JP2010089939A - Conveyance device and recording apparatus equipped with the device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly carry out initialization operation after turning on a power supply according to a state before turning off the power supply, and to shorten a time required for the initialization of a recording apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The conveyance device and the recording apparatus equipped with the device is equipped with a roller pair for conveying paper, a separating means for separating one of the rollers of the roller pair from the other roller, a retaining means for retaining a state indicating whether a separating process by the separating means is already carried out or not, a memory means for holding information indicating the state of the conveyance device when the power supply is turned off, and a control means for carrying out the control of the conveyance device on the basis of the state retained in the retaining means and the information stored in the memory means when the power supply is turned on. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport apparatus that transports paper and a recording apparatus including the transport apparatus.

  In a recording apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, or a facsimile, a conveying apparatus that conveys paper performs a predetermined initialization operation when the power is turned on. In the initialization operation, the state of the set paper, the cam phase of the drive system, and the origin of the unit moving in the apparatus are performed by using a sensor incorporated in the transport device. Among proposals relating to the initialization operation when the power is turned on, there are some proposals that operate by detecting a user operation performed while the printer is turned off by some means.

  For example, Patent Document 1 is a proposal regarding processing after power is turned on in a conveyance device in which a recording medium is cut paper. Before the power is turned off (power is turned off), the fact that there is a paper jam in the transport path is stored in the internal memory, and the discharge processing is performed from the memory storage information and the state of the paper detection sensor in the transport path when the power is turned on. Whether or not is determined. Specifically, in the case where the paper stays in the apparatus due to an abnormal end such as a power failure, the paper is automatically discharged outside the apparatus when the paper detection sensor in the transport path is detected after the power is turned on. On the other hand, when the power is cut off with the paper jammed, the user is prompted to remove the paper without performing the paper discharge process. This stores that the paper is jammed in the internal memory, and when the paper in the transport path is detected by the paper detection sensor when the power is turned on, it is determined that the jammed paper remains.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 proposes to change the suction initialization operation after the power is turned on by detecting that the user has replaced the ink tank while the power is turned off. Specifically, the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank is stored when the power is turned off, and compared with the remaining amount of ink when the power is turned on again to determine whether the cartridge has been replaced while the power is turned off. Thus, the ink head cleaning operation and the ink suction execution determination are made.

Both proposals detect the user operation while the power is turned off by some method and perform the desired operation only when necessary, while omitting the initialization operation when unnecessary, shortening the initialization time It is something planned.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-194522 JP 2000-190517 A

  The above-described prior art has been related to cut paper. However, among the recording media of the image forming apparatus, for example, there is a transport device that uses paper (continuous paper) wound in a roll shape as a recording medium. In such a transport device that handles continuous paper, the power is normally shut off when nipped by the transport roller when the power is turned off, that is, when the paper stays in the transport path. The state where the paper stays is normal. Therefore, an initialization operation different from that for the cut sheet is required.

  Normally, in the initialization operation of a transport device that handles such continuous paper, for example, the paper is fed or back-fed to carry the front end of the paper to an arbitrary position, or the end position of the paper is confirmed by a sensor provided in the transport path. Or perform actions. Such an initialization operation is always performed regardless of the state of the sheet when the power is turned on and regardless of the user operation while the power is turned off.

  For example, the user may touch the main unit while the power is off, and the state of the set roll paper may be shifted. That is, there is a possibility that the paper state when the power is turned off last time and the paper state when the power is turned on are different. For this reason, it is a reliable means to confirm the position of the edge of the paper again when the power is turned on, and such an initialization operation has been conventionally performed. If the initialization operation is omitted, the position of the leading edge of the paper is displaced, and the displacement may cause the margin position and margin amount to be changed during printing. Alternatively, in the printing operation, there is a possibility that the printing is performed outside the paper and the inside of the apparatus is soiled.

  On the other hand, such an initialization operation does not need to be performed if the power is turned off in the normal operation and the paper state does not change while the power is turned off. Such an operation may be performed only when necessary.

  As another case, a problem may occur when the power is suddenly shut off during printing. In such a case, if the user does not notice that the print result (printed image) remains, there is a possibility that the previous print result is printed after the initialization operation.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a transport device that appropriately performs an initialization operation after power-on in accordance with a state before power-off and a control method thereof.

  The transport device according to the present invention includes a pair of rollers for transporting paper, a separation unit that separates one roller of the roller pair from the other roller, and a state that indicates whether or not the separation process by the separation unit has been performed. Based on the holding means for holding, the memory means for holding information indicating the state of the transfer device when the power is turned off, the state held by the holding means when the power is turned on, and the information stored in the memory means, And a control means for controlling the transport device.

