JP2010180034A - Carrying device, recording device, and carrying control method - Google Patents

Abstract

A conveyance apparatus, a recording apparatus, and conveyance control capable of obtaining medium conveyance information based on an image of a medium, and controlling the conveyance of the medium based on the medium conveyance information, even on a medium having no texture such as a film. A method conveying apparatus, a recording apparatus, and a conveyance control method are provided.
During conveyance of a recording medium, a mark made of a fine recess or hole is provided on the back surface of the recording medium by projections (45a) of a serrated roller (45). The image sensor 50 acquires an image of the marked area. The controller 55 performs comparison processing (image correlation processing) of images sequentially acquired from the image sensor 50 to grasp the moving direction and moving amount of the recording medium 17, and based on the medium conveying information acquired from the grasping result, the conveying motor 52. To control. The controller 55 determines the type of the recording medium 17, and when it is a paper medium other than a film, the controller 55 controls the electric motor 49 to separate the jagged roller 45 from the recording medium 17.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport device that transports a medium, a recording device, and a transport control method.

  Conventionally, for example, printers are known as this type of recording apparatus (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 6). The printer transports a sheet as a medium by a transport unit having a transport roller or the like, and the recording head records an image corresponding to the transport position of the sheet on the transported sheet. For this reason, it is necessary to grasp the medium conveyance information such as the paper conveyance position. For example, when the medium conveyance information is acquired by detecting the rotation of the conveyance roller, slip occurs between the conveyance roller and the paper. When this occurs, accurate medium conveyance information cannot be obtained. For this reason, it is desired that the medium conveyance information can be accurately obtained even if slipping or the like occurs.

  For example, Patent Documents 1 to 5 include a marking unit that marks the medium at regular intervals, and a mark reading unit that includes a sensor that sequentially reads the marks, and acquires medium conveyance information based on the reading result of the mark reading unit. A configuration is disclosed. Then, based on the medium conveyance information, printer control such as medium conveyance control and ink discharge timing control is performed. However, in the configurations of Patent Documents 1 to 5, it is necessary to mark the medium with ink or the like.

  For example, Patent Document 6 discloses an image sensor for each period of an image of a reading region including interference fringes due to fine unevenness (paper fiber pattern (texture)) on the paper surface by irradiating the paper surface (rough surface) with laser light. The printing apparatus which acquires the movement amount of the common part in an image by performing the correlation calculation which compares and acquires the image for every period is disclosed. Then, based on the movement amount of the common portion in the image for each period, medium conveyance information such as the paper conveyance position, movement amount, and paper skew is acquired.

JP 2007-1183 A JP-A-5-319681 JP-A-11-235851 JP-A-10-138602 JP-A-6-344623 JP 2007-326245 A

  By the way, a film may be used as a medium other than paper. However, in the case of a film, since there is no pattern (texture) on the surface, the amount of movement cannot be acquired even if correlation calculation is performed on images for each period acquired by the image sensor using the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 6. Therefore, there is a problem that the medium conveyance information such as the medium conveyance position cannot be acquired, and as a result, the conveyance control of the conveyance device cannot be performed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the object thereof is to obtain medium conveyance information based on an image of a medium even on a medium having no texture such as a film, and based on the medium conveyance information. An object of the present invention is to provide a transport apparatus, a recording apparatus, and a transport control method capable of performing transport control of a medium.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention sequentially conveys a medium for conveying a medium, marking means for applying a mark made of a recess or a hole on one surface of the medium, and an image of the region where the mark is applied. The gist of the invention is that it includes an image acquisition unit for acquiring and a control unit for controlling the transfer unit based on the medium transfer information obtained based on the image.

  According to the present invention, the marking means provides a mark made of a recess or a hole on one surface of the medium. The image acquisition means acquires an image of the medium in the marked area. At this time, even if the medium does not have a texture such as a film, a mark including a recess or a hole is present as a kind of texture in the image acquired by the image acquisition means. Then, since the mark in the image moves according to the conveyance of the medium, an image in which a change according to the conveyance of the medium can be obtained is acquired. Therefore, the control unit can obtain the medium conveyance information based on the images sequentially acquired from the image acquisition unit, and controls the conveyance unit based on the obtained medium conveyance information. Therefore, even for a medium having no texture such as a film, medium conveyance information can be obtained based on the image of the medium, and medium conveyance control based on the medium conveyance information can be performed.

  The transport apparatus according to the present invention further includes medium determining means for determining whether the medium is a first medium having no texture or a second medium having a texture, and if the medium is the first medium, the marking is performed. It is preferable that the marking is performed by the means, and if the second medium is used, the marking by the marking means is not performed.

