JP4934407B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a charge control type ink jet recording apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art At present, an ink jet recording apparatus is often used for printing a date such as a manufacturing lot number, a manufacturing date, and a shelf life date for various products. In particular, the food industry often prints the manufacturing time along with the date. In recent years, there has been a demand for printing up to the hour, minute, and second. Has been equipped with a printing function up to seconds. In such a situation, the time accuracy of the clock function of the ink jet recording apparatus becomes a problem. In the ink jet recording apparatus, the same RTC (real time clock) IC as that used in a general personal computer or the like is mounted, thereby acquiring time information. The time information is used to display the time on the screen and to generate print data including the time information. The accuracy of the time is determined by the accuracy of the crystal resonator connected to the RTC. However, since the vibration frequency of the crystal resonator changes due to the individual difference and the change of the ambient temperature, normally ± 50 to 100 ppm is taken into consideration. It is about the accuracy. This shows that there is a possibility that a maximum of several seconds of deviation occurs per day, and if it is stacked, it will be several minutes per month, which is a problem when printing time. . For this reason, a user who needs time printing with high accuracy needs to perform a time adjustment operation periodically to correct the time lag, which requires time and effort. As a method of minimizing this time lag, there is a means to increase the time accuracy by using a crystal oscillator with higher accuracy or mounting an RTC with a hardware temperature correction function. However, even if it is used, a deviation of about 10 seconds per month occurs, so that manual time adjustment operation is required. As a method for automatically correcting the time without the need for the regular time adjustment, the inkjet recording apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-349715 (Patent Document 1) includes a radio clock receiver. There is a method of automatically correcting the time of the clock function using the received time information.

JP 2005-349715 A

  In the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, in order to maintain an accurate time, it is necessary to perform a time adjustment operation periodically, which requires a lot of labor and labor. There is a method that uses the above-mentioned radio clock as a method of automatically correcting the time without requiring the time adjustment operation. Due to differences in radio wave frequency, etc., there is a problem that the receiving device mounted on the ink jet recording apparatus cannot be unified into one type, and there are only a few countries where it can be used, and there are many areas that cannot be used worldwide. There is. In addition, as a problem in automatic time correction, when the time correction is performed during printing that includes time information, if the correction is made in the direction of delaying the time of the inkjet recording apparatus, the printed contents will be traced back. Therefore, there is a problem that duplication of print contents occurs.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that can be used all over the world and can maintain an accurate time without requiring time and effort by a time setting operation.

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus having a printing means for drawing characters and the like with ink particles ejected from nozzles on a substrate to be printed. The ink jet recording apparatus has a clock function, and includes a satellite positioning system receiver, and satellite positioning. By correcting the time of the clock function using the position information and time information received by the system, the accurate time is continuously maintained.

  According to the present invention, since the satellite positioning system can be used all over the world, the ink jet recording capable of maintaining accurate time in any region of the world without requiring regular time adjustment operation. An apparatus can be provided.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

  First, an outline of the configuration of the control unit will be described. 101 is an MPU (microprocessing unit) that controls the entire IJP, 102 is a ROM (read only memory) that stores a control program and data necessary for the MPU to operate, and 103 is required during program execution. This is a RAM (rewritable memory) that temporarily stores data. A storage device 120 stores programs, print data, and the like. Reference numeral 104 denotes an input panel for inputting print contents and set values, 105 denotes a display device for displaying input data and print contents, and 106 denotes a bus line for transmitting MPU data signals, address signals, and control signals. Reference numeral 108 denotes an excitation voltage generating circuit for generating a voltage for forming ink particles, and reference numeral 109 is a charging voltage generating circuit for generating a voltage corresponding to a character signal on the ink particles. Reference numeral 118 denotes a receiver of the satellite positioning system. Reference numeral 121 denotes an antenna for receiving radio waves from the satellite positioning system, and is installed inside or outside the inkjet recording apparatus. Reference numeral 119 denotes an RTC, which is used to give the inkjet recording apparatus a clock function, and holds date / time information.

  Next, an outline of the configuration of the printing and ink circulation unit will be described. The ink column 110 ejected from the nozzle 109 is formed into ink particles 113 by the electrostrictive element of the nozzle by the excitation voltage generated by the excitation voltage generation circuit 108. The voltage generated by the charging voltage generation circuit 107 is applied to the charging electrode 111, and the ink particles are charged with a voltage corresponding to the character signal. The charged ink particles 113 fly in the electric field created by the deflection electrode 112, are deflected according to the amount of charge, and reach the printing material 115 that is moved by the transporting conveyor 116 to form characters. Ink particles that are not used for printing are collected by the ink collecting gutter 114 and supplied to the nozzle 109 again by the pump 117. Reference numeral 122 denotes a printed matter detector for detecting a printed matter. In an ink jet recording apparatus, usually, a printing timing is determined based on a signal from the detector 122 and printing is performed.

  The RTC 119 is connected to the MPU 101 and the bus line 106, reads the time data held by the RTC into the RAM 103 according to the MPU instruction, displays the time on the screen using the time data, and prints data for time printing. I'm making it. However, since the time accuracy of the RTC 119 alone is poor, it is necessary to periodically reset the time from the input panel 104 and correct the time information of the RTC 119 when performing printing that requires high accuracy. . Therefore, a satellite positioning system (for example, GPS, Galileo, Glonus, etc.) receiving device 118 and an antenna 121 for receiving the radio wave are mounted on the ink jet recording device, and the satellite positioning system is periodically or at a specific timing according to an instruction from the MPU 101. By having the function of correcting the time information of the RTC 119 based on the time information received from the mobile phone, it becomes possible to automatically maintain an accurate time without a time setting operation.

