JP2012200938A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording device in which the light-emitting elements configuring a light irradiation section are less susceptible to failure, and recording can be continued even if the light-emitting elements fail during recording.SOLUTION: The recording device includes a recording head 15 having a nozzle array 5 which ejects photoreaction liquid toward a material P to be recorded, and a light irradiation section 19 having a light-emitting element array 39 consisting of light-emitting elements 41 arranged in the same direction as the nozzle array and irradiating the thus ejected photoreaction liquid with light to cause chemical change thereof. A plurality of light-emitting element arrays are arranged in the light irradiation section, and in the plurality of light-emitting element arrays, the positions of the light-emitting elements arranged at a predetermined pitch in the same direction as the nozzle array are consistent or shifted by a predetermined pitch in the direction of nozzle array.

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording head having a nozzle array that discharges a photoreactive liquid to a recording material, and a light emitting element that irradiates light to the discharged photoreactive liquid and chemically changes the photoreactive liquid. The present invention relates to a recording apparatus including a light irradiation unit having a light emitting element array arranged in the same direction as the array.

  Conventionally, recording having a nozzle row in which a large number of nozzle openings for discharging photocurable ink (for example, ultraviolet (UV) curable ink) is arranged on a recording surface of a recording material (hereinafter also referred to as “paper”). A light irradiating unit having a head, and a light emitting element array in which a plurality of light emitting elements (for example, LEDs: Light Emitting Diodes) are arranged to irradiate the discharged photocurable ink with light to cure the photocurable ink Are developed as shown in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 below.

  In the case of a recording apparatus of the type in which the recording head is mounted on a carriage that reciprocates in a direction crossing the paper conveyance direction, the recording head is converted into a photocurable ink during both the forward movement and the backward movement of the recording head. In order to irradiate light, as shown in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 below, the light emitting element arrays are arranged one by one on the left and right sides of the nozzle arrays of the respective colors.

JP 2005-104108 A JP 2004-314304 A

  However, if one of the light-emitting elements such as LEDs constituting the light-emitting element array fails during recording, all of the photocurable ink ejected from the dozens of nozzle openings that the failed light-emitting element takes care of. It will be in an uncured state and will produce a wasteful printed matter having no commercial value.

In Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, there is no description about measures against such a failure of the light emitting element. In recent years, considering the market for printed materials using photo-curable inks that have become widespread, it is an urgent task to take measures against the problem of failure of the light-emitting elements.
That is, it is desired that the light-emitting elements constituting the light-emitting element array are less likely to fail and that the recording can be continued by curing the photocurable ink even if some of the light-emitting elements fail during recording.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus in which a light emitting element that constitutes a light irradiating part is unlikely to fail, and recording can be continued even if a failure occurs during recording.

  In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of the recording apparatus according to the present invention includes a recording head having a nozzle array for discharging a photoreactive liquid to a recording material, and light emitted from the discharged photoreactive liquid. A light emitting unit having a light emitting element array in which light emitting elements that chemically change the photoreaction liquid by irradiation are arranged in the same direction as the nozzle array, and the light irradiation unit includes a plurality of light emitting element arrays. The plurality of light emitting element rows arranged are arranged such that the positions of the light emitting elements arranged at a predetermined pitch in the same direction as the nozzle rows in the direction of the nozzle rows are the same between the rows. It is characterized by being arranged.

Here, “light” used in this specification means visible light generally having a short wavelength side of 360 nm to 400 nm and a long wavelength side of 760 nm to 830 nm, and a wavelength of about 1 nm to 380 nm which is shorter than the visible light. In addition to the range including ultraviolet rays and infrared rays having a wavelength longer than that of visible light of about 780 nm to 1 mm, it is used in a broad sense including electromagnetic waves having wavelengths shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and electromagnetic waves having wavelengths longer than those of infrared rays. To do. This is to simplify the explanation.
Therefore, in the case of “photoreaction liquid”, in order to simplify the explanation, in addition to the range of visible light, ultraviolet rays, and infrared rays, which are generally regarded as light ranges, short wavelengths or out of these ranges are used. It shall mean various liquids that chemically change in response to long-wave electromagnetic waves.

