JP2012030529A - Liquid ejection device and liquid ejection method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid ejection device and liquid ejection method, which can effectively perform recording while suppressing the deterioration of recording quality.SOLUTION: The liquid ejection device includes: a recording head 29 for ejecting ink to long paper 12 to apply printing processing; a second and a third rollers 17, 18 for conveying the paper 12 from an upstream side to a downstream side in a conveying direction; a cutter 19 arranged at the downstream side of the recording head 29 in the conveying direction, which cuts the paper 12 along a width direction intersecting the conveying direction; and a control part for controlling the recording head 29. The cutter 19 cuts the paper 12 while the conveyance of the paper 12 by the second and the third rollers 17, 18 is stopped. The control part controls the recording head 29 in accordance with the cutting of the paper 12 by the cutter 19 and flushing processing is performed in parallel with the cutting processing in a second time shorter than a first time required for the cutting processing for cutting the paper 12 by the cutter 19.

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus such as an ink jet printer and a liquid ejecting method.

  Conventionally, inkjet printers are widely known as one of liquid ejecting apparatuses. In this printer, printing (recording) is performed by ejecting ink (liquid) supplied from an ink cartridge to a target from a nozzle formed in a recording head (liquid ejecting head).

  In such a printer, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, ink is ejected onto a long roll paper to perform printing, and the printed roll paper is cut. Some sheets are ejected as printed sheets.

  Further, when printing is performed by ejecting ink from the nozzle, if the ink is not ejected for a long time, the ink may evaporate from the nozzle and thicken, which may cause ejection failure. In such a case, the cleaning process for maintaining a good nozzle state cannot be performed at the same time as the printing process. As a result, the execution of the cleaning process in such a case has been a factor of reducing the printing efficiency.

  Therefore, in the printer of Patent Document 1, the cleaning process is executed on the assumption that the printing has been completed when the roll paper cutting process is executed, and the printing until the start of the next printing process is started. The time was shortened.

JP 2007-118322 A

  By the way, in the case of the printer of Patent Document 1, suction cleaning is performed in which ink is sucked and forcibly discharged from the nozzles when the roll paper is cut. This suction cleaning requires a longer time than the time required for cutting because the cap is brought into contact with the nozzle forming surface of the recording head and the inside of the cap is sucked with a negative pressure.

  Therefore, for example, in a printer that continuously prints a plurality of sheets and interrupts printing and performs cutting processing, if suction cleaning is performed along with the cutting processing, the printing interruption time becomes long. . If the interruption time is long, the ink adhered before the suction cleaning is dried, and there is a possibility that the print quality is deteriorated due to a color difference between the ink adhered after the suction cleaning.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus and a liquid ejecting method capable of efficiently performing recording while suppressing deterioration in recording quality.

  In order to achieve the above object, a liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention includes a liquid ejecting head that performs recording processing by ejecting liquid onto a long target, and the target from the upstream side to the downstream side in the transport direction. Conveying means for conveying, cutting means for cutting the target along a width direction intersecting the conveying direction, provided on the downstream side of the conveying direction from the liquid ejecting head, and control for controlling the liquid ejecting head And the cutting means cuts the target in a state where conveyance of the target by the conveyance means is stopped, and the control means is configured to cut the liquid jet head in accordance with the cutting of the target by the cutting means. A predetermined parallel in parallel with the cutting process in a second time shorter than the first time required for the cutting process in which the cutting means cuts the target by controlling To run the management.

  According to this configuration, when the cutting means cuts the target, the parallel processing is executed in the second time shorter than the first time required for the cutting processing, so that the target is quickly applied to the target after the cutting processing is completed. The recording process can be resumed. Further, when the cutting means cuts the target, the conveyance of the target is stopped and the recording process for the target by the liquid ejecting head is also interrupted. For this reason, when a cutting process that interrupts the recording process is performed in this way, the liquid ejecting head that is not used for the cutting process is caused to execute a parallel process other than the recording process, thereby performing such a process at the time of the cutting process. The recording efficiency can be improved as compared with the case where it is executed at a different time. Therefore, it is possible to perform recording efficiently while suppressing a decrease in recording quality.

