Printer and control method for printer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11724518-B2
Application number	US-202117316386-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 10, 2021
Priority date	May 11, 2020
Publication date	Aug 15, 2023
Grant date	Aug 15, 2023

Abstract

A printer that performs printing on a medium while being manually moved relative to the medium, includes a job acquisition unit that acquires a print job in which a movement direction of the printer as seen from the printer is designated, a print head that performs printing on the medium based on the print job while the printer is moved, and a direction notification unit that notifies a user of a designated direction as the movement direction of the printer designated by the print job before the movement of the printer is started.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A printer that performs printing on a medium while being manually moved relative to the medium, comprising:
a job acquisition unit that acquires a print job in which a movement direction of the printer is designated;
a print head that performs printing on the medium based on the print job while the printer is moved; and
a direction notification unit that notifies a user of a designated direction that is the movement direction of the printer designated by the print job before the movement of the printer is started, the direction notification unit ends the notification of the designated direction when the movement of the printer for one pass is ended, wherein
the print head has:
a first nozzle row;
a second nozzle row provided in parallel to the first nozzle row and apart from the first nozzle row in the designated direction, and
when printing using both the first nozzle row and the second nozzle row is performed, the direction notification unit delays a time to end the notification of the designated direction to be later than that when printing using one of the first nozzle row and the second nozzle row is performed.

2. The printer according to claim 1 , further comprising a line feed notification unit that notifies the user to perform line feed as the movement of the printer from a movement end position of the printer for one pass to a movement start position for the next pass after the movement of the printer for one pass is ended and before the movement for the next pass is started.

3. The printer according to claim 2 , wherein
the line feed notification unit notifies the user of a line feed direction as a direction in which the printer is moved for the line feed based on the designated direction for each pass designated by the print job.

4. The printer according to claim 3 , wherein
the line feed notification unit has one or more line feed indicators that notify the user of the line feed direction.

5. The printer according to claim 4 , wherein
the line feed notification unit includes:
a first line feed direction notification part that notifies the user of the line feed direction when the designated direction for each pass designated by the print job is the same direction; and
a second line feed direction notification part that notifies the user of the line feed direction when the designated direction for each pass designated by the print job is opposite to each other between an odd-numbered pass and an even-numbered pass.

6. The printer according to claim 5 , wherein
the one or more line feed indicators are an indicator group of a linear indicator extending in the designated direction, a first bending indicator starting from one end of the linear indicator, and a second bending indicator starting from the other end of the linear indicator arranged in an annular form,
the first line feed direction notification part notifies the user of the line feed direction by simultaneously turning on the linear indicator and the second bending indicator, and
the second line feed direction notification part notifies the user of the line feed direction by switching and lighting one of the first bending indicator and the second bending indicator for each pass.

7. The printer according to claim 2 , wherein
the line feed notification unit has one or more line feed indicators, and
the one or more line feed indicators are provided on an opposite surface as an outer surface at an opposite side to an outer surface with the print head provided thereon of a plurality of outer surfaces of the printer and located in a position corresponding to the print head in a second direction orthogonal to the designated direction within the opposite surface.

8. The printer according to claim 1 , wherein
the direction notification unit has one or more direction indicators, and
the one or more direction indicators are provided on an opposite surface as an outer surface at an opposite side to an outer surface with the print head provided thereon of a plurality of outer surfaces of the printer and located in a position corresponding to the print head in a second direction orthogonal to the designated direction within the opposite surface.

9. A control method for a printer that performs printing on a medium while being manually moved relative to the medium, comprising:
acquiring a print job in which a movement direction of the printer is designated;
performing printing on the medium based on the print job using a print head and while the printer is moved; and
notifying a user of a designated direction that is the movement direction of the printer designated by the print job before the movement of the printer is started and ending the notification of the designated direction when the movement of the printer for one pass is ended wherein
the print head has:
a first nozzle row;
a second nozzle row provided in parallel to the first nozzle row and apart from the first nozzle row in the designated direction, and
when performing printing using both the first nozzle row and the second nozzle row is performed, delaying a time to end the notification of the designated direction to be later than that when printing using one of the first nozzle row and the second nozzle row is performed.

10. A printer that performs printing on a medium while being manually moved relative to the medium, comprising:
a job acquisition unit that acquires a print job in which a movement direction of the printer is designated;
a print head that performs printing on the medium based on the print job while the printer is moved;
a direction notification unit that notifies a user of a designated direction that is the movement direction of the printer designated by the print job before the movement of the printer is started; and
a line feed notification unit that notifies the user to perform line feed as the movement of the printer from a movement end position of the printer for one pass to a movement start position for the next pass after the movement of the printer for one pass is ended and before the movement for the next pass is started, the line feed notification unit notifies the user of a line feed direction as a direction in which the printer is moved for the line feed based on the designated direction for each pass designated by the print job, the line feed notification unit has one or more line feed indicators that notify the user of the line feed direction, wherein,
the line feed notification unit includes:
a first line feed direction notification part that notifies the user of the line feed direction when the designated direction for each pass designated by the print job is the same direction;
a second line feed direction notification part that notifies the user of the line feed direction when the designated direction for each pass designated by the print job is opposite to each other between an odd-numbered pass and an even-numbered pass;

the one or more line feed indicators are an indicator group of a linear indicator extending in the designated direction, a first bending indicator starting from one end of the linear indicator, and a second bending indicator starting from the other end of the linear indicator arranged in an annular form;
the first line feed direction notification part notifies the user of the line feed direction by simultaneously turning on the linear indicator and the second bending indicator, and
the second line feed direction notification part notifies the user of the line feed direction by switching and lighting one of the first bending indicator and the second bending indicator for each pass.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Kuramoto Hiroyuki

Classifications

• B41J3/39 Primary

  hand-held · CPC title

• B41J2/155

  for line printing · CPC title

• B41J3/28

  for printing downwardly on flat surfaces, e.g. of books, drawings, boxes {, envelopes, e.g. flat-bed ink-jet printers} · CPC title

• B41J3/36 Primary

  for portability {, i.e. hand-held printers or laptop printers (B41J3/4075 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B41J3/46

  Printing mechanisms combined with apparatus providing a visual indication · CPC title