JP2000218883A - Method for controlling printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain correct print results when printing is resumed after an error related to papers is resolved. SOLUTION: A position of an ink head when an error occurs is detected and stored in a RAM (steps S13 and S18). When the error is a paper out (paper lack) error, the ink head is once returned to a cap position, and then brought back to a memory position of the RAM by resolving the error (steps S14, S15, S21 and S22). In the case where the error is a paper jam (paper clog) error, the ink head is returned to the cap position when the error is resolved by removing the clogging paper and thereafter, the ink head is returned to the memory position of the RAM (steps S19-S22).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control method for a printing apparatus for moving an ink head from a cap position to a printing area, reciprocating the ink head in the printing area, and printing while feeding a predetermined amount of paper. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet printer as a printing apparatus, in order to prevent the ink head from drying during standby for printing, it is usually practiced to close (cap) an ejection port of the ink head at a cap position which is a home position. Will be

When printing starts based on a print command from a printer driver of a host computer such as a personal computer, the ink head leaves the cap position and maintenance processing of the ink head, that is, removal of ink dripping by a wiper is performed. Thereafter, the ink head is further moved to the printing start position, and in the printing area, the ink head is reciprocated by a carriage motor composed of a stepping motor, and the paper is fed by a predetermined amount by a feed motor composed of a stepping motor.
Characters, figures, and the like based on predetermined print data are printed on paper.

[0004] By the way, an error relating to paper may occur during printing. For example, when print data spans a plurality of pages and the paper runs out during printing, it is considered that a paper out error has occurred. If a paper jam occurs when the printed paper is ejected to the output tray and is notified by an error message or the like, a paper jam error is reported as an error message and the like. I have.

[0005] When such a paper error occurs,
In the case of a paper out (paper out) error, the paper is replenished to the paper feed tray until the error is cleared. On the other hand, in the case of a paper jam (paper jam) error, the paper is removed and the error is cleared. The ink head remains at the position where the error occurred.

In the case of a paper-out (paper-out) error, the user may not be aware of the error and may be left for a long time after the error occurs until the error is released. Dry and clogged.

Conventionally, in order to prevent such a situation, a predetermined uncapped time (for example, 3
(0 min), if the error is not cleared, the setting is made such that the ink head is forcibly returned to the cap position. At this time, the uncapped time is set to an optimum time experimentally determined such that the ink head does not dry even if the ink head is left in the uncapped state.

[0008]

However, in the case of a paper-out (paper-out) error, an error occurs on the device driver side even if the ink head is forcibly returned to the cap position due to the lapse of the uncapped time. Although the ink head is recognized to be stopped at the position where it was performed, the ink head is actually at the cap position, so if printing is resumed in this state, the print position of the ink head remains shifted There is a problem that printing is performed and a normal printing result cannot be obtained.

Further, in the case of a paper jam (paper jam) error, the user may come into contact with the ink head when removing the paper, and the position of the ink head may be deviated from the position at the time of the occurrence of the error, resulting in paper out. (Out of paper)
As in the case of the error, if printing is resumed with the printing position of the ink head shifted, a normal printing result cannot be obtained.

Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 62-30919 discloses an apparatus for detecting the status of a printer, in particular for detecting whether or not the carriage return operation has been performed normally. It does not detect the carriage position at the time of occurrence.

A problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a normal printing result when printing is resumed after an error relating to paper is cleared.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention moves an ink head from a cap position, which is a home position, to a printing area, and reciprocates the ink head in the printing area. In a printing apparatus that performs printing while feeding paper by a predetermined amount, when an error related to paper occurs during a printing operation, a position of the ink head at the time of occurrence of the error is detected, and the detected position is stored in a storage unit. And a return step of returning the ink head to the detection position stored in the storage unit on condition of error cancellation.

According to such a configuration, when an error relating to the paper occurs, the position of the ink head at the time of occurrence of the error is detected and stored in the storage unit, and when the error is subsequently released, the stored detection position is stored. Then, the ink head is returned. Therefore, when the printing is resumed, the position of the ink head recognized by the host computer matches the actual position, and even if printing is resumed, printing can be performed from the same position as when the error occurred. It is possible to obtain results.

Further, according to the present invention, the error is a paper-out error, and in the return step, after the ink head is once returned to the cap position, if the error is released, the ink head is stored in the storage unit. It is a step of returning to the stored detection position.

In this case, when a paper-out (paper-out) error occurs, the ink head temporarily returns to the cap position, and thereafter, when the error is released, the ink head returns to the position stored in the storage unit. Therefore, even if the above-mentioned uncapped time elapses from the occurrence of the error to the release thereof, the ink head has already returned to the cap position immediately after the occurrence of the error, so that the ink head does not dry, In addition, normal printing results can be obtained by restarting printing.