  According to the present invention, the medium determining unit determines whether the medium is a first medium having no texture or a second medium having a texture. If the medium is the first medium, the marking means gives a mark (recess or hole), and if the medium is the second medium, the marking means does not give the mark. Therefore, in the case of the first medium, it is possible to obtain medium conveyance information based on the image using a mark (concave or hole) in the image as a kind of texture, while in the case of the second medium, the texture of the texture in the image. Due to the presence, medium conveyance information can be obtained based on the image.

  The transport apparatus according to the present invention further includes a feed direction determination unit that determines whether the transport of the medium by the transport unit is forward or reverse, and the marking unit marks the medium when the medium is forward feed. On the other hand, it is preferable not to mark the medium when the medium is reversely fed.

  According to the present invention, from the determination result of the feeding direction determining means, when the medium is forwardly fed, the marking means marks it. On the other hand, when the medium is reversely fed, marking by the marking means is not performed. For this reason, it can avoid that a mark is given twice. For example, it is possible to avoid the possibility of erroneous detection of the medium conveyance information due to overlapping marks.

  In the transport apparatus of the present invention, the marking means is a contact type that makes contact with a medium and applies the mark, and further includes a moving means that moves the marking means to and away from the medium, and the moving means includes: Preferably, the marking means is brought into contact with the medium when a mark is applied, and the marking means is separated from the medium when the mark is not applied.

  According to this invention, the moving means brings the marking means into contact with the medium when marking. For this reason, the mark of a recessed part or a hole is given to a medium. On the other hand, when not marking, the moving means moves the marking means away from the medium. For this reason, the mark of a recessed part or a hole is not given to a medium.

In the conveying apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the marking means includes a knurled roller that applies the concave portion or the hole to the back surface of the medium.
According to the present invention, when the mark is applied, the concave roller or the hole is provided as a mark on the back surface of the medium by the contact of the serrated roller with the back surface of the medium. When the conveyance device is applied to a device such as a storage device that performs predetermined processing (for example, recording processing) on the surface of the medium, a recess is formed on the surface (back surface) opposite to the processing surface (for example, recording surface). Alternatively, since a hole is provided, even if a recess or a hole is provided, predetermined processing (recording processing or the like) on the processing surface side is hardly affected. Moreover, since it is a knurled roller, a recessed part or a hole can be given with a comparatively simple structure.

  The gist of the present invention is a recording apparatus comprising the conveying apparatus according to the invention described above and a recording unit that performs recording on a medium conveyed by the conveying apparatus. According to the present invention, the same effects as those of the transfer device of the present invention can be obtained.

  The present invention is a transport control method for controlling a transport means for transporting a medium, wherein a marking step for applying a mark made of a recess or a hole on one surface of the medium, and a region of the medium where the mark is applied The gist includes an image acquisition step of acquiring an image, and a control step of controlling the transport unit based on medium transport information obtained based on the image. According to this invention, the same effect as that of the invention of the transport device can be obtained.

1 is a schematic side view illustrating a schematic configuration and an electrical configuration of a printer according to an embodiment. FIG. The sectional side view of a marking device is shown, (a) shows the time of raising, (b) shows the time of descent, respectively. The partial bottom view which shows the back surface of the film to which the marking (scratch) was given. The flowchart of a conveyance control routine. FIG. 9 is a schematic side view showing a main part of a modified printer. The partial perspective view of a drive roller. FIG. 7 is a schematic side view illustrating a main part of a printer according to a modified example different from FIG. 6.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an ink jet printer will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of the printer according to the present embodiment.
The printer 11 as a recording apparatus in the present embodiment is an ink jet printer. A feeding device 13 is provided on the back side of the main body 12, and a long sheet (sheet paper or sheet film set in the sheet feeder 14) or a long sheet fed out from the roll 16 set in the roll support unit 15 ( A recording medium 17 such as a roll paper or a long film is fed into the main body 12.

  A printing mechanism (not shown) is provided inside a cover 18 provided in the center of the main body 12, and the recording medium 17 printed by the operation of the printing mechanism is opened at the lower front side of the main body 12. Is discharged from the discharge port 19 to be discharged. Specifically, a recording head 21 (see FIG. 1) is provided on the lower side of the cover 18, and one ink droplet is applied from the nozzle of the recording head 21 to the recording medium 17 conveyed by the conveying device 22 (see FIG. 1). Printing is performed by ejecting line by line (one line), and the printed recording medium 17 is discharged from the discharge port 19.

