JP5118579B2 - Inkjet image recording apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an inkjet image recording apparatus that records an image on a recording medium by an inkjet method.

  The liquid crystal display device has a configuration in which a transparent electrode, a color filter, or a black stripe is disposed between two substrates, and liquid crystal is sealed in a space between the transparent electrodes. At this time, a spacer is formed in order to regulate the distance between the two substrates and make the thickness of the liquid crystal layer appropriate.

  Conventionally, this spacer has been formed by using a photolithographic method. However, there is a problem that a process using a mask is required and the work process is complicated, and the use efficiency of the material is poor. For this reason, a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device in which spacers are formed with spacer particles by discharging a spacer particle dispersion liquid in which spacer particles are dispersed by an inkjet method on a substrate has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

  In Patent Document 2, a plurality of heads each having a nozzle row in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged, a moving mechanism that moves a support mechanism that supports the heads relative to a recording medium, and a plurality of heads are scanned. An ink jet recording apparatus is disclosed that includes a mechanism for adjusting an angle with respect to each direction and a mechanism for moving each head in a direction crossing the main scanning direction.

By the way, in such an ink jet image recording apparatus, it is necessary to relatively move the recording medium and the ink jet head. At this time, for example, in an inkjet image recording apparatus that records an image on a glass substrate as a recording medium, a configuration in which the glass substrate is moved in one direction in order to perform accurate image recording while preventing ink fluctuations. Often adopted. Patent Document 3 discloses a substrate processing apparatus in which when a coating process is performed on a substrate, air is blown onto the lower surface of the substrate to be processed to float the substrate to be processed and the substrate is easily transported. It is disclosed.
JP 2005-4094 A Japanese Patent No. 3953776 JP 2007-88201 A

  In general, when a substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device is floated and conveyed, an air floating module is used. The air levitation module is long and has a porous structure on the upper surface, and has a structure in which air is ejected from the porous portion. For this reason, by arranging a plurality of the air levitation modules in parallel so that the longitudinal direction thereof is the substrate transport direction, the substrate is levitated above the air levitation module and transported in the longitudinal direction of the air levitation module. It becomes possible.

  On the other hand, in an ink jet image recording apparatus, it is necessary to execute an operation called “discarding” in which ink is ejected from an ink jet head immediately before an image is recorded. This discarding is also required during maintenance of the inkjet head.

  However, if this discarding is performed with the ink jet head placed above the air floating module, the ink discharged from the ink jet head adheres to the porous portion of the air floating module, and the air is discharged well. There is a problem that it can not be made.

  Here, as described above, the air levitation module is arranged so that the longitudinal direction thereof coincides with the transport direction of the substrate, whereas the inkjet head is also described in Patent Document 2 described above. Generally, since the ink discharge portions are arranged in a direction crossing the substrate transport direction, the ink discharge portion and the air levitation module in the inkjet head are arranged at a position where at least a part of them faces each other. Will be. Therefore, when the above-described discarding is performed, ink adheres to a part of the air floating module.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides an ink jet image recording apparatus in which ink does not adhere to the air floating module even when the air floating module is used in the ink jet type image recording apparatus. The purpose is to do.

