JP2009176855A - Marking method and marking apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a marking pattern from being damaged. <P>SOLUTION: A protection film generating process for discharging first ink to an area where the marking pattern corresponding to marking data is not marked in marking areas 6a of a recording medium 6 and forming a film thicker than marking by second ink in the area is performed. Even if a contact object is brought into contact with a marking face of the recording medium 6, it is brought into contact with the thick film of first ink. Thus, the contact object is prevented from being brought into contact with the marking pattern marked by second ink, and the marking pattern is prevented from being damaged. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a marking method and a marking apparatus that perform marking by discharging ink onto a recording medium.

Conventionally, as this type of technology, for example, UV (ultraviolet curable) ink that is cured by ultraviolet rays is ejected onto a recording medium to perform marking, and the ejected UV ink is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, thereby causing UV on the recording medium. Some inks are cured (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-80687 A

However, in the above prior art, the cured UV ink is only fixed on the recording medium. For example, if there is something that contacts the marking surface of the recording medium, the UV ink is scraped off. The marking pattern may be damaged.
This invention is made | formed in view of the said prior art, Comprising: It aims at providing the marking method and marking apparatus which can prevent that a marking pattern is damaged.

Therefore, the marking method of the present invention is a marking method for marking a marking pattern according to marking data by ejecting ink from the recording head into a marking area of a recording medium that moves relative to the recording head. A pattern marking step for marking the marking pattern corresponding to the marking data by discharging the second ink from the recording head into the marking area of the medium, and a marking pattern corresponding to the marking data in the marking area of the recording medium And a protective coating film generating step of forming a coating film thicker than marking with the second ink in the area by discharging the first ink from the recording head to an area where marking is not performed.
According to such a configuration, even if there is something that contacts the marking surface of the recording medium, the contact object comes into contact with the marking pattern marked with the second ink by contacting the thick coating film of the first ink. This can prevent the marking pattern from being damaged.

  Moreover, the marking method of this invention performs the said pattern marking process, after the said coating film production | generation process for protection is performed and the coating film of the 1st ink discharged by the said coating film production process for protection hardens | cures In the pattern marking step, the second ink is applied to an area in which the first ink coating film is not formed in the protective coating film generating step in the marking area of the recording medium. A marking pattern corresponding to the marking data is marked by discharging.

According to such a configuration, a concave portion of the marking pattern shape can be formed with the first ink coating film by the protective coating film generation step, and a marking pattern can be created by filling the second ink in the formed concave portion, A marking pattern can be easily formed.
Furthermore, in the marking method of the present invention, the marking method of the present invention includes forming the thick coating film by the first ink by discharging the first ink to the same place a plurality of times. Features.

According to such a configuration, a thick coating film of the first ink can be easily formed.
In the marking method of the present invention, the first ink has a higher hardness after curing than the second ink.
According to such a configuration, the second ink marking also contacts, and even if the marking pattern of the second ink is scraped, the coating film of the first ink remains without being scraped. The contents of the marking pattern can be identified from the shape of the ink coating.

Furthermore, the marking method of the present invention is characterized in that an ultraviolet curable ink is used as the first ink, and the ultraviolet curable ink discharged onto the recording medium is irradiated with ultraviolet rays in the protective coating film generating step. To do.
According to such a configuration, the time until the first ink is cured can be shortened, the waiting time until the second ink is ejected can be shortened, and marking can be performed efficiently.

On the other hand, the marking apparatus of the present invention is a marking apparatus that marks a marking pattern according to marking data by ejecting ink from the recording head into a marking area of a recording medium that moves relative to the recording head. Pattern generating means for generating data of a protective pattern for forming a coating film covering the area in an area where the marking pattern corresponding to the marking data is not marked out of the marking area of the recording medium based on the pattern; A pattern marking step of marking the marking pattern according to the marking data by discharging the second ink from the recording head into the marking area of the recording medium, and the recording head in the area where the marking pattern is not marked. A protective coating film generating step for marking the protective pattern according to the data generated by the pattern generating means by discharging the first ink from the first ink and forming a thicker coating film than the marking by the second ink on the area And a control means for executing.
According to such a configuration, even if there is something that contacts the marking surface of the recording medium, the contact object comes into contact with the marking pattern marked with the second ink by contacting the thick coating film of the first ink. This can prevent the marking pattern from being damaged.

