JP2020138326A - Liquid discharge device - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent deposit of a discharge receiver from coming into contact with liquid discharge means and an application member when discharged liquid is changed.SOLUTION: A liquid discharge device includes: liquid storage means 200 which is replaceably mounted in a device body and stores liquid; a head array 551 which discharges liquid; a discharge receiver 801 which receives liquid discharged from a head 100 of the head array 551; a movement mechanism 802 which moves the discharge receiver 801 to the head 100; and discharge receiver movement control means 300. The discharge receiver movement control means 300 acquires type information on the liquid stored in the liquid storage means 200 and information on a deposit height of deposit 900 that liquid discharged to the discharge receiver 801 is deposited. When information on the deposit height exceeds a threshold value based on the type information on the liquid, control for moving the discharge receiver 801 in a direction separated from the head 100 is performed by the movement mechanism 802.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

The present invention relates to a device for discharging a liquid.

As a device for discharging liquid For example, in a printing device, as maintenance of a liquid discharge head, empty discharge (including operations called flushing, purging, etc.) for discharging liquid that does not contribute to printing is discharged by arranging an absorbing member. I try to do it for the receiver.

Conventionally, based on parameters related to the amount of deposition (such as the total amount of liquid ejected by flushing) so that the ink deposits deposited on the surface of the absorber that receives the ink ejected by flushing do not come into contact with the liquid ejection surface of the head. It is known that when the calculated accumulated amount exceeds a predetermined value, the absorber is separated from the liquid discharge surface (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-065267

By the way, in a device that discharges a liquid, the liquid discharged from a liquid discharge means such as a liquid discharge head may be changed. In such a case, in the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the control before the change is continued for the discharge receiver that receives the changed liquid, the deposit of the discharge receiver is the liquid discharge means, the recording medium, or the like. There is a problem that the liquid of the above may interfere with the imparting member to which the liquid is applied.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to prevent the deposit of the discharge receiver from coming into contact with the liquid discharge means and the imparting member even when the liquid to be discharged is changed.

In order to solve the above problems, the device for discharging the liquid according to the present invention is
A liquid storage means that stores liquid that is interchangeably mounted on the device body,
A liquid discharging means for discharging the liquid and
A discharge receiver that receives the liquid discharged from the liquid discharge means and
A moving means for moving the discharge receiver with respect to the liquid discharge means, and
A means for controlling the movement of the discharge receiver is provided.
The controlling means is
Information on the type of the liquid contained in the liquid storage means and
Information on the height of the deposit on which the liquid discharged to the discharge receiver is obtained, and
When the information regarding the height of the deposit exceeds the threshold value based on the type information of the liquid, the moving means controls the discharge receiver to move in the direction away from the liquid discharging means.

According to the present invention, even when the liquid to be discharged is changed, the deposit of the discharge receiver can be prevented from coming into contact with the liquid discharge means or the imparting member.

It is a schematic block diagram of an example of the printing apparatus as the apparatus which discharges a liquid which concerns on this invention. It is a plane explanatory view of the part of the printing means of the printing apparatus. Similarly, it is a side explanatory view of the part of a printing means. It is a side surface along the transport direction of the discharge receiving unit portion in the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a front explanatory view of the discharge receiving unit part. It is a block explanatory diagram provided for the explanation of the means for performing the control concerning the vertical movement (height adjustment) of the discharge receiver of the same embodiment. It is a side explanatory view of the discharge receiving unit part which provides the operation explanation of this embodiment. Similarly, it is a front explanatory view of the discharge receiving unit part.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. An example of a printing device as a device for discharging a liquid according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an example of the printing apparatus, FIG. 2 is a plan explanatory view of a printing means portion of the printing apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a side explanatory view of the printing means portion.

The printing device 500, which is a device for discharging this liquid, has a carry-in means 501 for carrying in a sheet material 510 such as continuous paper, and a guide transport means 503 for guiding and transporting the sheet material 510 carried in from the carry-in means 501 to the printing means 505. A printing means 505 that discharges a liquid onto the sheet material 510 to form an image, a drying means 507 that dries the sheet material 510, and a unloading means 509 that carries out the sheet material 510 are provided. ..

The sheet material 510 is sent out from the original winding roller 511 of the carrying-in means 501, guided and conveyed by the rollers of the carrying-in means 501, the guiding and conveying means 503, the drying means 507, and the carrying-out means 509, and is guided and conveyed by the winding roller 591 of the carrying-out means 509. It is wound up at.

The sheet material 510 is conveyed in the printing means 505 facing the head unit 550 and the head unit 555, which are liquid discharging means, an image is formed by the liquid discharged from the head unit 550, and the sheet material 510 is discharged from the head unit 555. Post-treatment is performed with the treatment liquid.

Here, in the head unit 550, for example, full-line head arrays 551 (551A, 551B, 551C, 551D) for four colors are arranged from the upstream side in the transport direction.