  The invention described in claim 1 is an ink jet image recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by an ink jet method, and includes a plurality of long air levitation modules, and the recording medium is conveyed in one direction while being levitated. An ink levitation transport mechanism and an ink jet head in which a large number of ink ejection portions are arranged in a direction intersecting the transport direction of the recording medium transported by the air levitation transport mechanism is orthogonal to the transport direction of the recording medium. An area having a configuration in which a plurality of lines are arranged in a direction, and an image recording unit that records an image by ejecting ink from above a recording medium conveyed by the air levitation conveyance mechanism, and facing the image recording unit In the above, the plurality of air levitation modules are arranged in a line with an ink discharge portion in the ink jet head with respect to a conveyance direction of the recording medium. And in a direction intersecting the same direction, and characterized in that it is disposed at a position where the not opposed to the inkjet heads.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the recording angle of each air levitation module in the region facing the image recording unit and the crossing angle of each inkjet head with respect to the conveyance direction of the recording medium. A rotation mechanism that changes the crossing angle with respect to the conveyance direction of the medium synchronously, an inkjet head moving mechanism that changes the pitch of each inkjet head, and the pitch of the air levitation module in the region facing the image recording unit, And an air levitation module moving mechanism that changes in synchronization with the pitch of the inkjet head.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the air levitation module disposed at a position close to the image recording unit in the air levitation transport mechanism is movable in the longitudinal direction.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the air levitation module disposed in a region facing the image recording unit is an air levitation module disposed at a position close to the image recording unit. Are separated by a circular region in plan view.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to effectively prevent ink from adhering to the air floating module even when the air floating module is used in the ink jet type image recording apparatus.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, ink adheres to the air floating module even when the crossing angle of each inkjet head with respect to the recording medium conveyance direction is changed in order to change the resolution of the recorded image. Can be effectively prevented.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, even when the distance between the air levitation modules is increased, the recording medium is made effective by changing the position of the air levitation module disposed at a position close to the image recording unit. It can be transported.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent interference between the air levitation module disposed in the region facing the image recording unit and the air levitation module disposed in a position close to the image recording unit, The angle of the module can be easily changed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inkjet image recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the vicinity of the image recording unit 20. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement relationship between the air levitation modules 11 and 12 and the inkjet head 21.

  The inkjet image recording apparatus includes a plurality of air levitation modules 11 and 12 disposed on a base 24 and a moving unit that holds and pulls a substrate 100 that is a recording medium levitated by the air levitation modules 11 and 12. 25, an air levitation transport mechanism that transports the substrate 100 in one direction with the substrate 100 levitated, and an image that records an image by an ink jet method by ejecting ink from above the substrate 100 transported by the air levitation transport mechanism And a recording unit 20.

  The image recording unit 20 includes five inkjet heads 21 supported by a support frame 22. These inkjet heads 21 are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the substrate 100 transported by the air levitation transport mechanism. Each inkjet head 21 has a configuration in which a large number of ink ejection portions are arranged in the longitudinal direction. These inkjet heads 21 are attached to the support frame 22 in a state in which a large number of ink discharge portions are inclined with respect to the transport direction of the substrate 100 so that the ink discharge portions are arranged in a direction intersecting the transport direction of the substrate 100. It is supported. The inclination direction of the inkjet head 21 is determined by the resolution of the image recorded on the substrate 100 and the like.

  The air levitation modules 11 and 12 are long and have a porous structure on the upper surface, and air is ejected from the porous portion. Among these air levitation modules 11, 12, the air levitation module 11 disposed at a position not facing the image recording unit 20 and close to the image recording unit 20 has a longitudinal direction that coincides with the transport direction of the substrate 100. In the state, it is fixed on the base 24.

  On the other hand, among these air levitation modules 11 and 12, the air levitation module 12 disposed in a region facing the image recording unit 20 is, as shown in FIGS. The ink jet head 21 is disposed in a direction that intersects with the direction in which the ink discharge portions are arranged in the same direction and at a position that does not face each ink jet head 21.

  In the ink jet image recording apparatus having such a configuration, the substrate 100 that has floated by the action of the plurality of air levitation modules 11 and 12 is pulled by the moving unit 25 and moves in one direction. When the substrate 100 passes below the image recording unit 20, ink is ejected from the five inkjet heads 21 arranged to be inclined with respect to the conveyance direction of the substrate 100, and an image is recorded.

  By the way, prior to image recording, an operation referred to as discarding for discharging ink from each inkjet head 21 is executed. This discarding is also performed during maintenance of the inkjet head 21.

  At this time, in the ink jet image recording apparatus according to the present invention, each air levitation module 12 is disposed at a position that does not face each ink jet head 21. It is possible to effectively prevent the ink ejected from the air from adhering to the porous portion of the air floating module 12. The ink ejected from each inkjet head 21 is collected through, for example, a collection bat 61 (see FIG. 2).