In the marking device of the present invention, the recording head includes a plurality of first nozzles that discharge the first ink and a second nozzle that discharges the second ink, and the plurality of first nozzles are A small nozzle and a large nozzle that ejects ink droplets larger than the small nozzle, and the control means is ejected from the large nozzle in the protective pattern in the protective coating film generation step. The first ink is ejected from the small nozzle in a portion where marking is difficult due to the size of the ink droplet, and the first ink is ejected from the large nozzle in the other portion.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to shorten the time required for discharging the first ink and to perform marking efficiently.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of the marking device 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the marking device 1 of the present embodiment is a serial head type marking device, and includes a medium feeding mechanism 2, a head scanning mechanism 3, a head unit 4, and a controller 5.

  The medium feeding mechanism 2 includes a stage 7 capable of holding a marking object (recording medium 6) such as glass or IC on the upper surface, and a feed for conveying the stage 7 in a predetermined medium conveying direction (+ Y direction in FIG. 1). A shaft 8 is provided. The recording medium 6 includes an area that can be marked (marking area 6a), and is held on the stage 7 with the marking area 6a facing upward. Then, the medium feeding mechanism 2 holds the recording medium 6 on the stage 7 and, when a conveyance command instructing conveyance of the recording medium 6 is output from the controller 5, causes the feed shaft 8 to convey the stage 7 in the medium conveyance direction. Thus, the recording medium 6 is conveyed by a certain distance in the medium conveying direction. Here, examples of the fixed distance for transporting the recording medium 6 include a transport direction width (marking width) of the recording head 12 described later.

When the controller 5 outputs a return command for returning the recording medium 6 that has been transported to the original position before the transport is started, the medium feed mechanism 2 moves the stage 7 to the feed shaft 8 in the direction opposite to the medium transport direction. The held recording medium 6 is returned to the position before the start of conveyance.
The head scanning mechanism 3 is disposed above the medium feeding mechanism 2 and moves a head scanning shaft 9 that reciprocates the head unit 4 in the head scanning direction (the + X direction and the −X direction in FIG. 1) perpendicular to the medium conveyance direction. Prepare. When the reciprocating command for instructing the reciprocation of the head unit 4 is output from the controller 5, the head scanning mechanism 3 reciprocates the head unit 4 to the head scan shaft 9 every time the recording medium 6 is conveyed with the marking width. As a result, the head unit 4 reciprocates above the recording medium 6. During the reciprocation of the head unit 4, the head unit 4 is moved by the width in the head scanning direction (head width) of the recording head 12, which will be described later.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the head unit 4.
As shown in FIG. 2, the head unit 4 includes a carriage 10 and a light source unit 11 disposed at an adjacent position of each end of the carriage 10 in the head scanning direction.
Two recording heads 12 extending in the medium conveyance direction are arranged in parallel on the lower surface of the carriage 10. The recording head 12 includes a plurality of first nozzles that can eject red UV ink (first ink) droplets and a plurality of green UV ink (second ink) droplets that can be ejected downward. A second nozzle. Here, the first ink has a higher hardness after curing than the second ink. Then, when a marking command for instructing the ejection of droplets is output from the controller 5, the recording head 12 is configured so that each time the head unit 4 moves the head width above the recording medium 6, an arbitrary first nozzle or second nozzle By appropriately discharging the first ink droplet or the second ink droplet to the nozzle at the opposite position of the recording medium 6, an ink coating (protective pattern) surrounding the marking pattern according to the marking command or The marking pattern is marked in the marking area 6 a of the recording medium 6.
On the lower surface of the light source unit 11, a plurality of LEDs 13 that irradiate ultraviolet rays for curing the UV ink downward are arranged. Then, the LED 13 constantly irradiates ultraviolet rays to the opposite portions of the upper surface of the recording medium 6 when the head unit 4 reciprocates above the recording medium 6, thereby causing the first ink and the second ink discharged to the recording medium 6 to be emitted. Harden.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a state in which the first ink and the second ink are ejected onto the recording medium 6. FIG. 3A is a perspective view showing a state in which only the first ink is ejected. ) Is a perspective view showing a state in which both the first ink and the second ink are ejected. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the first ink and the second ink are ejected onto the recording medium 6.
When the user performs a marking operation for instructing marking of marking pattern data (marking data) to be marked, the controller 5 executes a protective coating film generation process and outputs a conveyance command to the medium feeding mechanism 2. Then, each time the recording medium 6 is conveyed with the marking width, a reciprocating command for reciprocating the head unit 4 a plurality of times is output to the head scanning mechanism 3. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 3A, in the marking area 6 a of the recording medium 6, the area of the recording head 12 within the area where the marking pattern (for example, the letter “A”) corresponding to the marking data is not marked. A marking command for ejecting the first ink from the first nozzle and forming a coating film thicker than the marking with the second ink in the area is output to the recording head 12. That is, based on the marking pattern acquired by the marking operation, for the purpose of forming a coating film that covers the area in the marking area 6a of the recording medium 6 where the marking pattern corresponding to the marking data is not marked. Pattern data is generated, and a protective pattern corresponding to the data is marked on the first nozzle. At that time, the first ink is ejected to the same place a plurality of times, and the first ink coating film is laminated to form a thick coating film (for example, 0.01 mm to 0.1 mm coating film) by the first ink. .

