JP2009183803A - Three-dimensional printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a three-dimensional printer having operation efficiency improved by avoiding the interference of a three-dimensional-shaped surface of a material to be printed and a printer head in each other. <P>SOLUTION: The three-dimensional-shaped printer for discharging ink from a printer head 85 on the surface 81 of the material 80 to be printed to carry out a prescribed printing is provided with a holding chuck 26 for holding the material to be printed, a first- to third-support members 10, 15, 20 for supporting the holding chuck movable in a space, a printer head carriage 4 for supporting the front end part 4a holding the printer head linearly movable to the material-to-be-printed held by the holding chuck, a light emitting element 87 and a light receiving element 89. The prescribed printing is stopped by a printer controller because inspection light 87b emitted from the light emitting element 87 is interrupted by the excessively approaching the material 80 to be printed and the light is not received by the light receiving element 89. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a three-dimensional printer that performs predetermined printing on a surface of a print target having a three-dimensional shape by ejecting ink from a printer head.

  Various printer devices that print characters, designs, etc. on a print object such as paper have been known. For example, printer devices that are connected to a computer and print on paper are widely used for business use and home use. ing. A conventional printer is generally of a type that performs printing while feeding a paper or sheet material to be printed in a predetermined direction while scanning the printer head at a right angle to the feeding direction. For example, there are printer apparatuses described in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

JP 2003-191455 A JP 2004-148666 A

  Such a conventional printer device performs predetermined printing on a flat sheet material or a flat surface of a solid material, and all of them perform two-dimensional printing. There is a need for a printer that can perform printing on an object having a surface (for example, a cylindrical surface, a spherical surface, and various other curved surfaces). Furthermore, there is a surface having an uneven shape formed on the surface of this three-dimensional shape. When printing is performed while moving the printer head and the print object relative to such a print object, the unevenness is formed. Depending on the shape, there is a problem in that the printer head interferes with the surface of the printing object.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and provides a three-dimensional printer with improved operational efficiency by avoiding interference between the three-dimensional surface of the printing object and the printer head. With the goal.

  In order to solve the above problems, a three-dimensional printer according to the present invention is a three-dimensional printer that performs predetermined printing on the surface of a print object by ejecting ink from a printer head onto the print object having a three-dimensional shape surface. An object holding device that holds the print object, a three-dimensional movement support device that supports the object holding device in a three-dimensional space, and a head holding device that holds the printer head A head movement support device that supports the print object held by the object holding device so that the printer head can move linearly through a position facing the print object, and the inspection light emitted by the light emitting means. And a surface of the object to be printed, and a light sensor device that receives the inspection light that has passed through the gap by a light receiving unit; and Print restriction means for stopping the predetermined printing based on the received light result, three-dimensional movement control of the object holding device by the three-dimensional movement support device, and linear movement control of the head holding device by the head movement support device And a print control device for controlling the ejection of ink from the printer head.

  In the three-dimensional printer having the above-described configuration, the light emitting unit is disposed on the printer head side so that the inspection light can be emitted along the lower surface of the printer head in the gap, and the light receiving unit is disposed in the gap. The inspection light traveling along the lower surface of the printer head can be received and installed on the printer head side. The printing restricting means stops the predetermined printing when the inspection light is not received by the light receiving means by blocking the inspection light traveling along the lower surface of the printer head. The structure to be made is preferable.

  In the three-dimensional printer having the above-described configuration, the optical sensor device may include a first reflecting surface that causes the inspection light emitted from the light emitting unit to enter and reflect the inside of the gap along the lower surface of the printer head. A first reflecting member disposed at a lower end portion of the first side surface of the printer head, and the inspection light reflected by the first reflecting surface and traveling in the gap along the lower surface of the printer head. It is preferable to include a second reflecting member disposed on the lower end portion of the second side surface of the printer head, the second reflecting surface being incident and reflected toward the light receiving means.

  Further, in the three-dimensional printer having the above-described configuration, the light emitting means is installed on the printer head side so that the inspection light can be emitted obliquely downward with respect to the lower surface of the printer head in the gap, and the light receiving means Is installed on the printer head side so as to be able to receive the inspection light reflected on the surface of the printing object or the like approaching a predetermined approach distance with respect to the lower surface of the printer head. And it is preferable that the printing restricting means stops the predetermined printing when the inspection light is received by the light receiving means.

