JP2017170727A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet printer which can efficiently recover ink mist while suppressing increase in the size of a mechanism for recovering the ink mist.SOLUTION: An ink jet printer 1 includes: an ink jet head 41 which is arranged on the upper side of a conveyed web W and discharges ink to the web W; a blowing part 51 which is arranged on the upper side of the center of the web W in the main-scanning direction within a prescribed range on the downstream side of the ink jet head 41 in the conveyance direction of the web W and blows the air to the lower side; a suction fan 66A which is arranged adjacently to one side of the web W in the main-scanning direction and suctions ink mist contained in the air stream flowing to the one side in the main-scanning direction along the web W out of the air streams from the blowing part 51; and a suction fan 66B which is arranged adjacently to the other side of the web W in the main-scanning direction and suctions the ink mist contained in the air stream flowing to the other side in the main-scanning direction along the web W out of the air streams from the blowing part 51.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an inkjet printing apparatus that prints by ejecting ink from an inkjet head.

  In an ink jet printing apparatus, ink mist in which ink is atomized is generated by ink ejection from an ink jet head. Ink mist may adhere to the print medium and stain the printed matter. Ink mist may also cause dirt inside the apparatus. For this reason, the ink jet printing apparatus is required to collect ink mist.

  On the other hand, for example, Patent Document 1 has a suction port that sucks ink mist and two blowout ports that are arranged on the upstream side and the downstream side of the suction port in the conveyance direction of the print medium and blow out air. A mist recovery mechanism is disclosed. The suction port and the two outlets are disposed on the downstream side of the inkjet head and are formed over the entire width of the inkjet head.

  In this mist collecting mechanism, the upstream outlet blows out air to guide the air containing the ink mist to the suction opening. The downstream outlet blows out air for adjusting the position of the air blown out from the upstream outlet so that the air blown out from the upstream outlet is appropriately sucked into the suction outlet. . Thereby, the ink mist can be efficiently sucked and collected by the suction port.

JP-A-2015-83372

  However, since the mist collection mechanism of Patent Document 1 described above has a suction port and two blowout ports formed over the entire width of the inkjet head, the mechanism has been enlarged.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printing apparatus capable of efficiently collecting ink mist while suppressing an increase in size of a mechanism for collecting ink mist.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first feature of an ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention is an ink jet head which is arranged above a print medium to be transported and ejects ink onto the print medium for printing, and transport of the print medium. In a predetermined range on the downstream side of the inkjet head in the direction, a blowout portion that is disposed above the center of the print medium in the main scanning direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the print medium and blows downward, and printing in the main scanning direction A first suction section that is disposed adjacent to one side of the medium and sucks ink mist included in an airflow flowing along one side of the main scanning direction along the print medium out of the airflow from the blowing section; Of the air current flowing from the blowing section to the other side of the main scanning direction along the print medium. In further comprising a second suction portion for sucking the ink mist.

  A second feature of the ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention is that the air flow direction adjustment unit that adjusts the blowing direction of the air flow from the blowing unit to one side and the other side of the main scanning direction and the arrangement of the printing range by the ink jet head. Accordingly, the apparatus further includes a wind direction control unit that controls the wind direction adjusting unit to adjust the blowing direction of the airflow from the blowing unit.

  A third feature of the inkjet printing apparatus according to the present invention is further provided with an air volume control unit that controls the air volume of the blowing unit, the first suction unit, and the second suction unit, and the air volume control unit includes the inkjet unit. The purpose is to adjust the air volume of at least one of the blowing section, the first suction section, and the second suction section based on the printing rate by the head.

