JP5227700B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that performs printing in contact with an object to be printed.

  The ink jet recording apparatus has a print head having a nozzle for ejecting ink, and can automatically perform printing on a print object that is continuously conveyed and passes near the ink ejection portion of the print head. .

  As preparation for performing automatic operation, after connecting a device that outputs a signal notifying the arrival of a printing object to the inkjet recording apparatus, from the input of the signal notifying the arrival of the printing object until printing is started It is necessary to adjust the waiting time.

  The adjustment of the waiting time is performed by the operator first setting the waiting time to an arbitrary setting value and performing test printing, and if the test printing position is not a desired position on the print object, the setting value of the waiting time is changed. Then, the trial printing is performed again, and the waiting time is changed and the trial printing is repeated until the trial printing position reaches a desired position on the print target.

  The adjustment operation of the waiting time includes a first step until the position of the trial print reaches an unspecified position on the print target as a work step, and then the position of the test print reaches a desired position on the print target. The second step is roughly divided.

A conventional ink jet recording apparatus has a function capable of adjusting the waiting time in units of characters or lines of printing along the transport direction. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1) With this function, in the second step, the operator measures the interval from the trial printing position to the desired position in terms of the amount of characters printed or in units of columns, and the waiting time. It can be easily adjusted simply by adding to the set value. Conventionally, a photoelectric sensor is mainly used as a device for outputting a signal notifying the arrival of a print object. In this case, in the first step, the operator determines the interval from the photoelectric sensor to the print head. It can be easily adjusted by measuring the amount of characters printed in units or in units of columns and inputting it as the set value of the waiting time.
JP 63-154360 A

  When the output signal corresponding to the transport timing of the transport machine is used in addition to the output signal of the photoelectric sensor as a signal notifying the arrival of the print target due to the material and shape of the print target or the convenience of the production facility. There is. In this case, it becomes difficult for the operator to recognize the position of the printing object on the conveyance path when a signal notifying the arrival of the printing object is output, and the adjustment work of the first step is not performed depending on intuition. May not be obtained, and a great deal of labor may be spent on the adjustment work of the first step.

  It is an object of the present invention to allow an operator to easily perform the adjustment operation of the first step even if there are various signals that inform the arrival of a print object.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a print head including a nozzle for ejecting ink used for printing, an input port for inputting an external signal as a first input signal, and the first input. A control unit capable of starting printing after elapse of a certain standby time from the input of an external signal as a signal and changing the standby time, and wherein the control unit includes the first The standby time is changed in accordance with the elapsed time from the input of the input signal to the input of the second input signal input after the input of the first input signal.

  According to the present invention, the operator can easily perform the adjustment operation of the first step even if there are various signals that inform the arrival of the print object.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  The overall structure of the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. A main body 900 including a control unit and an ink storage unit, a print head 910 including a nozzle for discharging ink used for printing, and a print head cable 920 that connects the main body and the print head. A touch panel type liquid crystal display device 930 is provided on the front surface of the main body, and an operator can check and input print contents and setting contents by the touch panel type liquid crystal display device.

  The internal structure of the main body of the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The inside of the main body has a structure in which the control unit 800 is arranged in the upper part, the ink storage unit 850 is arranged in the lower part, and electrical components and liquid circulation system components are separately arranged.

  The control unit 800 is provided with a control board 802 that performs ink ejection control, printing control, and the like, a power source 801 that supplies current to the control board, a touch panel type liquid crystal display device 930, and the like. In addition, the control unit 800 is provided with an input port for inputting an external signal notifying the arrival of the print target. The ink storage unit 850 is provided with a flow path board 851 that forms an ink flow path. The flow path board includes an ink container 852 that stores ink, a pump 853 that pumps ink, and an electromagnetic valve that opens and closes the flow of ink. 854 is attached.

  The internal structure of the print head of the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Inside the print head 910 are a nozzle 700 for discharging ink and solvent, an ink supply channel 701 for supplying ink to the nozzle, a solvent supply channel 702 for supplying solvent to the nozzle, an ink supply channel and a solvent supply channel. A three-way solenoid valve 703 that opens and closes the flow of the ink, an excitation element 704 that vibrates the nozzle to make ink particles, a charging electrode 710 that charges ink particles ejected from the nozzle, and a deflection electrode 720 that deflects charged ink particles. A gutter 730 that receives ink particles 707 that are not used for printing out of the ink particles ejected from the nozzles, and a recovery flow path 731 that recovers ink and solvent that has entered the gutter are provided. Of the ink particles ejected from the nozzles, the ink particles 706 used for printing are deflected by the deflection electrode and ejected to the outside from the ink ejection section 705 of the print head.

  The control configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The control configuration includes an MPU 600 that has an arithmetic function and controls the entire inkjet recording apparatus, a ROM 601 that stores programs and data necessary for the operation of the MPU, and a RAM 602 that temporarily stores data necessary during program execution. , An input device 610 for inputting print contents and set values, a display device 611 for displaying the content and state input by the input device 610, an excitation voltage generating circuit 620 for generating an excitation voltage to be applied to the excitation element 704, and a charging electrode A charging voltage generating circuit 621 for generating a charging voltage to be applied to 710, a deflection voltage generating circuit 622 for generating a deflection voltage to be applied to the deflecting electrode 720, and a printing start external signal detecting circuit for detecting a printing start external signal for notifying the arrival of a printing object. 630, set the waiting time from input of printing start external signal to printing start Count may print start timer 631 to perform, they are enabled to exchange data is connected via a bus 603.

