JP6199084B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that includes a stage that supports a print medium and a droplet discharge head that discharges droplets onto the print medium supported by the stage.

  A printing apparatus generally includes a stage that supports a printing medium and a droplet discharge head that discharges droplets. The droplet discharge head has a plurality of discharge holes that discharge droplets. Yes. The plurality of ejection holes are usually arranged side by side in a predetermined direction, and droplets are ejected from the plurality of ejection holes, thereby printing a plurality of dots on the print medium. Is done. The plurality of dots are printed so as to extend in the arrangement direction of the plurality of ejection holes, and a linear print pattern is formed by the plurality of dots. In other words, a straight line is printed on the print medium so as to extend in the arrangement direction of the plurality of ejection holes by ejecting the droplets from the droplet ejection head. On the other hand, when printing a linear print pattern (hereinafter sometimes referred to as an “inclined pattern”) inclined with respect to a straight line extending in the arrangement direction of the plurality of ejection holes, it will be described in detail later. As described above, it is necessary to perform a printing process while moving at least one of the droplet discharge head and the stage, and there is a possibility that printing cannot be performed appropriately. For this reason, as described in the following patent document, it is conceivable to rotate the droplet discharge head around an axis perpendicular to the print medium. By rotating the droplet discharge head, it is possible to change the arrangement direction of the plurality of discharge holes and appropriately print the inclined pattern.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-234811

  According to the printing apparatus described in the above-mentioned patent document, by rotating the droplet discharge head around the axis, it is possible to change the arrangement direction of the plurality of discharge holes and appropriately print the inclined pattern. However, for example, when printing a plurality of inclined patterns on a print medium, it is necessary to frequently adjust the position of the droplet discharge head and the stage, which may reduce productivity. The detailed description will be given later with reference to the drawings. Briefly, when the droplet discharge head moves on the stage, the arrangement direction of the plurality of discharge holes and the movement direction of the droplet discharge head are usually , Become a right angle. For this reason, the print width in the moving direction of the print pattern printed in this state is the same as the width that can be printed by the droplet discharge head. On the other hand, when the arrangement direction of the plurality of ejection holes changes due to the rotation of the droplet ejection head, the arrangement direction of the plurality of ejection holes and the moving direction of the droplet ejection head do not become perpendicular. For this reason, the print width in the moving direction of the print pattern printed in this state is narrower than the width that can be printed by the droplet discharge head. That is, if the droplet discharge head is rotated, the width that can be printed by the droplet discharge head cannot be used effectively, and the position adjustment between the droplet discharge head and the stage is frequently performed when printing multiple inclined patterns. Productivity decreases. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that can appropriately print an inclined pattern without reducing productivity.

In order to solve the above-described problem, in the printing apparatus according to claim 1 of the present application, a stage that supports a printing medium and a plurality of ejection holes that eject droplets to the printing medium supported by the stage have a predetermined direction. A droplet discharge head formed side by side, a moving device that relatively moves the stage and the droplet discharge head at least in a direction crossing the predetermined direction, and a droplet discharge head by the droplet discharge head A pattern acquisition unit comprising: a rotation device that rotates the stage around an axis extending in the discharge direction; and a control device that controls the operation of the rotation device, and the control device acquires a print pattern to be printed on a print medium. And at least a part of the print pattern acquired by the pattern acquisition unit is composed of one or more linear portions, A calculation unit that calculates an angle formed with a straight line extending in a predetermined direction; and a stage rotation control unit that rotates the stage based on the angle calculated by the calculation unit. A device that rotates the stage to a set angle that is a plurality of angles set in a stepwise manner with respect to a preset direction, and the control device is configured by the arithmetic unit from among the plurality of set angles. A setting angle extraction unit that extracts two setting angles, a maximum angle less than the calculated angle and a minimum angle exceeding the angle calculated by the calculation unit; and the stage rotation control unit extracts the set angle each of the two setting angles that have been extracted by section, characterized in that it comprises a Rukoto rotating the stage.