  According to the three-dimensional printer relating to the present invention, the optical sensor device which passes the inspection light emitted by the light emitting means through the gap between the printer head and the surface of the printing object and receives the inspection light passing through the gap by the light receiving means. Is provided. Furthermore, it has a printing restricting means for stopping predetermined printing on the printing object based on the light reception result (whether or not the inspection light is received) in the light receiving means. With this configuration, it is possible to detect that the lower surface of the printer head and the surface of the object to be printed are too close from the light reception result in the light receiving means. By operating the, the predetermined printing is stopped, and the interference between the printer head and the printing object can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to reduce malfunctions of the three-dimensional printer and reduce the operation stop time for maintenance, and it is possible to improve the operation efficiency of the three-dimensional printer.

  Preferably, the light emitting means emits inspection light in the gap along the lower surface of the printer head, and the light receiving means is arranged to receive the inspection light traveling in the gap along the lower surface of the printer head. In such a configuration, when the lower surface of the printer head and the surface of the print object are excessively close, the print object blocks the inspection light traveling along the lower surface of the printer head and is inspected by the light receiving means. Light is not received. Therefore, it is possible to reliably detect a state in which the printer head and the printing object are excessively close to each other, and it is possible to further improve the operation accuracy of the printing restriction unit. In addition, the distance between the lower surface of the printer head and the inspection light can be arbitrarily changed in design, and various distances can be obtained by changing this distance according to the surface condition (such as the size of the unevenness) of the printing object. Printing can be performed on the print object while operating the print restricting means.

  The optical sensor device preferably has a reflection member in the optical path while the inspection light is emitted from the light emitting means and received by the light receiving means. In such a configuration, the light emitting means and the light receiving means do not necessarily need to be installed near the lower end of the printer head, and the light emitting means and the light receiving means can be freely arranged.

  Further, the light emitting means emits inspection light obliquely downward with respect to the lower surface of the printer head in the gap, and the light receiving means reflects inspection light on the surface of the printing object approaching a predetermined approach distance with respect to the lower surface of the printer head. It is preferable to receive the light. When configured in this way, the design of the light emission direction of the inspection light by the light receiving means and the light reception direction of the inspection light of the light receiving means can be arbitrarily changed, and the surface state of the print object (the size of the unevenness) Etc.) by changing these directions, printing can be performed while operating the print restricting means for various print objects.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings by way of Example 1 and Example 2. First, an outline of relative movement control and print control between the print object 80 held by the holding device in the printer apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 and the printer head 85 will be described. Here, the printing object 80 is a truncated conical member, and a printer configured to perform desired printing by ejecting ink from a printer head (inkjet head) 85 onto the conical outer surface 81. The operation principle will be described.

  Although not shown, this printer has a support device for supporting the printing object 80. The support device extends in the front-rear direction with the central axis X of the truncated cone and is rotatable about this axis X (arrow A). The rotation of the printing object 80 is supported. In this state, the print object 80 is supported so as to be rotatable (rotation indicated by an arrow B) about an axis Y that passes through the point O1 on the axis X and extends to the left and right perpendicular to the axis X. Further, the print object 80 can be moved back and forth in the X-axis direction (moved by the arrow D (x)) and vertically moved along the Z-axis extending perpendicularly to the X-axis and the Y-axis. It is configured to be supported so as to be movable (movable indicated by an arrow D (z)). As described above, the printer head 85 is disposed above the print target 80 supported by a support device (not shown) so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction (moved by an arrow D (y)). The printer head 85 has a large number of ink ejection holes on the lower surface 86, and ink supplied from an ink supply device (not shown) is ejected while being controlled for each ink ejection hole by a print control device. Predetermined printing is performed on the front surface 81.

