Recording device, controlling method thereof, and transport device

Abstract

To improve the stopping action of a motor for transporting sheets.SOLUTION: A recording device includes: recording means for performing recording on a sheet; transport means for transporting the sheet to a recording position by the recording means; a motor for driving the transport means; and controlling means for controlling the motor, which is rotating, to stop at a target position. The controlling means can execute holding control to hold the motor at a stop position, and during the execution of the holding control, updates the target position to a position different from the target position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, a control method thereof, and a transport device. [Background technology]

[0002] In an inkjet printer, which is an example of a recording device, recording is performed by repeatedly conveying a sheet a predetermined distance and discharging ink onto the sheet by a print head. In such a recording device, when stopping a sheet being conveyed, a force in the opposite direction to the conveying direction may be applied to the sheet due to resistance of the members of the conveying mechanism. This force may cause the sheet, which has once stopped, to return in the opposite direction to the conveying direction. In order to reduce this phenomenon, Patent Document 1 discloses a method of controlling the value of a current flowing through a motor that drives a conveying mechanism so that the motor stops at a target stop position. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2006-273559 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] One method for stopping the motor at the target stop position is to adjust the current value flowing through the motor so as to eliminate the difference between the current position of the motor and the target stop position. However, with this method, if the actual stop position of the motor exceeds the target stop position, the motor may rotate in the opposite direction to the conveying direction to return to the target stop position. If the motor rotates in the opposite direction to the conveying direction, the sheet may bend, or backlash may occur due to the motor repeatedly rotating forward and backward.

[0005] The present invention provides a technique for improving the stopping operation of a motor for transporting a sheet. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to one aspect of the present invention, A recording means for recording on a sheet; a conveying means for conveying a sheet to a recording position by the recording means; A motor for driving the conveying means; A recording apparatus including a control unit for controlling the rotating motor to stop at a target position, The control means can execute a holding control for holding the motor at a stopped position, and during execution of the holding control, the target position is updated to a position different from the target position. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, the stopping operation of the motor for conveying the sheet can be improved. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic internal structure of the recording apparatus. [Diagram 3] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a control configuration of a conveyor motor. [Figure 4] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of processing by a CPU. [Diagram 5] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of processing by a CPU. [Figure 6] 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating a comparison between a case where the holding control of the present embodiment is executed and a case where it is not executed. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a recording process according to an embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment. [Figure 9] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of processing by a CPU. [Figure 10]13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating a further comparison between a case where the holding control of the present embodiment is performed and a case where it is not performed. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Although the embodiments describe a number of features, not all of these features are essential to the invention, and the features may be combined in any manner. Furthermore, in the attached drawings, the same reference numbers are used for the same or similar configurations, and duplicated descriptions are omitted.

[0010] First Embodiment <Outline of the recording device> 1 is a block diagram of a recording device 100 according to an embodiment. The recording device 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103, a motor driver 104, a transport motor 105, a transport mechanism 106, a recovery motor 107, a recovery mechanism 108, a carriage motor 109, a carriage 110, a print head 111, and an encoder 112.

[0011] The CPU 101 processes and controls the overall operations related to the recording device 100. The CPU 101 realizes various functions of the recording device 100 by reading and executing programs stored in the ROM 102. In other words, various functions are realized by the information processing by the software stored in the ROM 102 being specifically realized by the CPU 101, which is an example of hardware.

[0012] The ROM 102 is a non-volatile memory for storing various permanent data and programs executed by the CPU 101. The RAM 103 is a volatile memory and functions as a working memory for the CPU 101.

[0013] The motor driver 104 is an IC (integrated circuit) that controls the transport motor 105 , the recovery motor 107 , and the carriage motor 109 .

[0014] The transport motor 105 is a motor that drives a transport mechanism 106. The recovery motor 107 is a motor that drives a recovery mechanism 108. The carriage motor 109 is a motor that drives a carriage 110.

[0015] The transport mechanism 106 is a mechanism that transports a sheet to a recording position by the print head 111. The transport mechanism 106 includes a plurality of rollers that are rotated by a transport motor 105. The plurality of rollers pull a sheet, which is an object to be recorded, into the recording device 100, and eject the sheet from the recording device 100 after recording. This will be described in more detail later (see FIG. 2).

