JP2018002314A - System for measuring contraction amount of continuous form - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a system capable of measuring a shrinkage amount of a continuous form generated by heat on a printer.
A controller 12 of a shrinkage measurement system 1 uses a sensor unit 10 provided in a first printing unit 30 to measure the vertical and horizontal dimensions of a continuous form 2 fed to a heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30. By measuring the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form 2 contracted by the heat of the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30 using the sensor unit 11 provided in the second printing unit 31, The contraction amount of the generated continuous form 2 is calculated. When measuring the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form 2, the controller 12 measures the vertical dimension of the continuous form 2 by detecting the detection mark 21 transferred to the continuous form 2 and detects both sides of the continuous form 2. To measure the horizontal dimension of the continuous form 2.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for measuring a shrinkage amount of a printing paper generated by heat fixing.

  When double-sided printing is performed by a laser printer that employs a thermal fixing method, a toner image formed on a photoconductor (generally a drum type) is transferred to printing paper, and heat and pressure are applied to the toner image. However, if the printing paper shrinks due to the heat at this time, the printed images such as characters and designs printed on the printing paper will also shrink. If the opposite side is printed while the first printed image is excessively contracted, the dimensions of the printed image will change between the front and back of the printing paper. The same applies to duplex printing with an inkjet printer equipped with a dryer. When the printing paper shrinks due to the heat of the dryer, the printed images such as characters and pictures printed on the printing paper also shrink, and the first printed image is printed. If the opposite side is printed with the paper shrinking excessively, the dimensions of the printed image will change between the front and back of the printing paper.

  If the amount of shrinkage of the printing paper due to heat can be made constant, it can be dealt with by correcting the size of the print image. However, the amount of shrinkage of the printing paper due to heat depends on the eyes of the printing paper (longitudinal or horizontal) and the fiber density of the printing paper. Since it depends on the moisture content of the printing paper at the time of manufacture or the humidity state when the printing paper is stored, it is impossible to make the shrinkage of the printing paper generated by thermal fixing constant.

  Therefore, it is desired that the shrinkage amount of the printing paper generated by the thermal fixing is measured on the printer and the printing failure due to the shrinkage amount of the printing paper can be detected during printing. A technique for measuring the amount of shrinkage of printing paper generated by heat fixing on a laser printer has already been disclosed. For example, in the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, the vertical dimension of the print paper after thermal fixing is measured using paper detection sensors arranged before and after the fixing unit of the laser printer. In the invention disclosed in Patent Document 2, the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the printing paper after thermal fixing are measured using a line sensor.

JP 2006-91424 A JP 2004-347842 A

  However, the above-described conventional technique can be applied to a printer that prints on cut paper because the vertical dimension of the printing paper is measured by detecting the edge of the paper perpendicular to the conveyance direction. Since the above-mentioned paper edge does not exist in a continuous form in which a single form sheet is continuous, the above-described conventional technique cannot be applied to a printer that prints on a continuous form.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a system capable of measuring the shrinkage amount of a continuous form generated by heat on a printer.

  The present invention that solves the above-described problem includes a first printing unit that prints on one side of a continuous form and a second printing unit that prints on the other side of the continuous form, and prints a print image including a detection mark on the continuous form. A shrinkage amount measuring system provided in a printer that prints on both sides of the printer, wherein the detection mark transferred to the continuous form provided in each of the first printing unit and the second printing unit is detected. Calculated from the output of the sensor unit provided at the first printing unit, and a sensor unit comprising at least a pair of edge sensors for detecting both ends of the continuous form fed to the heating unit. Using the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form and the vertical and horizontal dimensions calculated from the output of the sensor unit provided in the second printing unit. A controller for calculating a contraction amount of the paper, wherein the controller calculates a vertical dimension of a continuous form from an output interval of a mark detection signal output from the mark sensor when the detection mark is detected, and the pair of edges The horizontal dimension of the continuous form is calculated from the positions of both ends of the continuous form output from the sensor.

