Recording device and control method

Abstract

To provide a recording device that executes control according to a cause of skewing.SOLUTION: There is provided a recording device, including: accommodating means for accommodating a sheet; feeding means for feeding the sheet accommodated in the accommodating means onto a transport path; transport means for transporting the sheet fed on the transport path by the feeding means to recording means in a transport direction; first detecting means for detecting a spacing between regulatory members that regulate both ends of the sheet; second detecting means located downstream of the first detecting means in the transport direction on the transport path and upstream of the recording means, and detecting a width of the sheet on the transport path; and control means for controlling transportation of the sheet based on a detection result by the first detecting means and a detection result by the second detecting means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium and a control method thereof. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a method of detecting the width of paper in a printer that is configured with a skew sensor and a table sensor for detecting whether or not inserted print paper is skewed. Patent Document 1 describes that first, a process is performed to remove the skew of the paper using the skew sensor and the table sensor, and then the width of the paper is detected by reading the paper width sensor within the range where the skew sensor detects the paper. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4398797 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In Patent Document 1, the read range of the paper width sensor is set to the range where the paper is detected by the skew sensor, making it possible to read only the range close to the original position of the paper. Also, in Patent Document 1, if the paper is skewed, the skew itself can be detected.

[0005] However, in Patent Document 1, the cause of the skew cannot be identified, and control cannot be executed according to the cause of the skew.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus and a control method for executing control according to the cause of skew. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, a recording device according to the present invention comprises: Roll paper can now be rotated a containment means for containing the a regulating member for regulating the positions of both ends of the roll paper stored in the storage means; The container means is From roll paper a feeding means for feeding a sheet onto a conveying path; and a conveying means for conveying the sheet fed onto the conveying path by the feeding means in a conveying direction to a recording means. , the above The recording device is characterized by comprising a first detection means for detecting the spacing between regulating members, a second detection means located downstream of the first detection means in the conveying direction on the conveying path and upstream of the recording means for detecting the width of the sheet on the conveying path, and a control means for controlling the conveying of the sheet based on the detection results by the first detection means and the detection results by the second detection means. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to execute control according to the cause of the skew. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is an external perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an inkjet printing apparatus according to a typical embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a recording head. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the recording apparatus shown in FIG. [Figure 4] 2 is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the recording device shown in FIG. 1, showing a schematic diagram of a roll paper transport configuration. [Diagram 5] 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating a mechanism for detecting the width of the roll paper. [Figure 6] 13 is a flowchart showing a transport control process. [Figure 7] 13 is a flowchart showing a transport control process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] [First embodiment] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described more specifically and in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiment does not limit the invention according to the claims. Although the embodiment describes 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.

[0011] In this specification, "recording" (sometimes called "printing") refers not only to the formation of meaningful information such as characters and figures, but also to the formation of images, patterns, etc. on a recording medium, regardless of whether they are visible to humans or not, or to the processing of the medium.

[0012] In addition, the term "recording medium" refers not only to paper (printing paper) used in general recording devices, but also broadly to anything capable of receiving ink, such as cloth, plastic film, metal plate, glass, ceramics, wood, leather, etc.

[0013] Furthermore, "ink" (sometimes called "liquid") should be interpreted broadly in the same way as the definition of "recording (print)" above. Therefore, it refers to a liquid that can be applied onto a recording medium to form an image, design, pattern, etc., or to process the recording medium, or to process the ink (for example, to solidify or insolubilize the coloring material in the ink applied to the recording medium).

[0014] Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the term "nozzle" collectively refers to an ejection port, a liquid path communicating with the ejection port, and an element that generates energy used to eject ink.

[0015] The term "printhead substrate (head substrate)" used below does not refer to a simple base body made of silicon semiconductor, but to a configuration on which various elements, wiring, etc. are provided.

[0016] Furthermore, "on the substrate" does not simply refer to the top of the element substrate, but also refers to the surface of the element substrate and the inner side of the element substrate near the surface. Furthermore, "built-in" in the present invention does not simply refer to the arrangement of separate elements on the surface of a substrate as separate elements, but refers to the formation and manufacture of each element integrally on an element substrate by a semiconductor circuit manufacturing process or the like.

[0017] <Outline of the recording device (Fig. 1)> FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an inkjet printing apparatus (hereinafter, printing apparatus) according to a typical embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] As shown in Fig. 1, the recording device 1 is provided with an operation panel 100 for making various settings related to printing and displaying the status of the device. The recording device 1 is supported by a stand 101, and its recording section is usually covered by an openable and closable cover 16. The recording device 1 also has an ink tank cover 2 that is operated when replacing an ink tank. As will be described later, the recording device 1 has a recording width that corresponds to the width direction of the recording medium, and is equipped with a full-line recording head (hereinafter, "recording head") that ejects ink droplets onto the recording medium to record an image.