  When the controller 5 finishes discharging the first ink in the protective coating film generating step and curing the first ink by irradiating the ultraviolet rays from the LEDs 13, the controller 5 executes a pattern marking step and sends a return command to the medium feeding mechanism 2. After the recording medium 6 that has been conveyed is returned to the original position before the conveyance is started, a conveyance command is output again to the medium feeding mechanism 2, and the head unit 4 every time the recording medium 6 is conveyed with the marking width. Is sent to the head scanning mechanism 3. At the same time, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 4, the second ink is formed in the marking area 6 a of the recording medium 6, that is, in the area where the first ink coating film is not formed in the protective coating film generation process. A marking command for marking the marking pattern corresponding to the marking data by discharging the second ink from the nozzle is output to the recording head 12.

<Specific operation>
Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described based on a specific situation.
First, as shown in FIG. 1, it is assumed that after the recording medium 6 is set on the stage 7, the user performs a marking operation to instruct the controller 5 to mark the marking data. Then, the controller 5 outputs a conveyance command to the medium feeding mechanism 2, and outputs a reciprocating command for reciprocating the head unit 4 a plurality of times each time the recording medium 6 is conveyed with the marking width. Then, the recording medium 6 is conveyed by the marking width in the medium conveying direction by the medium feeding mechanism 2 and the head scanning mechanism 3, and the head unit 4 reciprocates a plurality of times above the recording medium 6 each time the recording medium 6 is conveyed by the marking width. To do.

  At the same time, the controller 5 outputs a marking command to the recording head 12. Then, a protective coating film generation step is executed, and each time the head unit 4 moves over the recording medium 6 by the head width by the recording head 12, an arbitrary first nozzle is placed at the opposite position on the upper surface of the recording medium 6. As shown in FIG. 3A, the first ink (red) droplet is appropriately discharged, and a marking pattern (for example, letter “A”) corresponding to the marking data in the marking area 6a of the recording medium 6 is obtained. The first ink is ejected to an area where no marking is made. At that time, each time the head unit 4 reciprocates, the first ink is ejected to the same place to form a coating film thicker than the second ink forming the marking pattern. Further, when the head unit 4 reciprocates by the LED 13, the first ink discharged to the recording medium 6 is cured by constantly irradiating ultraviolet rays to the opposite location on the upper surface of the recording medium 6.

  When the discharge and curing of the first ink is completed, the controller 5 outputs a return command to the medium feeding mechanism 2. Then, the medium feeding mechanism 2 returns the recording medium 6 that has been transported to the original position before the transport is started. Thereafter, a conveyance command is output again to the medium feeding mechanism 2, and a reciprocating command for reciprocating the head unit 4 once every time the recording medium 6 is conveyed with the marking width is output to the head scanning mechanism 3. The recording medium 6 is conveyed by the marking width in the medium conveying direction by the medium feeding mechanism 2 and the head scanning mechanism 3, and the head unit 4 reciprocates once above the recording medium 6 each time the recording medium 6 is conveyed by the marking width. .