[0016] The recovery mechanism 108 is a mechanism that is driven by the recovery motor 107 to perform a recovery process. The recovery process is a process for maintaining a good ink ejection state of the print head 111 mounted on the carriage 110. An example of the recovery process is a suction process. The suction process is a process in which ink is sucked from the multiple nozzles formed in the print head 111 to expel air bubbles and viscous ink that have formed in the nozzles, and replace the ink in the nozzles with ink in a state suitable for ejection. For example, the suction process is performed by driving a suction pump by rotating the recovery motor 107.

[0017] The carriage 110 is equipped with a print head 111 and an ink tank (not shown), and is configured to be capable of reciprocating movement. The print head 111 performs recording by ejecting ink onto a sheet serving as a recording medium. More specifically, the print head 111 performs recording on the sheet by ejecting ink in synchronization with the reciprocating movement of the carriage 110. The encoder 112 detects the physical rotation of the conveyor motor 105.

[0018] 2 is a cross-sectional view that shows a schematic internal structure of the recording device 100. The transport mechanism 106 includes a feed roller 203, a first intermediate roller 204, a second intermediate roller 205, a transport roller 206, and a discharge roller 208. These rollers are rotated by a transport motor 105. The transport mechanism 106 also includes a pinch roller 207 that is driven by the transport roller 206.

[0019] When the various rollers are rotated by the conveyance motor 105, the sheet 201 is first conveyed from the paper feed tray 202 by the paper feed roller 203 along the inclination 209 of the cassette. Then, the sheet 201 is conveyed by the first intermediate roller 204, the second intermediate roller 205 and the conveyance roller 206 to below the carriage 110 carrying the print head 111. Then, recording processing is performed on the recording object 201 conveyed to below the carriage 110. Note that the number and arrangement of rollers driven by the conveyance motor 105 may be changed depending on the length of the conveyance path and the length of the corresponding sheet.

[0020] <Control configuration> FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a control configuration of the conveyor motor 105. In this embodiment, the CPU 101 controls the conveyor motor 105 by servo control. For example, the CPU 101 reads a program stored in the ROM 102 into the RAM 103 and executes the program to realize functions as a target position generating unit 301, a proportional-integral-differential (PID) calculation unit 302, a pulse width modulation (PWM) generating unit 303, a speed information calculation unit 304, and a position information calculation unit 305. Alternatively, a dedicated circuit that functions as each unit may be provided. The servo control shown in FIG. 3 is merely an example, and other control forms may be used.

[0021] The target position generator 301 generates, for each servo control, a target position that gradually increases with time up to a target stop position of the conveyor motor 105. The target position is, for example, a position on the sheet 201 where recording by the print head 111 starts.

[0022] PID calculation unit 302 calculates the energy to be applied to the motor by PID calculation from the target position generated by target position generation unit 301, the motor speed obtained from speed information acquisition unit 24, and the motor position obtained from position information calculation unit 305. In servo control, a method using PID calculation that performs calculations on a proportional term P, an integral term I, and a differential term D is common.

[0023] The PWM generating unit 303 calculates a PWM value to be set in the motor driver 104 from the calculation result of the PID calculation unit 22. The PWM value is the time ratio of the pulse width between on and off within a predetermined time, and ranges from 0% to 100%. The larger the PWM value, the greater the power supplied to the motor.

[0024] A speed information calculation unit 304 calculates the rotation speed of the conveyor motor 105 from the rotation angle of the conveyor motor 105 based on the detection result of the encoder 112 and a time measurement value of a timer or the like built into the recording apparatus 100 .

[0025] The position information calculation unit 305 accumulates the rotation angle of the feed motor 105 based on the detection result of the encoder 112 , and calculates the position information of the feed motor 105 .

[0026] In this way, using the detection result of the encoder 112, the speed information calculation unit 304 calculates the speed of the conveyor motor 105, and the position information calculation unit 305 calculates the position information of the conveyor motor 105. The encoder 112 is composed of an optical sensor having a light emitting unit that emits light and a light receiving unit that receives light, and a code wheel having a hole through which light passes. The code wheel is attached coaxially with the rotation axis of the conveyor motor 105. The encoder may be configured to detect the physical rotation of the conveyor roller 206.