[0019] The printer is made up of four identically configured print heads for four colors: black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y). For this reason, four ink tanks containing black, cyan, magenta, and yellow inks are housed below the ink tank cover 2. These ink tanks can be replaced independently of each other.

[0020] The recording device 1 can be loaded with a recording medium, such as a rolled sheet having a width of, for example, 10 inches to 40 inches corresponding to the recording width of the recording head, and the recording medium can be transported to the recording area by the recording head for recording.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 1, recording media such as rolled continuous sheets can be stored in two tiers (upper tier roll paper attachment section 4a, lower tier roll paper attachment section 4b), and recording can be performed on either of the attached rolled sheets. Fig. 1 shows roll paper R attached to the lower tier roll paper attachment section 4b.

[0022] Next, the structure of the recording head will be described in more detail.

[0023] <Explanation of the recording head configuration (Fig. 2)> 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the recording head 3. The recording head 3 is a line-type recording head in which 15 element substrates 10 capable of ejecting ink of four colors, C / M / Y / K, are arranged in a straight line (arranged in-line). Note that, in addition to this configuration, four recording heads 3 each configured to eject ink of one color may be arranged in the transport direction of the recording medium to eject ink of four colors, C / M / Y / K.

[0024] 2, the printhead 3 includes each element substrate 10, a signal input terminal 91, and a power supply terminal 92 electrically connected via a flexible wiring substrate 40 and an electric wiring substrate 90. The signal input terminal 91 and the power supply terminal 92 are electrically connected to a control unit of the printing apparatus 1, and respectively supply an ejection drive signal and power required for ejection to the element substrate 10. By consolidating the wiring using an electric circuit in the electric wiring substrate 90, the number of signal output terminals 91 and power supply terminals 92 can be made smaller than the number of element substrates 10. This reduces the number of electrical connections that need to be removed when mounting the printhead 3 on the printing apparatus 1 or when replacing the printhead.

[0025] On the element substrate 10, electrothermal conversion elements (heaters) (not shown) are formed corresponding to the respective ejection ports. The electrothermal conversion elements are energized and heated to cause ink to bubble, and the resulting bubbling energy causes the ink to be ejected from the ejection ports.

[0026] <Explanation of control configuration (Fig. 3)> FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control circuit of the recording device 1. As shown in FIG.

[0027] 3, the recording device 1 is mainly composed of a print engine unit 417 that controls the recording section, a scanner engine unit 411 that controls the scanner section, and a controller unit 410 that controls the entire recording device 1. A print controller 419 incorporating an MPU and non-volatile memory (such as an EEPROM) controls various mechanisms of the print engine unit 417 according to instructions from a main controller 401 of the controller unit 410. Various mechanisms of the scanner engine unit 411 are controlled by the main controller 401 of the controller unit 410.

[0028] The control configuration will be described in detail below.

[0029] In the controller unit 410, a main controller 401 constituted by a CPU controls the entire recording device 1 using a RAM 406 as a working area in accordance with programs and various parameters stored in a ROM 407. For example, when a print job is input from a host device 400 via a host I / F 402 or a wireless I / F 403, an image processing unit 408 performs predetermined image processing on the received image data in accordance with instructions from the main controller 401. The main controller 401 then transmits the processed image data to a print engine unit 417 via a print engine I / F 405.

[0030] The recording device 1 may obtain image data from the host device 400 via wireless communication or wired communication, or may obtain image data from an external storage device (such as a USB memory) connected to the recording device 1. The communication method used for wireless communication or wired communication is not limited. For example, Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark) can be used as a communication method used for wireless communication. Also, USB (Universal Serial Bus) or the like can be used as a communication method used for wired communication. Also, for example, when a read command is input from the host device 400, the main controller 401 transmits this command to the scanner engine unit 411 via the scanner engine I / F 409.

[0031] The operation panel 404 is a unit through which the user performs input and output to the recording device 1. The user can instruct operations such as copying and scanning, set a recording mode, and recognize information about the recording device 1 via the operation panel 404. The operation panel 404 corresponds to the operation panel 100 in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, depending on the state of the print engine unit 417, the print controller 419 requests the main controller 401 to display a user interface screen on the operation panel 404. Then, in response to the request, the main controller 401 displays the user interface screen on the operation panel 404.