According to this aspect, the light irradiation unit includes a plurality of light emitting element arrays, and the light emitting element arrays are disposed at a predetermined pitch in the same direction as the nozzle array. The light emitting elements are arranged so that the positions in the direction of the nozzle rows coincide with each other.
Therefore, when all of the light emitting element rows in a plurality of rows are turned on and used, it is sufficient that the total light irradiation amount due to the total lighting satisfies the necessary amount for chemically changing the photoreaction liquid. The amount of light emitted from the light emitting element can be set to a lower level than in the case of the conventional single-row structure. Thereby, the load accompanying light emission of each issuing element is reduced, and the possibility of failure of the light emitting element can be reduced.

In addition, it is possible to light a part of the light emitting element rows instead of lighting them.
In this case, the irradiation amount per light emitting element is larger than in the case of full lighting, but it can be set to a lower level than in the case of the conventional single-row structure, and lighting is performed for each irradiation. It is possible to use the combination of light emitting element rows to be recombined and changed in all rows. This usage reduces the usage frequency (lighting frequency) of each light-emitting element, so that the load associated with light emission is reduced from this point as well, and the risk of failure of the light-emitting element can be reduced.
At this time, according to this aspect, the positions of the light emitting elements in the direction of the nozzle rows are arranged so as to coincide between the rows. Even if it is recombined and changed, the total amount of light received by the irradiated reaction solution does not change. Therefore, it is possible to prevent occurrence of variations in recording quality.

Furthermore, when a failure occurs in a light emitting element in any one of the light emitting element arrays, it is possible to switch to an operation mode of light irradiation by a light emitting element array in which no failure has occurred.
At that time, if the total amount of light emitted from the light emitting elements in each row satisfies the amount necessary for reacting the photoreaction liquid, a chemical change necessary for the discharged photoreaction liquid is caused. be able to. Accordingly, recording can be continued even if a failure occurs in a part of the light emitting element.

  According to a second aspect of the recording apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a recording head having a nozzle array for discharging a photoreactive liquid to a recording material, and irradiating the discharged photoreactive liquid with light. A light irradiating section having a light emitting element array in which the light emitting elements for chemically changing the light emitting element array are arranged in the same direction as the nozzle array, wherein the light irradiating section includes a plurality of the light emitting element arrays, The arranged light emitting element rows are arranged such that the positions of the light emitting elements arranged in the same direction as the nozzle rows in the nozzle row direction are shifted in phase by a predetermined pitch between the rows. It is characterized by this.

According to this aspect, the same effect as that of the first aspect can be basically obtained with respect to the part having the same configuration as that of the first aspect.
When a failure occurs in any one of the light emitting element rows, 2 adjacent to the nozzle row in the position adjacent to the failed light emitting element in the light emitting element row adjacent to the failed light emitting element. The light emission amount of the failed light emitting element can be compensated by the light emitting elements at the corresponding positions in the adjacent light emitting element rows.

  Further, in this aspect, unlike the first aspect, the positions of the light emitting elements in the direction of the nozzle rows are arranged with the phases shifted by a predetermined pitch between the rows. That is, the position of the boundary between two light emitting elements adjacent in the column direction in each light emitting element row is not the same position as in the first aspect, but is shifted. Therefore, unlike the first aspect, the influence of the position of the boundary is dispersed and output from the viewpoint of uniformity of the amount of light emitted from each light emitting element to the reaction liquid discharged from each nozzle hole. This makes it difficult to improve the uniformity.

  According to a third aspect of the recording apparatus of the present invention, in the first aspect or the second aspect, the recording apparatus includes a control unit that controls a recording execution operation by the recording head and an operation of the light irradiation unit. In the case where the light emitting element rows are arranged and N light emitting element rows are turned on and light irradiation is performed by turning on the light emitting element rows equal to or less than N-1, the light emitting element rows of N-1 lights up for each irradiation. It is configured to be able to execute control to recombine and change the combination in all N columns.

  According to this aspect, in the case where the light emitting element arrays are arranged in N rows and the light emitting element arrays of N−1 or less are turned on and the light irradiation is performed, the control unit is turned on for each irradiation. It is configured to be able to execute control to change the combination of -1 light emitting element rows in all N rows. Therefore, by executing the control by the control unit, it is possible to easily realize the usage in which the usage frequency (lighting frequency) of each light emitting element in the first mode and the second mode is reduced, and thus light emission. Can be reduced, and the risk of failure of the light emitting element can be reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the recording apparatus of the present invention, in the third aspect, the control unit is configured to perform the switching based on the number of lighting times or the lighting time of each light emitting element array. It is characterized by.
Here, the switching can be performed regularly or randomly based on the number of lighting times or lighting time.

