JPH01192584A - Sheet width detecting device and recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure the detection of a sheet width, by a method wherein, a travel means is abutted against a recording material to scan the surface of the recording material when a carriage reaches a recording area, and the displacement of the travel member is detected by a displacement detecting means. CONSTITUTION:In a recording area, an electric conduction to a solenoid 9 is carried out to make a permanent magnet 10 resile, whereby a travel member 11 is shifted rightward so that the contact part 11A thereof is abutted against a recording sheet 4. In this condition, since a travel detecting part 11C of the travel member 11 cuts a light path of a photointerrupter 12, a presence of recording paper is judged. Next, with the travel of a carriage 2 a sheet width detecting device 1 scans beyond a crosswise edge of the recording sheet 4. At this time, the travel member 11 is excited by the solenoid 9 to move out of the sheet surface, whereby the travel detecting part 11C opens the light path of the photointerrupter 12, and the completion of the opening operation is confirmed. After that, by reversing the conducting direction to the solenoid 9, the travel member 11 is shifted leftward back to a retracted state, and the carriage is returned to prepare for a next recording.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a sheet width detector and a recording device, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a sheet width detector and a recording device, and more specifically, it is mounted on a carriage and scans the surface of a recording material by moving the carriage, and detects the sheet width. The present invention relates to a sheet width detector and a recording device that detect a sheet width.

[Prior Art] As a sheet width detector provided in a conventional recording device of this type, an optical reflective photosensor consisting of an LED as a light emitting element and a phototransistor as a light receiving element is generally used. The sheet width has been detected by mounting such a sensor on a carriage.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional sheet width detector described above, the light emitted from the light emitting element is reflected from the surface of the sheet, and the reflected light is received by a light receiving element such as a phototransistor. Therefore, if the recording material sheet is transparent paper such as Kano P paper, it is impossible to detect it, and depending on the type of sheet, its whiteness may vary. Because of the difference, the amount of reflected light was not constant and there was a risk of malfunction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet width detector and a recording apparatus that can reliably detect the sheet width regardless of the type of recording material, in order to solve the conventional problems.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is mounted on a carriage that travels along the ffE recording material, and the sheet width of the recording material is changed by the movement of the carriage. In a sheet width detector capable of detection, there is a moving member that is biased so that it can come into contact with the liquid fertilizer recording system, and a transfer member that can be biased toward the recording material and retreated from the recording material. a moving member driving means, and a displacement detecting means of the moving member capable of detecting the state in which the moving part A is in contact with the recording material and the state in which the moving member has come off the edge of the material. It is characterized by:

Furthermore, another embodiment of the present invention provides a recording apparatus having a sheet width detector mounted on a carriage that runs along the recording material and capable of detecting the sheet width of the recording material by the movement of the carriage. a moving member that is biased so as to be able to come into contact with the recording material; a moving member driving means that is capable of biasing the movable member toward the recording material and retracting the movable member from the recording material; a sheet width detector including displacement detection means for the moving member capable of detecting a state in which the moving member is in contact with the liquid recording material and a state in which the moving member is removed from the edge of the recording material; When the carriage reaches the recording area, the moving means is brought into contact with the recording material to scan the surface 1 of the recording material, and the displacement detecting means detects the movement of the moving member. According to the invention, when the carriage moves and reaches the recording area, the moving member When the moving member comes into contact with the surface of the recording material and scans the recording material along the surface, and comes off the recording material at the edge in the width direction of the recording material, the movement is urged by the driving means. Since the member moves in the thickness direction of the recording material, the displacement is detected by a displacement detecting means provided in association with the moving member, thereby making it possible to detect the sheet width. Further, when the sheet width is detected, the moving means is driven to lower the contact portion from the scanning position, and the carriage is returned while being kept in the retracted state to prepare for the next recording. Therefore, regardless of whether the recording material is a transparent sheet or its whiteness, it is possible to reliably detect the sheet width, and even detect the state where there is no recording material. becomes possible.

[Example 1] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail and specifically based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the wooden invention. Here, ] is a sheet width detector mounted on the carriage 2, 3 is a recording head also mounted on the carriage 2, and 4 is a recording sheet held at a position opposite to the recording head 3 by a platen 5 and a presser plate 6. It is. The carriage 2 is moved along a guide shaft 7 by a drive means (not shown), and during this time the recording head 3 records on the recording sheet 4. On the other hand, by moving the carriage 2, the sheet width detector 1 The sheet width of the recording sheet 4 is detected.