  According to the above-described present invention, since the vertical dimension of the continuous form is measured using the detection mark transferred to the continuous form, the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form can be measured on the printer machine even for the continuous form. The vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form fed to the heating unit of the first printing unit are the vertical and horizontal dimensions before the continuous form is heated by the heating unit of the first printing unit, and are fed to the heating unit of the second printing unit. The vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form are the horizontal and vertical dimensions after the continuous form is heated by the heating unit of the first printing unit. By comparing these vertical and horizontal dimensions, the continuous form generated by the heating part of the first printing unit The amount of shrinkage of the form can be measured on the printer.

The figure explaining the laser printer provided with the shrinkage | contraction amount measuring system. The figure explaining the sensor unit of a contraction amount measuring system. Flow chart explaining operation of controller of shrinkage measurement system The figure explaining the content which measures the vertical dimension of a continuous form. The figure explaining the content which measures the horizontal dimension of a continuous form. The figure explaining the inkjet printer provided with the shrinkage | contraction amount measuring system.

  From here, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described. The following description is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, but is provided to aid understanding.

  In this embodiment, the printer provided with the shrinkage amount measuring system 1 is a racer printer 3, and FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the laser printer 3 provided with the shrinkage amount measuring system 1 according to this embodiment. The laser printer 3 illustrated in FIG. 1 is a printer that performs double-side printing on a continuous form 2 in which a single sheet 2a is continuous via a horizontal sewing machine 20 by a laser method, and a printer controller 32 that controls the laser printer 3 and a continuous printer 2. A first printing unit 30 that prints one side of the form 2 and a second printing unit 31 that prints the other side of the continuous form 2 are provided. In FIG. A paper feed unit 33 supplied to the printing unit 30, a reversing unit 34 for turning over the continuous form 2 discharged from the first printing unit 30, and a paper discharge unit for stocking the continuous form 2 discharged from the second printing unit 31. 35 is illustrated.

  The first printing unit 30 of the laser printer 3 includes a charging unit 302 that charges the surface of the photosensitive member 300 around a drum-type photosensitive member 300 on which a print image transferred to the continuous form 2 is formed. An exposure unit 303 that forms a print image to be transferred to the continuous form 2 on the surface of the photoreceptor 300 using laser light, and a development unit 304 that attaches toner to the print image that the exposure unit 303 forms on the surface of the photoreceptor 300. And a transfer unit 305 for transferring the print image on the photosensitive member 300 to which the toner is adhered to the continuous form 2 and a cleaner unit 306 for cleaning the surface of the photosensitive member 300 are arranged, and the print image is continuously displayed using heat. A heating unit 301 for thermally fixing the form 2 is disposed downstream of the photosensitive member 300. Similarly to the first printing unit 30, the charging unit 312, the exposure unit 313, the developing unit 314, the transfer unit 315, and the cleaner unit 316 are also arranged in the second printing unit 31 of the laser printer 3, similar to the first printing unit 30. , A heating unit 311 is disposed downstream of the photoreceptor 300.

  The shrinkage measuring system 1 provided in the laser printer 3 measures the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form 2 from the sensor units 10 and 11 used for measuring the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form 2 and the outputs of the sensor units 10 and 11. It comprises at least a controller 12 that calculates the shrinkage amount of the continuous form 2 generated by the heating unit 301 of the printing unit 30.

  In order to calculate the shrinkage amount of the continuous form 2 generated by the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30, the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form 2 before entering the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30, and the first printing unit The vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form 2 contracted by the heat of the 30 heating units 301 are required. In this embodiment, since the vertical dimension of the continuous form 2 is measured using the detection mark 21 transferred to the continuous form 2, the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form 2 fed to the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30 are measured. The sensor unit 10 used for measurement is installed between the photosensitive member 300 and the heating unit 301 in the first printing unit 30. While the continuous form 2 is transported from the first printing unit 30 to the second printing unit 31, the continuous form 2 may shrink due to residual heat. Therefore, the continuous form shrinks due to the heat of the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30. The sensor unit 11 used for measuring the vertical and horizontal dimensions of 2 is installed between the photosensitive member 310 and the heating unit 311 in the second printing unit 31.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the sensor unit 10 of the contraction amount measurement system 1. The configuration of the sensor unit 11 of the contraction amount measurement system 1 is the same as that of the sensor unit 10, and in FIG. 2, reference numerals related to the sensor unit 11 are shown in parentheses.