In the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, the stage is rotatable around an axis extending in the droplet discharge direction. Thereby, it is possible to change the arrangement direction of the plurality of ejection holes with respect to the print medium, and it is possible to appropriately print the inclined pattern. Further, by rotating the stage, the moving direction when the droplet discharge head moves on the stage and the arrangement direction of the plurality of discharge holes are maintained at a right angle. Accordingly, it is possible to effectively use the width that can be printed by the droplet discharge head, and it is possible to increase the productivity when printing a plurality of inclined patterns. In the printing apparatus according to claim 1, when a print pattern scheduled to be printed on the print medium is acquired and at least a part of the print pattern is configured by one or more linear portions, one or more straight lines are obtained. An angle formed between each of the sections and a preset straight line is calculated. Then, the rotation of the stage is controlled based on the calculated angle. As a result, even a complicatedly shaped print pattern can be printed appropriately. Furthermore, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, the stage is rotated to a set angle which is a plurality of angles set stepwise by the rotating device. In addition, two set angles, a maximum angle less than the calculated angle and a minimum angle exceeding the calculated angle, are extracted from the plurality of set angles, and become each of the two extracted set angles. Thus, the rotation of the stage is controlled. As a result, even when the stage cannot be rotated at the calculated angle, it is possible to print a print having a shape approximate to the print pattern to be printed on the print medium.

1 is a perspective view showing a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control apparatus with which a printing apparatus is provided. It is a top view which shows the circuit board on which the circuit pattern was printed. It is a top view which shows the circuit board on which the circuit pattern was printed. It is a top view which shows the printing apparatus which rotated any one of the discharge head and the stage. It is a figure which shows an example of a circuit pattern. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an intermediate process when the circuit pattern illustrated in FIG. 6 is printed. It is a block diagram which shows the control apparatus with which the printing apparatus of a modification is provided. It is a figure which shows an example of a circuit pattern. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an intermediate process when the circuit pattern illustrated in FIG. 9 is printed.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments and modifications of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as modes for carrying out the present invention.

<Configuration of printing device>
FIG. 1 shows a printing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The printing apparatus 10 is an apparatus for printing a circuit pattern on the circuit board 12. The printing apparatus 10 includes a stage 20, a discharge head 22, a stage moving device (see FIG. 2) 24, and a stage rotating device (see FIG. 2) 26.

  The stage 20 supports the circuit board 12 and includes a fixed plate 30 and a rotating plate 32. The rotating plate 32 is stacked on the fixed plate 30, and the circuit board 12 is placed on the upper surface of the rotating plate 32. A shaft (not shown) extending in the vertical direction between the fixed plate 30 and the rotating plate 32 is provided at the center of the fixed plate 30 and the rotating plate 32. Rotate around that axis.

  The discharge head 22 is an ink jet type discharge head, and discharges conductive ink, specifically, a silver nanoparticle paste. Specifically, the ejection head 22 is fixed to the casing of the printing apparatus 10 so as to face the circuit board 12 supported by the stage 20. A plurality of nozzle holes 36 for discharging conductive ink are formed on the lower surface of the discharge head 22, and the plurality of nozzle holes 36 are arranged to extend in a predetermined direction. Then, in accordance with the electric signal, the conductive ink is ejected from the plurality of nozzle holes 36 by using the piezoelectric element (see FIG. 2) 38 or the vapor bubble caused by heat as a driving source. The discharge direction of the conductive ink is the vertical direction of the circuit board 12, that is, the rotating plate 32, and the conductive ink is dropped vertically on the circuit board 12. In the following description, a predetermined direction that is an arrangement direction of the plurality of nozzle holes 36 is referred to as an X-axis direction, and a horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction is referred to as a Y-axis direction.

  The stage moving device 24 is an XY robot type moving device, and moves the stage 20 to an arbitrary position on the base (not shown) of the printing apparatus 10. Specifically, the stage moving device 24 includes an electromagnetic motor (see FIG. 2) 50 that slides the fixed plate 30 of the stage 20 in the X-axis direction on the base, and an electromagnetic motor that slides the fixed plate 30 on the base in the Y-axis direction. (See FIG. 2) 52, and the stage 20 is moved to an arbitrary position on the base by the operation of the two electromagnetic motors 50 and 52.

  The stage rotating device 26 has an electromagnetic motor (see FIG. 2) 58, and the rotating plate 32 rotates around the axis with respect to the fixed plate 30 by the operation of the electromagnetic motor 58. The electromagnetic motor 58 is a servo motor, and the rotation angle is stepless. That is, the rotating plate 32 rotates at an arbitrary angle with respect to the fixed plate 30.

  Further, the printing apparatus 10 includes a control device 70 as shown in FIG. The control device 70 includes a controller 72 and a plurality of drive circuits 74. The plurality of drive circuits 74 are connected to the piezoelectric element 38 and the electromagnetic motors 50, 52 and 58. On the other hand, the controller 72 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, mainly a computer, and is connected to a plurality of drive circuits 74. Thereby, the operation of the ejection head 22, the stage moving device 24, and the stage rotating device 26 is controlled by the controller 72.