  The printer 11 can print a document or an image based on print data received from a host computer (not shown). The printer 11 can also print an image based on image data read from a memory card 24 inserted in a slot 23 provided in the main body 12.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an operation panel 25 that functions as a user interface (UI) is provided on the upper right side of the main body 12. The operation panel 25 includes an operation unit 26 and a display unit 27 (liquid crystal display unit). When printing an image read from the memory card 24, the print target image selected by the operation of the operation unit 26 is confirmed on the display unit 27, and a print condition setting operation and a print execution operation are performed by the operation unit 26. Printing is performed.

  Here, when receiving print data from the host computer, the printer 11 can acquire print condition information from the header of the print data. On the other hand, when printing an image read from the memory card 24, the operation unit 26 is used. The printing condition information set in step 1 can be acquired. Then, the printer 11 acquires recording medium information such as the type (medium type) and size of the recording medium 17 from the acquired printing condition information. There are two types of recording medium 17: a film 17A (single sheet film, long film) as a first medium and a paper medium 17B (single sheet paper, long paper (roll paper)) as a second medium. There are at least types.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration and an electrical configuration of a printer. FIG. 1 shows an example in which printing is performed on a roll-shaped recording medium (paper medium or film).
As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 11 includes a transport device 22 that transports the recording medium 17 and a recording unit 29 that performs printing on the recording medium 17 by an inkjet method. The conveyance device 22 is arranged in order from the upstream side in the conveyance direction (the right side in FIG. 1) in order to convey the recording medium 17 fed from the roll 16 supported by the roll support unit 15. 31, a second transport roller pair 32, a third transport roller pair 33, and a fourth transport roller pair 34.

  The 1st-4th conveyance roller pair 31-34 is comprised by a pair of drive roller 31a-34a and driven roller 31b-34b, respectively. When the recording medium 17 is nipped between the driving rollers 31a to 34a and the driven rollers 31b to 34b, the driven rollers 31b to 34b rotate following the rotation of the driving rollers 31a to 34a. Feeding, transporting and discharging).

  Under the conveyance path of the recording medium 17, an upstream platen 36, a recording platen 37, and a downstream platen 38 that support the recording medium 17 are arranged in this order from the upstream side in the conveyance direction. Specifically, the upstream platen 36 is disposed in a region between the first conveyance roller pair 31 and the second conveyance roller pair 32 in the conveyance direction, and mainly supports a portion of the recording medium 17 that is being fed.

  The recording platen 37 is disposed in a region between the second conveyance roller pair 32 and the third conveyance roller pair 33 in the conveyance direction, and mainly supports a portion during recording (printing) of the recording medium 17.

  Further, the downstream side platen 38 is disposed in a region between the third conveyance roller pair 33 and the fourth conveyance roller pair 34 in the conveyance direction, and supports the portion that is being discharged after the printing of the recording medium 17 is completed. In the present embodiment, the downstream platen 38 is formed on a slope whose support surface (upper surface) on which the recording medium 17 slides becomes lower toward the downstream side.

  The recording unit 29 disposed above the recording platen 37 has a recording head 21 at the lower part thereof. On the nozzle forming surface 21a, which is the lower surface of the recording head 21, a number of nozzle rows in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a single pitch or a staggered arrangement with a constant pitch are formed in the same number as the number of ink colors. The recording platen 37 has a function of defining a gap between the recording head 21 and the recording medium 17. Each color ink supplied from an ink cartridge (not shown) is ejected from the nozzle for each color of the recording head 21 toward the surface of the recording medium 17, whereby printing on the recording medium 17 is performed.

  When the printer 11 is a serial printer, the recording unit 29 includes a carriage that can move in the main scanning direction and a recording head 21 that is fixed to the lower portion of the carriage. Further, when the printer 11 is a line printer, the recording unit 29 has a plurality of nozzles arranged over almost the entire print area set as a printable range in the medium width direction (the direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 1). The recording head 21 is supported by the main body frame so that it can be moved up and down, for example, with the recording head 21 disposed below.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a marking device 40 is disposed at a predetermined position upstream of the recording platen 37 in the transport direction. As shown in FIG. 1, the marking device 40 includes a cylindrical or paired guide member 41 fixed to the bottom surface of the main body frame 12 a, and a support plate 42 that is guided by the guide member 41 and is slidable in the vertical direction. A ragged roller 45 that is rotatably supported by a pair of standing support arms 43 and a lifting device 47 that raises and lowers the ragged roller 45 are provided. In the present embodiment, the marking means is constituted by the serrated roller 45 and the moving means is constituted by the lifting device 47.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the lifting device 47 includes an eccentric cam 48 that contacts the bottom surface (back surface) of the support plate 42, and an electric motor 49 that drives the eccentric cam 48 to rotate. The eccentric cam 48 has a predetermined shape in which the distance (diameter) from the rotation center to the outer peripheral surface (cam surface) continuously changes. The electric motor 49 is driven to rotate forward / reversely, and the eccentric cam 48 rotates forward / reversely within a predetermined rotation range, whereby the support plate 42 in contact with the eccentric cam 48 slides in the vertical direction along the guide member 41. The slide roller 45 can be moved up and down by this slide. The arrangement position of the marking device 40 is appropriately changed as long as a scratch 65 (mark) (see FIG. 4) formed by a concave portion or a hole by the knurled roller 45 can be applied to the recording medium 17 before the recording by the recording head 21 is performed. it can.