In the liquid ejecting apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, the parallel processing is flushing in which liquid is ejected from a nozzle formed in the liquid ejecting head regardless of the recording processing.
According to this configuration, since the cutting process is periodically performed as the target is transported, the liquid is ejected from the nozzles periodically regardless of the recording process in accordance with the target cutting, thereby performing the flushing. The state of the nozzle can be maintained well. That is, it is possible to efficiently perform the recording process while suppressing poor liquid ejection from the nozzles.

  The liquid ejecting apparatus according to the aspect of the invention further includes a storage unit that stores a first interval for periodically performing flushing, and a second unit from when the cutting unit performs the target cutting process last time to this time. When the interval is shorter than the first interval, the control unit controls the liquid ejecting head to perform flushing in parallel with the current cutting process by the cutting unit, and the second interval is If it is longer than the first interval, flushing is executed at the first interval.

  The second interval at which the cutting means performs the cutting process varies depending on the size and material of the target. Further, when the state in which the liquid is not ejected from the nozzle for a long time, there is a possibility that the liquid evaporates from the nozzle and thickens or the meniscus rises. In this respect, according to this configuration, the first interval stored in the storage means and the second interval of the cutting process are compared, and flushing is performed at a shorter interval, so that deterioration of the nozzle state is suppressed. can do. That is, when the second interval is shorter than the first interval, the nozzle state can be maintained well even if flushing is performed in parallel with the cutting process at the second interval, and recording is interrupted. Recording can be performed efficiently by performing flushing in parallel with the cutting process. On the other hand, when the second interval is longer than the first interval, the liquid may evaporate and thicken when flushing is performed at the second interval. Therefore, by performing flushing at the first interval, the state of the nozzle can be maintained well.

  The liquid ejecting apparatus according to the aspect of the invention further includes first moving means for moving the liquid ejecting head between a recording position where the liquid ejecting head is opposed to the target and a non-recording position different from the recording position, The cutting means includes a cutter for cutting the target, and second moving means for moving the cutter between a cutting position where the target can be cut and a non-cutting position different from the cutting position.

  According to this configuration, since the first moving means for moving the liquid ejecting head and the second moving means for moving the cutter are provided as separate structures, the liquid ejecting head and the cutter are moved separately. Can do. That is, the parallel processing can be performed by moving the liquid ejecting head to an arbitrary position in accordance with the cutting processing.

  The liquid ejecting method of the present invention includes a recording stage in which a liquid ejected from a liquid ejecting head is attached to a long target to perform a recording process, and a transport stage in which the target is transported from the upstream side to the downstream side in the transport direction. A cutting step of cutting the target in a width direction intersecting the transport direction in a state where recording is performed in the recording step and transport of the target transported in the transport step is stopped. In the stage, predetermined parallel processing by the liquid ejecting head is executed in a second time shorter than a first time required for the cutting process for cutting the target.

  According to this configuration, the same function and effect as the invention relating to the liquid ejecting apparatus can be achieved.