[0032] In the print engine unit 417, a print controller 419 constituted by a CPU controls various mechanisms of the print engine unit 417 in accordance with programs and various parameters stored in a ROM 420, using a RAM 421 as a working area.

[0033] When various commands and image data are received via the controller I / F 418, the print controller 419 temporarily stores them in the RAM 421. The print controller 419 causes the image processing controller 422 to convert the stored image data into recording data so that the data can be used for the recording operation of the recording head 3. When the recording data is generated, the print controller 419 causes the recording head 3 to execute a recording operation based on the recording data via the head I / F 427. At this time, the print controller 419 drives the conveyance roller 28 via the conveyance control unit 426 to convey the recording medium. According to the instructions of the print controller 419, the recording operation by the recording head 3 is executed in conjunction with the conveyance operation of the recording medium, and recording processing is performed.

[0034] The head carriage control unit 425 changes the orientation and position of the recording head 3 depending on the operating state, such as the maintenance state and recording state, of the recording apparatus 1. The ink supply control unit 424 controls the liquid supply unit so that the pressure of the ink supplied to the recording head 3 falls within an appropriate range. The maintenance control unit 423 controls the operation of the cap unit and wiping unit in the maintenance unit (not shown) when performing maintenance operations on the recording head 3.

[0035] The main controller 401 controls the hardware resources of the scanner controller 415 using the RAM 406 as a working area in accordance with the programs and various parameters stored in the ROM 407. This controls various mechanisms of the scanner engine unit 411. For example, the main controller 401 controls the hardware resources of the scanner controller 415 via a controller I / F 414, transports a document placed on an ADF (not shown) by a user via a transport control unit 413, and reads the document using a sensor 416. The scanner controller 415 then stores the read image data in the RAM 412.

[0036] The print controller 419 can convert the image data acquired as described above into print data, thereby causing the print head 3 to perform a printing operation based on the image data read by the scanner controller 415 .

[0037] <Explanation of roll paper transport structure (Fig. 4)> Figure 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the recording device 1 shown in Figure 1, and shows a schematic diagram of the roll paper transport configuration. Figure 4 shows roll paper R1 loaded in roll paper mounting section 4a, and roll paper R2 loaded in roll paper mounting section 4b. In Figure 4, when the user loads roll paper R1 into the portion indicated by the dashed line in roll paper mounting section 4a, roll paper R1 rotates and is fixed and attached to the shaft inside the recording device. Similarly, when the user loads roll paper R2 into the portion indicated by the dashed line in roll paper mounting section 4b, roll paper R2 rotates and is fixed and attached to the shaft inside the recording device.

[0038] For example, when an image is recorded on roll paper R1, a feed motor (not shown) attached to the rotating shaft of roll paper attachment section 4a is driven, and the leading edge of roll paper R1 is sent out to the feed path, and when the leading edge is detected by paper feed sensor 21, it is nipped by feed roller pair 23. Then, as feed roller pair 23 rotates, the leading edge of roll paper R1 is transported on the transport path, and cutter 25 cuts the leading edge of roll paper R1 to trim its shape.

[0039] 4, the path from the pair of feeding rollers 24 to the cutter 26 to the pair of feeding rollers 23 to the cutter 25 to the transport roller 28 to the LF roller 29 is called the transport path. The path from the roll paper R1 to the pair of feeding rollers 23 and the path from the roll paper R2 to the pair of feeding rollers 24 are called the feeding paths.

[0040] Similarly, when an image is recorded on roll paper R2, a feed motor (not shown) attached to the rotating shaft of roll paper attachment section 4b is driven, and the leading edge of roll paper R2 is sent out to the feed path, and when the leading edge is detected by paper feed sensor 22, it is nipped by feed roller pair 24. Then, the leading edge of roll paper R2 is transported on the transport path by the rotation of feed roller pair 24, and the leading edge of roll paper R2 is cut by cutter 26 to trim its shape.

[0041] The roll paper, whose leading edge has been trimmed by either cutter 25, 26, is sent further in the direction of the arrow, and when its leading edge is detected by leading edge detection sensor 27, transport roller 28 is driven and begins to rotate. Then, with its leading edge nipped by transport roller 28, the roll paper is transported further and reaches LF roller 29. Once the leading edge of the roll paper is nipped by LF roller 29, the roll paper is transported by LF roller 29 and transport roller 28, and the roll paper is transported on transport belt 41. A fixed guide 30 is provided near leading edge detection sensor 27 to support smooth transport of the roll paper.