[0027] <Outline of recording process> FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an outline of the recording process. In detail, FIG. 7 is a diagram explaining a process of repeatedly carrying out conveyance of the sheet 201 and recording for the width of the print head 111, and performing recording on the entire recording area of ​​the sheet 201. At timing t_1, the conveyance mechanism 106 conveys the sheet 201 so that the leading end of the sheet 201 in the conveyance direction falls within the recording width of the print head 111. Then, the print head 111 performs recording on the recording range 701. After that, at timing t_2, the conveyance mechanism 106 conveys the sheet 201 so that the upstream end of the recording area 701 in the conveyance direction at timing t_1 is positioned at the downstream end of the recording width of the print head 111. Then, the print head 111 performs recording on the recording range 702. Furthermore, at timing t_3, the conveyance mechanism 106 conveys the sheet 201 so that the upstream end of the recording area 702 in the conveyance direction at timing t_2 is positioned at the downstream end of the recording width of the print head 111. Then, the print head 111 performs printing on the printing range 703. By repeating such an operation, printing can be performed on the entire printing area of ​​the sheet 201.

[0028] Now, when the sheet 201 is repeatedly transported and stopped for each recording width as described above, a force (reaction force) in the opposite direction to the transport direction may be applied to the sheet 201 when the sheet 201 is stopped due to resistance of the members of the transport mechanism 106, etc. Then, due to this reaction force, the stopped sheet 201 may be returned in the opposite direction to the transport direction. In this embodiment, the following process is performed to prevent the stopped sheet 201 from being returned in the opposite direction to the transport direction.

[0029] <Processing example> Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of processing by the CPU 101 in the transport control. In this embodiment, the transport control of the sheet 201 is performed by controlling the transport motor 105 at regular intervals by the servo control of Fig. 3. In this embodiment, the transport control includes feed control for transporting the sheet 201 a predetermined distance, and holding control for stopping the sheet at a target position and holding the sheet at that position. This flowchart also shows the flow until recording by the print head 111 on one sheet 201 is completed.

[0030] In step S401, the CPU 101 executes feed control of the sheet 201. For example, the CPU 101 executes the servo control of Fig. 3 at each control cycle of the conveyance motor 105 to operate the conveyance motor 105, thereby conveying the sheet 201, such as paper, to a position for recording. For example, the feed control may be executed when conveying the sheet 201 from the paper feed tray 202 to a recording start position below the carriage 110. Also, for example, the feed control may be executed when conveying the sheet 201 by a distance equivalent to one pass of the print head 111 during recording processing.

[0031] In step S402, the CPU 101 determines whether the sheet 201 has reached the end position of the feed control. If the end position has been reached, the CPU 101 proceeds to step S403, and if not, the CPU 101 returns to step S401. The end position of the feed control is a position different from a target stop position described later, and specifically, is a position a predetermined amount before the target stop position. However, a configuration in which the end position of the feed control and a target stop position (before update) described later are set to the same position can also be adopted.

[0032] In step S403, the CPU 101 executes holding control of the sheet 201. The holding control is a control for stopping the rotating conveyor motor 105 at a target position and holding the conveyor motor 105 at the stop position. When conveying the sheet 201, a force in the opposite direction to the conveying direction may be applied to the sheet 201 due to an external force such as resistance of a member of the conveying mechanism 106. Therefore, when the servo control is terminated after the sheet 201 reaches the stop position, the conveyor motor 105 may be returned from the stop position in the reverse direction (the rotation direction opposite to that when conveying the sheet 201 in the conveying direction). Therefore, in this embodiment, by executing the holding control to control the conveyor motor 105 even after it reaches the stop position, the position of the conveyor motor 105 is prevented from being returned by an external force.

[0033] In S404, CPU 101 checks whether recording has been completed for the entire recording range of sheet 201, and if so, proceeds to S405, otherwise returns to S401. That is, CPU 101 alternately executes feed control and hold control until recording is completed for the entire recording range of sheet 201. In other words, hold control is executed for the period from the end of feed control until the start of the next feed control.

[0034] In S405, the CPU 101 ejects the sheet 201 from the printing apparatus 100 after printing has been completed.

[0035] According to the above-described process, the holding control is executed, so that the sheet 201 can be intermittently conveyed a predetermined distance at a time while suppressing the return of the sheet 201 due to the reverse rotation when the conveying motor 105 is stopped. Therefore, the accuracy of sheet feeding during the recording operation can be improved.

[0036] Next, the retention control will be further described. Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing by the CPU 101, and shows a specific example of S403 (retention control) in Fig. 4.

