JP5786973B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus that forms an image by attaching and curing the color material on a recording medium using a color material that cures when irradiated with light.

  In an image forming apparatus that records and forms various images by ejecting ink from nozzles provided in a print head, an image forming apparatus that uses ultraviolet curable ink is well known. 2. Description of the Related Art An ink jet recording apparatus is well known in which a photocurable ink is ejected on the surface and irradiated to light to be cured. Such an ink jet recording apparatus usually includes a recording head including a plurality of nozzles that eject ink onto a recording medium, and a light irradiation device that irradiates light onto the ink landed on the surface of the recording medium.

  As the light source of the light irradiation device, a light source that emits light having a wavelength for curing the ink is used. Conventionally, for example, a discharge lamp such as a high-pressure mercury lamp has been often used (for example, Patent Document 1). In addition, the light source of such a conventional light irradiation device has a function of controlling the amount of light emitted to the medium. For example, the amount of light is controlled using a mechanical shutter or the like.

  However, when such a discharge lamp is used, the discharge lamp needs to have a high output, generate a large amount of heat, and it takes a long time for the light source to become stable. Wasted. In addition, the light source of the conventional light irradiation device includes a light source that cannot be switched on and off at high speed. Once recording and conveyance for image formation are performed, whether or not there is an image formation area in the meantime. Regardless, it was supposed to be irradiated with light. For this reason, power consumption was wasted at this time. Furthermore, due to such characteristics, the light source life has been adversely affected.

JP 2010-115791 A

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus capable of suppressing power consumption and maintaining a long light source lifetime.

In order to achieve the above object, the first aspect of the present invention is directed to a color material adhering means for adhering a color material on a recording medium, a medium conveying means for conveying a recording medium, and the color material adhering means. A color material fixing means for irradiating light for fixing the color material to the recording medium, disposed downstream of the recording medium in the transport direction; the color material adhering means and the color material fixing means in the transport direction of the recording medium; A predetermined position detecting means for detecting a predetermined position on the recording medium, comprising: a reading means that is disposed between the color material attaching means and is capable of reading a color material attaching area formed at a predetermined position of the recording medium by the color material attaching means; a conveyance amount detecting means that detect the conveyance amount of the recording medium conveyed by the medium conveying unit based on a predetermined position detection at a predetermined position detecting means is detected by the read-out result to the conveying amount detecting means of said reading means Based on the transport amount A control unit for controlling the irradiation of Kiirozai fixing means, characterized in that it has a.

The second aspect of the present invention, before Symbol controller, the head position in the transport direction of the coloring material deposited region formed in the previous Kiirozai attachment means reaches a position opposite to the colorant fixing means The irradiation of the color material fixing unit is controlled by at least one of the timing and the timing at which the rear end position in the conveyance direction of the color material adhesion region passes.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the control unit determines the color before the leading position of the color material adhesion area of the recording medium reaches a position facing the color material fixing unit. The material fixing unit is turned on, and the color material fixing unit is controlled to be turned off after the rear end position of the color material adhesion region passes from the position facing the color material fixing unit.

  According to a fourth aspect, in any one of the first to third aspects, the lighting start of the color material fixing unit by the control unit is controlled in consideration of the startup time of the color material fixing unit. Features.

A fifth aspect is the first to fourth aspects, wherein the distance information A from the predetermined position of the recording medium in the recording medium conveyance direction detected by the conveyance amount detection means to the color material adhesion region, Width information B of the color material adhesion area in the recording medium conveyance direction, distance information C from the detection position of the predetermined position detection means to the color material fixing means, width information D of the color material fixing means in the recording medium conveyance direction, and The color material fixing unit includes an input unit capable of inputting at least one of the startup time information T from the outside.

  According to a sixth aspect, in the fifth aspect, when the input unit forms a plurality of color material adhesion areas on the recording medium, the rear end position of the first color material adhesion area conveyed in advance is formed. When the information on the distance from the tip position of the second color material adhesion area that is subsequently conveyed following the first color material adhesion area is E, the information E can be input from the outside. To do.

According to a seventh aspect, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the color material adhering means, the transport amount detecting means, and the predetermined position detecting means are detachably attached to the medium transport means. It is characterized by being.

According to an eighth aspect, in any one of the first to seventh aspects, the transport amount detection unit detects a signal output at a predetermined cycle in synchronization with the transport and detects a first predetermined position of the recording medium. And a second counting means for counting independently from the first counting means based on detection of the first predetermined position of the recording medium.

According to a ninth aspect, in any one of the first to eighth aspects, the color material adhering means has a plurality of color materials for each color material, and is configured as a print unit together with the predetermined position detecting means. And a single color material fixing unit arranged in the above-described configuration.
A tenth aspect is characterized in that, in any one of the first to ninth aspects, ultraviolet light is irradiated using an LED light source as the color material fixing means.

The eleventh aspect, in any one of the first to tenth aspect of the colorant fixing means arranged in the conveying direction and straight intersects the width direction of the recording medium, formed by a plurality of light emitting portions, The control unit controls to turn on only the light emitting unit at a position corresponding to the image width length in the width direction among the plurality of light emitting units.

According to a twelfth aspect, in the first aspect, when the color material attaching unit forms a plurality of color material attaching areas, the control unit is configured to follow the first color material attaching area conveyed in advance. Even after the end position has passed, control is performed so that lighting is continued until a timing at which the leading position of the second color material adhesion area conveyed following the first color material adhesion area is reached.

  According to a thirteenth aspect, in any one of the first to twelfth aspects, the control unit controls an irradiation amount of the color material fixing unit in accordance with a printing speed.