[0042] At this time, if the rotational speed (V0) of the LF roller 29 and the rotational speed (V) of the transport roller 28 are made slightly different and controlled so that V is slightly greater than V0, a ​​loop 31 will be formed in the roll paper as shown by the dashed line in Figure 4. As the loop 31 is formed, a flapper 32, one end of which is fixed and which is freely rotatable around this fixed point as an axis of rotation, rotates and is configured not to interfere with the formation of the loop in the roll paper.

[0043] In this state, the roll paper is further transported and reaches the recording position between the lower part of the recording head 3 and the platen 40 .

[0044] 4, the platen 40 is provided below a transport belt 41 that transports the roll paper between the upstream and downstream sides of the recording head 3 in the transport direction of the roll paper, and the platen 40 is connected to a suction fan 43 via a duct 42. With this configuration, the suction fan 43 is operated to suck in the air inside the duct 42 and generate negative pressure, thereby causing the roll paper to adhere tightly to the transport belt 41 through holes provided in the platen 40 and preventing the roll paper from floating up during transport.

[0045] Furthermore, in terms of the transport direction of the roll paper, a recovery unit 51 is provided upstream of the recording head 3, and a cap 52 and a drying unit 53 are provided downstream of that. As shown in Fig. 4, the recovery unit 51 is movable in the transport direction of the roll paper, and the cap 52 is configured to be rotatable about a rotation axis 52a. Furthermore, as described above, the recording head 3 has a recording width that corresponds to the width of the roll paper, which is the recording medium, and is fixed during recording, but is configured to be movable up and down when not in recording operation, as shown by the arrow in Fig. 4.

[0046] With this configuration, for example, when recovering the ejection state of the recording head 3, the recording head 3 moves to an upper standby position, and the recovery unit 51 moves into the space created by this. Thereafter, the recovery unit 51 performs recovery operations such as wiping the ink ejection surface of the recording head 3, sucking the ejection ports, and causing the recording head 3 to pre-eject. Note that these operations are well-known techniques, and therefore their explanation will be omitted.

[0047] On the other hand, when neither the recording operation nor the recovery operation is to be performed, in order to prevent the ink ejection surface of the recording head 3 from drying out, the recording head 3 is moved to an upper standby position, and the cap 52 is rotated in the space thus created. After that, the recording head 3 is moved downward and the recording head 3 is capped with the cap 52.

[0048] Drying unit 53 is also operated to heat the surface of the roll paper, and dry the roll paper on which recording has been completed by ink ejection from recording head 3. This prevents the wet roll paper from being transported further after recording, and prevents the inside of the device (particularly the transport path for the roll paper) from being contaminated by ink. Furthermore, fan 54 and duct 55 are provided above recording head 3, and operating fan 54 blows outside air through duct 55 in the direction of the arrow, accelerating the drying of the roll paper after recording.

[0049] Now, the recording length (L) in the transport direction of the roll paper is determined by either a user instruction from the operation panel 100 or an instruction from the host device 400. Then, when it is confirmed that the roll paper, whose leading edge has been trimmed by either of the cutters 25, 26, has been transported a distance of the recording length (L) from the leading edge, the rear end is cut by either of the cutters 25, 26.

[0050] After recording is performed by the recording head 3, the roll paper (hereafter referred to as cut paper) with its rear end cut off is discharged to the rear basket 60 or the front stacker 61. The discharge location is selected either by a user instruction from the operation panel 100 or by an instruction from the host device 400.

[0051] When a cut sheet is discharged to the rear basket 60, the flapper 62 rotates to form a transport path in the direction of the rear basket 60. As a result, the cut sheet is transported by the rotation of the transport belt 41 and falls into the rear basket 60 as shown by the dashed line in Fig. 4. The output signal from the paper sensor 63 detects the leading edge of the cut sheet and the trailing edge while it is passing through.

[0052] On the other hand, when cut paper is discharged to the front stacker 61, the flapper 62 rotates to the position indicated by the dashed line and forms a transport path in the direction of the front stacker 61. As a result, the cut paper is transported by the rotation of the transport belt 41, reaches a pair of paper discharge rollers 64 and then a pair of paper discharge rollers 65, and is finally discharged to the front stacker 61. Note that paper sensors 66, 67 and a paper discharge sensor 68 are provided on the transport path to the front stacker 61 to detect the discharge status of the cut paper. In addition, a trailing end presser lever 69 is provided between the pair of paper discharge rollers 65 and the paper discharge sensor 68 to prevent the trailing end of the cut paper from bouncing and support smooth discharge of the cut paper.

