JP5484095B2 - Recording device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that can observe the progress of printing.

  When printing on a recording medium with a relatively large size using an inkjet printer, which is one of the recording devices, if a printing defect such as an ink ejection defect occurs immediately after printing, a large amount of ink or recording medium is wasted. To do. In order to solve such a problem, a recording apparatus is disclosed in which a transparent member is used at the top of the casing so that the inside of the casing can be seen through (see Patent Document 1). In such a recording apparatus, the user can observe the progress of printing, so that if a trouble occurs during printing, the user can immediately stop printing.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a conventional recording apparatus that can observe the progress of printing. In the recording apparatus illustrated in FIG. 5, a roll-shaped recording medium 107 is fed into the housing 101 from the rear end of the housing 101 from the front end portion 107 a. Inside the casing 101, the recording medium 107 is printed, and then the rear end of the recording medium 107 is cut by a cutter (not shown). Then, the recording medium 107 is discharged from the front end portion 107a to the front of the housing 101. In the housing 101, the left cover 102 and the right cover 103 constitute the right side portion and the left side portion of the housing 101, respectively. Further, the front cover 104 and the paper discharge cover 105 constitute the front portion of the housing 101. An opening / closing cover 106 constitutes the upper part of the housing 101. In this recording apparatus, it is possible to observe the progress of printing by forming the opening / closing cover 106 with a transparent member.

JP 2003-225993 A

  In the recording apparatus shown in FIG. 5, since the opening / closing cover 106 is transparent, outside light such as sunlight or room illumination enters the inside of the housing 101 from various angles. Here, printing defects that may occur when external light enters the inside of the housing 101 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

  6 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line AA shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a region C shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a carriage 112 that reciprocates between the right cover 103 and the left cover 102 above the recording medium 107 is provided inside the housing 101. A sensor 111 and a recording head 110 are provided side by side on the bottom surface of the carriage 112. As shown in FIG. 7, the sensor 111 is for detecting the side edge of the recording medium 7 or detecting the type of the recording medium 7, and the light intensity detection range (see the shaded area in FIG. 7). Is set below the carriage 112. As shown in FIG. 7, when the external light L that irradiates a part of the detection region S that is a detection range in the plane to which the surface of the recording medium 107 belongs enters from the opening / closing cover 106, the detection value of the sensor 111 changes abnormally. Incorrect print settings may be made.

  When the sensor 111 has a characteristic of high sensitivity to infrared rays with respect to the above problem, an infrared absorbing film or the like is attached to the inside of the opening / closing cover 106 to maintain the transparency and the recording head 110 by external light. Can be prevented to some extent. However, in this coping method, since the entire opening / closing cover 106 is transparent, it is necessary to affix an infrared absorbing film over a wide area, and as a result, there is a concern about an increase in cost. Also, a coping method for forming the opening / closing cover 106 with a material to which an infrared absorber is added is conceivable. However, since the material cost becomes high, there is a concern that this coping method also increases the cost.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus that can observe the progress of printing and can prevent printing defects that may occur due to external light at low cost.

In order to achieve the above object, a recording apparatus of the present invention includes a housing in which a recording medium passes through the inside and a transparent window portion formed at the top , a recording head held below the window portion, and It has a reciprocally movable carriage in a predetermined direction on said recording medium within said housing, provided in said a carriage, a sensor detection range of light intensity is set below the carriage The window portion is arranged at a position shifted from the center of the housing in the predetermined direction to a side closer to a standby position where the carriage is waiting before starting a recording operation, and the sensor is The carriage is disposed on the side that is forward of the recording head when the carriage moves from the standby position along the predetermined direction, and passes through the inside of the casing from any one point in the window. Below the carriage It said window portion neither the straight line so as not to pass through the detection range extending is disposed.

  Whatever external light is incident on the inside of the housing from the window, this external light irradiates outside the detection range of the sensor. Therefore, the detection operation of the sensor is not affected by the external light incident from the window portion. Accordingly, it is possible to observe the progress of printing and to prevent printing defects that may occur due to external light at low cost.