The front schematic diagram of a printer. The plane schematic diagram of the printing part in time t1. The block diagram of a control part. The flowchart which sets flushing timing. The timing chart of a cutting process and a flushing process. The plane schematic diagram of the printing part in time t2. The plane schematic diagram of the printing part in time t4. The plane schematic diagram of the printing part in time t6. The plane schematic diagram of the printing part in time t7. The plane schematic diagram of the printing part in time t8. The plane schematic diagram of the printing part at the time of a printing process resumption.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a liquid ejecting apparatus and a liquid ejecting method of the present invention are embodied in an ink jet printer will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, when referring to “up and down direction” and “left and right direction”, the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1 is used as a reference. In addition, the “front-rear direction” refers to a direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 1 and the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. In this case, the “vertical direction” corresponds to the vertical direction, and the “left / right direction” corresponds to the direction from the left side to the right side corresponding to the target transport direction, and the “front / back direction” intersects the target transport direction. Corresponds to the width direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a printer 11 as a liquid ejecting apparatus performs printing (recording) on a sheet feeding unit 13 that feeds a sheet 12 as a long target and a sheet 12 fed from the sheet feeding unit 13. And a printing unit 14 that performs processing. In addition, the printer 11 conveys the conversion roller 15 that changes the conveyance direction of the paper 12 fed from the paper supply unit 13 and the downstream side (right side) of the conveyance direction (left-right direction) while holding the paper 12 from both front and back surfaces. And a pair of first to third transport rollers 16 to 18. Further, a width direction in which the printed paper 12 intersects the transport direction is disposed between the second and third transport rollers 17 and 18 provided downstream of the printing unit 14 in the transport direction of the paper 12. A cutter 19 for cutting along the (front-rear direction) is provided.

  The paper feed unit 13 on the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the paper 12 is rotatably provided with a winding shaft 21 extending in the front-rear direction, and the paper 12 previously wound in a roll shape is connected to the winding shaft 21. It is supported so that it can rotate integrally. The printer 11 also includes a transport motor 22 (see FIG. 3) that rotationally drives the winding shaft 21, the conversion roller 15, and the first to third transport rollers 16-18.

  That is, the paper 12 fed out from the paper supply unit 13 by the rotation of the winding shaft 21 as the transport motor 22 is driven is wound around the conversion roller 15 and the transport direction is changed. Further, the paper 12 is transported so as to pass through the printing unit 14 as the first to third transport rollers 16 to 18 rotate. Therefore, the conversion roller 15, the first to third transport rollers 16 to 18, the winding shaft 21, and the transport motor 22 function as a transport unit that transports the paper 12 from the upstream side to the downstream side in the transport direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the printing unit 14 includes a support base 24 that supports the paper 12, and a rod-shaped guide shaft 25 that extends in the width direction of the paper 12 and is supported by a frame (not shown) at both front and rear ends. Have. The guide shaft 25 supports a carriage 27 that can reciprocate in the scanning direction (front-rear direction) along the guide shaft 25 by driving a carriage motor 26 (see FIG. 3). Further, the carriage 27 is mounted with a recording head 29 as a liquid ejecting head in which at least one (four in this embodiment) nozzle row 28 extending in the sub-scanning direction (left-right direction) orthogonal to the scanning direction is formed. Has been.

  Further, a flushing box 31 that receives ink ejected from each nozzle row 28 in accordance with flushing of the recording head 29 is provided at a non-printing position (non-recording position) P1 behind the support base 24. . That is, the carriage motor 26 has a printing position (recording position) P2 at which the carriage 27 can print (record) the recording head 29 facing the paper 12 and a non-facing non-facing paper 12 unlike the printing position P2. It functions as a first moving means for moving between the printing position P1.

  The recording head 29 moves to the support base 24 by ejecting ink (liquid) supplied from an ink cartridge (not shown) from each nozzle constituting the nozzle row 28 while moving at the printing position P2 together with the carriage 27. Printing is performed on the supported paper 12.

  In addition, the cutter 19 in the present embodiment is a circular blade and is a rotary cutter that can rotate around the rotation shaft 32. The cutter 19 reciprocates along an axis (not shown) extending in the width direction of the paper 12 in accordance with the driving of the cutting motor 33 (see FIG. 3) as the second moving means, so that the paper 12 can be cut. It moves between the cutting position P3 and a non-cutting position P4 different from the cutting position. That is, the cutter 19 and the cutting motor 33 function as cutting means.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the printer 11 is provided with a control unit 34 as a control unit that performs overall control of the operating state of the printer 11. The control unit 34 controls the transport motor 22, the carriage motor 26, the recording head 29, and the cutting motor 33 based on the operation of the operation unit 35, and performs printing processing (recording processing), flushing processing (parallel processing), cutting processing, and the like. Is supposed to run. Further, the control unit 34 stores a threshold interval TT as a first interval for periodically performing so-called flushing that ejects ink irrespective of the printing process (recording process). In this respect, the control unit 34 also functions as a storage unit.