  Thus, ink is ejected from the ink ejection holes formed in the lower surface 86 of the printer head 85 to the conical surface 81 of the print object 80 supported by the support device, thereby performing desired printing. At this time, the ink discharge holes are positioned close to the print target position on the surface 81 of the print object 80 and close to each other with a predetermined printing interval (optimum for printing by attaching the ink discharged from the ink discharge holes to the surface 81. It is necessary to be located at a position having a large interval. Further, the ink ejection holes formed on the lower surface of the printer head 85 face the front surface with respect to the surface 81 at the printing target position, that is, the ink ejection direction from the ink ejection holes is orthogonal to the surface 81. It is necessary to turn so that. For example, in order to perform printing by discharging ink from the printer head 85 to the illustrated print target point P 0 on the surface 81 of the print target 80, the surface 81 at the position of the print target point P 0 is the lower surface 86 of the printer head 85. And the surface 81 at the position of the printing target point P0 must be positioned so as to be parallel to the lower surface 86 of the printer head.

  For this reason, as shown in FIG. 1, from the state in which the print object 80 is supported, the print object 80 is moved back and forth along the X-axis direction (movement indicated by the arrow D (x)) to obtain the print object point P0. Is moved to a position directly below the printer head 85. Then, it is rotated about the axis X (rotation indicated by the arrow A), the printing target point P0 is positioned directly above, and is rotated about the axis Y (rotation indicated by the arrow B) to pass through the printing target point P0. The ridgeline L1 is positioned so as to extend horizontally. Then, the printer head 85 is moved in the Y-axis direction (movement indicated by the arrow D (y)) so that the lower surface 86 (the ink ejection hole thereof) of the printer head 85 is located immediately above the print target point P0. Then, the lower surface 86 of the printer head 85 is moved upward (moved by an arrow D (z)) along the Z axis so as to be positioned at an approach position that is separated from the printing target point P0 by a predetermined printing distance. The order of the movement and rotation may be any order as long as the printing object 80 and the printer head 85 do not interfere with each other.

  In this way, in a state where the lower surface 86 of the printer head 85 is located at a position facing the front face and facing the front printing point P0 by a predetermined printing distance, the print control device is arranged from the nozzle hole on the lower surface 86 of the printer head 85. Ink is ejected based on the control by the above, and printing is performed on the point P0. For example, in order to perform printing along the circumferential direction on the surface 81 of the print object 80, the points P1, P2, P3,... Along the circumferential direction on the outer surface of the print object 80 are the printer head 85. While changing the support position of the print object 80 by the above-described support device so as to face the front surface with a predetermined printing distance away from the lower surface 86, the ink is ejected under the control of the print control device. In this way, the points P1, P2, P3,... Can face the front surface of the printer head 85 with a predetermined printing distance away from each other, and face the points P1, P2, P3,. On the other hand, desired printing is performed.

  Based on the operation principle described above, a specific configuration of the printer device 30 for performing three-dimensional printing according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printer device 30 has a gate-type structure including a pair of left and right support legs 2 a and 2 b and a support girder 2 c extending left and right by connecting the upper ends of the support legs 2 a and 2 b on the base 1. A support frame 2 is fixed. A first control device 6 having an operation panel 6a is provided adjacent to the right support leg 2b, and a second control device 7 having a maintenance station 8 is provided adjacent to the left support leg 2a. The first and second control devices 6 and 7 are various types such as a movement control device that performs movement and rotation operation control of various members, which will be described later, a print control device that controls ink discharge from the printer head, and a power supply control device. It consists of a control device.