  A fourth feature of the ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention is further provided with an air volume control unit that controls the air volume of the blowing unit, the first suction unit, and the second suction unit, and the blowing unit is configured in the main scanning direction. A plurality of air outlets arranged along the air direction, and the airflow direction adjusting unit individually adjusts the airflow direction of the airflow from the air outlets, and the airflow direction control unit prints with the ink jet head. According to the arrangement of the range, the air direction adjusting unit is controlled to adjust the direction of the air flow from each of the air outlets, and the air volume control unit is configured to adjust the air flow rate of the ink jet head in the printing range. The purpose is to adjust the air volume of at least one of the air outlet, the first suction part, and the second suction part.

  According to a fifth aspect of the inkjet printing apparatus of the present invention, the drive unit that moves the first suction unit and the second suction unit along the transport direction of the print medium, and the transport speed of the print medium, It is further provided with a suction position control unit that controls the driving unit to adjust the positions of the first suction unit and the second suction unit in the conveyance direction of the print medium.

  According to the first feature of the inkjet printing apparatus according to the present invention, the blowing section blows air from above to below the print medium. Then, the first suction unit and the second suction unit suck and collect ink mist contained in the airflow from the blowing portion that flows to the one side and the other side in the main scanning direction along the print medium. Thereby, since the ink mist is guided to the first suction part and the second suction part by the airflow from the blowing part and collected, the ink mist can be efficiently collected. Further, the ink mist is discharged by the blowing portion disposed above the central portion of the print medium in the main scanning direction, and the first suction portion and the second suction portion disposed adjacent to one side and the other side of the print medium, respectively. Since the ink is collected, an increase in the size of the mechanism for collecting the ink mist can be suppressed. Therefore, according to the first feature of the ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently collect the ink mist while suppressing an increase in the size of the mechanism for collecting the ink mist.

  According to the second feature of the ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention, the ink mist can be collected more efficiently because the flow direction of the airflow from the blowout portion is adjusted according to the arrangement of the print range by the ink jet head.

  According to the third feature of the ink jet printing apparatus of the present invention, the air volume of at least one of the blowing portion, the first suction portion, and the second suction portion is adjusted based on the printing rate by the ink jet head. Thereby, it can suppress that the air volume of a blowing part, a 1st suction | inhalation part, and a 2nd suction | inhalation part becomes larger than necessary, and can suppress the waste of power consumption and a noise.

  According to the fourth feature of the ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention, the direction of the air flow from each outlet is adjusted according to the arrangement of the printing range, and each outlet, first according to the printing rate in the printing range. The air volume of at least one of the suction part and the second suction part is adjusted. Thereby, according to arrangement | positioning of a printing range, and a printing rate, the blowing direction of the airflow from each blowing port and the air volume of each blowing port, a 1st suction part, and a 2nd suction part can be adjusted more appropriately. As a result, it is possible to efficiently collect ink mist while further reducing waste of power consumption and noise.

  According to the fifth feature of the ink jet printing apparatus of the present invention, the positions of the first suction unit and the second suction unit in the print medium transport direction are adjusted according to the transport speed of the print medium. Thereby, the ink mist contained in the airflow from the blowing part that is caused to flow downstream due to the influence of the conveying airflow can be efficiently collected.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an inkjet printing apparatus according to a first embodiment. It is a top view of the head unit and ink mist collection part of the ink jet printer concerning a 1st embodiment. It is a perspective view of the head unit and ink mist collection part of the ink jet printer concerning a 1st embodiment. It is a disassembled perspective view of the blowing part and the wind direction adjustment part of the inkjet printing apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a control block diagram of the inkjet printing apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the inkjet printing apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. (A) is a perspective view for demonstrating an example of the airflow in an ink mist collection | recovery part. (B) is a side view corresponding to (a). (A) is a perspective view for demonstrating the other example of the airflow in an ink mist collection | recovery part. (B) is a side view corresponding to (a). It is a control block diagram of the inkjet printing apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Throughout the drawings, the same or equivalent parts and components are denoted by the same or equivalent reference numerals.