  The threshold interval TT means that even when ink is not continuously ejected from the nozzles, ink can be ejected normally from the nozzles without causing ejection failure due to ink thickening or the like. It is a time interval. That is, the threshold interval TT is a time interval that is set according to the type of ink ejected from the recording head 29, and when ejecting ink that tends to thicken, The threshold interval TT is set shorter.

  In addition, the control unit 34 stores a cutting interval CT as a second interval in association with the size of cutting the paper 12 in the transport direction. Note that the cutting interval CT is a time interval from the previous cutting of the paper 12 to this time, and changes according to the size of the paper 12 after cutting. The larger the size, the longer the cutting interval CT. Become.

Next, a timing setting routine executed by the control unit 34 to set the flushing timing is set based on the flowchart of FIG.
When the operation unit 35 is operated by the user and printing is started, the control unit 34 determines whether or not the threshold interval TT is equal to or less than the cutting interval CT in step S101. If the threshold interval TT is equal to or shorter than the cutting interval CT (step S101: YES), there is a possibility that ejection failure may occur if flushing is performed at a cutting interval CT longer than the threshold interval TT. Performs flushing at the threshold interval TT.

  Specifically, the control unit 34 determines whether or not the threshold interval TT has elapsed in step S102. That is, when the time interval from the start time when printing is started to the current time is equal to or greater than the threshold interval TT, it is determined that the threshold interval TT has elapsed (step S102: YES).

  Then, in step S103, the control unit 34 controls the carriage motor 26 by using the timing at which the scanning direction of the carriage 27 is changed, and moves the recording head 29 to a position facing the flushing box 31, and also the recording head. 29 is controlled to eject ink from all nozzles. That is, the control unit 34 performs the flushing process at a timing at which ink is not ejected from the nozzles of the recording head 29 to the paper 12 for printing in the printing process. Subsequently, in the next step S104, the control unit 34 resets a timer (not shown) and measures an elapsed time after the flushing is executed.

  Further, in step S105, the control unit 34 determines whether or not the printing is finished. When the printing is finished, the timing setting routine is finished (step S105: YES). If printing has not ended (step S105: NO), the process returns to step S102, and the time interval from the time when the previous flushing process was executed based on the measurement time of the timer to the current time is the threshold interval TT. It is determined whether this is the case.

  That is, when the elapsed time measured by the timer is equal to or greater than the threshold interval TT (step S102: YES), the process proceeds to step S103 and the flushing process is executed. When the elapsed time measured by the timer is less than the threshold interval TT, the control unit 34 determines that the threshold interval TT has not elapsed (step S102: NO). Then, the control part 34 transfers the process to step S105, and performs the process in step S105 mentioned above.

  On the other hand, in step S101, when the threshold interval TT is less than the cutting interval CT (step S101: NO), the control unit 34 performs a flushing process in parallel with the cutting process. That is, since the cutting interval CT is shorter than the threshold interval TT, even if flushing is performed at the cutting interval CT, the probability that an injection failure will occur is low.

  Therefore, the control unit 34 determines whether or not the cutting process is started in step S106. When the cutting process is started (step S106: YES), the control unit 34 performs the same flushing process as in step S103 (step S107), and then the process proceeds to step S108. If the cutting process is not started in step S106 (step S106: NO), the process directly proceeds to step S108 without going through step S107.

