JP2005111995A - Inkjet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and surely make printing both with and without right and left margins on sheets having the same widths, and further to reduce a part of image data discarded outside the right and left margins, with regard to one photograph image data. <P>SOLUTION: Ink receiving opening holes projecting outward from right and left sides are formed at parts of a platen corresponding to right and left sides of recording media having one or more predetermined sizes out of recording media fed in a sub-scanning direction on the platen. A controller is provided for each of the recording media having the predetermined sizes with a first operation mode for carrying out recording while developing recorded data in recording areas inside the right and left sides, and a second operation mode for carrying out recording while developing the same recorded data in recording areas which is outside the right and left sides of a recording medium of the same size, and at the same time, inside outer edges of the ink receiving opening holes. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus, and more particularly, to an ink jet recording apparatus having a function of executing recording to make the margins at the left and right ends of a recording material zero.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an ink jet recording apparatus that can execute printing with zero margins at the left and right ends of a recording material, there is a printer described in JP-A-8-169155 (Patent Document 1).
This printer is configured so that the main scanning range of the ink jet recording head can be set to a position outside the edge of the recording material in order to enable printing with zero left and right margins of the recording material. ing. Further, an ink collecting means for collecting the ejected ink droplets from the recording head at a position outside the edge of the recording material is provided.

JP-A-8-169155

  However, the printer is a printing machine that fills a recording material such as a tape without a gap, that is, a so-called solid printing machine. The problem is that the recording material is not transported on the edge of the tape or the like during solid coating printing, and the recording material to which the ink droplets ejected during solid coating printing adhere to the guide member or the like is conveyed. It is not polluted.

  Therefore, for example, it is possible to easily and reliably execute printing with left and right margins and printing without left and right margins on a sheet of the same size for a certain photographic image data. When printing without margins, the image data part that will be discarded outside the left and right edges of the paper is sufficiently reduced so that even in marginless printing, the image data can be used effectively without wasting as much as possible. No consideration is given to the technical demand to do. Further, in the printing of text data, it is necessary to avoid printing without left and right margins even if wrong, but the above-mentioned conventional example is not disclosed or suggested at all in this respect.

  In addition, the conventional ink collecting means can collect the ink droplets discarded outside the edge of the paper, but the edge portion of the paper is very slightly caused by floating ink mist generated from the discarded ink droplets. The problem of soiling is not considered at all. Since this floating ink mist is generated during ink flight, it is likely to occur when the ink flight distance is long. In addition, when the paper is placed on a screen mesh and conveyed at the portion facing the recording head, a part of the ink collides with the skeleton body constituting the mesh instead of the through-hole of the mesh screen. Floating mist is also generated. An ink jet recording apparatus capable of high-quality printing equivalent to a photograph has a problem that it is particularly susceptible to the quality deterioration due to the floating mist.

  One object of the present invention is to easily and reliably execute both printing with left and right margins and printing without left and right margins on a sheet of the same size for a certain photographic image data. When printing without left and right margins, the image data portion that will be discarded outside the left and right edges of the paper is sufficiently reduced so that even when printing without margins, image data can be recorded effectively without wasting as much as possible. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus which can be used.

  Still another object of the present invention is to reduce the occurrence of ink floating mist, so that the side portion of the recording material is less likely to be contaminated by the floating mist, that is, the high quality printing equivalent to a photograph is maintained in the side portion. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that can reduce the print quality.

  To achieve the above object, an ink jet recording apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention includes an ink jet recording head in which dot forming elements are arranged along the sub-scanning direction and reciprocated in the main scanning direction. The recording head is supported from below when the recording head is used to record on the recording material that is in a position facing the recording head and is intermittently conveyed in the sub-scanning direction, and the position relative to the recording head is defined. A platen that controls the intermittent transport of the recording material in the sub-scanning direction, the reciprocating movement of the recording head in the main scanning direction, and the ink ejection operation of the recording head based on recording data; The left and right sides on the platen portion corresponding to the left and right sides of one or two or more types of recording materials of a predetermined size among the recording materials conveyed in the sub-scanning direction. And an ink receiving opening formed in the sub-scanning direction so as to be longer than the range of the dot forming element, and the control unit is configured to record the recording target having a predetermined size. A first operation mode in which recording data is developed in a recording area inside the left and right sides of each of the materials, and a recording operation is executed; and outside the left and right sides of the recording material of the same size and each of the ink receivers A second operation mode for executing the recording operation by developing the same recording data in the recording area inside the outer edge of the opening hole for recording, and when performing recording without left and right margins on the recording material, Two operation modes are configured to be executed.

