formed sufficiently smaller than the diameter of the presser roller 6 so that it does not engage with the movement of the actuating member 10. Therefore, after the right presser roller 6 is positioned, the left presser roller 6 is positioned.

After positioning the presser roller 6.6 and prior to execution of the printing operation, the following operation is performed. First, the paper left edge position data and right edge position data are read from the paper edge position storage means 23, and the calculation (left edge position data - right edge position data) is executed (step 64), and this calculated value and the size width storage means 22 are held. The type of paper is determined by comparing the size width values of each type of paper (steps 65 and 66). Then, in the step above, the type of paper (for example, B4.B5.A4)
etc.) is determined to be determined to the control unit of the printer (step 67). After performing the above processing, the printing operation begins. Further, the control unit of the printer outputs paper size information to a device (host side) that controls the printer.

(5) Printing operation The printing operation starts with a print start instruction, and the carriage moves to the left from the home position set near the rightmost position, and continues space feeding until it reaches the rightmost position of the shredded paper in steps 68 and 69. ), and then the printing operation (step 0) shown in FIG. 4(d) is executed.

This printing operation I''i is performed until one line is printed, and when printing of one line is completed, the carriage is returned to the home position (steps 71 and 72).After that, step 6
Steps 8 to 72 are repeatedly executed to sequentially execute printing. Note that in the above embodiment, the basic position for positioning and the home position are set on the right side, but they can also be set on the left side, and an apparatus in which these positions are switched between left and right can be easily considered.

Effect> In the present invention, when a recording sheet is inserted at a position along the platen, the left and right end positions of the recording sheet are determined by optical scanning based on the movement of the carriage using an optical means mounted on a carriage. while detecting and retaining information;
B4 in advance. B5. The size information of the size width storage means that stores the width information corresponding to the paper size such as A4 is compared with the size width information of the recording paper calculated from the left and right end position information to determine the width of the recording paper. This function determines the size of the recording paper to be used, and the size of the recording paper to be used can be accurately detected even when different paper is used.

Furthermore, when the position of the presser roller is automatically set, the position of the presser roller can be accurately determined based on the detection of the recording paper size.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the vicinity of the platen of a printer equipped with the device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a block circuit diagram showing the control system of the device, and Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the device, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the mechanism of a conventional printer. 1 Nibraten, 2: Carriage, 4: Paper holding device, 5:
Shaft, 6, 6: Pressing roller, 7: Separator, 8: Rotary solenoid, 9 and 18: Rotary solenoid driver, 10: Operating member'', 11: Light emitting element, 12
: Light receiving element, 15: C insect repellent, 16: Memory, 17: Carriage dry/'<extraction 719' paper feeding drive means, 21: Initial setting position storage means, 23: Paper edge position storage means. Agent Patent attorney Aihiko Fukui (and 2 others) Figure l Figure 2 μ Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A platen, a carriage equipped with a print head that is movable in the axial direction of the platen at a position in front of the platen, and a carriage between the platen and the position where the cartridge is moved. A shaft provided in parallel includes a plurality of presser rollers rotatably provided and slidably in the axial direction thereof, and a shaft on which the presser rollers are provided,
In a printer equipped with a paper holding device in which the holding roller moves between a paper holding position in contact with the platen and a position away from the platen and close to a carriage movement position, a record inserted at a position along the platen is provided. Optical means consisting of a light emitting element and a light receiving element mounted on a carriage for detecting the positions of the left and right edges of the paper, when the recording paper is inserted at a position along the platen, the optical means is moved by the movement of the carriage. a first storage means into which positional information of the left and right edges of the paper from the reference position is introduced by optically scanning the paper; a size in which width information is stored in advance in correspondence with paper sizes such as B4, B5, A4, etc.; width storage means, calculation means for calculating paper size width data from the left edge position information and right edge position information introduced into the first storage means, paper size width data of the calculation means and the size width storage means; means for determining the paper size of the inserted recording paper by comparing the width information of the printer, and the paper size information obtained by the determining means is led to the printer control unit. Printer recording paper width detection method.