  According to a fourteenth aspect, in any one of the first to thirteenth aspects, the control unit controls an irradiation amount of the color material fixing unit according to an output resolution of an image to be formed. To do.

According to a fifteenth aspect, in the first to fourteenth aspects, the transport amount detection unit includes an encoder, and the control unit detects that an encoder pulse output from the encoder is equal to or longer than a predetermined period. In this case, the color material fixing unit is controlled to be turned off .

According to a sixteenth aspect, in any one of the first to fifteenth aspects, the color material adhering unit is an ink jet in which an ink discharge nozzle that discharges a photocurable ink that is cured by irradiation with light is formed. It is characterized by being a head.

According to a seventeenth aspect, in any one of the first to sixteenth aspects, the color material attaching unit discharges the color material over the entire area in the width direction of the recording medium orthogonal to the recording medium conveyance direction. A plurality of discharge nozzles are arranged, and a single-pass inkjet printer capable of forming an image over the entire width of the image area by conveying the recording medium.

  The “timing to reach the position facing the color material fixing means” in the present invention means the irradiation light emitted from the color material fixing means from the front end position of the color material adhesion area formed on the recording medium. The timing is sufficient to irradiate with sufficient energy to promote curing, and is not necessarily limited to the time when the color material adhesion area is included in the irradiation area of the irradiation light from the color material fixing means. .

  Similarly, the “timing at which the rear end position of the color material adhesion area in the transport direction passes” is not necessarily limited to the time when the color material adhesion area deviates from the irradiation area of the irradiation light from the color material fixing unit. .

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing the light source from being shortened and suppressing wasteful power consumption .
In addition, it is possible to accurately irradiate the color material adhesion region with the irradiation light.
In addition, since the color material adhesion region can be read with high accuracy and irradiation can be controlled, wasteful power consumption can be suppressed.

  Further, according to the second or third aspect described above, it is possible to irradiate the color material adhesion region with more accurate irradiation light.

  Further, according to the fourth aspect described above, it is possible to sufficiently irradiate the color material adhesion region on the recording medium with irradiation light.

  Further, according to the fifth or sixth aspect described above, the image quality can be changed by changing the relative positions of the color material fixing means and the color material adhesion area on the recording medium.

  Further, according to the seventh aspect described above, it is possible to place the color material fixing unit, the conveyance amount detection unit, and the like at arbitrary positions without fixing the positions.

  Further, according to the above-described eighth aspect, it is possible to appropriately control the color material adhering means even when the interval between the color material adhering regions is narrow.

Further, according to the ninth aspect described above, it is possible to reduce bundle lines and input position information.
According to the tenth aspect described above, it is possible to further reduce wasteful power consumption by irradiating with ultraviolet light using an LED light source as the color material fixing means.

  Further, according to the eleventh aspect described above, it is possible to efficiently control the amount of irradiation according to the width of the image, and thus it is possible to further reduce wasteful power consumption.

  Further, according to the twelfth aspect described above, even when a plurality of images are recorded at a high speed in a limited area of the recording medium, the lighting and extinguishing are not in time, resulting in poor fixing of the image. Such a situation can be prevented, and the occurrence of noise caused by continuously turning on and off at a high speed is not caused.

  Further, according to the thirteenth aspect described above, it is possible to efficiently control the irradiation amount in accordance with the printing speed, and thus it is possible to further reduce wasteful power consumption.

  Further, according to the fourteenth aspect described above, it is possible to efficiently control the irradiation amount according to the output resolution of the image, and therefore it is possible to further reduce wasteful power consumption.

According to the fifteenth aspect described above, since the color material fixing unit is automatically turned off when the conveyance is not normally performed, wasteful power consumption is added in addition to safety. Can be suppressed.

Further, according to the sixteenth and seventeenth aspects described above, it is possible to suppress wasteful power consumption as an inkjet printer.

Overall configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention 2A: an enlarged view of the image forming unit of FIG. 1, FIG. 2B: a top view showing the arrangement of the color material adhering means and the LED light source of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. Control block diagram Basic flowchart FIG. 5A: timing explanatory diagram of light amount control of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment, FIG. 5B: timing explanatory diagram of light amount control of the image forming apparatus of another configuration according to the first embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the light amount control of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment Explanatory drawing of the light amount control timing of the image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment Explanatory drawing of light quantity control of the image forming apparatus according to the fourth embodiment FIGS. 9A and 9B are explanatory diagrams of light emission control of the LED light source according to the present invention. Example of image forming system using image forming apparatus according to the present invention

  First, the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In particular, FIG. 1 shows, as an example of an image forming apparatus, an ultraviolet curable ink as a coloring material is ejected and adhered to a recording medium to be conveyed by a print head, and the adhered ultraviolet curable ink is irradiated with light from a light source. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic mechanical configuration of a main body, showing an image forming apparatus for forming an image, which is fixed on a recording medium by things.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a recording medium conveyance unit 1 that conveys a recording medium, an encoder 2 that detects the conveyance amount of the medium, a trigger detection sensor 3 that detects a predetermined position of the recording medium, a print unit 4 including a print head 41, A UV-LED lamp 5 having a plurality of light emitting portions as color material fixing means for irradiating ultraviolet light for fixing the color material in an area where the color material is adhered to the recording medium by the print head. The UV-LED lamp 5 is disposed at one location downstream of the print head 41 in the transport direction and is connected to the print unit 4 by wiring. In this way, since the single UV-LED lamp and the print head 4 are connected by wiring, the number of bundles can be reduced. Compared to the UV-LED lamps that are dispersedly arranged at a plurality of positions, the lamp described later The timing control for the light illumination control is not complicated, and the input of position information can be reduced.