  According to the present invention, the control unit performs a recording operation by developing recording data in a recording area inside the left and right sides of each of the recording materials having a predetermined size. And a second operation mode for executing the recording operation by developing the same recording data in a recording area outside the left and right sides of the recording material of the same size and inside the outer edge of each ink receiving opening. Therefore, normal recording with left and right margins is executed by setting the first operation mode for a certain photographic image data to be recorded from now on the recording material of the same width. In the second operation mode, recording without left and right margins can be performed. That is, since the first and second operation modes are provided, both left and right margins can be easily and reliably recorded on a recording material having the same width with respect to a certain photographic image data. it can.

  Further, at this time, since the first operation mode and the second operation mode are determined for the recording material having a predetermined size, the left and right edges of the recording material are not recorded when recording is performed without left and right margins. It is easy to set the second mode so that the portion of the image data that will be discarded outside is sufficiently small. Therefore, even in marginless printing, the amount of image data to be discarded can be reduced, so that the image data can be effectively used for recording without being wasted as much as possible.

  The invention according to claim 2 is an ink jet recording head in which dot forming elements are arranged along the sub-scanning direction and reciprocated in the main scanning direction, and at a position facing the recording head. A recording material having a flat upper surface, and having a plurality of protrusions of the same protruding dimension arranged on the upper surface at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction, and intermittently conveyed in the sub-scanning direction. When recording with the recording head, a platen that supports the recording material from below by the flat top surfaces of the plurality of protrusions to define the position with respect to the recording head, and in the sub-scanning direction of the recording material A control unit for controlling the intermittent conveyance of the recording head, the reciprocating movement of the recording head in the main scanning direction, and the ink ejection operation of the recording head based on the recording data, and a flat portion on which the protrusion on the upper surface of the platen is not formed And the side run The platen upper surface portion corresponding to the left and right sides of one or two or more types of recording materials of a predetermined size among the recording materials conveyed in the direction protrudes outside the left and right sides. An ink receiving opening that is formed longer than the range of the dot forming element in the sub-scanning direction, and the control unit is configured to control the recording material for each of the recording materials having a predetermined size. A first operation mode in which recording data is developed in a recording area inside the left and right sides and a recording operation is executed; and outside the left and right sides of the same size recording material and outside the ink receiving opening holes A second operation mode in which the same recording data is developed in a recording area inside the edge and a recording operation is executed. When recording with no left and right margins is performed on the recording material, the second operation mode is executed. Be done Characterized in that it is configured urchin.

  According to the present invention, the recording material having a plurality of protrusions of the same protruding dimension disposed on the upper surface thereof at a predetermined interval in the main scanning direction and intermittently conveyed in the sub-scanning direction. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a platen that supports a recording material from below by flat top surfaces of the plurality of protrusions to define a position with respect to the recording head when recording with the recording head. In addition to the effects similar to those of the first aspect of the invention, by having the protrusions, cockling that normally occurs when applied to the ink can be regularly generated, so that the width direction of the recording material can be increased. The position of can be stabilized. Accordingly, when setting the recording area of the second mode, it is not necessary to consider the positional deviation of the recording material due to cockling, so that the recording area of the second mode can be reduced correspondingly and there is no margin. Image data discarded for recording can be further reduced.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the recording area of the second mode is 4.5 mm to a width of a recording material to be recorded. 5.5mm larger. As a result, it is possible to execute the recording without left and right margins without being affected by tolerances based on the design and manufacture of the conveyance path of the recording material.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the control unit moves when the recording head reciprocates in the main scanning direction. As the speed, the acceleration gradient and the deceleration gradient between the stop state and the constant speed state are set to be the same in the first mode and the second mode, and the movement distance in the constant speed state is the first mode in the second mode. It is set to increase almost equally on both the acceleration side and the deceleration side.

  Thereby, when the first operation mode and the second operation mode are provided, the control for reciprocating the recording head in the main scanning direction can be simplified. Furthermore, the throughput of recording execution can be optimized in each of the first operation mode and the second operation mode.

