JP2009226589A - Fluid jetting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To maintain a state in which a fluid can be normally jetted in a fluid jetting apparatus which carries a long jetting head. <P>SOLUTION: A jetting nozzle array is mounted which is a plurality of jetting nozzles arranged in an array. The fluid is jetted on a medium to be jetted as a medium to which the fluid is jetted while the medium to be jetted is conveyed in a direction that intersects the jetting nozzle array. At this time, if a width of the jetting nozzle array is larger than a width of the medium to be jetted seen from the side of the conveyed medium to be jetted, the medium to be jetted is supplied while a supply position of the medium to be jetted is moved in a direction that intersects the conveyance direction. Hence the fluid is jetted from all of the jetting nozzles which constitute the jetting nozzle array, so that generation of viscosity increase of the fluid inside the jetting nozzles can be prevented. The fluid can be maintained in the state to be able to be normally jetted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for ejecting a fluid from an ejection head, and more particularly to a technique for ejecting a fluid toward a recording medium to be conveyed.

  2. Description of the Related Art Printers that print images by ejecting ink onto a print medium from ejection nozzles formed in an ejection head (so-called inkjet printers) are now widely used as image output means. In addition, by applying this technology, various fluids prepared in appropriate components (for example, liquids in which fine particles of functional materials are dispersed or semi-fluids such as gels) prepared on the substrate instead of ink are applied to the substrate. It has also been proposed to easily manufacture various precision parts such as electrodes, sensors, and biochips by spraying.

  Generally used inkjet printers are equipped with an ejection head that is shorter than the width (recording width) on which an image is printed on a print medium. The inkjet head is intermittently moved while reciprocating in the recording width direction. In other words, it is a printer (so-called serial printer) that prints an image by conveying a print medium. On the other hand, instead of reciprocating the ejection head, a long ejection head having the same length (or longer) as the recording width is mounted, and the position of the long ejection head is fixed and printed. There have also been proposed printers (so-called line printers) that continuously convey media and print images (Patent Documents 1 and 2). Such a line printer is capable of continuously transporting and printing a print medium while simultaneously ejecting ink from a plurality of ejection nozzles provided on a long ejection head. Can be printed.

JP 2004-0504445 A JP 2007-001108 A

  However, the line printer has a problem that it is more difficult to maintain a state in which ink is normally ejected than in the case of a normal serial printer. This is because the line printer is the same as a normal serial printer in that the image is printed by ejecting ink from the ejection nozzle. Therefore, as in the case of the serial printer, the ink is applied for a long time. This is because when an ejection nozzle that does not eject is generated, the ink inside the ejection nozzle thickens, and the ink cannot be ejected normally. In addition, as described above, in the line printer, the print medium is continuously conveyed to print an image while the position of the long ejection head is fixed. For this reason, when the width of the print medium is narrower than the width of the ejection head, an ejection nozzle that does not eject ink is generated, and the ink is thickened inside such an ejection nozzle so that the ink is ejected normally. This is because it becomes difficult to do.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art. In a fluid ejecting apparatus equipped with a long ejecting head such as a line printer, the fluid can be ejected normally. The purpose is to provide a technology that can be easily realized.

In order to solve at least a part of the problems described above, the fluid ejecting apparatus of the present invention employs the following configuration. That is,
A plurality of injection nozzles for injecting a fluid are provided with an injection nozzle array arranged in a row, and the target injection medium is transported in a direction intersecting the injection nozzle array while being transported in a direction intersecting the injection nozzle array. A fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects the fluid onto a medium,
Medium conveying means for conveying the ejection target medium in a fixed direction intersecting the ejection nozzle row;
Medium supply means for supplying the medium to be ejected to the medium transport means one by one from the upstream side in the transport direction of the medium to be ejected;
When the width of the ejection nozzle row is larger than the width of the ejected medium when viewed from the side of the ejected medium to be transported, the medium supply means sets the supply position to the medium transport means as the transport direction. The gist of the present invention is a means for supplying the ejected medium while moving in the intersecting direction.

  In the fluid ejecting apparatus of the present invention, an ejecting nozzle array in which a plurality of ejecting nozzles are arranged in a row is mounted, and an ejected medium that is a medium from which fluid is ejected intersects the ejecting nozzle array. The fluid is ejected onto the ejection medium while being conveyed in the direction. At this time, when the width of the ejection nozzle row is larger than the width of the ejection medium as viewed from the side of the ejection medium to be conveyed, the supply position of the ejection medium is moved in a direction intersecting the conveyance direction. While supplying the medium to be ejected.