  Further, at the position downstream of the marking device 40 in the transport direction and upstream of the recording position of the recording head 21, the area of the back surface of the recording medium 17 that has been scratched 65 by the jagged rollers 45. An image sensor 50 for reading the image is arranged. The image sensor 50 receives the reflected light of the light irradiated on the back surface of the recording medium 17 to acquire an image of the area where the scratch 65 is attached.

  The printer 11 includes a feeding motor 51 that feeds the roll 16 and a conveying motor 52 that drives the driving rollers 31a to 34a of the first to fourth conveying roller pairs 31 to 34 (however, in FIG. 1, to the driving roller 32a). Only the power transmission path is shown by a broken line). The printer 11 includes a controller 55 that controls the printer 11 in an integrated manner.

  The controller 55 includes a microcomputer 56, for example. The microcomputer 56 includes a CPU 57, a memory 58 and a counter 59. The memory 58 is constituted by, for example, a ROM and a RAM, and the ROM stores a conveyance control routine program shown in the flowchart of FIG. In the RAM, calculation results of the CPU 57 are temporarily stored, print data and the like are temporarily stored. The counter 59 is for counting the transport position of the recording medium 17.

  The CPU 57 according to the present embodiment acquires the moving direction and moving amount of the recording medium 17 being conveyed based on images sequentially acquired from the image sensor 50. Specifically, the CPU 57 performs comparison processing (image correlation processing) of images sequentially acquired from the image sensor 50, and moves the recording medium 17 defined by the transition of the position of the scratch 65 (see FIG. 4) in the image. Get direction and travel. The CPU 57 increments the counter 59 every time it detects the movement of the unit pitch in the forward feed direction (downstream side in the transport direction) of the recording medium 17 and detects the movement of the unit pitch in the reverse feed direction (upstream side in the transport direction). The counter 59 is decremented every time. Thereby, the CPU 57 acquires the transport position (medium transport information) of the recording medium 17 as the count value of the counter 59.

  The CPU 57 is connected to the recording head 21 via the head driving circuit 60. The CPU 57 outputs the ejection drive data based on the print data received from the host computer (not shown) or the print data generated based on the image data read from the memory card 24 to the head drive circuit 60 to output the recording head 21. Ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles.

  In addition, the CPU 57 controls driving of the feeding motor 51 via the motor driving circuit 61. When the feeding motor 51 is driven to rotate in the forward direction, the roll support portion 15 rotates in the feeding direction, and the recording medium 17 is fed from the roll 16. On the other hand, when the feeding motor 51 is driven in reverse, the roll support portion 15 rotates in the winding direction and the recording medium 17 is wound on the roll 16.

  Further, the CPU 57 drives and controls the transport motor 52 via the motor drive circuit 62. When the conveyance motor 52 is driven to rotate forward, the first to fourth conveyance roller pairs 31 to 34 are rotationally driven in a rotation direction in which the recording medium 17 can be conveyed in the left direction in FIG. 17 feeding / conveying / discharging is performed. On the other hand, when the transport motor 52 is driven in reverse, the first to fourth transport roller pairs 31 to 34 are rotationally driven in a rotation direction in which the recording medium 17 can be transported in the right direction in FIG. Reverse feed (back feed) of the recording medium 17 is performed.

  For example, when printing on the recording medium 17 is completed, the recording medium 17 is sent to the downstream side in the transport direction, and the recording medium 17 is cut in the vicinity of the upstream end of the printed portion that has exited from the discharge port 19. Thereafter, the recording medium 17 is reversely fed in order to cue the recording medium 17 with the cutting position as the leading end for the next printing. The reverse feeding of the recording medium 17 is performed by driving the feeding motor 51 and the transport motor 52 in reverse.