[0053] The user inserts an original image in the direction of the solid arrow into the scanner engine unit 411 to read the image. However, the scanner engine 411 has a conventional configuration, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0054] Next, the roll paper transport control executed in the recording apparatus configured as above will be described in detail.

[0055] In this embodiment, there are two types of mechanisms for detecting the width of the roll paper. These mechanisms detect the width of the roll paper before recording with the recording head 3, and the transport of the roll paper is controlled based on the results of each detection.

[0056] 5(a) and (b) are diagrams for explaining a mechanism for detecting the width of the roll paper. FIG. 5(a) is a diagram of the configuration of the recording device 1 in FIG. 4, viewed from right to left. In FIG. 5(a), the roll paper R1 is not shown in order to simplify the drawing. FIG. 5(b) is a diagram showing the state in which the roll paper R1 is attached to the spool member. The spool member is configured to include a spool shaft 510 and a spool flange corresponding to the regulating members 502 and 503. One of the regulating members 502 and 503 is integrated with the spool shaft 510 as a reference spool flange, and the other can be removed from the spool shaft 510 as a non-reference spool flange. The user removes the regulating member corresponding to the non-reference spool flange from the spool shaft 510, and attaches the roll paper R1 to the spool shaft 510 by passing the spool shaft 510 through the hollow portion of the roll paper R1. The user then fits a regulating member that corresponds to the non-standard spool flange onto spool shaft 510 that is passed through the hollow portion of rolled paper R1, and the friction members provided on regulating members 502 and 503 fix the rolled paper R1 to regulating members 502 and 503. Note that a gear 511 for rotating spool shaft 510 is provided on one end of spool shaft 510, and when driving force from the above-mentioned feed motor is transmitted to gear 511, spool shaft 510 rotates.

[0057] The roll paper R1 fixed to the spool shaft 510 has both ends regulated by regulating members 502 and 503. The roll paper R1 is transported along a transport path through a feed path 504 in the roll paper attachment section 4a toward the recording position of the recording head 3. In this embodiment, the positions of the regulating members 502 and 503 are detected by a position detection sensor 505 installed nearby. The position detection sensor 505 is configured as an optical sensor including, for example, a light-emitting section and a light-receiving section, and the detection signal is sent to the print controller 419. The print controller 419 can obtain the width between the regulating members 502 and 503 (the distance between the two regulating members) based on the detection signal. That is, in this embodiment, the regulating members 502 and 503 and the position detection sensor 505 operate as a detection mechanism that detects the width between the two regulating members.

[0058] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the regulating members 502 and 503 are described as spool flanges, but they may be members for other purposes as long as they are members for regulating both ends of the rolled paper R1. For example, they may be guide members that are slidable in the width direction of the rolled paper R1 along a groove provided on the feed path 504. In this case as well, the positions of the regulating members 502 and 503, which are guide members, are detected by a position detection sensor 505 installed in their vicinity, in the same manner as above.

[0059] The recovery unit 51 is provided with a sensor carriage 501, which is configured to be able to move back and forth on the surface of the recovery unit 51 in the width direction of the roll paper. The sensor carriage 501 is equipped with a paper width detection sensor 500 configured as, for example, an optical sensor, and transmits a detection signal to the print controller 419 by scanning the roll paper in the width direction. The print controller 419 can obtain the width of the roll paper based on the detection signal. That is, in this embodiment, the sensor carriage 501 and the paper width detection sensor 500 operate as a detection mechanism that detects the width of the roll paper. Furthermore, when scanning is performed by the sensor carriage 501, the recording head 3 moves to a standby position above, and the recovery unit 51 is moved into the space created by this. Thereafter, the sensor carriage 501 scans the roll paper in the width direction. When recording is to be performed by the recording head 3 after the scanning by the sensor carriage 501 is completed, the recovery unit 51 is moved to its original position, and the recording head 3, which is in the standby position, is moved to the recording position.

[0060] As described above, in this embodiment, before recording by the recording head 3, the position detection sensor 505 detects the width between the two regulating members, and the paper width detection sensor 500 detects the width of the roll paper. If the width between the two regulating members differs from the width of the roll paper, it is determined that there is an installation defect in the roll paper R1 in the roll paper attachment section 4a or a problem with the shape of the roll paper, and the recording head 3 stops recording and notifies the user. Here, an installation defect in the roll paper R1 in the roll paper attachment section 4a is, for example, a state in which the regulating members 502 and 503 do not match the width of the roll paper. Also, a problem with the shape of the roll paper is, for example, a tear or fold in the roll paper. According to this embodiment, such a configuration makes it possible to prevent recording from being performed while there is an installation defect in the roll paper R1 in the roll paper attachment section 4a or a problem with the shape of the roll paper.