8 is a sheet feeding roller.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the sheet width detector 1 includes a solenoid 9, a main body of a movable member 11 which includes a permanent magnet 10 having opposite polarities at both ends and is movable along the solenoid 9, and a main body of the movable member 11. It has a contact portion 11A attached to the tip and a movement detection portion 11G protruding from the rear end flange 11B of the moving member 11. 12 is a photointerrupter that detects the displacement of the moving member 11. Therefore, when the solenoid 9 is energized and energized, the repulsive force between it and the permanent magnet lO causes the g-movement member 11 to be in the state shown in FIG. 2, that is, the movable member 11 is projected to the right from the solenoid 9
The movement detection section IIIC of the moving member 11 can be pulled down from the photointerrupter 12.

Now, the moving state of the movable member 11 when the sheet width of the recording sheet 4 is detected by the sheet width detection vr1 configured as described above will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3C.

FIG. 38 shows a state in which the permanent magnet IO is repelled by energizing the solenoid 9 in the recording area, and the movable member 11 is moved to the right to bring its contact portion 11A into contact with the recording sheet 4 (hereinafter referred to as (referred to as sheet scanning state).

That is, in this state, the movement detection section 11 of the moving member 11
C blocks the optical path of the photo interrupter 12,
Accordingly, it is determined that a recording sheet is present.

Note that although FIG. 1 shows a state before the movable member 11 is not driven to the right (hereinafter referred to as a retracted state), by energizing the solenoid 9 in one direction in this state, the contact portion 11A can be brought into a sheet scanning state in which it is brought into contact with the sheet surface.

Then, as the carriage 2 moves, the sheet width detector l
When the moving member 11 scans beyond the widthwise edge of the recording sheet 4, the moving member 11 is energized by the solenoid 9, so that it comes off the sheet surface and moves to the state shown in FIG. When the movement detection section 11c opens the optical path of the photointerrupter 12, the completion of the detection is confirmed. After this, by reversing the direction of energization to the solenoid 9, the movable member 11 is moved to the left to return to the standby state shown in FIG. 3C, and the carriage is returned to ensure that the next recording is not interrupted. .

FIG. 4 shows a block circuit configuration of the recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present application, where 2o is a control circuit for controlling the operation of the entire recording apparatus, and is constituted by a microprocessor or the like. Reference numeral 23 denotes an rlAM (random access memory) which rewritably stores control information for 8-Doku in addition to recording data, and includes a reversible counter 22 which stores the position of the carriage. 24 is a sheet width detection control procedure (FIG. 5), which will be described later, as well as each f! I! I that memorizes drive control procedures
It is IOM (read only memory). Control circuit 2
0 is activated by solenoid 9.0 according to the control procedure of n0M24 and based on the output of photointerrupter 12. Carriage pulse motor 25. The recording head 26 and the like are driven via drivers 21, 27, and 28, respectively, to perform sheet width detection, recording operations, and the like.

Here, the carriage motor 25 is a pulse motor, and the counter 22 recognizes the current position of the carriage by adding or subtracting the number of pulses applied to the motor 25. Therefore, the control circuit 20 uses the counter 21
The value is compared with a value indicating the recording area stored in advance in the ROM 24 or a value indicating the position at which sheet width detection has been completed to determine whether the carriage is in the recording area or not, and whether sheet width detection is complete. judge whether or not it was done.

Next, a series of operating procedures for sheet width detection will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in step S51, the solenoid 9 is driven to pull down the contact portion 118 to the retracted state shown in FIG. 3C, and in step S2, the carriage 2 is moved, and then in step S
At step 3, whether or not the carriage 2 has reached the recording area is determined based on the count of the counter 22. In this way, once the carriage 2 has been moved until it reaches the recording area, the process proceeds to step S4, where the solenoid 9 is driven to move the moving member 11.
is energized to bring the contact portion 118 into a scanning state (see FIG. 38) in contact with the sheet surface. And step S5
By continuing to move the carriage 2 at the contact point 1
18, the sheet surface is scanned, the counter 2z counts pulses corresponding to the scanning distance, and in step S6, it is determined whether or not sheet width detection has been completed based on the signal from the photointerrupter 12. Waiting for this, the process proceeds to step S7, where the solenoid 9 is driven to return the movable member 11 to the standby state shown in FIG. 3C, and the contact portion 11
With A held in the lowered position, the carriage return is performed in the next step S8 to prepare for the next recording.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the invention. Here, 1z is a second permanent magnet provided at a position opposite to the flange LIB of the moving member 11 on the solenoid 9 side. be. Note that the other configurations are the same as the sheet width detector shown in FIG. 2.