  Further, in the invention according to claim 5 of the present application, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, an ink absorbing material is disposed in the ink receiving opening hole, and the ink absorbing material is The upper surface of the ink receiving opening is disposed in the vicinity of the recording head side opening in the ink receiving opening.

  This makes it possible to shorten the flying distance of the ink droplets discarded outside the left and right sides of the recording material, and the ink absorbing material whose upper surface is located in the vicinity of the recording head side opening surface in the ink receiving opening hole. Therefore, the occurrence of floating mist can be greatly reduced because the trap is immediately captured and recovered.

  Further, in the invention according to claim 6 of the present application, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, an ink absorbing material is disposed in the ink receiving opening hole, and the ink absorbing material is The upper surface of the ink receiving opening is disposed in the vicinity of the recording head side opening in the ink receiving opening. Thereby, the same effect as that attained by the 5th aspect can be attained.

The invention according to claim 7 of the present application is the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the ink absorbing material is restricted from coming out to the head side at the opening edge of the hole on the head side. 1 is provided with a stopper.
According to the present invention, since the position of the upper surface of the ink absorbing material can be securely held by the first retaining member, it is possible to stably prevent the occurrence of floating mist. Further, it is possible to reliably reduce the risk of rubbing between the upper surface of the ink absorbing material and the recording material to be conveyed or rubbing with the recording material due to cockling.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the seventh aspect, the first retaining member is formed by a step provided at the opening edge on the head side of the hole. It is characterized by this. Accordingly, the first retaining member can be easily manufactured by integral molding or the like, and the structure can be simplified and the function as a retaining member can be exhibited.

  The invention according to claim 9 of the present application is the ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the hole is penetrated from the surface facing the recording head to the opposite side. It is characterized by that. With this penetrating structure, the ink absorbing material can be pushed into the ink receiving hole from the opposite side and loaded, and assembly is easy.

The invention according to claim 10 of the present application is the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the ink absorbing material is prevented from coming out in the opposite direction of the recording head into the through-hole. A second retainer is provided.
The second stopper prevents the ink absorbing material from slipping out in the opposite direction of the recording head, and the pair of the first stopper prevents the ink absorbing material from entering the ink receiving hole. Can be held firmly.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the tenth aspect, the second retaining member is a protrusion provided on the inner surface of the hole along the penetrating direction. It is characterized by being formed. With this protrusion structure, when the ink absorbing material is loaded into the ink receiving hole, it is sufficient to simply push the ink absorbing material. Further, the structure can be simplified to prevent the ink absorbing material from slipping out, and it can be easily manufactured by integral molding or the like.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the tenth aspect, the second retaining member is provided on an opening edge of the hole opposite to the recording head side opening. It is formed by the step part. With this stepped structure, the structure can be simplified and the ink absorber can be prevented from coming out firmly, and can be easily manufactured by integral molding or the like.

  The invention according to claim 13 of the present application is the ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the ink receiving opening hole is formed as a through-hole. An inclined portion provided to be inclined from the recording head side to the opposite side while maintaining the penetrating state in the opening hole, and an ink absorbing material laid and held on the inclined portion, To do.

  According to the present invention, when printing with zero margins on both the left and right sides of the recording material, the ink ejected from the recording head that protrudes outside both sides of the recording material is dot formation of the recording head. The ink directly enters the ink receiving through hole having an opening of a size that encloses the range of the element, and directly adheres to the ink absorbing member laid and held on the inclined portion provided in the through hole. Therefore, there is almost no occurrence of ink floating mist, and even if high-quality printing equivalent to a photograph is performed with the ink jet recording apparatus to make the left and right margins of the recording material zero, printing is performed on both the left and right sides of the recording material. There is almost no risk of quality degradation. Further, when the ink adhering to the ink absorbing material is accumulated to some extent due to the inclined structure, the ink flows down the inclined surface and is discharged from the ink receiving hole.

  The invention according to claim 14 is the ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the ink receiving opening hole is formed as a through-hole, An inclined portion that is provided so as to be inclined from the recording head side to the opposite side while maintaining the penetrating state in the opening hole, and spaced apart from each other so that a groove is formed along the inclined direction on the inclined portion. A plurality of groove-forming walls that are erected, and the top surface of the groove-forming wall is formed at a lower position that is separated from the opening surface of the through hole. It is.