  According to this aspect, it is possible to cause a desired chemical change in the photoreaction liquid by appropriately recombining the light emitting element arrays to be used among the plurality of light emitting element arrays. Therefore, the life of each light-emitting element is extended compared to the case where only the same light-emitting element array is used or the use form in which the same plurality of light-emitting element arrays are simultaneously used is adopted. It is possible to stably irradiate the photoreaction liquid with a desired amount of light.

  According to a fifth aspect of the recording apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a failure for detecting a failure of each light emitting element forming each of the light emitting element arrays in any one of the first to fourth aspects. A detection unit, and the control unit sets the operation of the recording head and the operation of the light irradiation unit based on failure detection information from the failure detection unit and preset setting information, and a failure mode. It is configured to execute by switching to the hour mode.

Here, the “normal mode” means a preset operation mode for recording execution in a state where no failure has occurred in the light emitting element.
In addition, the “failure mode” means that when a failure occurs in a light emitting element, the recording device state is changed to the “normal mode” in order to enable recording to continue without using the failed light emitting element. This means an operation mode for failure that gives priority to a preset recording completion and shifts from.

According to this aspect, when the normal mode is executed by the control unit based on setting information set in advance, the failure detection unit detects a failure of the light emitting element, and when the failure detection information is transmitted to the control unit, The controller switches to the failure mode, and recording is executed in the failure mode.
Therefore, a situation occurs in which the light emitting element fails and a desired chemical change of the photoreaction liquid cannot be caused if the normal mode is maintained. However, this situation is prevented in advance. That is, by continuing the recording in the failure mode corresponding to the failure of the light emitting element, the chemical change of the photoreaction liquid at the site where the light emitting element has failed is irradiated from the light emitting elements of the other light emitting element rows. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defective recording execution products.

  According to a sixth aspect of the recording apparatus of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, in the failure mode, the use of the light emitting element array in which the failure of the light emitting element is detected is stopped, and the failure of the light emitting element occurs. The present invention is characterized in that it is configured to be used by switching to another light emitting element array that is not.

  According to this aspect, when the failure of the light emitting element is detected, the failure mode is executed, and the light reaction element is irradiated with light by switching to another light emitting element array in which no failure of the light emitting element occurs. Will continue. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defective recording execution products caused by continuously using the light emitting element array in which the light emitting element has failed.

  According to a seventh aspect of the recording apparatus of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, light emitted from one light emitting element forming the light emitting element array is used. The structure used for the chemical change of the photoreaction liquid discharged from a series of a plurality of nozzle openings forming a part of the nozzle row.

  The present invention includes a recording head and a light emitting element array having a configuration in which a chemical change of a plurality of photoreaction liquids ejected from a plurality of nozzle ports separately becomes defective at the same time when only one light emitting element fails. This is particularly effective in the recording apparatus.

  According to an eighth aspect of the recording apparatus of the present invention, in any one of the first to seventh aspects, the light emitting element rows are arranged in three or more rows. Is.

  According to this aspect, since the light emitting element rows are arranged in three or more rows, the light emission by reducing the use frequency (lighting frequency) of each light emitting element in the first to seventh aspects. It is possible to effectively obtain operational effects such as reducing the risk of device failure.

  In the above embodiments, the photoreaction liquid is ultraviolet (UV) curable ink, and the light emitting element is a light emitting diode (LED) that irradiates ultraviolet (UV).

1 is a front view of a main part illustrating a schematic configuration of an internal structure of a recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part illustrating a schematic configuration of an internal structure of the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a light emitting element array of a recording apparatus according to Example 1 of the invention. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of an operation at the time of executing a normal mode of the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the invention. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the invention executes a failure mode. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing arrangement modes (A) to (C) of light emitting element arrays of a recording apparatus according to Example 2 of the invention.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the recording apparatus 1 of the present invention and the operation mode of the recording apparatus 1 will be described in detail with reference to Example 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 and Example 2 shown in FIG.
In the following description, first, the basic configuration of the recording apparatus 1 of the present invention will be described based on FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and then each of the first and second embodiments described above regarding the characteristic configuration of the present invention. Will be described in turn.