  Further, when printing based on the print data received from the host computer, the CPU 57 grasps the type (medium type) of the recording medium 17 from the print condition information acquired from the header of the print data. Further, when printing an image read from the memory card 24, the CPU 57 grasps the type (medium type) of the recording medium 17 from the printing condition information set by the user operating the operation unit 26. In the present embodiment, the CPU 57 executes the conveyance control routine program shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 to grasp the type (medium type) of the recording medium 17. If the CPU 57 determines that the type of the recording medium 17 is other than “film”, that is, a paper medium 17B having a texture, the CPU 57 lowers the jagged roller 45 to a retracted position away from the recording medium 17, and the back surface of the film 17A. The scratches 65 due to the knurled roller 45 are not attached. On the other hand, when the CPU 57 determines that the type of the recording medium 17 is a “film” having no texture, the CPU 57 raises the jagged roller 45 to an engagement position where the recording medium 17 comes into contact with the recording medium 17, so It is set as the structure which makes the damage | wound 65.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic side sectional view for explaining the operation of the marking device 40. Here, FIG. 3A shows a state where the jagged roller is arranged at the engagement position (upward position), and FIG. 3B shows a state where the jagged roller is arranged at the retracted position (downward position).

  As shown in FIG. 3A, when the electric motor 49 is driven to rotate forward, the eccentric cam 48 rotates counterclockwise from the sideways position shown in FIG. As a result, the knurled roller 45 rises to the engagement position. Further, when the electric motor 49 is driven in the reverse direction with the jagged roller 45 in the engaged position, the eccentric cam 48 rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. It descends to the retracted position shown in 3 (b).

  Here, in the state in which the jagged roller 45 is disposed at the engagement position, the sharp protrusion 45a (zagged teeth) of the jagged roller 45 abuts on the back surface of the recording medium 17, and the jagged roller 45 is driven to rotate as the recording medium 17 is conveyed. As a result, the back surface of the recording medium 17 is made to have a scratch 65 made of a minute recess or hole due to the protrusion 45a. Since the protrusions 45a are provided at a constant pitch in the circumferential direction of the knurled roller 45, scratches 65 (see FIG. 4) formed by recesses or holes of a constant pitch are formed on the back surface of the recording medium 17 (film 17A). Is done.

  FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the film showing a portion of a region where the back surface of the film is scratched. As shown in FIG. 4, scratches 65 are formed at a constant pitch on the back surface of the film 17A. In FIG. 4, a region surrounded by a one-dot chain line is a reading region 66 of the image sensor 50. The pitch of the protrusions 45 a of the knurled roller 45 is set so that at least two scratches 65 are positioned in the reading area 66 of the image sensor 50.

  For this reason, the CPU 57 sequentially acquires images in the reading area 66 including at least two scratches 65, and sequentially performs a comparison process (image correlation process) of the acquired images to grasp the transition of the position of the scratch 65. Thus, the moving direction and moving amount of the film 17A are sequentially detected. The CPU 57 increments the counter 59 every time it detects the movement of the recording medium 17 in the forward feed direction, and decrements the counter 59 every time it detects the movement of the recording medium 17 in the reverse feed direction. Therefore, the counter 59 counts a count value corresponding to the transport position of the recording medium 17. The CPU 57 grasps the transport position of the recording medium 17 based on the count value of the counter 59. Then, in the conveyance control routine, the CPU 57 performs conveyance position acquisition processing for acquiring the conveyance position of the recording medium 17, conveyance control of the conveyance motor 52 based on the conveyance position, and ink discharge control of the recording head 21. Even in the case of the paper medium 17B having texture, the CPU 57 similarly performs comparison processing of images sequentially obtained from the image sensor 50, and the movement direction and movement of the paper medium 17B ascertained from the transition of the texture position in the image. By performing the counting process of the counter 59 based on the amount, the transport position of the recording medium 17 is acquired as the count value of the counter 59.

  Next, conveyance control of the conveyance device 22 in the printer configured as described above will be described. The CPU 57 performs conveyance control by executing a conveyance control routine program. Hereinafter, the conveyance control will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S10, it is determined whether or not the recording medium 17 (target) is a film. That is, it is determined whether the recording medium 17 is a recording medium having no texture or a recording medium having a texture. If the recording medium 17 is a film (if it is a recording medium having no texture), the process proceeds to step S20, and if it is not a film (that is, if it is a recording medium having a texture such as a paper medium (cut sheet paper or roll paper)). Proceed to step S40. The CPU 57 that executes the process of step S10 constitutes a medium determination unit.