  Also, since the information received from the satellite positioning system includes position information as well as time information, this position information is also used when correcting the time, so that the inkjet recording apparatus can be shipped to various parts of the world. However, it is possible to automatically set the clock of the ink jet recording apparatus to the local standard time when it is installed at a customer's destination without setting the time in advance. This function can be performed not only at the time of installation but also every time the power is turned on. In that case, when moving the inkjet recording device to a region with a different standard time, it is automatically adjusted to the local standard time. It becomes possible.

  The satellite positioning system receiver 118 can be operated independently of the MPU 101 of the ink jet recording apparatus by having a configuration in which a RAM and a storage device are also provided. Regardless of the state, the position information and time information can be updated periodically. By adopting such a configuration, the MPU 101 of the inkjet recording apparatus can periodically acquire the time of the satellite positioning system reception device 118 in addition to the time of customer installation or power-on, for example, 24 hours Even in the case of operation, it is possible to keep accurate time.

  However, in the ink jet recording apparatus, if the time of the apparatus is advanced, if the time is corrected while the time is being printed, the time of the ink jet recording apparatus will be traced back, and the contents of the print The problem that will be duplicated occurs. Therefore, it is possible to avoid this problem by providing a function for determining whether or not duplication of printing occurs before performing time correction. FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of the time correction process in the present invention, and the flow of the process will be described using this figure. First, it is determined whether or not it is time correction timing. If it is the correction timing, time information is acquired from the satellite positioning system receiver. Next, the acquired time information is compared with the time information of the RTC of the ink jet recording apparatus. If the RTC time is delayed, it is only necessary to correct the RTC time in the direction of advancement, and there is no possibility of duplicated print contents. To do. If printing is in progress, the time is corrected when the printing is completed. However, when the RTC time is advanced, there is a possibility that the print contents overlap. If there is no printing, the time is immediately corrected. When printing is in progress, it is first determined whether or not the printing content includes time information. If time information is not included, normal time correction processing is performed. In the case of printing that includes time information, the time information level (year, month, day, hour, minute, second) used for printing is stored in advance as acceptable correction amount data, and time correction is performed. It is determined whether or not the amount is within the range, and if it is within the allowable range, normal correction processing is executed. For example, if the print content is the time until the hour and minute, the allowable correction amount is defined as within 59 seconds, and it is determined whether the amount to be actually corrected is within the range. The standard. If the judgment result is outside the allowable range, the time correction process at that timing is skipped, but the process waits until the printable state shifts to the print stop state, and the correction process is performed at the timing when printing ends. Execute.

  In addition, language data for each region in the world is stored in the ROM 102 and storage device 120 of the inkjet recording device, and the language used is automatically selected based on the position information of the satellite positioning system when installed at the customer's location. By displaying the screen, it is possible to reduce the risk of erroneous operation and to perform the installation work more smoothly and in a short time. In this function, it is assumed that a language that is not related to the installation destination region is used, so that it is possible to display a confirmation message as to whether or not to switch to the automatically selected language.

  As described above, with the above-described configuration, it is possible to realize an ink jet recording apparatus capable of maintaining accurate time without requiring periodic time setting operation in any region of the world, and the apparatus. It also makes it possible to reduce the work time during installation.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure concerning the Example of this invention, and is a figure which shows the flowchart of a time correction process.

Explanation of symbols

  101 ... MPU, 102 ... ROM, 103 ... RAM, 104 ... input panel, 105 ... display device, 106 ... bus line, 107 ... charge voltage generation circuit, 108 ... excitation voltage generation circuit, 109 ... nozzle, 110 ... ink column, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 111 ... Charging electrode, 112 ... Deflection electrode, 113 ... Ink particle, 114 ... Gutter, 115 ... To-be-printed object, 116 ... Conveyor for conveyance, 117 ... Pump, 118 ... Satellite positioning system receiver, 119 ... RTC, 120 ... External Storage device 121 ... Antenna for satellite positioning system, 122 ... Printed matter detector.

Claims (4)

Pressurized ink is ejected from the nozzle, and by applying an excitation voltage with a specific period and a specific magnitude to the electrostrictive element of this nozzle, the ink is vibrated to become particles at a constant period and charge the charging voltage that becomes a character signal When applied to the electrodes, the ink particles are charged, the charged particles are vertically deflected in the deflection electric field, and the printed material is moved substantially perpendicular to the deflection direction of the ink particles. In the charge control type ink jet recording apparatus for forming characters,
The ink jet recording apparatus has a clock function, and includes a satellite positioning system receiver. The position information and time information received by the satellite positioning system are used to correct the time of the clock function, thereby obtaining an accurate time. While maintaining it ,
If the level of the time information used for printing is stored in advance as acceptable correction amount data, and if the correction is made so that the time of the clock function is delayed during printing that includes time information, An inkjet recording apparatus that determines whether or not a correction amount is within the range, and performs correction if the correction amount is within an allowable range .   2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the time of the clock function is automatically corrected to the local standard time using the position information and time information received from the satellite positioning system when the apparatus is installed. Recording device.   3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the time of the clock function is automatically corrected using position information and time information periodically received from the satellite positioning system.   2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a display language suitable for the installation area is automatically selected and displayed on the screen when the apparatus is initially set up using the position information received from the satellite positioning system. Inkjet recording device.

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