JPH0247020Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention uses printers, which are terminal devices such as computers and word processors, or various recording devices such as typewriters and card punchers, to print paper on recording paper. The present invention relates to a recording start position detecting mechanism in a recording apparatus such as a printer, which allows an accurate recording start position to be confirmed when recording predetermined items on various recording media.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as a device for controlling the recording start position in a recording device such as a printer, for example, there is
As seen in Publication No. 68119, by incorporating a predetermined control system into the recording device itself,
The general trend is to adopt a method that uniformly detects the correct recording start position.

However, when the recording medium is recording paper such as a barcode label or slip recording paper, high precision is required to accurately record specified items in a specified position on the recording medium, which has various specifications such as size. requested. In this way, controlled mechanical force alone cannot be used to flexibly accommodate the various standards of individual recording media and accurately record specified information at specific positions on each recording medium. Manual operation of the recording device is inevitably required.

In this case, the initial setting of the recording start position on the recording medium is usually performed after a skilled operator positions the recording medium in a relative relationship.

In other words, checking whether the recording head of a recording device such as a printer is accurately facing the initial recording start position of the recording medium is based on the positional relationship with the cursor that is close to the recording head. Even if this is done, the cursor is only a guide, and the actual situation is that accurate positioning must rely on the intuition of the operator.

[Problem that the invention aims to solve] For this reason, in reality, unless actual recording is performed on a recording medium, such as during test printing, it is difficult to check whether the recording head is located at the correct recording start position according to the initial setting. I was unable to confirm whether this was the case. Therefore, such test printing is one of the factors that hinders the speed of work, and also causes various problems such as increased processing costs due to wasteful use of recording media. The point was pointed out. Furthermore, there were constraints from the personnel management perspective, such as the need to secure skilled operators, and drastic improvements were being sought.

The purpose of this invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to make it possible to initialize the recording start position without having to perform test printing, without relying on the operator's intuition, and without requiring any skill. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording start position detection mechanism for a recording device such as a printer that can be easily performed by anyone.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is constructed as follows.

That is, the present invention provides a recording apparatus such as a printer equipped with a carriage that has a recording head for recording a recording medium and is capable of reciprocating movement in the recording direction. A light projecting body is disposed so that light generated by a light source body having an element can be propagated through an intervening fiber cable, and this light projecting body is used for recording on a recording medium by a recording head. A spot light is directed through a condensing lens to the recording start position when the recording head is shifted to the same position as the recording start position, or to a suitable position on the same extension line in the vertical or horizontal direction of the recording start position. Its structural feature lies in the fact that its light projection surface is arranged so that it can irradiate a single point.

[Operation] Therefore, at the initial setting position of the recording medium where the recording head is to start recording the predetermined items,
Spot light with little diffraction emitted from the projector can be condensed and irradiated to a single point. Therefore,
By knowing the relative positional deviation between the position irradiated with this spot light and the initially set actual recording position, it is possible to confirm the accuracy of the recording start position. Any discrepancy in positional relationship can be easily corrected by anyone by operating the platen, so operators of recording devices such as printers can easily adjust the position of the recording medium regardless of whether they are skilled or unskilled. can be recorded accurately according to the initial settings.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

A carriage 10 supported by a support rod 9 is arranged so as to be able to reciprocate in the left-right direction via a carriage drive wire 11, and drives a recording medium P on a platen 13 via a recording head 12 mounted on the carriage 10. The main body of the recording apparatus is configured such that predetermined information is recorded on recording paper such as a barcode label. In addition, the reference numeral 14 in the figure indicates a cursor, and the reference numeral 15 indicates a signal line tape cable.

A recording device configured in this way has
A recording start position detection mechanism is arranged, which is composed of a light projector 1, a light source 2, and a fiber cable 3 held by an optical connector 6 for propagating the light generated by the light source 2 to the projector 1. It is set up.

Among these, the light source body 2 is arranged at an appropriate position in the recording device, and is a light emitting element (not shown) such as a light emitting diode that emits light with little diffraction.
This light-emitting element can be caused to emit light by applying a voltage, and the light can be propagated to the projector 1 via the fiber cable 3 serving as a flexible propagation path.

