JP2000118067A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] In a recording apparatus, when a paper jam occurs during recording and the recording paper comes into contact with the recording head, the scanning movement of the recording head is immediately interrupted. To prevent the recording head from being damaged. When the speed of a carriage is lower than a predetermined speed (S2: NO, S3: NO), it is determined that a paper jam has occurred (S4), and the scanning movement of the carriage is stopped (S6). Thus, when the scanning speed of the carriage is reduced due to the contact with the recording paper, the scanning movement of the carriage is immediately stopped. Therefore, breakage of the recording head due to friction with the recording paper can be effectively prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a recording apparatus,
In particular, the present invention relates to a technique for detecting a paper jam at the time of recording.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a recording apparatus that performs recording by ejecting ink from a recording head that scans and moves on recording paper, a function of detecting a paper jam based on a recording paper transport amount in a recording paper transport path. Is known. The paper jam detection by this recording device is performed as follows. A paper sensor is provided upstream of the recording head in the recording paper transport path, and the number of transport steps of the paper transport mechanism is counted from the time when the leading edge of the transported recording paper is detected by the paper sensor. If the counter value exceeds a predetermined value without the trailing edge of the recording paper being detected by the paper sensor,
For example, if the length of the recording paper that can be recorded by the recording device exceeds the value, it is determined that the recording paper is not normally conveyed, and it is determined that a paper jam has occurred, and the subsequent recording operation is interrupted. I do.

[0003]

However, according to the conventional recording apparatus described above, even if a paper jam actually occurs, the paper jam is not detected until the count value exceeds a predetermined value. Therefore, the scanning movement of the carriage and the recording operation by the recording head are continued until the paper jam is detected after the paper jam actually occurs.
At this time, even if the recording paper that has caused the paper jam protrudes into the scanning movement path of the recording head and comes into contact with the recording head, the scanning movement of the recording head is continued. The recording head may be damaged by friction with the recording head. In particular, since the ink jet recording head is configured to perform recording without contacting recording paper, it is easily damaged by contact with other members.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. When a paper jam occurs during recording and the recording paper comes into contact with the recording head, the present invention is applied.
An object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus capable of preventing the recording head from being damaged due to paper jam by immediately stopping the scanning movement of the recording head.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus having a simplified configuration for detecting a paper jam.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus, comprising: a recording head for recording an image on a recording sheet; and a recording head on which the recording head is mounted. A printing apparatus comprising: a carriage that scans and moves along; a speed detecting unit that detects a scanning speed of the carriage; and a paper when the speed detected by the speed detecting unit is lower than a predetermined speed. The apparatus includes a determining unit that determines that a paper jam has occurred, and a control unit that stops the scanning movement of the carriage when the determining unit determines that a paper jam has occurred.

In the recording apparatus having the above-described structure, when the speed of the carriage detected by the speed detecting means is lower than a predetermined speed, the determining means determines that a paper jam has occurred, and the control means scans the carriage. Movement is aborted. Accordingly, when the scanning speed is reduced due to the recording paper contacting the recording head or the carriage during the scanning movement, the scanning movement of the carriage is immediately stopped. Therefore, breakage of the recording head due to friction with the recording paper can be effectively prevented. In addition, there is no need to attach a complicated paper sensor or the like as in the related art, and the configuration can be simplified.

A recording apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the recording apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein when the judging means judges that a paper jam has occurred, it indicates that a paper jam has occurred. And display means controlled by the control means.

In the recording apparatus having the above-described configuration, the occurrence of a paper jam is displayed by the display means. Therefore, the user is notified that the paper jam has occurred and the scanning movement of the carriage has been interrupted due to the occurrence of the paper jam. You can know clearly.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to the second aspect, when the speed detecting unit detects that the carriage has stopped, the determining unit determines whether the carriage has stopped. The control means determines that a mechanical error has occurred in the scanning movement, and the control means controls the display means so as to display that a mechanical error has occurred in the scanning movement of the carriage.