  As an operation at the time of automatic operation, after the print start external signal detection circuit 630 detects the input of the print start external signal, the print start timer 631 counts the standby time set in advance, and then the charging voltage generation circuit 621 To generate a charging voltage suitable for the printing contents. Ink particles given a charge corresponding to the contents of printing by the charging electrode 710 are discharged to the outside of the print head 910 and adhere to the surface of the print object 640 conveyed by the conveyor 641 or the like to form characters and figures.

  FIG. 1 is a control flow diagram for determining the waiting time from the input of a print start external signal notifying the arrival of a print object to the start of printing, which best represents the characteristics of the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment.

  Step 501 first displays on the touch panel type liquid crystal display device the option of whether input B required in the following flow is performed by direct input or external input, and requests the operator to select.

  In step 502, it is confirmed whether the operator's selection is direct input or external input, and the subsequent flow is determined. In step 503, external signal input is read as input A. This external signal is regarded as a print start signal when automatic operation is in progress, and the print is executed after a certain waiting time after the signal is input, but input A is not used as a print start signal in this flow. Printing by input A is not performed. The types of input A include the printed matter detection output of the photoelectric sensor, and the electrical output corresponding to the printing object conveyance timing of peripheral equipment such as a conveyor and a sealing machine. It is determined to be appropriate for reasons such as material and shape.

  In step 504, the count immediately after step 503 is measured. Here, step 503 and step 504 have the same contents regardless of the operator's selection confirmed in step 502.

  In step 505, the count value N when the direct input as the input B is read is recorded. As direct input of this step, there are direct touch input to keys displayed on the touch panel type liquid crystal display device and input by opening / closing a switch provided on the main body or the print head.

  In step 506, the count value N when the external signal input as input B is read is recorded. The external signal of this step includes an open / close output of a switch provided outside and a printed matter detection output of a photoelectric sensor. These external signals to be input B are input to an input port provided separately from an input port to which an external signal to be input A is input, or are input to an input port to which an external signal to be input A is input. . In step 505 or step 506, input B can be accepted at any time after step 503. However, if a significant amount of time has elapsed since step 503, there may be a case such as an input A acquisition error. There may be a time over. If the time is over, the flow returns to the step 503 or before, or this flow is terminated.

  Step 507 requests the operator to select whether or not to reflect the count value N recorded in Step 505 or Step 506 in the setting of the standby time. In order to provide the operator with material for determining whether or not the change is possible in this step, printing is normally started immediately after the input B is read in step 505 and step 506. In addition, since it is assumed that the printing position does not become on the surface of the printing object in one printing by the input B in step 505 or step 506, whether or not to perform printing again immediately before step 507 is selected. May be displayed on the screen. In this case, when the item to be executed again is selected by the operator, the process returns to step 501, and when the item not to be executed again is selected, the process proceeds to step 507.

  Step 508 requests the operator to select whether or not to change the waiting time to the count value N. When the item to be changed is selected by the operator, the process proceeds to step 509 and the waiting time is changed to the count value N to end this flow. When the item not to be changed is selected, the waiting time is not changed. This flow ends.

It is a control flow figure which determines standby time in the ink jet recording device which is one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a structural overview of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the main body internal structure of the inkjet recording device which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the print head internal structure of the inkjet recording device which is one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus that is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

600 ... MPU, 601 ... ROM, 602 ... RAM, 610 ... input device, 611 ... display device, 620 ... excitation voltage generation circuit, 621 ... charge voltage generation circuit, 622 ... deflection voltage generation circuit, 630 ... print start trigger signal detection Circuit, 631 ... Print start timer, 603 ... Bus, 700 ... Nozzle, 701 ... Ink supply flow path, 702 ... Solvent supply flow path, 703 ... Three-way solenoid valve, 704 ... Excitation element, 710 ... Charging electrode, 720 ... Deflection electrode 707 ... Ink particles 707, 730 ... Gutter, 731 ... Recovery flow path, 706 ... Ink particles used for printing, 705 ... Ink ejection unit, 800 ... Control unit, 850 ... Ink storage unit, 802 ... Control board, 801 ... Power supply, 851 ... Flow path board 852 ... Ink container, 853 ... Pump, 854 ... Solenoid valve, 900 ... Main body, 10 ... print head, 920 ... print head cable 930 ... touch-panel liquid crystal display device.

Claims (5)

A nozzle for discharging ink used for printing, a charging electrode for charging ink used for printing by being discharged from the nozzle , a deflection electrode for deflecting ink charged by the charging electrode, and for printing A print head comprising a gutter from which unused ink is collected ;
An input port for inputting an external signal as a first input signal;
A control unit capable of starting printing after elapse of a certain waiting time from the input of an external signal as the first input signal and changing the waiting time;
An ink jet recording apparatus comprising:
The control unit changes the waiting time in accordance with an elapsed time from the input of the first input signal to the input of a second input signal input after the input of the first input signal. An ink jet recording apparatus.   The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit starts printing immediately after the input of the second input signal. An input device for inputting the second input signal;
2. The inkjet according to claim 1, wherein the control unit changes the waiting time according to an external signal that is the first input signal and a second input signal that is input by the input device. Recording device. An input port for inputting an external signal as the second input signal;
2. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit changes the waiting time in accordance with an external signal that is the first input signal and an external signal that is the second input signal. .   The control unit responds to an external signal to be the first input signal and an external signal to be the second input signal input to an input port for inputting the external signal to be the first input signal. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the waiting time is changed.

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