  In step S108, the control unit 34 determines whether or not printing is finished. If printing is finished, the timing setting routine is finished (step S108: YES). If printing has not been completed (step S108: NO), the process returns to step S106, and the process in step S106 described above is executed.

  Next, regarding the operation of the printer 11 configured as described above, a cutting process and a flushing process performed between printing processes will be described below based on the timing chart of FIG. However, the threshold interval TT is less than the cutting interval CT, and the printer 11 executes the flushing process in parallel with the cutting process.

  In the present embodiment, in consideration of a shift in the transport amount, the first and second positions that are cut by the cutter 19 at positions separated by a predetermined interval (for example, 1 mm) with the boundary between the images A to C in the transport direction as a boundary. The cut positions are CP1 and CP2. That is, in a single cutting process that separates the two images A and B, the first cutting position CP1 on the downstream side (image A) in the transport direction with respect to the boundary between the images A and B, and the upstream in the transport direction with respect to the boundary ( Cut two points from the second cutout position CP2 on the image B) side.

  In the timing chart shown in FIG. 5, the speed of moving the carriage 27 and the cutter 19 from the front side to the rear side is positive, and the speed of movement from the rear side to the front side is negative. Further, the paper feed speed is illustrated with the moving speed from the upstream side to the downstream side in the transport direction of the paper 12 as positive.

  Now, when the operation unit 35 is operated by the user in the printer 11 and printing is started, a printing process is executed as the transport motor 22, the carriage motor 26, and the recording head 29 are driven. That is, the recording head 29 performs printing by ejecting ink from each nozzle onto the stopped paper 12 while reciprocating in the scanning direction (recording stage).

  Further, each time the scanning direction of the carriage 27 is changed, the paper 12 is transported downstream in the transport direction by the print width W that the recording head 29 can print on the paper 12 with one scanning of the carriage 27. (Transport stage). In this embodiment, since printing is performed using all the nozzles constituting the nozzle row 28, the print width W matches the row width of the nozzle row 28 in the transport direction. Therefore, by alternately transporting and printing the paper 12, images A to C are printed on the paper 12 based on the print data as shown in FIG.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 2, when the distance L in the transport direction between the first cutting position CP1 located upstream of the cutter 19 in the transport direction and the cutter 19 is equal to or less than the printing width W, the cutting is performed. Processing and flushing processing are executed in parallel. That is, the moving speed of the carriage 27 from the front side to the rear side is reduced at the non-printing position P1, and the conveyance motor 22 is driven at the time t1 when the carriage 27 moves from the printing position P2 to the rear non-printing position P1. Then, the conveyance of the paper 12 is started.

  Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the sheet 12 is transported from the state illustrated in FIG. 2 such that the first cutting position CP1 coincides with the cutter 19 in the transport direction. Further, the cutter 19 in FIG. 2 immediately after the paper 12 is moved from the acceleration state to the constant speed state at the start of conveyance so that the cutting of the paper 12 is started at the time t2 when the paper 12 is stopped (see FIG. 5). The movement starts from the state shown to the front side. At this time, the carriage 27 once stops at the non-printing position P1, and then starts moving to the rear side, which is the flushing box 31 side.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 7, at the time t <b> 3 (see FIG. 5) when the carriage 27 stops so as to be positioned on the flushing box 31, the recording head 29 outputs the flushing signal (that is, printing and printing) output from the control unit 34. The flushing for ejecting ink from all nozzles is performed based on the control signal for ejecting ink independently.

