JP2019059080A - Printer with use of attachable jig - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent such an accident that a printer performs wrong control and is broken.SOLUTION: A table mobile type printer comprises: a machine body; a table; a print head which is so supported as to be movable in one direction in a plane parallel to the table; a sub-scanning drive mechanism which so supports the table as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to a direction of movement of the print head; a table elevation drive mechanism which drives the table in an elevational direction; and an optical sensor for detecting a medium on the table provided on the machine body. In this printer, a cylindrical jig for printing can be detachably attached to the machine body, a light shielding member, which blocks an optical path of the sensor when attaching the cylindrical jig for printing to the machine body, is provided, and a controller recognizes that the cylindrical jig for printing is attached to the machine body when the optical path of the sensor is blocked by the light shielding member.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus capable of using a mountable jig, and more particularly to a table moving type printing apparatus capable of printing using a cylindrical printing jig.

In an apparatus for printing a cylinder, an apparatus for applying a rotational force to a cylinder placed on a cylinder printing jig by moving a table has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
In such a structure, a cylinder printing jig is placed on a table used for printing a normal plate or the like, and the cylinder is rotated by movement of the table without making electrical connection with the printing apparatus. There is.

WO 2017-086007

In the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, since there is no electrical connection between the jig and the apparatus, the apparatus can not recognize that the jig is attached. Although the controller of the device recognizes that the jig is attached on the operation panel of the device, there is no means for the device to recognize that the jig is attached. In order to confirm that the device has a jig, it is necessary to provide a specially designed recognition structure (for example, electrical connection or addition of a recognition structure by a new sensor). In this case, structural improvement of the device is required, resulting in high cost.
The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a printing jig can be detachably attached to a machine of a printing apparatus, an optical sensor for media detection is provided on the machine of the apparatus, and the sensor is a controller of the apparatus A light shielding member for shielding the light path of the sensor when the printing jig is attached to the machine, and when the light path is blocked by the light shielding member in the controller, It is characterized in that it is recognized that a printing jig is attached.
Further, according to the present invention, an airframe, a table, a print head supported so as to be movable in one direction in a plane parallel to the table, and the table in a direction orthogonal to the movement direction of the print head A controller comprising: a sub-scanning drive mechanism for movably supporting; a table lifting drive mechanism for driving the table in the elevating direction; and an optical sensor for detecting media on the table disposed on the machine body, A table moving type printing apparatus which moves the table in one direction by moving the print head and moves the print head in a direction crossing the table and performs printing on a printing medium on the table; Tool is detachably attachable, the sensor is connected to the controller, and when the cylindrical printing jig is attached to the machine body, the optical path of the sensor is A light shielding member for sectional provided, when the optical path by the light shielding member to the controller is cut off, characterized in that it has to recognize that the cylindrical printing jig is attached to the machine body.
Further, the present invention is characterized in that the light shielding member is a cover which can be detachably fitted to the sensor.
Further, the present invention is characterized in that the light shielding member is an optical path shielding plate erected on the cylindrical printing jig.
Further, according to the present invention, the controller recognizes whether the printing apparatus is in the normal mode or the jig use mode by a signal from the operation panel, and when the light path of the sensor is interrupted in the jig use mode, printing is performed. The apparatus is characterized in that it is recognized that the cylindrical printing jig is attached.

  Since it is automatically recognized by the printing apparatus whether or not the jig is attached and the control of the printing apparatus is changed, an operation error can be prevented even in an apparatus which does not make an electrical contact with the jig. In addition, it is possible to use the device without raising the alertness, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a situation where the device is wrongly controlled and the device is broken. And since the sensor provided in the conventional device is used, it is not necessary to newly add an improvement to the device, and it becomes possible to cope with the installation of the jig only by adding software.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a printing apparatus. FIG. 1 is an external view of a printing apparatus. It is an outline view of a jig for cylindrical printing. FIG. 2 is an external view of a part of the printing apparatus. FIG. 2 is an external view of a part of the printing apparatus. It is an external view which shows other embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of this invention. It is block explanatory drawing of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.
FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the ink jet printer (printing apparatus) 2 with the cylindrical printing jig 4 attached. A head guide rail (not shown) for guiding the ink jet print head 8 in the main scanning direction (Y-axis direction) is provided on the body 6 of the printer 2. A table 10 is provided on the machine body 6 of the printer 2, and the table 10 is supported movably in the front-rear direction (sub-scanning direction) of the machine body 6 by a sub-scanning drive unit (see FIG. 10).

