JP2023089483A - Recording device and recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

To solve the problem that when a shape of a printing medium changes frequently and when an arrangement position of the printing medium is shifted, it is necessary to readjust the recording medium.SOLUTION: A valve body 21b is positioned at a first position where the valve body blocks a suction hole 21a, in a first area where there a printing medium does not exist. This prevents negative pressure from being released through the suction hole 21a to the outside. While, the valve body 21b is positioned at a second position where the valve body is pushed back by the printing medium so as to open the suction hole 21a without blocking the suction hole, in a second area where the printing medium exists. As the valve body 21b opens the suction hole 21a without blocking the suction hole, which releases negative pressure through the suction hole 21a to the outside, so that the printing medium on the suction hole 21a is adsorbed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and recording method.

2. Description of the Related Art In order to print on a fabric or a flat plate-like print medium, a recording apparatus is used that sucks and supports the print medium on a support surface. A plurality of suction holes are formed in the support surface, and the cloth or the like is sucked by the negative pressure supplied to the suction holes. In order to firmly suck print media of different sizes onto the support surface, it is necessary to close the suction holes that are not facing the print media.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-100000 discloses that a suction control plate is moved in correspondence with each suction hole so that the suction holes can be closed according to the print medium.

JP 2017-154442 A

According to the conventional technology, it is possible to supply a negative pressure according to the shape of the print medium, but a step of adjusting the position of the suction control plate is required for each shape of the print medium. If the shape of the print medium changes frequently or if the placement position of the print medium shifts, it is necessary to readjust.
The present invention enables recording processing to be performed with a minimum number of steps even if the shape or arrangement position of a print medium is changed.

The present invention comprises a recording section capable of recording on a medium, and a support section for supporting the medium, wherein the support section includes a plate provided with a plurality of suction holes for sucking and supporting the medium. a suction source for supplying negative pressure to the suction holes of the plate; a valve body movable between a position for closing the suction holes and a position for opening the suction holes for each of the suction holes; and a biasing member that biases toward the medium side, wherein the valve body is located at a first position blocking the suction hole in a first region where the medium does not exist. and, in a second region where the medium exists, the valve body is pushed back by the medium and can be positioned at a second position where the suction hole is opened without being blocked.

In the above configuration, the suction source supplies a negative pressure to a plurality of suction holes of the plate, the plate can absorb and support the medium, and the recording unit records on the medium sucked and supported. Each suction hole has a valve body movable between a position that closes the suction hole and a position that opens the suction hole, and a biasing member that biases the valve body from the plate toward the medium. A movable part is provided. The valve body is positioned at a first position blocking the suction hole in the first region where no medium is present. Therefore, negative pressure is not released to the outside through the suction holes. On the other hand, in the second region where the medium exists, the valve body is pushed back by the medium and positioned at the second position where the suction hole is opened without being blocked. Since the valve body opens the suction hole without closing it, the negative pressure is released to the outside through the suction hole, and the medium above the suction hole is adsorbed.

In this manner, the medium is attracted to and held by the suction holes in the area where the medium exists, and the suction holes are closed in the area where the medium does not exist, so that the negative pressure does not escape.

According to the present invention, there is no need to make adjustments to open or close the suction holes for each medium, and only by placing the medium, it is possible to efficiently suck and suck and support only the place where the medium is present. .

1 is an external perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a recording apparatus; FIG. 1 is an external cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a recording apparatus; FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a state in which a suction hole is blocked by a protrusion; FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a state in which a suction hole formed by a protrusion is opened; FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a state in which a suction hole is closed by a valve body; FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a state in which a suction hole is opened by a valve body; FIG. 11 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a modified example of the recording apparatus; FIG. 11 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a modified example of the recording apparatus;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a printing apparatus to which a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention is applied.
In the figure, the printing apparatus 10 is a flatbed printer, and has a support section 20 on the upper surface that adheres to and supports a print medium (simply referred to as a medium or medium), and is installed so as to straddle the upper side of the support section 20. and a recording unit 30 to be recorded. The recording unit 30 ejects color ink while the print head moves in the XY directions relative to the print medium supported on the upper surface of the support unit 20, thereby printing a predetermined pattern on the print medium. Print. A detailed description of the printing process of the recording unit 30 is omitted.