  The sensor unit 10 according to the present embodiment has a horizontal dimension which is a dimension between the mark sensor 100 used for measurement of a vertical dimension corresponding to the dimension between the horizontal sewing machines 20 and both ends (right end side and left end side) of the continuous form 2. In FIG. 2, the pair of edge sensors 101 and 102 are disposed on the upstream side of the mark sensor 100.

  The mark sensor 100 used for measuring the vertical dimension of the continuous form 2 corresponding to the interval of the horizontal sewing machine 20 projects light on the continuous form 2 and uses the brightness difference between the color of the continuous form 2 and the color of the detection mark 21. Thus, a sensor (for example, a photoelectric sensor) for determining the presence or absence of the detection mark 21 is used. The detection mark 21 detected by the mark sensor 100 is a predetermined position in the cut sheet 2a for each cut sheet 2a (here, below the horizontal sewing machine 20 which is the top side of the cut sheet 2a and in the transport direction). This is a rectangular mark printed in the vicinity of the left edge). Since the position where the detection mark 21 is printed is determined in the cut sheet 2a, the interval of the detection mark 21 in the continuous form 2 corresponds to the interval of the horizontal sewing machine 20, that is, the vertical dimension of the cut sheet 2a. As the color of the detection mark 21, a color complementary to the color of the paper used for the continuous form 2 is used, and the color of the detection mark 21 is usually black. Such a detection mark 21 may be printed in advance on the continuous form 2 using an offset printing machine or the like, but the image of the detection mark 21 is formed on the image formed on the photosensitive member 300 of the first printing unit 30. Is preferably included. The print data related to the detection mark 21 may be automatically generated by the printer controller 32 of the laser printer 3 or may be included in the print data of the continuous form 2. The same applies to the second printing unit 11.

  The edge sensor 101 used for measuring the horizontal dimension, which is the dimension between the left and right side edges, includes a light projecting unit 101a for projecting strip-shaped parallel light, and a light receiving unit 101b for receiving the parallel light projected by the light projecting unit 101a. The position where the parallel light is blocked is detected from the output of the light receiving unit 101b. Similarly, the edge sensor 102 includes a light projecting unit 102a that projects strip-shaped parallel light and a light receiving unit 102b that receives the parallel light projected by the light projecting unit 102a, and the parallel light is output from the output of the light receiving unit 102b. Detect the blocked position. In the present embodiment, the edge sensor 101 is installed on the right side in the transport direction and the edge sensor 102 is installed on the left side in the transport direction so that both ends of the continuous form 2 can be detected by the pair of edge sensors 101 and 102.

  The contraction amount measurement system 1 is configured such that the outputs of sensors included in the sensor units 10 and 11 are input to the controller 12. Since the sensor unit 10 includes one mark sensor 100 and a pair of edge sensors 101 and 102, the output of the sensor unit 10 includes the output of the mark sensor 100 and the output of the edge sensors 101 and 102. Similarly, since the sensor unit 11 includes one mark sensor 110 and a pair of edge sensors 111 and 112, the output of the sensor unit 11 includes the output of the mark sensor 110 and the output of the edge sensors 111 and 112.