In the recording apparatus having the above configuration, when the scanning movement of the carriage is stopped, the determining means determines that a mechanical error has occurred in the scanning movement of the carriage, and the fact is displayed on the display means. Therefore, the user can recognize whether the reason for the interruption of the recording operation is a paper jam or a mechanical error.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the control means performs the recording after stopping the scanning of the carriage due to a paper jam. When the recording by the head is resumed, the recording is controlled to be started from the beginning of the page including the recording data where the recording was interrupted.

In the recording apparatus having the above configuration, when the scanning movement of the recording head whose scanning movement has been stopped due to the occurrence of a paper jam is restarted, the recording is started from the beginning of the page including the recording data whose recording has been interrupted. Since the recording is started, the recording data recorded on the recording paper which has to be discarded due to the paper jam is automatically recorded again when the recording is resumed. This allows the user to clear the jam, without having to perform any special operations.
The recording operation can be smoothly continued without interrupting the recording.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the speed detecting means has a plurality of slits in a moving direction of the carriage. And a sensor provided on the carriage and detecting and counting the slits of the slit member in accordance with the scanning movement of the carriage.

In the recording apparatus having the above-described structure, the speed of the carriage is detected by detecting and counting the number of slits provided on the slit member by a sensor. Since the mechanism can be used as speed detection means,
It is not necessary to provide a special mechanism as in the related art for detecting a paper jam.

A recording apparatus according to a sixth aspect is the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the recording head is of an ink jet type.

In the recording apparatus having the above configuration, when the recording head comes into contact with the recording paper due to the occurrence of a paper jam, for example, the scanning movement of the carriage is immediately stopped. The ink ejection portion of the recording head is properly protected.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. Recording device 1
Is provided with a plate-shaped platen 2 for receiving the recording paper P. At a position facing the platen 2, an ink jet recording head 3 is provided which discharges hot melt ink (solid at room temperature and melts by heating) to discharge the recording paper P to perform recording. It is mounted on a carriage 7 together with a tank 5 and a heater 6. The carriage 7 is supported by two guide bars 8 and 9 parallel to the platen 2 so as to be slidable left and right.
The scanning movement is performed in such a manner that the scanning movement is performed. As a result, the recording head 3 is scanned and moved facing the recording paper P. The heater 6 is provided in the recording head 3 and the ink tank 5, and serves to melt the hot melt ink to a liquid state. Both ends of the guide bars 8, 9 and the platen 2 are fixed to the side surfaces of the apparatus main body case.

On the upper side of the platen 2, a main roller 11 and a pressing roller 12 for feeding a sheet are provided, and on the lower side of the platen 2, a sheet discharging roller 13 and a pressing roller 14 for discharging a sheet are provided. Main roller 11
The paper discharge roller 13 is rotated by a drive mechanism including a motor and a gear train (not shown).
14 are sequentially moved in the direction of the arrow.

Above the carriage 7, a long slit member 20 having a plurality of slits printed at regular intervals is provided.
(To be an encoder) is provided so as to extend in the horizontal and horizontal direction, and is fixed to the apparatus main body case via a support member (not shown). The carriage 7 is provided with a photosensor (sensor) 21 that horizontally moves across the slit member 20 and detects a slit on the slit member 20. When the photo sensor 21 detects a slit,
The number of slits is counted by the counter 40 (FIG. 2), and the movement position (movement amount) and movement speed of the carriage 7 (recording head 3) are detected based on the counted value. The recording apparatus 1 is provided with a control unit 31 (FIG. 2) for controlling the recording head 3, a paper feed mechanism, a carriage drive mechanism, and the like based on a signal from the photo sensor 21.

