JP5247227B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus using roll paper.

In a printing apparatus that performs printing using printing paper wound in a roll shape, the printed matter is not cut from the printing paper when printing is finished. In order to cut the printed material from the printing paper, it is necessary to carry the cutting from the printing paper by conveying the end portion (printing end position portion) of the printed material to a cutting device arranged on the printing paper conveyance path. A proposal disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228561 has been made for cutting the printing paper and taking it out from the feed roller.
JP 2001-293918 A

  However, in the case of a printing apparatus using roll-shaped printing paper, the position where printing is actually started from the end face of the printing paper, the position where printing is finished, and the distance to the cutting device must be measured and adjusted in advance. Therefore, the printed area cannot be cut out accurately. If this position is not adjusted, a problem occurs that unnecessary blanks are inserted non-uniformly in the paper transport direction in the cut printed matter.

  The object of the present invention is to accurately grasp the positional relationship between the print start position, the print end position, and the cutting device, and correct the cutting position of the printed matter, thereby absorbing variations in assembly and installation of the print head and the cutting device. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of obtaining a good printed matter.

In order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus according to the present invention is a printing apparatus that prints an image on roll paper, and a print head for printing an image on roll paper, and cutting for cutting the roll paper. Means for transporting the roll paper, detection means for detecting the leading edge of the roll paper at a predetermined position in the transport path of the roll paper, and detection after the roll paper is cut by the cutting means By conveying the roll paper in the direction of the means and detecting the leading edge of the roll paper by the detection means, the amount of conveyance from the detection means to the cutting means is measured, and from the detection means to the cutting means It records the information about the conveyance amount, a first recording means for recording information about the conveyance amount from the detection means to the cutting means at the time of initialization of the printing device, the first Based from recorded by the recording means and the detecting means to the information about the conveyance amount of up to the cutting means, and conveyance control means for driving the conveyor means to correct the transport amount of the roll paper to the cutting means, said detecting A printing start position based on a position where the means detects the leading edge of the roll paper, and a drive control means for driving and controlling the print head for printing from the printing start position; and printing on the roll paper by the printing means. A second recording that records information relating to a conveyance amount from the leading end of the roll paper to the printing start position by measuring a conveyance distance from the leading end of the roll paper to the printing start position by detecting the detected marker. The conveyance control means includes information relating to a conveyance amount from the leading edge of the roll paper recorded by the second recording means to a printing start position. Based on, characterized in that to drive the conveying means to correct the transport amount of the paper roll when cutting the roll paper.

  According to the printing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to accurately grasp the positional relationship between the printing start position, the printing end position, and the cutting apparatus, and to correct the cutting position of the printed matter, so that the print head and the cutting apparatus can be assembled and installed. Good prints can be obtained by absorbing the variation.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Hereinafter, a thermal sublimation type printer will be described as an example of the printing apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a thermal sublimation printer of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of a thermal sublimation printer that performs printing by transporting printing paper wound in a roll shape to a transport path and forming a printed matter by cutting the leading edge and the trailing edge of the printed image with a cutting device is combined with the operation. I will explain.

  In FIG. 1, printing paper (roll paper) 101 wound in a roll shape is transported to a transport path 109 by a pair of paper feed rollers 102. The printing paper 101 is sandwiched between the ink ribbon 105 (the supply side 105 a and the winding side 105 b), the thermal head 106, and the platen roller 103 in the conveyance path 109. Further, by moving the platen roller 103 up and down, a state of pressure bonding and non-pressure bonding is created.

  When the paper is further transported along the transport path 109, the print paper 101 is gripped by the grip roller pair 104. The grip roller pair 104 has protrusions on the rollers so that the printing paper 101 does not slip. Since the grip roller pair 104 is driven by a stepping motor (not shown), the step driving amount can be converted as the movement amount of the printing paper 101.

  The paper leading edge detection sensor 108 is a sensor for detecting the leading edge of the printing paper 101 that is gripped and conveyed by the grip roller pair 104. In this embodiment, the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 is installed in the transport path, and detects the leading edge of the printing paper 101 when the sensor end surface is pressed by the printing paper 101.

