JP2006035492A - Inkjet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a line type inkjet recording apparatus which makes maintenance costs low. <P>SOLUTION: This line type inkjet recording apparatus comprises a carrying mechanism part for carrying an object to be recorded, and a plurality of head units which are composed of a plurality of head modules with a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink. The line type inkjet recording apparatus performs recording in the stationary state of the head units during the recording on the object to be recorded. The arrangement of the nozzles of at least one head unit is different from that of the nozzles of another head unit. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording material by discharging ink.

  A line-type recording operation in one system of the ink jet recording apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a line-type inkjet recording apparatus, which includes an inkjet mechanism unit 100 and an inkjet control unit 200.

  An outline of the operation of the line type ink jet recording apparatus will be described. First, the number of head units is usually determined by the number of inks used. FIG. 6 shows an example in which two head units are mounted. For example, one is black ink and the other is red ink, which is used for two-color printing.

  Next, when receiving data from the host computer 210, the receiving process 220 stores the data in the receiving buffer 221. In the development process 222, based on the data in the reception buffer 221, data is rearranged in accordance with the nozzle configuration of the print head, print data is generated, and stored in the print data buffer 223. When the generation of the recording data is completed, the recording control process 224 activates the mechanism unit control device 230.

  When the mechanism control device 230 is activated, first, the head unit 1 and the head unit 2 are moved to predetermined positions by the first head unit vertical movement device 7 and the second head unit vertical movement device 3. The vertical direction is a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording material 9 and is a direction of an arrow Y in FIG.

  Thereafter, the recording material 9 set in the paper feeding device 4 is started to be conveyed by the recording material conveyance mechanism 6. At this time, the head unit 1 and the head unit 2 remain stopped. When conveyance of the recording medium 9 is started, ink is ejected from the nozzles of the print head in accordance with the recording data in synchronization with the conveyance of the recording medium 9 and recording on the recording medium 9 is executed. The If there is recording data continuously, the recording material 9 is repeatedly conveyed, and ink is ejected from the nozzles of the print head according to the recording data in synchronization with the conveyance of the recording material 9 as described above. Thus, recording on the recording material 9 is executed.

  As described above, in the case of the line method, during the recording operation, the head unit 1 and the head unit 2 are in a stopped state, and recording is executed while the recording material 9 moves. The recorded objects 9 are then conveyed to the paper discharge device 5 and stacked in order.

  Since it is necessary to eject ink from the print head in synchronization with the conveyance of the recording material 9, an encoder 8 is generally attached to the recording material conveyance mechanism 6, and a pulse signal from the encoder 8 is provided. Based on the above, the mechanism controller 230 controls the ink ejection timing.

  FIG. 6 shows a configuration in which there are two head units. The head unit 1 is paired with the first head unit vertical movement device 7 and the head unit 2 is paired with the second head unit vertical movement device 3. This pair can be added according to the number of head units required. The two head units have the same configuration, and the only difference is whether the ink used is red or black.

  The nozzle arrangement of the head unit will be described with reference to FIG.

  One head unit is composed of four head modules. Each head module has nozzles with a pitch Pn and is arranged at a pitch of Px in the recording material conveyance direction. As a result, the nozzle pitch in the direction perpendicular to the recording material conveyance direction is Py.

  FIG. 5 shows an example in which two head units are arranged at a pitch Pm. Printing is performed using black ink in the first head unit and red ink in the second head unit, and the head unit has exactly the same nozzle arrangement.

  By the way, in the ink jet recording apparatus, the head unit is an important part and is an expensive part. Moreover, since each head module is mounted with high accuracy, the head unit is normally replaced in units of head units. For this reason, there is a problem that not only the manufacturing cost is high, but also the maintenance cost is high when the head unit fails.

  In order to reduce the maintenance cost, there is a method in which the head unit can be replaced in units of head modules (see, for example, Patent Document 1). However, since high-accuracy position adjustment between the head modules is necessary, Realization is difficult.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-81049

  In the conventional line type ink jet recording apparatus, the head unit is composed of a plurality of head modules, and the entire head unit must be replaced when a failure occurs. Further, when performing multi-color printing with a plurality of head units, the same number of the same head units are mounted.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a line type ink jet recording apparatus which eliminates the drawbacks of the conventional line type ink jet recording apparatus and has a low maintenance cost.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has a transport mechanism unit for transporting a recording material, and a plurality of head units including a plurality of head modules having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink, In a line-type inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording while the head unit is stationary during recording on the recording material, the nozzle arrangement of at least one head unit is different from the nozzle arrangement of other head units. And

  In addition, the recording apparatus has a transport mechanism that transports the recording material, and a plurality of head units that are composed of a plurality of head modules having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink. During recording on the recording material, In a line-type inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording while the head unit is stationary, the print resolution of at least one head unit is different from the print resolution of other head units.

  In addition, the recording apparatus has a transport mechanism that transports the recording material, and a plurality of head units that are composed of a plurality of head modules having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink. During recording on the recording material, In a line-type inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording while the head unit is stationary, the print width of at least one head unit is different from the print width of other head units.

  Further, each head unit is installed so as to be movable to an arbitrary position in a direction perpendicular to the recording material conveyance direction.

  According to the present invention, since the number of head modules of one or more head units among a plurality of head units is smaller than other head units, the price of the entire head unit of the product and the maintenance cost of the head unit can be reduced. It becomes possible to suppress.

  The purpose of reducing the cost of the head unit was realized by means of reducing the number of head modules by changing the resolution or printing width.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 shows the ink jet mechanism 100 of the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the head unit.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the second head unit is composed of two head modules, and the head modules are arranged obliquely. The arrangement of the nozzles of the head module in the head unit is referred to as a nozzle arrangement, and in this example, the nozzle arrangement of the first head unit and the second head unit is different.

  The nozzle pitch in the vertical direction of the head module of the second head unit arranged obliquely is Py2, which is twice the Py of the first head unit. That is, the vertical print resolution of the second head unit is half that of the first head unit, but the print width is the same for both.

  The first head unit is moved to the printing position by the second head unit vertical movement device 7 and then prints with black ink on the conveyed recording material 9. The second head unit is moved to the printing position by the second head unit vertical direction moving device 3 and then prints with the red ink on the conveyed recording material 9. As described above, the first head unit and the second head unit have the same print width but different print resolutions. In general, in the case of spot color printing in which printing is performed with two colors, even if the resolution is low, for example, the black ink has a resolution of 600 dpi (dpi: Dot Per Inch) and the red ink has a resolution of 300 dpi. In this case, no practical problem occurs.

  Furthermore, since the printing position of the second head unit can be arbitrarily changed by the second head unit vertical direction moving device 3, the printing position with the red ink can be arbitrarily set, so that it is possible to deal with more applications.

  A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  2 shows the ink jet mechanism 100 of the second embodiment, and FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the head unit.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the second head unit is composed of two head modules, and the head modules are arranged obliquely. The nozzle pitch in the vertical direction of the head module arranged obliquely is Py, which is the same as Py of the first head unit. That is, the vertical print resolution of the second head unit is the same as that of the first head unit, but the print width H2 of the second head unit is half that of the first head unit.

  As in the first embodiment, the first head unit is moved to the printing position by the first head unit vertical direction moving device 7 and then prints with black ink on the conveyed recording material 9. The second head unit is moved to the printing position by the second head unit vertical direction moving device 3 and then prints with the red ink on the conveyed recording material 9. As described above, the resolutions of the first head unit and the second head unit are the same, but the printing width is different. In general, in the case of spot color printing in which printing is performed with two colors, the printing width of one color may be narrow. For example, when the black ink is printed with a width of 65 mm and the red ink is printed with a width of 30 mm, the configuration of this embodiment is sufficient.

  Furthermore, since the printing position of the second head unit can be arbitrarily changed by the second head unit vertical direction moving device 3, the printing position with the red ink can be arbitrarily set, so that it is possible to deal with more applications.

  In an ink jet recording apparatus that performs multi-color printing with a plurality of head units, it can be used for applications in which the maintenance cost of the head unit is a problem.

It is explanatory drawing of the printing mechanism part of a 1st Example. (Example 1) It is explanatory drawing of the printing mechanism part of a 2nd Example. (Example 2) It is a head unit structure explanatory drawing of a 1st Example. (Example 1) It is a head unit structure explanatory drawing of a 2nd Example. (Example 2) It is a conventional head unit configuration explanatory diagram. (Conventional example) It is explanatory drawing of the conventional block diagram. (Conventional example)

Explanation of symbols

Reference numeral 1 denotes a first head unit, 2 denotes a second head unit, 3 denotes a second head unit vertical movement device, 6 denotes a recording material transport mechanism, 7 denotes a first head unit vertical movement device, and 9 denotes a recording material. is there.

Claims (4)

  And a plurality of head units each including a plurality of head modules each having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink, and the head during recording on the recording medium. In the line-type inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording in a state where the unit is stationary, the nozzle arrangement of at least one head unit is different from the nozzle arrangement of other head units.   And a plurality of head units each including a plurality of head modules each having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink, and the head during recording on the recording medium. A line-type inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording while a unit is stationary. An inkjet recording apparatus, wherein a printing resolution of at least one head unit is different from a printing resolution of another head unit.   And a plurality of head units each including a plurality of head modules each having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink, and the head during recording on the recording medium. In a line-type inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording while a unit is stationary, an inkjet recording apparatus, wherein a print width of at least one head unit is different from a print width of another head unit. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each head unit is installed so as to be movable to an arbitrary position in a direction perpendicular to the recording material conveyance direction. 5.

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