The recording head 3 drives the carriage drive motor 35 while discharging ink from selected nozzles.
(FIG. 2) to move in parallel with the platen 2,
The recording image is recorded on the recording paper P set thereon. When one scan is completed, the recording paper P is fed by a paper feed mechanism such as the main roller 11 and the paper discharge roller 13, and the next row of the recording surface corresponds to the recording position.

When the power of the recording apparatus 1 is turned on, the controller 31 (FIG. 2) energizes the carriage drive motor to move the recording head 3 to the maintenance position (the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1). In this maintenance position,
A purge mechanism and a maintenance mechanism 28 including a maintenance sheet 27 are provided, and a purge process for forcibly ejecting ink from nozzles of the recording head 3 is performed. At a position facing the recording head 3 at the maintenance position, a replaceable maintenance sheet 27 for wiping dust and ink residue adhering to the nozzles is provided.
The maintenance paper 27 is brought into contact with the nozzle surface after the purging process with a constant force to clean the nozzle surface.

Next, a configuration for controlling the recording apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The recording device 1 is provided with a control unit (speed detection unit, determination unit, control unit) 31 that controls the entire recording device 1.
A ROM 32 storing an operation program and the like of the entire apparatus is connected, and a RAM 33 for storing image data and the like used for recording is connected. The control unit 3
1 includes a recording head driving unit 34 for driving the recording head 3, a carriage motor 35 for scanning and moving the recording head 3 on the recording paper P, and an operation unit for instructing the start of a recording operation by a user operation. 37 are connected. Further, the control unit 31 is connected to a transport motor 38 composed of a step motor serving as a drive source of the main roller 11 for transporting the recording paper P and the discharge roller 13.
The operation of the transport motor 38 is controlled in accordance with the recording operation of the recording head 3.

A photo sensor 21 for detecting a slit of the slit member 20 when the recording head 3 is moved for scanning is connected to the control unit 31. The counter 40 counts the number of slits based on a signal from the photo sensor 21. Be counted. The timer 41 measures the elapsed time from the start of the scanning movement of the recording head 3. When the scanning movement of the carriage 7 is started, the control unit 31 starts measuring the elapsed time by the timer 41 and counting the slits by the photo sensor 21 and the counter 40, and starts the scanning movement of the carriage 7 and elapses a predetermined time. Every time you do
The scanning movement speed of the carriage 7 is calculated based on the count value of the counter 40. Further, the control unit 31 includes an LC
A display unit 42, such as a D (Liquid crystal display), is connected to display information indicating that a paper jam has occurred.

Next, the paper jam detection by the recording apparatus 1 and the flow of processing at that time will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 3, when the recording operation by the recording head 3 is started, the detection of the scanning movement speed of the carriage 7 is started (S1), and the scanning movement speed of the carriage 7 is constantly monitored during the recording operation. The process of detecting the scanning speed of the carriage 7 is performed as follows. In FIG.
When the scanning movement of the carriage 7 is started during the printing operation of the printing head 3, the elapsed time is measured by the timer 41 from the start time (S21). And the carriage 7
(S22: YE) each time the slit on the slit member 20 is detected by the photo sensor 21 with the scanning movement of
S), the counter 40 is counted up (S2).
3). When a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the scanning movement of the carriage 7 (S24: YES), the count value of the counter 40 is read, and the scanning movement speed of the carriage 7 is calculated based on the count value counted within the predetermined time. (S25).

Returning to FIG. 3, the description will be continued. It is determined whether or not the scanning movement speed of the carriage 7 calculated in the above processing has reached a predetermined constant speed during normal printing (hereinafter, referred to as a predetermined speed) (S2). Here, when the scanning movement speed of the carriage 7 has reached the predetermined speed (S2: YES), the printing operation is continued as long as there is print data to be printed (S10: YES), and printing without printing is performed. If there is no more data (S10: N
O), a carriage motor stop signal is issued (S11),
The recording operation ends.