  In step S20, it is determined whether or not reverse feed (back feed) is performed. If it is not reverse feed (that is, if it is forward feed), the process proceeds to step S30, and if it is reverse feed, the process proceeds to step S40. In other words, since the scratches are already made by the jagged rollers 45 in the forward feeding process, erroneous detection of the transport position caused by the jagged rollers 45 coming into contact with the film at the time of back feed and overlapping with the scratches at the time of forward feeding is prevented. Therefore, during reverse feed (back feed), the jagged roller 45 is lowered to a retracted position away from the back surface of the film. The CPU 57 that executes the process of step S20 constitutes a feed direction determination unit.

  In step S30, the knurled roller 45 is raised. For this reason, when the type (medium type) of the recording medium 17 is “film” (recording medium having no texture) and the conveyance is “forward feeding”, the film 17A is placed on the film 17A by the serrated roller 45 disposed at the engaging position. Fine scratches 65 are made on the back surface at a constant pitch.

  On the other hand, in step S40, the knurled roller 45 is lowered. For this reason, when the type (medium type) of the recording medium 17 is not “film” (in the case of a recording medium having a texture), the recording roller 17 is disposed at the retracted position (lowering position). The scratch 65 is not made on the back surface of the (paper medium 17B). Further, even when the type (medium type) of the recording medium 17 is “film”, when the conveyance is “reverse feed”, the jagged roller 45 is disposed at the retracted position. For this reason, it is avoided that the flaw roller 45 overlaps with the scratch 65 already made on the back surface of the film 17A in the forward feeding process, and makes the scratch 65 at the time of reverse feeding. Since the overlapped scratches 65 cannot be attached, for example, there is a possibility of erroneous detection of the transport position due to the overlapped scratches 65 being slightly shifted, or the scratches 65 are conspicuous due to the overlap of the scratches 65. Etc. can be avoided.

  In step S50, the transport position of the recording medium 17 is acquired based on the image read by the image sensor 50. When the recording medium 17 is a paper medium 17B other than “film”, the CPU 57 performs comparison processing (image correlation processing) of images sequentially acquired from the image sensor 50, and is determined based on the transition of the texture position in the image. The movement direction and movement amount of 17B are grasped. Then, each time the movement of the unit pitch of the paper medium 17B is detected from the grasp result, the counter 59 performs a counting process, and the transport position of the paper medium 17B is acquired as the counter 59 count value. On the other hand, when the recording medium 17 is a film, the CPU 57 performs comparison processing (image correlation processing) of images sequentially acquired from the image sensor 50, and moves the film 17A determined from the transition of the position of the minute scratch 65 in the image. Know the direction and amount of movement. Then, every time the movement of the unit pitch of the film 17 </ b> A is detected from the grasped result, the counting process of the counter 59 is performed, and the transport position of the film 17 </ b> A is acquired as the count value of the counter 59.

  In step S60, transport control is performed based on the transport position of the recording medium 17. That is, the CPU 57 controls the speed of the transport motor 52 and transports the recording medium 17 at the designated transport speed V. For example, when the printer 11 is a serial printer, the CPU 57 obtains a target speed (constant speed) corresponding to the transport amount up to the next line, and stores a speed table that defines a speed profile for transporting the target speed in the memory 58. , And by referring to the speed table, the command value of the target speed corresponding to the transport position is sequentially output to the motor drive circuit 62 to control the speed of the transport motor 52 with a predetermined speed profile. Then, the drive of the transport motor 52 is stopped at a position where the count value of the counter 59 from the transport position at the start of driving of the transport motor 52 has increased by a value corresponding to the designated transport amount.

  When the printer 11 is a line printer, the CPU 57 sequentially acquires the transport position (count value of the counter 59) of the recording medium 17 every unit time, and the transport speed of the recording medium 17 based on the acquired value. And the speed of the transport motor 52 is controlled so that the determined actual transport speed becomes the target speed (constant speed). For example, even if the conveyance speed decreases from the target speed due to slip between the conveyance roller pairs 31 to 34 and the recording medium 17, the conveyance motor 52 is controlled so as to return to the target speed. 17 is conveyed at a target speed.

  Further, the CPU 57 determines the ink discharge timing of the recording head 21 based on the transport position of the recording medium 17, and the print timing generated so as to be the ink discharge timing synchronized with the transport position grasped from the count value of the counter 59. By outputting a pulse signal to the head driving circuit 60, ink ejection control of the recording head 21 is performed.

As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) A minute recess or hole flaw 65 is made on the back surface of the film by the knurled roller 45, and the area where the flaw 65 is applied is read by the image sensor 50, and based on the result of the read image comparison process (image correlation process). The conveyance position of the recording medium 17 is acquired. For this reason, even when the film 17A having no texture is used, the transport position of the recording medium 17 can be acquired as the medium transport information as in the case of using the paper medium 17B having the texture, and based on the acquired transport position. By controlling the conveyance motor 52, the conveyance control of the recording medium 17 can be performed.