[Example 1] (See FIGS. 1 to 5)
The illustrated recording apparatus 1 is an ink jet printer 1 capable of band-feed printing (using the same reference numeral as “recording apparatus”). The inkjet printer 1 includes a transport unit 3 capable of intermittently transporting the paper P in the transport direction A by a predetermined band feed amount D, and a nozzle having a plurality of nozzle holes 7 arranged in the same direction as the transport direction A. Column 5 is provided. A plurality of the nozzle rows 5 are arranged in a direction B intersecting the transport direction A. Then, a desired base 11 or image is formed on the recording surface 9 of the paper P by ultraviolet (UV) curable ink C which is an example of a photoreaction liquid ejected from the plurality of nozzle openings 7 forming the nozzle row 5. 13 is formed.

In this specification, the term “band” refers to a recording execution area or recording execution having a width corresponding to the nozzle row length of the nozzle row 5 arranged along the conveyance direction A of the recording material P in the conveyance direction. Means something.
The “band feed amount” means a feed amount for actually transporting the recording material P when performing the recording for each band.

  Further, the ink jet printer 1 includes the carriage 17 mounted with the recording head 15 and reciprocatingly moved in the intersecting direction B, and the carriage so as to be arranged side by side on the intersecting direction B side of the recording head 15. 17, the UV curable ink C, which is an example of light, is irradiated to the UV curable ink C discharged from each nozzle port 7 to chemically change the ultraviolet (UV) curable ink C (for example, cured). And a light irradiating section 19 constituted by a light emitting element array 39 formed by a plurality of light emitting diodes (hereinafter also referred to as “LEDs”) 41 which is an example of the light emitting element to be provided.

The light emitting element rows 39 are arranged in a plurality of rows in a direction B intersecting the transport direction A of the paper P. Details of this point will be described later.
In addition, a plurality of ultraviolet rays (UV light) E emitted from one LED 41 forming the light emitting element array 39 are individually ejected from a plurality of nozzle openings 7 forming the nozzle array 5. It is used to cure ultraviolet (UV) curable ink C.
In this embodiment, the ultraviolet (UV) curable ink C ejected from about 36 nozzle openings 7 by the ultraviolet (UV light) E emitted from one LED 41 can be cured at once.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the transport means 3 is provided at a transport roller 25 constituted by a pair of nip rollers provided at an upstream position of the recording execution area 23 and at a downstream position of the recording execution area 23. And a discharge roller 27 which is also constituted by a pair of nip rollers.
The motor 29 that drives the transport roller 25 and the discharge roller 27 receives a signal 31 for instructing transport of the band feed amount D from the control unit 21, which will be described later. It is configured to be sent intermittently by D.

In this embodiment, the recording head 15 is provided with two types, ie, a first recording head 15A that discharges the underlying ink C and a second recording head 15B that discharges the image forming ink C2. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first recording head 15A is disposed on the left side, and the second recording head 15B is disposed on the right side in FIGS.
Of these, the first recording head 15A is provided with a nozzle row 5W that discharges the base ink C1, such as white (W), gold (G), and silver (S). Further, as an example, four nozzle arrays that individually eject four colors of image forming ink C2 of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) are applied to the second recording head 15B. 5C, 5M, 5Y, and 5K are arranged in parallel in the intersecting direction B with a predetermined interval.

Each nozzle row 5W, 5C, 5M, 5Y, and 5K receives a signal 31 that instructs an ink discharge amount corresponding to the position of each nozzle port 7 from the control unit 21 to be described later. Adjustments are made.
In the illustrated inkjet printer 1, the ink C ejected from the nozzle rows 7 of the nozzle rows 5W, 5C, 5M, 5Y, and 5K is irradiated with ultraviolet rays (UV light) E as described above. It is an ultraviolet (UV) curable ink C that cures.

"UV ink" is an ink with excellent quick-drying properties that is cured and fixed by irradiating UV light (ultraviolet light) E. It is harder than conventional pigment inks that are cured and fixed by evaporating the solvent by heating the heater. It has the feature that the volumetric shrinkage afterwards is remarkably small.
Further, “UV ink” is environmentally friendly because it does not contain a solvent component, and is suitable for a film-based recording material P having low ink absorbability because it is instantly cured by irradiation with UV light (ultraviolet light) E. Ink.

The carriage 17 is a reciprocating conveyance unit of the recording head 15 that reciprocates in the direction B along a carriage guide shaft 37 extending in the intersecting direction B.
The power for reciprocating the carriage 17 is received from a motor (not shown) capable of forward and reverse rotation and capable of precise feed control for each unit step. The rotation of the motor is applied to the carriage 17 via a toothed belt (not shown). It is to be transmitted.