  If it carries out like this, generation | occurrence | production of the injection nozzle which does not inject a fluid among the several injection nozzles which comprise the injection nozzle row | line | column can be avoided. For this reason, since the fluid is not ejected, it is possible to prevent the fluid from being thickened inside the ejection nozzle, so that the fluid can be normally ejected by all the ejection nozzles. Is possible.

  In the fluid ejecting apparatus of the present invention, the ejected medium conveyed to the ejection nozzle row is counted, and the supply position of the ejected medium is moved each time a predetermined number of ejected media are conveyed. May be.

  In this way, when the fluid is ejected to a large number of ejection target media, the fluid can be ejected using all of the ejection nozzles constituting the ejection nozzle row. As a result, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of an injection nozzle in which the fluid thickens inside, and it is possible to maintain the fluid in a state in which the fluid can be normally injected with all of the injection nozzles.

  Alternatively, in the fluid ejecting apparatus of the present invention, the elapsed time from the start of fluid ejection to the ejected medium is counted, and the supply position of the ejected medium is moved each time a predetermined time elapses. It may be.

  Even in this case, the fluid can be ejected using all the ejection nozzles constituting the ejection nozzle row, and the fluid can be maintained in a state in which the fluid can be normally ejected by all the ejection nozzles. It becomes. Further, when the time required for ejecting the fluid to one ejection target medium is long, even if the number of ejection target media is small, there is a possibility that the thickening proceeds inside the ejection nozzle that is not used. Even in such a case, if the supply position of the ejection target medium is moved each time a predetermined time elapses, it is possible to avoid the increase in fluid viscosity.

  Further, in the above-described fluid ejecting apparatus of the present invention, the supply position of the ejected medium may be moved as follows. First, it is assumed that the medium to be ejected is mounted on the fluid ejecting apparatus in a state of being stored in the medium container. Here, the medium container is a dedicated medium container for each size of the medium to be ejected. Then, it is detected which medium container is installed, and when the medium container is a predetermined type of medium container, the medium container is placed in a direction intersecting the transport direction of the ejected medium. The supply position of the ejection medium may be changed by moving the position.

  In this way, the supply position of the ejected medium can be moved according to the size of the ejected medium to which the fluid is ejected. For example, the supply position can be moved only when the fluid ejecting apparatus is not the largest medium to be ejected. Further, if the medium container is of a kind, it can be identified more easily than directly identifying the size of the medium to be ejected. As a result, the supply position of the ejection medium can be easily moved according to the type of the ejection medium.

Hereinafter, in order to clarify the contents of the present invention described above, examples will be described in the following order.
A. Device configuration:
B. Feed position movement processing:

A. Device configuration :
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a rough structure of a fluid ejecting apparatus of the present embodiment using a line printer 1 as an example. As shown in the figure, the line printer 1 of this embodiment has a box-like outer shape, and a monitor panel 2 and an operation panel 3 for user operation are provided on the upper surface. It has been. Further, a paper supply port (not shown) for mounting printing paper is provided on the left side surface, and a paper discharge port for discharging printed printing paper is provided on the opposite side surface. 6 is provided.

  Inside the line printer 1, a plurality of units or parts for executing various functions are mounted. First, a paper feed cassette 10 in which printing paper is stored is provided on the left side of the line printer 1. A paper feed roller 20 is provided on the paper feed cassette 10 so as to be pressed against the printing paper. When the paper feed roller 20 is rotated by the paper feed motor 22, the paper feed roller 20 is accommodated in the paper feed cassette 10. The printing paper that is present is conveyed one by one. A head unit 30 is provided in the printing paper conveyance direction (rightward in the drawing). An ink cartridge containing ink is mounted inside the head unit 30, and a plurality of ejection nozzles are arranged in a row on the bottom surface of the head unit 30. When the ink is ejected from the ejection nozzle onto the printing paper while conveying the printing paper, the image is printed and discharged from the paper discharge port 6. In FIG. 1, the conveyance path of the printing paper is indicated by a thick broken line.