The light projector 1 is a carriage 1 that constitutes a recording device.
0 in a fixed or semi-fixed manner. The light projection angle of the light projection surface 5 having the condensing lens 4 in the light projector 1 is set so that the spot light can be irradiated to the initial setting position where the recording head 12 starts recording on the recording medium P. The specific light projection angle can be relatively determined depending on the installation position of the light projector 1. The spot light emitted from the light projector 1 passes through the condensing lens 4 of the light projecting surface 5 to converge the light flux to a predetermined position so that it can be easily seen by the operator, and to produce a high luminous intensity onto the recording medium P. It is possible to irradiate a single point.

In the present invention, FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment in which a light projector 1 is supported by a support arm 7 extending on one side of a carriage 10, that is, on the left side. In this case, when the carriage 10 is moved to the right by a predetermined number of characters from the initially set recording start reference position and is in a stopped state, the initially set recording start reference position is The projection angle of the projector 1 is set so that the spot light can be directed toward the position.

In addition, FIG. 2 shows a base 8 that can directly irradiate a spot light from above the recording head 12 in the carriage 10 to the recording start reference position.
A second embodiment is shown in which a light projector 1 is placed above. In this case, since the projection angle of the light projector 1 is set in such a positional relationship that the recording position of the recording head 12 and the irradiation position of the spot light match, the recording head 12 is placed at the recording start reference position. The position can be confirmed while the machine is in a stopped state.

Note that when the projector 1 is semi-fixed on the carriage 10, it can be fixed after adjusting the projecting angle to a desired state, so the irradiation position of the spot light can be varied to some extent. It can be set as

Next, the operation of the present invention constructed in this way will be explained with reference to FIG. 1. When a recording start command is input to a recording device such as a printer, a carriage drive wire driven by a known control system 11, the recording head 12 moves to the initial recording start reference position, then shifts to the right by a predetermined number of characters and enters a stopped state. At this time, the light projection surface 5 of the light projector 1
The projection angle of the spot light emitted from the recording head is preset in such a positional relationship that it illuminates the initially set recording start reference position. Therefore, by checking the irradiation position of the spot light, the operator can know whether the recording medium P is positioned and set at a predetermined recording start reference position. In other words, when the spot light is irradiated onto a predetermined recording start reference position on the recording medium P, it is possible to know that the recording position is accurate, and by inputting a recording start command. Recording on the recording medium P can be started immediately. In addition, when the operator learns that it is necessary to adjust the recording position in relation to the irradiation position of the spot light, the operator adjusts the recording start reference position of the recording medium P on the platen 13 to the position where the spot light irradiates accurately. After resetting to , the recording start state can be entered by inputting a recording start command. According to such operations by the operator, predetermined items can be sequentially recorded from the initially set accurate position on the recording medium P.

Moreover, when according to the second embodiment shown in FIG.
Since the spot light can be directly irradiated to the recording start position, which is the same position as the recording start reference position, the operator can more easily confirm the recording position.

[Effects of the invention] As explained above, according to the invention, high intensity spot light from a light emitting element with low diffraction is irradiated from a light emitter to a recording medium at a single point through a condensing lens. Therefore, the operator can easily and clearly know the initial recording start reference position, which eliminates the need for inefficient preliminary work such as positioning the recording medium after performing test printing. It is possible to start the actual operation, speed up the work, and do not require a particularly skilled operator, which not only contributes to reducing labor costs and processing costs. It is also possible to reduce the burden on personnel management.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a perspective view showing the outline thereof, and FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of main parts in another embodiment. 1... Light projector, 2... Light source, 3... Fiber cable, 4... Condensing lens, 5... Light projecting surface,
6... Optical connector, 7... Support arm, 8... Base, 9
... Support rod, 10 ... Carriage, 11 ... Carriage drive wire, 12 ... Recording head, 13 ...
Platen, 14...Cursor, 15...Signal line tape cable, P...Recording medium.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a recording device such as a printer equipped with a carriage having a recording head facing a recording medium and capable of reciprocating in the recording direction, the carriage has a light emitting element at an appropriate position. A light projecting body is provided so that light generated by a light source body made of light can be propagated by an intervening fiber cable, and this light projecting body is located at the same position as the recording start position on the recording medium by the recording head. Position of,
Alternatively, when the recording head is shifted to a suitable position on the same extension line in the vertical or horizontal direction of the recording start position, the spot light can be projected at a single point through a condensing lens to the recording start position. A recording start position detection mechanism in a recording device such as a printer, characterized in that a light surface is arranged.