[0061] Note that Figure 5(a) shows roll paper R1 and roll paper attachment section 4a, but roll paper R2 and roll paper attachment section 4b have the same configuration, and below roll paper R1 and roll paper attachment section 4a will be described as representative examples.

[0062] Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the process of controlling the transport of roll paper. The process of Fig. 6 is realized, for example, by the print controller 419 loading a program stored in the ROM 420 into the RAM 421 and executing it. The process of Fig. 6 is started, for example, when an instruction to start recording on the roll paper R1 is received from the user on the operation panel 404.

[0063] In S101, the print controller 419 sets the sensor carriage 501. For example, the print controller 419 moves the recording head 3 to a retracted position, and moves the recovery unit 51 to a predetermined position after the recording head 3 has moved, thereby setting the sensor carriage 501.

[0064] In S102, the print controller 419 starts feeding the roll paper R1 to the transport path. For example, the print controller 419 controls the rotation of the feed roller pair 23 so that the leading edge of the roll paper R1 is transported to the transport path via the feed path 504. Then, in S103, the print controller 419 acquires a detection signal from the position detection sensor 505, and in S104, acquires the width between the regulating members 502 and 503. The acquisition result is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 421. Note that in this embodiment, the width between the regulating members 502 and 503 is acquired after feeding has started in S102, but it may be acquired before feeding starts. In that case, the process proceeds from S102 to S105.

[0065] In S105, the print controller 419 determines whether or not to perform paper width detection using the paper width detection sensor 500. For example, the print controller 419 may determine whether or not to perform paper width detection based on whether or not the leading edge detection sensor 27 has detected the leading edge of the roll paper R1. If it is determined that paper width detection is not to be performed, the process of S105 is repeated, and if it is determined that paper width detection is to be performed, the process proceeds to S106.

[0066] In S106, the print controller 419 stops transport of the roll paper R1 when the leading edge of the roll paper R1 reaches the bottom of the paper width detection sensor 500. For example, the print controller 419 may perform control so that transport of the roll paper R1 is stopped a predetermined time after the leading edge detection sensor 27 detects the leading edge of the roll paper R1. Here, the predetermined time is, for example, a time calculated from the distance from the leading edge detection sensor 27 to the detection position of the paper width detection sensor 500 and the transport speed of the roll paper R1.

[0067] In S107, the print controller 419 drives the paper width detection sensor 500 of the sensor carriage 501, controlling it to scan the width direction of the roll paper. In S108, the print controller 419 acquires a detection signal from the paper width detection sensor 500, and in S109 acquires the paper width of the roll paper (hereinafter referred to as paper width 1). In S107 and S108, the paper width detection sensor 500 detects the width near the leading edge of the roll paper R1. The acquisition result in S109 is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 421.

[0068] In S110, the print controller 419 compares the width between the two restricting members acquired in S104 with the paper width 1 acquired in S109, and determines whether the difference is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. If it is determined that the difference is equal to or less than the threshold value, in S111, the print controller 419 determines the paper width 1 acquired in S109 as the paper width of the roll paper R1. The determined paper width is used, for example, in subsequent recording processes by the recording head 3. In addition, the print controller 419 moves the recovery unit 51 as necessary, and moves the recording head 3 from the retracted position to the recording position. Then, in S112, the print controller 419 controls the roll paper R1 to be transported to the recording position of the recording head 3. Thereafter, the process of FIG. 6 ends, and recording process to the roll paper R1 is performed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the difference is not equal to or less than the threshold value in S110, the process proceeds to S201 in FIG. 7.

[0069] In S201 of FIG. 7, the print controller 419 controls the roll paper R1 to be transported a predetermined distance toward the recording position of the recording head 3. Here, the predetermined distance is a distance for the paper width detection sensor 500 to detect a location different from S107 and S108. Then, in S202, the print controller 419 drives the paper width detection sensor 500 of the sensor carriage 501 and controls it to move in the width direction of the roll paper. Then, the print controller 419 acquires a detection signal from the paper width detection sensor 500, and acquires the paper width of the roll paper (hereinafter referred to as paper width 2) in S203. In S202 and S203, the paper width detection sensor 500 detects an area a predetermined distance away from the leading edge of the roll paper R1. The acquisition result in S203 is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 421.

[0070] In S204, the print controller 419 compares the paper width 1 acquired in S109 with the paper width 2 acquired in S203, and determines whether the difference is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. If it is determined that the difference is equal to or less than the threshold, in S205 the print controller 419 determines the paper width acquired in S109 or S203 as the paper width of the roll paper R1. The determined paper width is used, for example, in subsequent recording processes by the recording head 3.