FIG. 2 shows the support in schematic cross-section.
The support portion 20 has a generally hollow thin box shape, and the support portion 20 has a flat suction plate (plate) 21 on its upper surface. The suction plate 21 is formed with suction holes 21a at predetermined intervals in the XY directions, and a movable portion is provided for each suction hole 21a.

3 and 4 show the suction holes and the movable part.
A conical valve body 21b is inserted into each suction hole 21a from the lower surface side of the adsorption plate 21. As shown in FIG. The valve body 21b is biased upward by a spring (biasing member) 21c. The valve body 21b has a small diameter on the upper end side and a diameter on the lower end side larger than the opening diameter of the suction hole 21a. Therefore, normally, the valve body 21b closes the suction hole 21a by being urged upward by the spring 21c. Further, the tip of the valve body 21b penetrates the adsorption plate 21 and protrudes from the upper surface of the adsorption plate 21 . A movable portion is composed of the valve body 21b and the spring 21c.

Since the valve body 21b is pushed upward by the spring 21c, when the tip of the valve body 21b is pushed downward against the biasing force of the spring 21c, the valve body 21b moves downward. When the valve body 21b moves downward, a portion having a smaller diameter than the opening diameter of the suction hole 21a is positioned inside the suction hole 21a, so that the valve body 21b cannot close the suction hole 21a and a gap is generated. Become. In this way, each valve body 21b is provided for each suction hole 21a and is movable between a position to close and a position to open each suction hole 21a.

The state in which the valve body 21b is in the upper position is called the first position, and the state in which the valve body 21b is in the lower position is called the second position. A switch 21d is provided to individually detect whether each valve body 21b is at the first position or at the second position. A method of using the switch 21d will be described later, but the switch 21d is not essential.

As shown in FIG. 2, a suction motor 22 is provided inside the support portion 20 to suck the air in the hollow thin box and exhaust it to the outside. Therefore, the suction motor 22 and the associated pump mechanism constitute a suction source. The openings of the support portion 20 are substantially the respective suction holes 21a, and the suction source supplies negative pressure to the suction holes 21a. When a negative pressure is supplied to each suction hole 21a and each valve body 21b is in the second position where each suction hole 21a is not blocked, outside air is sucked through each suction hole 21a, so that each suction hole 21a is covered. The print media arranged in this way are sucked and supported by the suction plate 21 . The arrangement method can be appropriately changed, such as arranging the suction holes 21a in a grid pattern or arranging them in a zigzag pattern with steps between adjacent rows.

Next, the operation of this embodiment having the above configuration will be described.
When the suction motor 22 is operated, the air inside the hollow support portion 20 is exhausted, so that a negative pressure is supplied to each suction hole 21a. However, since each suction hole 21a is blocked by the valve body 21b, outside air cannot be sucked through the suction hole 21a.
As shown in FIG. 1, when a flat print medium is placed on the suction plate 21, the lower surface of the print medium comes into contact with the upper surface of the valve body 21b protruding from the suction hole 21a facing the print medium. The weight pushes down the valve body 21b against the spring 21c. When the valve body 21b is lowered, a gap is generated between the suction hole 21a and the valve body 21b, so that the suction hole 21a is not closed but opened, and the negative pressure inside the support portion 20 causes the outside air to flow through the gap of the suction hole 21a. try to aspirate Then, the air pressure on the lower side of the print medium is lower than that on the upper side, and as a result, the print medium is sucked and supported by the suction plate 21 .
The above steps are "the step of supplying the medium to the support", "the step of moving the valve body from the first position to the second position by pushing back the valve body with the medium on the support", and "the valve body moving to the second position". The movable part moved to the second position sucks the medium to the supporting part".