Each head array 551 is a liquid discharging means, and discharges, for example, black K, cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y liquids to the conveyed sheet material 510, respectively. The types and numbers of colors are not limited to this.

In the head array 551, for example, liquid discharge heads (also referred to simply as “heads”) 100 in which a plurality of nozzles 104 for discharging liquid are arranged in two rows in a staggered pattern are arranged in a staggered pattern on a base member 552. However, it is not limited to this.

A maintenance unit 561 (561A to 561D) for performing maintenance of the head 100 is arranged between the head arrays 551. The maintenance unit 561 includes a cap 563 that caps the nozzle surface 104a of the head 100.

The maintenance unit 561 is arranged so as to be reciprocally movable in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3, the head array 551 is arranged so as to be able to move up and down in the vertical direction, the head array 551 is raised when capping, and the maintenance unit 561 is below the head 100. Move to. Then, the head array 551 is lowered and the nozzle surface 104a of the head 100 is capped by the cap 563.

Further, below the head array 551, a discharge receiving unit 800 (800A to 800D) including a discharge receiving 801 for receiving the liquid discharged from the nozzle 104 of the head 100 is arranged. The discharge receiver 801 is configured by accommodating the absorber 812 in the case 811.

Next, the discharge receiving unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a side explanatory view of the discharge receiving unit portion, and FIG. 5 is a front explanatory view of the discharge receiving unit portion.

The discharge receiver unit 800 (800A to 800D) moves as a moving means for moving the discharge receiver 801 and the discharge receiver 801 with respect to the head array 551 (551A to 551D) which is a liquid discharge means (here, vertical movement: up and down). It is equipped with a mechanism 802.

The moving mechanism 802 fixes the eccentric cam 821 in contact with the bottom surface of the discharge receiver 801 and the cam shaft 822 of the eccentric cam 821 and the cam shaft 822 to the gear 823, the motor 824, and the rotation of the motor 824 to the gear 823. It is equipped with a transmission gear 825.

As a result, the discharge receiver 801 can be moved up and down by rotationally driving the motor 824 of the moving mechanism 802 to rotate the eccentric cam 821.

Since the discharge receiving units 800A to 800D are arranged for each of the head arrays 551A to 551D, the distance between the nozzle surface 104a of the head 100 and the discharge receiving unit 801 of the discharge receiving unit 800 is adjusted for each head array 551. can do.

As the moving means, for example, a rack and pinion mechanism, a ball shaft mechanism, or the like can be used in addition to the cam.

Next, the means for controlling the vertical movement (height adjustment) of the discharge receiver according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block explanatory diagram of FIG.

The discharge receiving movement control means 300 includes a liquid type acquisition means 301, a parameter acquisition means 302, a threshold storage means 303, and a movement instruction means 304.

The liquid type acquisition means 301 acquires the type information of the liquid contained in the liquid storage means 200 such as the liquid cartridge and the main tank. The liquid type information is, for example, information indicating that the ink is a pigment ink or a dye ink, and information indicating the color of the ink. The liquid accommodating means 200 is interchangeably attached to the apparatus main body of the printing apparatus 500. Here, the liquid accommodating means 200 includes an IC chip 201 which is an information storage element that stores the type of the accommodating liquid and the like.

The liquid type acquisition means 301 reads and acquires the liquid type information stored in the IC chip 201 by the chip reading means 311. Alternatively, the liquid type acquisition means 301 acquires the liquid type information input from the operation panel 312.

The threshold storage means 303 has a threshold table in which thresholds of liquid type information and information regarding the height of deposits are stored.

The liquid type acquisition means 301 reads the threshold value corresponding to the acquired liquid type information from the threshold value storage means 303 and gives it to the movement instruction means 304.

The parameter acquisition means 302 is a means for acquiring information on the height of the deposit for each discharge receiver 801 of each discharge receiver unit 800. As the information regarding the height of the deposit, the amount of liquid discharged from the head array 551, the transport distance of the sheet material P, the weight of the discharge receiver 801 and the like can be used.

The threshold of information about the height of the sediment is a specified amount of each parameter at which the sediment has a predetermined height. For example, when using the liquid discharge amount as information on the height of the deposit, the cumulative value of the liquid discharge amount when the deposit reaches a specified height is used as a threshold value.

For example, the discharge amount can be obtained from the number of discharges and the amount of drops by analyzing the discharge data 401. Further, the transfer distance can be obtained from the rotation speed of the transfer roller 402 of the transfer means for transporting the sheet material 510, or the transfer speed and the transfer time from the transfer control unit 403 that controls the transfer of the sheet material 510. Further, the weight sensor 404 can be provided on the bottom surface of the discharge receiver 801 to obtain the weight of the discharge receiver 801.

