JPH02227271A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To select a recording mode corresponding to a material to be recorded by discriminating the presence/absence and type of the material to be recorded. CONSTITUTION:A platen roller 1 is formed with a recording surface with a material 5 to be recorded. The roller 1 conveys (feeds a sheet) the material 5 to be recorded. A pinch roller 2 is disposed adjacent to the platen 1 to feed the sheet. A sheet guide 3 discharges the material 5 to be recorded of a sheet or an OHP sheet in a direction B. A recording head 4 is opposed to the recording surface of the material 5 to be recorded, and records by discharging ink. A transmission type sensor 10 is disposed to discriminate the presence/absence and type of the material 5 to be recorded. The material 5 is fed by a pair of rollers formed of the rollers 1 and 2 in a direction A, and automatically supplied up to a predetermined record starting home position. The material 5 is passed through a detecting position of a material discrimination sensor (transmission type sensor 10) disposed therebetween for discriminating the presence/absence and type of the material to be recorded and selecting a corresponding recording mode. That is, a sheet absence error display is conducted by the output from the sensor to stop the operation of a recorder, set a recording mode of an OHP sheet or set a sheet recording mode.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a recording device, and more specifically, a recording device that can detect the type of recording material being fed and automatically switch the recording mode. Regarding.

[Prior Art] Among these types of recording devices, the inkjet recording method is
This is a recording method that performs recording by depositing small droplets of recording liquid onto a recording material such as paper from the ejection opening (hereinafter also referred to as orifice) of the recording head.It generates little noise and requires special fixing processing. It is attracting attention as a recording method that can perform high-definition, high-speed recording, and full-color recording without any problems.

The recording liquid used in this inkjet recording method is generally formed from a recording material such as a dye, and water as a solvent or a mixture of water and various solvents.

As described above, in the inkjet recording method, since an aqueous recording liquid is used, the recording material used for recording is required to have excellent recording liquid absorption and fixing properties.

In particular, in multicolor inkjet recording using recording liquids of two or more colors, the amount of recording liquid that adheres to the recording material increases, so it is required that the recording liquid has particularly excellent absorption and fixing properties. be done.

Therefore, special paper having a coating layer with excellent ink absorbency on its surface has usually been used as a recording material. However, as the uses of inkjet recording apparatuses have recently become more diverse, the demand for direct recording on recording materials that are difficult to absorb ink, such as OHP films, has increased.

Recording paper such as special paper and 011P film differ greatly in their ink absorption amount, absorption speed, color development, etc., so even if the same recording density is to be achieved, it is necessary to use different recording modes. - When attempting to support this with multiple devices, separate modes are often set. As such an apparatus, for example, LISPant N has a configuration that controls the recording material so that the position of ink droplet adhesion differs between OHP film and paper.
No. 4,617.580.

Such devices that can set separate recording modes are generally equipped with a means to determine the type of recording material being fed.For example, a switch is provided on the recording device itself, and the user By operating this switch, you can set the recording mode that corresponds to the recording material, or by installing a transmissive or reflective optical sensor on the paper feeding path of the recording material, you can set the recording mode according to the presence or absence of light transmission. Recording paper?
It was determined whether the paper was a transparent paper such as 011P film, and the recording mode was set according to this determination.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the former example, malfunctions may occur due to user operation errors, and in the latter case, detection using an optical sensor determines whether the paper is transparent or not based on whether light passes through it. For example, even if the recording material is not fed for some reason, a malfunction may occur, such as outputting a determination signal indicating that the recording material is transparent paper.

Furthermore, in order to solve this problem, a configuration in which a microswitch is separately provided to determine the presence or absence of the recording material itself has the problem of complicating the device and increasing the cost of the entire device. there were.

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned problem, and its purpose is to provide a recording device that can reliably determine the presence or absence and type of recording material itself using a single determination means. There is a particular thing.

[Means for Solving the Problem] To this end, the present invention includes a discrimination means for discriminating the recording material to be conveyed to the recording area, and selects a predetermined recording mode or other processing according to the discrimination result by the discrimination means. [Function] According to the above configuration, the single determining means determines the presence/absence of a recording material and the type of the recording material. It becomes possible to determine the presence or absence and type of.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a paper feeding mechanism of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure,
1 forms a recording surface by the recording material 5, and the recording material 5
A platen roller 2 is disposed adjacent to the platen l and is used to feed the paper, and a pinch roller 3 carries the recording material 5, which is either paper or an OHP sheet. A paper guide 4 for discharging the paper in the direction of arrow B in the figure is a recording head that faces the recording surface of the recording material 5 and performs recording by ejecting ink.

Further, IO is a transmission type sensor provided to determine the presence or absence and type of recording material 5. When a reflective sensor is used as the discrimination sensor, a reflective sensor indicated by the reference numeral 20 in the figure is provided.