If the scanning movement speed of the carriage 7 has not reached the predetermined speed (S2: NO), it is determined whether the scanning movement of the carriage 7 has completely stopped (S2).
3). Here, as shown in FIG.
If the scanning movement speed is lower than the predetermined speed (S3: NO), it is determined that a paper jam has occurred,
That is displayed on the display unit 42 (S4). FIG.
As shown in (b), when the scanning movement of the carriage 7 is completely stopped (S3: YES), a mechanical error (such as a carriage jam) occurs in the scanning movement of the carriage 7.
Is determined to have occurred, and the fact is displayed on the display unit 42 (S5). Thereafter, a carriage motor stop signal is issued (S6), and the printing operation is temporarily stopped.

The reason why it is determined that a paper jam has occurred due to the decrease in the scanning movement speed of the carriage 7 and the recording operation is stopped is as follows.
The fact that the scanning movement speed of the carriage 7 is reduced means that
It is highly possible that some trouble has occurred in the scanning movement of the carriage 7. It is considered that many of the obstacles are caused by a paper jam of the recording paper P during conveyance. The recording paper P that has caused a paper jam in the scanning movement path of the carriage 7 protrudes, and the protruding recording paper P comes into contact with the recording head 3 during the scanning movement, and the scanning movement speed decreases. When the scanning movement speed of the carriage 7 is reduced, it is determined that a paper jam has occurred. At this time, the recording paper P and the recording head 3
If the scanning movement is continued in a state in which the scanning movement is continued, the recording head 3 will be damaged. Therefore, the scanning movement is immediately stopped when the scanning movement speed decreases. Also,
When the scanning movement of the carriage 7 has completely stopped, it is considered that a mechanical failure has occurred. Therefore, in this case, it is determined that a mechanical error has occurred, and the driving of the carriage motor 35 is stopped in order to avoid a failure of the carriage motor 35.

After the recording operation is temporarily interrupted as described above, if the user instructs re-execution of the recording operation (S7: YES), it is determined whether the recording is interrupted in the middle of the page (S7). S8). When the recording is interrupted in the middle of the page (S8: YES), the recording is resumed from the recording data corresponding to the beginning of the page where the recording is interrupted (S8).
9). Also, when recording is not interrupted in the middle of a page,
That is, when the recording is interrupted when the recording is completed up to the end of the page (S8: NO), the recording is restarted from the recording data of the portion where the recording was interrupted (S12). By performing such a process, when the recording operation is restarted, the recording data recorded on the recording paper that has to be discarded due to a paper jam is automatically recorded again when the recording is resumed. Will be. If there is no instruction for re-execution by the user in S7 (S7: NO), the recording operation ends.

As described above, according to the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the occurrence of a paper jam is detected and the scanning movement of the carriage 7 is stopped when the scanning movement speed of the carriage 7 during the printing operation is reduced. Therefore, a situation in which the scanning movement can be continued while the recording paper in which the paper jam has occurred is kept in contact with the recording head 3 can be evacuated quickly. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the recording head 3 from being damaged due to the contact with the recording paper. Further, since the scanning movement speed of the carriage 7 can be obtained by using a mechanism (slit member 20, photo sensor 21, counter 40, control unit 31) for detecting the movement position of the carriage 7, the speed detection speed can be obtained. Therefore, there is no need for a new separate mechanism. Further, if the carriage 7 stops completely during the recording operation, it is determined that a mechanical operation error has occurred instead of a paper jam, so the user can clearly identify the cause of the recording operation abnormality. Can be recognized.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, in the above embodiment, the scanning movement speed of the carriage 7 is
Mechanism for detecting the movement position of the slit (slit member 20,
Although it is determined using the photo sensor 21, the counter 40, and the control unit 31), it is not limited to this configuration.
A configuration in which a separate mechanism is provided may be adopted. Further, in the above embodiment, when the recording operation is resumed after the recording is interrupted in the middle of the page due to a paper jam or a mechanical error, the recording is resumed from the recording data at the beginning of the page where the recording was interrupted. However, such processing may not be performed, and when resuming, the recording may always be resumed from the recording data of the part where the recording was interrupted.