As shown in FIG. 2, the valve body 21b is located at the second position in the area where the print medium is placed (the second area where the print medium is present), and the area where the print medium is not placed (the second area where the print medium is present). In the nonexistent first region), the valve body 21b is located at the first position. While the valve body 21b is in the first position, the suction hole 21a is closed, and the negative pressure does not leak from this portion. In addition, when the shape or size of the print medium changes, only the suction holes 21a necessary for sucking and supporting the print medium are opened according to the shape of the print medium. This eliminates the need to individually close each suction hole 21a and adjust the suction control plate.

Further, when the print medium is light, such as cloth, the weight of the print medium alone may not be enough to push down the valve body 21b. In this case, the operator may push down the valve body 21b from the cloth, which is the print medium. When pushed down, outside air is sucked through the suction holes 21a, and the fabric is also sucked and supported.
When the print medium is sucked and supported by the suction plate 21, the recording unit 30 performs predetermined printing. This process corresponds to "the process of causing the recording unit to record on the medium sucked and supported by the supporting unit".

FIG.5 and FIG.6 has shown the movable part concerning a modification with sectional drawing.
The valve body 21b shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 has a conical shape as a whole. and a connecting shaft portion 121b3 to be connected. A peripheral edge of the suction hole 121 a is formed at the bottom of a concave portion 121 e that is one step lower than the upper surface of the suction plate 121 . The connection shaft portion 121b3 has a smaller diameter than the suction hole 121a, but the lower disk portion 121b1 has a larger diameter than the suction hole 121a, and a spring 121c is arranged around the connection shaft portion 121b3. The spring 121c is compressed between the bottom of the recess 121e and the upper disc portion 121b2, and biases the upper disc portion 121b2 upward.

FIG. 5 shows the state where the valve body 121b is at the first position where the suction hole 121a is blocked, and FIG. 6 shows the state where the valve body 121b is at the second position where the suction hole 121a is not blocked.
When the print medium is placed on the valve body 121b, as shown in FIG. 6, the valve body 121b is pushed down to suck outside air through the suction holes 121a to suck and support the print medium.
In this case as well, only the suction holes 21a necessary for suctioning and supporting are opened according to the shape of the print medium, so the operator may individually block the suction holes 21a or suck the suction holes 21a according to the shape of the print medium. The process of adjusting the control plate becomes unnecessary.
In this manner, the shape of the movable portion composed of the valve body and the biasing member can be changed appropriately.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing how the suction source is controlled.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a switch 21d is arranged for each movable portion, and these switches 21d are connected in a matrix. The switches 21d are connected to the X-axis circuit 41 along the horizontal axis and connected to the Y-axis circuit 42 along the vertical axis so that the switches 21d are at intersections. The XY control circuit 43 detects through the X-axis circuit 41 and the Y-axis circuit 42 whether the switch 21d at each intersection is conductive or non-conductive. This detection result is output to the recording unit 30 .

It can be determined whether the valve body 21b is at the first position or at the second position in each movable part according to the detection result of whether each switch 21d is conducting or not conducting. The position to be recorded is only the portion where the valve body 21b is at the second position due to the print medium being placed. Therefore, based on the output result from the XY control circuit 43, the recording unit 30 can detect the position of the movable part where the valve body 21b is located at the second position. Change the recording position so that it is recorded on the printed media.

In this way, the position of the printing medium can be detected depending on whether the valve body is in the first position or the second position, so printing outside the printing medium can be prevented.
Further, the output result of the XY control circuit 43 can not only know the position and shape of the print medium, but also can detect the number of movable parts where the valve body 21b is positioned at the second position. As the number of open suction holes 21a increases, it is necessary to increase the output of the suction motor 22, which is the suction source, in order to maintain a constant negative pressure. Conversely, when the number of open suction holes 21a decreases, it is necessary to lower the output of the suction motor 22, which is the suction source, in order to maintain a constant negative pressure.

