JP2018083310A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which can effectively suppress a discharge amount of ink in the maintenance of a head.SOLUTION: A printer includes: a head which discharges ink onto a printing medium; an ink discharge unit which performs discharge processing of discharging the ink from the head; a control unit which controls the ink discharge unit; and a setting unit which sets the completion timing of the printing preparation based on the user operation. The control unit, in a case where the completion timing of the printing preparation is not set, causes the ink discharge unit to perform the periodical processing of discharging the ink in the first amount from the head at a preset time interval, in a case where the completion timing of the printing preparation is set, controls the ink discharge unit so that the total amount of the ink discharged from the head in a period from a prescribed event to the completion timing of the printing preparation is suppressed with respect to the total amount of the ink assumed to be discharged in the periodical processing corresponding to the period.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus.

  A printing apparatus that forms an image on a print medium by discharging ink from a head is known. In such a printing apparatus, regular maintenance is performed, for example, during a time period when the secondary power supply is off so that the ink does not clog or thicken the nozzles of the head. In the regular maintenance, ink remaining in the head is sucked or discharged at a preset time interval (for example, a conventional technique column in Patent Document 1). For this reason, a certain amount of ink is consumed for each periodic maintenance.

JP 2001-63088 A

  In Patent Document 1, a preliminary discharge pattern is created based on a print discharge pattern, and a preliminary discharge recovery process is performed to suppress ink consumption in regular maintenance. However, handling is complicated. Therefore, there is still room for improvement.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of effectively suppressing the amount of ink discharged during head maintenance.

  A printing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a head that discharges ink onto a print medium, an ink discharge unit that performs a discharge process of discharging ink from the head, a control unit that controls the ink discharge unit, A setting unit configured to set a print preparation completion time based on a user operation, and the control unit discharges a first amount of ink from the head when the print preparation completion time is not set. When the ink discharge unit performs periodic processing at a preset time interval and the print preparation completion time is set, the ink is discharged from the head during a period from a predetermined event to the print preparation completion time. The ink discharge unit is controlled such that the total amount of ink to be discharged is suppressed from the total amount of ink that is assumed to be discharged in the regular processing corresponding to the period.

  In the printing apparatus of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the control unit performs the discharge process at a time interval longer than the preset time interval when the completion timing of the print preparation is set. It is preferable to cause the ink discharge section to perform the above.

  In the printing apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, when the completion time of the print preparation is set, the control unit causes the head to discharge a second amount of ink smaller than the first amount from the head for each discharge process. It is preferable to cause the ink discharge unit to perform a simple process of discharging.

  In the printing apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, the control unit may perform pre-printing processing for discharging a third amount of ink larger than the first amount from the head after the last periodic processing or the simplified processing. It is preferable to cause the ink discharge portion to perform.

  In addition, the printing apparatus of the present invention further includes a heater for heating the head, and a heater control unit for controlling the heater so that the temperature of the head falls within a predetermined temperature range at the completion timing of the print preparation. It is preferable.

  In the printing apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, it is preferable that the control unit omits the discharge process to be performed within a preset period before the pre-printing process.

  In addition, the problems disclosed by the present application and the solutions thereof will be clarified by the description in the column of the embodiment for carrying out the invention and the description of the drawings.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the printing apparatus which can suppress effectively the discharge amount of the ink in head maintenance can be provided.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic which shows an example of an ink supply mechanism. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the setting of a timer, and maintenance operation | movement. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of maintenance operation of the printing apparatus.

  Hereinafter, a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. In the drawings, the same or similar components are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals.

[Configuration of printing device]
The configuration of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 1 includes a head 11, a head drive unit 12, an ink discharge unit 13, a heater 14, a control unit 15, a time measuring unit 16, a setting unit 17, and a storage unit 18. . Hereinafter, these components will be described in order.

The head 11 is a component of an ink supply mechanism 20 described later that ejects ink onto a print medium. There may be a plurality of heads 11 corresponding to, for example, black, white, yellow, cyan, and magenta inks.
The head driving unit 12 moves the head 11 in the scanning direction based on an instruction from the control unit 15.

