Seiko Epson Corporation

Hiroshi Shirotori

Katsuhiko Nishizawa

Tomoyuki Nakano

Katsuhito Suzuki

Shigeki Mizuno

Katsumi Yamada

Osamu Koshiishi

Motoyuki Niimura

Hisashi Watamura

Kyoui Ko

Keiichi Kubota

Tadahiro Mizutani

Tomio Sonehara

Yasuhiko Yoshihisa

Yoshiyuki Ozawa

Kanako Ide

Hitoshi Toyoshima

Masahiko Moriyama

Teturo Takahashi

Tomonori Yamashita

A recording apparatus includes a carriage including a recording head that performs recording on a medium, the carriage being movable in a first direction and a second direction opposite to the first direction, and a control portion that controls the recording head and the carriage. The carriage has a first disposal section in which a first cartridge that supplies a liquid to the recording head is disposed and a second disposal section in which a second cartridge that does not supply a liquid to the recording head is disposed. The first cartridge includes a first information holder that holds information about the first cartridge. The second cartridge includes a second information holder that holds information about the second cartridge. The control portion executes a control of performing recording by using only the liquid contained in the first cartridge on the basis of the information held by the second information holder.

Recording apparatus

A printer includes a liquid ejection section and a drive control section. The liquid ejection section is configured to eject a plurality of types of liquids and form dots having different sizes. The drive control section is configured to control a dot size of the liquids to be ejected by the liquid ejection section based on image data. When an image including a three-dimensional image in which a plurality of linear images are arrayed is printed on a medium, the liquid ejection section is configured to eject the liquids, at least in an end section area in an array direction of the linear images in a print area of the image, under a setting in which an ejection ratio of relatively small dots is set lower than in an inner area that is positioned more inward than the end section area.

Printer and program

An image generation method for generating an image, which is printed on a medium arranged so as to face a lens layer having a plurality of lenses and includes a three-dimensional image and a two-dimensional image, includes performing lossy compression for the two-dimensional image in a direction in which light focusing of the lenses occurs and magnifying the two-dimensional image in the direction in which the light focusing of the lenses occurs after the lossy compression for the two-dimensional image has been performed.

Image generation program and printer for printing composite image on a medium arranged so as to face a lens layer having a plurality of lenses

A virtual displaying method of a three-dimensional image for displaying at least one image of a plurality of images configuring a virtual three-dimensional image providing a three-dimensional visualization through a lens layer having a plurality of lenses includes applying a deterioration processing to the at least one image, and displaying, in a display section, an obtained image by the deterioration processing.

Three-dimensional image program and printer

A lens sheet is provided with a lens layer which is formed by arranging lenses, which extend in a y direction as a first direction, in a plurality of lines in an x direction as a second direction which is a direction which is orthogonal to the first direction, and an ink absorbing layer which configures a surface on the opposite side with regard to a surface which is configured by the lens layer, where the thickness of an edge which is an end surface on one side of the lens layer in the x direction is thinner than the thickness of an edge which is an end surface on the other side. The printer performs recording from the edge which is a reference side toward the edge on the opposite side.

To provide a display technique for presenting to a user a visual effect of an image obtained when printed onto a lenticular sheet in a state that more closely conforms to the actual circumstances, a print apparatus is provided with: an image creating means for creating a multi-viewpoint image formed by arranging side by side in sequential order image strips each created from a plurality of mutually different original images; a printing means for printing the multi-viewpoint image by forming side by side print dots made of a recording material on a lenticular sheet having a lenticular lens; and an image displaying means for displaying a simulation image simulating the multi-viewpoint image seen via the lenticular lens; the image displaying means displaying a simulation image visually reflective of cross-talk arising due to overlapping of the print dots at a boundary between the mutually adjacent image strips.

Print apparatus and image display method

A printer () comprises a motor driver () for driving a carriage motor () and a paper feed motor (). The motor driver () has a thermal shutdown circuit (). If internal temperature T of the motor driver exceeds threshold value Ta, the thermal shutdown circuit shuts down the power of the motor driver. The motor driver has an internal temperature detection circuit (). If the internal temperature T exceeds threshold value Tb (&#x3c;Ta) before thermal shutdown processing operates, the internal temperature detection circuit outputs a HW signal. A CPU () executes heat generation stop processing based on the HW signal and controls the motor driver to stop the carriage motor and the paper feed motor for a predetermined time.