  The recording medium transport unit 1 transports the recording medium S1 wound around the delivery-side roll 1a by a driving roller 6 that is a recording medium transporting means, sends the recording medium S1 to the winding-side roll 1b, and is taken up by the winding-side roll 1b. Make it. From the print head based on image information sent separately from the host PC 7 or the like via the interface at a position facing the print head of the print unit 4 by detection of the encoder 2 and the trigger detection sensor 3 at a predetermined position of the print medium conveyed by the drive roller 6. After the color material is adhered to form a color material adhesion area, the color material adhesion area is irradiated with ultraviolet light from the UV-LED lamp 5 arranged on the downstream side in the transport direction to fix the color material on the recording medium and image. Form.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (b), the UV-LED lamp 5 has ultraviolet light emitting lamp portions 5a, 5b, 5c,... Each composed of a plurality of LEDs, with a full width in the direction perpendicular to the recording medium conveyance direction. It has a corresponding length and is arranged with a predetermined width d in the transport direction. Each lamp unit can change the irradiation intensity of ultraviolet light by independently changing the supply current. Note that the lamp units may not be independently controlled, but may be configured such that a plurality of lamp units constitute one group, and irradiation energy can be controlled independently for the plurality of groups of lamp units.

  As shown in the enlarged view of the print unit 4 in FIG. 2A, the print unit 4 includes a plurality of print heads 41K, 41M, 41C, and 41Y provided corresponding to the respective color materials, and only in FIG. Although shown, an ink tank 42 for storing color ink corresponding to each color material is similarly provided for each color material and communicated with each print head.

  Each of the heads 41K, 41M, 41C, and 41Y has a length corresponding to the maximum medium width in the direction orthogonal to the medium transport direction targeted by the image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. This is a full-line print head in which the nozzle surface is formed to face the recording medium with a plurality of color material discharge ports.

  The "full line type print head" here is usually arranged along a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording medium, but arranged along an oblique direction having a predetermined angle with the conveyance direction to some extent. It may be what you do. Further, there may be a form in which a plurality of short print head units having nozzle rows that are less than the length corresponding to the full width of the recording medium are combined to form a nozzle row corresponding to the full width of the recording medium as a whole unit.

  The “recording medium S1” here is a medium that receives image recording, such as a continuous sheet, a cut sheet, a seal sheet, a resin sheet such as an OHP sheet, a printed board on which a film, a cloth, a wiring pattern, and the like are formed. It includes various media regardless of material or shape.

  Therefore, in the image forming apparatus of the present example described above, a long recording medium wound around a delivery roll is described as an example. However, as a conveying means, a single leaf is previously preliminarily formed by belt conveyance with a belt wound between rollers. A cut recording medium may be transported.

  In the present invention, the “color material adhesion area Z” is an area adhered to the recording medium by the color material adhesion means using image data corresponding to one image. Therefore, the “interval distance in the medium conveyance direction between the plurality of coloring material adhering areas” refers to an interval distance in the medium conveyance direction between the images on the recording medium in the case of a long recording medium. In the case of a single-sheet recording medium, this indicates a distance obtained by adding the distance of the non-color material adhesion area (blank area) outside the color material adhesion area to the distance in the medium conveyance direction between the conveyed media.

  Note that it is sometimes difficult to control the light emission of the LED because the interval in the transport direction of each “coloring material adhesion region” is very short. In that case, only LED light emission control within a possible interval may be used. That is, the LED light source may be controlled to continue to be turned on even after the first color material adhering region conveyed in advance passes through a position facing the color material fixing unit.

  Even in the case of performing high-speed recording with such a configuration, a plurality of color material adhesion areas that pass under the color material fixing means are continuously turned off and the switching control of lighting is not in time, causing a fixing failure in the color material fixing area. There is no fear, a stable image can be provided, and an increase in power consumption due to LED light emission control in a very short time can be suppressed.

  It should be noted that whether or not the LED light source continues to be lit between a plurality of continuous color material adhesion areas is determined by determining the rear end position of the first color material adhesion area conveyed in advance and the first color material adhesion area. In consideration of the distance from the tip position of the second color material adhesion area to be subsequently conveyed, the width in the conveyance direction of the LED light source, the activation time of the LED light source, and the printing speed, or corresponding to each color material adhesion area When the interval between the first image and the second image printed on the recording medium is equal to or less than a predetermined distance, or printed on the recording medium from the first position of the first image to the rear end position of the second image. When the ratio of the interval to the distance is equal to or less than a predetermined ratio, the control may be performed by the first and second image control units.

  The “color material fixing means” here is not particularly limited as long as it is a light source capable of fixing a color material that can be switched on and off with relatively high responsiveness. For example, a light source such as a metal halide lamp, a discharge lamp that can be switched on and off at high speed, a hot cathode tube, a cold cathode tube, a germicidal lamp, and an LED can also be used. However, an LED light source such as a UV-LED lamp is more preferable because it can perform irradiation control with high responsiveness.

  Here, the print unit 4, the UV-LED lamp 5, the trigger detection sensor 3, and the encoder 2 constitute one image forming unit that can be attached to and detached from the recording medium transport unit. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, for example, by attaching the image forming unit I of this example to the downstream side of the label printing mechanism with respect to a transport machine equipped with another label printing mechanism G, a dedicated machine is provided. An image forming apparatus with excellent versatility can be provided as well as a transporter.