  The head 11 has a plurality of nozzles (not shown), and each nozzle has a size on the order of μm. If the ink remains in the head 11, the viscosity of the ink increases due to drying, and the head 11 becomes clogged. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a head recovery process periodically and before printing when the printing apparatus 1 is not used for printing. In addition, since a specific type of ink precipitates in a flow path 22 described later, it is necessary to circulate regularly and before printing.

  Here, the above-described head recovery process and ink circulation process are referred to as maintenance. However, in the maintenance, any one of the head recovery process and the ink circulation process may be performed. In addition, maintenance processing that is periodically performed when printing is not performed is referred to as periodic maintenance.

  The ink discharge unit 13 is a component of the ink supply mechanism 20 that performs a discharge process for discharging ink from the head 11. Here, the discharge process includes a process for ejecting ink from the head 11 and a process for sucking ink from the head 11.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the ink supply mechanism 20 was not ejected from the head 11, the tank 21 that supplies ink to the head 11, the flow path 22 through which ink flows between the tank 21 and the head 11, and the head 11. A circulation path 23 for circulating ink, a pump 24 for circulating ink, and a wiper 25 for wiping the head 11 are included. In the example of FIG. 2, the circulation path 23 and the pump 24 are an example of the ink discharge unit 13.

  The ink reaches the head 11 from the tank 21 by flowing through the flow path 22 along the arrow indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. During maintenance, the ink circulates between a part of the flow path 22 and the circulation path 23 along, for example, the direction of the arrow indicated by the broken line in FIG.

  Although not shown in FIG. 2, the ink discharge unit 13 may include a cap that covers the head 11, a tray that receives ink discharged from the head 11, and a wiping mechanism for wiping the head 11.

  The heater 14 heats the head 11 so that the temperature of the head 11 falls within a predetermined temperature range (for example, 40 ° C.) suitable for printing. However, since the head 11 only needs to be in a predetermined temperature range when the printing apparatus 1 is in a printable state, for example, when the secondary power supply of the printing apparatus 1 is off, the heater 14 does not have to operate. .

  The control unit 15 is an arithmetic unit such as a CPU, and controls the head 11, the head drive unit 12, the ink discharge unit 13, and the heater 14. Therefore, the control unit 15 also serves as a heater control unit.

Specifically, the control unit 15 controls the head 11 and the head drive unit 12 based on the image information and the printing application stored in the storage unit 18 in response to a user operation. The control unit 15 also controls the ink discharge unit 13 based on the time set by the setting unit 17 and the maintenance application. Further, the control unit 15 controls the heater 14 based on the measurement result of the head 11 by a temperature sensor (not shown) when the printing apparatus 1 is in a printable state and when the printing apparatus 1 is preparing for printing. To control.
The control of the ink discharge unit 13 by the control unit 15 will be described in detail later.

  The timer unit 16 measures time. The timer unit 16 can indicate the time, and can also measure an elapsed time from the end of a specific event (for example, the previous printing). The timer unit 16 may be configured as a part of the control unit 15.

  The setting unit 17 sets a print preparation completion time based on a user operation, and stores it in the storage unit 18. The setting unit 17 can arbitrarily set the completion timing of the print preparation, for example, the next morning at 10 o'clock, every morning at 10 o'clock, weekday morning at 10 o'clock, or a specific day at 10 o'clock in the morning. The setting unit 17 may be configured as a part of the control unit 15. Hereinafter, setting the completion time of print preparation via the setting unit 17 may be referred to as setting a timer.

  The storage unit 18 is a storage device such as a RAM and a ROM, for example. For example, various settings of the printing apparatus 1, calculation results by the control unit 15, and applications for executing the functions of the components of the printing apparatus 1 described above. And information on the image to be formed on the print medium. Various settings of the printing apparatus 1 include the completion time of the print preparation set by the setting unit 17.

[Relationship between timer settings and maintenance operations]
With reference to FIG. 3, the relationship between the timer setting and the maintenance operation in the printing apparatus 1 will be described according to the presence or absence of the timer setting.

  Here, at least one kind of ink used in the printing apparatus 1 cannot be recovered to its original state by thickening or solidifying after a certain period of time has passed since being supplied to the head. The period during which ink cannot be recovered varies depending on the type of ink. For example, white ink and metal-based ink have a shorter period during which they cannot be recovered than other types of ink. In the present embodiment, a recoverable period is set in advance according to the type of ink having the shortest non-recoverable period among the plurality of inks. For example, a recoverable period of 72 hours is set in consideration of a period during which white ink cannot be recovered.