In the above configuration, the recording material 5 is fed in the direction of arrow A in the figure by a pair of rollers consisting of the platen roller 1 and the pinch roller 2, and is automatically fed to a predetermined recording start position value. During this paper feeding, the recording material 5 passes through a detection position by a recording material discrimination sensor, the presence or absence of the recording material and its type are determined, and the corresponding recording mode is selected. That is, based on the output from the discrimination sensor, one of the following operations is performed: a paper error is displayed, the apparatus operation is stopped, and an OHP sheet recording mode setting is performed.One paper recording mode setting is performed.

A case where a transmission type sensor is used as the recording material discrimination sensor will be described below.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic circuit diagram of a detection circuit and a detection mechanism when a transmission type sensor IO is used.

In the figure, 11 is a light emitting diode (hereinafter referred to as LED), 12
is a phototransistor, and LED II is a constant current source 1
1^ causes a current I of 30(o+^) to flow, generating light. Also, the emitter E of the phototransistor 12 is at zero potential, and the collector C is connected to the power supply voltage VCC of 5V by the resistor R.
are connected to each other through. Further, the sensitivity of the phototransistor 12 to light has a peak sensitivity at a wavelength around 82 Onm, and detects light in the infrared region. Figure 1O shows the wavelength λ (nm) of light measured by a spectrophotometer.
), the light transmittance T(4
It is a line diagram showing k). These states include (a) a state where there is no recording material (air), (b) an OHP sheet, and (C) a paper state. In (a) it is always T
is 100 (leopard), and in (b) it is 80 to 90 (!Ii
) and (C) are always 0 (*).

The potential difference V between both ends of the phototransistor 12 is determined by each comparator A, B to a reference value Vth2. The comparison results are output from comparators A and B as detection signals Vx and Vy, respectively.

FIG. 3 shows the state and deafness of the potential difference V corresponding to the light receiving mode of the phototransistor 12 depending on the presence or absence and type of the recording material 5. For example, if the recording material 5 is normal recording paper,
Since no light is transmitted, no current flows through the phototransistor 12. As a result, the potential difference vc at this time is Vcc
Becomes a nearby value. Output resistance R of phototransistor 12
By setting the value of to an appropriate value, the interval between the three values of the potential difference V can be maximized: (a) when there is no recording material 5, (b) when there is 0IIP film, and (C) when there is only one sheet of paper. Furthermore, the average voltage difference between the output Va when there is no recording material 5 and the output Vb when the 011P film is used is set to Vtt+1. Similarly, output vb in case of Kano P film
Vthl and Vth2 are determined so that the average voltage value of the output Vc in the case of paper is Vth2.

According to the above configuration, both the detection signals Vx and Vy are “L”.
”+7), that is, V < Vthl or V < vt
At h2, there is no recording material (a), and Vx is L.
”, vy is H”, that is, Vthl<V<Vth2
17) For old IP film (b) , Vx, V
When both y are “H” (7), that is, Vthl<V,
When Vth2<V (7), it can be easily determined that (C) is the case of paper. Although the upper sensor is one in the infrared region whose detection sensitivity is at its peak, it may also be one in the visible light region, as is clear from the characteristics shown in Fig. 1θ.

Next, a case where a reflective sensor is used as a recording material discrimination sensor will be described below.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic circuit diagram of a detection circuit and a detection mechanism when the reflective sensor 20 is used.

When there is no recording material 5, since the surface of the platen roller 1 is black, the light emitted from LεDll is not reflected and the phototransistor 12 does not receive the light, so the potential difference Va becomes a value close to Vce, and as shown in FIG. When the normal white paper is set on the platen roller 1, the potential difference Vc of the phototransistor 12 becomes close to 0, as shown in (C) in FIG. Becomes a value. Furthermore, the OHP transparent sheet is placed on the platen roller 1.
When the paper is fed upward, the potential difference vb is intermediate between the above values and takes the value shown in FIG. 5(b). In addition, circuit (7) R
, Vthl, and Vth2 are set to the same values as in the previous embodiment.

From the above, it is possible to determine whether there is no recording material on the platen roller 1 (a), if there is an 0IIP sheet (b), or if there is normal white paper (C) based on the outputs of Vx and Vy. .

FIG. 6 is a top view of a recording material showing a third embodiment of the present invention.
0IIP cut 11P film to specified size
When identifying the sheet, by providing a 2 mm long white mark that reflects light at a pitch of 4 nn on the 10 mm wide detection section S corresponding to the transmissive sensor 10 of the 011P sheet 5, it is possible to identify the sheet as shown in FIG. 2 or 4. Comparators A and B shown in can be omitted.

That is, as shown in FIG.
A logic gate 100 with a knee MO5 structure is provided to output an H" level or 'L" level signal to
Let the potential difference be . Note that 102 indicates a block of people other than the paper sensor. In this case, the potential difference Vc of the phototransistor 12 is 0) or 5 if IP paper or print paper is used.
[If the value is close to vl and there is no recording material, O[V]
The value will be close to . The value of the resistor R is set so that the logic gate 100 using a C-MO5IC can output "H" or "L". In other words, the gate 100 is "L" when the input voltage is 1.5V or less;
5V or more is determined as "H" and outputs a "H" or "L" signal.