  At this time, the cutter 19 cuts the paper 12 while moving from the rear non-cutting position P4 toward the front side, and stops at the front non-cutting position P4. Then, the conveyance of the paper 12 is started at a time t4 (see FIG. 5) when the cutter 19 moves from the cutting position P3 to the front non-cutting position P4, and the paper 12 has the second cutting position CP2 in the conveying direction. It is conveyed so as to match.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the flushing is completed at time t <b> 5, next, as shown in FIG. 8, the carriage 27 moves on the flushing box 31 from the position toward the front side. At this time, the cutter 19 moves from the front non-cutting position P4 toward the rear so that the cutting of the paper 12 can be started at time t6 (see FIG. 5) when the paper 12 stops.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, when the cutter 19 passes the cutting position P3 from the front side to the rear side from time t6 (see FIG. 5) to time t7 (see FIG. 5), the paper 12 moves the cutter 19 Accordingly, cutting is performed at the second cutting position CP2 (cutting stage).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10, at time t7 (see FIG. 5) when the cutter 19 moves from the cutting position P3 to the non-cutting position P4, the paper 12 is conveyed by the printing width W from the state shown in FIG. Then, the conveyance is started. That is, the sheet 12 is transported so that the region facing the nozzle row 28 as the carriage 27 scans and the portion printed in the previous printing process are continuous in the transport direction. Then, as the conveyance of the sheet 12 stops at time t8 (see FIG. 5), the printing process for ejecting ink onto the sheet 12 while moving the carriage 27 from the rear side toward the front side is resumed (see FIG. 5). FIG. 11). Since the second time T2 required for the flushing process is shorter than the first time T1 (T1 = t8−t1) required for the cutting process, the printing process is resumed immediately after the cutting process is completed. (See FIG. 5).

  When the carriage 27 moved toward the front side moves to the front non-printing position P1, the paper 12 is further conveyed by the print width W and gradually conveyed downstream in the conveyance direction along with printing. When the printing process is executed until the distance L between the first cutting position CP1 located upstream of the cutter 19 in the transport direction and the cutter 19 is equal to or less than the printing width W, the cutting process and the flushing process are performed again. Is executed.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) When the cutter 19 cuts the paper 12, the flushing process is executed at the second time T2 shorter than the first time T1 required for the cutting process. The printing process can be resumed. Further, when the cutter 19 cuts the paper 12, the conveyance of the paper 12 is stopped, and the printing process for the paper 12 by the recording head 29 is also interrupted. For this reason, when a cutting process in which the printing process is interrupted is executed in this way, the flushing process other than the printing process is executed in parallel by the recording head 29 that is not used for the cutting process. The printing efficiency can be improved as compared with the case where it is executed at a time different from the time of the cutting process. Therefore, it is possible to perform printing efficiently while suppressing a decrease in print quality.

  (2) Since the cutting process is periodically performed as the paper 12 is transported, the nozzles are periodically ejected from the nozzles to perform flushing regardless of the printing process in accordance with the cutting of the paper 12. This state can be maintained satisfactorily. That is, it is possible to efficiently perform the printing process while suppressing the ejection failure of the ink from the nozzles.

  (3) The cutting interval CT at which the cutter 19 performs the cutting process varies depending on the size and material of the paper 12. Further, when the state where ink is not ejected from the nozzles for a long time, the ink may evaporate from the nozzles to increase the viscosity, or the meniscus may increase. In this respect, since the flushing is performed at a shorter interval by comparing the threshold interval TT stored in the control unit 34 with the cutting interval CT of the cutting process, it is possible to suppress deterioration of the nozzle state. That is, when the cutting interval CT interval is shorter than the threshold interval TT, the state of the nozzle can be maintained well even if flushing is performed in parallel with the cutting processing at the cutting interval CT, and the cutting processing for interrupting recording. Can be printed efficiently by performing flushing in parallel. On the other hand, when the cutting interval CT is longer than the threshold interval TT, if flushing is performed at the cutting interval CT, the ink may evaporate and thicken. Therefore, by performing flushing at the threshold interval TT, the state of the nozzle can be maintained satisfactorily.

  (4) Since the carriage motor 26 that moves the recording head 29 and the cutting motor 33 that moves the cutter 19 are provided as separate components, the recording head 29 and the cutter can be moved separately. That is, the flushing process can be performed by moving the recording head 29 to an arbitrary position in accordance with the cutting process.