  The following embodiments exemplify devices for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the technical idea of the present invention is the material, shape, structure, arrangement, etc. of each component. Is not specified as follows. The technical idea of the present invention can be variously modified within the scope of the claims.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an inkjet printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the head unit and the ink mist collection unit of the ink jet printing apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the head unit and the ink mist collection unit of the inkjet printing apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the blowing section and the wind direction adjusting section of the ink jet printing apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a control block diagram of the inkjet printing apparatus shown in FIG. In the following description, the direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. Also, the top, bottom, left, and right of the paper surface in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the inkjet printing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment includes a delivery unit 2, a transport unit 3, a head unit 4, an ink mist collection unit 5, and a winding unit 6. And a control unit 7.

  The sending unit 2 sends the web W, which is a long print medium made of paper, film, or the like, to the transport unit 3. The delivery unit 2 includes a web roll support shaft 11, a delivery motor 12, guide rollers 13 and 14, and an upstream buffer unit 15.

  The web roll support shaft 11 rotatably supports the web roll 16. The web roll support shaft 11 is formed in a long shape extending in the front-rear direction. The web roll 16 is a roll of the web W.

  The feed motor 12 rotates the web roll support shaft 11 clockwise in FIG. The web roll 16 rotates in the same direction by the rotation of the web roll support shaft 11, and the web W is sent out to the downstream side (right side) in the transport direction.

  The guide rollers 13 and 14 guide the web W between the web roll 16 and the upstream buffer unit 15.

  The upstream buffer unit 15 absorbs slack of the web W between the guide roller 14 and a guide roller 26 of the conveyance unit 3 described later. The upstream buffer unit 15 includes support rollers 17 to 20 and dancer rollers 21 and 22.

  The support rollers 17 to 20 support the web W between the guide rollers 14 and 26. The support rollers 17 to 20 are arranged at the same height with an interval in the left-right direction.

  The dancer rollers 21 and 22 push down the web W by its own weight between the support rollers 17 and 18 and between the support rollers 18 and 19, respectively, and absorb the slack of the web W. The dancer rollers 21 and 22 move up and down according to the amount of sag of the web W.

  The conveyance unit 3 conveys the web W sent out by the sending-out unit 2. The transport unit 3 includes guide rollers 26 to 30, a pair of tension applying rollers 31, a brake 32, a plurality of lower head support members 33, a pair of transport rollers 34, and a transport motor 35.

  The guide roller 26 guides the web W between the upstream buffer unit 15 of the delivery unit 2 and the tension applying roller 31. The guide rollers 27 to 29 guide the web W between the tension applying roller 31 and the uppermost (leftmost) head lower support member 33. The guide roller 30 guides the web W between the most downstream (rightmost) head lower support member 33 and the transport roller 34.

  The pair of tension applying rollers 31 applies tension to the web W. The pair of tension applying rollers 31 rotates following the web W conveyed by the pair of conveying rollers 34 while nipping the web W. When one of the tension applying rollers 31 is braked by the brake 32, tension is applied to the web W between the transport roller 34 and the tension applying roller 31.

  The brake 32 brakes one tension applying roller 31. The brake 32 is composed of, for example, a powder brake.

  The head lower support member 33 supports the web W directly under the head unit 4. The plurality of lower head support members 33 are disposed between the guide rollers 29 and 30 so as to be spaced apart from each other in the left-right direction.

  The pair of transport rollers 34 transport the web W to the winding unit 6 while nipping the web W.

  The transport motor 35 rotates the transport roller 34.

  The head unit 4 prints an image on the web W transported by the transport unit 3. The head unit 4 includes inkjet heads 41A to 41D. Note that alphabetical suffixes in the reference numerals of the ink jet heads 41 </ b> A to 41 </ b> D may be omitted and collectively described. The same applies to blowing fans 56A and 56B, louver mechanisms 61A and 61B, and suction fans 66A and 66B, which will be described later.