The light irradiation unit 19 includes, for example, the first light irradiation unit 19A disposed on the left side of the first recording head 15A for curing the base ink C1 in FIGS. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 of the second recording head 15B that cures the ink C2, two types of second light irradiation portions 19B arranged on the right side are provided as an example.
In the illustrated ink jet printer 1, the two types of light irradiators 19 </ b> A and 19 </ b> B are applied to the ultraviolet (UV) curable ink C discharged onto the recording surface 9 of the paper P with a predetermined irradiation amount of ultraviolet light (UV light). The curing and fixing of the ultraviolet (UV) curable ink C is executed by irradiating E.

The two types of light irradiation sections 19A and 19B are configured by three light emitting element arrays 39A, 39B, and 39C, respectively, in this embodiment, and the light emitting element arrays 39A, 39B, and 39C include the above-described light emitting element arrays 39A, 39B, and 39C. A plurality of LEDs 41 having an arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of the nozzle openings 5W and 5C, 5M, 5Y, and 5K in the two types of recording heads 15A and 15B are provided.
Then, a signal 31 for instructing the irradiation amount and the presence / absence of irradiation of ultraviolet rays (UV light) E corresponding to the positions of the respective LEDs 41 is transmitted to the respective LEDs 41 from the control unit 21 described later, and ultraviolet rays (UV light) E. The amount of irradiation is adjusted and the presence / absence of irradiation is switched.

  In the inkjet printer 1A according to the first embodiment, in addition to the basic configuration, a failure detection unit 20 that detects a failure of each LED 41 forming each of the light emitting element rows 39A, 39B, and 39C, and the failure detection unit The operation of the two types of recording heads 15A and 15B and the operation of the two types of light irradiation units 19A and 19B based on the failure detection information 33 from 20 and the setting information 35 set in advance, And a control unit 21 that can be executed by switching to the failure mode 45.

The failure detection unit 20 is an example of a mechanism that detects a temperature change during operation of the LED 41, a voltage change in the check circuit, and the like to distinguish between an operation state when the LED 41 is normal and an operation state when the LED 41 is abnormal due to a failure. Can be adopted as.
On the other hand, the control unit 21 switches the recording heads 15A and 15B to be operated according to the moving direction of the carriage 17 and the light irradiation units 19A and 19B as appropriate. Two kinds of operation modes, the normal mode 43 and the failure mode 45, are selectively executed.

In the normal mode 43, the light emitting element rows 39A, 39B, and 39C provided by the user's selection are used in an all-use mode 49, and the three light emitting element rows 39A, 39B, It is configured so that it can be used by switching to the partial use mode 51 using a part of 39C.
In the all use mode 49, the two types of light irradiation units 19A and 19B are used by switching between the forward scanning and the backward scanning of the carriage 17, and the three rows are used when the light irradiation units 19A and 19B are used. All the LEDs 41 forming the light emitting element arrays 39A, 39B, and 39C are turned on, and irradiation with ultraviolet rays (UV light) E is executed.

On the other hand, in the partial use mode 51, two types of light irradiation units 19A and 19B are used by switching between the forward scanning and the backward scanning of the carriage 17, and when the light irradiation units 19A and 19B are used, One or two light-emitting element rows 39 of the light-emitting element rows 39A, 39B, and 39C are selected, and further, the selection target (the combination in the case of two) is selected as three light-emitting element rows 39A and 39B for each irradiation. , The LED 41 of only the selected light emitting element array 39 is switched on to execute the irradiation of ultraviolet rays (UV light) E, and the LEDs 41 of other light emitting element arrays 39 are turned off. ing.
When selecting one or two light emitting element arrays 39 to be used, the regularly used light emitting element arrays 39 may be switched in order based on the number of lightings and the lighting time up to the present time. It is also possible to switch the light emitting element array 39 to be used at random.

Further, the failure mode 45 is configured such that the use of the light emitting element array 39 in which the failure of the LED 41 is detected can be stopped and switched to another light emitting element array 39 in which the LED 41 has not failed. Yes.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the light emitting element rows 39A, 39B, and 39C arranged in three rows are the paper of each LED 41 arranged at a predetermined pitch S in the conveyance direction A of the paper P. The light emitting element arrays 39A, 39B, and 39C are aligned and aligned so that the position of P in the transport direction A is the same.

