JPH09323450A - Scanning printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [PROBLEMS] To provide a scanning printing apparatus capable of easily performing test printing and detecting a defect in a print head at an early stage. When an operator scans a scanning printing unit on a sheet, an inkjet head prints one dot row based on an output signal of a rotary encoder. When scanning is further performed, the scanner reads the dot row that was test-printed on the paper immediately before, and the read data is temporarily stored in the RAM.
If the data read by the scanner does not match the test pattern data read from the ROM, the LED 1
1 is turned on to notify the operator.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a scanning printer that scans and prints on a scanning surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a scanning type printer which scans a surface on which printing is desired to perform printing. Unlike the stationary printer, this scanning printer is capable of printing not only flat paper but also three-dimensional objects. Therefore, the number of printable objects is dramatically increased, which is very convenient.

[0003]

However, the conventional scanning type printer does not have a mode for printing a test print pattern, which a conventional stationary printer has. For this reason, it is difficult for the operator to find a defect in the print head, and complete printing may not be performed on all print data input to the scanning printer.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a scanning type printing apparatus which can perform test printing easily and can detect defects in the print head at an early stage. And

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, a scanning printer according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a scanning distance detecting means for detecting a scanning distance with respect to a scanning surface,
In a scanning printer having a printing means for printing on a scanning surface according to an output signal of the scanning distance detecting means, a test print pattern for printing whether or not the printing means is normally performing printing is printed. Since the test print mode is provided, it is possible to easily carry out test print and detect a defect in the printing means at an early stage.

The scanning printer according to claim 2 is
In a scanning printer having a printing means for printing on the scanning surface by scanning, the reading means determines whether or not the printing means is normally performing a printing operation. Since the print result of is read, it is not necessary to constantly monitor whether or not complete printing is performed.

In the scanning printer according to the third aspect of the invention, since the reading means is configured to operate during the test print mode, no extra power is consumed during the normal print operation.

Further, in the scanning printer according to the fourth aspect, when the printing means does not normally perform the printing operation, the notifying means informs the operator so that the operator can determine whether the printing result is normal or not. There is no need to make a decision.

Further, in the scanning printer according to the fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided recovery means for recovering the printing means so that the printing means operates normally, and when the reading means does not normally perform the printing operation. Since the recovery means operates, it is possible to perform printing without any trouble to recover the printing means.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The scanning printer according to the present embodiment is provided with a scanning printer for performing printing by scanning a surface desired to be printed, and a scanning printer provided separately from the scanning printer to input character data. It is composed of an input section.

First, FIG. 1 shows the internal construction of the scanning type printing section of the printing apparatus of this embodiment. An opening is provided on the lower surface of the scanning printing unit 20, and the rotatable roller 2 protruding downward and the roller 2 parallel to the roller 2 are provided in the opening.
An ink jet head 4 that is adjacent to the ink jet head 4 and constitutes a reading unit is provided adjacent to the ink jet head 4. Also,
An infrared communication unit 12 is provided above the scanning type printing unit 20, and a test printing mode setting switch 10 and an LED 11 constituting a notification unit are provided on the side of the scanning printing unit 20.

The roller 2 is rotated by the scanning printing unit 20 moving while being in contact with the recording medium, and the rotary encoder 14 connected to the roller 2 is a slit disk connected to the roller 2 by a belt. And a photo interrupter for optically detecting the slit of the slit disk, and one pulse signal is output for each predetermined rotation angle of the roller 2. The roller 2 and the rotary encoder 14 constitute the scanning distance detecting means of the present invention. Further, in the scanning printing unit 20, an ink tank 6 for supplying ink to the inkjet head 4, a battery 16 for supplying electric power to an electric circuit in the scanning printing unit 20, and a substrate on which a CPU described later is mounted. 18
Is built-in.