  A drive mechanism 50 using gears is provided below the paper feed cassette 10, and the position of the paper feed cassette 10 intersects with the printing paper transport direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface in the drawing). ) Can be moved. Further, a control unit 80 that controls the entire line printer 1 is provided below the monitor panel 2. A power supply unit 70 for supplying power to various knits and parts of the line printer 1 is mounted below the head unit 30.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an internal structure when the line printer 1 is viewed from the front side. Hereinafter, the operation of the line printer 1 for printing an image will be described with reference to FIG. First, the paper feed cassette 10 stores a plurality of printing papers. The printing paper stored in the paper feeding cassette 10 is pushed up by a spring 12 and is pushed against a paper feeding roller 20 provided above. The paper feed roller 20 is a long and narrow member having a substantially semicircular cross section formed by dividing a metal elongated cylinder in half in the length direction, and the side surface corresponding to the circumferential portion is formed of a rubber material. A paper feed motor 22 is connected to one end of the paper feed roller 20, and by rotating the paper feed roller 20 by the paper feed motor 22, only one sheet of printing paper is fed from the paper feed cassette 10 to the head unit 30. It is possible to carry it toward.

  A plurality of guide rollers 26 are provided between the paper feed roller 20 and the head unit 30. The guide roller 26 is driven and rotated by a motor (not shown) to convey the printing paper to the head unit 30 while guiding the printing paper.

  The head unit 30 is provided so as to straddle the printing paper on the printing paper conveyance path, and a plurality of inks are ejected to the bottom side of the head unit 30 (that is, the side facing the printing paper). Are arranged in a row. The structure on the bottom side of the head unit 30 will be described in detail later with reference to another drawing. Inside the head unit 30, an ink cartridge containing four types of ink, cyan ink (C ink), magenta ink (M ink), yellow ink (Y ink), and black ink (K ink) is mounted. . The ink stored in these ink cartridges is ejected from a plurality of ejection nozzles provided on the lower surface side of the head unit 30.

  A flat portion called a platen 24 is provided below the head unit 30 so as to face the bottom surface of the head unit 30. The printing paper conveyed by the paper feed roller 20 and the guide roller 26 is supplied onto the platen 24, and while being conveyed on the platen 24, ink is ejected from the ejection nozzles on the bottom surface of the head unit 30, and the image is printed. Will be printed. The printing paper on which the image is printed in this way is conveyed by a guide roller 26 provided on the downstream side of the platen 24 and is discharged from the paper discharge port 6 to the outside of the line printer 1.

  Further, the line printer 1 of the present embodiment is provided with a drive mechanism 50 that can move the position of the paper feed cassette 10. The drive mechanism 50 rotates a rack gear 52 (a linear gear in which gear teeth are linearly arranged) attached to the bottom surface of the paper feed cassette 10, a screw gear 54 meshed with the rack gear, and a screw gear 54. It is comprised from the motor etc. which are not shown in figure. Then, when the two screw gears 54 are rotated while being synchronized, the teeth of the screw gears 54 move so as to push out the rack gear 52, and as a result, the paper feed cassette 10 intersects with the conveyance direction of the printing paper (see FIG. 2 in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface. The movement amount of the paper feed cassette 10 can be controlled by the rotation angle of the screw gear 54, and the movement direction of the paper feed cassette 10 can be controlled by the rotation direction of the screw gear 54. .

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the bottom surface of the head unit 30. FIG. 3 shows a state when the head unit 30 is viewed from the bottom surface side. As illustrated, a plurality of ejection heads 32 are provided on the bottom surface of the head unit 30. Each ejection head 32 is provided with a plurality of ejection nozzles that eject ink at regular intervals, and by arranging such ejection heads 32 in a row, a large number of ejection nozzles are arranged in a row. The injection nozzle row arranged in the is formed. In the head unit 30 shown in FIG. 3, the end portions of the ejection heads 32 are arranged so as to overlap each other for the following reason. The ejection head 32 cannot be provided with an ejection nozzle in the vicinity of the end due to structural limitations. For this reason, if the ejection heads 32 are simply arranged in a line, a portion where the ejection nozzle does not exist is formed near the boundary between the end portions of the ejection head 32. Therefore, in order to avoid such a situation, the end portions of the ejection head 32 are arranged so as to overlap each other as shown in FIG. In this way, when viewed from the conveyance direction of the printing paper, one ejection nozzle row in which a plurality of ejection nozzles are arranged at regular intervals is configured.