The movement instruction means 304 determines whether or not the information regarding the height of the deposit acquired by the parameter acquisition means 302 has reached the threshold value given by the liquid species acquisition means 301. Then, when the information regarding the height of the deposit reaches the threshold value, the movement instruction means 304 rotationally drives the motor 824 of the movement mechanism 802 of the discharge receiving unit 800 to rotate the cam 821 to rotate the discharge receiving 801. It is lowered and separated from the nozzle surface 104a of the head 100. The amount of lowering of the discharge receiver 801 may be the same or different for each discharge receiver unit 800.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 is a front explanatory view of the discharge receiving unit portion provided for the same description, and FIG. 8 is a front explanatory view of the discharge receiving unit portion.

When an empty discharge for maintaining and recovering the performance of the head array 551 is performed on the sheet material 510 which is a continuous body, as shown in FIG. 8, liquid is discharged to the discharge receiver 801 at both ends of the sheet material 510. After landing, a deposit 900 is formed on which the liquid is deposited on the absorber 812 of the discharge receiver 801. If the height of the deposit 900 becomes high, inconveniences such as interference with the sheet material 510 occur. In addition, the growth rate of the deposit 900 differs depending on the type of liquid (composition, color, etc.).

Therefore, when information on the height of the deposits generated on the discharge receiver 801 is acquired and a predetermined threshold value is reached according to the type of the liquid discharged from the head array 551, the discharge receiver is as shown in FIG. The 801 is lowered to separate it from the nozzle surface 104a of the head 100.

This makes it possible to prevent the deposit 900 generated on the discharge receiver 801 from interfering with the sheet material 510 and the head 100.

Then, in the present embodiment, the movement of the discharge receiver 801 is controlled by acquiring the liquid type information and using the threshold value according to the liquid type.

Therefore, even when the liquid accommodating means 200 is replaced with a different liquid, that is, when the type of liquid discharged from the head array 551 changes, the discharge receiver 801 uses the threshold value according to the changed liquid type. Can control the movement of.

As a result, even when the liquid to be discharged is changed, the deposit of the discharge receiver can be prevented from coming into contact with the liquid discharge means or the imparting member.

In the present application, the liquid to be applied is not particularly limited, but is preferably one having a viscosity of 30 mPa · s or less at room temperature, under normal pressure, or by heating or cooling. More specifically, solvents such as water and organic solvents, colorants such as dyes and pigments, polymerizable compounds, resins, functionalizing materials such as surfactants, biocompatible materials such as DNA, amino acids and proteins, and calcium. , Solvents, suspensions, emulsions, etc. containing edible materials such as natural dyes, etc., for example, inks for inkjets, surface treatment liquids, constituents of electronic elements and light emitting elements, and formation of electronic circuit resist patterns. It can be used for applications such as liquids for three-dimensional modeling.

Further, in the above embodiment, the example in which the applying member is a continuous paper is described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the imparting member may be a continuous paper, a roll paper, a continuous body such as a web, a cut sheet material, a wallpaper, a sheet for an electronic circuit board such as a prepreg, or the like.

In addition, when printing on the imparting member, in addition to recording images such as characters and figures such as ink, images having no meaning such as patterns are imparted with a liquid such as ink for the purpose of decoration and decoration. You can do it.

When a liquid discharge head is used as a liquid discharge means, a piezoelectric actuator (laminated piezoelectric element and thin film piezoelectric element), a thermal actuator using an electric heat conversion element such as a heat generating resistor, and vibration are used as an energy generation source for discharging the liquid. Those using an electrostatic actuator composed of a plate and a counter electrode are included.

The device that discharges the liquid is a device in which the liquid discharge head and the imparting member to which the liquid is applied move relatively, but a serial type device that moves the liquid discharge means, a line type device that does not move the liquid discharge means, and the like. Is included.

100 Head 300 Discharge receiver movement control means 301 Liquid type acquisition means 302 Threshold storage means 303 Paramate acquisition means 304 Movement instruction means 500 Printing device (device that discharges liquid)
550 Head unit 551 Head array 800 Discharge receiver unit 801 Discharge receiver 802 Movement mechanism

Claims (6)

A liquid storage means that stores liquid that is interchangeably mounted on the device body,
A liquid discharging means for discharging the liquid and
A discharge receiver that receives the liquid discharged from the liquid discharge means and
A moving means for moving the discharge receiver with respect to the liquid discharge means, and
A means for controlling the movement of the discharge receiver is provided.
The controlling means is
Information on the type of the liquid contained in the liquid storage means and
Information on the height of the deposit on which the liquid discharged to the discharge receiver is obtained, and
When the information regarding the height of the deposit exceeds the threshold value based on the liquid type information, the moving means controls the discharge receiver to move in a direction away from the liquid discharge means. A device that discharges liquid. The device for discharging a liquid according to claim 1, wherein the information regarding the height is the number of discharges and the discharge amount with respect to the discharge receiver. The device for discharging a liquid according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information regarding the height is a transport distance of the imparting member to which the liquid to be discharged is discharged by the liquid discharging means. The device for discharging a liquid according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the information regarding the height is the weight of the discharge receiver. The device for discharging a liquid according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the liquid type information is stored in an information storage element provided in the liquid storage means. The device for discharging a liquid according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a means for inputting the type information of the liquid.

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