JP2017007152A - Printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system that can provide an even moisture distribution without using transparent ink.SOLUTION: The printing system 1 includes: a printing device 10 for sequentially printing in a printing region by discharging ink to a print sheet 5 in an ink jet manner; a heating head 21 for heating the print sheet 5; and a control part 26 for controlling the heating head 21 based on an amount of the ink discharged from the printing device 10 to sequentially heat the printing region with a heat amount corresponding to the discharge amount.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet printing system.

Conventionally, there has been an ink jet printer that makes the elongation of printing paper uniform by discharging transparent ink in addition to colored ink (for example, Patent Document 1).
However, the conventional ink jet printer requires transparent ink in addition to the ink necessary for original printing.

JP 2008-290286 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a printing system that can make the moisture distribution uniform without using transparent ink.

  The present invention solves the problems by the following means. In addition, in order to make an understanding easy, although the code | symbol corresponding to embodiment of this invention is attached | subjected and demonstrated, it is not limited to this. In addition, the configuration described with reference numerals may be improved as appropriate, or at least a part thereof may be replaced with another configuration.

-1st invention is a printing part (10) printed in a printing area | region sequentially by discharging an ink to a to-be-printed body (5,6,306) based on printing information by an inkjet system, and a to-be-printed body By controlling the heating unit based on the heating unit (21, 221K, 221C, 221Y, 221M) to be heated and the ejection amount of ink from the printing unit, the printing area is sequentially set with the heating amount corresponding to the ejection amount. And a heating control unit (26, 26c).
-2nd invention is the printing system of 1st invention, The said printing part (10) is provided with several discharge part (11K, 11C, 11Y, 11M), and multicolor printing is possible, 1 The two heating units (21) are provided corresponding to the plurality of ejection units, and the heating unit calculates the heating amount by the heating unit based on the total ejection amount of ink from the plurality of ejection units to the printing region. It is a printing system characterized by including a quantity calculation part (26b).
-3rd invention is the printing system of 1st invention, The said printing part (10) is provided with several discharge parts (11K, 11C, 11Y, 11M), and multicolor printing is possible, and several The heating unit (221K, 221C, 221Y, 221M) is provided corresponding to each discharge unit, and the control unit controls the heating unit corresponding to each discharge unit. is there.
The fourth invention is the printing system according to any one of the first to third inventions, wherein the heating section (21, 221K, 221C, 221Y, 221M) prints the printing object (5, 6, 306). A printing system that contacts a surface opposite to the surface and heats a printing region.
-The fifth invention is the printing system according to any one of the first to fourth inventions, wherein the heating section heats a printing area in contact with a printing medium, and the printing section discharges ink. A printing system comprising: a pre-drying unit that pre-drys ink ejected by the printing unit in a non-contact manner until the heating unit heats up.
The sixth invention is the printing system according to any one of the first to fifth inventions, and after the heating unit (21, 221K, 221C, 221Y, 221M) is heated, the substrate (5, 6, 306) Is a printing system comprising a humidifying unit (30) for humidifying an atmosphere around the water and adjusting a moisture content of the printing medium.
-The seventh invention is the printing system of any one of the first to sixth inventions, wherein the control unit includes a portion (306K) in which the ink ejection amount per area is greater than or equal to a determination reference value in the print region. It is a printing system characterized by heating by said heating part (21).

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the printing system which can make moisture distribution uniform can be provided, without using transparent ink.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system 1 according to a first embodiment. It is a table | surface explaining the printing information and heating information of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which expands and shows the printing area | region of the form 6G of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the state at the time of the heating process of the printing system 201 of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure explaining arrangement | positioning of each apparatus of the state which looked at the printing system 301 of 3rd Embodiment from the upper side Z2.

(Embodiment)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system 1 according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 1A is a diagram for explaining the arrangement of devices in a state in which the printing system 1 is viewed from the upper side Z2.
FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the printing system 1 viewed from the width direction Y.
FIG. 2 is a table for explaining printing information and heating information according to the first embodiment.
In the embodiment and the drawings, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is provided for ease of explanation and understanding. This coordinate system represents the feeding direction X, the width direction Y, and the thickness direction Z of the printing paper 5 on the basis of the state of FIG. In the feed direction X, the right side X2 in the figure is the upstream side, and the left side X1 is the downstream side.
The printing system 1 is a part of a system for producing a form 6 by printing on the printing paper 5 while feeding the printing paper 5 (substrate) in the feeding direction X. The printing system 1 can make the printing content variable (variable) for each form 6.