  The ink jet heads 41 </ b> A to 41 </ b> D discharge ink onto the web W being conveyed. The ink jet heads 41A to 41D eject inks of different colors (for example, black, cyan, magenta, and yellow). The inkjet heads 41 </ b> A to 41 </ b> D are arranged in parallel along the sub-scanning direction (left-right direction) that is the web W conveyance direction above the web W between the guide rollers 29 and 30. Each of the ink jet heads 41 </ b> A to 41 </ b> D has six head modules 42.

  The head module 42 has a plurality of nozzles (not shown) that are open along the main scanning direction (front-rear direction) perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the web W, opening on the ink ejection surface facing the web W, Ink is ejected from the nozzles. The head modules 42 are arranged in a staggered manner in the inkjet head 41. In other words, in the inkjet head 41, two head rows each including three head modules 42 arranged at equal intervals along the front-rear direction are arranged so as to be shifted by a half pitch in the front-rear direction.

  The ink mist collection unit 5 collects ink mist generated by ink ejection in the inkjet head 41. The ink mist collection unit 5 is disposed in the vicinity of the downstream side of the head unit 4. The ink mist collection unit 5 includes a blowing unit 51, a wind direction adjustment unit 52, and a suction collection unit 53.

  The blowing unit 51 blows air from above to below the web W. The blowing part 51 is disposed above the center part of the web W in the front-rear direction within a predetermined range on the downstream side of the inkjet head 41D in the conveyance direction (left-right direction) of the web W. Here, the predetermined range on the downstream side of the inkjet head 41D is a range set in advance as a range in which a lot of ink mist exists on the downstream side of the inkjet head 41D. This range is set based on experiments, for example.

  The blowing unit 51 includes blowing fans 56A and 56B. The blowing fans 56A and 56B are arranged adjacent to each other along the front-rear direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the blower fan 56 has a blowout port 56a and blows air downward from the blowout port 56a.

  The air direction adjusting unit 52 adjusts the blowing direction of the airflow from the blowing unit 51 to the front side and the rear side. The wind direction adjusting unit 52 includes louver mechanism units 61A and 61B. The louver mechanisms 61A and 61B are installed below the blowing fans 56A and 56B, respectively, and adjust the blowing direction of the airflow from the blowing fans 56A and 56B. That is, the air direction adjusting unit 52 can individually adjust the blowing direction of the airflow from the blowing fans 56A and 56B by the louver mechanism units 61A and 61B. The louver mechanism 61 includes a louver frame 62, a plurality of louvers 63, and a wind direction adjusting motor 64.

  The louver frame 62 supports the louver 63. The louver frame 62 is erected around the lower surface of the blowing fan 56.

  The louver 63 adjusts the blowing direction of the airflow from the blowing fan 56 back and forth. The louver 63 is configured to be rotatable about an axis along the left-right direction. The direction of the airflow from the blower fan 56 is adjusted by the angle of the louver 63.

  The wind direction adjusting motor 64 adjusts the angle of the louver 63 by rotating the louver 63 about an axis along the left-right direction. The wind direction adjusting motor 64 is a stepping motor.

  The suction collection unit 53 sucks and collects ink mist included in the airflow from the blowing unit 51 that flows along the web W to the front side and the rear side. The suction recovery unit 53 includes suction fans 66A and 66B (corresponding to a first suction unit and a second suction unit in claims).

  The suction fan 66 </ b> A sucks ink mist included in the airflow flowing forward along the web W among the airflow from the blowing unit 51. The suction fan 66 </ b> B sucks ink mist included in the airflow flowing rearward along the web W among the airflow from the blowing unit 51. The suction fans 66 </ b> A and 66 </ b> B are adjacent to the web W and disposed below the web W on the front side and the rear side of the blowing portion 51, respectively. The suction fan 66 has a suction port 66a for sucking air, and is installed with the suction port 66a facing upward.

  The winding unit 6 winds the web W printed by the head unit 4. The winding unit 6 includes guide rollers 71 to 73, a downstream buffer unit 74, a winding shaft 75, and a winding motor 76.