  A pair of front and rear left and right guide rails 3a and 3b are provided on the upper surface of the support beam 2c so as to extend in the left and right direction (Y-axis direction), and can be moved left and right (movable in the direction of arrow D (y)). A printer carriage 4 is attached. In order to move the printer carriage 4 to the left and right, a feed mechanism such as a ball screw mechanism is provided, and the lateral movement of the printer carriage 4 can be controlled by its drive control. Description is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the printer carriage 4 is a member having a crank shape in a side view that extends forward from a portion supported by the left and right guide rails 3a and 3b, bends downward, and extends forward. A plurality of printer head modules 85 are attached to the front end portion 4 a of the printer carriage 4. The printer head module 85 is also referred to as an inkjet head module, and has a plurality of ink ejection holes (not shown) formed on the lower surface 86. For example, the printer head module 85 is configured to eject inks of different colors from the ink ejection holes. ing. Further, in this specification, the detailed description of the shape of the printer head module 85 is omitted, and the printer head module 85 is schematically shown in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a light emitting element 87, a pair of left and right reflecting prisms 88 a and 88 b, and a light receiving element 89 are disposed near the lower end of the printer head module 85. The light emitting element 87 includes a light emitting element (not shown), and is configured to emit inspection light 87a when the light emitting element emits light. The light emitting element 87 is installed on the side surface of the printer head module 85 and faces downward. The inspection light 87a can be emitted. The reflecting prisms 88a and 88b are configured to reflect incident light on the reflecting surfaces 88c and 88d and emit the light by changing the direction by 90 degrees. The reflecting prisms 88 a and 88 b are installed at the lower end portions of the side surfaces of the printer head module 85 facing each other, and part of the reflecting prisms 88 a and 88 b protrude below the lower surface 86. Therefore, the inspection light 87b reflected by the reflecting surface 88c of the reflecting prism 88a travels downward from the lower surface 86 at a limit distance d2 toward the reflecting prism 88b from the reflecting prism 88a along the lower surface 86. The light emitting element 87, the reflecting prisms 88a and 88b, and the light receiving element 89 are attached to the printer head module 85 so that even if ink is ejected from the ink ejection holes, the progress of the inspection light 87b is not hindered. .

  The light receiving element 89 includes a light receiving unit (not shown) that can receive the inspection light 87c emitted from the light emitting element 87 and then reflected by the reflecting surfaces 88c and 88d of the reflecting prisms 88a and 88b. Yes. The light receiving element 89 is installed on the side surface of the printer head module 85 so that the light receiving portion thereof faces downward, and the inspection progresses upward by being reflected by the reflecting surface 88d of the reflecting prism 88b. The light 87c can be received. The light receiving element 89 receives a signal indicating that the inspection light 87c is being received during printing (light receiving signal) or a signal indicating that it is not receiving light (blocking signal), as will be described later. For this, it is configured to output continuously. The printer control unit continuously inputs a signal from the light receiving element 89 and does not restrict the operation while the light receiving signal is input. On the other hand, when the cutoff signal is input, for example, the operation restriction of the printer device 30 is performed. (For example, all driving including ink ejection is urgently stopped).

  A portion of the front end 4a facing the lower surface 86 of the printer head module 85 is opened upward and downward, and ink is directed from the ink discharge hole formed in the lower surface 86 toward the print object 80 positioned below the front end 4a. Is ejected to perform desired printing. This ink ejection control is performed for each ink ejection hole by the print control apparatus, but since this control is well known, description thereof is omitted. In this way, the printer head carriage 4 on which the printer head module 85 is mounted can move left and right on the left and right guide rails 3a and 3b. However, as shown in FIG. 8 is moved upward to prevent drying and cleaning of the ink discharge holes on the lower surface 86 of the printer head module 85.

  On the base 1, a pair of front and rear guide rails 1a and 1b extending in the front-rear direction (X-axis direction) are provided between the left and right support legs 2a and 2b of the portal support frame 2, and the front and rear guides are provided. A first support member 10 is provided on the rails 1a and 1b so as to be movable back and forth (movable in the direction of the arrow D (x)). In order to move the first support member 10 back and forth, a feed mechanism such as a ball screw mechanism is provided, and the forward and backward movement of the first support member 10 can be controlled by its drive control. Since it is well known, the description of the configuration is omitted.

  A vertical support member 11 is fixed on the first support member 10 in a vertically standing state, and a pair of upper and lower guide rails 12 a and 12 b extending in the vertical direction (Z direction) on the front surface of the vertical support member 11. Is provided. The second support member 15 is supported by the upper and lower guide rails 12a and 12b and is movable up and down (movable in the direction of arrow D (z)). In order to move the second support member 15 up and down, a feed mechanism such as a ball screw mechanism is provided, and the vertical movement of the second support member 15 can be controlled by its drive control. Since it is well known, the description of the configuration is omitted.