  Hereinafter, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. 4 and 5 are perspective views of an inkjet image recording apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 4 shows a state before the image recording unit 20 rotates, and FIG. 5 shows a state after the image recording unit 20 rotates. In these drawings, the same members as those in the first embodiment described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the ink jet image recording apparatus according to the second embodiment, the crossing angle of each ink jet head 21 with respect to the transport direction of the substrate 100 and the transport direction of the substrate 100 of each air levitation module 12 in the region facing the image recording unit 20. The rotation mechanism 30 that changes the crossing angle in synchronization, the inkjet head moving mechanism that changes the pitch of each inkjet head 21, and the pitch of the air levitation module 12 in the region facing the image recording unit 20 An air levitation module moving mechanism that changes in synchronization with the pitch of the ink jet image recording apparatus according to the first embodiment is added. Hereinafter, these mechanisms will be described.

  In this embodiment, the support frame 22 that supports the five inkjet heads 21 is connected to the lower support frame 23 that supports the air floating module 12. The lower support frame 23 is connected to a rotation mechanism 30 including a motor 31, a screw 32 rotated by the motor 31, and a moving unit 33 that moves by driving the screw 32. 4 and 5, only one rotation mechanism 30 is illustrated, but a pair of rotation mechanisms 30 are disposed at both lower ends of the lower support frame 23.

  The rotating mechanism 30 synchronizes the lower support frame 23 and the support frame 22 by moving one end of the lower support frame 23 in the transport direction of the substrate 100 and the other end in the direction opposite to the transport direction of the substrate 100. Can be rotated. That is, the rotation mechanism 30 rotates the image recording unit 20 from the position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. Thereby, the crossing angle of each inkjet head 21 with respect to the transport direction of the substrate 100 and the crossing angle of each air levitation module 12 with respect to the transport direction of the substrate 100 can be changed synchronously.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the inkjet head moving mechanism.

  At both ends of the support frame 22 in the transport direction of the substrate 100, a linear guide 41, a linear scale 42, and a linear motor stator 43 are arranged so that the longitudinal direction thereof is perpendicular to the transport direction of the substrate 100. It is arranged. A mover of a linear motor (not shown) is disposed on the lower surface of the support plate 44 that supports the inkjet head 21.

  For this reason, each support plate 44 moves in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the substrate 100 by driving the linear motor in a state where both ends thereof are guided by the linear guide 41. The amount of movement is measured by the linear scale 42. For this reason, it is possible to change the pitch between the inkjet heads 21 by moving each inkjet head 21 in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the substrate 100 by the inkjet head moving mechanism. .

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the air levitation module moving mechanism.

  On the lower support frame 23 that supports the air levitation module 12, a linear guide 51, a linear scale 52, and a linear motor stator 53 are arranged with their longitudinal directions oriented in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the substrate 100. It is installed. The air levitation module 12 is provided with a linear motor movable element 54.

  For this reason, each air levitation module 12 moves in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the substrate 100 by driving the linear motor in a state where both ends thereof are guided by the linear guide 51. The amount of movement is measured by the linear scale 52. For this reason, the air levitation module moving mechanism moves each air levitation module 12 in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the substrate 100 by a set amount of movement, thereby changing the pitch between the air levitation modules 12 to the inkjet head 21. It is possible to change in synchronism with the pitch.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement relationship between the air levitation modules 11 and 12 and the inkjet head 21.

  In the inkjet image recording apparatus according to this embodiment, as shown by an arrow C in FIG. 8 according to the resolution required at the time of image recording, the substrate 100 of each inkjet head 21 by the rotating mechanism 30 described above. The crossing angle with respect to the transport direction and the crossing angle with respect to the transport direction of the substrate 100 of each air levitation module 12 are changed synchronously.

  In this case, if only these angles are changed, the pitch between the ink ejection portions in each inkjet head 21 cannot be maintained constant. For this reason, the pitch of each inkjet head 21 is changed by the inkjet head moving mechanism shown in FIG. 6, as indicated by an arrow A in FIG.

  When the pitch of each inkjet head 21 is simply changed, each inkjet head 21 and each air levitation module 12 face each other. Therefore, by changing the pitch of the air levitation module 12 in synchronization with the pitch of the ink jet head 21 by the air levitation module moving mechanism shown in FIG. 7, each ink jet head 21 and each air levitation module 12 face each other. To prevent that.

