JP5094448B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To minimize burden and time for setting operations when a rotary encoder is used. <P>SOLUTION: An inkjet recorder comprises a circuit for inputting a signal of a sensor which detects an object to be printed, and a circuit for inputting a pulse signal which is generated by the rotary encoder attached to a conveyer on which the object to be printed is conveyed. The inkjet recorder has a function to be input and set the length of the object to be printed. In addition, the apparatus has a function to calculate the speed of the conveyer from the signal input from the sensor and the length of the object to be printed which is set, to measure the number of the pulse signal of the rotary encoder per unit time, and to generate a printing timing by automatically dividing frequency for the pulse signal of the rotary encoder which is input, with optimum value, based on printout contents and printing conditions that are set beforehand. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

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

  Inkjet recording apparatuses are currently widely used for printing characters such as production lot numbers, production dates, and expiration dates on products of all industries. There are various production lines that are used due to the wide variety of industries, and among them, there are many production lines whose conveyor speed fluctuates. In principle, if the conveyor speed fluctuates, the printing line spacing in the vertical direction from the conveyor will increase or decrease accordingly, and if the fluctuation range is large, the ink jet recording device may not be readable as characters. appear.

  Therefore, a signal generator that converts the rotation amount of the shaft into a pulse signal and outputs it, such as a rotary encoder, is attached to the conveyor, a pulse signal corresponding to the conveyor speed is generated, and the pulse signal is taken into the ink jet recording apparatus and taken in By controlling the printing timing based on the signal, a printing result with a constant character width is obtained even if the conveyor speed fluctuates.

  At this time, it is usually necessary to determine the maximum speed of the conveyor, and to make an optimal setting for the ink jet recording apparatus to obtain the print timing from the pulse signal based on the result, the print contents, and the print conditions.

  In view of this, a function of performing various printing controls based on a pulse signal input from a rotary encoder is mounted (for example, see Patent Document 1). In such an apparatus, it is necessary to manually calculate an optimum value and input the value for the part related to the initial setting at the time of product installation.

  And when the conveyor speed of the production line through which the printing object flows changes, a detector that converts the rotation amount of the shaft into a pulse signal such as a rotary encoder and outputs it, generates a pulse signal according to the conveyor speed, The pulse signal is taken into the ink jet recording apparatus, and the printing timing is controlled based on the taken signal, thereby obtaining a certain printing result.

JP-A-6-305125

  At this time, if there is a difference between the number of pulses output from the rotary encoder and the internal timing in the printing of the ink jet recording apparatus, the optimum printing timing cannot be generated. It is necessary to divide the number of pulses to be output and convert it to the optimum number of pulses for printing timing.

  However, since the optimal frequency division value varies depending on the conveyor speed and printing conditions, it is necessary for the person to judge and set an appropriate value. There is a problem that it becomes impossible to follow the fluctuation of the line speed and an error occurs or normal printing cannot be continued.

  An object of the present invention is to minimize labor and time in setting work when using a rotary encoder.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of setting without error.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, pressurized ink is ejected from a nozzle, and a charging voltage that is a character signal is applied to the ink particles to the charging electrode, thereby imparting electric charges to the ink particles, and the charged particles are placed in a deflection electric field In a charge control type ink jet recording apparatus that forms a character on a print object that is vertically deflected by the ink particle and moves substantially perpendicular to the direction of ink particle deflection, a circuit for inputting a signal of a sensor that detects the print object, and the print object And a circuit that inputs the pulse signal generated by the rotary encoder attached to the conveyor through which it flows, and has the function to input and set the length of the print object, and the input signal from the sensor and the set print object The conveyor speed is calculated from the length of the rotary encoder, and the number of pulse signals per unit time of the rotary encoder is measured and set in advance. And it is printed contents, based on the printing conditions, a configuration that a function of generating automatically dividing by a print timing at the optimum value the pulse signal of the rotary encoder input.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to minimize the labor and time required for setting work when installing a product on the production line, and to prevent problems caused by setting errors in advance. It is possible to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that can minimize the above.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the illustrated example.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. 101 is an MPU (microprocessing unit) that controls the entire IJP, 102 is a ROM or flash memory for storing control programs and data necessary for the MPU to operate, and 103 is data required during program execution. This is a RAM for temporarily storing. Reference numeral 120 denotes a storage device that stores programs, print data, and the like. A typical example is a flash memory card.

