JP4500591B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that prints characters, numbers, symbols, figures, barcodes, and the like with ink ejected from nozzles onto a product (printed object) conveyed on a production line.

  Many conventional ink jet recording apparatuses have a clock function, but the means for correcting the time is operated by an operator or using communication or signals from an external apparatus.

  The clock function in the ink jet recording apparatus is used for time display, time printing, recording of internal data generation time, and the like. The clock function is widely used, but the time correction means is periodically used by the operator using the time correction function provided in the ink jet recording apparatus or from an external device having an accurate time. Either communication or signal is used.

  It is an object of the present invention to keep an accurate time with an ink jet recording apparatus alone, requiring little operator operation.

In order to solve the above-described problem, for example, in an ink jet recording apparatus provided with a nozzle that ejects ink for printing content on a substrate, the ink jet recording apparatus includes a receiving device for receiving a standard clock radio wave, and the ink jet recording apparatus. The recording device has a clock function, and the receiving device receives a standard clock radio wave, corrects the clock function, keeps accurate time, and continuously prints on a plurality of print objects. When the current time is acquired during printing, the printing is performed at the acquired current time when a predetermined time has elapsed since the last printing on the substrate.

  According to the present invention, it is an object of the present invention to keep an accurate time with only a single inkjet recording apparatus while requiring little operator operation.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings illustrating embodiments of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a main part of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  First, a description will be given of the main part of the ink jet recording apparatus. By applying an excitation voltage for atomizing ink at the nozzle 1, the nozzle 1 ejects ink particles as shown in FIG. The ejected ink particles are printed on the printing material 3 that flies and flows on the belt 2 of the transport line. The timing at which the ink particles are ejected from the nozzle 1 is controlled by the printed matter detection sensor 4 and the printed matter detection unit 5. Ink particles are provided immediately before the nozzle 1 to charge the ink particles ejected from the nozzle 1. The voltage applied to the charging electrode 6 is adjusted by the character signal generator 7 according to the contents of printing. Since the charged ink particles are deflected in the flight direction for each ink particle by the deflecting electrode 8 provided immediately before the charging electrode 6, characters or symbols of the ink particles are printed on the substrate 3. .

  The ink in the ink container 9 is sent to the nozzle 1 by the supply pump 20 through the ink supply pipe 10. The ink particles ejected from the nozzle 1 that are not used for printing are received by the gutter 21 and returned to the ink container 9 by the recovery pump 23 through the recovery pipe 22.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printed matter detection unit 5, the character signal generation unit 7, the input unit 40, the display unit 50, and the print content reflection unit 60 are connected to the control unit 30. The printing content desired by the operator is input in the input unit 40 and temporarily held in the control unit 30. Further, the input content is displayed on the display unit 50 for confirmation of the input content. The print content is converted into data for each ink particle by the print content reflection unit 60 and held in the print content storage unit 61. The print content storage unit 61 is connected to the character signal generation unit 7.

  When the arrival signal of the substrate 3 from the printed matter detection unit 5 enters the control unit 30, the control unit 30 instructs the character signal generation unit 7 to perform printing. The character signal generation unit 7 adjusts the voltage applied to the charging electrode 6 based on the print data in the print content storage unit 61. In this way, ink particles fly and deflect as described above, and printing is performed.

  Of the control unit 30 of the inkjet recording apparatus, the ROM 32 stores a control program for controlling the inkjet recording apparatus. The CPU 31 executes a control program and controls operations of various devices of the ink jet recording apparatus. The RAM 33 holds data that is temporarily used when the control program is executed. The EEPROM 34 is a non-volatile recording medium, and records a printing pattern such as characters and symbols. The RTC 35 holds the current time. The RTC is an LSI having a clock function. The standard clock radio wave receiver 36 is a device that receives a standard clock radio wave transmitted from a standard radio wave transmitting station via the antenna 100. The standard clock radio wave includes a time code that is time information in Japan standard time.

  Although it is the RTC 35 having a clock function, there is a possibility that an error may occur in the time that is held in comparison with the Japanese standard time. In order to continue printing the correct time, it is necessary to periodically receive the standard clock signal, acquire the time code, and adjust to the Japanese standard time. As a means for performing this time correction with almost no operator operation, it will first be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, what is shown as a flowchart in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 6 is a control program, which is a module that is always called when the CPU 31 is in an idle state.

  The operator sets the time for receiving the standard clock radio wave and correcting the time of the RTC 35 in advance via the input unit 40. The input time is recorded in the EEPROM 34 as the correction execution time. One or more correction execution times can be set per day.

  In step 300, the current time is acquired from the RTC 35. Next, in step 301, it is compared with the correction execution time designated by the operator. If there is no match, exit without doing anything. If they match, the standard time signal is received from the standard timepiece radio wave receiver 36 in step 302, and the standard time acquired in step 303 is written in the RTC 35. As a result, the RTC 35 is corrected to an accurate time.