[0031]

As described above, according to the recording apparatus of the first aspect, it is determined that a paper jam has occurred when the speed of the carriage is lower than the predetermined speed, and the scanning movement of the carriage is stopped. . Thus, when the recording paper comes into contact with the recording head or the carriage during the scanning movement and the scanning speed is reduced, the scanning movement of the carriage is immediately stopped. Therefore, breakage of the recording head due to contact with recording paper can be effectively prevented. Further, it is not necessary to attach a complicated paper sensor or the like as in the related art, and the configuration can be simplified.

According to the recording apparatus of the present invention, the display means displays that the user has noticed that a paper jam has occurred and that the scanning movement of the carriage has been interrupted due to the occurrence of the paper jam. You can know clearly.

Further, according to the recording apparatus of the present invention, when the scanning movement of the carriage is stopped, it is displayed on the display means that a mechanical error has occurred in the scanning movement of the carriage. The user can know that a mechanical error has occurred in the scanning movement of the carriage, whereby the user can recognize the reason for the interruption of the printing operation.

According to the recording apparatus of the present invention, when the scanning movement of the recording head whose scanning movement is interrupted is resumed, the recording is started from the beginning of the page containing the recording data whose recording is interrupted. Since the recording is started, the recording data recorded on the recording sheet which has to be discarded due to the paper jam is automatically recorded again when the recording is restarted. As a result, after the user clears the paper jam, the user can smoothly continue the recording without interrupting the recording without any special operation.

According to the recording apparatus of the present invention, since means for detecting the scanning movement position of the carriage can be used as the speed detecting means of the carriage, it is specially used for detecting a paper jam. It is not necessary to provide a simple mechanism. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the recording device can be reduced. Further, such a speed detection configuration is useful in simplifying the configuration when a DC motor or the like, whose speed cannot be known based on the number of steps, is used as the carriage drive source.

According to the recording apparatus of the present invention, when the recording head comes into contact with the recording paper due to the paper jam, the scanning movement of the carriage is immediately stopped. The ink ejecting portion of the ink jet recording head is properly protected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a main configuration of a recording mechanism in a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a configuration for controlling the printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing when a paper jam is detected in the recording apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing when detecting a carriage speed in the printing apparatus.

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a change in speed when a paper jam occurs;
(B) is a diagram showing a speed change when a carriage jam occurs.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording device 3 Recording head 7 Carriage 20 Slit member 21 Photosensor (sensor) 31 Control part (speed detection means, judgment means, control means) 42 Display part (display means)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus comprising: a recording head for recording an image on a recording sheet; and a carriage on which the recording head is mounted and which scans the recording head along the recording sheet. Speed detecting means, a determining means for determining that a paper jam has occurred when the speed detected by the speed detecting means is lower than a predetermined speed, and determining that a paper jam has occurred by the determining means. A controller for stopping the scanning movement of the carriage when the determination is made. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit controlled by said control unit to display that a paper jam has occurred when said determination unit determines that a paper jam has occurred. The recording device according to claim 1. 3. When the speed detection unit detects that the carriage has stopped, the determination unit determines that a mechanical error has occurred in the scanning movement of the carriage, and the control unit determines 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display unit is controlled so as to display that a mechanical error has occurred in the scanning movement of the carriage. 4. When the recording by the recording head is resumed after stopping the scanning of the carriage when a paper jam occurs, the control unit controls the beginning of a page including the recording data whose recording has been interrupted. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein control is performed to start recording from a part. 5. The speed detecting means is provided in the carriage and has a plurality of slits in a moving direction of the carriage, and detects and counts the slits of the slit member as the carriage scans. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor that performs the recording. 6. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is of an ink jet type.
The recording device according to any one of the above.