  Here, the photocurable ink ejected from the print head and attached to the recording medium is an ultraviolet curable ink, and a component (monomer, oligomer, or low molecular weight homopolymer) that is cured (polymerized) by application of ultraviolet energy. It is an ink containing an ultraviolet curable component such as a copolymer) and a polymerization initiator, and has a property of starting to polymerize upon receiving ultraviolet light, thickening with the progress of polymerization, and eventually curing.

  Similarly to the above-described full-line print head, the UV-LED lamp 5 is also configured by arranging a plurality of light emitting elements, with each light emitting surface facing the recording medium, and the maximum medium width in the direction perpendicular to the medium transport direction. It is comprised with the length corresponding to.

  Therefore, an image can be recorded on the entire surface of the recording medium by performing the operation of moving the recording medium relative to the heads 41K, 41M, 41C, and 41Y in the transport direction only once. Such a single-pass image forming apparatus can perform high-speed printing as compared with the shuttle scan method in which an image is formed while reciprocating the recording head in the main scanning direction, and can improve print productivity. it can.

  Here, as the ultraviolet curable ink used in the present embodiment, a radical polymerization ink containing a radical polymerization compound as a polymerizable monomer or a photopolymerization initiator, a cationic polymerization ink containing a cation polymerization compound, or the like is used. Preferably used. The radical polymerization ink does not start the polymerization reaction unless the amount of ultraviolet light applied to the ink exceeds a certain threshold, but has a characteristic that the radical polymerization reaction is easily inhibited by oxygen in the air. Unlike radical polymerization inks, cationic polymerization inks do not inhibit the polymerization reaction by oxygen in the air, but have the property that when the ink is irradiated with ultraviolet light, the polymerization reaction proceeds by the amount of the irradiated ultraviolet light. .

  Although the embodiment has been described based on the above-described single-pass image forming apparatus, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and can be similarly applied to the above-described shuttle scan-type image forming apparatus. is there.

  Next, control in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the control block diagram of FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a principal block diagram showing the system configuration of the image forming apparatus 110. As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus includes a control unit 100, a head driver 101, a print head 102, a conveyance mechanism 103, a conveyance amount detection unit 104, a position detection unit 105, an LED light source 106 as a color material fixing unit, and an operation panel. 107, a memory 108, and a reading unit 109.

  The control unit 100 appropriately performs processing and processing such as conversion to dot data by a dither method, error diffusion method, or the like on image data sent from the host computer 15 to the image forming apparatus 110 via an interface (not shown). This is a part that performs various processes such as recording control for recording on a recording medium conveyed based on image data and control of the amount of light emitted from the LED light source 106.

  The conveyance amount detection unit 104 is a part that detects the conveyance amount conveyed by the driving roller 6, and an encoder that reads and outputs a signal having a constant period in synchronization with the rotation of the driving roller 6 is used.

  The position detection unit 105 detects a predetermined position of the recording medium and outputs a trigger signal. In the image forming apparatus 110 in FIG. 3, a print trigger sensor that outputs a trigger signal for taking an ink discharge timing with respect to a recording medium by a print head to the control unit 100, and a color material adhesion region formed by ink discharge. It also serves as a fixing trigger sensor that outputs a trigger signal to the control unit 100 for timing of irradiation light amount control such as turning on / off the ultraviolet light irradiated from the LED light source unit 106 and increasing / decreasing the irradiation light amount.

  The control unit 100 receives the encoder signal from the conveyance amount detection unit 104 and the trigger signal from the position detection unit 105, and performs recording by the print head based on the conveyance amount of the recording medium conveyed as described above. Control and control of the amount of light emitted from the LED light source 106 are performed.

  The memory 108 stores information (image input / output resolution etc.) relating to the image data sent from the host computer 15 described above, the position of the color material adhesion area formed based on the image data, or the width information of the color material adhesion area ( In addition to storing width information in the conveyance direction of the recording medium, interval information in the conveyance direction between image data in the case of image data for a plurality of images, line spacing information of the image data in the conveyance direction, and the like, the position detection in advance Distance information in the conveyance direction of the recording position of the print head and the print head, the distance information in the conveyance direction between the detection position of the position detection unit 105 and the LED light source unit 106, and width information in the conveyance direction of the LED light source unit 106 Various information such as output resolution information, printing speed, activation time of the LED light source 106, and the like are stored. The control unit 100 performs recording control for performing recording on the recording medium transported as described above using various information stored in the memory 108, control of the irradiation light amount of the LED light source 106, and the like.

  The operation panel 107 can newly input at least one of the various types of information described above to the memory 108 from the outside, and thereby allows the various types of information already stored to be rewritten. By providing such a configuration, even when the positions of the print unit, the LED light source 106, the sensors that constitute the position detection unit 105, and the like are changed in the image forming apparatus, the information can be changed and set according to the arbitrary change. Can be done.

  The reading unit 109 reads a color material adhering region in which the color material is adhering to the recording medium by the print unit, and outputs the color material adhering region to the control unit 100. Specifically, a line sensor such as a CCD is used, and the control unit 100 controls various processes as described above based on the information on the color material adhesion region obtained by such a configuration.

(Control of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment)
Next, the top view of the irradiation control of the UV-LED lamp 5 according to the first embodiment in the above-described image forming apparatus as seen from the top surface of the recording medium in FIG. 5A based on the flowchart showing the basic operation in FIG. The description will be given with reference. Here, an interval E between the color material adhering regions that are adhered to the recording medium S <b> 1 by discharging the color material from the print head is formed wider than the distance C + D between the trigger detection sensor 3 and the UV-LED lamp 5. The case will be explained.

