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 carriage guide surface for guiding a carriage traveling in a main scan direction, and a main scan direction regulating unit and a sub-scan direction regulating unit which position a print medium, are provided on the same member.

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.

To more appropriately carry out printing at high precision even when a gap distance is large. A printing apparatus includes an inkjet head, a main scan driver, and a controller, where the controller sets a moving speed of the inkjet head according to a gap distance, and sets the moving speed in a main scanning operation so that an entering angle at a time of landing of the ink droplet on a medium becomes smaller than or equal to 45 degrees with respect to at least a position where the gap distance becomes the largest in a region of the medium to become a target of the main scanning operation.

There is provided a control system including: a motor, a moving apparatus, a detector, a driving circuit, and a controller. The controller executes: inputting, to the driving circuit, a first voltage command value up to a predetermined time; inputting, to the driving circuit, a second voltage command value since the predetermined time, and in accordance with a predetermined transfer function including an integral element; and setting an initial value of the integral element. The predetermined time is a time since the deceleration of the object has been started. When executing the switching from the first voltage command value to the second voltage command value, the controller sets a target position trajectory of the object up to the target stop position. Further, the controller sets the initial value of the integral element.

To more appropriately carry out printing at high precision even when a gap distance is large. A printing apparatus includes an inkjet head, a main scan driver, and a controller, where the controller sets a moving speed of the inkjet head according to a gap distance, and sets the moving speed in a main scanning operation so that an entering angle at a time of landing of the ink droplet on a medium becomes smaller than or equal to 45 degrees with respect to at least a position where the gap distance becomes the largest in a region of the medium to become a target of the main scanning operation.

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.

A printing apparatus includes: a printer that performs printing on a printing medium; and a sensor that outputs a detection signal while the printing apparatus moves relative to the printing medium.

The printing apparatus determines whether the sensor is above a first surface or above a second surface of the printing medium, based on the detection signal output from the sensor, the first surface being a surface on which a moving amount of the printing apparatus with respect to the printing medium is acquired, and the second surface being a surface on which the moving amount is not acquired, and if the sensor is determined to be above the second surface, controls printing on the printing medium by the printer according to an estimated value of the moving amount with respect to the printing medium.

An inkjet printer includes a carriage motor that moves a carriage, a carriage driving part that drives the carriage motor, a control value calculating part that calculates a total control value (Wt) composed with a control value for a feedback control and a control value for a feedforward control, which are respectfully referred as a feedback control value (Wb) and a feedforward control value (Wf), and an abnormality judging part that judges whether an abnormality has occurred to the carriage movement based on whether a proportional component (Wp) of the feedback control value has exceeded a threshold value.