In addition, you may change the said embodiment as follows.
In the above embodiment, either one of the carriage motor 26 and the cutting motor 33 may be provided, and both the carriage 27 and the cutter 19 may be moved by the driving force of the one motor.

  In the above embodiment, the recording head 29 may be a line-type recording head capable of printing over the width direction (front-rear direction) of the paper 12. When the recording head 29 is a line type, flushing may be performed by moving the flushing box 31 to face the nozzle row 28. The flushing box 31 is not limited to the box shape as long as it can accept the ejected ink, and can be arbitrarily selected from a belt, a thread, a wire, a sheet, a plate, and the like.

  In the above embodiment, the cutter 19 may be a non-rotating razor-like blade, or may have a blade that hits both the front and back surfaces of the paper 12 like scissors. Alternatively, the cutter may have a blade extending in the width direction of the paper 12, and may be moved in the vertical direction or swung around the axis. When the paper 12 is cut into the same size, the cutting interval CT is constant. Therefore, the paper 12 may be cut after a predetermined time elapses by a timer, for example, without being controlled by the control unit 34. .

  In the above embodiment, the comparison between the threshold interval TT and the cutting interval CT may not be performed, and the flushing processing may be performed when the cutting process is executed regardless of the cutting interval CT. That is, in this case, the control unit 34 may not store the threshold interval TT.

  In the above embodiment, when the threshold interval TT is twice or more than the cutting interval CT, it is possible to select a cutting process in which the flushing process is executed in parallel among the cutting processes performed a plurality of times. That is, for example, when the threshold interval TT is twice the cutting interval CT, the flushing processing may be performed every other time for the cutting processing executed at the cutting interval CT. As a result, the frequency of flushing can be made closer to the threshold interval TT, so that ink thickening can be suppressed while suppressing consumption of ink accompanying flushing.

  In the above embodiment, the predetermined parallel processing executed in parallel with the cutting processing can be executed in a second time shorter than the first time required for the cutting processing, except for the flushing processing. The processing can be arbitrarily selected.

  That is, for example, an embedding process for embedding a digital watermark in the paper 12 may be performed while the conveyance of the paper 12 is stopped along with the cutting process. As a method of embedding information as a digital watermark, colorless ink is attached to the paper from the recording head 29 while scanning the carriage 27, and the dot diameter is changed by combining adjacent dots and changing the dot diameter. Information may be embedded depending on the changed position and the size of the dot diameter. In addition, information may be embedded by attaching fluorescent ink or magnetic ink that emits light when irradiated with ultraviolet rays. The information to be embedded can be arbitrarily selected such as date, printer, author, and copy prohibition information.

Since such an embedding process is completed by one scan of the recording head 29, the embedding process can be performed in a second time shorter than the first time required for the cutting process.
In the above embodiment, the paper 12 may be sandwiched and conveyed by the first to third conveyance rollers 16 to 18 without providing the conversion roller 15. Furthermore, if the paper 12 can be transported, at least one of the first to third transport rollers 16 to 18 may be provided. Further, the paper 12 may be conveyed while being placed on the belt.

  -In the said embodiment, as a target, the thing of arbitrary raw materials and shapes which can receive a liquid, such as a plastic film, a seal | sticker, metal foil, a glass plate, a board | plate material, cloth, are employable.