Next, the electrical construction of the scanning printing section 20 will be described with reference to FIG. The CPU 40 controls the scanning printing unit 20 as a whole and performs various arithmetic processes.
ROM41, RAM42, the rotary encoder 1
4, the infrared communication unit 12, the head drive unit 43 that drives the inkjet head 4, the scanner 8, the test print mode setting switch 10, and the LED 11.

Further, the ROM 41 is provided in the scanning printing unit 2
Various programs defining the operation of 0, test print patterns, etc. are stored, and the RAM 42 is provided with an area for storing and holding print data, an arithmetic area used in various arithmetic processes, and the like.

Next, the input unit 70 of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
The internal electrical configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

The CPU 50 controls the input unit 70 and performs various arithmetic processes, and is connected to the ROM 52, the RAM 54, the keyboard 56, and the infrared communication unit 58. Further, the ROM 52 stores a variety of programs defining the operation of the input unit 70 and a plurality of character shape data (dot pattern data) of different sizes.

The RAM 54 has an area for storing characters and the like input from the keyboard 56. The keyboard 56 constituting the input means is for inputting characters or symbols to be printed, and the input data is stored in a predetermined area in the RAM 54. The infrared communication unit 58 performs mutual communication of various data including print data between the scanning print unit 20 and the character data input unit 70 together with the infrared communication unit 12 on the scanning print unit 20 side. still,
Each component of the input unit 70 is housed in a casing (not shown) provided separately from the scanning printing unit 20, for example, a personal computer.

Next, the operation of the scanning printer of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when the operator selects the test print mode with the test print mode setting switch 10 (step 1
Y, and the following steps are abbreviated as S). C
The PU 40 reads the test print pattern stored in the ROM 41 (S2). When the operator scans the scanning printing unit 20 on the paper, the inkjet head 2 prints every dot row based on the output signal of the rotary encoder 14 so that all the dots are printed (S3).

When the scanning is further performed, the scanner 8 reads the 1-dot row that was test-printed on the paper immediately before (S4), and the read data is temporarily stored in the RAM 42. The data read by the scanner and the test pattern data read from the ROM 41 are compared, and if they match (Y in S5), S2 to S5 are continued until the test print pattern is completed (S6). Here, if the data read by the scanner 8 and the test pattern data read from the ROM 41 do not match (N in S5), it is considered that some trouble has occurred in the inkjet head 43 or the like. It is turned on to notify the operator (S7). The operations of S2 to S7 described above constitute the test print mode of the present invention.

When the operator performs the printing operation in the normal printing mode (N in S1), he / she inputs a character to be printed using the keyboard 56 in the input section 70 (S8).
An address of a character size suitable for printing is read out from the character size table in the ROM 52 and stored and held in the RAM 54. The operation of S8 is repeated until the input of characters is completed (Y in S9). The CPU 50 reads out the character code data to be printed stored in the RAM 54 and R
R based on the character shape data (dot pattern data) based on the address information of the used characters stored and held in the AM 54.
It is read from the OM 52 (S10). When the operator brings the roller 2 of the scanning type printing unit 20 into contact with the desired scanning surface for scanning, the infrared communication unit 12 and the infrared communication unit 58 are used based on the pulse signal generated by the rotation of the rotary encoder 14. The print data is transmitted one dot line at a time, and the head drive unit 43
Then, the ink jet head 4 prints characters and the like (S11), and by repeating the operations of S10 to S12, complete printing is possible from the beginning.

Further, in this normal printing mode, the scanner 8 is not necessary, and therefore the scanner 8 is not energized, so that the power consumption can be suppressed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications can be made.

For example, after informing the operator of the test print mode (S7), a purge process (S1) as a recovery means is performed.
3) may be performed. As the purging process, control is performed so that the defective printing nozzles of the inkjet head 4 eject ink at a pressure higher than that in the normal printing operation, or a sponge or the like is used.
A mechanism for wiping the surface of the nozzle may be provided.