  The guide rollers 71 and 72 guide the web W between the transport roller 34 of the transport unit 3 and the downstream buffer unit 74. The guide roller 73 guides the web W between the downstream buffer portion 74 and the winding shaft 75.

  The downstream buffer unit 74 absorbs the slack of the web W between the guide rollers 72 and 73. The downstream buffer unit 74 includes support rollers 81 to 83 and dancer rollers 84 and 85.

  The support rollers 81 to 83 support the web W between the guide rollers 72 and 73. The support rollers 81 to 83 are arranged at the same height with an interval in the left-right direction.

  The dancer rollers 84 and 85 push down the web W by its own weight between the support rollers 81 and 82 and between the support rollers 82 and 83, respectively, and absorb sagging of the web W. The dancer rollers 84 and 85 move up and down according to the amount of sag of the web W.

  The winding shaft 75 winds and holds the web W. The winding shaft 75 is formed in a long shape extending in the front-rear direction.

  The winding motor 76 rotates the winding shaft 75 clockwise in FIG. The web W is wound around the winding shaft 75 by the rotation of the winding shaft 75.

  The control unit 7 controls the operation of the entire inkjet printing apparatus 1. The control unit 7 includes a conveyance control unit 91, a discharge control unit 92, a fan control unit 93, and a wind direction control unit 94.

  The conveyance control unit 91 controls the feeding unit 2, the conveyance unit 3, and the winding unit 6 to convey the web W.

  The ejection control unit 92 controls ink ejection by the inkjet head 41.

  The fan controller 93 controls the driving of the blower fans 56A and 56B and the suction fans 66A and 66B. The fan control unit 93 adjusts the air volume of the blowing fans 56A and 56B by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control based on the printing rate in the printed image by the inkjet head 41. The fan controller 93 corresponds to the air volume controller in the claims.

  The wind direction control unit 94 adjusts the direction of the airflow from the blowing unit 51 by controlling the wind direction adjusting unit 52 according to the arrangement of the print range by the inkjet head 41.

  Next, the operation of the inkjet printing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S1 of FIG. 6, the control unit 7 of the inkjet printing apparatus 1 receives a print job from an external device such as a personal computer.

  Next, in step S2, the wind direction control unit 94 sets the blowing direction of the airflow from the blowing fans 56A and 56B based on the print job.

  Specifically, when the print range of the current print job exists in the center of the web W in the front-rear direction (main scanning direction), the air direction control unit 94 blows out the airflow from the blower fans 56A and 56B. Is set directly below. Further, when the print range by the current print job is separated into front and rear, the air direction control unit 94 sets the air flow direction of the air flow from the blower fan 56A to the front side from directly below, and the air flow from the blower fan 56B. Is set to the rear side from directly below. Further, in this case, the wind direction control unit 94 sets an angle with respect to the direction directly below the blowing direction of the airflow from the blowing fans 56A and 56B according to the position of the printing range in the front-rear direction.

  Then, the wind direction control unit 94 adjusts the angle of the louver 63 by the wind direction adjusting motor 64 so that the blowing direction of the airflow from the blowing fans 56A and 56B becomes the set direction.

  Next, in step S3, the fan controller 93 sets the air volume of the blower fans 56A and 56B based on the printing rate of the inkjet head 41 in the current print job. The fan control unit 93 sets the air volume of the blower fans 56A and 56B to increase as the printing rate increases. Here, when the print range exists separately in the front and rear, and the air flow direction from the blower fans 56A and 56B is adjusted from directly below to the front side and the rear side, the front print range and the rear print range When the printing rates are different, the fan control unit 93 individually sets the air volumes of the blower fans 56A and 56B according to the respective printing rates.