<Printing circuit patterns by printing device>
With the configuration described above, in the printing apparatus 10, a circuit pattern is printed on the upper surface of the circuit board 12 by ejecting conductive ink by the ejection head 22. Specifically, for example, the conductive ink is simultaneously ejected from the plurality of nozzle holes 36 of the ejection head 22 while the stage 20 is stopped. Then, as shown in FIG. 3A, the plurality of dots 80 are printed on the circuit board 12 by the conductive ink ejected from the plurality of nozzle holes 36, and the plurality of dots 80 extend in the X-axis direction. A linear circuit pattern 82 is formed. The arrangement pitch of the plurality of nozzle holes 36, that is, the interval between two adjacent nozzle holes 36 among the plurality of nozzle holes 36 is Amm. For this reason, the printing pitch of the plurality of dots 80, that is, the interval between two adjacent dots 80 among the plurality of dots 80 is also Amm.

  Further, for example, by sequentially discharging the conductive ink from each nozzle hole 36 among the plurality of nozzle holes 36 of the discharge head 22 while moving the stage 20 in the Y-axis direction, FIG. As shown, it is possible to print a linear circuit pattern 82 that is inclined with respect to a straight line extending in the X-axis direction (hereinafter may be referred to as “an inclined line circuit pattern”). Specifically, the conductive ink is ejected from one nozzle hole 36 among the plurality of nozzle holes 36 with the stage 20 stopped. Then, after moving the stage 20 by a predetermined distance (for example, B mm) in the Y-axis direction, conductive ink is ejected from the nozzle hole 36 adjacent to the one nozzle hole 36. In this way, the circuit pattern 82 of the inclined line is printed on the circuit board 12 by repeatedly stopping and moving the stage 20 and discharging the conductive ink from one nozzle hole 36.

  However, when the inclined line circuit pattern 82 is printed by the above method, as shown in FIG. 3B, two adjacent dots 80 of the plurality of dots 80 are Amm, Y in the X-axis direction. Since the distance is B mm in the axial direction, the circuit pattern 82 may be disconnected. For this reason, in order to avoid the disconnection of the circuit pattern 82, it is conceivable to shorten the printing pitch of the plurality of dots 80. That is, as shown in FIG. 4A, the X-axis direction interval between two adjacent dots 80 among the plurality of dots 80 is a (<A) mm, and the Y-axis direction interval is b (<B). It can be considered to be mm. However, since the interval between the two adjacent nozzle holes 36 is Amm, in order to set the interval between the two adjacent dots 80 in the X-axis direction to amm, the circuit board 12, that is, the stage 20 is moved in the X-axis direction. It is necessary to move (Aa) mm. Furthermore, in order to set the distance between two adjacent dots 80 in the Y-axis direction to b mm, it is necessary to shorten the movement pitch of the stage 20 in the Y-axis direction. Thus, if the stage 20 is moved finely in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, the printing time becomes long and the productivity is lowered.

  Considering this, for example, it is conceivable to rotate the ejection head 22 around an axis perpendicular to the circuit board 12. When the ejection head 22 is rotated, as shown in FIG. 4B, the inclined line circuit pattern 82 is formed with the printing pitch of the plurality of dots 80 set to the arrangement pitch (Amm) of the plurality of nozzle holes 36. It is possible to print. However, when the circuit pattern 82 having a plurality of inclined lines is printed on the circuit board 12, it is necessary to frequently move the position of the stage 20, which may reduce productivity.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5A, when the circuit pattern 82 having two inclined lines is printed on the circuit board 12, the discharge head 22 rotated around the axis causes the two inclined lines to be printed. After printing one of the circuit patterns 82, the stage 20 is moved in the X-axis direction and in the Y-axis direction. In the drawing, the relative position of the ejection head 22 with respect to the stage 20 after the stage 20 has moved in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction is indicated by dotted lines. Then, the circuit pattern 82 of the other inclined line is printed at the position after the movement. As described above, when the circuit pattern 82 having a plurality of inclined lines is printed in a state where the ejection head 22 is rotated about the axis, the printing time becomes longer due to frequent movement of the stage 20 and productivity is lowered. .

  Therefore, in the printing apparatus 10, instead of rotating the ejection head 22 about the axis, the circuit board 12, that is, the stage 20 is rotated by the stage rotating apparatus 26, so that the circuit pattern 82 of the inclined line is changed to the circuit board. 12 is printed. Specifically, the operation of the stage rotating device 26 is controlled so that the direction in which the circuit pattern 82 to be printed on the circuit board 12 extends coincides with the X-axis direction, and the circuit board 12 is shown in FIG. Rotate like so. Then, at a predetermined position, one of the two inclined line circuit patterns 82 is printed by the ejection head 22. Next, the stage 20 is moved in the Y-axis direction by the stage moving device 24, and the circuit pattern 82 of the other inclined line is printed at the position after the movement. Thus, by rotating the circuit board 12, that is, the stage 20, it is possible to print a plurality of inclined line circuit patterns 82 on the circuit board 12 without moving the stage 20 in the X-axis direction. . As a result, the printing time can be shortened and the productivity can be increased.