The machine body 6 is provided with a table lifting and lowering driving mechanism controlled by a table lifting and lowering driving unit for adjusting the distance between the printed matter and the ink jet printing head 6 with respect to the height of each object.
The printer 2 is used to print on a medium having a normal flat surface when the cylindrical printing jig 4 is removed. A medium having a flat surface can be handled as long as it can be transported regardless of its shape, from thin sheet-like media to media having a plate-like thickness. In printing on the media, the media is set on the table 10, and the print head 8 is moved along the head guide rail while moving the table 10 in the X axis direction (sub scanning direction) by the control of the sub scanning drive unit. The main scan drive unit reciprocates in the Y axis direction (main scan direction), and the control of the print head drive unit ejects the ink supplied from the ink supply unit from the print head 8 to print on the medium.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cylindrical printing jig 4 is movable in parallel in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the table 10 with the holding body 12 detachably fixed to the machine body 6 of the printer 2 and the holding body 12. A pair of cylindrical support rollers 16 and 18 and a rotation drive roller 20 are rotatably attached to the base 14. The base 14 is placed on the table 10 by its own weight via the auxiliary roller and the rotation drive roller 20.

The driving roller 20 and the cylindrical support roller 16 are connected via a power transmission mechanism consisting of timing belt pulleys 22 and 24 and a timing belt 26, and the cylindrical support rollers 16 and 18 are fixed to the respective axes of the rollers 16 and 18. The timing belt pulleys 28, 30 mesh with one side of an endless timing belt 32 wound around the timing belt pulleys 28, 30, and rotate in synchronization with each other.

The cylindrical media 34 is placed between the cylindrical support rollers 16 and 18 as shown in FIG. At this time, the height of the table 10 is automatically adjusted according to the diameter of the cylindrical medium 34, and the distance between the ink ejection nozzle surface of the print head 16 and the cylindrical medium 34 is adjusted to an appropriate value. Further, the distance between the cylindrical support rollers 16 and 18 is adjusted in accordance with the diameter of the cylindrical medium 34. The table height adjustment value, the range of nozzles used in the print head, etc. can be calculated from the values of the position at which the diameter and interval of the cylindrical media 34 have been adjusted, and the device is adjusted so as to enable optimal printing. Do.

  When printing on the cylindrical media 34 starts, the table 10 moves in the sub-scanning direction. The movement of the table 10 causes the drive roller 20 to rotate by contact friction with the table 10, and this rotation is transmitted to the media drive roller 16 and the media driven roller 18 to rotate the cylindrical media 34. On the other hand, the print head 6 reciprocates in the main scanning direction many times, ink is ejected from the print head 6, and printing is performed on the surface of the cylindrical medium 34.

  Laser sensors 40 are provided on the machine body 8 of the printer 2. One of the laser sensors 40, 40 constitutes a light projector, and the other constitutes a light receiver. The laser sensors 40 and 40 are disposed on both sides of the machine body 8 at a predetermined height near the print head, which is the movement range of the table 10 across the table 10, and the laser light 42 oscillated from the projector of the sensor 40 is It has a trajectory parallel to the surface of the table 10 and is configured to be received by the light receiver side of the laser 40. The laser sensor 40 is connected to the main control unit of the controller of the printer 2.

  FIG. 7 shows a detection operation of a medium having a thickness which is usually used when the printer 2 is used, and a laser sensor 40 is used. Position the media on the table and move the table in the sub-scanning direction. The laser light 42 emitted from the light projector of the laser sensor 40 is shielded by the medium, and when the medium is detected, the controller of the printer 2 lowers the table 10 by a predetermined amount to adjust the height of the table.

  Next, the table 10 is again moved in the sub-scanning direction to perform the media detection operation. When the medium is detected, the table 10 is further lowered by a predetermined amount. This operation is repeated, and when the laser light 42 is positioned directly above the medium and the light shielding of the laser light 42 is released, the medium detection operation is completed. A light shielding member 44 is attached to the jig 4 for cylindrical printing, and when the jig 4 is attached to the printer 2, the light shielding member 44 is detachably covered on the sensor 44 and the laser light enters the light receiver of the sensor 44 I will not. The light shielding member 44 may be attached to the cylindrical printing jig 4 via a wire or the like. In that case, when the cylindrical printing jig 4 is attached to the apparatus, it is attached to a place which does not obstruct the movement range of the printing head or the like. In this case, it is not necessary to forget to remove the cylinder printing jig 4 because it is necessary to remove the cylinder printing jig 4 together.

