US-20260124841-A1 - PRINTING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD

US20260124841A1US 20260124841 A1US20260124841 A1US 20260124841A1US-20260124841-A1

Abstract

A technology capable of accurately detecting the position of a print medium regardless of the type of print medium is to be provided. A technology that enables downsizing of an apparatus is to be provided. The present disclosure includes: a carriage with a print head mounted thereon that performs printing on a print medium, the carriage being configured to be movable in a width direction of the print medium, which intersects with a conveyance direction of the print medium; a detection unit configured to detect the print medium by causing one or more light-receiving elements of a plurality of light-receiving elements installed on the carriage to function as a light-receiving part; an obtaining unit configured to obtain information on a type of the print medium; and a setting unit configured to set the light-receiving elements to function as the light-receiving part, based on the information obtained by the obtaining unit.

Inventors

Hisashi Toyoda

Assignees

CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251030
Priority Date: 20241105

Claims (16)

1 . A printing apparatus comprising: a carriage with a print head mounted thereon that performs printing on a print medium, the carriage being configured to be movable in a width direction of the print medium, which intersects with a conveyance direction of the print medium; a detection unit configured to detect the print medium by causing one or more light-receiving elements of a plurality of light-receiving elements installed on the carriage to function as a light-receiving part; an obtaining unit configured to obtain information on a type of the print medium; and a setting unit configured to set the light-receiving elements to function as the light-receiving part, based on the information obtained by the obtaining unit.
2 . The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the obtaining unit obtains the information based on an amount of reflected light from the print medium among light irradiated onto the print medium.
3 . The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the obtaining unit obtains the information that is input.
4 . The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the detection unit includes two of the light-receiving parts, and obtains a change in a signal based on a sum or a difference of outputs from the two light-receiving parts at the time the print medium moves relative to the carriage.
5 . The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the information is information on a type based on reflectivity of light of the print medium.
6 . The printing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the setting unit sets the light-receiving elements to function as the light-receiving part such that the number of light-receiving elements to function as the light-receiving part for a first print medium is larger than the number of light-receiving elements to function as the light-receiving part for a second print medium which has higher reflectivity than the first print medium.
7 . The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the information is information on a type based on thickness of the print medium.
8 . The printing apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the setting unit sets the light-receiving elements to function as the light-receiving part such that the number of light-receiving elements to function as the light-receiving part for a first print medium is larger than the number of light-receiving elements to function as the light-receiving part for a second print medium which has a smaller thickness than the first print medium.
9 . The printing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the detection unit detects a position of the print medium based on a change in the signal at the time of moving relative to the print medium.
10 . The printing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the detection unit detects a position of a patch printed on the print medium based on a change in the signal at the time of moving relative to the patch.
11 . The printing apparatus according to claim 10 further comprising a unit configured to read a pattern, which is printed other than the patch by the print head, with reference to the position of the patch.
12 . The printing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein, in a case of detecting an end portion of the print medium in the conveyance direction, the setting unit sets the light-receiving elements such that two of the light-receiving parts are formed at different positions in the conveyance direction, and the light-receiving elements to function as the two light-receiving parts are the same regardless of the information.
13 . The printing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein, at the time of detecting an end portion of the print medium in the width direction or a patch printed on the print medium, the setting unit sets the light-receiving elements such that two of the light-receiving parts are formed at different positions in the width direction, and makes the number of light-receiving elements to function as the light-receiving parts for a first print medium different in the width direction from the number of light-receiving elements to function as the light-receiving parts for a second print medium, based on the information.
14 . The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the setting unit sets the light-receiving elements based on a plurality of patterns that have different numbers of light-receiving elements to function as the light-receiving part.
15 . The printing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the detection unit obtains position information of a center position of a peak waveform in an output waveform indicating the change in the signal.
16 . A control method of a printing apparatus including a carriage with a print head mounted thereon that performs printing on a print medium, the carriage being configured to be movable in a width direction of the print medium, which intersects with a conveyance direction of the print medium, and a detection unit configured to detect the print medium by causing one or more light-receiving elements of a plurality of light-receiving elements installed on the carriage to function as a light-receiving part, the control method comprising: an obtaining step for obtaining information on a type of the print medium; and a setting step for setting the light-receiving elements to function as the light-receiving part, based on the information obtained in the obtaining step.

Description

BACKGROUND Field of the Technology The present disclosure relates to a printing apparatus and a control method. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-105816 discloses a technology for detecting a position (an end portion) of a print medium by adjusting an amount of light from a light-emitting element in accordance with the type of print medium and a variation in an output value from a component. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H09-136741 discloses a technology for detecting an end portion of a print medium by setting a detection threshold, which is obtained by multiplying a difference between an amount of reflected light from a reflection plate (a platen), which serves as a reference, and an amount of reflected light from the print medium by a value greater than 0 but less than 1. In a case where a reflection-type photoelectric sensor is used as the sensor for detecting the position of a print medium, a detection voltage varies due to differences in reflectivity depending on the types of print media. For example, in a case of a print medium with low reflectivity, a sufficient detection voltage exceeding the detection threshold may not be obtained, and the position of the print medium cannot be detected. In this case, if the amount of light from a light-emitting element is increased by the technology of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-105816, a larger current flows through the light-emitting element, resulting in a shortened lifetime of the light-emitting element. Further, if the technology of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H09-136741 is applied to change the detection threshold in accordance with the detection voltage, the difference between the detection voltage and the detection threshold may be too small in the case of a print medium with low reflectivity, resulting in a reduced detection margin, which causes susceptibility to influences such as noise. SUMMARY The present disclosure has been made in view of the above-mentioned issues, and provides a technology capable of detecting the position of a print medium with high accuracy regardless of the type of print medium. A printing apparatus includes: a carriage with a print head mounted thereon that performs printing on a print medium, the carriage being configured to be movable in a width direction of the print medium, which intersects with a conveyance direction of the print medium; a detection unit configured to detect the print medium by causing one or more light-receiving elements of a plurality of light-receiving elements installed on the carriage to function as a light-receiving part; an obtaining unit configured to obtain information on a type of the print medium; and a setting unit configured to set the light-receiving elements to function as the light-receiving part, based on the information obtained by the obtaining unit. Features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. The following description of embodiments is described by way of example. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are schematic configuration diagrams of a printing mechanism. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of sensors; FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the arrangement of light-receiving elements, which form light-receiving parts of a first sensor; FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a printing apparatus; FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing routine of print processing; FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B are diagrams describing determination of the type of print medium using a second sensor; FIG. 7A to FIG. 7D are diagrams illustrating two light-receiving parts of the first sensor at the time of detecting both ends of the print medium in the width direction; FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the two light-receiving parts of the first sensor at the time of detecting the leading end and trailing end of the print medium; FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a detection circuit connected to the first sensor; FIG. 10A to FIG. 10C are diagrams describing output waveforms illustrating a change in differential signal at the time of detecting the leading end; FIG. 11A to FIG. 11E are diagrams illustrating the positional relationship between the two light-receiving parts and the print medium at the time of detecting the leading end; FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating output waveforms of differential signals depending on the types of print medium at the time of detecting the leading end; FIG. 13A to FIG. 13C are diagrams describing output waveforms illustrating a change in differential signal at the time of detecting the trailing end; FIG. 14A to FIG. 14E are diagrams illustrating the positional relationship between the two light-receiving parts and the print medium at the time of detecting the trailing end; FIG. 15A to FIG. 15D are diagrams describing output waveforms illustrating changes in differen