The printing paper 5 is a continuous form in which a form 6 (unit form) is continuous in the flow direction. The printing paper 5 is sent with the printing surface on the upper side Z2. The printing paper 5 is provided with a marginal hole 5a along the edge in the width direction Y.
Although not described in detail, the printing system 1 has a protrusion that engages with the marginal hole 5 a and includes a roller or the like for feeding the printing paper 5.

[Configuration of Printing System 1]
The printing system 1 includes a printing device 10 (printing unit), a heating device 20, a humidifying device 30 (humidifying unit), and a control device 40. The printing device 10, the heating device 20, and the humidifying device 30 are arranged in this order from the right side X2 to the left side X1.
Each storage unit 15, 25, 45 of each device (printing device 10, heating device 20, control device 40) stores a hard disk, a semiconductor memory element, etc. for storing programs, information, etc. necessary for the operation of each device. Device. In addition, each control unit 16, 26, 46 of each device is a device that comprehensively controls each device, and includes a CPU and the like.

The printing apparatus 10 is an apparatus capable of multicolor printing by an IJ (inkjet) method.
The printing apparatus 10 includes an IJ head 11 (ejection unit), a storage unit 15, and a control unit 16.
The IJ head is a head for IJ printing.
The IJ head 11 sequentially prints on the print area of the print paper 5 by ejecting ink onto the print paper 5 based on print information (described later).
In the IJ head 11, four IJ heads 11K, 11C, 11Y, and 11M are arranged in order from the right side X2 to the left side X1.
The IJ heads 11K, 11C, 11Y, and 11M eject inks of four colors of black (K), cyan (C), yellow (Y), and magenta (M), respectively.
Each IJ head 11K, 11C, 11Y, and 11M includes a plurality of ejection ports 11a. The plurality of discharge ports 11a are arranged in parallel to the width direction Y.

The storage unit 15 stores print information.
The print information is information for printing on each form 6.
For example, the print information is acquired from the control device 40 or another device via a communication cable, or is acquired by reading information stored in a storage medium such as a CDROM with a reading device (not shown).

The print information is information in which print areas related to ink ejection positions such as characters and graphics are associated with information related to print colors.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the print area is information regarding the print position on the form 6. For example, the character “MG” of the form 6G is information related to the coordinates of the print area having the shape of the character “MG”.
Actually, the storage unit 15 has print information of a plurality of (for example, tens of thousands) forms 6.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the print color information is associated with a print position and a color to be printed at the print position. For example, the printing position of the letter “M” on the form 6G is associated with the printing color “magenta (M)”, and the printing position of the letter “G” is associated with the printing color “green (G)”. ing.
In the embodiment, for convenience, the print color of the character “K” is “black (K)”, the print color of the character “C” is “cyan (C)”, and the print color of the character “Y” is “yellow (Y ) ”And the letter“ G ”are printed in“ green (G) ”.

The heating device 20 is a device for heating the printing paper 5.
The heating device 20 includes a heating head 21 (heating unit), a storage unit 25, and a control unit 26.
As the heating head 21, for example, a thermal head for a thermal transfer type or thermal type thermal printer can be used. In the heating head 21, a plurality of heating elements 21 a are arranged in the width direction Y. The heating head 21 is disposed on the lower side Z <b> 1 of the printing paper 5 and contacts the lower surface of the printing paper 5. For this reason, the heating head 21 heats the printing paper 5 from the side opposite to the printing surface.
A receiving roller 21b is disposed on the upper side Z2 of the heating head 21 with the printing paper 5 interposed therebetween.

The storage unit 25 stores heating information 25a.
The heating information 25 a is information for heating the printing paper 5.
Details of the heating information 25a will be described later.

The control unit 26 includes a discharge amount calculation unit 26a, a heating amount calculation unit 26b, and a heating head control unit 26c.
The ejection amount calculation unit 26a calculates the total ejection amount of ink in the printing area.
The heating amount calculation unit 26b calculates the heating amount per unit area of the printing region.
The heating head control unit 26 c controls the heating head 21.
Details of these control units will be described later.

The humidifying device 30 humidifies the atmosphere around the printing paper 5 (that is, the air around the printing paper 5 after passing through the heating device 20) after the printing paper 5 is heated by the heating device 20, thereby printing the printing paper 5. It is the apparatus which adjusts the water content. The humidifier 30 includes a humidifier such as a water spray type, a vaporization type, or an ultrasonic type.
The control device 40 is a computer that controls the printing system 1 in an integrated manner.