  A cutting device 110 that cuts the printed material from the printing paper 101 is disposed at the last stage of the printing path 109. The paper feed roller pair 102, the platen roller 103, the grip roller pair 104, and the thermal head 106 are controlled by an MPU (not shown) executing a program stored in the ROM and using data expanded in the RAM. .

  Similarly, the detection state of the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 disposed in the transport path 109 is similarly monitored by an MPU (not shown).

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the printing process executed by the thermal sublimation printer of FIG.

  A series of printing operations will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the platen roller 303 is in a non-compression state during non-printing.

  In step S201, the printing paper 101 is sent out to the conveyance path 109, and paper conveyance is started. This state is shown in FIG. In (a), (a) -1 is a front view, and (a) -2 is a side view (the same applies to the following symbols and FIGS. 5 and 7).

  In step S202, the process waits for the printing paper 101 to be detected by the paper leading edge detection sensor. In step S203, the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 enters a paper leading edge detection state, and stops printing paper conveyance (FIG. 1B). Subsequent printing paper conveyance is performed with this paper leading edge detection position as a reference.

  In step S204, reverse conveyance of the printing paper 101 is started. This is because the amount of printing paper to be cut last can be reduced when the gripping position by the grip roller pair 104 is as close as possible to the leading edge of the printing paper 101.

  The reverse conveyance amount is determined by a design value based on the positional relationship between the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 and the grip roller pair 104 and the detection accuracy, and has a restriction that the printing paper 101 does not come off the grip roller pair 104.

  In step S205, completion of reverse conveyance of the printing paper 101 is awaited. Hereinafter, the printing operation is executed. Here, the principle of the sublimation printer will be described.

  In the thermal sublimation printer, the grip roller pair 104 is driven by a stepping motor (not shown) in the sub-scanning direction. Then, while conveying the printing paper 101, the ink on the ink ribbon 105 is sublimated on the printing paper 101 by the number of heating times in one pixel of the thermal head 106 arranged in the main scanning direction, and gradation expression is performed.

  The ink ribbon 105 is wound up simultaneously with the conveyance of the printing paper 101 by a ribbon feed motor (not shown). When paper is conveyed in the direction of the conveyance path 109 and printing is performed, the ink ribbon 105 is supplied from the supply side 105a of the ink ribbon 105, sublimated by the thermal head 106, and the ink ribbon 105 is wound up on the winding side 105b. .

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the printing paper conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction) and the thermal head (main scanning direction) in the thermal sublimation printer of FIG.

  Prior to printing, the leading edge of the ink ribbon 105 is detected. The ink ribbon 105 is arranged in the order of yellow, magenta, cyan, and overcoat, and only yellow has markers different from multicolor.

  Therefore, when printing, it is necessary to first perform a yellow marker search to determine the leading color. Since colors other than yellow have the same marker, the search may be repeated sequentially.

  When scanning in the sub-scanning direction is completed, the printing paper 101 is returned to the sub-scanning start position, and scanning for the next color is started. Scanning in the sub-scanning direction is repeated for three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan, and finally overcoat is performed to complete printing.

  In step S206, it is determined whether or not yellow printing is performed (FIG. 1C). If the print color is yellow, a ribbon marker search for yellow is executed in step S209.

  If the print color is not yellow, printing of at least one color has been completed. Therefore, an operation occurs in which the print paper 101 is reversely conveyed by the step of conveying the print paper 101 for printing and returned to the same position as the start of yellow printing. To do. In step S207, reverse conveyance of the printing paper 101 is started.

  In step S208, the process waits for completion of reverse printing paper conveyance. When the printing paper 101 returns to the printing start position, a marker search for the next color is started in step S210. In step S211, the completion of the yellow marker and the marker search for colors other than yellow is awaited.

  When the detection of the ribbon marker is completed, in step S212, the platen roller 103 is pushed up, and the thermal head 103, the ink ribbon 105, the printing paper 101, and the platen roller 103 are pressed (FIG. 1D).

  In step S213, the ink ribbon 105 is wound up for printing, the printing paper 101 is transported, and the thermal head 106 is energized to start printing. In step S214, the process waits for completion of printing conveyance in the sub-operation direction of the printing paper 101 (completion of one-color printing).