[0037] In step S501, the CPU 101 initializes parameters used in the hold control. In this manner, the CPU 101 initializes the target position every time the hold control is executed. In this embodiment, the parameters to be initialized are the target stop position pos_t, the number of consecutive stops cnt_c, and the number of hold control continuations cnt_k.

[0038] The target stop position pos_t is a target stop position in the hold control, and is initialized to a value obtained by adding a predetermined value to the end position of the feed control used in step S402 in FIG. 4. The target stop position pos_t is used in the hold servo control in step S502 described later. The consecutive stop count cnt_c is the number of times that the motor continues to have a rotation speed below a threshold, and is initialized to 0. The consecutive stop count cnt_c is used in steps S505 and S506 described later. The hold control continuation count cnt_k is the number of times that the hold state continues, and is initialized to 0. The hold control continuation count cnt_k is used in step S503 described later.

[0039] In step S502, the CPU 101 performs holding servo control based on the target stop position pos_t calculated in step S501. Here, control for one control cycle is performed to position the conveyor motor 105 at the target position.

[0040] In step S503, CPU 101 determines whether the end condition of the holding servo control is satisfied, and ends the process if satisfied, and proceeds to S504 if not. In this embodiment, it is determined that the end condition of the holding control is satisfied when any one of the following three conditions A, B, and C is satisfied. When the next feed control command is received (Condition A) When the difference between the current motor position and the target stop position is equal to or greater than the threshold th_p (Condition B) When the continuous operation time of the holding control is equal to or longer than the threshold th_k (Condition C) Each condition will be explained below.

[0041] Condition A is a condition for performing the next feed control. When an instruction for the next feed control is received, the holding control is ended and the feed control for the next transfer is started.

[0042] Condition B is a condition for preventing the holding control from interfering with an operation such as removing the sheet 201. Since the holding control is a control for holding the rotational position of the motor, when the holding control is operating, it may be difficult to remove the sheet 201. In this embodiment, when the current position pos_n, the target position p_t, and the threshold th_p satisfy the following formula 1, it is determined that an external force (e.g., a force attempting to pull out the sheet 201) greater than the external force considered to be the cause of returning the stop position has been received, and the holding control is terminated. Furthermore, the threshold th_p is a value set based on the external force expected during transport, and when the holding control is normally operated, the following formula 1 is not satisfied. pos_t>pos_n + th_p (Formula 1) In this way, when the stopped conveyor motor 105 rotates by the threshold value th_p or more, the CPU 101 ends the holding control even before the start of the next feed control.

[0043] Condition C is a condition for preventing the hold control from continuing even if an abnormality or the like occurs in the device. The hold control in this embodiment is a process for applying power to the motor. Therefore, without condition C, even if an abnormality or the like occurs in the device, if the situation in which the above-mentioned conditions A and B are not satisfied continues, the state in which power is applied to the motor will continue, and the load on the motor will increase. In this embodiment, if the hold control continuation count cnt_k and the threshold th_k satisfy the following formula 2, it is determined that normal hold control has not been performed, and the hold control is terminated. Furthermore, the threshold th_k is a value that does not satisfy the following formula 2 when the hold control operates normally. Therefore, for example, the threshold th_k is set to be longer than the period during which the carriage 110 and the print head 111 perform the printing operation for one pass. cnt_k>th_k (Formula 2) In this way, when the stop state of the conveyor motor 105 continues for a predetermined time or longer, the CPU 101 ends the holding control even before the start of the next feed control.

[0044] As described above, in a normal state, the CPU 101 ends the holding control based on an instruction to start the next feed control. On the other hand, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the CPU 101 ends the holding control even before the start of the next feed control.

[0045] In step S504, the CPU 101 determines whether the rotation speed of the conveyor motor 105 is equal to or lower than a threshold value th_s, and if it is equal to or lower than the threshold value th_s, the process proceeds to step S505, and if it is not equal to or lower than the threshold value th_s, the process proceeds to step S510. That is, if the rotation speed spd_n of the conveyor motor 105 and the threshold value th_s satisfy the following formula 3, the CPU 101 proceeds to S505, and if not, the process proceeds to S510. spd_n≦th_s (Equation 3) Here, the CPU 101 performs this determination to determine whether the conveyor motor 105 is (substantially) stopped. Therefore, the threshold value th_s is set to a value close to 0 or to 0 so that it can be determined that the conveyor motor 105 is stopped.