However, in this embodiment, in order to ensure print quality, a “maintenance omission period” that is shorter than the ink recovery period is set. The maintenance omissible period is a period during which the print quality can be reliably maintained without performing maintenance, and is set to 18 hours, for example.
Moreover, the time interval at which the regular maintenance is performed is set shorter than the maintenance omissible period, for example, 8 hours. In the present embodiment, the periodic maintenance is a process performed in a situation in which a timer is not set, and thus it is for ensuring the print quality more reliably.
These various periods are stored in the storage unit 18.

  In this embodiment, it is assumed that a fixed amount (first amount; for example, 10 ml) of ink is discharged for each periodic maintenance. In the pre-printing maintenance, it is assumed that a larger amount (third amount; for example, 20 ml) of ink than the above-described fixed amount is discharged. In the head cleaning, for example, 1 ml of ink is consumed.

<When the timer is not set>
When the print preparation completion time has not been set, regular maintenance is performed at predetermined time intervals after the secondary power supply is turned off. In the example of FIG. 3A, regular maintenance is performed at intervals of 8 hours from 18:00 when the secondary power supply is turned off. When the secondary power is turned on by a user operation, maintenance before printing is performed, and the printing apparatus 1 is ready for printing.

<When the timer is set>
When the print preparation completion time is set, the maintenance process differs depending on the relationship between the period from when the secondary power is turned off (an example of a predetermined event) to the completion of the print preparation and the maintenance omissible period. .

  First, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the period from the turn-off of the secondary power supply to the completion of the print preparation is equal to or shorter than the maintenance omissible period, simplified maintenance is performed.

  Here, in simplified maintenance, the number of maintenance is less than the number of regular maintenance performed in the same period (that is, maintenance is performed at a longer time interval than regular maintenance), and Either the ink discharge amount (second amount) may be smaller than the ink discharge amount (predetermined amount) in the regular maintenance. Further, the number of maintenances may be less than the number of regular maintenances performed in the same period, and the amount of ink discharged for each maintenance may be less than a predetermined amount. Here, the fact that the number of times of maintenance is less than the number of periodic maintenance performed during the same period includes not performing maintenance during the period.

  In the example of FIG. 3B, the timer is set so that the print preparation is completed at 12:00 on the next day. If the secondary power supply is turned off at 18:00 on the same day, it takes 18 hours from the secondary power supply turn-off to the completion of printing preparation, but no regular maintenance is performed during this time. However, pre-printing maintenance and head cleaning are performed in order to ensure printing quality.

Here, comparing the example of FIG. 3A and the example of FIG. 3B, it takes 18 hours from the secondary power-off to the completion of printing preparation. During the 18 hours, in the example of FIG. 3A, 41 ml of ink is discharged for two regular maintenances, one pre-printing maintenance, and head cleaning. On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 3B, 21 ml of ink can be discharged because maintenance before printing and head cleaning are performed once during the same 18 hours. That is, the latter can save 20 ml of ink than the former.
Such ink savings amount to a total of 50 ml and 80 ml respectively when the timer is set, for example, 42 hours and 66 hours after the secondary power is turned off. That is, if the timer setting time is long, a large amount of ink can be saved.

  Alternatively, in the example of FIG. 3B, maintenance may be performed at the same time interval (for example, every 8 hours) as the regular maintenance in order to reliably maintain the print quality. However, in the simplified maintenance performed here, the amount of ink discharged per time is suppressed. Accordingly, it is possible to save the amount of ink discharged by maintenance while ensuring the printing quality.

  Alternatively, in the example of FIG. 3B, maintenance may be performed at a longer time interval (for example, every 10 hours) than the regular maintenance. Even in this case, it is possible to save the amount of ink discharged by maintenance while ensuring the printing quality.

  Next, a case where the period from the turn-off of the secondary power source to the completion of printing preparation is longer than the period during which maintenance can be omitted will be described. Periodic maintenance is performed as shown in FIG. However, the regular maintenance that should be performed within the maintenance skippable period after the completion of the print preparation may be omitted. Considering that sufficient maintenance is performed by the pre-printing maintenance, the amount of ink discharged is reduced by omitting the periodic maintenance within a range that does not affect the printing quality.