IC chip, print apparatus, and heat generation warning method

In a head drive circuit for an impact dot printer which performs printing by driving a print wire, a DC power source supplies a power source voltage. A switching element is on/off controlled to apply the power source voltage to a head coil for a predetermined time period. A voltage regulator converts an input voltage having a value higher than the power source voltage into an output voltage having a value as substantially same as the power source voltage. A voltage introducer inputs an inductive voltage, generated in the head coil when the switching element is turned off, into the voltage regulator as the input voltage. A voltage returner feeds back the output voltage of the voltage regulator to the DC power source.

Head drive circuit for impact dot printer

For a print head in an impact dot printer, a drive transistor is connected in series to a head coil that drives a print wire, and a pulse is used to turn the drive transistor on and off. Thus, the drive current i is supplied to the head coil to drive the print wire. The input end of a DC/DC converter is connected to the juncture of the head coil and the drive transistor , and the output end of the DC/DC converter is connected to the juncture of a power source and the head coil . The DC/DC converter clamps, at a constant level, e.g., 90V, the inductive electromotive force of a high voltage that is generated by the head coil when the drive transistor is rendered off. Then, the DC/DC converter transforms the clamped voltage to a voltage equivalent to the voltage level of the power source , e.g., 35V. As a result, instead of energy being wasted by the transistor , the energy accumulated by the head coil is returned to the power source and can again be employed, while the input voltage of the DC/DC converter is maintained at a constant level by an initial charger

In a control apparatus for a pulse motor, both a smooth acceleration property and a stable constant speed operation characteristic are realized in a process wherein the motor starts to run and then is accelerated to enter a constant speed operating state. A target value for the rotor phase, and motor speeds at N different phase switching times during an acceleration period of the pulse motor are determined in advance. Then, phase control values (for conducting respective phase switchings when the rotor phase reaches the target phase of each phase switching) and speed control values (for conducting respective phase switchings so that the motor speed at each phase switching further approaches a target speed) are integrated with each other in accordance with a predetermined weighting function, and then executed. In an early stage of acceleration, the weight of the phase control predominates. As the motor speed increases, the speed control is weighted more and more heavily relative to the phase control. When the motor speed reaches the target speed for constant speed operation in a final stage of acceleration, only the phase control is once more conducted exclusively and only once, so that the rotor phase at a phase switching time is merged into the target phase switching phase, thereby achieving constant speed operation.

Control apparatus for a pulse motor

An impact dot printer designed to reduce noise, including a first cover, a second cover, and an overlap portion therebetween. The first cover is located above a print section, and may include sound wave reflecting plates, sheet guide plates, and a sound absorbing member, each reflecting plate, each sheet guide plate, and the sound absorbing member being arranged close to the print section. The second cover is rotatable relative to the first cover and forms a printed sheet discharge path together with the first cover. The second cover also has sound wave reflecting plates and sheet guide plates. Each sheet guide plate is designed to be projected farther from the associated cover than the corresponding reflecting plate on said cover. The distance between adjacent sheet guide plates is made smaller than the width of the smallest sheet to be used in the printer. The overlap portion between the first and second covers is arranged so that essentially no opening is provided between the first and second covers when viewed from the top or side.

Impact dot printer with noise suppression

In a serial impact printer, a printing head having an impact wire pin array of two arrangement lines is mounted on a carriage in such a way that the pin arrangement lines are inclined by an angle .theta. with respect to the virtual vertical direction. The respective wire pins in the array are driven at timings different delay time by delay time according to the inclination angle .theta.. The control circuit for determining the drive timings comprises a circuit for turning on the respective wire pins at the delay time intervals and a circuit for turning off the respective wire pins in sequence at the delay time intervals after a predetermined time has elapsed. It is desirable that the inclination angle .theta. satisfies the following formula:

Printing head and its drive timing control circuit for impact printer

The disclosed invention achieves a proper speed control of a sheet feeding motor for a serial printer that uses an astable power supply with a simple operation irrespective of variations in power supply voltage. The invention provides a method of and an apparatus for controlling the frequency of a sheet feeding pulse motor for a printer in accordance with the power supply voltage during sheet feeding. The apparatus of the invention is composed of a sheet feeding motor controller for use in a printer, the controller controlling a driving signal used to drive a motor in accordance with the level of a printer power supply voltage within the printer, the controller includes a device for detecting a power supply voltage; a first memory device for storing information representing the characteristic voltage restoration curve of the printer power supply; a second memory device for storing information representing the relationship between a rotational speed of the motor and the plurality of voltages making up the characteristic printer power supply restoration curve; a device for estimating a current power supply voltage on the characteristic restoration curve from the information stored in the first memory device; a device for reading a rotational speed from said second memory device corresponding to the current power supply voltage estimated by said estimating means; and a device for changing the speed of the motor in accordance with the read rotational speed.

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Nagano, Japan

Hiroshi Shirotori