  In step S215, along with the completion of one-color printing, energization of the thermal head 106, conveyance of the printing paper 101, and winding up of the ink ribbon 105 are stopped. In step S216, the platen roller 103 is moved downward from the pressure-bonded state to release the pressure-bonded state (FIG. 1 (e)).

  In step S217, it is determined whether overcoat (OC) printing is completed. If there is no overcoat, the process returns to step S206 because the next color is printed. If it is overcoat, the printing process is terminated, and the printed material printed from the printing paper 101 is cut.

  In step S218, the conveyance of the printing paper 101 is started in order to cut the leading end of the printing paper 101. In step S219, the printing paper 101 is conveyed to the cutting position based on the design values from the paper leading edge position at the completion of printing and the position of the cutting device 110, and the completion of the printing paper conveyance is awaited. In step S220, the leading edge of the printing paper 101 is cut (FIG. 1 (f)).

  In step S221, in order to cut the trailing edge of the printing paper 101, the conveyance of the printing paper 101 is started up to the end of the printed matter. In step S222, the end of printing paper conveyance is awaited. In step S223, the trailing edge of the printed material is cut from the printing paper 101 (FIG. 1 (g)).

  Finally, in steps S224 and S225, the printing paper 101 conveyed to the cutting device 110 is reversely conveyed to return the paper leading edge of the printing paper 101 to the paper feeding position, and a series of printing operations is completed (FIG. 1 ( a)).

  As described above, in the present invention, the distance is managed using the paper transport distance from the time when the leading edge of the printing paper 101 is detected as the number of steps of the stepping motor. For this reason, if the writing position of the thermal head 106 and the distance to the leading edge of the printing paper 101 and the distance between the leading edge of the printing paper 101 and the cutting device 110 vary greatly in assembling accuracy or the like, the printed matter will be chipped.

  FIG. 4 is a view showing a printed matter obtained by the thermal sublimation printer of FIG.

  Ideal prints (images) are shown in (a) -1 and (a) -2. The center of gravity of the image and the center of the printing paper 101 coincide with each other in the image with and without the border. (B) -1 and (b) -2 show the printed materials when the distance between the writing position of the thermal head 106 and the leading edge of the printing paper 101 is large. The center of gravity of the image is shifted to the lower end, and the thickness of the edge is not uniform in the image with the edge. In a bordered image, the lower end of the image protrudes from the print area.

  In the opposite of (b) -1 and (b) -2, when the distance between the writing position of the thermal head 106 and the leading edge of the printing paper 101 is short, images as shown in (c) -1 and (c) -2 Output. In order to calibrate this, adjustment work for each device is required.

Therefore, in the present invention, attention is paid to the adjustment operation of the conveyance path, and the adjustment method is disclosed.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the thermal sublimation printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  Specifically, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the print start position detection sensor 107 is installed on the transport path 109. The print start position detection sensor 107 is also monitored by the MPU (not shown) as described above.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a conveyance amount correction process executed by the heat sublimation printer of FIG. 5 and the heat sublimation printer of FIG. 7 described later.

  A series of printing operations will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In FIG. 6, in step S601, feeding of the printing paper 101 is started by the pair of paper feed rollers 102 (FIG. 5A). In step S602, the process waits for the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 to detect the leading edge of the printing paper 101 at a predetermined position. When the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 detects the leading edge of the printing paper 101, the printing paper 101 conveyance is stopped in step S603 (FIG. 5B).

  In step S604, the printing paper 101 is started to be conveyed in the reverse direction. The reverse transport amount is a fixed value determined by a design value based on the positional relationship between the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 and the grip roller pair 104 and the detection accuracy, and has a restriction that the printing paper 101 does not come off the grip roller pair 104. Here, the grip roller pair 104 is located on the most downstream side in the conveyance direction of the printing paper 101.

  FIG. 5B shows the reverse transport amount as SB, and the number of steps from the paper leading edge detected by the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 to the detection position of the printing start position detection sensor 107 as SL. In step S605, the process waits for the end of the reverse conveyance. Upon completion, the MPU (not shown) resets the measurement counter 1 arranged on the RAM, and in step S607, searches for a ribbon marker.