Further, according to the present invention, the error is a paper jam error at the time of paper discharge, and if the error is released, the ink head is returned to the cap position once, and then the ink head is removed. It is a step of returning to the detection position stored in the storage unit.

In this way, when a paper jam (paper jam) error occurs, when the error is cleared, the ink head returns to the cap position, and then returns to the position stored in the storage unit. At this time, for example, when the ink head is caught on the paper and a paper jam occurs, if the ink head is returned to the cap position immediately after the error occurs, the jammed paper may not be easily removed. In the present invention, since the ink head returns to the cap position after the jammed paper is removed and the error is cleared, the jammed paper can be easily removed, and a normal printing result can be obtained by resuming printing. Can be.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the return step includes a step of performing a maintenance process for the ink head when the ink head is once returned to the cap position. In this case, since bleeding due to ink dripping can be prevented by the maintenance process, good printing can be performed when printing is resumed.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an ink jet printer as a printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. However, FIG. 1 is a block diagram, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts for explaining the operation.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an error detection unit including a sensor for detecting a paper-related error such as a paper-out (paper-out) error and a paper-jam (paper jam) error and outputting a detection signal. A motor driving unit for driving a carriage motor (not shown) including a stepping motor for reciprocating the head;
Is a RAM as a storage unit, and 4 is a CPU.
U4 has the following functions.

The CPU 4 outputs a control pulse signal to the motor drive unit 2 to rotate the carriage motor by a predetermined number of steps according to a command from a printer driver of a host computer such as a personal computer. To move. CPU4
Recognizes the type of error generated by the detection signal from the error detection unit 1, transmits the recognized error occurrence to the printer driver side, detects the position of the ink head when the error occurs, and determines the detected position. Write to RAM3.

Further, in the case of a paper-out (paper out) error, the CPU 4 drives the carriage motor to temporarily return the ink head to the cap position, and then returns the ink head to the storage position of the RAM 3 when the error is released. In the case of a paper jam (paper jam) error, the carriage motor is driven to return the ink head to the cap position when the error is cleared by removing the jammed paper. The carriage motor is driven so as to return to the storage position of the RAM 3. At this time, the CPU 4
An error release is transmitted to the printer driver, and printing from that position is restarted after waiting for a print restart command.

Incidentally, the detection of the ink head at the time of occurrence of the above-mentioned error is performed as follows. That is, the carriage motor composed of the stepping motor is
For example, the rotor has four-phase excitation coils, and the rotor rotates at a predetermined angle by switching the excitation current supplied to these excitation coils. Then, the above-mentioned motor drive unit 2 is
When the control pulse signal supplied from the CPU 4 to the base of each transistor of the motor drive unit 2 is at a high level (hereinafter, referred to as H), the transistor is turned on, and the transistor is turned at a low level (hereinafter, referred to as L). ), The transistor is turned off, and when the transistor is turned on (or off), an exciting current can be supplied to the exciting coil connected to the emitter of the transistor.

Therefore, at the start of the carriage motor, if it is determined which of the four control pulse signals output from the CPU 4 to each transistor of the motor driver 2 is H and which is L, the carriage motor The start position of the ink head can be detected by detecting the start from the phase, and by knowing how many control pulse signals of H and L have been output from the start, how many steps of rotation of the carriage motor can be The position of the head can be detected, and by performing these processes by the CPU 4, the position of the ink head at the time of occurrence of an error can be detected. Here, the control pulse signal output from the CPU 4 is based on default or print data stored in advance in a ROM or the like.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, the overall printing operation will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, one sheet of paper is fed from a paper feed tray to a print position by a paper feed command transmitted from the host computer (step S1).
The print data is transmitted from the host computer, and a print process based on the print data is performed (step S).
2) Thereafter, it is determined whether or not printing of all pages has been completed (step S3). If this determination is NO, the process returns to step S1, and if the determination is YES, the printing operation ends.

Incidentally, the printing process in step S2 is performed in detail according to the procedure shown in FIG. Now, as shown in FIG. 3, a control pulse signal is output from the CPU 4 to the motor drive unit 2 based on the print data, the carriage motor is driven, the ink head is moved and printing is performed (step S11), and an error is detected. It is determined from the output of the unit 1 whether or not a paper-out (paper-out) error has occurred (step S12).

If the decision result in the step S12 is YES, the process shifts to a step S13, where the position of the ink head when a paper-out (paper out) error occurs is detected and stored in the RAM 3 (step S13).
Under the control of 4, the carriage motor is driven to return the ink head to the cap position, which is the home position (step S14), and thereafter, paper out (paper out).
It is determined whether or not the error has been cleared (step S
15) If this determination result is NO, this determination result is Y
The determination in step S15 is repeated until the status becomes ES, and if the determination result is YES, the process proceeds to step S21 described later.

