There is provided an ink-jet printer which includes a head, a carriage, an encoder having a scale and a sensor, a memory, and a controller. The controller executes judging whether or not a recording medium is positioned at an area that can face the carriage, and detecting an abnormal position, and printing an image on a recording medium, and comparing a velocity parameter value acquired and a first threshold value, when the carriage is at a position other than the abnormal position, and comparing the velocity parameter value acquired and a second threshold value corresponding to a velocity slower than the first threshold value, when the carriage is at the abnormal position.

In an image forming apparatus, a carriage mounts a recording head for discharging droplets, and moves in a main scan direction. A guide member slidably guides the carriage. An encoder scale is arranged along the main scan direction. An encoder sensor reads the encoder scale. The carriage includes a head mounting part for mounting the recording head, and a sensor attaching part for attaching the encoder sensor.

The sensor attaching part is provided so as to be extended from the head mounting part. The encoder scale is arranged at a location which the encoder sensor can read. A partition member is provided to separate the head mounting part from the sensor attaching part in the carriage. The head mounting part is arranged in a first space, and the sensor attaching part and the encoder scale are arranged in a second space separated from the first space by the partition member.

A printer has a carriage being movable between a first end and a second end of a reciprocating path; and a driving force transmitting path selecting mechanism provided at the second end of the reciprocating path. The selecting mechanism has: a common driving force outputting member; a plurality of force receiving members; a selecting member; and a position retainer for keeping the position of the selecting member. The selecting member connects the force outputting member to one of the plurality of force receiving members, and moves in association with the carriage when the carriage moves in a vicinity of the second end in a first direction extending from the first end to the second end. The position retainer keeps the position of the selecting member when the carriage moves in a second direction extending from the second end to the first end. The force receiving member connected to the force outputting member via the selecting member is selected in accordance with a movement of the carriage along the reciprocating path.

A printing apparatus includes a printhead on a movable carriage; an operating unit operating by a driving force of a driving source; a transmitting unit being displaced by the driving force between a position where the transmitting unit transmits the driving force to the operating unit and a non-transmitting position; a movable member arranged on a moving path of the carriage; a restricting member being displaced, in coordination with a displacement of the movable member, between a position where the displacement of the transmitting unit is restricted and a non-restricting position; and a selecting member provided between the movable member and the restricting member. The selecting member is displaced between a position where the movable member and the restricting member are coordinated with each other by the selecting member and a non-coordinating position.

A printer includes a platen roller configured to feed recording paper by nipping the recording paper with a thermal head; a frame which includes a shaft support portion configured to support the platen roller so that the platen roller is rotatable about an axis direction thereof; a drive source arranged on an inner side of the frame in the axial direction with respect to the shaft support portion; a planetary gear mechanism which is arranged on the inner side of the frame in the axial direction with respect to the shaft support portion and is configured to reduce power of the drive source; and a power transmission mechanism which is arranged on an outer side of the frame in the axial direction with respect to the shaft support portion and is configured to transmit power of the planetary gear mechanism to the platen roller.

A conveyance device includes a conveyor to convey a conveyed object, a head unit to perform an operation on the conveyed object, a sensor to obtain surface data of the conveyed object, provided for each head unit, and at least one processor. The processor is configured to calculate a first detection result including at least one of a position, a speed of movement, and an amount of movement of the conveyed object based on the surface data, set a detection area based on the first detection result, calculate a second detection result using the detection area according to the first detection result. The processor is further configured to control operation of the at least one head unit based on the second detection result.

A printer has first and second print sections 100, 200 joined along a line 12, and a controller 50. Each section contains a printhead 120; 220 travelling on a track 110; 210. A frame or frame part 104 supports the track and is driven on wheels by a motor, so that the printer can travel autonomously along a horizontally extending step edge, printing as it goes. It further includes a sensor for detecting the proximity of the vertical face 5v of the step. The printer can thus be set to print advertising, for instance, on the steps of a stadium.

A conveyor includes a conveyance roller to convey a conveyed object, a pair of roller supports opposing to each other and supporting both ends of the conveyance roller in an axial direction thereof, a position sensor to detect a position of the conveyed object, and a sensor support supporting the position sensor. Each of the pair of roller supports has an insertion hole into which the sensor support is inserted. The insertion hole determines a position of the sensor support in a direction intersecting an insertion direction of the sensor support. The sensor support includes a positioning portion determining the position of the sensor support with respect to at least one of the pair of roller supports. The positioning portion determines the position of the sensor support in the insertion direction, a direction opposite to the insertion direction, and a rotational direction about an axis along the insertion direction.

A scanning inkjet printing method comprises arranging a recording medium on a print surface; moving a carriage supporting at least one inkjet print head over the recording medium on the print surface in a scanning direction, while image-wise applying droplets of a liquid to the recording medium to form a first swath of printed dots on the recording medium; moving the recording medium and the carriage relative to each other in a transport direction, wherein the transport direction is transverse to the scanning direction; moving the carriage over the recording medium on the print surface in the scanning direction, while image-wise applying droplets of the liquid to the recording medium to form a second swath of printed dots on the recording medium; detecting a position of the first swath; determining a sub-carriage movement relative to the carriage in response to the detected position of the first swath to position the second swath relative to the first swath, wherein the sub-carriage is supported by the carriage and the movement comprises an amount of translation in the transport direction transverse to the scanning direction and an amount of rotation around a rotation axis, wherein said rotation axis is perpendicular to the print surface; and moving the sub-carriage in accordance with the determined amount of translation and the determined amount of rotation. Thus, the first and the second swath may be positioned accurately adjacent to reduce visibility of stitching inaccuracies between adjacent swaths.

A printer includes: a processor; a print head configured to perform printing in accordance with input print data; and a scanner configured to acquire an image of a material to be printed. The processor is configured to detect at least one line extending in a first direction on the material to be printed from the image acquired by the scanner when moving of the printer in a moving direction in which the scanner is on the front side of the print head, and set a print area along the first direction based on the line on the material to be printed, and the print head prints in the print area.