Printing media feeding apparatus, printing apparatus provided with the feeding apparatus, printing media feeding speed control method and computer program

• US 20060039736A1
• Filed: 08/12/2005
• Published: 02/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ogawa, Kaoru
• Granted Patent: US 8,376,640 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 400/582
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/42 Controlling printing material conveyance for accurate alignment of the printing material with the printhead; Print registering
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 13/103 for the sheet feeding section
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/6529 Transporting G03G15/6555 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00645 Speedometer
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00746 of sheet velocity

Abstract

The present invention has been made to prevent density irregularity from appearing in a print result and to thereby improve image quality by controlling a motor so that the rotational speed of a drive shaft that feeds printing media becomes constant. The present invention provides a printing media feeding apparatus including a feeding section that includes a motor, a drive transmission mechanism which transmits a driving force of the motor, and a drive shaft to which the driving force is transmitted by the drive transmission mechanism, the drive shaft being rotated to feed the printing media, a detection section that is provided in the drive shaft and detects the rotational speed of the drive shaft, and a controller that controls the motor, the controller controlling the motor based on an input from the detection section so that the rotational speed of the drive shaft becomes constant.

Claims

1. A printing media feeding apparatus comprising:

feeding means that includes a motor, a drive transmission mechanism which transmits a driving force of the motor, and a drive shaft to which the driving force is transmitted by the drive transmission mechanism, the drive shaft being rotated to feed the printing media;

detection means that is provided in the drive shaft and detects the rotational speed of the drive shaft; and

control means for controlling the motor,

the control means controlling the motor based on an input from the detection means so that the rotational speed of the drive shaft becomes constant.

2. The printing media feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means includes a filter that extracts a rotational speed fluctuation component of the drive shaft.

3. The printing media feeding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the filter is a Kalman filter.

4. The printing media feeding apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control means further includes a moving-average circuit.

5. The printing media feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the motor is a stepping motor.

6. The printing media feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drive shaft is a capstan.

7. A printing apparatus comprising:

a print head that prints visual data on printing media;

feeding means that includes a motor, a drive transmission mechanism which transmits a driving force of the motor, and a drive shaft to which the driving force is transmitted by the drive transmission mechanism, the drive shaft being rotated to feed the printing media;

detection means that is provided in the drive shaft and detects the rotational speed of the drive shaft; and

control means for controlling the motor,

the control means controlling the motor based on an input from the detection means so that the rotational speed of the drive shaft becomes constant.

8. A printing media feeding speed control method that rotates a drive shaft through a drive transmission mechanism transmitting a driving force of a motor to feed printing media, comprising the steps of:

detecting the rotational speed of the drive shaft; and

controlling the rotation number of the motor based on the detected rotational speed so that the rotational speed of the drive shaft becomes constant.

9. The printing media feeding speed control method according to claim 8, wherein the step of controlling the motor includes a step of extracting a rotational speed fluctuation component of the drive shaft.

10. The printing media feeding speed control method according to claim 9, wherein the rotational speed fluctuation component of the drive shaft is extracted by a Kalman filter circuit.

11. The printing media feeding speed control method according to claim 10, further comprising a step of performing moving-average processing.

12. A computer program used for a printing media feeding speed control method that rotates a drive shaft through a drive transmission mechanism transmitting a driving force of a motor to feed printing paper, comprising the steps of:

detecting the rotational speed of the drive shaft, and

controlling the rotation number of the motor based on the detected rotational speed so that the rotational speed of the drive shaft becomes constant.

13. A printing media feeding apparatus comprising:

a feeding section that includes a motor, a drive transmission mechanism which transmits a driving force of the motor, and a drive shaft to which the driving force is transmitted by the drive transmission mechanism, the drive shaft being rotated to feed the printing media;

a detection section that is provided in the drive shaft and detects the rotational speed of the drive shaft; and

a controller that controls the motor,

the controller controlling the motor based on an input from the detection section so that the rotational speed of the drive shaft becomes constant.

14. A printing apparatus comprising:

a print head that prints visual data on printing media;

a feeding section that includes a motor, a drive transmission mechanism which transmits a driving force of the motor, and a drive shaft to which the driving force is transmitted by the drive transmission mechanism, the drive shaft being rotated to feed the printing media;

a detection section that is provided in the drive shaft and detects the rotational speed of the drive shaft, and

a controller that controls the motor,

the controller controlling the motor based on an input from the detection section so that the rotational speed of the drive shaft becomes constant.