  In step S608, the completion of the ribbon marker search is awaited. When the ribbon marker search is completed, in step S609, the platen roller 103 is pushed up to create a pressure-bonded state, and in step S610, detection of the print start position is started.

  In step S611, winding of the ink ribbon 105, conveyance of the printing paper 101, and energization of the thermal head 106 are started to start a printing operation (FIG. 5C). Here, the printing is started in order to print the print leading end marker 120 for measuring the head writing position.

  As shown in the print leading end marker 120 in FIG. 5D, printing is performed at the printing start position, and the start position of the printing leading end marker 120 is detected by the print start position detecting sensor 107 located at the subsequent stage of the conveyance path 109 ( Step S612). The number of steps from the paper leading edge to the print start position in FIG.

  The print start position detection sensor 107 emits light from a sensor-side light source using a photosensor such as a photoreflector and converts the reflected light into an electrical signal to detect the presence or absence of an object.

  When the printing paper 101 on which the printing leading edge marker 120 is printed is printed and conveyed forward, if the printing paper 101 does not reach the printing start position detection sensor 107, no reflection is generated by the printing paper 101, and sensor output is generated. do not do. When the printing paper 101 reaches the printing position detection sensor 107, reflection by the printing paper 101 occurs and a sensor output is generated.

  When the printing paper 101 is further conveyed forward, the printing leading end marker 120 eventually reaches the printing start position detection sensor 107. If the print leading end marker 120 is black, the reflected light disappears and no sensor output is generated. In this way, the print start position can be specified by monitoring the output of the print start position detection sensor 107.

  Further, by counting the number of steps of the stepping motor that drives the grip roller pair 104 from the position of FIG. 5C until the print start position is detected, the distance from the leading edge of the print paper 101 to the print start position is converted. be able to. The MPU (not shown) can store the step number count.

In step S613, this is stored as a measurement value of the measurement counter 1. From the number of steps stored in the measurement counter 1, the number of steps at the print start position can be calculated from the leading edge of the paper by the following calculation.
SB: Number of reverse transport steps from paper leading edge detection SL: Number of steps from paper leading edge detection position to print start position detection sensor position SS: Step number measurement counter 1 from paper leading edge to printing start position (count number) = SB + SL + SS
SS = Measurement counter 1− (SB + SL)
In step S614, the process waits for the printing area to be printed. When printing is completed, in step S615, the platen roller 103 is moved downward to release the pressure-bonded state. In step S617, after the printing is completed, the paper is conveyed to a position where the printing leading end marker 120 surely exceeds the cutting device 110. This transport amount is a fixed value that is set based on the paper leading edge position and printing start position when printing is completed, the design value up to the cutting device position, and the assembly accuracy.

  In step S618, a cutting process is performed at a position where the printing leading edge marker 120 of the printing paper 101 exceeds the cutting device 110 (FIG. 5E). In step S619, the MPU (not shown) resets the measurement counter 2 arranged on the RAM. This is for measuring the distance from the cutting device 110 to the paper leading edge detection position.

  By executing the cutting process on the printing paper 101, the leading edge of the printing paper 101 is on the cutting device 110. In step S620, the printing paper 101 is reversely conveyed while counting up the number of steps of the stepping motor that drives the grip roller pair 104. When the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 stops detecting the paper leading edge, the reverse conveyance is performed. Stop.

  In step S621, paper conveyance is started, and the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 is brought into a state where paper leading edge detection is performed again. At this time, since the grip roller pair 104 is driven in the opposite direction, the measurement counter 2 counts down.

In step S622, it waits for the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 to detect the paper leading edge of the printing paper 101 again. When the leading edge of the paper is detected, the content of the measurement counter 2 is stored as a measured value in step S623. The measurement counter 1 described above is the number of steps from the paper leading edge to the print start position, and the measurement counter 2 is the number of steps from the paper leading edge (paper leading edge detection sensor 108) to the cutting device 110.
SC: number of steps from the cutting device to the paper leading edge detection sensor SC = measurement counter 2 (count number)
In step S623, the number of steps from the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 to the cutting device 110 measured in S622 is recorded.