The light shielding member 44 is not particularly limited to the embodiment using a cover that can be removably attached to the sensor 40, and a plate-shaped light shielding member is attached to the jig 4 as shown in FIG. The member 46 may block the laser beam. The light receiver of the sensor 40 is set to be ON when the light is blocked (with the jig) and turned OFF when the light is received (without the jig).

The controller of the printer 2 can be set to the normal mode and the jig use mode by the operation of the panel 48 as shown in FIG.
When the light receiver of the sensor 40 is ON in the normal mode, the controller of the printer 2 recognizes presence of media detection, and performs control such as table lowering or print stop in the above-mentioned media detection operation. Further, when the light receiver of the sensor 40 is OFF, it is recognized that the medium is not detected, and it is determined that the sensor is not blocked because the medium is not detected. Therefore, when the setting of the height of the medium is performed, the operation is ended and the printing standby state is set. Also, the table moving operation or printing operation is maintained.

The controller of the printing apparatus (printer) detects the presence of the jig when the light receiver of the sensor 40 is ON in the jig use mode, and controls the table elevating and moving operations. When the light receiver of the sensor 40 is OFF, the absence of a jig is detected to control the printing and setting change operation. As described above, since it is automatically recognized by the printing apparatus whether or not the jig is attached and the control of the printing apparatus is changed, it is possible to prevent an operation error even in an apparatus which is not electrically connected to the jig. Further, since the sensor provided in the device is used, there is no need to improve the device, and it becomes possible to cope with the installation of the jig only by adding software or the like. Although this embodiment has been described using a cylindrical printing jig, the jig used is not particularly limited and can be dealt with. For example, when a large number of jigs, such as a cylindrical printing jig, a conical printing jig, and a case printing jig, can be used, it is also possible to cope with the situation by increasing the set number of the panels.
In the present embodiment, a laser sensor is used as a sensor for detecting the medium on the table, but a beam type sensor is not particularly limited to the laser sensor, and various optical sensors can be used.
While certain embodiments of the invention have been described above, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in other various forms, and various omissions, replacements and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and the gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

Reference Signs List 2 printer 4 jig 6 body 8 print head 10 table 12 connected body 14 base 16 cylindrical support roller 18 cylindrical support roller 20 drive roller 21 auxiliary roller 22 pulley 24 pulley 26 timing belt 28 pulley 30 pulley 32 belt 34 cylindrical media 40 sensor 42 Laser light 44 Light shielding member 46 Light shielding member 48 Panel

Claims (5)

  A printing jig is detachably attachable to the machine of the printing apparatus, the machine of the apparatus is provided with an optical sensor for detecting media, the sensor is connected to a controller of the apparatus, and the printing jig is There is provided a light blocking member for blocking the light path of the sensor when attached to the machine, and a printing jig is attached to the machine when the light path is blocked by the light blocking member in the controller. A printing apparatus capable of printing using a jig characterized in that it is recognized.   An airframe, a table, a print head supported so as to be movable in one direction in a plane parallel to the table, and the table movable in a direction orthogonal to the movement direction of the print head A sub-scan drive mechanism, a table lift drive mechanism for driving the table in the vertical direction, and an optical sensor for detecting media on the table disposed on the machine body, the table being controlled by a controller A table moving type printing apparatus for moving the printing head in a direction crossing the table and printing on a printing medium on the table, wherein the cylindrical printing jig can be detached from the body. It is attachable, for connecting the sensor to the controller, and for blocking the optical path of the sensor when the cylindrical printing jig is attached to the machine body. An optical member is provided, and when the light path is blocked by the light shielding member, the controller recognizes that a cylindrical printing jig is attached to the machine body. A printing device that can print using the jig of.   The printing apparatus capable of printing using the jig according to claim 1, wherein the light shielding member is a cover which can be detachably fitted to the sensor.   2. A printing apparatus capable of printing using a jig according to claim 1, wherein the light shielding member is an optical path shielding plate provided upright on the cylindrical printing jig.   The controller recognizes from the signal from the operation panel whether the printing apparatus is in the normal mode or the jig use mode, and in the jig use mode, when the light path of the sensor is interrupted, the printing apparatus performs cylindrical printing 2. A printing apparatus capable of printing using the jig according to claim 1, wherein it is recognized that the tool has been mounted.

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