  First, based on a print start instruction (step 9) to the image forming apparatus, the recording medium S1 wound around the delivery-side roll 1a is conveyed by driving the conveying roller 6 with the LED light source turned off. Encoder pulses are sent from the encoder constituting the carry amount detection unit in synchronization with the carry, and the trigger mark P of the recording medium S1 is detected by the trigger detection sensor 3 constituting the position detection unit (step 10). Pulse counting is started.

  Based on the count value of the encoder pulse, the position where the color material adhesion area should be recorded based on the image data sent from the host computer 15 has reached the print position of each print head 41K, 41M, 41C, 41Y. The determination is made in step 11 by comparing the detected carry amount with the carry amount corresponding to the distance between the trigger detection sensor 3 and each print head 41K, 41M, 41C, 41Y in advance in the memory 108.

  If it is determined in step 11 that the transport amount has been reached, ink from each of the print heads 41K, 41M, 41C, and 41Y is ejected, and the color material is attached to the recording medium S1, that is, a printing operation is performed. As a result, one color material adhesion region is formed (step 12). Thereafter, the recording medium S1 is conveyed by an amount corresponding to the distance between the print head and the UV-LED lamp 5, so that the immediately preceding head position of the conveyed color material adhesion region corresponds to the lighting start position of the UV-LED lamp 5. In step 13, it is determined whether or not the transport amount (distance A + C in FIG. 5) has been reached. If it is determined that the transport amount has reached, the UV-LED lamp 5 is turned on and light irradiation is performed. (Step 14).

  Thereafter, the total transport amount (the distance B in FIG. 5) added to the transport amount corresponding to the width in the transport direction of the LED light source (width D in FIG. 5) plus the transport amount (distance B in FIG. It is determined in step 15 whether the distance A + B + C + D in FIG. 4 has been reached. If it is determined that the distance has been reached, the UV-LED lamp 5 is turned off as in step 16 and an image to be printed is further displayed. If there is no data, the printing operation is terminated.

  Here, position detection is performed based on the mark P formed at a predetermined position of the recording medium S1, but the form of the mark is not particularly limited. That is, any part that can identify a predetermined position on the recording medium S1, such as a stepped portion formed on the recording medium S1, a seal or the like, an end of the color material adhesion region, an end of the recording medium S1, or the like may be used.

  In other words, the leading position in the transport direction of the color material adhesion region formed by the print head is located at a position facing the UV-LED lamp 5 by the transport amount detected by the encoder pulse based on the detection by the trigger detection sensor by the control unit. Irradiation control for turning on / off the UV-LED lamp 5 is performed at both the arrival timing and the timing at which the rear end position in the transport direction of the same color material adhesion region passes the position facing the UV-LED lamp 5. Thereby, since the curing light is not irradiated from the UV-LED lamp 5 unnecessarily, wasteful power consumption can be suppressed and the life of the light source can be maintained for a long time.

  5B, as in FIG. 5A, the interval E between the color material adhering regions that are ejected from the print head and adhering to the recording medium S1 is the trigger detection sensor 3 and the UV-LED lamp 5. FIG. 5A shows a trigger sensor for detecting a print start trigger and a UV-LED lamp. 5 shows an example in which a fixing trigger sensor for detecting a trigger for irradiation control by 5 is configured separately.

  Since the fixing trigger sensor is disposed between the print head and the UV-LED lamp 5 in the conveyance direction of the recording medium S1, the distance C in FIG. If there is a slip in the encoder input for detecting the amount, it is preferable because it is less susceptible to the error of the slip.

(Control of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment)
Next, irradiation control of the UV-LED lamp 5 according to the second embodiment in the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to a top view as seen from the top surface of the recording medium S1 in FIG. 5A and 5B is different from the trigger detection sensor 3 in that an interval E between the color material adhering regions ejected from the print head and adhering to the recording medium S1 as shown in FIG. This corresponds to a case where the distance between the UV-LED lamp 5 and the UV-LED lamp 5 is smaller than the distance C + D, and is different in that it has a plurality of encoder counters that independently count encoder pulses.

  As in FIG. 5, the recording medium S <b> 1 wound around the delivery-side roll 1 a is conveyed by driving the conveyance roller 6 with the LED light source turned off based on a print start instruction to the image forming apparatus. Then, an encoder pulse is sent from the encoder constituting the carry amount detection unit in synchronization with the carry, and the trigger mark P of the recording medium S1 is detected by the trigger detection sensor 3 constituting the position detection unit. The trigger counter starts counting encoder pulses.

  Based on the count value of the encoder pulse, it is detected whether the recording position of the image data corresponding to the first image sent from the host computer 15 has reached the printing position of each print head 41K, 41M, 41C, 41Y. This is determined by comparing the amount of conveyance in advance with the amount of conveyance corresponding to the distance between the trigger detection sensor 3 and each of the print heads 41K, 41M, 41C, and 41Y in the memory 108.

  When it is determined that the transport amount has been reached, ink is ejected from each of the print heads 41K, 41M, 41C, and 41Y, and a color material is attached to the recording medium S1, that is, a printing operation is performed. A color material adhesion region corresponding to the image is formed. Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the first color material adhering area that has been transported has just reached the transport amount (distance A1 + C in FIG. 6) corresponding to the lighting start position of the UV-LED lamp 5, When it is determined that it has arrived according to the determination result, the UV-LED lamp 5 is turned on to emit light.