  In the above embodiment, the liquid ejecting apparatus is embodied in the ink jet printer 11, but a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects or discharges liquid other than ink may be employed. The present invention can be used for various liquid ejecting apparatuses including a liquid ejecting head that ejects a minute amount of liquid droplets. In addition, a droplet means the state of the liquid discharged from the said liquid ejecting apparatus, and shall also include what pulls a tail in granular shape, tear shape, and thread shape. The liquid here may be any material that can be ejected by the liquid ejecting apparatus. For example, it may be in a state in which the substance is in a liquid phase, such as a liquid with high or low viscosity, sol, gel water, other inorganic solvents, organic solvents, solutions, liquid resins, liquid metals (metal melts ) And a liquid as one state of a substance, as well as a material in which particles of a functional material made of a solid such as a pigment or metal particles are dissolved, dispersed or mixed in a solvent. Further, representative examples of the liquid include ink and liquid crystal as described in the above embodiment. Here, the ink includes general water-based inks and oil-based inks, and various liquid compositions such as gel inks and hot melt inks. As a specific example of the liquid ejecting apparatus, for example, a liquid containing a material such as an electrode material or a color material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an EL (electroluminescence) display, a surface emitting display, a color filter, or the like in a dispersed or dissolved state. It may be a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting, a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting a bio-organic material used for biochip manufacturing, a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting a liquid as a sample used as a precision pipette, a textile printing apparatus, a microdispenser, or the like. In addition, transparent resin liquids such as UV curable resin to form liquid injection devices that pinpoint lubricant oil onto precision machines such as watches and cameras, and micro hemispherical lenses (optical lenses) used in optical communication elements. A liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid onto the substrate or a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects an etching solution such as an acid or an alkali to etch the substrate may be employed. The present invention can be applied to any one of these liquid ejecting apparatuses.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Printer (liquid ejecting apparatus), 12 ... Paper (target), 15 ... Conversion roller (conveyance means), 16-18 ... 1st-3rd conveyance roller (conveyance means), 19 ... Cutter, 21 ... Winding axis (Conveying means), 22 ... conveying motor (conveying means), 26 ... carriage motor (first moving means), 29 ... recording head (liquid ejecting head), 33 ... cutting motor (second moving means), 34 ... Control unit (control means, storage means), P1 ... non-printing position (printing position), P2 ... printing position (recording position), P3 ... cutting position, P4 ... non-cutting position, CT ... cutting interval (second interval) TT ... threshold interval (first interval), T1 ... first time, T2 ... second time.

Claims (5)

A liquid ejecting head that performs recording processing by ejecting liquid onto a long target; and
Transport means for transporting the target from the upstream side to the downstream side in the transport direction;
Cutting means provided downstream of the liquid jet head in the transport direction and cutting the target along a width direction intersecting the transport direction;
Control means for controlling the liquid ejecting head,
The cutting means cuts the target in a state where the transport of the target by the transport means is stopped,
The control means controls the liquid ejecting head according to the cutting of the target by the cutting means, and the cutting means has a second time shorter than a first time required for a cutting process for cutting the target. A liquid ejecting apparatus that executes predetermined parallel processing in parallel with cutting processing. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parallel processing is flushing that ejects liquid from nozzles formed in the liquid ejecting head regardless of recording processing. Storage means for storing a first interval for periodically performing flushing;
When the second interval from when the cutting unit performs the target cutting process last time to this time is shorter than the first interval, the control unit controls the liquid ejecting head to perform the cutting. In parallel with the current cutting process by means,
The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the second interval is longer than the first interval, flushing is performed at the first interval. A first moving means for moving the liquid ejecting head between a recording position where the liquid ejecting head is opposed to the target and a non-recording position different from the recording position;
The cutting means includes a cutter for cutting the target, and second moving means for moving the cutter between a cutting position where the target can be cut and a non-cutting position different from the cutting position. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid ejecting apparatus is a liquid ejecting apparatus. A recording stage in which the liquid ejected from the liquid ejecting head is attached to a long target to perform a recording process;
A transport stage for transporting the target from the upstream side to the downstream side in the transport direction;
Cutting is performed in the recording stage, and cutting the target in the width direction intersecting the transport direction in a state where the transport of the target transported in the transport stage is stopped,
In the cutting step, a predetermined parallel processing by the liquid ejecting head is executed in a second time shorter than a first time required for a cutting process for cutting the target.

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