Handheld recording device, recording device position detection method, and recording medium

• US 9,597,896 B2
• Filed: 01/08/2016
• Issued: 03/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Ikeda, Naoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Huffman, Julian
• Assistant Examiner(s): Polk, Sharon A
• Application Number:
  US14/991,190
• Publication Number:
  US 20160214375A1
• Time in Patent Office: 438 Days
• Field of Search: 347/14, 347/19, 347/109
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/36 for portability , i.e. hand-held printers or laptop printers B41J3/4075 takes precedence

Abstract

A handheld recording device includes a recording head, at least two navigation sensors arranged at a predetermined mounting distance, a timing generating circuit to generate a timing signal while the recording device is scanning a recording medium, a controller to determine position information of the recording device, and a drive circuit to drive the recording head to eject ink to perform recording on the recording medium using the position information. The controller reads output values of the two navigation sensors every time the timing signal is generated, determines whether the output values include noise, removes noise from the output values when it is determined that at least one of the output values includes noise, and calculates an amount of movement of the recording head to determine the position information based on the output values from which noise has been removed.

Claims

1. A handheld recording device comprising:

a recording head including a plurality of nozzles;

at least two navigation sensors arranged at a predetermined mounting distance in a direction in which the plurality of nozzles are arranged;

a timing generating circuit configured to generate a timing signal with a predetermined sampling period while the handheld recording device is scanning a recording medium;

a controller configured to

read output values of the two navigation sensors every time the timing signal is generated,

determine whether the output values include noise based on the output values and the mounting distance between the two navigation sensors,

remove noise from the output values when it is determined that at least one of the output values includes noise,

calculate an amount of movement of the recording head from a reference point to determine position information of the recording device, based on the output values from which noise has been removed; and

calculate a distance (Ls) between the two navigation sensors based on the read output values read from the two navigation sensors, and the mounting distance (L), and

determine that the output values include no noise when a difference (|L−

Ls|) between the calculated distance (Ls) and the mounting distance (L) is less than or equal to a noise tolerance, and determine that at least one of the output values includes noise when the difference (|L−

Ls|) exceeds the noise tolerance; and

a drive circuit configured to drive the plurality of nozzles to eject ink to perform recording on the recording medium in accordance with image data and the determined position information.

2. The handheld recording device according to claim 1, wherein, when the controller determines that at least one of the output values includes noise, the controller rejects both of the output values to remove noise from the output values.

3. The handheld recording device according to claim 1, wherein, when the controller determines that at least one of the output values includes noise, the controller corrects both of the output values to remove noise from the output values.

4. The handheld recording device according to claim 1, wherein, when the difference (|L−

Ls|) exceeds the noise tolerance, the controller determines that at least one of the read output values that exceeds an average of the output values having the difference (|L−

Ls|) exceeding the noise tolerance includes noise.

5. The handheld recording device according to claim 1, wherein the controller replaces the at least one output value determined to include noise with an immediately-preceding output value determined not to include noise in prior sampling.

6. The handheld recording device according to claim 1, wherein the controller replaces at least one output value determined to include noise with an average of output values determined not to include noise obtained in a predetermined number of sampling times.

7. The handheld recording device according to claim 1, wherein the controller sets the noise tolerance and a noise correction threshold, the noise correction threshold being greater than the noise tolerance, and

the controller rejects both of the read output values read from the two navigation sensors when the difference (|L−

Ls|) exceeds the noise tolerance and is less than or equal to the noise correction threshold, and corrects the read output values when the difference (|L−

Ls|) exceeds the noise correction threshold.

8. The handheld recording device according to claim 1, wherein, when the controller successively determines that an output value includes noise for one of the navigation sensors for a predetermined number of times, the controller performs at least one of:

notifying a user of an error; and

notifying a user of an error and stopping a recording operation being performed by the recording device.

9. The handheld recording device according to claim 1, wherein, when a number of sampling times being performed reaches a predetermined number of sampling times, the controller is configured to

calculate a position function using a least squares method by using the output values determined not to include noise,

calculate corrected position information using the position function, and

using the corrected position information, calculate amounts of movement of the recording head from the reference point for a time period until the number of sampling times being performed reaches the predetermined number of sampling times, to determine the position information of the handheld recording device.

10. A method of detecting a position of a handheld recording device, the method comprising:

generating a timing signal with a predetermined sampling period while the handheld recording device is scanning a recording medium;

reading output values of at least two navigation sensors of the handheld recording device every time the timing signal is generated, the two navigation sensors being arranged at a predetermined mounting distance;

determining whether the output values include noise based on the output values and the mounting distance between the two navigation sensors;

removing noise from the output values when it is determined that at least one of the output values includes noise;

calculating an amount of movement of a recording head of the recording device from a reference point to determine position information of the recording device, based on the output values from which noise has been removed; and

calculating a distance (Ls) between the two navigation sensors based on the read output values read from the two navigation sensors, and the mounting distance (L), and

determining that the output values include no noise when a difference (|L−

Ls|) between the calculated distance (Ls) and the mounting distance (L) is less than or equal to a noise tolerance, and determining that at least one of the output values includes noise when the difference (|L−

Ls|) exceeds the noise tolerance; and

driving a plurality of nozzles of the recording head to eject ink to perform recording on the recording medium in accordance with image data and the determined position information.

11. A non-transitory recording medium which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform a method of detecting a position of a handheld recording device, the method comprising:

generating a timing signal with a predetermined sampling period while the handheld recording device is scanning a recording medium;

reading output values of at least two navigation sensors of the handheld recording device every time the timing signal is generated, the two navigation sensors being arranged at a predetermined mounting distance;

determining whether the output values include noise based on the output values and the mounting distance between the two navigation sensors;

removing noise from the output values when it is determined that at least one of the output values includes noise;

calculating an amount of movement of a recording head of the recording device from a reference point to determine position information of the recording device, based on the output values from which noise has been removed; and

calculating a distance (Ls) between the two navigation sensors based on the read output values read from the two navigation sensors, and the mounting distance (L), and

determining that the output values include no noise when a difference (|L−

Ls|) between the calculated distance (Ls) and the mounting distance (L) is less than or equal to a noise tolerance, and determining that at least one of the output values includes noise when the difference (|L−

Ls|) exceeds the noise tolerance; and

driving a plurality of nozzles of the recording head to eject ink to perform recording on the recording medium in accordance with image data and the determined position information.