[0071] In S206, the print controller 419 controls to stop the transport of the roll paper R1 to the recording position of the recording head 3. The case where the process proceeds from S204 to S205 corresponds to the case where, for example, the roll paper R1 is not defective in shape such as tearing or folding, but the gap between the regulating members 502 and 503 is larger than the paper width of the roll paper R1. If there is a gap between the regulating members 502 and 503 and the roll paper R1, the deviation of the transport path accumulates as the roll paper R1 is transported during recording, and eventually a jam or the like may occur. Therefore, in this embodiment, although it is determined in S204 that the difference between the paper width 1 and the paper width 2 is equal to or smaller than the threshold value, the recording operation of the roll paper R1 is stopped if it is determined in S110 that the difference between the width between the two regulating members and the paper width 1 is not equal to or smaller than the threshold value. As a result, it is possible to prevent jams and the like from occurring during recording.

[0072] In S207, the print controller 419 requests the main controller 401 to notify the user of the printing operation stop on the operation panel 404. On the operation panel 404, a message screen such as "The printing operation will be stopped. Please check the state of the roll paper regulating member" is displayed. After that, the process of FIG. 7 ends.

[0073] In S207, the following process may be performed according to the user settings, for example. For example, if the comparison result in S110 indicates that the width between the two regulating members is greater than the paper width 1, the print controller 419 may control the operation panel 404 to display a message screen such as "Please check the state of the regulating members of the roll paper. After resetting the regulating members, press the resume button." At this time, a "Resume" button for resuming the transport of the roll paper R1 to the recording position of the recording head 3 is displayed on the screen. In other words, if the width between the two regulating members is greater than the paper width, the subsequent recording operation can be performed by adjusting the regulating members 502 and 503 to the paper width. Therefore, by displaying the above screen, the recording process can be performed immediately after the user adjusts the guide width. At this time, the print controller 419 moves the recovery unit 51 as necessary, moves the recording head 3 from the retracted position to the recording position, and then performs the recording process.

[0074] Furthermore, on the above screen, along with the "Resume" button, an "End" button that ends the transport of the roll paper R1 to the recording position of the recording head 3 may be displayed. In this case, when the "End" button is pressed, the print controller 419 may perform control so that the roll paper R1 can be removed. For example, the print controller 419 may perform control so that the rollers rotate in the reverse direction to wind up the roll paper R1 on the transport path, or so that the cutter 25 cuts the roll paper R1.

[0075] On the other hand, when it is determined in S204 that the width is not equal to or less than the threshold, it corresponds to, for example, the case where the roll paper R1 is folded or torn. In such a case, the paper width 1 acquired in S109 and the paper width 2 acquired in S203 may differ greatly. In that case, in this embodiment, the recording operation of the roll paper R1 is stopped. When it is determined in S204 that the width is not equal to or less than the threshold, in S208, the print controller 419 controls to stop the transport of the roll paper R1 to the recording position of the recording head 3. At that time, the print controller 419 may also control so that the roll paper R1 can be removed. For example, the print controller 419 may control the rollers to rotate in the reverse direction to wind up the roll paper R1 on the transport path, or control the cutter 25 to cut the roll paper R1.

[0076] Then, in S209, the print controller 419 requests the main controller 401 to notify the user of the stop of the recording operation on the operation panel 404. On the operation panel 404, a message screen such as "The recording operation will be stopped. Please check that the roll paper is not torn or folded" is displayed. Then, the process of FIG. 7 ends.

[0077] In addition, in S208, the following processing may be performed, for example, according to user settings. For example, the print controller 419 may control the rotation of each roller so that the vicinity of the leading edge of the roll paper R1 returns to the vicinity of the downstream of the cutter 25, and the cutter 25 may cut the vicinity of the leading edge of the roll paper R1. In other words, if the leading edge is folded, the vicinity of the leading edge is cut to enable subsequent recording operations. In this case, in S209, a "Resume" button for resuming transport of the roll paper R1 to the recording position of the recording head 3 may be displayed together with a message saying "The recording operation has been stopped and the leading edge of the roll paper has been cut. After the cut portion is removed, it can be resumed." When the user removes the cut portion and presses the "Resume" button, the processing from S105 in FIG. 6 may be repeated. In addition to the "Resume" button, an "End" button for ending transport of the roll paper R1 to the recording position of the recording head 3 may be displayed.

