Patent ID: 6666600
Filing Date: 2003-12-23
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
A printer comprising:a head driving unit for moving a printing head along a platen in the direction of the width of paper that is orthogonal to a paper feed direction; a paper feed unit for feeding paper into a gap between the printing head and the platen; paper detecting sensors for detecting the position of the leading edge of the paper in a plurality of positions in the direction of the width of the paper when the paper is fed; a moving mechanism for moving the printing head toward and away from the platen; and a gap adjusting unit for driving the moving mechanism in the direction in which the printing head moves toward the platen to urge the printing head against the paper and for spacing the printing head from the platen a predetermined amount with the position serving as a reference, thereby adjusting the gap between the printing head and the platen; and a skew correcting unit for detecting the direction and amount of a tilt of the paper based on signals output by the paper detecting sensors when the paper is fed and for driving the head driving unit and the moving mechanism such that an edge of the paper in the direction of the width thereof is sandwiched between the printing head and the platen when the amount of the tilt exceeds a predetermined range and driving the paper feed unit such that the paper is rotated about the sandwiched portion depending on the direction of the tilt, thereby correcting the amount of the tilt such that it stays in the predetermined range.