  The head unit 30 of this embodiment includes an ink cartridge that contains four types of ink, cyan ink (C ink), magenta ink (M ink), yellow ink (Y ink), and black ink (K ink). Although it is mounted, the ejection nozzle row is provided for each ink cartridge. The ink in the ink cartridge is supplied to each ejection nozzle row via the ink passage in the head unit 30 and ejected from each ejection nozzle.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the positional relationship between the head unit 30 and the printing paper supplied to the head unit 30 when viewed from the upper surface side of the line printer 1. The line printer 1 according to the present embodiment can handle up to A3 size printing paper. When printing on A3 size printing paper, the printing paper is stored in the A3 paper feed cassette 10 and mounted on the line printer 1. Then, the printing paper taken out from the paper feeding cassette 10 by the paper feeding roller 20 is conveyed toward the head unit 30 and ink is ejected from all the ejection nozzles provided in the head unit 30 to print an image. .

  On the other hand, when printing on printing paper smaller than A3 size (for example, A4 size printing paper), the printing paper is stored in the paper feed cassette 10 that matches the size of the printing paper, and is stored in the line printer 1. Installing. In FIG. 4, a state in which the A4 size paper cassette 10 is mounted is indicated by a broken line. When the paper feed cassette 10 is mounted in this way, the printing paper taken out from the paper feed cassette 10 by the paper feed roller 20 is conveyed toward the head unit 30 and an image is printed.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 4, when printing on the largest size printing paper that can be handled, ink is ejected from all the ejection nozzles provided in the head unit 30. In the case of printing, an ejection nozzle that is not used is formed. In the drawing, a region where an unused injection nozzle is generated is indicated by a hatched arrow. If there is an ejection nozzle that is not used in this way, there is a concern that the ink inside the ejection nozzle will thicken and the ink cannot be ejected normally. Of course, if a maintenance operation (so-called flushing operation, cleaning operation, etc.) that discharges thickened ink is performed, it is possible to avoid ink thickening. However, from the viewpoint of saving ink consumption, frequent maintenance operations are required. This is not preferable. In addition, it is not desirable from the viewpoint of the life of the injection nozzle that the use frequency varies among the plurality of injection nozzles. In view of these points, in the line printer 1 of the present embodiment, when printing an image, processing for moving the paper feed position of the printing paper is performed as follows. Hereinafter, the paper feed position movement process will be described in detail.

B. Paper position movement processing:
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of a paper feed position moving process performed by the line printer 1 of this embodiment to move the paper feed position of the printing paper when printing an image. Such a process is a process executed by the control unit 80 mounted on the line printer 1.

  As shown in the figure, when the paper feed position moving process is started, first, the paper feed cassette 10 mounted on the line printer 1 is a paper feed cassette for the maximum size (here, A3 size) that can be handled. It is determined whether or not 10 (step S100). In the line printer 1 of the present embodiment, a contact switch (not shown) for detecting the size of the paper feed cassette 10 is provided at a position where the paper feed cassette 10 is mounted. By detecting this, it is possible to detect what size paper feed cassette 10 is mounted, in other words, the paper size of the printing paper.

  As a result, when it is determined that the installed paper cassette 10 is the maximum size paper cassette 10 that can be handled (step S100: yes), as shown in FIG. Since the image is printed using the nozzles, there is no need to move the paper feed position of the printing paper, and the paper feed position movement process shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the installed paper cassette 10 is not the maximum size paper cassette 10 that can be handled (step S100: no), this time, the count value of the number of printed sheets is reset ( Step S102). Here, the count value of the number of printed sheets is a value that the control unit 80 mounted on the line printer 1 internally counts and stores the number of printed sheets. In step S102, a process of changing the count value to “0” is performed.

  Subsequently, the number of printed sheets is started (step S104). That is, the count value is incremented by “1” each time the paper feed roller 20 is rotated and the print paper is conveyed to the head unit 30 one by one.

  Then, it is determined whether or not the number of printed sheets has reached a predetermined number (step S106). An appropriate value is set in advance as the predetermined number. As a result, when it is determined that the number of printed sheets has not reached the predetermined number (step S106: no), after confirming that the printing has not been completed (step S112: no), the process returns to step S104 to print. Continue counting sheets.

  If it is determined that the number of printed sheets has reached a predetermined number while repeating these operations (step S106: yes), the position of the paper feed cassette 10 is moved by a predetermined amount (step S108). That is, as described above with reference to FIG. 2, the screw gear 54 of the drive mechanism 50 provided below the paper feed cassette 10 is rotated by a certain amount, so that a predetermined amount is obtained in a direction intersecting the printing paper conveyance direction. Only the paper feed cassette 10 is moved.