  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. A rotary encoder 119 generates a pulse signal according to the moving speed of the conveyor.

  The rotary encoder is not built in the ink jet recording apparatus, but is installed on a conveyor, and there are various types of rotary encoders used when an existing one is used or when a user newly prepares. A sensor 122 detects a print target. A photoelectric sensor or the like is often used, and a method of outputting a signal while a printed matter blocks light is common.

  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.

  FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of processing in the present invention.

  First, it is selected whether or not to use a mode for automatically setting the rotary encoder (step S1).

  When the automatic setting mode is used (Yes), the contents to be actually printed and the printing conditions are set (step S2). At this time, a character to be printed, a dot configuration constituting the character, an interval between characters, and an ink particle usage rate indicating how many of the ink particles ejected from the nozzle are used are set. However, there are a method of fixing the particle usage rate in advance and a method of automatically selecting an optimal ink particle usage rate after measuring the line speed.

  Next, the length of the printing object to be actually printed is input (step S3). The length of the print target input here is the length of the detection range of the print detection sensor. Next, automatic measurement of the conveyor speed is performed (step S4). After setting the ink jet recording apparatus to the speed measurement state, the printing object is caused to flow at the maximum conveyor speed that is actually used, and the detection time of the sensor is measured by the microcomputer. Further, the number of pulses input from the rotary encoder within this detection period is simultaneously measured (step S5).

  From the above input conditions and measurement results, from the number of ink particles generated per second, the ink particle usage rate, the number of dots per line used for printing, and the number of non-printing dots for adjusting the character spacing, The required time per line can be calculated (step S6). Further, since the optimum frequency division ratio is obtained from the number of pulses of the rotary encoder detected within this time (step S7), it is possible to automatically set the value.

  It should be noted that the selection at the step S position is a selection type because there is a merit that fine adjustment can be performed if the conventional setting method is understood in detail. Therefore, it is possible to realize a system that can be used by both skilled users and first-time users.

  Here, at least one pulse is required for one line. If this condition is not satisfied, an alarm is issued and guidance is displayed, and the number of pulses of the rotary encoder required for printing at the conveyor speed. As a solution to the case where the rotary encoder is not changed, it is possible to display a guidance indicating how much the conveyor speed should be reduced and how to change the print contents and condition settings.

  In the embodiment described above, examples of the method for measuring the conveyor speed include the following. When there is one stamped object detection sensor, first, (1) the user inputs the length of the printed matter (the length of the sensor light-shielding portion = “distance”). Next, (2) the printed material is actually flown on the conveyor line, and the light shielding time is measured by a microcomputer. Finally, the control unit (not shown) divides the distance input in (1) by the time that is the measurement result derived in (2) to derive the conveyor line speed.

  When there are two stamped object detection sensors, first (1) the user inputs the distance between the two sensors (= “distance”), then (2) actually runs the printed matter on the conveyor line. The time from detection of the first sensor to detection of the second sensor is measured by a microcomputer (not shown) (= “time”). Finally, a microcomputer (not shown) divides the distance input in (1) by the time that is the measurement result derived in (2) to derive the conveyor line speed.

  In addition, it is possible to calculate from a specific print pattern. As such a method, for example, (1) 5 × 5 dot solid pattern (example) is first printed on an actual conveyor line. (2) The user actually measures and inputs the interval between adjacent vertical lines (= “distance”). Next, (3) the time required for printing one vertical line is calculated by the microcomputer (= “time”). (4) The distance derived in (2) by the microcomputer is divided by the time derived in (3) to derive the conveyor line speed.