  Alternatively, there is a method of performing correction at a certain time interval instead of a predetermined time. In this case, the operator sets a time interval for periodically performing time correction via the input unit 40 in advance. The input set time interval is recorded in the EEPROM 34. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  In step 400, the current time is acquired from the RTC 35. Next, in step 401, it is determined whether the set time has elapsed from the previous Japan standard time acquisition time. The previous Japanese standard time acquisition time is recorded in the RAM 33. If it has not elapsed, the process ends without doing anything. If it has elapsed, the Japanese standard time is acquired from the standard timepiece radio wave receiver 36 in step 402, and the Japanese standard time acquired in step 403 is written in the RTC 35. As a result, the RTC 35 is corrected to an accurate time. Also, the Japanese standard time acquired in step 404 is written in the previous Japanese standard time acquisition time. As a result, the time of the RTC 35 can be periodically corrected.

  However, in any of the above-described methods, when the time is continuously printed on the plurality of print objects 3, the print content may suddenly change because the time correction function operates. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to activate the time correction function only when a certain time has elapsed since the last printing. In this case, the operator inputs in advance via the input unit 40 how much time is to be corrected after the elapse of time since the last printing, and sets and records it in the EEPROM 34. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  In step 500, the current time is acquired from the RTC 35. In step 501, it is determined whether printing has been performed. If not, the current time acquired in step 502 is written in the previous printing time. The previous printing time is recorded in the RAM 33. If printing has been performed, step 502 compares it with the previous printing time. When the difference is less than the set time, the process ends. If the set time has been reached, the Japanese standard time is acquired from the standard timepiece radio wave receiver 36 at step 504, and the Japanese standard time acquired at step 505 is written into the RTC 35. As a result, the RTC 35 is corrected to an accurate time. Also, the Japanese standard time acquired in step 506 is written in the previous printing time. As a result, it is possible to correct the time of the RTC 35 while preventing the print content from changing suddenly.

  In the above embodiment, the EEPROM 34 is used as the recording means for various setting values. However, the present invention is not limited to this as long as it is a nonvolatile recording medium. It is also possible to record or acquire various setting values via the RAM 33 using an external recording device.

  The deflection electrode 8 is necessary for deflecting the flight direction of the ink particles applied by the charging electrode 6. If the deflection electrode 8 is not applied, the ink particles are not deflected and characters or symbols are printed. I can't do it. Here, the clock information of the RTC 35 is not used, the application state to the deflection electrode 8 is held, and the clock correction function is operated by the change in the state. There are two types of application states of the deflection electrode 8: applied and not applied, and the RAM 33 stores which state is applied. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  In step 600, the previous deflection voltage state is acquired. In step 601, the current deflection voltage state is compared with the previous deflection voltage state. If the state has not changed, the process ends without doing anything. If the state has changed, the current deflection voltage state is written in the previous deflection voltage state in step 602. In step 603, it is determined whether the current deflection voltage state is applied. If the current deflection voltage is being applied, that is, if printing is possible, the Japanese standard time is acquired from the standard clock radio wave receiver 36 in step 604, and the Japanese standard time acquired in step 605 is written in the RTC 35. As a result, the RTC 35 is corrected to an accurate time.

  These procedures require almost no operator's operation, and it is possible to keep accurate time with the ink jet recording apparatus alone.

  In the above embodiment, the continuous type ink jet recording apparatus has been described. However, a drop-on-demand type ink jet recording apparatus is also possible.

1 is an overall block diagram of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic view showing a main part of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention and shows a process sequence. It is a flowchart which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention and shows a process sequence. It is a flowchart which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention and shows a process sequence. It is a flowchart which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention and shows a process sequence.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Nozzle, 2 ... Belt, 3 ... Printed object, 5 ... Printed material detection part, 6 ... Charging electrode, 7 ... Character signal generation part, 8 ... Deflection electrode, 9 ... Ink container, 10 ... Ink supply pipe, 20 ... Supply pump, 21 ... Gutter, 22 ... Collection pipe, 23 ... Collection pump, 30 ... Control unit, 31 ... CPU, 32 ... ROM, 33 ... RAM, 34 ... EEPROM, 35 ... RTC, 36 ... Standard clock radio wave reception unit , 40 ... input unit, 50 ... display unit, 60 ... print content reflecting unit, 61 ... print content storage unit, 100 ... antenna.

Claims (4)

In an ink jet recording apparatus provided with a nozzle that ejects ink for printing the print content on a substrate, the ink jet recording apparatus includes a receiving device for receiving a standard clock radio wave, and the ink jet recording apparatus has a clock function, When the receiving device receives a standard clock radio wave, corrects the clock function, keeps accurate time, and obtains the current time when continuously printing on a plurality of print objects The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein printing is performed at the acquired current time when a predetermined time has elapsed since the last printing on the substrate .   2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correction of the clock function is executed at any time designated by an operator.   2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correction of the clock function is executed at an arbitrary time interval designated by an operator.   2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correction of the clock function is executed at an arbitrary elapsed time from the final printing on the substrate to be printed, which is designated by an operator.

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