If a purge process for cleaning the ink jet head 4 is built in, when a defect of the ink jet head 4 is detected during execution of the test print mode, the purge process operates immediately to operate the ink jet head 4. Since the purging is performed, the operator does not need to perform a troublesome operation for recovering the inkjet head 4.

Further, the scanning type printing unit 20 of the present embodiment is configured so as to operate in the normal printing mode and the test printing mode separately, but a defect of the ink jet head 4 may occur during the normal printing mode. You may make it detect.

This case will be described with reference to FIG. 8, but the same operations as those described with reference to FIG. 4 are designated by the same step numbers and the description thereof will be omitted.

That is, after input characters and the like are printed one dot row at a time (S11), the print result of the one dot row is read (S14), and the print data of the one dot row and the read one dot row are printed. Compare the result (S1
5) If the comparison results do not match, the operator is notified (S7). With this configuration, it is not necessary to provide the test print mode in addition to the normal print mode.

Further, in the present embodiment, the operator is informed of defective printing by lighting the LED, but other than this, a piezoelectric buzzer, a vibrator or the like may be used, and of course the operator can visually check. The quality of the print may be determined by using.

In the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the scanning type printing section and the print data input section alternately perform infrared communication.
Not limited to infrared communication, radio communication may be used, or the scanning printing unit and the input unit may be connected by a connection cord or the like. Also, by connecting the scanning printing unit and the input unit, the print data created and stored by the input unit is stored in the storage device of the scanning printing unit, and then the scanning printing unit and the input unit are separated, The scanning type printing unit may be used for printing. Alternatively, a built-in keyboard in the scanning printing unit,
The scanner described above may function as an input unit of print data.

The scanning method of the scanning type printing unit is not limited to manual operation, and may be a self-propelled printing apparatus having a built-in motor.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description, in the scanning type printer according to the first aspect of the present invention, the test printing for judging whether the printing means normally performs the printing operation or not. Since the test print mode for printing the pattern is provided, it is possible to easily carry out the test print and to find the malfunction of the printing means at an early stage.

Further, in the scanning printer according to the second aspect, the reading means reads the printing result by the printing means in order to judge whether or not the printing means is performing the printing operation normally, so that the complete printing is completed. This has an effect that it is not always necessary to monitor whether or not printing is performed.

In the scanning printer according to the third aspect, since the reading means is configured to operate during execution of the test print mode, there is an effect that extra power is not consumed during normal printing operation. .

Further, in the scanning printer according to the fourth aspect, when the printing means does not normally perform the printing operation, the notifying means notifies the operator so that the operator can determine whether the printing result is normal or not. The effect is that there is no need to make such a judgment.

Further, in the scanning printer according to the fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a recovery means for recovering the printing means so that the printing means operates normally, and when the reading means does not normally perform the printing operation. Since the recovery means operates, it is possible to perform printing without any trouble to recover the printing means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an internal configuration of a scanning printing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an electrical configuration of the scanning printing unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an electrical configuration of an input unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the scanning printing unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the scanning type printing unit according to the modified embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Inkjet head 8 Scanner 11 LED 14 Rotary encoder

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A scanning printer comprising a scanning distance detecting means for detecting a scanning distance of a scanning surface and a printing means for printing on the scanning surface according to an output signal of the scanning distance detecting means. A scanning printer comprising a test print mode for printing a test print pattern for determining whether or not the printing means is performing a normal printing operation. 2. By scanning against a scan plane,
A scanning printer having a printing means for printing on the scanning surface, comprising a reading means for reading a printing result by the printing means in order to determine whether or not the printing means is normally performing a printing operation. A scanning printer characterized by. 3. The scanning printer according to claim 2, wherein the reading unit operates during execution of a test print mode. 4. The scanning system according to claim 2, further comprising an informing unit for informing an operator of the fact that the printing unit does not normally perform the printing operation. Printing device. 5. The recovery means is provided for recovering the printing means so that the printing operation is normally performed, and the recovery means is operated when the printing means is not normally performing the printing operation by the reading means. The scanning printer according to claim 2.