  According to the present invention, as in the case of the invention described in claim 13, when printing with zero margins on both the left and right sides is performed on the recording material, the ink ejected from the recording head from both sides of the recording material. What protrudes to the outside directly enters the through hole for receiving the ink, which has an opening having a size surrounding the range of the dot forming element of the recording head. And the top surface reaches | attains a groove bottom part, being spaced apart from the said opening surface of the said through-hole, and being guided by the several groove | channel formation wall in a lower position. Accordingly, the groove forming wall at the lower position exhibits an ink capturing function similarly to the ink absorbing material, and almost no ink floating mist is generated. As a result, even if high-quality printing equivalent to a photograph is performed in which the left and right margins of the recording material are made zero by the ink jet recording apparatus, there is almost no possibility that the printing quality is deteriorated at the left and right sides of the recording material. Further, when the ink attached to the bottom of the groove accumulates to some extent due to the inclined structure, the ink flows down the inclined surface and is discharged from the ink receiving hole.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention for recording without left and right margins will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the schematic structure of the platen will be described based on the plan view of the platen of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.

  The platen includes a plurality of protrusions 14 that are in contact with the recording material 50 and spaced apart from each other in the main scanning direction of the recording head. These protrusions 14 are long in the paper conveyance direction. And has a flat top surface 10, and the top surface 10 defines a gap, that is, a paper gap, between the recording material 50 that is a printing sheet conveyed on the top surface in the sub-scanning direction and the recording head. It is formed to be. The leading edge of the printing paper sent from the upstream reaches the top surface 10 while being in contact with the upstream slope 11. Reference numeral 12 denotes a downstream slope of the protrusion 14.

  The platen is provided with through holes 1, 2, 3, 4 as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the printing paper is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction with one side positioned on the side where the through hole 1 is provided as a reference position, and the position of the other side of the paper changes depending on the paper width size. It is like that. The through holes 2, 3 and 4 are provided in the platen portion corresponding to the other side in accordance with the size of paper to be printed by the recording apparatus. In the present embodiment, the through holes 2, 3, 4 are provided using the space between the protrusions 14. An ink absorbing material 7 is loaded in each of the through holes 1, 2, 3, and 4. The details of the loading structure of these through holes 1, 2, 3, 4 and the ink absorbing material 7 will be described later. In FIG. 14, reference numeral 5 denotes a so-called flushing (discharge capacity recovery operation) hole, and reference numeral 6 denotes a recess.

  In the present embodiment, among the plurality of protrusions 14, the top surface 10 of the protrusion 14a disposed in the vicinity of both ends in the main scanning direction has a sub-scanning direction as compared with the other as shown in FIG. The tip end side of the is receded. This is formed in accordance with the size of the most commonly used printing paper in the printer, but the end of the paper when the printing paper of that size comes off the paper feed roller (not shown) and becomes a free end. This is to escape the deformation of the corner. The paper discharge roller 15 is composed of a pair of a drive roller 16 that is rotated by a drive source (not shown) and two types of driven rollers 17a and 17b, and discharges the printing paper while pinching it. .

  Next, the loading structure of the through holes 1, 2, 3, 4 and the ink absorbing material 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a plan view of a principal part of a platen of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 shows a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

  As described above, the platen scans an ink jet recording head (not shown) in which dot forming elements are arranged along the sub-scanning direction of the printing paper in the main scanning direction, and faces the recording head. When printing is performed on the printing paper, the printing paper is supported from below and the position relative to the recording head is defined. The through holes 1, 2, 3, and 4 are formed on the platen portion corresponding to the other side (opposite side of the reference side) of the printing paper of each size that is sub-scanned on the platen. Further, the ink receiving hole is formed as an ink receiving hole having an opening that is formed to protrude outward and is longer than the range of the dot forming element in the sub-scanning direction. Here, as shown in FIG. 1, the through holes 1, 2, 3, and 4 are provided between the adjacent protrusions 14b and 14c.