  The front surface 15a of the second support member 15 extends in the Y-axis direction through a predetermined point O1 (a point set at a position where the print object 80 can be positioned as described later) determined with respect to the second support member 15. A third support member 20 having a cylindrical surface-shaped rear surface 20a joined to the cylindrical surface-shaped front surface 15a is slid along the front surface 15a. It is provided freely. That is, the rear surface 20 a of the third support member 20 can be slidably moved with the front surface 15 a of the second support member 15, whereby the third support member 20 has the first rotation axis Y 0 with respect to the second support member 15. It is supported so as to be rotatable (rotated by arrow B) as a center.

  In order to rotationally move the third support member 20 thus supported with respect to the second support member 15 about the first rotation axis Y0, the first support member 20 is placed on the front surface of the left side in FIG. An internal gear 21 around the rotation axis Y0 is formed. A drive motor 16 is attached to the front surface of the left side portion of the second support member 15, and a drive pinion 17 attached to the drive shaft of the drive motor 16 meshes with the internal gear 21. For this reason, if the drive pinion 17 is rotationally driven by the drive motor 16, the internal gear 21 meshing therewith is rotationally driven, and the third support member 20 can be rotated about the first rotational axis Y0.

  On the front side of the third support member 20, a holding shaft 25 extends in the front-rear direction (X-axis direction), and is provided rotatably around the second rotation axis X0 passing through the predetermined point O1 and protruding forward. A holding chuck 26 for holding a printing object is attached to the front end. The holding shaft 25 is rotationally controlled by a drive motor (not shown) disposed inside the third support member 20, and the holding chuck 26 has a configuration capable of holding the printing object 80. Have. For this reason, if the holding shaft 25 is rotationally driven while the printing object 80 is held by the holding chuck 26, the printing object 80 can be rotated about the second rotation axis X0.

  As described above, since the third support member 20 is rotatable about the first rotation axis Y0, the second rotation axis when the third support member 20 is located at a predetermined rotation position (rotation position shown in FIG. 3). X0 extends in the front-rear direction (X-axis direction), but the second rotation axis X0 is swung up and down according to the rotational position of the third support member 20. Further, as shown in the drawing, the first rotation axis Y0 and the second rotation axis X0 cross each other through the predetermined point O1, but they may be shifted without intersecting. However, it is easier to calculate the position of the printing object 80 when it intersects, and control by the movement control device is easier.

  In the printer device 30 having the above-described configuration, the second rotation axis X0 serving as the rotation center of the holding shaft 25 corresponds to the axis X in the operation principle configuration illustrated in FIG. 1 and is the first rotation center serving as the rotation center of the third support member 20. The rotation axis Y0 corresponds to the axis Y of the operation principle configuration of FIG. The second support member 15 that supports the third support member 20 is supported by the first support member 10 so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction (up and down direction) (movement indicated by the arrow D (z)). 10 is supported on the base 1 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction (front-rear direction) (movement indicated by an arrow D (x)). Further, the printer head 85 is supported so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction (left-right direction) (moved by an arrow D (y)) with respect to the base 1 above the print object 80, that is, FIG. It is comprised so that the operation | movement same as the operation | movement principle shown in FIG.

  The front end 4a in this specification corresponds to the head holding device defined in the claims. Similarly, the printer head carriage 4 is the head movement support device, the printer head module 85 is the printer head, and the rotation axis Z2 is the first. Each corresponds to one swing axis. Further, the holding shaft 25 and the holding chuck 26 in this specification constitute an object holding device defined in the scope of claims. The three-dimensional movement support device defined in the scope of the claims is configured with the first support member 10, the second support member 15, and the third support member 20 as main components in the present specification.

  Up to this point, the constituent members of the printer device 30 have been described. In the following, the operation of each constituent member when performing desired printing on the print object 80 using the printer device 30 will be described. Here, in order to explain the characteristic configuration of the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, the operation of the print object 80 held by the printer head module 85, the light emitting element 87, the light receiving element 89, and the holding chuck 26 will be mainly described.