  Thereafter, the transport amount (distance B1 in FIG. 6) corresponding to the width of the first color material adhesion region is added to the transport amount (width D in FIG. 6) corresponding to the width in the transport direction of the UV-LED lamp 5. It is determined whether the total transport amount (distance A1 + B1 + C + D in FIG. 6) has been reached. If it is determined that the total transport amount has been reached, the LED light source is turned off.

  On the other hand, by detecting the trigger mark P of the recording medium S1, a second trigger counter (not shown) starts counting encoder pulses independently of the first trigger counter. Based on the count value of the encoder pulse, it is detected whether the recording position of the image data corresponding to the second image sent from the host computer 15 has reached the printing position of each print head 41K, 41M, 41C, 41Y. This is determined by comparing the amount of conveyance in advance with the amount of conveyance corresponding to the distance between the trigger detection sensor 3 and each of the print heads 41K, 41M, 41C, and 41Y in the memory 108.

  If it is determined that the transport amount has been reached, ink is ejected from each of the print heads 41K, 41M, 41C, and 41Y, and the color material is attached to the recording medium S1, that is, a printing operation is performed, and the second printing operation is performed. The color material adhesion area is formed. Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the transported amount (distance A2 + C in FIG. 6) corresponding to the lighting start position of the LED light source has just reached the leading position of the second color material adhesion region that has been transported. In the case where it has been done, the UV-LED lamp 5 that has been turned off after passing through the first color material adhering area that has been transported in advance is again activated and turned on, and light irradiation is performed.

  Then, the total obtained by adding the transport amount (distance B2 in FIG. 6) corresponding to the width of the first color material adhesion region to the transport amount (width D in FIG. 6) corresponding to the width in the transport direction of the LED light source. It is determined whether or not the transport amount (distance A2 + B2 + C + D in FIG. 6) has been reached. If it is determined that the transport amount has been reached, the UV-LED lamp 5 is turned off again.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the interval between the plurality of color material adhesion regions formed corresponding to the plurality of images is narrow, and accurate control is possible only by controlling the conveyance amount detection with a single pulse counter. Even if it is not possible, the head position in the transport direction of the color material adhesion region formed by the print head is a position facing the UV-LED lamp 5 by configuring it so that it can be counted independently by a plurality of encoder pulse counters. The irradiation control for turning on / off the UV-LED lamp 5 is performed both at the timing when the UV-LED lamp 5 passes through the position where the rear end position in the transport direction of the same color material adhesion region passes the position facing the UV-LED lamp 5. As a result, the UV-LED lamp 5 does not irradiate the curing light unnecessarily, so that unnecessary power consumption can be suppressed and the life of the light source can be maintained longer. It made.

  In this embodiment, the starting point of each encoder pulse count is counted based on the same mark. However, as shown in FIG. 6, the transport amount is based on marks arranged in a plurality of units. It is obvious that even if the configuration is such that the detection is performed and the control is performed, the same control can be performed if the relative distance between the marks is known.

(Control of the image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment)
Next, irradiation control of the UV-LED lamp 5 according to the third embodiment in the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to a top view as seen from the top surface of the recording medium S1 in FIG. In the image forming apparatus according to the above-described embodiment, the UV-LED lamp 5 irradiation control is performed by detecting a mark arranged at a predetermined position of the recording medium S1 by a separately provided position detection sensor and outputting a trigger signal. In contrast, the irradiation control is not performed using the position detection sensor, and the irradiation control of the UV-LED lamp 5 is performed based on the transport amounts counted based on the ink discharge timing from a specific print head. Is different.

  That is, ink is ejected from each of the print heads 41K, 41M, 41C, and 41Y. The transport amount of the recording medium S1 from the time of the ink ejection timing at this time, and each predetermined print head and UV-LED. By comparing the transport amount corresponding to the distance F with the lamp 5, it is determined whether or not the leading position of the color material adhesion region that has been transported has reached the lighting start position of the UV-LED lamp 5. When the determination is made, the UV-LED lamp 5 is activated and turned on to perform light irradiation.

  Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the transport amount corresponding to the transport amount corresponding to the width D in the transport direction of the UV-LED lamp 5 is added to the transport amount corresponding to the width B of the color material adhesion region. If it is determined, the UV-LED lamp 5 is turned off.

  That is, in the light amount control according to the embodiment, the first transport amount of the recording medium S1 corresponding to the distance F in the transport direction between the print head and the UV-LED lamp 5 detected by the encoder based on the ejection timing of the print head. And the irradiation control of the UV-LED lamp 5 with both the second transport amount of the recording medium S1 corresponding to the width B in the transport direction of the color material adhesion region formed by the same print head, that is, the color material formed by the print head The timing when the leading position in the transport direction of the adhesion region reaches a position facing the UV-LED lamp 5 and the timing when the rear end position in the transport direction of the same color material deposition region passes the position facing the UV-LED lamp 5 Since the irradiation control of turning on / off the UV-LED lamp 5 is performed in both, the UV-LED in an unrecorded area which is not required Irradiation of amplifier 5 can be prevented, it is possible to achieve labor saving in power consumption.

(Control of the image forming apparatus according to the fourth embodiment)
Next, irradiation control of the UV-LED lamp according to the fourth embodiment in the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to a top view of the recording medium shown in FIG. A trigger signal output by the image forming apparatus according to the above-described embodiment by detecting a mark placed at a predetermined position of the recording medium S1 by a position detection sensor provided with light amount control by the control unit of the UV-LED lamp 5 separately. In the present embodiment, the color material on the recording medium S1 provided separately is controlled based on the transport amount counted based on the form performed based on the ink discharge timing or the ink discharge timing from the specific print head. A CCD reading sensor 109 serving as a reading unit for reading the adhesion region is arranged, distance information (distance H in FIG. 8) between the reading unit and the UV-LED lamp 5 and the position of the color material adhesion region obtained by the reading unit. The difference is that the light amount of the UV-LED lamp 5 is controlled based on the width information (width B in FIG. 8 and the like).