  An ink absorbing material 7 is disposed in the through holes 1, 2, 3 and 4, and the ink absorbing material 7 is an opening surface on the recording head side in the through holes 1, 2, 3 and 4. The upper surface is positioned below the opening surface and below the opening surface. In the present embodiment, the first stoppers 30, 31, 32 for restricting the ink absorbing material 7 from coming out to the head side are provided at the head side opening edges of the through holes 1, 2, 3, 4. It has been. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, the first retaining members 30, 31, and 32 are stepped portions 30, 31, and 32 provided at the head side opening edges of the through holes 1, 2, 3, and 4. 32 is formed at the same time as the integral molding of the platen. Note that the penetration of the tube through holes 1, 2, 3, 4 means that the platen is penetrated from the surface facing the recording head to the opposite side.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the through holes 1, 2, 3 and 4 are provided with a second stopper 8 for restricting the ink absorbing material 7 from slipping out in the opposite direction of the recording head. The second stopper 8 is formed by a pair of protrusions 8 provided along the penetration direction on the inner surfaces of the through holes 1, 2, 3, and 4, and the platen back surface side of the protrusion 8 is tapered. 9 is formed so that the ink absorbing material 7 can be easily loaded.

  Based on the above description, the configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus having no left and right margins will be described with reference to FIG. An ink jet recording head 51 (shown by imaginary lines) in which dot forming elements are arranged in the sub scanning direction and reciprocated in the main scanning direction, and is located at a position facing the recording head 51, and in the sub scanning direction. A platen 53 that supports the recording material 50 from below and defines the position relative to the recording head 51 when recording is performed on the recording material 50 (shown by phantom lines) intermittently conveyed to the recording head 51. And a controller 52 for controlling the intermittent conveyance of the recording material 50 in the sub-scanning direction, the reciprocating movement of the recording head 51 in the main scanning direction, and the ink ejection operation of the recording head 51 based on the recording data. And the left and right sides of the platen 53 corresponding to the left and right sides of one or two or more types of recording sheets of a predetermined size among the recording sheets conveyed in the sub-scanning direction on the platen 53 Respectively formed to protrude outward from each side, and the sub-scanning direction and a, an opening hole 1,2,3,4 for receiving ink, which is longer than the range of the dot-forming elements.

  The control unit 52 develops the recording data in the recording area inside the left and right sides of each of the recording materials 50 of a predetermined size (postcard size, A4 size, etc.) and executes a recording operation. The same recording data is developed in the first operation mode and in the recording area outside the left and right sides of the recording paper 50 of the same size and inside the outer edge 54 of each of the ink receiving opening holes 1, 2, 3, and 4. The second operation mode for executing the recording operation, and when the recording paper 50 performs recording without left and right margins, the second operation mode is executed.

  According to this configuration, the control unit 52 performs the recording operation by expanding the recording data in the recording area inside the left and right sides of each of the recording sheets 50 having a specified size. The same recording data is developed in the mode and the recording area outside the left and right sides of the recording material 50 of the same size and inside the outer edge 54 of each of the ink receiving opening holes 1, 2, 3, and 4. A second operation mode for executing the recording operation, and for a certain photographic image data to be recorded, the first operation mode is set for the recording material 50 having the same width. Thus, normal recording with left and right margins can be performed, and recording without left and right margins can be performed by setting the second operation mode. That is, since the first and second operation modes are provided, both left and right margins can be easily and surely recorded on a recording sheet 50 having the same size width for a certain photographic image data. it can.

Further, at that time, since the first operation mode and the second operation mode are determined for the recording material 50 of a size specified in advance, the left and right sides of the recording material 50 are left and right when recording is performed without left and right margins. It is easy to set the second mode so that the image data portion to be discarded outside the edge is sufficiently reduced. Therefore, even in marginless printing, the amount of image data to be discarded can be reduced, so that the image data can be effectively used for recording without being wasted as much as possible.
Here, the image data is used not only for printing but also for printing.

  Further, the present invention has a plurality of protrusions 14 of the same protruding dimension arranged on the upper surface at a predetermined interval in the main scanning direction, and the recording paper conveyed intermittently in the sub-scanning direction. An ink jet recording apparatus provided with a platen 53 that supports the recording material from below by the flat top surface 10 of the plurality of protrusions 14 and defines the position relative to the recording head 51 when recording with the recording head. In this case, by having the protrusions 14, cockling that normally occurs when applied to ink can be generated regularly, and the position of the recording material 50 in the width direction can be stabilized. Therefore, when setting the recording area of the second mode, it is not necessary to consider the positional deviation of the recording material 50 due to cockling, so that the recording area of the second mode can be reduced accordingly, and the blank space is increased. None The image data discarded for recording can be further reduced.