  When printing is performed along the circumferential direction on the surface 81 of the printing object 80 based on the operation principle as shown in FIG. 1, as a stage before printing, for example, in a state where each movement control device is located at the origin. The shape data of the surface 81 of the printing object 80 is acquired, and the acquired shape data is stored in an arithmetic processing unit (not shown) of the printer device 30. Further, even when each movement control device is driven, the position of the surface 81 of the printing object 80 can be calculated by detecting the driving amount. Here, each movement control device is driven and moved so that the print target point P0 is positioned directly below the printer head module 85.

  At this time, the position of the printing target point P0 is calculated from the shape data, and as shown in FIG. 5, the printing target point P0 on the surface 81 and the lower surface 86 of the printer head module 85 are separated by a predetermined printing distance d1. Each movement control device is driven so as to be located at the approaching position. When the movement to the approach position is completed, the inspection light 87a is continuously emitted from the light emitting element 87, and the inspection light 87c reflected by the reflection surfaces 88c and 88d of the reflecting prisms 88a and 88b is received by the light receiving element 89. The Then, ink is ejected from the lower surface 86 of the printer head module 85, and desired printing is performed on the printing target point P0. At this time, since the limit distance d2 <the predetermined printing distance d1, the inspection light 87b. Is not blocked by the surface 81, and the inspection light 87 c is always received by the light receiving element 89. Therefore, during this printing, the light receiving element 89 continues to output a light receiving signal to the printer control unit, and desired printing is performed without restricting operation.

  Thereafter, the print object 80 is rotated about the second rotation axis X0, so that the print target point P1 to be printed next is positioned below the lower surface 86. Here, the print target point P1 is positioned at the apex of the surface 81a having a convex shape in cross section indicated by a two-dot broken line, and the print target point P1 is closer to the lower surface 86 than the limit distance d2. Therefore, the inspection light 87b is blocked by the print target point P1, and the inspection light 87c is not received by the light receiving element 89, so that a blocking signal is output from the light receiving element 89 to the printer control unit. Then, the printer control unit restricts the operation of the printer device 30 to stop all driving, and the printer head module 85 can be prevented from being damaged due to interference with the print object 80. Thus, desired printing is performed on the print object 80 while preventing interference between the printer head module 85 and the print object 80.

  Here, when the effects of the printer device 30 according to the first embodiment are briefly summarized, firstly, it is possible to prevent the printer head module 85 and the printing object 80 from being damaged due to interference. The failure of the printer device 30 can be reduced and the operation stop time of the printer device 30 for maintenance can be reduced, so that the operation efficiency of the printer device 30 can be increased. Second, it is possible to detect with high accuracy that the printing object 80 is excessively close to the lower surface 86 by a simple configuration in which the light emitting element 87, the reflecting prisms 88a and 88b, and the light receiving element 89 are provided. It is possible. Thirdly, using the inspection light continuously emitted from the light emitting element 87, the print object 80 is too close to the lower surface 86 depending on whether or not the inspection light is received by the light receiving element 89. From the configuration for detecting this, there is almost no time lag from when it is detected that the camera is approaching excessively until the operation of the printer 30 is restricted, and interference between the printer head module 85 and the print object 80 can be avoided. It can be avoided reliably.

  2 to 4 and 6 show a printer device 40 according to the second embodiment. The printer device 40 has substantially the same configuration as the printer device 30 according to the first embodiment, and the following description will focus on components that are different from the printer device 30. The members having the same reference numerals as the printer device 30 are as described in the first embodiment, and are configured to perform printing based on the operation principle of the printer.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a pair of a light emitting element 90 and a light receiving element 91 are disposed near the lower end of the printer head module 85. The light emitting element 90 includes a light emitting element (not shown), and is configured to emit inspection light 90b (90c) when the light emitting element emits light. The light emitting element 90 is installed at the lower end of the printer head module 85, and is installed so that the light emitting unit 90a protrudes downward from the lower surface 86. The light emitting unit 90a is inspected obliquely downward from the light emitting unit 90a. Light 90b (90c) can be emitted. Similar to the light emitting element 90, the light receiving element 91 is installed at the lower end of the printer head module 85, and the light receiving part 91a protrudes below the lower surface 86. In this light receiving part 91a, the light receiving element 91a is inspected. Light can be received.