According to this example, unless the solenoid 9 is energized,
Due to the repulsive force generated between the pair of second permanent magnets,
As shown in this figure, when detecting the sheet width, a current is applied to the solenoid 9 to bias the moving member 11 to the right against the above-mentioned repulsive force, so that the contact portion can be kept in the retracted state. 118 can be in a scanning state in which it is brought into contact with the surface of the recording sheet 4. Note that sheet width detection is performed by detecting the state shown in FIG. 3B as in the previous embodiment, and after this, the solenoid 9
It is possible to return to the retracted state by stopping the power supply to. According to this example, a driver for changing the direction of the current flowing through the solenoid 9 is not required.

FIG. 7 shows yet another embodiment of the invention. In this example, the moving member 1 changes from the scanning state or width detection completion state to the standby state.
1, an elastic body 13 such as a return spring is provided between the flange 11B of the movable member 11 and the side surface of the solenoid 9 facing the flange 11B. Since this embodiment is the same as the embodiment described above, its explanation will be omitted.

Note that in the above explanation, the displacement of the moving member from the sheet scanning state to the width detection completion state is detected by a photo interrupter, but such displacement detection means is not limited to optical means such as a photo interrupter. Of course, for example, a Hall element or the like can also be used.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, only the sheet width is detected in the car, but it can also be applied to detect the presence or absence of a recording material, that is, whether or not the recording material is set at the recording position. It goes without saying that it can be done.

[Effects of the Invention 1 As explained above, according to the present invention, in the sheet width detector mounted on the carriage and capable of detecting the sheet width of the recording material, the sheet width detector capable of being biased toward the recording material A moving member, a moving member driving means capable of biasing the moving member toward a recording material and retreating from the recording material, and a state in which the moving member is in contact with a surface of the recording member and a state in which the moving member is A means for detecting a state in which the recording member has come off the edge of the recording member is provided, and a means for detecting the 8th position of the carriage is further provided on the recording apparatus side, and when the carriage reaches the recording area, the driving means The moving member is urged to come into contact with the recording material, and when the moving member comes off the edge of the recording material as the carriage moves, this is detected by the detection means. It is now possible to reliably detect the sheet width without being affected by the whiteness of 011P paper or sheets, which was previously impossible to detect optically.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overview of a two-slot casing to which the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Figs. 38 to 3C are movement diagrams according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a circuit for performing sheet width detection according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the detection operation according to the present invention; FIG. 6 is a state diagram showing three operating states of the member. and FIG. 7 are configuration diagrams showing other embodiments of the present invention. ±... Sheet width detector, 2... Carriage, 3... Recording head, 4... Recording sheet, 9... Solenoid, 10... Permanent Ti1 stone, 11... Moving member, 11^... Contact part, 11B... Flange part, 11C... Movement detection part, 12... Photo interrupter, 12... Second permanent magnet, 13... Elastic body (return spring), 20... Control circuit, 21... Driver, 22... Counter.・8 I Toronai June's - * Aiming row showing the structure Figure 2 J Jitna Island & Outer Figure 3
Figure A Book 1il Ei Tsukishi → Nakakarasuhanko 1 & Width detection completed 4 The idea is not shown; Conceptual drawing: Fig. 3C.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A sheet width detector mounted on a carriage that travels along a recording material and capable of detecting the sheet width of the recording material by the movement of the carriage, comprising: a movable member that is biased so as to be able to abut against the recording material; a movable member drive unit capable of biasing the movable member toward the recording material and retracting the movable member from the recording material; A sheet width detector comprising a displacement detecting means for a moving member capable of detecting a state in which the moving member is in contact with a recording material and a state in which the moving member is removed from an edge of the recording material. 2) In a recording device having a sheet width detector mounted on a carriage that travels along a recording material and capable of detecting the sheet width of the recording material as the carriage travels, the sheet width detector is configured to: a movable member biased so as to be able to come into contact with the recording material; a movable member driving means capable of biasing the movable member toward the recording material and retracting from the recording material; a sheet width detector comprising displacement detection means for a moving member capable of detecting a state in which the moving member is in contact with a recording material and a state in which the moving member is removed from an edge of the recording material; and a sheet width detector that detects a traveling position of the carriage. detecting means, when the carriage reaches a recording area, the moving means is brought into contact with the recording material to scan the surface of the recording material, and the displacement detecting means detects the movement of the moving member. A recording apparatus characterized in that control is performed to detect the sheet width of the recording material by detecting displacement.