  According to the present invention, by performing the initialization operation control that is executed when the power is turned on in accordance with the state of the conveyance device when the power is turned off and whether or not the nip of the image forming roller pair is opened in the power off state, Realize the time reduction of the operation.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a recording apparatus (inkjet printer) including the transport device according to the embodiment.

  In FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 denotes an ink jet printer apparatus main body, 11 a recording head, 12 a carrier (carriage) on which the recording head 11 is mounted, and 19 a platen provided facing the recording head 11.

  The recording head 11 has a plurality of nozzle rows (not shown) and ejects ink of different colors for each nozzle row. The recording head 11 is supplied with ink of each color from an ink tank 14 via a supply tube 13 for each color nozzle. The carrier 12 is supported so as to be slidable along a guide shaft 16 whose both ends are fixed to the frame 15 of the apparatus main body 1 and a guide rail (not shown).

  An image is printed on the sheet by scanning the carrier 12 and ejecting ink from the recording head 11 with respect to the printing medium (paper) conveyed to a position where printing (recording) is performed by the recording head. It has become so. The carrier 12 is reciprocated by a belt drive device and a motor (not shown). Reference numeral 23 denotes a recording head recovery means. The head recovery means 23 is provided at a position where the recording head 11 can face the recording head 11 when the recording head 11 moves to a home position provided near one end of the moving range. ing. The head recovery means 23 is operated between printing operations (scanning recording). By causing the recording head 11 to perform operations such as capping, suction, and wiping, the recording head 11 is prevented from being clogged.

  The release lever 25 can be operated by the user regardless of the power on / off state. By operating the release lever 25, the image forming roller pair 9, 10 is configured such that the pinch roller 9 and the roller 10 are separated and the nip is opened. The release lever 25 is operated in order to remove the staying paper from the conveyance path when the paper is jammed in the conveyance path. For example, by operating when the paper is jammed on the platen 19, the nip between the image forming roller pair 9 and 10 can be opened, and the paper held by the rollers can be taken out of the apparatus.

  Next, the roll paper holder and the roll paper R will be described with reference to FIG. For the printing medium of this embodiment, roll paper that is continuous paper wound in a roll shape is used. As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 5, the roll paper R has the spool shaft 32 penetrated through the paper tube S at the winding center thereof. Further, the roll paper R is fixed and held by the reference side paper tube lock portion 31 of the reference side roll paper holder 30 arranged on the spool shaft 32 biting into the inner wall of the paper tube S by the elastic force in the radial direction. The The reference side roll paper holder 30 is fixed to the spool shaft 32 so as not to rotate. Further, the non-reference-side roll paper holder 34 is passed through the spool shaft 32 from the opposite side of the reference-side roll paper holder 30 and set on the paper tube S so as to sandwich the roll paper R. The non-reference-side roll paper holder 34 also has a non-reference-side paper tube lock portion 35 that is fixedly held to the paper tube S with an elastic force in the radial direction. A torque limiter 33 is provided on the spool shaft 32. The torque limiter 33 applies a rotational load when the roll paper R rotates. As shown in FIG. 4, the roll paper R is also rotatably held by rotatably supporting both ends of the spool shaft 32 on the printer body. In the recording apparatus of the present embodiment, the roll paper positioning reference is on the right side of FIG. 4, and the roll paper is also set on the right side. This is because the recording head 11 needs to move on the recovery means 23 even during printing as described above, so that the paper is moved closer to the recovery means 23 side in consideration of the movement time of the carrier 12. This is because the printing speed is reduced. Accordingly, in the following description, the right side paper end of the roll paper is described as the reference side end Rh, the non-reference side end is Rb, and the end of the paper front end is Rp.

  Next, setting (installation) of roll paper in the recording apparatus will be described with reference to a schematic sectional view of the recording apparatus shown in FIG. The paper leading edge Rp of the roll paper R is guided to the transport port 2 by the user's hand. In this state, the roll paper R rotates counterclockwise (CCW). The leading edge Rp of the roll paper is sent downstream through the conveyance path. A reflection type paper detection sensor 41 is provided in the middle of the conveyance path.

  When the paper leading edge Rp of the roll paper R advances to the downstream side in the conveying direction by the user's hand and the paper leading edge Rp is detected by the paper detection sensor 41, the control unit of the recording apparatus performs the following operation.