  From here, the controller 12 with which the shrinkage | contraction amount measuring system 1 is provided is demonstrated. The controller 12 of the shrinkage amount measuring system 1 is a device realized by using a computer or a programmable logic controller. The controller 12 according to this embodiment includes an output from the sensor unit 10 provided in the first printing unit 30. A computer program for calculating the contraction amount of the continuous form 2 using the calculated vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form 2 and the vertical and horizontal dimensions calculated from the output of the sensor unit 11 provided in the second printing unit 31 is implemented. ing.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the controller 12 of the contraction amount measurement system 1. The controller 12 of the shrinkage measurement system 1 receives a detection mark 21 (here, the photosensitive body 300 of the first printing unit 30 is added to the continuous form 2 from the mark sensor 100 of the sensor unit 10 installed in the first printing unit 30. When a mark detection signal, which is a signal for detecting the transferred detection mark 21), is output, the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form 2 fed to the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30 are measured (S 1). Specifically, the controller 12 calculates the vertical dimension of the continuous form 2 from the output interval of the mark detection signal. The controller 12 also determines the horizontal dimension of the continuous form 2 from the edge positions (positions at both ends of the continuous sheet) obtained from the pair of edge sensors 101 and 102 when the mark detection signal is output from the mark sensor 100. Is calculated.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the contents of measuring the vertical dimension of the continuous form 2. When the mark sensor 100 detects the detection mark 21 printed on the continuous form 2, the mark sensor 100 outputs a rectangular mark detection signal. Since the mark sensor 100 continuously detects the detection mark 21 while the continuous form 2 is printed by the laser printer 3, as shown in FIG. 4, the mark sensor 100 outputs a mark detection signal in time series. Is output. The controller 100 measures the output interval Δt of the mark detection signal using a timer or an encoder, and calculates the vertical dimension of the continuous form 2 by multiplying the printing speed and the output interval Δt at this time.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the content of measuring the horizontal dimension of the continuous form 2. A reference position 101c is set in the light receiving unit 101b of the edge sensor 101, and the edge sensor 101 determines the length from the end not receiving the parallel light projected by the light projecting unit 101a to the reference position 101c as the edge position. Measured as R. Similarly, a reference position 102c is set for the light receiving unit 102b of the edge sensor 102, and the edge sensor 102 has a length from the end not receiving the parallel light projected by the light projecting unit 102a to the reference position 102c. Is measured as the edge position L. The edge position R measured by the edge sensor 101 installed on the right side in the conveyance direction of the continuous form 2 corresponds to the right edge of the continuous form 2 and is opposite to the edge sensor installed on the right side in the conveyance direction of the continuous form 2. The edge position L measured by the edge sensor 102 installed and installed on the left side in the conveyance direction of the continuous form 2 corresponds to the left end side of the continuous form 2. Since the length Lo from the reference position 101c of the edge sensor 101 installed on the right side in the conveyance direction of the continuous form 2 to the reference position 102c of the edge sensor 102 installed on the left side in the conveyance direction of the continuous form 2 can be measured in advance, The controller 12 according to the embodiment calculates the length obtained by subtracting the edge position R and the edge position L from Lo as the horizontal dimension of the continuous form 2.

  The controller 12 of the shrinkage measurement system 1 outputs the mark detection signal from the mark sensor 100 of the sensor unit 10 installed in the first printing unit 30 and then the sensor unit 10 installed in the first printing unit 30. If the mark detection signal is output from the mark sensor 110 of the sensor unit 11 installed in the second printing unit 31 before the next mark detection signal is output from the mark sensor 100, the above-described content is obtained. The vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous paper fed to the heating unit 311 of the second printing unit 31 are calculated as the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form 2 contracted by the heat of the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30 (S2).

  Next, the controller 12 of the shrinkage amount measurement system 1 determines the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous paper fed to the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30 and the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous paper fed to the heating unit 311 of the second printing unit 31. By comparing the dimensions, a contraction amount (for example, a reduction ratio) of the continuous form 2 generated by the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30 is calculated (S3).

  In the present embodiment, the controller 12 of the shrinkage amount measurement system 1 is fed to the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30 when calculating the shrinkage amount of the continuous form 2 generated by the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30. By comparing the vertical dimension of the continuous form 2 and the vertical dimension of the continuous form 2 fed to the heating unit 311 of the second printing unit 31, the shrinkage amount of the continuous sheet related to the vertical dimension is calculated. Further, when the controller 12 of the shrinkage amount measuring system 1 calculates the shrinkage amount of the continuous form 2 generated by the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30, the continuous form fed to the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30 is calculated. 2 is compared with the horizontal dimension of the continuous form 2 fed to the heating unit 311 of the second printing unit 31 to calculate the shrinkage amount of the continuous paper according to the horizontal dimension. Then, the controller 12 of the shrinkage amount measuring system 1 compares the shrinkage amount of the continuous form 2 related to the vertical dimension and the shrinkage amount of the continuous form 2 related to the horizontal dimension, and treats the larger one as the shrinkage amount of the continuous form 2.