  At the same time, the controller 5 outputs a marking command to the recording head 12. Then, a pattern marking step is executed, and each time the head unit 4 moves over the recording medium 6 by the head width by the recording head 12, an optional second nozzle is placed at a position opposite to the upper surface of the recording medium 6. As shown in FIG. 3B, the second ink is ejected into the marking area 6a of the recording medium 6 and the marking pattern (letter “A” ”).

That is, the inventor of the present invention, in the method of marking only the marking pattern according to the marking data, if there is something that contacts the marking surface of the recording medium, the UV ink is scraped off and the marking pattern is damaged. Found that there is a possibility.
On the other hand, it is possible to prevent the marking pattern from being damaged by discharging the first ink to an area where the marking pattern corresponding to the marking data is not marked and forming a thicker film than the marking with the second ink in the area. I found.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the recording head 12 in FIG. 1 constitutes the recording head described in the claims, and similarly, the controller 5 in FIG. 1 constitutes the pattern generation unit and the control unit.

<Action and effect>
(1) As described above, in the present embodiment, the first ink is ejected to an area in the marking area 6a of the recording medium 6 where the marking pattern corresponding to the marking data is not marked, and the second ink is applied to the area. A protective coating film generating step for forming a coating film thicker than the marking by the method is performed. Therefore, even if there is something that contacts the marking surface of the recording medium 6, by contacting the thick coating film of the first ink, it is possible to prevent the contact object from contacting the marking pattern marked with the second ink, Unlike the method of marking only the marking pattern, the marking pattern can be prevented from being damaged.
In addition, for example, unlike the method of irradiating the recording medium 6 with a laser to form a marking pattern-shaped concave portion and then ejecting ink into the formed concave portion to perform marking, the laser irradiation mechanism is not used, so that the recording medium 6 is damaged. Difficult marking can be realized with a relatively inexpensive device.

In this embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to configure a serial head type marking device is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, it is also possible to configure a marking device in which the recording medium 6 is fed only in one direction by the conveyor 14 and the carriage 10 moves in the X and Y directions. In addition, a line head system in which ink is ejected from the recording head 12 of the carriage 10 provided over the entire width of the recording medium 6 and the recording medium 6 is conveyed in a direction perpendicular to the carriage 10 to perform marking on the recording medium 6. A marking device can also be constructed.
Moreover, although the example which performs marking with UV ink which hardens | cures by irradiation of an ultraviolet-ray was shown, it is not restricted to this. For example, the ink may be cured by irradiation with light other than ultraviolet rays such as electron beams, X-rays, visible rays, and infrared rays. In addition, when using the ink hardened | cured with light other than an ultraviolet-ray, it replaces with LED13 and uses the light source which irradiates the light.

(2) Moreover, after performing the protective coating film production | generation process and hardening | curing the coating film of the 1st ink discharged by the protective coating film production | generation process, the pattern marking process was performed. Therefore, it is possible to form a marking pattern-shaped recess with the coating film of the first ink by the protective coating film generation step, and to create a marking pattern by filling the second ink in the formed recess, thereby easily forming the marking pattern. .
(3) Further, as the protective coating film generation step, the first ink is ejected to the same place a plurality of times to form a thick coating film with the first ink. Therefore, a thick coating film with the first ink can be easily formed. Moreover, a deep recessed part can be formed easily.

(4) Further, the first ink has a higher hardness when cured than the second ink. Therefore, there are things that contact both the coating film of the first ink and the marking of the second ink, and even if the marking pattern of the second ink is scraped, the coating film of the first ink remains without being scraped. The contents of the marking pattern can be identified from the shape of the coating film of the first ink.
(5) Furthermore, an ultraviolet curable ink was used as the first ink, and in the protective coating film generation step, the discharged ultraviolet curable ink was irradiated with ultraviolet rays to be cured. Therefore, the time until the first ink is cured can be shortened, the waiting time until the second ink is ejected can be shortened, and marking can be performed efficiently. In particular, it is suitable for a method of forming a thick coating film of the first ink by discharging the first ink to the same place a plurality of times.