  In this embodiment, the air levitation module 11 disposed at a position close to the image recording unit 20 is movable in the longitudinal direction as indicated by an arrow B in FIG. This is because the air levitation module 12 and the image recording unit 20 are arranged at positions close to the image recording unit 20 when the crossing angle of each air levitation module 12 with respect to the conveyance direction of the substrate 100 is changed. This is to prevent the distance from the air levitation module 11 from becoming large and hindering the conveyance of the substrate 100. When the distance between the air levitation module 12 disposed in the region facing the image recording unit 20 and the air levitation module 11 disposed in the vicinity of the image recording unit 20 does not hinder the conveyance of the substrate 100 The air levitation module 11 may be fixed.

  In addition, when the crossing angle of each air levitation module 12 with respect to the conveyance direction of the substrate 100 is changed, the air levitation module 12 and the image recording unit 20 are arranged in a position close to the image recording unit. When the air levitation module 11 interferes, the air levitation module 11 may be moved in the reverse direction.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the arrangement of the air levitation modules 11 and 12 according to another embodiment.

  In this embodiment, the air levitation module 12 disposed in a region facing the image recording unit 20 is separated from the air levitation module 11 disposed in a position close to the image recording unit 20 by a circular region in plan view. Has been. When such a configuration is adopted, when the crossing angle of each air levitation module 12 with respect to the transport direction of the substrate 100 is changed, the air levitation module 12 and the image recording unit arranged in the region facing the image recording unit Accordingly, it is possible to effectively prevent the air levitation module 11 disposed at a position close to the air 20 from interfering with the air levitation module 11.

1 is a perspective view of an inkjet image recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a plan view schematically showing the vicinity of an image recording unit 20. FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement relationship between the air levitation modules 11 and 12 and the inkjet head 21. It is a perspective view of the inkjet image recording device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the inkjet image recording device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of an inkjet head moving mechanism. It is a perspective view of an air levitation module moving mechanism. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement relationship between the air levitation modules 11 and 12 and the inkjet head 21. It is explanatory drawing which shows arrangement | positioning of the air levitation modules 11 and 12 which concern on other embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Air levitation module 12 Air levitation module 20 Image recording part 21 Inkjet head 22 Support frame 23 Lower support frame 24 Base 30 Rotating mechanism 31 Motor 32 Screw 33 Moving part 41 Linear guide 42 Linear scale 43 Stator 44 Support plate 51 Linear guide 52 Linear Scale 53 Stator 54 Movable Element 61 Recovery Bat 100 Substrate

Claims (4)

In an inkjet image recording apparatus that records an image on a recording medium by an inkjet method,
An air levitation transport mechanism that has a plurality of long air levitation modules and transports the recording medium in one direction in the state of levitation;
A plurality of ink jet heads arranged in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the recording medium are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the recording medium transported by the air levitation transport mechanism. And an image recording unit that records an image by ejecting ink from above the recording medium conveyed by the air levitation conveyance mechanism,
In the region facing the image recording unit, the plurality of air levitation modules are crossed in the same direction as the direction in which the ink ejection units are arranged in the inkjet head with respect to the conveyance direction of the recording medium. An inkjet image recording apparatus, wherein the inkjet image recording apparatus is disposed at a position not facing the inkjet heads. The inkjet image recording apparatus according to claim 1.
A rotation mechanism that synchronously changes an intersection angle of each inkjet head with respect to the conveyance direction of the recording medium and an intersection angle of each air levitation module with respect to the conveyance direction of the recording medium in a region facing the image recording unit; ,
An inkjet head moving mechanism for changing the pitch of each inkjet head;
An air levitation module moving mechanism that changes the pitch of the air levitation module in a region facing the image recording unit in synchronization with the pitch of the inkjet head;
An inkjet image recording apparatus further comprising: The inkjet image recording apparatus according to claim 2,
An inkjet image recording apparatus in which an air levitation module arranged at a position close to the image recording unit in the air levitation transport mechanism is movable in a longitudinal direction thereof. The inkjet image recording apparatus according to claim 2,
The air levitation module disposed in a region facing the image recording unit is separated from the air levitation module disposed in a position close to the image recording unit by a circular region in plan view.

Images