  In step S624, the following processing is performed so that the leading edge of the printing paper 101 and the printing start position become design values based on the number of steps from the leading edge of the paper stored in S613 to the printing start position. That is, a correction is made to the number of steps to reversely convey the printing paper 101 from the paper detection position in S204 (FIG. 1C) at the time of the printing process, and the correction is made effective from the next printing execution.

  By this correction, it is possible to absorb variations in the assembly and installation of the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 and the thermal head, and the printing paper leading edge and the printing start position are set to a certain amount.

  In step S625, the number of transport steps in S218 and S221 of the printing process is corrected based on the number of steps from the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 to the cutting device 110 recorded in the paper S623, and the correction is enabled from the next printing execution. To do.

  The flowcharts of FIGS. 2 and 6 function as the first recording unit, the conveyance control unit, the drive control unit, and the second recording unit described in the claims.

  With the above operation, the conveyance amount to the cutting device 110 is corrected, the variation in assembling and installing the cutting device is absorbed, and the cutting position of the printing paper is set appropriately.

  If the above operation is stored as a program in a ROM (not shown), the cutting position can be corrected when necessary without a special device.

  Such a conveyance amount correction process is effective when it is performed at the time of factory shipment of the printing apparatus, when the printing apparatus is initialized, or when the cutting apparatus is replaced. When the printing device is shipped from the factory, when the printing device is initialized, or when the cutting device is replaced, information on the transport distance from the front end of the printing paper to the print start position, and the transport amount from the paper front end detection sensor 108 to the cutting position. It may be recorded and corrected based on the information recorded at the time of printing.

In the present embodiment, the number of reverse transport steps in S204 at the time of printing processing is corrected based on the number of steps from the paper leading edge calculated in S613 to the time of assembly and installation of the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 and the thermal head. Absorbed the variation. However, the reverse correction step number that can be placed in S204 may be corrected, and the transport step number in S218 and S221 of the printing process may be corrected based on the step number recorded in S623 and the step number recorded in S613. As a result, by merely correcting the number of transport steps in S218 and S221 of the printing process, variations at the time of assembly and installation of the paper leading edge detection sensor, thermal head, and cutting device are absorbed, and the cutting position of the printing paper is set appropriately.
(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a thermal sublimation printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  The difference from the first embodiment is that the paper leading edge detection sensor and the print start position detection sensor in FIG. 5 are combined into one sensor. That is, in the first embodiment, the switch type sensor used for detecting the leading edge of the paper is used as a photo reflector type and also serves as a print start position detection sensor. This will be described below in comparison with FIG.

  The paper leading / printing start position detection sensor 115 in FIG. 7 is a combination of the printing start position detection sensor 107 and the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 in FIG. By also using the sensor, the measurement operation can be performed without being aware of the installation distance between the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 and the print start position detection sensor 107 shown in FIG.

  The operation of the thermal sublimation printer of FIG. 7 will be described below using the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S601, the feeding of the printing paper 101 is started by the paper feed roller pair 102 (FIG. 7A). In step S602, the process waits for the paper leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115 to be in a leading edge detection state of the printing paper 101.

  When the leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115 detects the leading edge of the printing paper 101, the printing paper conveyance is stopped in step S603 (FIG. 7B). In step S604, the printing paper 101 is started to be conveyed in the reverse direction.

  The reverse transport amount is a fixed value determined by a design value based on the positional relationship between the paper leading edge / print start position detection sensor 115 and the grip roller pair 104 and detection accuracy, and the print paper 101 does not deviate from the grip roller pair 104. It has a restriction to say. FIG. 7B shows the reverse transport amount SB.

  In step S605, the process waits for the end of reverse conveyance. When the MPU is not completed, the MPU (not shown) resets the measurement counter 1 arranged on the RAM, and in step S607, searches for a ribbon marker.

  In step S608, the completion of the ribbon marker search is awaited. When the ribbon marker search is completed, in step S609, the platen roller 103 is pushed up to create a pressure-bonded state, and in step S610, detection of the print start position is started.

  In step S611, winding of the ink ribbon 105, conveyance of the printing paper 101, and energization of the thermal head 106 are started to start a printing operation (FIG. 7C). Here, the printing is started in order to print the print leading end marker 120 for measuring the head writing position.