(2) Since the scratch 65 is formed by the knurled roller 45, the scratch 65 is minute and inconspicuous, and does not affect the print quality.
(3) When the recording medium 17 is a film 17A having no texture, the jagged roller 45 is disposed at an engaging position where the recording medium 17 is in contact with the film 17A. On the other hand, when the recording medium 17 is a paper medium 17B having a texture, The configuration is arranged at the retracted position. For this reason, it is possible to avoid scratching the recording medium 17 having this texture.

  (4) Even when the recording medium 17 is a film 17A having no texture, the configuration is such that when the reverse feed (back feed) is performed, the jagged roller 45 is disposed at the retracted position. For this reason, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the wound 65 overlapping with the wound 65 hit in the forward feed is hit in the reverse feed. For example, it is possible to avoid worrying about erroneous detection of the conveyance position due to the scratches 65 that are slightly shifted and overlapped. Further, it is possible to avoid a large conspicuous scratch 65 due to overlapping hits.

The said embodiment is not limited above, It can also change into the following aspects.
(Modification 1) As shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of protrusions 71a (zagged teeth) as shown in FIG. 7 are arranged at a constant pitch in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface of the driving roller 71 constituting the second transport roller pair 32. The provided structure can also be adopted. Even in this configuration, since the minute scratches 65 are made on the back surface of the film 17A, which is the reading area of the image sensor 50, by the protrusion 71a of the driving roller 71, the transport position of the film 17A can be acquired based on the read image of the image sensor 50. .

  (Modification 2) As shown in FIG. 8, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the needle 76 is moved in the vertical direction by the actuator 75 so that the needle 76 forms a scratch 65 made of a minute recess or hole on the back surface of the film 17A. In this case, the controller 55 drives the actuator 75 to move the needle 76 up and down at a constant cycle synchronized with the driving speed of the transport motor 52 (that is, the transport speed of the recording medium 17). For this reason, minute scratches 65 are attached to the back surface of the film 17A, which is the reading area of the image sensor 50, so that two or more points are located in the reading area at a constant pitch in the transport direction. The transport position of the film 17A can be acquired based on the image.

  (Modification 3) In the above embodiment, the conveyance control of the conveyance means (conveyance motor) and the ink discharge control of the recording means (recording head) based on the conveyance position are performed based on the conveyance position (medium conveyance information). Of these, a configuration in which only the transport control of the transport unit or only the ink discharge control of the recording unit can be employed.

(Modification 4) Based on the abnormal conveyance information, correction control of the conveyance means for eliminating the abnormality may be performed, or conveyance control for emergency stop of the conveyance may be performed.
(Modification 5) In addition to the transport control such as the position control and speed control of the medium, the drive control of the cutter device for cutting the medium based on the medium transport information (transport position) may be performed together.

  (Modification 6) One surface of a medium to be marked is not limited to the back surface of the medium. You may mark on the surface of a medium. It is sufficient that the mark is provided on one side of the medium, and the mark may be provided on both sides of the medium. Further, when the medium is not in the form of a sheet but has a height (for example, a rectangular parallelepiped, a cylinder, or a weight), a mark may be provided on the side surface of the medium.

  (Modification 7) A configuration in which the marking means is not controlled by the control means can also be adopted. During recording, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the marking means is fixed at the marking position regardless of the medium type and feed direction, and the medium is always marked.

  (Modification 8) In the embodiment and the modifications of FIGS. 6 to 8, the marks may not be provided at a constant pitch in the transport direction. For example, the marking means may have a structure in which protrusions are randomly formed on the circumferential surface of the roller, and a structure in which a mark including a minute recess or a hole is randomly applied to the medium by pressing the roller.

  (Modification 9) The marking unit and the image acquisition unit may be disposed downstream of the recording head in the transport direction, or may be disposed on both sides of the recording head in the transport direction. For example, in a recording apparatus having a configuration in which a medium is inserted from the discharge port side toward the upstream side in the transport direction, and after the insertion, the transport direction of the medium is switched to the downstream side to perform cueing, the recording head in the medium insertion process You may perform both marking and image acquisition, or only marking in the position more downstream in the conveyance direction.

  (Modification 10) The recording apparatus is not limited to a serial printer or a line printer, but may be applied to a page printer. Further, the present invention is not limited to an ink jet printer, and may be applied to a dot impact printer.