[Operation of printing system 1]
The operation of the printing system 1 will be described.
(Calculation process of heating amount)
First, a process in which the heating device 20 calculates the heating amount will be described.
The discharge amount calculation unit 26a calculates the total discharge amount of the print area based on the print information as described below, and stores it in the storage unit 25. The print information can be acquired via the control device 40 and the like, similarly to the printing device 10.

The total ejection amount is information relating to the total amount of ink ejected per unit area.
In the embodiment, for the sake of convenience, the degree of discharge amount is represented by a numerical value. One IJ head 11 ejects ink with a discharge amount “1” which is a constant amount per unit area.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, for example, the ejection amount of the print region of the letter “M” of the form 6G is one color whose character color is magenta (M). “1”. The character “G” has two colors of yellow (Y) and cyan (C) because the character color is green (G). For this reason, the discharge amount of the printing region of the letter “G” is the total discharge amount “2”. That is, the latter ejects twice as much ink as the former.
Note that the ejection amount is the amount of ink ejected by the printing apparatus 10, and is also calculated by the printing apparatus 10. For this reason, the discharge amount calculation unit 26a may acquire the discharge amount from the printing apparatus 10 and calculate the total discharge amount.

The heating amount calculation unit 26b calculates the heating amount of each printing region based on the total discharge amount calculated by the discharge amount calculation unit 26a. The amount of heating is information regarding the amount of heat applied to each printing area.
In the embodiment, for the sake of convenience, the degree of heating is represented by a numerical value. The heating amount calculation unit 26b calculates the heating amount corresponding to the total discharge amount “1” as the heating amount “1”.
As shown in FIG. 2B, for example, in the print region of the letter “M” of the above-described form 6G, the discharge amount is the total discharge amount “1”, so the heating amount is “1”. Since the print area of the letter “G” on the form 6G is the total discharge amount “2”, the heating amount is “2”.
That is, the letter “G” of the form 6G is heated with a heating amount twice that of the letter “M”.
In the embodiment, an example in which the total discharge amount and the heating amount are in a proportional relationship will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The heating amount only needs to correspond to the total discharge amount, that is, if it can be calculated based on the total discharge amount, for example, it may be corrected as appropriate.

  Through the above calculation process, the storage unit 25 of the heating device 20 stores the print area and the heating amount in association with each other as the heating information 25a (see arrow A in FIG. 2). This calculation process may be performed in parallel with the entire operation described later, that is, the printing process of the printing paper 5.

(Overall operation)
The overall operation of the printing system 1 will be described.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing a print area of the form 6G according to the first embodiment.
3A and 3B show a matrix on the form 6G in order to show the resolution of the IJ head 11 and the heating head 21. FIG.
(1) Printing Step The printing apparatus 10 prints on the printing paper 5 based on the printing information stored in the storage unit 15.
Although details of the method for determining the printing position will be described, for example, it can be calculated based on the position of the reference mark provided on the printing paper 5, the feed amount of the roller, and the like.

FIG. 3A shows a scene where the form 6G has been printed.
Each square, which is the printing area of the letter “M” on the form 6G, ejects only magenta (M) ink 50M by the ejection amount “1”. On the other hand, cyan (C) and yellow (Y) inks 50C and 50Y are ejected by the ejection amount “1” to each square which is the printing region of the character “G”. For this reason, each square of the letter “G” has a total discharge amount “2”.

(2) Heating Step When the heating head 21 overlaps the printing area of the printing paper 5, the control unit 26 of the heating device 20 sequentially heats the printing area with a heat amount corresponding to the discharge amount. The printing position can be calculated based on a reference mark or the like, as in the printing apparatus 10.

FIG. 3B shows a scene where the form 6G is heated.
The heating head control unit 26 c refers to the storage unit 25 and controls the heating head 21 to heat each printing region with a heating amount corresponding to the total discharge amount.
Since each square which is the printing region of the letter “M” has a total discharge amount “1”, the heating head controller 26 c heats each square with the heating amount “1”. Since each square that is the printing region of the letter “G” has a total output amount “2”, the heating head controller 26 c heats each square with the heating amount “2”.
Although details are omitted in the embodiment, the region where the ink of three colors or four colors is ejected is the total ejection amount “3” or “4”. For this reason, the heating device 20 heats these regions with the heating amount “3” or “4”.

  Thus, the printing system 1 can make the moisture distribution in the printing region of the printing paper 5 uniform by heating with a heating amount corresponding to the total discharge amount of each mass. For example, immediately after printing, the total ink amount in the print area of the character “M” is “1”, while the total ink amount in the print area of the character “G” is “2”. For this reason, the water content of the latter is twice that of the former. Even in this case, the heating apparatus 20 can make the water content of both the same by heating the latter with the heating amount twice as much as the former.