  The printing time for one dot can be obtained as follows. For example, when the excitation frequency is 50 kHz, that is, 1 is divided by 50000 (Hz). The resulting time of 0.00002 seconds is the printing time for one dot. That is, since the printing of one vertical line is completed and the interval until the second line is printed is 0.00002 seconds, if the distance between the vertical lines is measured, the time for moving the distance (= the time for moving the conveyor line) ) Is 0.00002 seconds.

  The calculation method of the optimum frequency division ratio is as follows. First, (1) the microcomputer measures how many encoder pulses are input during the line speed measurement described above. (2) The number of pulses per unit time is calculated by the microcomputer. Next, (3) the minimum required number of pulses may be one pulse within the time required for printing one vertical line, so the frequency division ratio is calculated from the printing time for one vertical line described above. When calculated in this way, for example, when the time taken to print one vertical line is 0.1 second and 100 pulses are input from the encoder within that time, the frequency division ratio is 100: 1.

  As described above, with the above-described configuration, it is possible to realize an ink jet recording apparatus having a function of performing setting work when using a rotary encoder easily and without error.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which concerns on the Example of this invention.

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 ... Printed material, 116 ... Conveyor for conveyance, 117 ... Pump, 119 ... Rotary encoder, 122 ... Printed matter detector

Claims (3)

Pressurized ink is ejected from the nozzle, and a charging voltage, which is a character signal, is applied to the ink particles to charge the ink particles. The charged particles are deflected vertically in a deflection electric field, and the ink particles In a charge control type inkjet recording apparatus that forms characters on a print object that moves substantially perpendicular to the deflection direction of
A sensor signal input circuit for inputting a sensor signal for detecting a print object;
A pulse signal input circuit for inputting a pulse signal generated by a rotary encoder attached to a conveyor through which a printing object flows;
A control unit for controlling the printing operation;
With
The control unit measures the number of pulse signals of the rotary encoder in the time from the start to the end of the input signal input from the sensor signal input circuit, and calculates the number of pulse signals per unit time in the time. ,
Based on the printing contents and printing conditions set in advance, the number of particles used in one vertical line is divided by the excitation frequency to calculate the printing time for one vertical line.
Based on the number of pulse signals per unit time, calculate the number of pulse signals of the rotary encoder pulse in the printing time of the vertical line,
An ink jet recording apparatus , wherein the number of pulse signals of the rotary encoder pulse is automatically divided so as to control the printing timing so that the number of the pulse signals becomes one pulse . Pressurized ink is ejected from the nozzle, and a charging voltage that becomes a character signal is applied to the ink particles as a charging electrode.
Is applied to the ink particles, and the charged particles are vertically deflected in the deflection electric field.
Charge control type that forms characters on a printing object that moves almost perpendicularly to the deflection direction of the ink particles
In an inkjet recording apparatus,
A first sensor signal input circuit for inputting a signal of a first sensor for detecting a print object;
A second sensor signal input circuit for inputting a signal of a second sensor for detecting a print object;
A pulse signal input circuit for inputting a pulse signal generated by a rotary encoder attached to a conveyor through which a printing object flows;
A control unit for controlling the printing operation;
With
In the control unit,
The number of pulse signals of the rotary encoder at the time difference between the time when the signal is input by the first sensor signal input circuit and the time when the signal is input by the second sensor signal input circuit is measured, and the unit in that time is measured Calculate the number of pulse signals per hour,
Based on the printing contents and printing conditions set in advance, the number of particles used in one vertical line is divided by the excitation frequency to calculate the printing time for one vertical line.
Based on the number of pulse signals per unit time, calculate the number of pulse signals of the rotary encoder pulse in the printing time of the vertical line,
An ink jet recording apparatus , wherein the number of pulse signals of the rotary encoder pulse is automatically divided so as to control the printing timing so that the number of the pulse signals becomes one pulse . The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The control unit determines that the number of pulse signals of the rotary encoder pulse in the printing time of the one vertical line calculated is less than one for the printing contents, printing conditions and conveyor speed set by the user . In this case, an ink jet recording apparatus that performs guidance display such as reviewing printing conditions, changing a conveyor speed, changing a rotary encoder, and the like.

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