  The example of FIG. 3 (c) is typically with long holidays in mind. The timer is set so that the print preparation is completed at 12:00 one week later. If the secondary power supply is turned off at 18:00 on the same day, it takes 186 hours from the secondary power supply to completion of printing preparation, which exceeds the ink recovery period (here 72 hours). Therefore, regular maintenance is performed during this 186 hours.

However, regular maintenance (for example, regular maintenance 180 hours after turning off the secondary power supply) that should be performed within the maintenance skiptable period before the completion of printing preparation is omitted, the interval between regular maintenance is increased, The total amount of ink discharged may be suppressed by reducing the amount of ink discharged per maintenance.
Thereafter, the pre-printing maintenance and the head cleaning are performed, and the printing preparation is completed.

[Maintenance operation flow]
The flow of the maintenance operation will be described with reference to FIG.
When the secondary power supply of the printing apparatus 1 is turned off, the following procedure starts. Note that the following procedure may be started when printing is completed.

  In step S <b> 1, the control unit 15 determines whether or not a timer is set by the setting unit 17.

  When the timer is not set, the control unit 15 causes the ink discharge unit 13 to perform periodic maintenance at a preset time interval in step S2 as described in relation to FIG. . In this case, considering that the timing when the secondary power supply is turned on is indeterminate, regular maintenance can reliably prevent ink thickening and nozzle clogging.

  When the timer is set, the control unit 15 causes the ink discharge unit 13 to perform simplified maintenance in step S3. The simplified maintenance is described in relation to FIG. 3C in addition to the omission of the number of times of maintenance and the suppression of the ink discharge amount for each maintenance described in relation to FIG. Includes omission of maintenance within a maintenance omissible period before completion of printing preparation. Such simplified maintenance makes it possible to effectively suppress ink consumption during maintenance while reliably preventing ink thickening and nozzle clogging.

  Through such step S2 or S3, the control unit 15 causes the ink discharge unit 13 to perform pre-printing maintenance in step S4. Maintenance before printing may include temperature management of the head 11 by the heater 14 and cleaning processing of the head 11, in addition to ink discharge processing and circulation processing. High-quality printing is ensured by performing pre-printing maintenance. Further, by performing temperature management with the heater 14, printing can be executed immediately after completion of printing preparation, and smooth printing work is possible. This is particularly useful when it takes time to warm the ink and the head 11 such as in winter.

  When step S4 ends, the printing apparatus 1 is ready for printing, and printing preparation is completed. As a result, the maintenance operation ends, and the printing apparatus 1 can immediately start the printing operation.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this. The material, shape, and arrangement of each member described above are merely embodiments for carrying out the present invention, and various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.
For example, another example of the predetermined event is the end of printing.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing apparatus 11 Head 12 Head drive part 13 Ink discharge part 14 Heater 15 Control part 16 Setting part 17 Time measuring part 18 Storage part

Claims (6)

A head for ejecting ink onto the print medium;
An ink discharge unit that performs a discharge process of discharging ink from the head;
A control unit for controlling the ink discharge unit;
A setting unit that sets a completion time of print preparation based on a user operation,
The controller is
If the completion time of the print preparation is not set, the ink discharge unit performs a periodic process for discharging the first amount of ink from the head at a preset time interval;
When the print preparation completion time is set, the total amount of ink discharged from the head in a period from a predetermined event to the print preparation completion time is discharged in the regular processing corresponding to the period. A printing apparatus that controls the ink discharge unit so that the total amount of ink is suppressed.   The control unit causes the ink discharge unit to perform a simple process of performing the discharge process at a time interval longer than the preset time interval when the completion timing of the print preparation is set. The printing apparatus as described in.   When the completion timing of the print preparation is set, the control unit performs a simple process of discharging a second amount of ink smaller than the first amount from the head for each discharge process. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is performed.   The control unit causes the ink discharge unit to perform a pre-printing process for discharging a third amount of ink larger than the first amount from the head after the last periodic process or the simplified process. Item 4. The printing apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 3. A heater for heating the head;
A heater control unit that controls the heater so that the temperature of the head falls within a predetermined temperature range at the completion of the print preparation;
The printing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising:   The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control unit causes the discharge process to be performed within a preset period before the pre-printing process.

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