  Specifically, in the ink jet recording apparatus having the first operation mode and the second operation mode, the recording area of the second mode is 4.5 mm to a width of the recording material to be recorded. 5.5mm larger. As a result, it is possible to execute the left and right marginless recording with almost no influence of tolerances based on the design and manufacture of the conveyance path of the recording paper 50.

  Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus having the first operation mode and the second operation mode, the control unit 52 shows the moving speed when the recording head 51 reciprocates in the main scanning direction as shown in FIG. As described above, the acceleration gradient and the deceleration gradient between the stop state and the constant speed state are set to be the same in the first mode and the second mode, and the movement distance in the constant speed state is the first mode in the second mode. It is set to increase almost equally on both the acceleration side and the deceleration side. In FIG. 15, the vertical axis represents the moving speed of the carriage on which the recording head 51 is mounted, and the horizontal axis represents the operation region in the main scanning direction.

  Thereby, when the first operation mode and the second operation mode are provided, the control for reciprocating the recording head 51 in the main scanning direction can be simplified. Furthermore, the throughput of recording execution can be optimized in each of the first operation mode and the second operation mode. The speed pattern as shown in FIG. 16 or FIG. 17 may be used.

  Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus having the first operation mode and the second operation mode, the ink absorbing material 7 is disposed in the ink receiving opening holes 1, 2, 3, and 4, and The ink absorbing material 7 is disposed such that the upper surface thereof is positioned in the vicinity of the recording head side opening surface in the ink receiving opening holes 1, 2, 3, 4.

  As a result, the flying distance of the ink droplets discarded outside the left and right sides of the recording material 50 can be shortened, and in the vicinity of the recording head side opening surface in the ink receiving opening holes 1, 2, 3 and 4. Since the ink absorbing material 7 on which the upper surface is located is immediately captured and recovered, the generation of floating mist can be greatly reduced.

  FIGS. 5 to 8 show other embodiments of the present invention and correspond to FIGS. 1 to 4, respectively. In the present embodiment, the second retaining structure is formed by a pair of step portions 28 provided on the opening edge of the through holes 1, 2, 3 and 4 opposite to the recording head side opening. Yes. Since other configurations are the same as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  Next, another operation of the above embodiment will be described. According to the platen according to the present embodiment, the main scanning range of the ink jet recording head is set to the outside of the left and right edges of the recording material, and printing is performed with zero margins on the left and right edges of the recording material. In this case, the ink ejected from the recording head that protrudes outside the both sides of the recording material is the ink receiving hole 1 provided with an opening having a size surrounding the range of the dot forming element of the recording head. , 2, 3 and 4 and directly adheres to the ink absorbing material 7 whose upper surface is located in the vicinity of the entrance in the holes 1, 2, 3 and 4. Accordingly, there is almost no occurrence of ink floating mist. As described above, the platen according to the present embodiment can reduce the occurrence of floating mist of ink, thereby reducing the possibility that both sides of the recording material are contaminated by floating mist.

  In addition, if the upper surface of the ink absorbing material 7 is positioned lower than the recording head side opening surface in the holes 1, 2, 3, 4, the recording material to be conveyed rubs against the ink absorbing material 7. In addition, even if the recording material is waved and deformed due to a cockling phenomenon, the recording material and the upper surface of the ink absorbing material 7 can be prevented from rubbing.

  Also, the first stoppers 30, 31, 32 for restricting the ink absorbing material 7 from coming out to the head side at the head side opening edges of the holes 1, 2, 3, 4 are provided with the first Since the position of the upper surface of the ink absorbing material 7 can be firmly held by the 1 retaining stoppers 30, 31, 32, it is possible to stably prevent the occurrence of floating mist. Further, it is possible to reliably reduce the risk of rubbing between the upper surface of the ink absorbing material 7 and the recording material to be transported or rubbing with the recording material due to cockling.

  Further, the first retaining members 30, 31, 32 having a stepped structure provided at the opening edge on the head side can be easily manufactured by integral molding with the platen main body, etc. And can function as a retainer.

  In addition, if the through holes 1, 2, 3 and 4 are provided with the second stoppers 8 and 28 for restricting the ink absorbing material 7 from coming out in the opposite direction of the recording head, the second stoppers are provided. The stoppers 8 and 28 can surely prevent the ink absorbing material 7 from slipping out in the opposite direction of the recording head. The pair of the first stoppers 30, 31 and 32 allows the ink absorbing material 7 to be removed. The ink receiving holes 1, 2, 3, 4 can be securely held.

  The second stopper is formed by the ridge 8 provided on the inner surface of the holes 1, 2, 3 and 4 along the penetrating direction. When the ink 7 is loaded into the ink receiving holes 1, 2, 3, 4, it is sufficient to simply push the ink absorbing material 7. Further, the structure can be simplified to prevent the ink absorbing material 7 from slipping out, and it can be easily manufactured by integral molding or the like.

  Further, the second stopper is formed by the step portion 28 provided at the opening edge of the hole opposite to the recording head side opening. This step portion structure simplifies the structure and absorbs ink. The material 7 can be securely prevented from coming out, and can be easily manufactured by integral molding or the like.

  9 and 10 show still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a plan view of a principal part of the platen according to this embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. The platen according to the present embodiment includes an inclined portion 35 provided in the through holes 1, 2, 3, and 4 for receiving ink, while maintaining the through state and inclined from the recording head side to the opposite side. And a plate-shaped ink absorbing member 7 laid and held on the inclined portion 35. The ink absorbing material 7 is locked and fixed as shown by a claw 36 raised integrally from the inclined portion 35. Since other configurations are the same as those of the above-described embodiment, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  According to this embodiment, when printing is performed with zero margins on the left and right edges on the printing paper, the ink ejected from the recording head that protrudes outside the both sides of the recording material is the dot of the recording head. The ink receiving hole 1, 2, 3, 4 having an opening of a size that encloses the range of the forming element directly enters the through hole 1, 2, 3, 4, and the inclination provided in the through hole 1, 2, 3, 4 It directly adheres to the ink absorbing material 7 laid and held on the portion 35. Therefore, there is almost no occurrence of ink floating mist, and even if high-quality printing equivalent to a photograph is performed with the ink jet recording apparatus to make the left and right margins of the recording material zero, printing is performed on both the left and right sides of the recording material. There is almost no risk of quality degradation. Furthermore, when the ink adhering to the ink absorbing material 7 accumulates to some extent due to the inclined structure, the ink flows down the inclined surface and is discharged from the ink receiving holes 1, 2, 3 and 4.

  11 to 13 show still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a plan view of the principal part of the platen according to this embodiment. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XII-XII in FIG. FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line XIII-XIII in FIG. 11. The platen of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment is provided in the through holes 1, 2, 3, and 4 for receiving ink so as to be inclined from the recording head side to the opposite side while maintaining the through state. An inclined portion 45 and a plurality of groove forming walls 38 which are erected apart from each other so as to form a groove 48 along the inclined direction on the inclined portion 45, and the groove forming wall. The top surface of 38 is formed so as to be a lower position away from the opening surfaces of the through holes 1, 2, 3, and 4. Since other configurations are the same as those of the above-described embodiment, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  According to the present embodiment, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, when printing with zero margins on the left and right sides is performed on the recording material, the recording target is recorded in the ink ejected from the recording head. What protrudes outside the two sides of the material directly enters the through holes 1, 2, 3, 4 for receiving the ink provided with openings of a size that encloses the range of dot forming elements of the recording head. Then, the top surface of the through hole 1, 2, 3, 4 is spaced apart from the opening surface and is guided by a plurality of groove forming walls 38 at lower positions to reach the bottom of the groove 48. Accordingly, the groove forming wall 38 at the lower position exhibits an ink capturing function similarly to the ink absorbing material 7, and almost no ink floating mist is generated. As a result, even if high-quality printing equivalent to a photograph is performed in which the left and right margins of the recording material are made zero by the ink jet recording apparatus, there is almost no possibility that the printing quality is deteriorated at the left and right sides of the recording material. Further, when the ink attached to the bottom of the groove 48 accumulates to some extent due to the inclined structure, it flows down the inclined surface and is discharged from the ink receiving holes 1, 2, 3 and 4.