[0078] As described above, according to this embodiment, if it is determined that there is no improper installation of the roll paper R1 in the roll paper attachment section 4a or a problem with the shape of the roll paper before recording by the recording head 3, it is possible to proceed to the recording process. In addition, it is possible to perform control according to the cause of skew that can be assumed, such as improper installation of the roll paper R1 in the roll paper attachment section 4a or a problem with the shape of the roll paper. Also, as shown in FIG. 5A, the paper width detection sensor 500 and the sensor carriage 501 are provided in the recovery unit 51, so the operation of this embodiment can be realized without requiring a major change in the configuration. Also, in FIG. 7, if the difference between paper width 1 and paper width 2 is equal to or less than the threshold in S204, it is determined that there is no problem with the shape of the roll paper R1, but if it is determined that the difference between paper width 1 and paper width 2 is equal to or less than the threshold, it is also possible to determine the condition of the surface of the roll paper R1 (for example, unevenness such as wrinkles). For example, if it is determined that there are wrinkles, the process proceeds to S208 without proceeding to S205. With such a configuration, even if there is no fold or tear, it is possible to prevent skew during recording processing due to wrinkles.

[0079] 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.

[0080] 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]

[0081] 1 Recording device: 401 Main controller: 419 Print controller: 51 Recovery unit: 500 Paper width detection sensor: 501 Sensor carriage: 502, 503 Guide: 504 Feeding path: 505 Guide position detection sensor

Claims

1. a storage means for rotatably storing the roll paper; a regulating member for regulating the positions of both ends of the roll paper stored in the storage means; a feeding means for feeding a sheet from the roll paper stored in the storage means onto a conveyance path; a conveying means for conveying the sheet fed onto the conveying path by the feeding means in a conveying direction to a recording means; a first detection means for detecting the distance between the regulating members; a second detection means that is located downstream of the first detection means and upstream of the recording means in the conveying direction on the conveying path and detects a width of the sheet on the conveying path; a control unit that controls conveyance of a sheet based on a detection result by the first detection unit and a detection result by the second detection unit; A recording device comprising:

2. A storage means for rotatably storing the roll paper; a regulating member for regulating the positions of both ends of the roll paper stored in the storage means; a feeding means for feeding a sheet from the roll paper stored in the storage means onto a conveyance path; a conveying means for conveying the sheet fed onto the conveying path by the feeding means in a conveying direction to a recording means; a first detection means for detecting a distance between the regulating members that regulate both ends of the sheet; a second detection means that is located downstream of the first detection means and upstream of the recording means in the conveying direction on the conveying path and detects a width of the sheet on the conveying path; a control unit that controls conveyance of a sheet based on a detection result by the first detection unit and a detection result by the second detection unit, The second detection means detects the width of the sheet at a plurality of points, A recording device characterized by further comprising a notification means that, when the detection result by the first detection means differs from the detection result by the second detection means, notifies a user regarding the state of the regulating member with respect to the roll paper based on the detection result by the second detection means.

3. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit stops conveying the sheet when the detection result by the first detection unit and the detection result by the second detection unit differ.

4. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of locations on the sheet include a portion near the leading edge of the sheet and a portion different from the portion near the leading edge.

5. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the notification unit issues the notification based on the determination that the widths of the plurality of portions of the sheet are the same.

6. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the notification unit issues a notification regarding the sheet based on the determination that the widths of the plurality of portions of the sheet are different.

7. 7. The recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the notification regarding the sheet is a notification regarding a shape of the sheet.

8. 8. The recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the shape of the sheet is the shape of the leading end of the sheet.

9. 9. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second detection means is a sensor that detects the width of the sheet by scanning in the width direction of the sheet.

10. 10. The recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the recording means is a full-line recording head, and the sensor is provided in a recovery unit of the full-line recording head.

11. 11. The recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the sensor detects the width of the sheet after the full-line recording head has moved to a retreat position for a recovery operation by the recovery unit.

12. a storage means for rotatably storing the roll paper; a regulating member for regulating the positions of both ends of the roll paper stored in the storage means; a feeding means for feeding a sheet from the roll paper stored in the storage means onto a conveyance path; a conveying unit that conveys the sheet fed onto the conveying path by the feeding unit in a conveying direction to a recording unit, a first detection step of detecting a distance between the regulating members; a second detection step of detecting a width of the sheet on the conveying path, the second detection step being located downstream of the regulating member in the conveying direction on the conveying path and upstream of the recording means; a control step of controlling conveyance of a sheet based on a detection result in the first detection step and a detection result in the second detection step; A control method comprising the steps of:

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