  First, rotation of the image forming roller pair 9, 10 is started in the CCW direction, which is the paper transport direction. At the same time, the carriage is moved so that the detection sensor 42 mounted on the carrier (carriage) 12 is positioned on the conveyance path. When the paper tip Rp of the roll paper R reaches the rotating image forming roller pair 9 and 10 by the user's hand, it is conveyed by the image forming roller pair 9 and 10 of the recording apparatus. When the leading edge Rp of the roll paper is detected by the detection sensor 42, the image forming roller pair 9, 10 is rotated by a predetermined amount and then stopped. When the above operation is performed, the leading edge Rp of the roll paper reaches the predetermined position a on the downstream side from the nip position N of the pair of image forming rollers 9, 10 as shown in FIG. Thereafter, a meandering correction operation to be described later is further performed, and the leading edge Rp of the roll paper stops at a predetermined position d downstream from the nip position N. Supplementally, as described above, when the paper front end Rp of the roll paper R is detected by the user's hand by the paper detection sensor 41, the state in which the operation of the recording apparatus is started is set to the unfeed standby state (first standby state). ).

  A detection unit that detects that an operation for separation processing (nip release) has been performed will be described with reference to FIGS. A mechanical flag 26 and a photo sensor 27 for detecting the state of the mechanical flag 26 at a predetermined timing after the power is turned on are provided in the vicinity of the release lever 25 for releasing the nip. The mechanical flag 26 changes from the state of FIG. 7A to the state of (B) when the release lever 25 is operated (moved in the direction of arrow A). The state (B) is a state in which the photosensor 27 is shielded from light. Once the position of the mechanical flag 26 changes from the state shown in FIG. 8A to the state shown in FIG. 8B, even if the release lever 25 is operated thereafter, the spring force (not shown) in FIG. Hold position. The ASIC 61 described later operates the solenoid after detection by the photosensor 27 to return the state of the mechanical flag 26 from the state of FIG. 8B to the state of FIG. As described above, by checking the state of the photo sensor 27 when the power is turned on, it is possible to know whether or not the operation of the release lever 25 while the power is turned off has been executed.

  FIG. 9 is a view for explaining a separation mechanism (nip releasing unit) that separates one of the pair of image forming rollers by operating the release lever 25 from the other roller. As shown in FIG. 9, the cam 29 is provided on the same shaft 28 as the release lever 25. When the release lever 25 is operated in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 8B, the cam 29 rotates in the direction of arrow A as shown in FIG. With this rotation of the cam, the member (pinch roller holder) 30 rotates around the position C in the direction of the arrow. As a result, the pinch roller 10 is separated from the roller 9 and the nip between the image forming roller pair 9 and 10 is opened.

  Next, the control configuration of the recording apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 61 is an ASIC. The ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) 61 includes, in addition to a CPU, a printhead control block, a motor control block, a data processing block, a communication control block for communicating with a host device, and the like. Reference numeral 62 denotes a RAM which holds recording data and control information. This information includes the position information of the sheet edge, which will be described later. Reference numeral 63 denotes a ROM which stores a program for performing control described later. Reference numeral 64 denotes an EEPROM (nonvolatile memory), which is a memory that retains information even when the power is turned off. The EEPROM 64 holds information indicating the state of the recording apparatus when the power is turned off, which will be described later. 41 is a sensor provided in the conveyance path. Reference numeral 42 denotes a sensor provided on the carriage. Reference numeral 27 denotes a sensor provided in the nip releasing portion. Reference numeral 20 denotes a solenoid provided in the nip releasing portion. Reference numeral 50 denotes a motor driving unit that drives the motor. A carrier motor 51 is a drive source for moving the carrier. A transport motor 52 is a drive source for rotating the roller 9. A motor 53 is a drive source for rotating the roll paper. Reference numeral 70 denotes an operation unit including a display unit for displaying the state of the apparatus and a power button. Reference numeral 80 denotes a power source. A signal is output to the power supply 80 in response to the operation of the power button. Reference numeral 100 denotes a host device. Image data is received from the host device 100, data conversion processing is performed, and the image data is transferred to the recording head 11.

  Next, the roll paper initialization operation when the power is turned on will be described with reference to FIG. This initialization operation is based on the premise that at least the roll paper R is set in the recording apparatus, and the leading edge of the paper is positioned downstream of the roller pair 9.10.

  The initialization control for the roll paper includes information regarding the presence / absence (execution or non-execution) of the separation processing (nip release processing) of the image forming roller pair 9 and 10 in the power-off state and information on the state of the printing apparatus when the power is off. Based on.