  Here, when the surface 81 approaches the lower surface 86 so as to be below the limit distance d4, the inspection light 90b is reflected on the surface 81, and the inspection light 90d that is the reflected light of the inspection light 90b is received by the light receiving unit 91a. Is done. The light receiving element 91 is configured to continuously output a light receiving signal or a blocking signal to a printer control unit (not shown) according to the light receiving state of the inspection light 90d. Specifically, in a state where the inspection light 90d is not received by the light receiving unit 91a, the light receiving element 91 outputs a blocking signal to the printer control unit, while the light receiving unit 91a receives the inspection light 90d. In the state, the light receiving element 91 is configured to output a light receiving signal to the printer control unit.

  The printer control unit does not regulate the operation of the printer device 40 while the shut-off signal is input. On the other hand, when the light reception signal is input, the printer control unit controls the operation of the printer device 40 (for example, including ink ejection). All the drives are emergency stopped). The light emitting element 90 and the light receiving element 91 are attached to the printer head module 85 so that the ejection of the inspection light 90b, 90c, 90d is not hindered even if the ink is ejected from the ink ejection holes.

  The configuration of the printer head portion of the printer device 40 has been described so far. Hereinafter, the operation of each component when performing desired printing on the print object 80 using the printer device 40 will be described. . Here, in order to explain the characteristic configuration of the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, the operation of the print object 80 held by the printer head module 85, the light emitting element 90, the light receiving element 91, and the holding chuck 26 will be mainly described.

  When printing is performed along the circumferential direction on the surface 81 of the printing object 80 based on the above-described operating principle of the printer, the shape data of the surface 81 of the printing object 80 is acquired as in the first embodiment. After that, each movement control device is driven to move the printing target point P0 so that it is located immediately below the printer head module 85. As shown in FIG. 6, each movement control device is driven so that the printing target point P0 on the surface 81 and the lower surface 86 of the printer head module 85 are located at an approaching position separated by a predetermined printing distance d1. When the movement to the approach position is completed, the inspection light 90c is continuously emitted from the light emitting element 90, and the limit distance d4 <predetermined printing distance d1, so that the reflected light of the inspection light 90c on the surface 81 is Light is not received at the light receiving portion 91 a of the light receiving element 91. Then, ink is ejected from the lower surface 86 of the printer head module 85, and desired printing is performed on the print target point P0. At this time, a blocking signal is continuously output from the light receiving element 91 to the printer control unit. Thus, desired printing can be performed without restricting operation.

  Thereafter, the print object 80 is rotated about the second rotation axis X0, so that the print target point P1 to be printed next is positioned below the lower surface 86. Here, the print target point P1 is positioned at the apex of the surface 81b having a convex shape in cross section indicated by a two-dot broken line, and the print target point P1 is closer to the lower surface 86 than the limit distance d4. Therefore, the inspection light 90b is reflected by the print target point P1, and the inspection light 90d is received by the light receiving unit 91a, and a light reception signal is output from the light receiving element 91 to the printer control unit. At this time, the printer control unit restricts the operation of the printer device 40 to stop all driving, and the printer head module 85 can be prevented from interfering with the printing object 80 and being damaged. Thus, desired printing is performed on the print object 80 while preventing interference between the printer head module 85 and the print object 80.

  Here, the effects of the printer device 40 according to the second embodiment will be briefly summarized. First, in addition to the effects according to the first embodiment, the printer device 40 is configured using the light emitting element 90 and the light receiving element 91. Compared to the first embodiment, the member structure is simpler and is advantageous for cost reduction. Secondly, the limit distance d4 is variable by changing the mounting positions of the light emitting element 90 and the light receiving element 91 with respect to the printer head module 85 and the inclination angles of the light emitting part 90a and the light receiving part 91a. It can be applied to the printing object 80 in which the uneven shape is formed.