For this reason, the valve body 21b detects the number of movable parts positioned at the second position, and the suction source controls the number of variable parts positioned at the second position so that the supplied negative pressure falls within a predetermined variation range. You may make it adjust an output to .
In this way, by adjusting the energy of the suction motor 22 according to the area to be sucked, noise reduction and energy saving effects can be expected.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a modification of the suction plate.
The suction plate 221 has a hollow cylindrical shape, and a plurality of suction holes 221a are formed on the cylindrical surface. ing. Since the cylindrical adsorption plate 221 rotates while adsorbing and supporting a part of the roll-shaped print medium on its surface, the roll-shaped print medium intersects the recording unit 230 and is moved by the recording unit 230 when it intersects. A recording process is performed.
As described above, the attraction plate 221 does not need to be in the shape of an approximately rectangular thin box, and can be appropriately modified such as in the shape of a cylinder.

In addition, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not what is restricted to the said Example. It goes without saying for those skilled in the art that
・Applying the mutually replaceable members and configurations disclosed in the above examples by appropriately changing the combination ・Although not disclosed in the above examples, it is a known technology and the above examples Appropriately replace the members, configurations, etc. that are mutually replaceable with the members, configurations, etc. disclosed in the above, and apply them by changing the combination ・Although not disclosed in the above examples, known techniques It is an embodiment of the present invention that a person skilled in the art can appropriately replace the members and configurations that can be assumed as a substitute for the members and configurations disclosed in the above embodiments based on the above, and change the combination and apply it. It is disclosed as

Reference numeral 20: support portion 21: suction plate (plate) 21a: suction hole 21b: valve body 21c: spring (biasing member) 21d: switch 22: suction motor 30: recording unit 41: X-axis Circuit 42...Y-axis circuit 43...XY control circuit 121...Adsorption plate 121a...Suction hole 121b...Valve element 121b1...Lower disc portion 121b2...Upper disc portion 121b3...Connecting shaft portion 121c Spring 121e Recessed portion 221 Adsorption plate 221a Suction hole 221b Valve element 221c Spring 230 Recording unit.

Claims (4)

a recording unit recordable on a medium;
a support for supporting the medium,
The support part is
a plate provided with a plurality of suction holes for sucking and supporting the medium;
a suction source that supplies negative pressure to the suction holes of the plate;
For each of the suction holes, a valve body that can move between a position that closes the suction hole and a position that opens the suction hole, and a biasing member that biases the valve body from the plate toward the medium. a movable part having
In a first region where the medium does not exist, the valve body is positioned at a first position blocking the suction hole, and in a second region where the medium exists, the valve body is pushed back by the medium and the A recording apparatus characterized in that it can be positioned at a second position in which the suction hole is opened without being closed. The valve body can detect the number of movable parts positioned at the first position or the second position,
2. The suction source according to claim 1, wherein the negative pressure to be supplied is kept within a predetermined variation range according to the number of the movable parts positioned at the first position or the second position. recording device. The valve body is capable of detecting the position of the movable part located at the second position,
3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording unit changes a recording position so as to record on the medium based on the detected result. A recording method for a recording device comprising a recording unit capable of recording on a medium and a supporting unit for supporting the medium,
The support section of the recording apparatus includes a plate provided with a plurality of suction holes for sucking and supporting the medium, a suction source supplying a negative pressure to the suction holes of the plate;
For each of the suction holes, a valve body that can move between a position that closes the suction hole and a position that opens the suction hole, and a biasing member that biases the valve body from the plate toward the medium. a movable part having
In a first region where the medium does not exist, the valve body is positioned at a first position blocking the suction hole, and in a second region where the medium exists, the valve body is pushed back by the medium and the It is possible to be located in a second position that opens the suction hole without blocking it,
supplying the medium to the support;
moving the valve body from the first position to the second position by pushing back the valve body with the medium on the support;
a step of sucking the medium to the support portion by the movable portion in which the valve body has been moved to the second position;
and a step of causing the recording unit to record on the medium sucked and supported by the support unit.

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