  First, in S101, a determination is made based on information on the presence / absence of nip release processing and information on the state of the printing apparatus when the power is turned off. If the determination result is A, the process ends without performing any processing. If the determination result is B, the process proceeds to S104 and a meandering correction sequence is performed. The meandering correction sequence will be described later. If the determination result is C, the process proceeds to S102, and a paper cut sequence is performed in order to discharge the printed image. In this sequence, an operation of conveying the image recorded on the sheet to the downstream side in the conveying direction of the cutter (21 in FIG. 4) is performed to cut the sheet. Thereafter, in S103, the cut cross section becomes the leading edge Rp of the sheet, and therefore the conveying operation is performed so that the leading edge Rp is moved to the position a (FIG. 7A). Thereafter, a meandering correction sequence is performed in S104.

  Next, the contents of the determination process in S101 in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In S201, it is determined whether or not the recording apparatus is in a standby state when the power is turned off. If it is in the standby state (Y), the process proceeds to S202. On the other hand, if N, the process proceeds to S203. In S202, it is determined whether or not the nip is released when the power is turned off (when the power is turned off). If nip release is present (nip release is performed, Y), the process proceeds to S206, and the determination processing result is B. On the other hand, if there is none, the process proceeds to S205 and the result of the determination process is A. On the other hand, when it is determined as N in S201, it is determined whether the state of the recording apparatus when the power is off is an initialization operation or printing. If the roll paper initialization operation is in progress (initialization operation), the process proceeds to S206, and the result of the determination process is B. On the other hand, if printing is in progress, the process proceeds to S204. In S204, as in S202, it is determined whether or not the nip is released when the power is turned off. If there is nip release (Y), the process proceeds to S206, and the result of the determination process is B. If there is no nip release, the result of the determination process is C. As described above, the determination is performed based on the information on the presence / absence of the nip release processing and the information on the state of the recording apparatus when the power is turned off.

  Note that this power-off assumes a case where the power supply is stopped due to a power failure or the power cord is disconnected, for example, in addition to a case where the power is turned off by a user operation.

  Therefore, information (flag) about each state of the recording apparatus is determined in advance, and the information is controlled to be updated in accordance with a change in the state of the recording apparatus.

  A flag indicating an initialization state and a flag indicating a printing state are set in a nonvolatile memory provided in the recording apparatus, and control is performed to change the contents of the flag from the nonvolatile memory after each operation is completed. Thereby, even if a sudden power shutdown occurs, the operation state of the apparatus immediately before the power shutdown can be surely known.

  Note that the standby state indicates a state in which a printing operation can be started when a printing instruction is received, for example. This standby state is a state after completion of the initialization operation or after completion of the printing operation.

  Further, if the user turns off the power by operating the power button on the operation unit, the state of the apparatus when the power is turned off is set to the standby state.

  Next, the initialization operation will be described with reference to FIG. In S301, a transport operation is performed. The image forming roller 9 conveys to a predetermined position. This operation is an operation for correcting meandering. When paper is fed by a user's hand, the left and right edges of the paper may meander. For this reason, it is implemented for the purpose of suppressing the meandering state. As described above, the meandering state of the roll paper can be suppressed by providing the torque limiter on the spool shaft and performing the transport operation by the image forming roller pair 9 and 10 with a predetermined rotational load applied to the roll paper R. .

  Next, in S302, the carrier 12 is scanned (moved) with respect to the sheet, and the reference side end (reference end) Rh1 of the sheet is detected. Based on this detection, the position information of the reference side end is stored in the memory.

  Next, in S303, a transport operation is performed in order to acquire position information of the reference side end Rh2 and the non-reference side end Rb on the upstream side in the transport direction.

  In S304, the carrier 12 that acquires the position information of the reference end of the sheet is moved to detect the reference end Rh2 and the sheet end Rh. Based on this detection, each position information is stored in the memory.

  In S305, the skew amount is acquired. The degree of skew (skew amount) of the sheet is acquired based on the information on the reference side end portions Rh1 and Rh2 acquired previously and the distance (roller rotation amount) between Rh1 and Rh2.

  In S306, it is determined whether the skew amount is larger than a predetermined threshold. If the skew amount is larger than the threshold value, display is performed on the display unit so as to reset the user in S308. If the skew amount is smaller than the threshold value, the sheet is conveyed in S307 and the roll paper leading edge Rp is conveyed to a predetermined position provided on the upstream side. This predetermined position is a position of 5 mm downstream from the image forming roller pair 9, 10.