Here, the printing paper 5 is fed and stressed in the feeding direction X. For this reason, if the variation in the moisture distribution of the printing paper 5 is large, the variation in the elongation of the printing paper 5 due to stress increases. In this case, it becomes difficult to control the overall length of the printing paper 5.
In the embodiment, since the moisture distribution of the printing paper 5 can be made uniform, the variation in the elongation of the printing paper 5 can be reduced, so that the overall length of the printing paper 5 can be easily controlled.

The heating head 21 may heat the characters (printing area) printed by the printing apparatus 10 so as to trace from the lower surface side of the printing paper 5. The control of the heating head 21 is easy because it is the same as the printing by the thermal printer.
Furthermore, since heating is performed from the surface opposite to the printing surface, ink does not adhere to the heating head 21. Thereby, the change of the amount of heating accompanying the printing of the printing paper 5 can be suppressed, and the contamination of the printing paper 5 can be suppressed.
The heating head 21 heats the print area printed by the four IJ heads 11K, 11C, 11Y, and 11M in the IJ section. That is, one heating head 21 is provided corresponding to the four IJ heads 11K, 11C, 11Y, and 11M. For this reason, since the printing system 1 should just provide the one heating head 21, its structure is simple.

(3) Humidification process The humidifier 30 controls the humidity of the atmosphere around the printing paper 5 based on the output of a humidity detector (not shown). Therefore, moisture is uniformly applied to the printing paper 5 by the humidifier 30.
For example, when the elongation of the printing paper 5 is small, the operator may increase the moisture content of the printing paper 5 by increasing the humidity.
As a result, the humidifier 30 can adjust the overall elongation of the printing paper 5. In addition, since the printing paper 5 has passed through the heating device 20 in a state of being humidified by the humidifying device 30, the variation in moisture distribution is small. For this reason, even after the moisture is added to the printing paper 5 by the humidifier 30, the variation in the moisture distribution is small, so that the variation in the elongation of the printing paper 5 can be reduced.

As described above, the printing system 1 of the present embodiment can reduce the variation in the moisture distribution of the printing paper 5. Thereby, the printing system 1 can easily control the entire length of the printing paper 5 to a desired length. Further, for example, even when the printed form 6 is pasted with another form in a later process, the positional deviation of the pasting can be reduced.
Furthermore, since the printing system 1 can use a conventional thermal head, it can be introduced at a low cost, and the moisture distribution can be made uniform without discharging transparent ink or the like, so that printing can be performed at a low cost.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the following description and drawings, parts having the same functions as those of the first embodiment described above are given the same reference numerals or the same reference numerals at the end (the last two digits), and overlapping explanations are appropriately given. Omitted.
FIG. 4 is a diagram (a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3B) illustrating a state in the heating process of the printing system 201 of the second embodiment.
The heating device of this embodiment includes four heating heads 221K, 221C, 221Y, and 221M.
The heating heads 221K, 221C, 221Y, and 221M correspond to the four IJ heads 11K, 11C, 11Y, and 11M (see FIG. 1), respectively. In other words, the control unit of the heating device controls the heating heads 221 </ b> K, 221 </ b> C, 221 </ b> Y, and 221 </ b> M to heat the masses from which the ejection units of the respective colors ejected the ejection amount “1” by the heating amount “1”.
For example, since the IJ heads 11C and 11Y eject each square of the letter “G” by the ejection amount “1”, the total ejection amount “2” is ejected. For this reason, the heating heads 221 </ b> C and 221 </ b> Y heat each square of the letter “G” by the heating amount “1”, thereby heating the total heating amount “2”.

  As described above, the heating device of the present embodiment may individually control the four heating heads corresponding to the four Ij heads. For this reason, since the heating apparatus does not need to calculate the total discharge amount of each mass, the processing is easy.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 5 is a diagram (a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1A) for explaining the arrangement of each device in a state in which the printing system 301 of the third embodiment is viewed from the upper side Z2.
The control unit of the heating device 320 of the present embodiment calculates the total discharge amount to each form 306 based on the print information.
Then, the control unit of the heating device 320 performs heating processing by the heating device 320 on the form 306 whose total discharge amount is equal to or higher than the determination criterion, while heating processing by the heating device 320 is performed on the form whose total discharge amount is less than the determination criterion. Do not do. This is because a form whose total discharge amount is less than the criterion is small in expansion and contraction.