  7D, printing is performed at the printing start position, and the paper leading / printing start position detection sensor 115 detects the writing start position of the printing leading marker 120. The paper leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115 is a photosensor such as a photoreflector, and detects the presence or absence of an object by emitting light from a light source on the sensor side and converting the reflected light into an electric signal.

  When the printing paper 101 on which the printing leading edge marker 120 is printed is printed and conveyed forward, if the printing paper 101 does not reach the paper leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115, no reflection is caused by the printing paper 101, and thus the sensor. No output is generated.

  When the printing paper 101 reaches the leading edge / printing position detection sensor 115, reflection by the printing paper 101 occurs and a sensor output is generated. Further, when the printing paper 101 is conveyed forward, the printing leading edge marker 120 eventually reaches the paper leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115. If the print leading end marker 120 is black, the reflected light disappears and no sensor output is generated.

  In this manner, the output of the paper leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115 can be monitored to identify the paper leading edge position and the printing start position. Further, by counting the number of steps of the stepping motor that drives the grip roller pair 104 from the position of FIG. 7C until the print start position is detected, the distance from the leading edge of the print paper 101 to the print start position is converted. be able to. The MPU (not shown) can store the step number count.

  In step S613, this is stored as a measurement value of the measurement counter 1. In the present embodiment, since the paper leading edge / print start position detection sensor 115 serves as both the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 and the print start position detection sensor 107, the paper leading edge detection sensor 108 and the print start position detection sensor 107 are used. There is no need to correct the positional relationship.

From the number of steps stored in the measurement counter 1, the number of steps at the print start position can be calculated from the paper leading edge / print start position detection sensor 115 by the following calculation.
SB: Number of reverse transport steps from the paper leading edge detection (paper leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115) SS: Step number measurement counter 1 from the paper leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115 to the printing start position 1 = SB + SS
SS = Measurement counter 1-SB
In step S614, the process waits for the printing area to be printed. When printing is completed, in step S615, the platen roller 103 is moved downward to release the pressure-bonded state. In step S617, after the printing is completed, the paper is conveyed to a position where the printing leading end marker 120 surely exceeds the cutting device 110. This transport amount is a fixed value that is set based on the paper leading edge position and the printing start position when printing is completed, the design value up to the position of the cutting device 110, and the assembly accuracy.

  In step S618, a cutting process is performed at a position where the printing leading end marker 120 of the printing paper 101 exceeds the cutting device 110 (FIG. 7E). In step S619, the MPU (not shown) resets the measurement counter 2 arranged on the RAM. This is for measuring the distance from the cutting device 110 to the paper leading edge / print start position detection sensor 115.

  By executing the cutting process on the printing paper 101, the leading edge of the printing paper 101 is on the cutting device 110. In step S620, the printing paper 101 is reversely conveyed while counting up the number of steps of the stepping motor that drives the grip roller pair 104, and the paper leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115 is in a state where it can no longer detect the leading edge of the paper. Stop reverse conveyance.

  In step S621, paper conveyance is started and the paper leading / printing start position detection sensor 115 is again set to the paper leading edge detection state. In step S622, the process waits for the paper leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115 to detect the paper leading edge of the printing paper 101 again. At this time, since the grip roller pair 104 is driven in the opposite direction, the measurement counter 2 counts down.

When the leading edge of the paper is detected, the content of the measurement counter 2 is stored as a measured value in step S623. The previously described measurement counter 1 is the number of steps from the front end of the paper to the print start position, and the measurement counter 2 is the number of steps from the front end of the paper (paper front end / print start position detection sensor 115) to the cutting device 110.
SC: number of steps from the cutting device 110 to the paper leading edge detection position (paper leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115) SC = measurement counter 2
In step S623, the number of steps from the paper leading edge detection position (paper leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115) measured in S622 to the cutting device 110 is recorded.

  In step S624, based on the number of steps from the paper leading edge stored in S613 to the printing start position, the leading edge of the printing paper 101 and the printing start position are designed values in S204 (FIG. 1C) during the printing process. A correction is made to the number of steps to reversely convey the printing paper 101 from the paper detection position, and the correction is made effective from the next printing execution.