[0046] In step S505, the CPU 101 updates the consecutive stop count cnt_c by the following formula 4. cnt_c=cnt_c+1 (Formula 4)

[0047] In step S506, the CPU 101 determines whether the number of consecutive stops cnt_c is equal to or greater than a threshold th_c. If the number of consecutive stops cnt_c is equal to or greater than the threshold th_c, the process proceeds to step S507. If the number of consecutive stops ... not equal to or greater than the threshold th_c, the process proceeds to step S502. The threshold th_c is a value that can be used to determine that the conveyor motor 105 has stopped. That is, the CPU 101 can determine that the conveyor motor 105 has stopped when the rotation speed of the conveyor motor 105 has not remained equal to or less than the threshold th_s for a predetermined period of time. If the number of consecutive stops cnt_c is less than the threshold th_c, the rotation speed of the conveyor motor 105 has not remained equal to or less than the threshold th_s for a long enough period of time to determine that the conveyor motor 105 has stopped, and therefore the servo control continues.

[0048] In step S507, the CPU 101 updates the target stop position pos_t. That is, the CPU 101 updates the target stop position pos_t to the current position where the stop state of the conveyor motor 105 (a state where the rotation speed is equal to or lower than the threshold th_s) continues for a predetermined period. The position where the conveyor motor 105 continues to be stopped is considered to be a position where the driving force of the conveyor motor 105 is balanced against the external force during conveyance. Therefore, when it is determined in step S506 that the number of consecutive stops cnt_c is equal to or higher than the threshold th_c, it can be considered that the drive force of the conveyor motor 105 is balanced with the external force and is stopped. In this way, the CPU 101 updates the target position to the current position based on the rotation speed of the conveyor motor 105 while the holding control is being performed.

[0049] Note that by updating the target stop position pos_t in this step, a difference may occur between the target stop position pos_t before the update and the actual stop position. However, by setting the servo control parameters so that the feed control end position is stopped at a gentle speed in the feed control of step S401, the difference between the actual stop position and the target stop position pos_t becomes a sufficiently small value that does not affect the recording result. In other words, the CPU 101 may decelerate the rotation speed of the transport motor 105 to a threshold value or less in the feed control before transitioning to the hold control.

[0050] In step S508, the CPU 101 performs holding servo control (stop position holding control) based on the target stop position pos_t updated in step S507. Here, control for one control cycle is performed to position the conveyor motor 105 at the target position. However, due to the steps up to this point, the conveyor motor 105 is already stopped at the updated target stop position pos_t, which is a position that balances with the external force during conveyance. Therefore, the CPU 101 performs servo control to hold the position of the conveyor motor 105 at the updated target stop position pos_t.

[0051] In step S509, the CPU 101 determines whether the end condition of the holding control is satisfied, and proceeds to S511 if the end condition is satisfied, and returns to step S508 if not. The process in this step is the same as step S503. Furthermore, in steps S508 to S509, the position of the conveyor motor 105 is held at the updated target stop position pos_t until the end condition is satisfied.

[0052] On the other hand, when the process proceeds from S504 to step S510, the CPU 101 updates the continuous stop count cnt_s to 0. That is, since it was determined in step S504 that the motor was not stopped, the continuous stop count cnt_s is reset to 0 and counting is started again.

[0053] 6(a) and 6(b) are diagrams showing a comparison between a case where the holding control of this embodiment is executed and a case where it is not executed.

[0054] FIG. 6A is a diagram showing the change in the position of the motor over time when the holding control of this embodiment is not performed, that is, when the stop position is returned by an external force. When the motor control ends after reaching the feed control end position, the conveyor motor 105 rotates a predetermined amount by inertia and then stops once, but may be returned from the stop position by an external force (dashed line in FIG. 6A). When the rotation position of the conveyor motor 105 is returned in this way, the sheet 201 retreats in the opposite direction to the conveying direction. As a result, recording may be performed at a position on the sheet 201 that is different from the position where recording is originally performed, and desired recording results may not be obtained. To give a specific example, in FIG. 7, the range where recording is performed at timing t_1 and the range where recording is performed at timing t_2 may overlap in the conveying direction. Then, there is a risk of stripes occurring at the overlapping portion. In this way, when the conveyor motor 105 is not stopped at the desired stop position in the recording device 100, deterioration of the image quality of the recorded material may occur.