  That is, the recording medium S1 wound around the delivery-side roll 1a is transported by driving the transport roller 6 with the LED light source turned off based on a print start instruction to the image forming apparatus. Then, one color material adhesion region is formed by a printing operation in which ink is ejected from the print head at a predetermined position of the conveyed recording medium S1. Thereafter, the detection timing and the width of the color material adhesion area are read by the CCD reading sensor 109 arranged on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the print head, so that the color material adhesion area that has been conveyed is immediately before the head position of the color material adhesion area. It is determined whether or not the transport amount corresponding to the lighting start position of the UV-LED lamp 5 has been reached. If it is determined that the transport amount has reached the determination result, the UV-LED lamp 5 is activated and turned on. Irradiate.

  Thereafter, when it is determined that the total transport amount is reached by adding the transport amount corresponding to the width of the color material adhesion region to the transport amount corresponding to the width of the UV-LED lamp 5 in the transport direction, the UV-LED lamp 5 is reached. Turn off the light.

  That is, in the light amount control according to this embodiment, the timing at which the leading position in the transport direction of the color material adhesion region formed by the print head reaches the position facing the UV-LED lamp 5 is determined based on the reading result by the CCD reading sensor 109. Further, unnecessary irradiation is performed by performing irradiation control for turning on / off the UV-LED lamp 5 at both timings when the rear end position in the transport direction of the same color material adhesion region passes the position facing the UV-LED lamp 5. Irradiation of the UV-LED lamp 5 in the recording area can be prevented, and power consumption can be saved.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the UV-LED lamp 5 is both at the timing when the tip position of the color material adhesion region reaches the position facing the UV-LED lamp 5 and at the timing when the rear end position of the color material adhesion region passes. However, the irradiation control with only one of them may be performed.

  In other words, the lighting control is performed only at the timing when the front end position of the color material adhesion region arrives, and thereafter the lighting state is similarly maintained, or the rear end position of the color material adhesion region passes through the UV-LED lamp 5 in the lighting state. It is also possible to control to turn off the light only at the timing.

  In addition, it is determined whether the color material adhesion area, not the head position itself, immediately before the head position has reached the transport amount corresponding to the lighting start position of the UV-LED lamp 5, this is not the case for the LED lighting. This is in consideration of the startup time of the UV-LED lamp 5 itself.

  That is, when the lighting is started when the leading position of the coloring material adhesion area reaches the conveyance amount corresponding to the lighting start position of the UV-LED lamp 5, the UV-LED lamp 5 is applied to the uncured area where the coloring material is adhered. This is because there is a possibility that it will pass by conveyance in a state where the curing light from is not sufficiently irradiated. However, the start-up time of the UV-LED lamp 5 is short enough to be ignored, or the fixing of the recording medium S1 is substantially adversely affected even if the start-up time is not taken into consideration from the conveyed color material adhesion region. If not, the irradiation position of the UV-LED lamp 5 is controlled depending on whether or not the leading position of the color material adhesion area itself has reached the conveyance amount corresponding to the lighting start position of the UV-LED lamp 5. good.

  Further, the activation time of the UV-LED lamp 5 varies depending on the density of the color material adhesion region itself, the overlapping condition of the different color materials, and the like. The start-up time until it reaches or is calculated, or the start-up time corresponding to the image quality of the image quality data is stored in the memory 108 as a table, and the light emission of the UV-LED lamp 5 is based on the start-up time selected according to the image quality It is good also as performing control. Or the structure which can be input from the outside by an operation panel may be sufficient.

  In the above description, the UV-LED lamp 5 is simply turned on / off, and is controlled to be turned on / off. However, after the printing is started, the UV-LED lamp 5 is turned on at a low irradiation intensity, and the color material adhesion region is changed. Increasing the irradiation intensity by changing the supply current to the lamp section of the UV-LED lamp 5 when it is determined that the leading position or the position immediately before it has reached the transport amount corresponding to the irradiation facing position of the UV-LED lamp 5; Control may be performed so that the irradiation intensity is reduced to a low intensity again when it is determined that the opposite position has been passed.

  Further, if the encoder pulse from the encoder has a period of a predetermined time or more due to a conveyance error of the recording medium S1, unnecessary light irradiation can be further suppressed by controlling the UV-LED lamp 5 to be turned off. It is preferable because further power saving can be achieved.

  Further, it is more preferable to employ a configuration that controls the irradiation amount from the UV-LED lamp 5 in accordance with the printing speed. For example, when the printing speed is relatively slow, further power saving can be achieved by keeping the amount of light to be irradiated low.

  As a configuration for controlling the light amount, a light amount set in advance by selecting a printing speed set in the image forming apparatus may be selected, or amplitude modulation (AM; Amplitude) of the color material fixing unit may be used. It is also possible to save power by modeling or pulse width modulation (PWM).

  Further, it is more preferable to employ a configuration that controls the irradiation amount from the LED light source in accordance with the output resolution of the formed image. For example, when the resolution of the image formed in the color material adhesion region is low and it is expected that there will be many omissions in the color material adhesion region, excessive irradiation is performed by reducing the amount of light emitted from the UV-LED lamp 5. Since this is not done, further power saving can be achieved.