  (Modification 11) In the above embodiment, the liquid ejecting apparatus is embodied as an ink jet printer. However, the liquid ejecting apparatus may be applied to a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid (droplets) other than ink. Here, the droplet refers to the state of the liquid ejected from the liquid ejecting apparatus, and includes those that have tails in the form of particles, tears, and threads. The liquid may be any material that can be ejected by the liquid ejecting apparatus. For example, it may be in a state in which the substance is in a liquid phase, such as a liquid with high or low viscosity, sol, gel water, other inorganic solvents, organic solvents, solutions, liquid resins, liquid metals (metal melts ) And a liquid as one state of the substance, as well as particles in which functional material particles made of solid materials such as pigments and metal particles are dissolved, dispersed or mixed in a solvent. Further, typical examples of the liquid include ink and liquid crystal as described in the above embodiment. Here, the ink includes general water-based inks and oil-based inks, and various liquid compositions such as gel inks and hot-melt inks. As a specific example of the liquid ejecting apparatus, for example, a liquid containing a material such as an electrode material or a coloring material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an EL (electroluminescence) display, a surface emitting display, a color filter, or the like in a dispersed or dissolved state. Liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting onto a medium such as a substrate, liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting a bio-organic material used for biochip production onto a medium, liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting a liquid as a sample used as a precision pipette onto a medium, textile printing apparatus, and micro It may be a dispenser or the like. Furthermore, UV curing is used to form liquid ejectors that eject pinpoint lubricant while transporting precision machines (mediums) such as watches and cameras, and micro hemispherical lenses (optical lenses) used in optical communication elements. A liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a transparent resin liquid such as a resin onto a substrate, or a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects an etching liquid such as an acid or an alkali to etch a medium such as a substrate may be employed. The present invention can be applied to a transport device that transports a medium (including a substrate) in any one of these liquid ejecting apparatuses.

  (Modification 12) The present invention is not limited to a printer transport device, and the present invention can be widely applied to a transport device. For example, the present invention may be applied to a scanner transport device and an inspection device transport device.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Printer as recording apparatus, 13 ... Feeding device, 15 ... Roll support part, 16 ... Roll, 17 ... Recording medium as medium (target), 17A ... Film as 1st medium, 17B ... As 2nd medium 21... Recording head constituting the recording means, 22... Conveying device, 29... Recording unit as recording means, 31 to 34... Pair of conveying rollers constituting the conveying means, 31 a to 34 a. 34b ... driven roller, 36 ... upstream platen, 37 ... recording platen, 38 ... downstream platen, 40 ... marking device, 41 ... guide member, 42 ... support plate, 43 ... support arm, 45 ... serrated roller as marking means 45a ... protrusions (toothed teeth) 47 ... lifting device as moving means 48 ... eccentric cam 49 ... electric motor 50 ... image Image sensor as acquisition means, 51 ... feed motor, 52 ... conveyance motor constituting transportation means, 55 ... controller as control means, 56 ... microcomputer, 57 ... constituting means and medium discrimination means and feeding CPU as direction determination means, 58 ... memory, 59 ... counter, 60 ... head drive circuit, 61, 62 ... motor drive circuit, 65 ... scratch as mark, 66 ... reading area.

Claims (7)

A conveying device for conveying a medium,
Conveying means for conveying the medium;
Marking means for applying a mark consisting of a recess or a hole on one surface of the medium;
Image acquisition means for sequentially acquiring an image of the marked area;
And a control unit that controls the transport unit based on the medium transport information obtained based on the image. Medium discriminating means for discriminating whether the medium is a first medium having no texture or a second medium having a texture;
2. The conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if the medium is a first medium, the marking is performed by the marking unit, and if the medium is a second medium, the marking is not performed by the marking unit. A feed direction judging means for judging whether the transport of the medium by the transport means is forward feed or reverse feed;
The transport according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the marking means marks the medium when the medium is forwardly fed, and does not mark the medium when the medium is reversely fed. apparatus. The marking means is a contact type for applying the mark in contact with a medium,
A moving means for bringing the marking means into and out of contact with the medium;
4. The conveying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the moving means brings the marking means into contact with the medium when the mark is applied, and separates the marking means from the medium when the mark is not applied. .   5. The transport device according to claim 1, wherein the marking unit includes a serrated roller that forms the concave portion or the hole on a back surface of the medium.   6. A recording apparatus comprising: the conveying apparatus according to claim 1; and a recording unit that performs recording on a medium conveyed by the conveying apparatus. A transport control method for controlling a transport means for transporting a medium,
A marking step for applying a mark comprising a recess or a hole on one surface of the medium;
An image acquisition step of acquiring an image of the marked area of the medium;
A control step for controlling the conveying means based on the medium conveying information obtained based on the image;
A conveyance control method comprising:

Images