  Subsequently, after resetting the count value of the number of printed sheets (step S110), it is determined whether or not printing is completed (step S112). If the printing has not been completed yet (step S112: no), the process returns to step S104 to start counting a new number of printed sheets.

  In this way, in the paper feed position movement process of this embodiment, when a paper feed cassette 10 smaller than the maximum size that the line printer 1 can handle is installed, the paper is fed every time a predetermined number of sheets are printed. The process of moving the position of the paper cassette 10 is executed until printing is completed.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing how the paper feed cassette 10 is moved by the screw gear 54 when the paper feed position moving process of the present embodiment is performed. As shown in the figure, printing is performed while moving the paper feed cassette 10 with respect to the head unit 30, whereby an image can be printed using all the ejection nozzles provided in the head unit 30. As a result, even when printing is performed using a printing paper smaller than the paper size that can be handled by the line printer 1, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of unused ejection nozzles and increase the viscosity of ink in those ejection nozzles. Is possible. In addition, since images are printed using all the ejection nozzles, it is possible to avoid a situation in which other ejection nozzles are deteriorated even though some of the ejection nozzles are not degraded at all. it can.

  Although the printing apparatus of the present embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to all the embodiments described above, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the position of the paper feed cassette 10 is moved every time the number of printed sheets reaches a predetermined number. However, instead of the number of prints, the position of the paper feed cassette 10 may be moved every time a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of printing.

  The paper feed cassette 10 may be moved little by little, but may be moved from one end side to the other end side at a time. Further, an appropriate amount of movement is determined in advance according to the size of the paper feed cassette 10, the size of the paper feed cassette 10 mounted on the line printer 1 is detected, and the amount of movement is determined in advance. Anyway.

It is explanatory drawing which showed the rough structure of the fluid injection apparatus of a present Example using a line printer as an example. It is explanatory drawing which showed the internal structure when seeing a line printer from the front side. It is explanatory drawing which showed the structure of the bottom face of a head unit. It is explanatory drawing which showed the positional relationship of a head unit and the printing paper supplied to a head unit seeing from the upper surface side of a line printer. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a paper feed position moving process performed by the line printer of the present embodiment to move the paper feed position of printing paper when printing an image. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram conceptually illustrating a state in which a sheet feeding cassette is moved by performing a sheet feeding position movement process of the present embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... Line printer, 2 ... Monitor panel, 3 ... Operation panel,
6 ... paper discharge port, 10 ... paper feed cassette, 20 ... paper feed roller,
22 ... Feeding motor, 24 ... Platen, 26 ... Guide roller,
30 ... Head unit, 32 ... Ejecting head, 50 ... Drive mechanism,
70 ... Power supply unit, 80 ... Control unit

Claims (4)

A plurality of injection nozzles for injecting a fluid are provided with an injection nozzle array arranged in a row, and the target injection medium is transported in a direction intersecting the injection nozzle array while being transported in a direction intersecting the injection nozzle array. A fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects the fluid onto a medium,
Medium conveying means for conveying the ejection target medium in a fixed direction intersecting the ejection nozzle row;
Medium supply means for supplying the medium to be ejected to the medium transport means one by one from the upstream side in the transport direction of the medium to be ejected;
When the width of the ejection nozzle row is larger than the width of the ejected medium when viewed from the side of the ejected medium to be transported, the medium supply means sets the supply position to the medium transport means as the transport direction. A fluid ejecting apparatus which is means for supplying the ejected medium while moving in a crossing direction. The fluid ejection device according to claim 1,
Medium counting means for counting the ejected medium supplied to the medium conveying means;
The medium ejecting apparatus is a fluid ejecting apparatus which is a means for supplying the ejected medium while moving a supply position with respect to the medium transporting means each time a predetermined number of the ejected media are supplied. The fluid ejection device according to claim 1,
A time measuring unit for measuring an elapsed time since the ejection medium is supplied to the medium conveying unit;
The fluid ejecting apparatus, wherein the medium supply means is a means for supplying the ejected medium while moving a supply position of the newly ejected medium to be newly supplied every time the elapsed time reaches a predetermined time. A fluid ejection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A medium container that is provided for each size of the medium to be ejected, accommodates a plurality of the medium to be ejected, and is attached to the fluid ejecting apparatus;
Medium container identifying means for identifying the type of the mounted medium container;
The medium supply means moves the position of the medium container in a direction crossing the transport direction of the ejected medium when the type of the identified medium container is a predetermined type. A fluid ejecting apparatus which is means for supplying a medium to be ejected.

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