  As described above, the resolution of such an image may be such that a preset light amount can be selected by selecting a low resolution mode or a high resolution mode set in the image forming apparatus. In the case where a reading unit for reading an image is provided, it may be controlled based on a reading result obtained by reading by the reading unit. Further, it is possible to save power by using amplitude modulation (AM) or pulse width modulation (PWM) of the color material fixing unit.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the width of the color material adhesion area Z recorded by the print head (in the medium width direction orthogonal to the medium conveyance direction (direction indicated by the arrow)). By controlling the light emission widths of the plurality of LED light emitting elements at locations opposite to the width according to the width), it is possible to further reduce light emission in unnecessary areas, thereby saving power. ,preferable.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the timing at which the leading position of the color material adhesion area formed on the recording medium reaches the position facing the color material fixing means and the rear end position of the color material adhesion area are as follows. Since the irradiation of the color material fixing unit is controlled based on at least one of the timings of passing the position facing the color material fixing unit, the life of the light source can be prevented from being shortened and wasted An image forming apparatus capable of suppressing power consumption can be provided.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording medium conveyance part 1a Sending side roll 1b Winding side roll 2 Encoder 3 Trigger detection sensor 4 Print unit 41 Print head 5 UV-LED lamp 6 Drive roller 7 Host PC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Control part 101 Head driver 102 Print head 103 Conveyance mechanism 104 Conveyance amount detection part 105 Position detection part 106 LED light source 107 Operation panel 108 Memory 109 Reading part 110 Image forming apparatus S1 Recording medium Z Color material adhesion area

Claims (17)

A color material attaching means for attaching the color material on the recording medium;
Medium conveying means for conveying the recording medium;
Color material fixing means for irradiating the color material adhering means with light for fixing the color material to the recording medium, which is disposed downstream of the recording medium in the conveying direction;
A reading unit disposed between the color material attaching unit and the color material fixing unit in a conveyance direction of the recording medium and capable of reading a color material adhering area formed at a predetermined position of the recording medium by the color material attaching unit; A predetermined position detecting means for detecting a predetermined position on the recording medium;
A conveyance amount detecting means that detect the conveyance amount of the recording medium conveyed by the medium conveying unit based on a predetermined position detection at the predetermined position detecting means,
A control unit that controls irradiation of the color material fixing unit based on a reading result of the reading unit and a conveyance amount detected by the conveyance amount detection unit ;
An image forming apparatus comprising: Before SL control unit, in the transport direction of the timing and the coloring material adhered area head position reaches the position opposed to the colorant fixing means in the transport direction of the coloring material deposited region formed in the previous Kiirozai attachment means The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein irradiation of the color material fixing unit is controlled at least at any one of timings at which the rear end position passes.   The control unit turns on the color material fixing unit before the leading position of the color material adhesion region of the recording medium reaches the position facing the color material fixing unit, and starts from the position facing the color material fixing unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the color material fixing unit is controlled to be turned off after a rear end position of the color material adhesion region has passed. The lighting start of the colorant fixing means by the control unit, the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the control in consideration of the activation time of the colorant fixing means. Distance information A from the predetermined position of the recording medium to the color material adhesion area in the recording medium conveyance direction detected by the conveyance amount detection means, width information B in the recording medium conveyance direction of the color material adhesion area, the predetermined At least one of the distance information C from the detection position of the position detection means to the color material fixing means, the width information D of the color material fixing means in the recording medium conveyance direction, and the start time information T of the color material fixing means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an input unit capable of inputting from the outside.   The input means, when forming a plurality of color material adhesion areas on a recording medium, the rear end position of the first color material adhesion area conveyed in advance and the subsequent conveyance following the first color material adhesion area. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when the information on the distance from the tip position of the second color material adhering area is E, the information E can be input from the outside. The colorant attachment means, wherein the conveying amount detecting means and the predetermined position detection means, to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that are unitized detachably attached to the medium conveying means The image forming apparatus described. The conveyance amount detection means includes a first counting means for counting a signal output at a predetermined period in synchronization with the conveyance based on a first predetermined position detection of the recording medium, and a first predetermined position of the recording medium. the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that a second counting means for counting independently from the first counting means based on the detection. A plurality of the color material adhering means is provided for each color material, and is configured as a print unit together with the predetermined position detecting means, and the print unit and the single color material fixing means arranged at a predetermined position are connected. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an ultraviolet light is irradiated using an LED light source as the color material fixing unit. Is the coloring material fixing means arranged in the conveying direction and straight intersects the width direction of the recording medium formed of a plurality of the light emitting portion, wherein, among the plurality of luminous portions, image width length of the width direction The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein only the light emitting unit at a position corresponding to the height is lit. In the case where a plurality of color material adhering areas are formed by the color material adhering means, the control unit is arranged in the first color material adhering area even after the rear end position of the first color material adhering area conveyed in advance is passed. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the lighting is controlled to continue until a timing at which the leading position of the second color material adhering region conveyed subsequently is reached.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls an irradiation amount of the color material fixing unit according to a printing speed.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls an irradiation amount of the color material fixing unit according to an output resolution of an image to be formed. The transport amount detection means includes an encoder,
15. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls to turn off the color material fixing unit when it is detected that an encoder pulse output from the encoder has a predetermined period or more. The image forming apparatus described in the item. The adherence of coloring material means, according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that a jet head ink ejection nozzles are formed for ejecting photocurable ink cured by irradiating light Image forming apparatus. The color material adhering means is formed by arranging a plurality of discharge nozzles for discharging a color material over the entire area in the width direction of the recording medium orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium. the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein it is imageable single pass inkjet printer.

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