  In step S309, the carrier is moved to the position of the recovery means 23 shown in FIG. 6 and waits in a capped state. This standby state is expressed as a fed standby state (second standby state). Continue until print data is received.

  Note that the roll paper R is pulled by the pair of image forming rollers 9 and 10 when the paper is conveyed downstream. When the image forming roller 9 is in a decelerating state or a stopped state in this accompanying state, the roll paper R tries to continue the rotational movement by its own inertial force. Therefore, the torque limiter 33 shown in FIG. 7 is configured to apply a rotational load and stop the rotation of the roll paper R in a short time.

  Further, when the image forming roller 9 is rotated in the reverse direction (CW direction) and the roll paper leading edge Rp is conveyed upstream in the conveying direction, the image forming roller 9 is prevented from being loosened in the conveying path. The roll paper R is rotated using a motor (not shown) as a drive source so that the roll paper R rotates at a speed increased with respect to the paper transport speed. Even when this operation is performed, the take-up operation is performed via a torque limiter so that the paper is not damaged due to excessive tension, and a constant tension is maintained. .

  In addition, information on the width of the sheet is acquired based on the information on the reference end position Rh2 and the non-reference side end Rb. Paper width information (paper width information) is acquired using the difference between the reference end position Rh2 and the non-reference side end Rb. This paper width information is used to notify the user when there is a discrepancy with the paper width of the print data.

  Next, the operation at power on / off will be described. In the present embodiment, the power is turned on / off by pressing a power button provided on the apparatus. When the power is off, the image forming roller pair 9 and 10 are not operated, and the power is cut off. On the other hand, during the meandering correction sequence shown in FIG. 1, the operation of the sequence is interrupted, the image forming roller 9 and the roll paper R are rotated in the CW direction, and the leading edge Rp of the paper is conveyed to the position a.

  If printing is in progress, the printing operation is interrupted, the roll paper is conveyed downstream, and the paper including the printed area is cut by the cutter 21. Then, the image forming roller 9 and the roll R are rotated in the CW direction, and the cut portion (roll paper front end Rp) is conveyed to the position a. Thereafter, the power is shut off.

  As described above, if the user turns off the power by operating the power button on the operation unit, the leading edge of the sheet is held at the predetermined standby position (position a in FIG. 7) in the power off state. . Further, if the user turns off the power by operating the power button of the operation unit, the state of the apparatus at the time of turning off the power becomes the standby state.

(Other embodiments)
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the mechanical flag linked to the movement of the release lever 25 is provided, but another form may be used. For example, a mechanical flag interlocking with the separating operation of the image forming roller pair 9 and 10 may be provided, and the state of this flag may be detected by a photo sensor.

  2 may be displayed on the display unit of the recording apparatus when the image forming roller pair 9 and 10 is separated in the control flow of FIG.

  Further, although the form applied to the above-described embodiment is a recording apparatus, it may be applied to an image reading apparatus provided with a scanner unit.

Control flow at power-on of this embodiment Flow of determination to be performed when the power is turned on according to this embodiment Flow of meandering correction sequence in this embodiment The perspective view of the recording apparatus of this embodiment Explanatory drawing of roll paper of this embodiment Sectional view of the recording apparatus as seen from the reference end side of the present embodiment FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a position of a paper leading end Rp in a transport direction in a transport operation according to the present embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the structure which hold | maintains the information of the presence or absence of nip cancellation | release in this embodiment Explanatory drawing of the nip opening and closing mechanism in this embodiment Control block diagram of recording apparatus of this embodiment

Explanation of symbols

9, 10 Image forming roller pair 25 Release lever 26 Mechanical flag

Claims (5)

A pair of rollers for conveying paper,
Separating means for separating one roller of the roller pair from the other roller;
Holding means for holding a state indicating whether or not separation processing by the separation means is performed;
Memory means for holding information indicating the state of the transport device when the power is off;
Control means for controlling the conveying device based on the state held by the holding means and the information held in the memory means when the power is turned on;
A conveying device comprising:   If the holding unit holds a state indicating that the separation process is being performed, and the memory unit holds information for holding a standby state, the control unit performs a meandering correction operation. The transport apparatus according to claim 1.   The said conveying apparatus is provided with the lever which operates the said separation means, and the detection means which detects the state of the mechanical flag which moves based on a motion of this lever, The conveying apparatus of Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The transport device according to claim 3, wherein the control unit sets the mechanical flag in a predetermined state after detecting the state of the mechanical flag by the detection unit.   A recording apparatus comprising the transport device according to claim 1.

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