  Next, in step S <b> 4, the conveyance control unit 91 starts conveyance of the web W. Specifically, the conveyance control unit 91 starts driving the feed motor 12, the brake 32, the conveyance motor 35, and the take-up motor 76. Thereby, the web W is conveyed from the delivery part 2 toward the winding part 6. In the transport unit 3, the web W is transported while tension is applied to the web W by applying a brake to the tension applying roller 31 by the brake 32.

  Next, in step S <b> 5, the ejection control unit 92 starts image printing by controlling the ink jet heads 41 </ b> A to 41 </ b> D to eject ink based on the print job.

  Further, the wind direction control unit 94 starts driving the blowing fans 56A and 56B and the suction fans 66A and 66B. Here, the wind direction controller 94 drives the blower fans 56A and 56B with the air volume set in step S3. Further, the air direction control unit 94 drives the suction fans 66A and 66B with a preset air volume.

  During printing, when ink is ejected from the inkjet heads 41A to 41D, ink mist is generated. Most of the generated ink mist flows downstream from the inkjet heads 41 </ b> A to 41 </ b> D by the air flow. The ink mist is collected by the ink mist collecting unit 5.

  In the ink mist collection unit 5, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the airflow F from the blower fans 56A and 56B flows to the front side and the rear side along the web W after reaching the web W. . The ink mist is caused to flow forward and rearward by the airflow F, and is sucked and collected by the suction fans 66A and 66B.

  Here, FIGS. 7A and 7B are examples in a case where ink is ejected with respect to the printing range A existing in the central portion of the web W in the front-rear direction. The air volume from the blower fans 56A and 56B is adjusted according to the printing rate of the print image in the print range A. Thereby, it is possible to suppress an increase in the air volume from the blowing fans 56A and 56B more than necessary, and it is possible to suppress waste of power consumption and noise.

  When the printing range exists separately in the front and rear, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the blowing directions of the airflows Fa and Fb from the blowing fans 56A and 56B are adjusted to the front side and the rear side, respectively, from directly below. Has been. Thereby, ink mist can be collected more efficiently.

  In the examples of FIGS. 8A and 8B, the airflows from the blower fans 56A and 56B are individually adjusted according to the respective printing rates of the front printing range Af and the rear printing range Ar. Yes. Thereby, waste of power consumption and noise can be further suppressed.

  If there is a change in the arrangement of the print range in the middle of the print job, the direction of the airflow from the blower fans 56A and 56B may be changed according to the change. Further, when there is a change in the printing rate during the print job, the air volume from the blower fans 56A and 56B may be changed according to the change.

  Returning to FIG. 6, in step S <b> 6, the fan control unit 93 determines whether printing based on the print job is finished. If it is determined that printing has not been completed (step S6: NO), the fan control unit 93 repeats step S6.

  When it is determined that the printing is finished (step S6: YES), in step S7, the fan control unit 93 stops the blower fans 56A and 56B and the suction fans 66A and 66B.

  Next, in step S8, the conveyance control unit 91 ends the conveyance of the web W. Specifically, the conveyance control unit 91 stops the delivery motor 12, the brake 32, the conveyance motor 35, and the take-up motor 76. Thereby, a series of operation | movement is complete | finished.

  As described above, in the ink jet printing apparatus 1, the blowing unit 51 blows air from above to below the web W. Then, the suction fans 66A and 66B suck and collect the ink mist contained in the airflow from the blowing part 51 flowing along the web W to the front side and the rear side. As a result, the ink mist is guided to the suction fans 66A and 66B by the airflow from the blowing portion 51 and collected, so that the ink mist can be collected efficiently. Ink mist is collected by the blowing portion 51 disposed above the central portion of the web W in the front-rear direction and the suction fans 66A and 66B disposed adjacent to the front and rear sides of the web W, respectively. An increase in the size of the mechanism for collecting mist can be suppressed. Therefore, according to the inkjet printing apparatus 1, it is possible to efficiently collect the ink mist while suppressing an increase in the size of the mechanism for collecting the ink mist.