Furthermore, in this example, the determination of whether the recording material is a 011P sheet or normal white paper is synchronized with the drive of a stepping motor (not shown) that rotates the platen roller 1 when feeding the recording material. This is performed by the CPU 10I detecting the output of the C-MOS gate 100.

That is, as shown in FIG. 8, if the potential difference (2) of the photosensor 12 is always "L", there is no recording material (a)
Also, if the potential difference V is always “H”, there is white paper (C)
If it is determined that "H" and "L" are roughly detected alternately, it is determined that the paper is 01 (P paper).

The pitch of the marks on the old IP paper mentioned above is approximately 4 mEl.
Therefore, the step-like paper feed interval is 0.15 mm.
The potential difference detection of the photosensor 12 in synchronization with can be performed without malfunction, and the 011P sheet can be reliably detected. Moreover, in this example, since it is determined that the sheet is an OHP sheet by detecting three or more periods of "H゛°,""L" signals, there is no malfunction due to noise.
Conveying the recording sheet takes 12mu+ and takes about 3 seconds.
That's enough. In order to shorten this detection time, it is sufficient to reduce the mark pitch, and in experiments, detection was possible even at a pitch of 0.05+vu.

Although the above configuration uses the transmission type sensor 10, it is possible to perform similar determination using the reflection type sensor 20.

Second, although we have shown an example in which a cut sheet is used as an OHP seed, similar detection can be performed using a rolled OHP sheet.

Compared to the detection methods shown in the above two embodiments, the discrimination means of this example is effective when the light reflection characteristics or transmission characteristics of the 011P film are similar to the characteristics when there is no recording material. Become. At this time, since the marks attached to the OHP sheet have similar light reflection characteristics or transmission characteristics to ordinary recording paper, sensing can be performed reliably.

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view of a recording apparatus showing an example in which a mechanical sensor is added in order to further improve the reliability of the recording apparatus. Above, we have explained the case where the presence or absence and type of the recording sheet 5 are determined only upstream of the recording head 4 with respect to conveyance of the recording sheet. The reliability of the apparatus is improved by identifying the recording sheets 5 on the side and the downstream side. That is, a sensor 13 consisting of a limit switch or the like for detecting the presence or absence of the recording sheet 5 is provided upstream of the recording head 4, and a sensor 13 for determining the presence or absence of the recording sheet 5 and its type is provided downstream of the recording head 4. A reflective sensor 20 that performs this is provided. While the conventional method requires two sensors on the downstream side of the recording head 4 to determine the presence or absence of paper and the type thereof, this example requires only one sensor.

In addition, although the description so far has been made regarding the discrimination of recording sheets in the inkjet recording method, the same can be done for the discrimination of recording sheets in the thermal recording method.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to determine the presence or absence and type of recording material using a single determining means.

This makes it possible to prevent discrimination errors that occur with conventional discrimination means, and eliminates the need to provide a separate means for detecting the presence or absence of recording paper, simplifying the device and reducing costs. A highly reliable recording device can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a paper feeding mechanism of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a discrimination circuit using a transmission type sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a diagram showing the state of the output of the sensor shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of a discrimination circuit using a reflective sensor, and FIG. A line diagram showing the state of the output of the sensor shown in the figure; FIG. 6 is a schematic top view showing an example of the markings on the 011P film according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the markings shown in the sixth figure. A circuit diagram of a transmission type sensor and a detection circuit when using a film; FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the output state of the sensor shown in FIG. 7; FIG. 9 is a record showing still another embodiment of the present invention. A schematic side view of the apparatus, FIG. 1θ is a diagram showing the light transmittance of the recording material. l...Platen, 2...Pinch roller, 3...Paper guide, 4...Recording head, 5...Recording material, 10...Transmissive optical sensor, 11...LED 12 ...Phototransistor, 20...Reflective optical sensor, 100...Logic gate, +01...CPU. <a> Figure 4 (b) (C) Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A recording device that has a discrimination means for discriminating a recording material to be conveyed to a recording area, and executes a predetermined recording mode or other processing according to the discrimination result by the discrimination means. A recording apparatus, wherein the determining means determines the presence/absence and type of the recording material. 2) The discrimination means has a light emitting element and a light receiving element,
The light emitted by the light emitting element is received via the transport path according to the type of the recording material or the positional relationship with the recording material, and output from the light receiving element is output in response to the received light. is compared with a reference value of the number corresponding to the type,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the presence/absence and type of the recording material are determined based on the result of the comparison. 3) The discrimination means includes a light-emitting element that emits light to the conveyance path of the recording material, a light-receiving element that receives the light emitted by the light-emitting element via the conveyance path, and at least one of the recording materials. and a mark attached to a region to which light from the light emitting element is irradiated in one type, and the presence/absence of the recording material and the type thereof are determined based on the output waveform from the light receiving element in response to the light reception. 2. The recording device according to claim 1, wherein the recording device determines: