JP2009018535A - Liquid discharge apparatus, its control method, and program used for it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress deterioration of print quality even when a nozzle malfunctions in a line-head-type liquid discharge apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A vibrating element is disposed so that the line head 30 can be vibrated in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of recording paper. When printing is ordered, print data is divided in one-line unit, the divided print data is shifted so that the cycle and the amplitude of the vibrations of the line head 30 caused by the vibrating element are the same and in the opposite phases, and printing is carried out by discharging ink droplets while vibrating the line head 30 by the vibrating element. As a result, even when part of numerous nozzles of the line head 30 is malfunctioned, dot skipping can be dispersed, and the dot skipping can be obscured. As a result, deterioration of print quality caused along with clogging of the nozzles can be suppressed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejection apparatus, a control method therefor, and a program used therefor, and more specifically, a liquid ejection apparatus that ejects liquid onto a target to form dots, a control method for the liquid ejection apparatus, and a control method for the liquid ejection apparatus The present invention relates to a program for realizing one or more computers.

Conventionally, as a liquid ejecting apparatus, in a serial head type liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects ink droplets from a plurality of nozzles with head scanning, it is determined whether or not ink droplets are ejected from nozzles to be inspected. An operating nozzle that can eject ink droplets and a non-operating nozzle that cannot eject ink droplets are determined, and when a non-operating nozzle is detected, a dot to be recorded by the non-operating nozzle is recorded using another operating nozzle. Has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this apparatus, when nozzle clogging is detected, complementary printing is performed with a nozzle that is not clogged, so that a high-quality image without missing dots can be printed.
WO 00/38927 A1

  By the way, in addition to the above-described serial head type liquid ejection device with head scanning, a number of nozzles corresponding to the width of the recording paper are arranged in a line to form a line head, and recording without head scanning is performed. A line head type liquid ejecting apparatus that performs recording in the width direction on a sheet at a time has also been proposed. Since this line head type liquid ejection device does not involve scanning of the head, other normal nozzles that are not clogged even if some of the nozzles arranged in a line are clogged. Complementary printing cannot be performed. Therefore, in such a line head type liquid ejection device, a new measure against nozzle clogging is required.

  The main purpose of the control method of the liquid ejection apparatus and the program used for the liquid ejection apparatus of the present invention is to make it possible to form dots with higher quality even if defective nozzles occur in the line head type liquid ejection apparatus.

  The control method of the liquid ejection apparatus of the present invention and the program used therefor employ the following means in order to achieve the main object described above.

The liquid ejection device of the present invention is
A liquid ejection apparatus that ejects liquid to a target to form dots,
Conveying means for conveying the target;
A line head in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a line so as to cover the width of a target of a predetermined size;
Vibrating means for vibrating the line head in a direction different from the conveying direction of the conveying means;
When image data is received and dot formation is instructed, the image data is shifted with vibrations in the opposite phase to the vibration of the line head by the vibration means, and the target is transported and the transported target is And a control means for controlling the transport means, the line head, and the vibration means so that dots are formed by discharging liquid from a plurality of nozzles of the line head with the vibration of the line head. And

  In the liquid ejection apparatus according to the present invention, the apparatus includes a vibrating unit that vibrates the line head in a direction different from the target conveyance direction. When the image data is received and the formation of dots is instructed, the vibrating unit The image data is shifted with the vibration of the phase opposite to the vibration of the line head, and the target is transported, and the liquid is ejected from the nozzles of the line head with the vibration of the line head to the transported target to form dots. The conveying means, the line head, and the vibrating means are controlled as described above. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a portion where dots are not formed linearly in the target transport direction or the occurrence of a portion where the dots are not uniform, and it is possible to form dots with higher image quality. Here, “the vibration of the phase opposite to the vibration of the line head” includes the vibration of the opposite phase to the vibration of the line head itself, and the landing position of the liquid ejected from the nozzle of the line head is expected. Also included are vibrations that are out of phase with the vibrations.

  In such a liquid ejection apparatus of the present invention, the vibration means may be formed so as to vibrate in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction of the target. In this aspect of the liquid ejection apparatus of the present invention, the vibrating means shifts two or more dots adjacent in the transport direction recorded by the same nozzle of the line head in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction. It may be formed so as to vibrate with amplitude. In this way, defective dots can be dispersed more and dots with higher image quality can be formed.

  Furthermore, in the liquid ejection apparatus of the present invention, the vibration means may be formed so as to vibrate with a multiple cycle of the time required to transport the target by one dot. In this way, it is possible to form dots with higher image quality.

  In the liquid ejection apparatus of the present invention, the vibrating means may be an electrostrictive vibrator or a magnetostrictive vibrator.

The method for controlling the liquid ejection apparatus of the present invention includes:
A conveying means for conveying a target, a line head in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a line so as to cover the width of a target of a predetermined size, and a vibration for vibrating the line head in a direction different from the conveying direction of the conveying means And a liquid ejection apparatus control method for ejecting liquid to a target to form dots.
When image data is received and dot formation is instructed, the image data is shifted with vibrations in the opposite phase to the vibration of the line head by the vibration means, and the target is transported and the transported target is The conveyance means, the line head, and the vibration means are controlled so that dots are formed by discharging liquid from a plurality of nozzles of the line head with the vibration of the line head.

  According to the control method of the liquid ejection apparatus of the present invention, the apparatus is configured by including the vibration unit that vibrates the line head in a direction different from the target transport direction, and image data is received and dot formation is instructed. When the image data is shifted with the vibration of the phase opposite to the vibration of the line head by the vibration means, the target is transported and the liquid is ejected from a plurality of nozzles of the line head with the vibration of the line head to the transported target. Then, the conveying means, the line head, and the vibrating means are controlled so that dots are formed. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a portion where dots are not formed linearly in the target transport direction or the occurrence of a portion where the dots are not uniform, and it is possible to form dots with higher image quality.

  The program of the present invention is for causing one or more computers to realize each step of the above-described control method of the liquid ejection apparatus. This program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium (for example, hard disk, ROM, FD, CD, DVD, etc.), or from a computer via a transmission medium (communication network such as the Internet or LAN). It may be distributed to another computer, or may be exchanged in any other form. If this program is executed by a single computer or if each step is shared and executed by a plurality of computers, each step of the above-described control method of the liquid ejection apparatus is executed. An effect is obtained.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an outline of a configuration of a liquid ejection device 20 as an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an external view illustrating an appearance of a line head 30 provided in the liquid ejection device 20. As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid ejection apparatus 20 of the present embodiment includes a conveyance roller 24 that conveys a recording sheet onto a platen 22, a step motor 26 that rotationally drives the conveyance roller 24, and a guide rail 38. A line head 30 that ejects ink droplets onto a recording sheet that is mounted so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction, and a vibration element 40 that vibrates the line head 30 in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording sheet. And a controller 50 for controlling the entire apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the line head 30 is configured such that a large number (n) of nozzles are formed in a line by the width of a recording sheet of a predetermined sheet size (for example, A4 size or A3 size). Has been. In the upper part of the line head 30, inks of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) each containing dye or pigment as a colorant in water as a solvent are individually accommodated. Ink cartridges 32 are arranged so that each color ink supplied from the ink cartridge 32 can be ejected from the corresponding nozzle. In addition, as a method of ejecting ink droplets from the line head 30, a piezoelectric element (piezo element) is applied with a voltage, and the piezoelectric element is deformed to eject ink droplets, or a heating resistor such as a heater is used. It is possible to use a thermal ink jet method or the like in which bubbles are generated by applying a voltage to overheat the ink and the ink is pressurized by the bubbles to eject ink droplets.

  The vibration element 40 is formed of, for example, a piezoelectric element (electrostrictive vibrator) such as PZT, and is fixed to the case 29 and attached to the side surface of the line head 30. Therefore, by vibrating the vibration element 40, the line head 30 can be vibrated in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording paper along the guide rail 38. The vibration element 40 is adjusted so as to vibrate the line head 30 at a cycle (for example, 10 kHz) twice as large as the time required to feed the paper for one dot pitch by the transport roller 24 and with an amplitude of two dot pitch. Has been.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the controller 50 is configured as a microprocessor centered on the CPU 52. In addition to the CPU 52, a ROM 54 that stores various processing programs, a RAM 56 that temporarily stores data, and a data A flash memory 58 capable of writing and erasing, an interface (I / F) 59 for exchanging information with an external device, and an input / output port (not shown) are provided. The RAM 56 is provided with a print buffer area, and print data received from the user PC 10 via the interface (I / F) 59 can be stored in the print buffer area. Various operation signals from the operation panel 39 are input to the controller 50 via an input port. The controller 50 outputs a drive signal to the line head 30, a drive signal to the step motor 26, and the operation panel 39. Output signals are output through the output port. The operation panel 39 is a device for inputting various instructions from the user and displaying and outputting the state. Although not shown, the operation panel 39 displays a character, a figure, or a symbol corresponding to the various instructions. Buttons for performing various operations are provided.

  Next, the operation of the liquid ejection apparatus 20 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print processing routine executed by the CPU 52 of the controller 50. This routine is executed when print data is stored in a print buffer area sent from the user PC 10 or the like and formed in the RAM 56.

  When the print processing routine is executed, the CPU 52 of the controller 50 first divides print data stored in the print buffer area of the RAM 56 in units of one line (step S100), and prints divided in units of one line. Data is shifted (step S110), the line head 30 is vibrated in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording paper by the vibration element 40 (step S120), and the line head 30 is driven to perform one line printing (step S130). ). Here, the process of shifting the printing data is performed by setting the printing data to 1 so that the period and amplitude of the line head 30 (the landing position of the ink droplet ejected by the same nozzle) by the vibration element 40 are the same and have the opposite phase. The process is shifted for each line. Thereby, even if the line head 30 is vibrated by the vibration element 40, the printed image is not affected by the vibration. Subsequently, it is determined whether printing has been completed (step S140). Now, since it is considered immediately after the start of printing, a negative determination is made in step S140, the paper is fed by one pixel (step S150), and the control for driving the line head 30 is repeated (step S130). ). Instead of this processing, the line head is configured so that the recording paper is continuously fed at a constant speed and ink droplets are ejected so that dots are formed on the recording paper at a predetermined resolution (for example, resolution of 360 dpi). Of course, 30 may be driven. If it is determined in step S140 that printing has been completed, the vibration of the line head 30 is stopped (step S160), and this routine is terminated.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a printing result when printing is performed without vibrating the line head 30 when some of the nozzles of the line head 30 are defective, and FIG. An example of a printing result when printing is performed by vibrating the line head 30 when some of the nozzles are defective is shown. A circle in the figure indicates a dot recording position, and a number in the circle in the figure indicates an identification number for identifying a nozzle formed on the line head 30. Therefore, when the numbers in the circles are the same, it indicates that the ink droplets are ejected from the same nozzle. When the nozzle No. 5 is clogged, as shown in FIG. 4, when printing is performed without applying vibration to the line head 30, there is a so-called line missing in which dot missing is connected in the transport direction. Recognize. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, when printing is performed while applying vibration to the line head 30, it can be seen that dot missing is dispersed and dot missing becomes inconspicuous.

  According to the liquid ejecting apparatus 20 of the present embodiment described above, the vibration element 40 that vibrates the line head 30 in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording paper is arranged, and when printing is instructed, the printing data is one line. The printing data is divided into units and the divided printing data is shifted so that the period and amplitude of the vibration element 40 are the same and opposite in phase, and printing is performed by ejecting ink droplets while vibrating the line head 30 by the vibration element 40. Even when some of the many nozzles of the line head 30 are defective, it is possible to disperse the missing dots and make the missing dots inconspicuous. As a result, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of print quality due to nozzle clogging. Further, since the line head 30 is vibrated using the vibration element 40, the bubbles can be effectively discharged without growing in the ink cartridge 32.

  Here, the correspondence between the main elements of the present embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problems will be described. In the present embodiment, the transport roller 24 corresponds to “transport means”, the line head 30 corresponds to “line head”, the vibration element 40 corresponds to “vibration means”, and the print processing routine of FIG. 3 is executed. The controller 50 corresponds to “control means”.

  In the liquid ejection apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment, the vibration element 40 vibrates the line head 30 with a period twice as large as the time required to feed the paper for one dot pitch by the transport roller 24 and with an amplitude of two dot pitches. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any period and amplitude for vibrating the line head 30 may be used. However, in order to improve the print quality, it is desirable that the line head 30 has a multiple dot pitch amplitude with a period that is a multiple of the time required to feed the paper for one dot pitch.

  In the liquid ejection device 20 of the present embodiment, the line head 30 is vibrated in a direction perpendicular to the recording paper conveyance direction by the vibration element 40 and the guide rail 38, but the direction is different from the recording paper conveyance direction. As long as it vibrates in any direction, it does not matter.

  In the liquid ejection device 20 of the present embodiment, a piezoelectric element (electrostrictive vibrator) such as PZT is used as the vibration element 40. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the line head 30 can be vibrated. If it is a thing, it is good also as what uses magnetostrictive vibrators, such as nickel, iron, and a ferrite.

  In the liquid ejection apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment, the line head 30 is configured by arranging a large number of nozzles so as to form one line corresponding to the width of a recording paper of a predetermined size. As shown, the line head 130 may be configured by arranging a plurality of heads 130a to 130e in which a relatively small number of nozzles are arranged in the width direction of the recording paper in a staggered manner. In this case, the time required for the recording paper to be fed by the pitch between the nozzles of the preceding line heads 130a, 130c and 130e and the corresponding nozzles of the succeeding line heads 130b and 130d is a multiple of the cycle of the line head 130. What is necessary is just to adjust the vibration element 40 so that it may become.

  In the present embodiment, the liquid ejection apparatus 20 has been described. However, the liquid ejection apparatus control method may be used, or a program for executing each step of the liquid ejection apparatus control method may be employed. It does n’t matter.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the fluid ejection device 20 of the present invention is embodied in an ink jet printer has been described. However, a liquid (dispersion) or gel in which particles of liquid other than ink or functional material are dispersed. The present invention may be embodied in a fluid ejection device that ejects a fluid or the like, or may be embodied in a fluid ejection device that ejects a solid that can be ejected as a fluid. For example, a liquid discharge device that discharges a liquid in which a material such as an electrode material or a color material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an EL (electroluminescence) display, a surface emitting display, and a color filter is dissolved, or a liquid material in which the material is dispersed It is good also as a liquid discharge apparatus which discharges the liquid used as a liquid material discharge apparatus which discharges, and a sample used as a precision pipette. Also, transparent resin liquids such as UV curable resin to form liquid ejection devices that pinpoint lubricating oil to precision machines such as watches and cameras, micro hemispherical lenses (optical lenses) used for optical communication elements, etc. A liquid discharge device that discharges a liquid onto a substrate, a liquid discharge device that discharges an etching liquid such as acid or alkali to etch the substrate, a fluid discharge device that discharges gel, a powder that discharges powder such as toner A body discharge type recording apparatus may be used.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to this embodiment at all, Of course, it can implement with a various form in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a liquid ejection apparatus 20 as an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an external view showing an external appearance of a line head 30 provided in the liquid ejection device 20. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print processing routine. Explanatory drawing which shows the result at the time of printing, without vibrating the line head 30. FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the result at the time of printing by vibrating the line head 30. FIG. The external view which shows the external appearance of the line head 130 of a modification.

Explanation of symbols

  10 user PC, 20 liquid ejection device, 22 platen, 24 transport roller, 26 step motor, 29 case, 30, 130 line head, 32 ink cartridge, 38 guide rail, 39 operation panel, 40 vibration element, 50 controller, 52 CPU 54 ROM, 56 RAM, 58 Flash memory, 59 interface (I / F).

Claims (7)

A liquid ejection apparatus that ejects liquid to a target to form dots,
Conveying means for conveying the target;
A line head in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a line so as to cover the width of a target of a predetermined size;
Vibrating means for vibrating the line head in a direction different from the conveying direction of the conveying means;
When image data is received and dot formation is instructed, the image data is shifted with vibrations in the opposite phase to the vibration of the line head by the vibration means, and the target is transported and the transported target is A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: the transporting means, and the control means for controlling the line head and the vibrating means so that dots are formed by ejecting liquid from a plurality of nozzles of the line head with the vibration of the line head. .   The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vibration unit is formed to vibrate in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction of the target.   The vibration means is formed so as to vibrate with an amplitude such that two or more dots adjacent in the transport direction recorded by the same nozzle of the line head shift in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction. 2. The liquid ejection device according to 2.   The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the vibration means is formed so as to vibrate with a multiple of a time period required for transporting the target by one dot.   The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vibration unit is an electrostrictive vibrator or a magnetostrictive vibrator. A conveying means for conveying a target, a line head in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a line so as to cover the width of a target of a predetermined size, and a vibration for vibrating the line head in a direction different from the conveying direction of the conveying means And a liquid ejection apparatus control method for ejecting liquid to a target to form dots.
When image data is received and dot formation is instructed, the image data is shifted with vibrations in the opposite phase to the vibration of the line head by the vibration means, and the target is transported and the transported target is A control method for a liquid ejection apparatus, wherein the transport unit, the line head, and the vibration unit are controlled such that dots are formed by ejecting liquid from a plurality of nozzles of the line head with vibration of the line head.   A program for causing one or a plurality of computers to realize the control method of the liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 6.

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