  By combining the ink jet recording apparatus that performs the recording without the upper and lower end margins described first and the ink jet recording apparatus that performs the recording without the upper and lower end lower left and right, recording without margins at both the upper and lower ends and the left and right ends. Can be performed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily and reliably execute both printing with left and right margins and printing without left and right margins on a sheet of the same size with respect to a certain piece of photographic image data. When printing without left and right margins, the portion of the image data that will be discarded outside the left and right edges of the paper is sufficiently reduced so that even when printing without margins, the image data can be used effectively for recording without wasting as much as possible. Can be.

  Furthermore, the occurrence of floating mist of ink is reduced, so that the side portion of the recording material is less likely to be contaminated by the floating mist. The possibility of a decrease can be reduced. That is, high-quality printing equivalent to a photograph can be maintained at both the left and right sides of the recording material.

1 is a plan view of a main part of a platen of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. II-II sectional view taken on the line of FIG. Rear view of the main part of the platen IV-IV sectional view taken on the line of FIG. The principal part top view of the platen of the inkjet recording device which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 5. Rear view of the main part of the platen VIII-VIII sectional view taken on the line of FIG. The principal part top view of the platen of the inkjet recording device which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. XX sectional drawing of FIG. The principal part top view of the platen of the inkjet recording device which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. XII-XII sectional view taken on the line of FIG. XIII-XIII sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a main part of a platen of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between the carriage operating area and the carriage speed when executing recording without left and right margins and recording with margins. FIG. 11 is another diagram showing the relationship between the carriage operating speed and the carriage speed when executing recording without left and right margins and recording with margins.

FIG. 7 is another diagram showing the relationship between the carriage operating speed and the carriage speed when performing recording without left and right margins and recording with margins.

Claims (2)

An ink jet recording head in which dot forming elements are arranged along the sub-scanning direction and reciprocated in the main scanning direction;
When recording with the recording head on the recording material intermittently conveyed in the sub-scanning direction at a position facing the recording head, the recording material is supported from below to define the position relative to the recording head. A platen,
A control unit that controls intermittent conveyance of the recording material in the sub-scanning direction, reciprocation of the recording head in the main scanning direction, and ink ejection operation of the recording head based on recording data;
The left and right sides of the platen corresponding to the left and right sides of one or two or more types of recording materials of a predetermined size among the recording materials conveyed in the sub-scanning direction on the platen An ink receiving opening that is formed so as to protrude outward and formed longer in the sub-scanning direction than the range of the dot forming element,
The control unit, for each of the recording material of a size specified in advance, a first operation mode for executing the recording operation by expanding the recording data in the recording area that is inside the left and right sides;
A second operation mode for executing the recording operation by developing the same recording data in a recording region outside the left and right sides of the recording material of the same size and inside the outer edge of each ink receiving opening. ,
An ink jet recording apparatus configured to execute the second operation mode when recording with no left and right margins on the recording material. An ink jet recording head in which dot forming elements are arranged along the sub-scanning direction and reciprocated in the main scanning direction;
Located at a position facing the recording head, has a flat upper surface, and has a plurality of protrusions of the same projecting dimension arranged at a predetermined distance from each other in the main scanning direction on the upper surface. A platen for defining a position relative to the recording head by supporting the recording material from below by flat top surfaces of the plurality of protrusions when recording on the recording material intermittently conveyed by the recording head; ,
A control unit that controls intermittent conveyance of the recording material in the sub-scanning direction, reciprocation of the recording head in the main scanning direction, and ink ejection operation of the recording head based on recording data;
The left and right sides of the recording material of one or two or more types specified in advance in the recording material transported in the sub-scanning direction are flat portions where the protrusions on the upper surface of the platen are not formed. An ink receiving opening hole formed on the upper surface of the platen corresponding to the side of the plate and extending outward from the left and right sides and longer than the range of the dot forming elements in the sub-scanning direction. ,
The control unit, for each of the recording material of a size specified in advance, a first operation mode for executing the recording operation by expanding the recording data in the recording area that is inside the left and right sides;
A second operation mode for executing the recording operation by developing the same recording data in a recording region outside the left and right sides of the recording material of the same size and inside the outer edge of each ink receiving opening. ,
An ink jet recording apparatus configured to execute the second operation mode when recording with no left and right margins on the recording material.

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