  (6) Furthermore, although the example which uses all the same nozzles as a 1st nozzle was shown, it is not restricted to this. For example, the first nozzle may be constituted by a small nozzle and a large nozzle that ejects ink droplets larger than the small nozzle. Then, in the protective coating film generation step, the first ink is ejected from the small nozzle for the portion of the protective pattern that is difficult to mark with the size of the ink droplets ejected from the large nozzle, and the other portions are The first ink may be ejected from the large nozzle. That is, for example, it is assumed that the landing size of the first ink discharged from the large nozzle and the landing size of the first ink discharged from the small nozzle are respectively 4 pixels and 1 pixel of the pixels constituting the marking pattern. In such a case, among the pixels on which the first ink is landed (applied), the first ink is ejected from a small nozzle and applied to the pixel adjacent to the pixel to which the second ink is applied. The first ink is ejected from the large nozzle to those adjacent only to the pixels. Alternatively, the first ink may be ejected from the small nozzle to the pixels at the edge of the area where the first ink is applied, and the first ink may be ejected from the large nozzle to the remaining pixels. By doing so, the time required for discharging the first ink can be shortened, and marking can be performed efficiently.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of a marking apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a head unit. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the state which discharged the 1st ink and the 2nd ink to the recording medium. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the first ink and the second ink are ejected onto the recording medium, with the recording medium broken. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the modification of a marking apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1 is a marking device, 2 is a medium feeding mechanism, 3 is a head scanning mechanism, 4 is a head unit, 5 is a controller, 6 is a recording medium, 6a is a marking area, 7 is a stage, 8 is a feed axis, and 9 is a head scanning axis. 10 is a carriage, 11 is a light source unit, 12 is a recording head, 13 is an LED, and 14 is a belt conveyor.

Claims (7)

A marking method for marking a marking pattern according to marking data by discharging ink from the recording head into a marking area of a recording medium that moves relative to the recording head,
A pattern marking step for marking the marking pattern according to the marking data by discharging the second ink from the recording head into the marking area of the recording medium, and according to the marking data among the marking areas of the recording medium A protective coating film generating step of discharging a first ink from the recording head to an area where no marking pattern is marked and forming a thicker coating film than the marking by the second ink on the area. Marking method. After performing the protective coating film generation step, and after the coating film of the first ink discharged in the protective coating film generation step is cured, the pattern marking step is performed,
In the pattern marking process, the marking is performed by discharging the second ink to an area where the coating film of the first ink is not formed in the protective coating film generating process in the marking area of the recording medium. The marking method according to claim 1, wherein a marking pattern corresponding to data is marked.   In the protective coating film generation step, the thick ink film is formed by the first ink by discharging the first ink to the same place a plurality of times. The marking method described.   4. The marking method according to claim 1, wherein the first ink has a higher hardness after curing than the second ink. 5. As the first ink, an ultraviolet curable ink is used,
5. The marking method according to claim 1, wherein, in the protective coating film generation step, ultraviolet rays are irradiated to the ultraviolet curable ink discharged onto the recording medium. A marking device that marks a marking pattern according to marking data by ejecting ink from the recording head into a marking area of a recording medium that moves relative to the recording head,
Based on the marking pattern, pattern generation that generates data for a protective pattern for forming a coating film covering the area in the marking area of the recording medium that does not mark the marking pattern corresponding to the marking data. Means,
A pattern marking step of marking the marking pattern according to the marking data by discharging the second ink from the recording head into the marking area of the recording medium; and the area from the marking head to which the marking pattern is not marked. A protective coating film generation step is performed in which one ink is ejected to mark a protective pattern according to the data generated by the pattern generation means, and a thicker coating film is formed in the area than the marking by the second ink. And a control means for performing the marking. The recording head includes a plurality of first nozzles that discharge the first ink, and a second nozzle that discharges the second ink,
The plurality of first nozzles include a small nozzle and a large nozzle that ejects an ink droplet larger than the small nozzle,
In the protective coating film generating step, the control means applies the first ink from the small nozzle to a portion of the protective pattern that is difficult to mark with the size of the ink droplets ejected from the large nozzle. The marking apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the first ink is ejected from the large nozzle for the other portions.

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