  The configuration shown in the first and second embodiments described above is a configuration example for preventing interference between the printer head module 85 and the print object 80, and is not limited to this configuration. That is, it is only necessary that the print object 80 can be prevented from approaching the printer head module 85 from the limit distance by using the light emitting element and the light receiving element.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, for example, a configuration in which a distance detector (not shown) capable of continuously detecting the distance between the surface 81 and the lower surface 86 is installed on the lower surface 86 of the printer head module 85 is also possible. It is. Based on the distance detected by the distance detector and the acquired shape data of the surface 81, each movement control device is configured to be driven, so that the relative positional accuracy between the printer head module 85 and the printing target point is set. Can be further improved, and high-quality printing is possible.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the printer control unit is configured to urgently stop driving the entire printer device 30 (40) when a cutoff (light reception) signal is input. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to configure such that only a predetermined part of the driving devices (components) are stopped urgently.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, when the print object 80 is excessively close to the lower surface 86, the entire driving of the printer device 30 (40) is urgently stopped. Similarly, when an object other than the printing object 80, for example, a constituent member of the printer device 30 (40) excessively approaches the lower surface 86, it is possible to make an emergency stop.

It is the schematic explaining the working principle of the printer which concerns on this invention. 1 is a front view showing a printer apparatus according to the present invention. It is a side view (partial sectional view) of this printer apparatus. It is the perspective view which took out and showed a part of this printer apparatus. It is the side view which showed the structure of 1st Example. It is the side view which showed the structure of 2nd Example.

Explanation of symbols

4 Printer head carriage (head movement support device)
4a Front end (head holding device)
10 1st support member (three-dimensional movement support apparatus)
15 Second support member (three-dimensional movement support device)
20 3rd support member (three-dimensional movement support apparatus)
25 Holding shaft (object holding device)
26 Holding chuck (object holding device)
30 Printer device (3D printer)
80 Print object 85 Printer head module (printer head)
87,90 Light emitting element (light emitting means)
88a, 88b Reflective prism (first reflective member, second reflective member)
88c, 88d Reflective surface (first reflective surface, second reflective surface)
89, 91 Light receiving element (light receiving means)

Claims (4)

A three-dimensional printer that performs predetermined printing on a surface of a print object by discharging ink from a printer head to the print object having a three-dimensional shape surface,
An object holding device for holding the print object;
A three-dimensional movement support device for movably supporting the object holding device in a three-dimensional space;
A head moving support device for supporting the head holding device for holding the printer head so as to be linearly movable through a position where the printer head faces the print object held by the object holding device;
An optical sensor device that passes the inspection light emitted by the light emitting means through the gap between the printer head and the surface of the printing object, and receives the inspection light that has passed through the gap by the light receiving means;
Print restriction means for stopping the predetermined printing based on a light reception result in the light receiving means;
A print control apparatus that controls ink ejection from the printer head in accordance with three-dimensional movement control of the object holding apparatus by the three-dimensional movement support apparatus and linear movement control of the head holding apparatus by the head movement support apparatus. A three-dimensional printer. The light emitting means is installed on the printer head side so that the inspection light can be emitted in the gap along the lower surface of the printer head.
The light receiving means is disposed on the printer head side so as to be able to receive the inspection light traveling along the lower surface of the printer head in the gap,
The printing restricting unit stops the predetermined printing when the inspection light is not received by the light receiving unit by blocking the inspection light traveling along the lower surface of the printer head. The three-dimensional printer according to claim 1. The optical sensor device is:
A first reflecting surface that allows the inspection light emitted from the light emitting unit to enter and reflect the inside of the gap along the lower surface of the printer head is provided at the lower end of the first side surface of the printer head. A first reflecting member;
A second reflecting surface for reflecting the inspection light reflected by the first reflecting surface and traveling in the gap along the lower surface of the printer head to be reflected toward the light receiving means; The three-dimensional printer according to claim 2, further comprising a second reflecting member disposed at a lower end portion of the second side surface. The light emitting means is installed on the printer head side so that the inspection light can be emitted obliquely below the lower surface of the printer head in the gap.
The light receiving means is installed on the printer head side so as to be able to receive the inspection light reflected on the surface of the printing object or the like approaching a predetermined approach distance with respect to the lower surface of the printer head,
The three-dimensional printer according to claim 1, wherein the printing restricting unit stops the predetermined printing when the inspection light is received by the light receiving unit.

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