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a recording apparatus of the present invention. It is sectional drawing along the cutting line BB shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a region D shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a carriage provided in the recording apparatus of the present invention as viewed from the bottom surface side. It is a perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the conventional recording device which can observe the progress in the middle of printing. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line AA shown in FIG. 5. It is an enlarged view of the area | region C shown in FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a recording apparatus of the present invention. In this recording apparatus, a roll-shaped recording medium 7 is fed into the housing 1 from the rear end of the housing 1 from the front end portion 7a. The recording medium 7 is printed when passing through the inside of the housing 1, and then the rear end portion of the recording medium 7 is cut by a cutter (not shown). Then, the recording medium 7 is discharged from the front end portion 7 a to the front of the housing 1.

  In the housing 1, the left cover 2 and the right cover 3 constitute the right side portion and the left side portion of the housing 1, respectively. Further, the front cover 4 and the paper discharge cover 5 constitute the front portion of the housing 1, and the recording medium 7 is discharged from between these. The opening / closing cover 6 constitutes the upper part of the housing 1 and can be opened / closed around a hinge (not shown). Since the opening / closing cover 6 can be opened and closed, the convenience of correcting the jam of the recording medium 7 and performing various maintenance is improved. Each of the covers 2 to 6 is a plastic molded product and is formed of an opaque material. However, since the transparent window 8 is formed in a part of the opening / closing cover 6 (a part of the upper part of the housing 1), the inside of the housing 1 can be seen through. In the present embodiment, the window portion 8 is provided on the right side when viewed from the front of the housing 1.

  Next, the internal configuration of the housing 1 will be described. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line BB shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a region D shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a carriage 12 that can reciprocate above the recording medium 7 along the width direction of the recording medium 7 (see arrow M) is provided inside the housing 1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the carriage 12 as viewed from the bottom side. On the bottom surface of the carriage 12, a sensor 11 and a recording head 10 on which ink jet type ejection ports (nozzle arrays) 10a and 10b are formed are held side by side. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the sensor 11 is accommodated in a recess 12 b formed on the bottom surface of the carriage 12. The sensor 11 is a media sensor for detecting the intensity of light within the detection range (see the hatched portion in FIG. 3) and acquiring information about the end position of the recording medium and / or the type of the recording medium. As shown in FIG. 3, this detection range is set below the carriage 12 and surrounded by limits S1 and S2. The sensor 11 converts the detected light intensity into an electrical signal and outputs the electrical signal to the recording head 10. In this embodiment, the recording head 10 discharges ink droplets from at least one of the discharge ports 10a or 10b by applying discharge energy to the ink with a heater, a piezo element, an electrostatic element or the like. Note that regarding the arrangement of the sensor 11 in the conveyance direction (see arrow N in FIG. 4) of the recording medium 7 orthogonal to the carriage movement direction, the sensor 11 is arranged within the width W of the ejection ports 10a and 10b of the recording head 10. ing. Accordingly, the sensor 11 performs detection in front of the movement path of the discharge ports 10a and 10b.

  Inside the housing 1, the carriage 12 stands by in the right cover 3 until the recording operation of the recording head 10 is started (see FIG. 2). When a print job for instructing the start of the recording operation is sent to the carriage 12, the carriage 12 is guided by a shaft (not shown) extending in the width direction of the recording medium 7, and between the right cover 3 and the left cover 2. Move back and forth. At this time, when the side end portion 7 b of the recording medium 7 enters and exits the detection range of the sensor 11 as the carriage 12 moves, the detection value of the sensor 11 changes. That is, the information regarding the position of the side end portion 7 b of the recording medium 7 is detected by the sensor 11. The detection value when the sensor 11 is positioned on the recording medium 7 reflects optical characteristics such as the surface reflectance of the recording medium, and information on the type of the recording medium 7 is detected by the sensor 11. Accompanying these detections, control conditions (such as the print medium size and print quality according to the type of print medium) when the print head 10 performs the print operation are set.

