Patent ID: 6015202
Filing Date: 2000-01-18
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
A recording apparatus comprising:a carriage for reciprocally moving a recording head along a recording medium;a driving power source for generating a first driving force;a plurality of first transmission means for being driven by the first driving force generated by said driving power source;second transmission means for engaging said driving power source and for releasably engaging one of said plurality of first transmission means, said second transmission means being moved by and corresponding to a position of said carriage and transmitting the first driving force from said driving power source to said plurality of first transmitting means;first control means for controlling switching of said second transmission means between two adjacent transmission means among said plurality of first transmission means in accordance with one of a plurality of predetermined sequences, each sequence having a plurality of operations, at least two of said operations overlapping in result;second control means for controlling switching of said second transmission means between two transmission means among said plurality of first transmission means which are not adjacent to each other in accordance with a combination of the plurality of predetermined sequences, of which an overlapped operation or operations are skipped;means for detecting whether said second transmission means has reached or not a predetermined position in a switching operation of said second transmission means from engaging one of said first transmission means to engaging another of said first transmission means;means for causing repetition of said switching operation when said second transmission means is not located at said predetermined position;a step motor for outputting a second driving force and reciprocally moving said carriage along a recording medium with the second driving force, said step motor being drivable in accordance with switching of an exciting phase;a first sensor detecting an angular position of said step motor;a second sensor detecting a position of said carriage in response to an output signal from said first sensor;means for driving said step motor by switching of the exciting phase according to predetermined exciting timings;carriage control means for controlling the movement of said carriage with the second driving force of said step motor driven by said driving means and a position of said carriage detected by said second sensor;third control means for controlling said second transmission means to be released from engagement with one of said plurality of first transmission means and then to return to engagement with said one of said plurality of first transmission means;means for adjusting an engaging condition of said second transmission means upon said second transmission means being released from engagement with said one of said plurality of first transmission means and then returning to engagement with said one of said plurality of first transmission means, so that said second transmission means is engaged with said one of said plurality of first transmission means in a same engaging condition as that before said second transmission means is released from said one of said plurality of first transmission means;a third sensor moving with said carriage; anda member to be detected by said third sensor, said member being disposed in a reciprocating path of said carriage and having an output used for a plurality of decisions.