On the other hand, if the decision result in the step S12 is NO, the paper is discharged based on a discharge command transmitted from the printer driver when the printing of the page is completed (step S16), and at the time of the discharge, the paper jam (paper jam) is performed. It is determined whether or not a paper jam error has occurred (step S17). If the determination result is NO, the process returns to the main routine (see FIG. 2). If the determination result is YES, a paper jam (paper jam) error occurs. The position of the ink head at the time of occurrence is detected and stored in the RAM 3 (step S1).
8).

Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the paper jam (paper jam) error has been cleared (step S1).
9) If this determination result is NO, this determination result is YE
The determination in step S19 is repeated until S is reached, and if the determination result is YES, the carriage motor is driven by the control of the CPU 4 to return the ink head to the cap position (step S20).

After maintenance of the ink head is performed by the wiper at the cap position to prevent bleeding due to ink dripping (step S21),
The ink head is returned to the original position stored in the RAM 3 by the processing in step S13 or D18 (step S22), and printing is restarted on the newly fed paper from the position where the error occurred by the ink head (step S22).
23) Then, the process returns to the main routine (see FIG. 2).

As described above, when a paper-out (paper-out) error occurs, even if the uncapped time (for example, 30 minutes) elapses from the occurrence of the error until the error is released, the ink head remains in error. Since the ink head has already returned to the cap position immediately after the occurrence, the ink head is prevented from drying.

Further, in the case of a paper jam (paper jam) error, for example, when the ink head is caught on the paper and a paper jam occurs, if the ink head is returned to the cap position immediately after the error, the jammed paper is easily removed. However, since the ink head returns to the cap position after the jammed paper is removed and the error is released as described above, the jammed paper can be easily removed.

Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, when the printing is resumed, the position of the ink head recognized by the host computer always coincides with the actual position, so that printing is resumed from the same position as when the error occurred. And a normal printing result can be obtained.

In addition, since the ink head is subjected to maintenance processing when the ink head is once returned to the cap position, it is possible to prevent bleeding due to ink dripping and to achieve good printing when printing is resumed. Become.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the paper-related errors are a paper-out (paper-out) error and a paper-jam (paper-jam) error has been described. The present invention can be implemented in the same manner, and the same effect as the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been given of the case where the position of the ink head is detected based on a control pulse signal from the CPU 4 to the motor drive section 2 when an error occurs. It is a matter of course that the position of the ink head may be detected by such a method.

Further, the storage unit is not limited to the RAM 3 described above, but may be any rewritable storage medium that can store the position of the ink head when an error occurs.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the printing apparatus is an ink jet printer has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to a printing apparatus that performs printing with another ink head, such as an ink jet facsimile. It is.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes other than those described above can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0040]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when an error relating to paper occurs, the position of the ink head at the time of occurrence of the error is stored, and the ink is stored in the storage position by releasing the error. Since the head is returned, when the printing is resumed, the position of the ink head recognized by the host computer matches the actual position, and printing can be performed from the same position as when the error occurred, and a normal printing result is obtained. This makes it possible to provide a printing device with excellent reliability.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, even if the uncapped time (the time when the ink head is likely to dry) elapses from the occurrence of the error to the release, the ink head remains Since the ink position has already returned to the cap position immediately after the occurrence of the error, drying of the ink head can be prevented, and a normal printing result can be obtained by restarting printing.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, after the jammed paper is removed and the error is cleared, the ink head returns to the cap position, so that the jammed paper can be easily removed. And a normal printing result can be obtained by restarting printing.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since bleeding due to ink dripping can be prevented by the maintenance processing of the ink head, good printing can be performed when printing is resumed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 error detection unit 3 RAM (storage unit) 4 CPU

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus which moves an ink head from a cap position, which is a home position, to a printing area, reciprocates the ink head in the printing area, and performs printing while feeding paper by a predetermined amount. When an error relating to paper occurs, a storage step of detecting the position of the ink head at the time of occurrence of the error and storing the detected position in a storage unit, and storing the ink head in the storage unit on condition that the error is cleared And a return step of returning to the detection position. 2. The method according to claim 2, wherein the error is a paper-out error, and in the return step, after the ink head is once returned to a cap position, if the error is released, the detection of storing the ink head in the storage unit is performed. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of returning to a position. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the error is a paper jam error at the time of discharging the paper, and in the return step, if the error is released, the ink head is once returned to the cap position, and then the ink head is stored in the storage unit. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of returning to the stored detection position. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the returning step includes a step of performing a maintenance process of the ink head when the ink head is once returned to a cap position. Control method.