  Next, the controller 12 of the shrinkage amount measurement system 1 checks whether the shrinkage amount of the continuous form 2 generated by the heating unit 301 of the first printing unit 30 exceeds a threshold value (S4). When the shrinkage amount of the continuous form 2 exceeds the threshold value, the controller 12 of the shrinkage amount measuring system 1 notifies an alarm such as a sound or light (S5). If the contraction amount does not exceed the threshold value, this procedure ends without notifying the alarm.

  In the present embodiment described above, the printer provided in the contraction amount measurement system 1 is the laser printer 3. However, the printer provided with the contraction amount measurement system 1 may be a printer other than the laser printer 3.

  FIG. 6 is a view for explaining an ink jet printer 4 provided with the shrinkage measurement system 1 according to the present embodiment. The inkjet printer 4 shown in FIG. 6 is a printer that performs double-sided printing on a continuous form 2 in which a single sheet 2a is continuous via a horizontal sewing machine 20 by a laser method, similarly to the laser printer 3 shown in FIG. A printer controller 42 for controlling the ink jet printer 4, a first printing unit 40 for printing one side of the continuous form 2, and a second printing unit 41 for printing the other side of the continuous form 2 are provided. In addition, the paper feed unit 43 that supplies the continuous form 2 before printing to the first printing unit 30, the reversing unit 44 that turns over the continuous form 2 discharged from the first printing unit 40, and the second printing unit 41 A paper discharge unit 45 for stocking the discharged continuous forms 2 is shown.

  In the first printing unit 40 of the inkjet printer 4, a heating unit 401 (dryer) that dries the ink ejected by the print head unit 400 is disposed downstream of the print head unit 400 that prints a print image on the continuous form 2. . Further, the ink discharged from the print head unit 410 is also dried to the second print unit 41 of the inkjet printer 4 downstream of the print head unit 410 that prints a print image on the continuous form 2, similarly to the first print unit 40. A heating unit 411 is disposed.

  In FIG. 6, the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form 2 fed to the heating unit 401 of the first printing unit 40 are measured so that the vertical dimension of the continuous form 2 can be measured using the detection mark 21 transferred to the continuous form 2. The sensor unit 10 used for measurement is installed between the print head unit 400 and the heating unit 401 in the first printing unit 40. Further, the sensor unit 11 used for measuring the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form 2 contracted by the heat of the heating unit 401 of the first printing unit 40 is installed between the print head unit 410 and the heating unit 411 in the second printing unit 41. doing.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Shrinkage measuring system 10,11 Sensor unit 100,110 Mark sensor 101,102,111,112 Edge sensor 12 Controller 2 Continuous form 20 Horizontal perforation 21 Detection mark 3 Laser printer 30 1st printing unit 31 2nd printing unit 300 310 Photoconductor 301, 311 Heating unit

Claims (1)

A system provided in a printer that includes a first printing unit that performs printing on one side of a continuous form and a second printing unit that performs printing on the other side of the continuous form, and that prints a print image including a detection mark on both sides of the continuous form. Because
A mark sensor provided in each of the first printing unit and the second printing unit for detecting the detection mark transferred from the continuous form fed to the heating unit, and both ends of the continuous form fed to the heating unit A sensor unit comprising at least a pair of edge sensors to be detected;
Using the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the continuous form calculated from the output of the sensor unit provided in the first printing unit and the vertical and horizontal dimensions calculated from the output of the sensor unit provided in the second printing unit, A controller for calculating the amount of contraction;
With
The controller calculates a vertical dimension of a continuous form from an output interval of a mark detection signal output from the mark sensor when detecting the detection mark, and positions of both ends of the continuous form from which the pair of edge sensors are output. Calculate the horizontal dimension of a continuous form from
A heat shrinkage measuring system characterized by that.

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