[0055] 6B is a diagram showing the change in the motor position over time when the holding control is performed in this embodiment. Since the position where the motor is stopped for the threshold value th_c is the position where the external force during conveyance is balanced, the rotational position of the conveyor motor 105 can be held without the conveyor motor 105 rotating in the reverse direction by performing holding servo control with this position as the updated target stop position pos_t.

[0056] 10(a) and 10(b) are diagrams showing a further comparison between the case where the holding control of the present embodiment is performed and the case where it is not performed.

[0057] 10A shows a case where the holding control of this embodiment is not executed, and the deviation between the current position of the feed motor 105 and the target stop position is fed back to the position control of the feed motor 105 so that the feed motor 105 stops at the target stop position. In this case, when the feed motor 105 stops beyond the target stop position, the feed motor 105 is controlled to rotate in reverse in order to stop the feed motor 105 at the target stop position. The reverse rotation of the feed motor 105 may cause the sheet 201 to bend. Alternatively, the repeated forward and reverse rotation of the feed motor 105 may cause backlash in the power transmission system.

[0058] FIG. 10(b) is a diagram showing the change in motor position over time when the holding control in this embodiment is performed, and is a partially enlarged diagram of FIG. 6(b). In this embodiment, even if the feed motor 105 passes the target stop position, the target position is updated to the point at which the feed motor 105 stops. Therefore, in the holding control, control is performed so as to hold the current position where the feed motor 105 is stopped. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the reverse rotation of the feed motor 105 as shown in FIG. 10(a).

[0059] As described above, according to this embodiment, by executing the hold control when the conveyor motor 105 is stopped, it is possible to suppress the rotation of the conveyor motor 105 in the direction opposite to the conveying direction caused by an external force. Then, by updating the target stop position pos_t to the current position based on the rotation speed of the conveyor motor 105 while the hold control is being executed, it is possible to suppress the rotation of the conveyor motor 105 in the direction opposite to the conveying direction caused by the control. Therefore, in the stop operation of the conveyor motor 105 for conveying the sheet 201, it is possible to suppress the rotation in the direction opposite to the conveying direction.

[0060] Furthermore, in this embodiment, by performing servo control of the conveying motor 105 so as to maintain a position that is balanced against external forces during conveying, it is possible to improve the stopping accuracy during conveying without the motor rotating in the direction opposite to the conveying direction.

[0061] <Second embodiment> In the first embodiment, a configuration in which a motor dedicated to transport (transport motor 105) is provided is exemplified. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that a single motor controls multiple mechanisms. In the second embodiment, it is possible to reduce the number of motors compared to the first embodiment, making it possible to achieve a smaller and less costly recording apparatus.

[0062] A recording device 800 according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to Figures 8 and 9. Note that elements similar to those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0063] 8 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus 800 according to an embodiment. The recording apparatus 800 includes a CPU 101, a ROM 102, a RAM 103, a transport mechanism 106, a recovery mechanism 108, a carriage motor 109, a carriage 110, a print head 111, a motor driver 801, a transport / recovery motor 802, and a drive switching mechanism 803.

[0064] The motor driver 801 is an IC that controls the transport / recovery motor 802 and the carriage motor 109 .

[0065] The transport / recovery motor 802 is a motor that operates the transport mechanism 106 and the recovery mechanism 108. In the first embodiment, the transport mechanism 106 and the recovery mechanism 108 were operated by their own dedicated motors. In this embodiment, the recording apparatus 100 switches the transmission destination of the driving force of the transport / recovery motor 802 by a drive switching mechanism 803, thereby operating the transport mechanism 106 and the recovery mechanism 108 with one motor.

[0066] The drive switching mechanism 803 is a mechanism that switches the transmission destination of the driving force of the transport / recovery motor 802. In detail, the drive switching mechanism 803 is a mechanism that switches the transmission destination of the driving force of the transport / recovery motor 802 between the transport mechanism 106 and the recovery mechanism 108 in conjunction with the movement of the carriage 110.

[0067] A flowchart of this embodiment is shown in Fig. 9. Note that the same steps as those in the flowchart of Fig. 4 of the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals.

[0068] In step S901, the CPU 101 determines whether the driving force of the transport / recovery motor 802 is to be transmitted to the transport mechanism 106. If it is the transport mechanism 106, the process proceeds to step S401; if not, the process proceeds to step S902.

[0069] Steps S401 to S404 are as described with reference to FIG.