  Moreover, in the inkjet printing apparatus 1, since the direction of the airflow from the blowing unit 51 is adjusted by controlling the wind direction adjusting unit 52 according to the arrangement of the printing range, the ink mist can be collected more efficiently.

  Further, in the ink jet printing apparatus 1, the air volume of the blower fans 56 </ b> A and 56 </ b> B is adjusted according to the printing rate in the print image by the ink jet head 41. Thereby, it is possible to suppress an increase in the air volume from the blowing fans 56A and 56B more than necessary, and it is possible to suppress waste of power consumption and noise.

  In the inkjet printing apparatus 1, the louver mechanisms 61A and 61B individually adjust the direction of the air flow from the blow fans 56A and 56B, and individually adjust the air flow from the blow fans 56A and 56B according to the printing rate in the printing range. Adjust to. Thereby, according to arrangement | positioning of a printing range, and a printing rate, the blowing direction and air volume of the airflow from blowing fan 56A, 56B can be adjusted more appropriately. As a result, it is possible to efficiently collect ink mist while further reducing waste of power consumption and noise.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment in which a part of the first embodiment described above is changed will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a control block diagram of the ink jet printing apparatus according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the ink jet printing apparatus 1A according to the second embodiment replaces the ink mist collecting unit 5 with the ink mist collecting unit 5A with respect to the ink jet printing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment described above, and controls the control unit 7. Is replaced with the control unit 7A.

  The ink mist collection unit 5A has a configuration in which a suction fan drive unit (corresponding to a drive unit in claims) 101 is added to the ink mist collection unit 5 of the first embodiment. The suction fan drive unit 101 moves the suction fans 66A and 66B along the web W conveyance direction (left-right direction). The suction fan drive unit 101 includes a motor and the like.

  The controller 7A is configured by adding a suction position controller 111 to the controller 7 of the first embodiment. The suction position control unit 111 controls the suction fan drive unit 101 in accordance with the conveyance speed of the web W to adjust the positions of the suction fans 66A and 66B in the left-right direction.

  In the inkjet printing apparatus 1A, when a print job is received, the suction position control unit 111 controls the suction fan driving unit 101 based on the web W conveyance speed at the time of execution of the print job to thereby perform suction fans 66A, Adjust the position of 66B. Specifically, the suction position control unit 111 arranges the suction fans 66A and 66B on the downstream side (right side) in the web conveyance direction as the web W conveyance speed increases. Here, the conveyance speed of the web W is set according to the maximum number of drops per pixel corresponding to the type of the web W and the printing resolution.

  The higher the conveyance speed of the web W, the stronger the conveyance airflow flowing downstream in the conveyance direction. As the transport airflow becomes stronger, the airflow from the blowing fans 56A and 56B flowing to the front side and the rear side along the web W becomes easier to flow downstream.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, the higher the conveyance speed of the web W, the more the suction fans 66A and 66B are arranged on the downstream side, so that the air currents from the blower fans 56A and 56B that are caused to flow downstream due to the influence of the conveyance airflow. The contained ink mist can be efficiently collected.

(Other embodiments)
As described above, the present invention has been described according to the first and second embodiments. However, it should not be understood that the descriptions and drawings constituting a part of this disclosure limit the present invention. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples and operational techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the blowing unit 51 has two blowing fans 56, that is, two blowing ports 56a. However, the number of blowing ports may be one or three or more. Good.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the blowing direction of the airflow from the blowing fans 56A and 56B is adjusted by the louver mechanisms 61A and 61B of the wind direction adjusting unit 52, but the wind direction adjusting unit 52 may be omitted. Further, a mechanism for adjusting the blowing direction by adjusting the angle of the blowing fans 56A and 56B may be provided. Moreover, the structure which provided the mechanism which can adjust the angle while dividing an air flow into the front side and the rear side from the blowing port by a louver etc. with respect to the blowing part with one blowing port.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the air volume of the blowing fans 56A and 56B is adjusted according to the printing rate, but the air volume (suction air volume) of the suction fans 66A and 66B may be adjusted. Further, all the air volumes of the blower fans 56A and 56B and the suction fans 66A and 66B may be adjusted according to the printing rate.