Therefore, when there is a failure in the LED 41 in one light emitting element row 39, the LED 41 at the same position in the transport direction A of the other light emitting element row 39 acts to compensate for the shortage of the light irradiation amount of the failed LED 41. To do.
Along with this, the shortage of the light irradiation amount of the failed LED 41 is caused by the fact that one or two LEDs 41 at the same position in the transport direction A of the other light emitting element rows 39 are all responsible for the shortage of the light irradiation amount. In addition, a desired ultraviolet (UV) curable ink C can be cured.

  Next, according to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the operation flow of the inkjet printer 1A according to the present embodiment is concretely divided into (1) normal mode execution and (2) failure mode execution. Explained.

(1) During normal mode execution (see Fig. 4)
In the present embodiment, when the failure of the LED 41 has not occurred, the normal mode 43 shown in FIG. First, in step S1, it is determined whether the full use mode 49 is selected or the partial use mode 51 is selected. If the full use mode 49 is selected, the process proceeds to step S2 and described above. Recording is performed in the all use mode 49.

  In the all use mode 49, since the total light irradiation amount by turning on all the light emitting element rows 39A, 39B, and 39C only needs to satisfy a necessary amount for chemically changing the photoreaction liquid, the light emission of one row is performed. The amount of light emitted from the element can be set to a lower level than in the case of the conventional single-row structure. Thereby, the load accompanying light emission of each LED 41 is reduced, and the possibility of failure of the LED 41 can be reduced.

Next, the process proceeds to step S3, where it is determined whether the movement direction of the carriage 17 is the forward path side or the return path side, and when the movement direction of the carriage 17 is determined to be the forward path side, step S4 is performed. Then, the second recording head 15B and the second light irradiation unit 19B are turned on, and the first recording head 15A and the first light irradiation unit 19A are turned off to execute recording.
Next, the process proceeds to step S5, where it is determined whether or not there is a remaining background 11 or image 13 to be printed. If it is determined that there is no remaining background 11 or image 13 to be printed, Execution ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that there is a remaining background 11 or image 13 to be printed, the process returns to step S3, and the determinations and operations in steps S3 to S5 are repeated.
If it is determined in step S3 that the movement direction of the carriage 17 is the return path side, the process proceeds to step S6 where the first recording head 15A and the first irradiation unit 19A are turned on, and the second recording head. Recording is executed with 15B and the second light irradiation unit 19B in the OFF state.

Next, the process proceeds to step S7, where it is determined whether or not there is a remaining ground 11 or image 13 to be printed. If it is determined that there is no remaining ground 11 or image 13 to be printed, Execution ends.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S7 that there is a remaining background 11 or image 13 to be printed, the process returns to step S3, the determination and operation in steps S3, S6, and S7, and the determination in steps S3 to S5. And operation are repeated.

When the partial use mode 51 is selected in step S1, the process proceeds to step S8, and recording is performed while switching the light emitting element array 39 to be used according to the preset setting information 35. .
In this case, the amount of irradiation per LED 41 is larger than in the case of full lighting, but it can be set to a lower level than in the case of the conventional single-row structure and lights up for each irradiation. The combination of the light emitting element rows 39 is recombined and changed in all three rows. Thereby, since the use frequency (lighting frequency) of each LED41 falls, the load accompanying light emission is reduced also from this point and the possibility of failure of LED41 can be reduced.

  At this time, in this embodiment, since the positions of the LEDs 41 in the direction of the nozzle row 5 are arranged so as to coincide with each other, all three combinations of the light emitting element rows 39 that are turned on for each irradiation are provided. Recombining and changing in the row does not change the total amount of light received by the irradiated reaction solution. Therefore, it is possible to prevent occurrence of variations in recording quality.

  Thereafter, Steps S9 to S13 similar to Steps S3 to S7 described above are executed, and if it is determined in Steps S11 to S13 that there is no remaining base 11 or image 13 to be printed, the execution of recording is terminated.

(2) During failure mode execution (see Fig. 5)
First, in step S14, it is determined whether or not the failure detection information 33 transmitted from the failure detection unit 20 is transmitted. If it is determined that a failure of the LED 41 is detected, the process proceeds to step S15, and the failure is detected. The recording is executed by switching to the light emitting element array 39 different from the light emitting element array 39 in which the detected LED 41 exists.
Next, the process proceeds to step S16, and it is determined again whether or not the failure detection information 33 transmitted from the failure detection unit 20 is transmitted.