  A straight line L shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 shows an example of external light that enters the inside of the housing 1 from the window portion 8. 2 and 3, the straight line L is a straight line extending from one point on the outer peripheral portion 6 a of the window 8 to one point below the carriage 12 through one point on the connection portion 12 a between the bottom surface and the side surface of the carriage 12. If the window portion 8 is arranged so that the straight line L enters the detection range of the sensor 11, the detection value of the sensor 11 may be affected by external light incident from the window portion 8. However, in this embodiment, the window part 8 is arrange | positioned so that neither straight line L may pass a detection range. Specifically, the window portion 8 is arranged so that the intersection P between the straight line L and the plane to which the surface of the recording medium 7 belongs is located outside the detection area S that is a detection range on the plane. For this reason, even if the external light indicated by the straight line L irradiates the surface of the recording medium 7, the detection value of the sensor 11 is not affected.

  In the present embodiment, the window portion 8 is arranged so that any straight line extending from one point in the window portion to the lower portion of the carriage 12 through the inside of the housing 1 does not pass through the detection range of the sensor 11. Therefore, even if any external light enters the inside of the housing 1, the external light irradiates outside the detection range of the sensor 11. Thereby, the situation where the detection value of the sensor 11 changes abnormally does not occur. Accordingly, the malfunction of the recording head 10 can be prevented without using a technique for attaching an infrared absorbing film to the window 8 or a technique for forming the window 8 with a material to which an infrared absorber is added.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the sensor 11 is shifted from the center of the carriage 12 to the left side (left side of the casing 1) as viewed from the front of the casing 1. The part 8 is shifted from the center of the housing 1 to the right side (right side of the housing 1). That is, in the present embodiment, regarding the arrangement of the window portion 8 and the carriage 12 of the sensor 11 when viewed from the front of the housing 1, the direction in which the window portion 8 is displaced from the center of the housing 1 and the sensor 11 is the carriage. The directions deviating from the center of 12 are opposite directions. As a result, the angle θ formed by the straight line L and the plane to which the surface of the recording medium 7 belongs is shifted in the same direction when the carriage 12 is disposed at a position (inside the right cover 3) waiting for the recording operation of the recording head 10. It becomes bigger than the case. Since this angle θ corresponds to the incident angle of external light, the larger the value, the more difficult it is for the external light to enter the detection range of the sensor 11. Therefore, since the distance K (see FIG. 3) from the side surface of the carriage 12 to the sensor 11 can be shortened, the carriage 12 can be reduced in size.

  In the present embodiment, the standby position of the carriage 12 is inside the right cover 3. Therefore, by arranging the position where the sensor 11 is provided on the left side of the recording head 11, the detection operation performed by the sensor 11 before the recording operation of the recording head 10 can be started immediately. Therefore, the time required for starting the recording operation of the recording head 10 can be shortened. The standby position of the carriage 12 may be inside the left cover 2. In this case, the sensor 11 may be disposed on the right side of the recording head 10. That is, if the sensor 11 is disposed in front of the recording head 10 with respect to the moving direction of the carriage 12 when the recording operation is started, the time required for the recording operation of the recording head 10 to be started can be shortened.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case 7 Recording medium 8 Window part 10 Recording head 11 Sensor 12 Carriage

Claims (3)

A case in which a recording medium passes through the inside and a transparent window is formed on the top;
A carriage that holds a recording head below the window and can reciprocate in a predetermined direction on the recording medium inside the housing;
A sensor provided on the carriage and having a light intensity detection range set below the carriage,
The window is disposed at a position shifted from the center of the casing in the predetermined direction to a side closer to a standby position where the carriage is waiting before starting a recording operation, and
The sensor is disposed on a side that is more forward than the recording head when the carriage moves along the predetermined direction from the standby position;
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the window portion is arranged so that any straight line extending from an arbitrary point in the window portion to the lower portion of the carriage through the inside of the housing does not pass through the detection range.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is a media sensor for acquiring information related to an end position of the recording medium and / or a type of the recording medium.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the straight line is a straight line connecting one point of the outer peripheral portion of the window portion and one point of a connection portion between a bottom surface and a side surface of the carriage.

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