  By this correction, it is possible to absorb variations at the time of assembling and installing the paper leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115 and the thermal head, and the printing paper leading edge and the printing start position are set to a certain amount.

  In step S625, the number of transport steps in S218 and S221 of the printing process is corrected based on the number of steps from the paper leading edge / print start position detection sensor 115 recorded in the paper S623 to the cutting device 110, and the next printing is executed. Enable correction from.

  With the above operation, the conveyance amount to the cutting device 110 is corrected, the variation in assembling and installing the cutting device is absorbed, and the cutting position of the printing paper is set appropriately.

  Such a conveyance amount correction process is effective when it is performed at the time of factory shipment of the printing apparatus, when the printing apparatus is initialized, or when the cutting apparatus is replaced. When the printer is shipped from the factory, when the printer is initialized, or when the cutting device is replaced, information on the transport distance from the front end of the print paper to the print start position and the transport amount from the paper front end / print start position detection sensor 115 to the cut position May be recorded and corrected based on the information recorded at the time of printing.

  In the present embodiment, the paper leading edge / printing start position detection sensor 115 and the thermal head are corrected by correcting the reverse conveying step number in S204 at the time of printing processing based on the number of steps from the paper leading edge calculated in S613. Absorbed variations during assembly installation.

  However, the reverse correction step number that can be placed in S204 may be corrected, and the transport step number in S218 and S221 of the printing process may be corrected based on the step number recorded in S623 and the step number recorded in S613. As a result, it is possible to absorb variations in the assembly and installation of the paper leading edge / print start position detection sensor, the thermal head, and the cutting device only by correcting the number of transport steps in S218 and S221 of the printing process.

It is a figure which shows the basic composition of the thermal sublimation type printer of this invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a printing process executed by the thermal sublimation printer of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a printing paper conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction) and a thermal head (main scanning direction) in the thermal sublimation printer of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the printed matter obtained with the thermal sublimation type printer of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the thermal sublimation type printer which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the printing process performed by the thermal sublimation type printer of FIG. 5, and the thermal sublimation type printer of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the thermal sublimation type printer which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Printing paper 102 Paper feed roller pair 103 Platen roller 104 Grip roller pair 105 Ink ribbon 106 Thermal head 107 Printing start position detection sensor 108 Paper leading edge detection sensor 109 Transport path 110 Cutting device 115 Paper leading edge detection / printing start position output sensor 120 Printing tip marker

Claims (2)

A printing device for printing an image on roll paper,
A print head for printing an image on roll paper;
Cutting means for cutting the roll paper;
Conveying means for conveying the roll paper;
Detecting means for detecting the leading edge of the roll paper at a predetermined position in the transport path of the roll paper;
After the roll paper is cut by the cutting means, the roll paper is conveyed in the direction of the detection means, and the leading end of the roll paper is detected by the detection means, thereby reducing the conveyance amount from the detection means to the cutting means. A first recording means for measuring and recording information relating to the conveyance amount from the detection means to the cutting means, and recording information relating to the conveyance amount from the detection means to the cutting means at the time of initialization of the printing apparatus ; ,
A conveyance control unit that corrects the conveyance amount of the roll paper to the cutting unit and drives the conveyance unit based on information on the conveyance amount from the detection unit to the cutting unit recorded by the first recording unit. When,
A drive control unit that determines a print start position based on a position at which the detection unit detects the leading edge of the roll paper, and drives and controls the print head to print from the print start position;
The detection unit detects the marker printed on the roll paper by the print head, thereby measuring the transport distance from the leading edge of the roll paper to the printing start position, and the transport amount from the leading edge of the roll paper to the printing start position. A second recording means for recording information on
The conveyance control unit is configured to determine a conveyance amount of the roll paper when cutting the roll paper based on information on a conveyance amount recorded from the leading end of the roll paper to a printing start position recorded by the second recording unit. A printing apparatus that corrects and drives the conveying means . The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second recording unit records information relating to a conveyance amount from a leading edge of the roll paper to a printing start position when the printing apparatus is initialized.

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