[0070] On the other hand, when the process proceeds to S902, the CPU 101 executes recovery control. For example, the CPU 101 executes the above-mentioned suction process. At this time, the transport / recovery motor 802 drives the suction pump included in the recovery mechanism 108.

[0071] In step S903, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the recovery control has ended, and if so, ends the flow chart, and if not, returns to S902.

[0072] According to this embodiment, the CPU 101 executes hold control when the destination of the driving force of the transport / recovery motor 802 by the drive switching mechanism 803 is the transport mechanism 106. On the other hand, the CPU 101 does not execute hold control when the destination is a mechanism other than the transport mechanism 106. As a result, by executing hold control in a transport operation that requires greater motor stopping accuracy, it is possible to suppress a decrease in stopping accuracy. On the other hand, by not executing hold control in an operation that requires relatively less motor stopping accuracy, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the motor. In other words, it is possible to ensure the stopping accuracy of the motor and reduce the power consumption at the same time.

[0073] <Other embodiments> In the above embodiment, the hold control is always performed when the conveyance control is performed. However, depending on the type of sheet to be conveyed and the conveyance speed, in the case of conveyance that is unlikely to be subjected to external force, the hold control may not be performed.

[0074] For example, information associating the type of sheet with whether or not to execute hold control may be stored in ROM 102. Then, when receiving an instruction for transport control, CPU 101 may obtain information related to the type of sheet 201 and determine whether or not to execute hold control by comparing the information with the information stored in ROM 102. Recording device 100 may be configured to be able to receive information related to the type of sheet 201 from an input unit such as a touch panel or hard keys.

[0075] Also, for example, the recording apparatus 100 may set the rotation speed of the conveyance motor 105 during conveyance control in accordance with the size or type of the sheet, or information input by the user, and may execute the hold control only when the rotation speed is equal to or greater than a threshold value.

[0076] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a serial type inkjet printer is exemplified as the recording apparatus 100, but the features of the above embodiment can be appropriately applied to other conveying devices that sequentially convey a sheet by a predetermined amount.

[0077] The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that implements one or more of the functions.

[0078] <Additional Notes> The above embodiment discloses at least the following recording apparatus, its control method, and conveying device.

[0079] (Item 1) A recording means for recording on a sheet; a conveying means for conveying a sheet to a recording position by the recording means; A motor for driving the conveying means; A recording apparatus including a control unit for controlling the rotating motor to stop at a target position, The control means may execute a holding control for holding the motor at a stopped position, and may update the target position to a position different from the target position during execution of the holding control.

[0080] (Item 2) Item 1. The recording device according to item 1, The different position is updated to a current position based on a rotation speed of the motor. A recording device comprising:

[0081] (Item 3) A recording device according to any one of items 1 to 2, an encoder for detecting a position of the motor; A recording device comprising:

[0082] (Item 4) A recording device according to any one of items 1 to 3, The control unit is further capable of executing a feed control for controlling the motor so that the conveying unit conveys the sheet by a predetermined distance, The control means executes the holding control for a period from the end of the feed control to the start of the next feed control. A recording device comprising:

[0083] (Item 5) Item 5. The recording device according to item 4, When a predetermined condition is satisfied, the control means ends the holding control even before the next feed control is started. A recording device comprising:

[0084] (Item 6) Item 5. The recording device according to item 4, When the motor that has been stopped rotates a second threshold value or more, the control means ends the holding control even before the next feed control starts. A recording device comprising:

[0085] (Item 7) Item 5. The recording device according to item 4, the control means terminates the holding control when the stopped state of the motor continues for a predetermined time or more, even before the start of the next feed control. A recording device comprising:

[0086] (Item 8) A recording device according to any one of items 1 to 7, a switching unit that can switch a destination of the driving force of the motor between the transport unit and a mechanism different from the transport unit, the control means executes the hold control when a destination of the driving force of the motor by the switching means is the conveying means, and does not execute the hold control when the destination of the driving force is the mechanism. A recording device comprising:

[0087] (Item 9) Item 9. The recording device according to item 8, the mechanism is a recovery mechanism for performing a recovery process for the recording means; A recording device comprising:

[0088] (Item 10) A recording device according to any one of items 1 to 9, the control means updates the target position so that the rotational position of the motor when the state in which the rotational speed is equal to or lower than the first threshold value continues for a predetermined period of time becomes the target position. A recording device comprising:

[0089] (Item 11) A recording device according to any one of items 1 to 10, The control means controls the motor by servo control. A recording device comprising:

[0090] (Item 12) A recording device according to any one of items 4 to 7, The control means reduces the rotation speed of the motor to a third threshold value or less in the feed control, and then transitions to the hold control. A recording device comprising:

[0091] (Item 13) A recording device according to any one of items 1 to 12, The control means initializes the target position every time the holding control is executed. A recording device comprising:

[0092] (Item 14) A recording means for recording on a sheet; a conveying means for conveying a sheet to a recording position by the recording means; A motor for driving the conveying means; A method for controlling a recording device comprising: Stopping the rotating motor at a target position and executing a holding control to hold the motor at the stop position; updating the target position to a position different from the target position during execution of the holding control; A control method comprising:

[0093] (Item 15) A conveying means for conveying a sheet; A motor for driving the conveying means; a control means for controlling the rotating motor to stop at a target position, the control means is capable of executing a holding control for holding the motor at a stopped position, and an update means is configured to update the target position to a position different from the target position during execution of the holding control; A conveying device comprising:

[0094] The invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the following claims are appended to apprise the public of the scope of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0095] 100: recording device, 101: CPU, 102: ROM, 103: RAM, 104: motor driver, 105: transport motor, 106: transport mechanism, 107: recovery motor, 108: recovery mechanism, 108, 109: carriage motor, 110: carriage

Claims

1. a recording means for recording on a sheet; a conveying means for conveying a sheet to a recording position by the recording means; a motor for driving the conveying means; A recording apparatus comprising a control means for controlling the rotating motor to stop at a target position, The control means is capable of executing a holding control for holding the motor at a stopped position, and during the execution of the holding control, updates the target position to a position different from the target position based on the rotation speed of the motor.

2. 2. The recording device according to claim 1, an encoder for detecting a position of the motor; A recording device characterized by:

3. 2. The recording device according to claim 1, the control means is further capable of performing feed control for controlling the motor so that the conveying means conveys the sheet by a predetermined distance; the control means executes the holding control for a period from the end of the feed control until the start of the next feed control. A recording device characterized by:

4. 4. The recording device according to claim 3, When a predetermined condition is satisfied, the control means ends the holding control even before the next feed control starts. A recording device characterized by:

5. 4. The recording device according to claim 3, the control means ends the holding control when the motor that has been stopped rotates a second threshold value or more even before the next feed control starts. A recording device characterized by:

6. 4. The recording device according to claim 3, the control means terminates the holding control when the stopped state of the motor continues for a predetermined time or longer, even before the next feed control is started. A recording device characterized by:

7. 2. The recording device according to claim 1, a switching unit that can switch the destination of the driving force of the motor between the transport unit and a mechanism different from the transport unit, the control means executes the holding control when the destination of the driving force of the motor transmitted by the switching means is the conveying means, and does not execute the holding control when the destination of the driving force is the mechanism. A recording device characterized by:

8. 8. The recording device according to claim 7, the mechanism is a recovery mechanism that performs recovery processing of the recording means; A recording device characterized by:

9. 2. The recording device according to claim 1, the control means updates the target position so that the rotational position of the motor when the state in which the rotational speed is equal to or less than the first threshold value continues for a predetermined period of time becomes the target position. A recording device characterized by:

10. The recording device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, the control means controls the motor by servo control; A recording device characterized by:

11. The recording device according to any one of claims 3 to 6, the control means reduces the rotation speed of the motor to a third threshold value or less in the feed control, and then transitions to the hold control. A recording device characterized by:

12. The recording device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, the control means initializes the target position every time the holding control is executed. A recording device characterized by:

13. a recording means for recording on a sheet; a conveying means for conveying a sheet to a recording position by the recording means; a motor for driving the conveying means; A control method for a recording device comprising: Stopping the rotating motor at a target position and executing a holding control to hold the motor at the stop position; updating the target position to a position different from the target position based on a rotation speed of the motor during execution of the holding control; A control method comprising:

14. a conveying means for conveying a sheet; a motor for driving the conveying means; a control means for controlling the rotating motor to stop at a target position, the control means is capable of executing a holding control for holding the motor at a stopped position, and an update means is configured to update the target position to a position different from the target position based on a rotation speed of the motor during execution of the holding control; A conveying device comprising:

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