  In 1st and 2nd embodiment mentioned above, you may enlarge the air volume of blowing fan 56A, 56B, so that the conveyance speed of the web W is quick. As a result, the ink mist that is caused to flow downstream by the conveying airflow can be reduced, and the ink mist recovery rate can be improved.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the inkjet printing apparatuses 1 and 1 </ b> A have been configured to include the delivery unit 2 and the winding unit 6. However, the delivery apparatus and the winding apparatus are connected to the inkjet printing apparatus as external devices. Other configurations may be used. Further, a cutting device or the like for cutting the web may be connected to the inkjet printing apparatus as an external device.

  As described above, the present invention naturally includes various embodiments not described herein. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is defined only by the invention specifying matters according to the scope of claims reasonable from the above description.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,1A Inkjet printing apparatus 2 Sending out part 3 Conveying part 4 Head unit 5, 5A Ink mist collection | recovery part 6 Winding part 7, 7A Control part 41, 41A-41D Inkjet head 42 Head module 51 Blowout part 52 Wind direction adjustment part 53 Suction Collection unit 56, 56A, 56B Blow fan 56a Blow out port 61, 61A, 61B Louver mechanism unit 62 Louver frame 63 Louver 64 Air direction adjusting motor 66, 66A, 66B Suction fan 91 Transport control unit 92 Discharge control unit 93 Fan control unit 94 Air direction Control unit 101 Suction fan drive unit 111 Suction position control unit

Claims (5)

An ink jet head that is disposed above the transported print medium and that discharges and prints ink on the print medium;
A blowout unit that is arranged above a central portion of the print medium in the main scanning direction orthogonal to the print medium conveyance direction and blows downward within a predetermined range on the downstream side of the inkjet head in the print medium conveyance direction;
A first suction unit that is disposed adjacent to one side of the print medium in the main scanning direction and sucks ink mist included in the air flow flowing along the print medium to one side of the main scanning direction among the air flow from the blowing unit When,
A second suction unit that is arranged adjacent to the other side of the print medium in the main scanning direction and sucks ink mist contained in the air flow flowing along the print medium to the other side in the main scanning direction out of the air flow from the blowing unit An ink jet printing apparatus comprising: A wind direction adjusting unit that adjusts the blowing direction of the airflow from the blowing unit to one side and the other side of the main scanning direction;
The wind direction control part which controls the wind direction adjustment part according to arrangement of the printing range by the ink-jet head, and adjusts the blowing direction of the air current from the blowing part. Inkjet printing device. An air volume control unit for controlling the air volume of the blowing unit, the first suction unit, and the second suction unit;
The air volume control unit adjusts the air volume of at least one of the blowing unit, the first suction unit, and the second suction unit based on a printing rate by the inkjet head. An ink jet printing apparatus as described in 1. An air volume control unit for controlling the air volume of the blowing unit, the first suction unit, and the second suction unit;
The blowing unit has a plurality of blowing ports arranged along the main scanning direction,
The wind direction adjusting unit individually adjusts the blowing direction of the airflow from each blowing port,
The wind direction control unit controls the wind direction adjusting unit according to the arrangement of the print range by the inkjet head, and adjusts the blowing direction of the airflow from each of the blowing ports,
The air volume control unit adjusts the air volume of at least one of the outlets, the first suction unit, and the second suction unit according to a printing rate in a printing range by the inkjet head. The inkjet printing apparatus according to claim 2. A drive unit for moving the first suction unit and the second suction unit along the conveyance direction of the print medium;
A suction position control unit that controls the drive unit according to a print medium conveyance speed to adjust the positions of the first suction unit and the second suction unit in the conveyance direction of the print medium. The inkjet printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.