If it is determined in step S16 that a failure of the LED 41 has been detected, the process proceeds to step S17, and recording is executed by switching the light emitting element array 39 to be used to the remaining one light emitting element array 39.
Next, the process proceeds to step S18, where the presence / absence of transmission of the failure detection information 33 transmitted from the failure detection unit 20 is determined three times. If it is determined that the failure of the LED 41 is detected, the recording is performed as it is. Even if it is executed, it becomes a defective product.

If no failure of the LED 41 is detected in steps S16 and S18, the process proceeds to step S19, and steps S19 to S23 similar to steps S3 to S7 in FIG. 4 are executed, and step S21 is executed. If it is determined in step S23 that there is no remaining background 11 or image 13 to be printed, the execution of recording is terminated.
If no failure of the LED 41 is detected in step S14, the process proceeds to step S1 in FIG. 4 and recording in the normal mode is executed.

According to the ink jet printer 1A according to the first embodiment configured as described above, an unnecessary printed matter having no commercial value is generated due to the failure of the LED 41, or ultraviolet (UV) curable ink is wasted. Can be prevented in advance. This point is particularly effective during unattended operation.
Further, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the uncured ultraviolet (UV) curable ink C which has not been cured and remains in the recording apparatus main body adheres to a structural member or the like in the recording apparatus main body and deteriorates the performance of the recording apparatus.

[Example 2] (see FIG. 6)
The ink jet printer 1B according to the second embodiment has basically the same configuration as the ink jet printer 1A according to the first embodiment, and the arrangement of the LEDs 41 forming the light emitting element rows 39 is the light emitting element rows 39A. , 39B and 39C are different only in that they are different.
Therefore, here, the arrangement of the LEDs 41 in each of the light emitting element rows 39A, 39B, and 39C, which is different from the first embodiment, and the operation and effect of the ink jet printer 1B exhibited by adopting the arrangement will be described.

That is, in the present embodiment, in the light emitting element rows 39A, 39B, and 39C arranged in three rows, the conveyance direction A of the paper P of each LED 41 arranged at a predetermined pitch S in the conveyance direction A of the paper P. Are arranged by shifting the phase between the respective light emitting element rows 39A, 39B, and 39C by a predetermined pitch T.
6A shows an arrangement in which the position of the LED 41 in the transport direction A is shifted by a third pitch T1 between the light emitting element arrays 39A, 39B, and 39C. ) Shows an arrangement in which the phase is shifted by a half pitch T2. FIG. 6C shows an arrangement in which the phase is shifted by a quarter pitch T3.

When such an array of LEDs 41 is adopted, when a failure occurs in one light emitting element row 39, the plurality of LEDs 41 in the vicinity of the other light emitting element row 39 in the transport direction A fail. The shortage of the light irradiation amount of the LED 41 is compensated.
Therefore, the shortage of the light irradiation amount of the failed LED 41 is partially handled by the plurality of LEDs 41 in the vicinity of the other light emitting element rows 39 at a ratio corresponding to the phase shift, and the light irradiation amount is obtained by combining these. Will make up for the shortage.

  Also, in the second embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, the positions of the LEDs 41 in the direction of the nozzle row 5 are arranged with the phase shifted by a predetermined pitch between the rows. That is, in each light emitting element row | line | column 39A, 39B, 39C, the position of the boundary of two LED41 adjacent to the row direction is not the same position like Example 1, but has shifted | deviated. Therefore, unlike the first embodiment, the influence of the position of the boundary is difficult to be dispersed from the viewpoint of uniformity of the amount of light emitted from each LED 41 to the reaction liquid discharged from each nozzle hole 7. Thus, the effect of improving the uniformity can be obtained.

[Other embodiments]
The recording apparatus 1 according to the present invention is basically configured to have the above-described configuration, but of course, the partial configuration may be changed or omitted without departing from the gist of the present invention. Is possible.

  For example, the number of the light emitting element rows 39 is not limited to the three rows employed in the first and second embodiments, and may be two rows or four or more rows.

Further, in the case of the inkjet printer 1 that prints only the image 13, only the second recording head 15B for image formation is provided, and a plurality of rows are provided on the left and right sides in the direction B of the second recording head 15B. It is possible to arrange two sets of second irradiation parts 19B.
Incidentally, when such a configuration is adopted, the operation of the second recording head 15B and the second irradiation unit 19B is turned on when the carriage 17 moves in the forward direction and when the carriage 17 moves in the backward direction. Therefore, it is not necessary to switch between the OFF state and the OFF state.