Here, the forms 306 are classified into a large amount and a small amount of ink depending on the purpose.
In the example of FIG. 5, the character “KK” of the form 306 </ b> K is smaller than the characters of the other forms 306. The forms 306C, 306Y, 306M, and 306G have a total discharge amount that is greater than or equal to the determination criterion, while the form 306K has a total discharge amount that is less than the determination criterion.
For this reason, the control unit of the heating device 320 of the present embodiment performs the heating process for the forms 306C, 306Y, 306M, and 306G, but does not perform the heating process for the form 306K.

As described above, the printing system 301 according to the present embodiment selectively heat-processes the form 306 in accordance with the total amount of ink discharged to each form 306, so that the heating process is easy.
In the embodiment, the heating device 320 determines whether or not to perform the heat treatment based on the total discharge amount of each form, but is not limited thereto. The heating device may calculate the total discharge amount per area even in one form and heat only the region above the determination reference value by the heating unit. In this case, the printing system can reduce the variation in expansion and contraction in one form.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, For example, various deformation | transformation and a change are possible like the deformation | transformation form etc. which are mentioned later, These are also It is within the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, the effects described in the embodiments are merely a list of the most preferable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to those described in the embodiments. It should be noted that the above-described embodiment and modifications described later can be used in appropriate combination, but detailed description thereof is omitted.

(Deformation)
(1) In the embodiment, an example in which the discharge amount per square from one discharge unit is “1” is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the discharge amount may be different for each square or may be different for each color.
Also in this case, the heating device can make the moisture distribution of the printing paper uniform by controlling the heating amount according to the total ejection amount of the ink.

(2) In the embodiment, the example in which the resolution of the heating head is the same as the resolution of the printing apparatus has been described. That is, although the example in which the heating head can individually heat each of the masses from which the IJ head discharges ink is shown, the present invention is not limited to this. When the resolution of the heating device is lower than the resolution of the printing device, the heating device may heat an area that is slightly larger than the character shape (printing area).

(3) In the embodiment, the heating device has shown an example in which the printing paper on which the ink has been ejected is heated as it is, but is not limited thereto. A pre-drying unit that pre-drys part of the discharged ink in a non-contact manner may be installed between the printing apparatus and the heating apparatus. The preliminary drying unit can be configured by a device that sends warm air. In this case, since the ink discharged onto the printing paper is suppressed from adhering to other members, the heating head can be disposed on the upper side of the printing paper.

1, 201, 301 Printing system 5 Printing paper 6 (6K, 6C, 6Y, 6M, 6G), 306 (306K, 306C, 306Y, 306M, 306G) Form 10 Printing device 11 (11K, 11C, 11Y, 11M) IJ Head 20, 320 Heating device 21, 221K, 221C, 221Y, 221M Heating head 25 Storage unit 26 Control unit 26a Discharge amount calculation unit 26b Heating amount calculation unit 26c Heating head control unit 30 Humidifier

Claims (7)

A printing unit that sequentially prints in a print region by ejecting ink onto a printing medium based on print information by an inkjet method;
A heating unit for heating the substrate,
A controller that sequentially heats the print region with a heating amount corresponding to the ejection amount by controlling the heating unit based on the ejection amount of the ink from the printing unit;
A printing system comprising: The printing system according to claim 1,
The printing unit includes a plurality of ejection units and is capable of multicolor printing,
One heating unit is provided corresponding to the plurality of discharge units,
A heating amount calculation unit that calculates a heating amount by the heating unit based on a total ejection amount of ink from the plurality of ejection units to a printing region;
A printing system featuring. The printing system according to claim 1,
The printing unit includes a plurality of ejection units and is capable of multicolor printing,
A plurality of heating units are provided corresponding to each discharge unit,
The control unit controls the heating unit corresponding to each discharge unit;
A printing system featuring. The printing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The heating unit is in contact with the surface opposite to the printing surface of the substrate, and heats the printing region;
A printing system featuring. In the printing system in any one of Claims 1-4,
The heating unit heats the printing area in contact with the substrate,
A pre-drying unit that pre-drys the ink ejected by the printing unit in a non-contact manner until the heating unit heats after the printing unit ejects the ink;
A printing system featuring. The printing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
After the heating unit is heated, a humidifying unit is provided for humidifying an atmosphere around the printing body and adjusting a moisture content of the printing body;
A printing system featuring. The printing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The controller is configured to heat, by the heating unit, a portion of the print region in which an ink discharge amount per area is equal to or greater than a determination reference value;
A printing system featuring.

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