  In addition, in the normal mode 43 and the failure mode 45, or according to the position of the failed LED 41, the light irradiation amount of the LED 41 that compensates for the failed LED 41 is adjusted, or the light emitting element array 39 of a plurality of columns is provided. It is also possible to adjust the light irradiation amount of the LED 41 according to the separation distance from the recording head 15.

  Further, the photoreaction liquid C discharged from the recording head 15 is not limited to ultraviolet (UV) curable ink. Therefore, various photoreaction liquids C that chemically change with light E having a wavelength other than ultraviolet (UV light) can be used, and the light emitting element 41 is not limited to the LED. Specifically, in an inkjet printer 1 or the like that forms an image 13 on a recording surface 9 of a recording material P using a photoreaction liquid C that changes color by being irradiated with light E having a certain wavelength. It is also possible to apply the present invention.

1 Inkjet printer (recording device), 3 conveying means, 5 nozzle rows,
7 Nozzle hole, 9 Recording surface, 11 Base, 13 Image, 15 Recording head,
17 Carriage, 19 Light irradiation unit, 20 Failure detection unit, 21 Control unit,
23 recording execution area, 25 transport roller, 27 discharge roller,
29 motor, 31 signal, 33 failure detection information, 35 setting information,
37 Carriage guide shaft, 39 Light emitting element row,
41 Light Emitting Diode (LED) (Light Emitting Element), 43 Normal Mode,
45 failure mode, 47 bands, 49 full use mode,
51 Partial use mode, P paper (recording material), A transport direction,
B crossing direction, C ultraviolet (UV) curable ink (photoreaction liquid),
D Band feed amount, E Ultraviolet light (UV light) (light), S pitch, T pitch

Claims (8)

A recording head having a nozzle array for discharging a photoreactive liquid to a recording material;
A light irradiation unit having a light emitting element array in which light emitting elements that irradiate light to the discharged photoreaction liquid to chemically change the photoreaction liquid are arranged in the same direction as the nozzle array,
In the light irradiation unit, a plurality of the light emitting element rows are arranged,
The light emitting element rows arranged in a plurality of rows are arranged such that the positions of the light emitting elements arranged in the same direction as the nozzle rows in the nozzle row direction coincide with each other. A recording apparatus. A recording head having a nozzle array for discharging a photoreactive liquid to a recording material;
A light irradiation unit having a light emitting element array in which light emitting elements that irradiate light to the discharged photoreaction liquid to chemically change the photoreaction liquid are arranged in the same direction as the nozzle array,
In the light irradiation unit, a plurality of the light emitting element rows are arranged,
In the light emitting element rows arranged in the plurality of rows, the positions of the light emitting elements arranged in the same direction as the nozzle rows in the nozzle row direction are shifted in phase by a predetermined pitch between the rows. A recording apparatus characterized by being arranged. The recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
A controller for controlling the recording execution operation by the recording head and the operation of the light irradiation unit;
In the case where N light emitting element rows are arranged and the light emission is performed by turning on the light emitting element rows equal to or less than N−1 rows, the control unit emits N−1 rows of light that is turned on for each irradiation. A recording apparatus configured to be able to execute control to change a combination of element rows in N rows. The recording apparatus according to claim 3,
The control unit is configured to perform the switching based on the number of lighting times or the lighting time of each light emitting element array. In the recording device described in any one of Claims 1-4,
A failure detection unit that detects a failure of each light emitting element forming each light emitting element row,
The control unit switches the operation of the recording head and the operation of the light irradiation unit between a normal mode and a failure mode based on failure detection information from the failure detection unit and preset setting information. The recording apparatus is configured to be executed. The recording apparatus according to claim 5,
In the failure mode, the use of the light emitting element array in which the failure of the light emitting element is detected is stopped, and the light emitting element array is configured to be used by switching to another light emitting element array in which no failure of the light emitting element has occurred. A recording apparatus. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
Light emitted from one light emitting element forming the light emitting element array is used for chemical change of a photoreaction liquid discharged from a series of a plurality of nozzle openings forming a part of the nozzle array. A recording apparatus having the structure described above. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
3. The recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the light emitting element rows are arranged in three or more rows.

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