  In the printing apparatus 10, the circuit pattern to be printed on the circuit board 12 is divided into a plurality of straight line portions and a portion having a shape other than the straight line, and printing is performed for each of the divided portions. Specifically, for example, a case where the circuit pattern 100 having the shape shown in FIG. 6 is a circuit pattern scheduled to be printed on the circuit board 12 will be described. First, the controller 72 acquires the circuit pattern 100 to be printed on the circuit board 12, and divides the circuit pattern 100 into a straight line portion and a portion having a shape other than the straight line. Specifically, the circuit pattern 100 is divided into six straight portions 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, 112 and a circular portion 114 in the controller 72. Then, an angle formed between each straight line portion 102 and the like and a straight line extending in the X-axis direction is calculated. At this time, the inclination angle of the straight portion 102 and the straight portion 108 with respect to the straight line extending in the X-axis direction is 0 °, and the inclination angle of the straight portion 106 and the straight portion 112 with respect to the straight line extending in the X-axis direction is 60 °. The inclination angle of the portion 104 and the straight portion 110 with respect to the straight line extending in the X-axis direction is 120 °.

  When the inclination angle of each linear portion 102 or the like is calculated, the circuit board 12 is rotated to the calculated inclination angle by the operation of the stage rotating device 26. Specifically, first, the circuit board 12 is rotated to 0 ° by the operation of the stage rotating device 26. That is, the circuit board 12 is placed on the stage 20 without rotating the stage 20. In the initial state, the circuit board 12 is placed on the stage 20 with the edge of the circuit board 12 extending in the X-axis direction or the Y-axis direction. Then, as shown in FIG. 7A, the two linear portions 102 and 108 constituting the circuit pattern 100 are printed on the circuit board 12 in this state by the ejection head 22.

  When the straight portions 102 and 108 are printed, the circuit board 12 is rotated 60 ° counterclockwise by the operation of the stage rotating device 26. That is, the circuit board 12 is rotated 60 ° counterclockwise from the circuit board 12 in the initial state. Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the two linear portions 106 and 112 constituting the circuit pattern 100 are printed by the ejection head 22 on the circuit board 12 in this state. Subsequently, the circuit board 12 is rotated 60 ° counterclockwise by the operation of the stage rotating device 26. That is, the circuit board 12 is in a state of being rotated 120 ° counterclockwise from the circuit board 12 in the initial state. Then, as shown in FIG. 7C, the two linear portions 104 and 110 constituting the circuit pattern 100 are printed on the circuit board 12 in this state by the ejection head 22.

  When the six straight portions 102 and the like are printed, the discharge head 22 moves above the scheduled print position of the circular portion 114 and is electrically conductive from one nozzle hole 36 among the plurality of nozzle holes 36 of the discharge head 22. Ink is discharged. At this time, the circuit board 12 is rotated 360 ° by the operation of the stage rotating device 26, that is, the circuit board 12 is rotated once. The discharge of the conductive ink from one nozzle hole 36 is continuously performed while the circuit board 12 is rotating. In this way, when the circuit board 12 is rotated, the conductive ink from one nozzle hole 36 is discharged, so that the circular portion 114 is printed on the circuit board 12 as shown in FIG. Is done. As a result, the circuit pattern 100 including the six straight portions 102 and the circular portions 114 is printed on the circuit board 12.

  The control device 70 of the printing apparatus 10 includes a pattern acquisition unit 120, a calculation unit 122, and a stage rotation control unit 124 as illustrated in FIG. The pattern acquisition unit 120 is a functional unit that acquires a circuit pattern scheduled to be printed on the circuit board 12. The computing unit 122 is a functional unit that computes an angle formed between each of the plurality of straight line portions constituting the circuit pattern and a straight line extending in the X-axis direction. The stage rotation control unit 124 is a functional unit that controls the operation of the stage rotation device 26 based on the angle calculated by the calculation unit 122.

<Modification>
In the printing apparatus 10 of the above-described embodiment, a servo motor is employed as a drive source for the stage rotating device 26, but a stepping motor can be employed. A printing apparatus that employs a stepping motor as a drive source for the stage rotation device 26 is shown in FIG. Since the printing apparatus 130 according to the modified example has the same configuration as that of the printing apparatus 10 except for the stage rotation apparatus 132, the same reference numerals are used for the same components as those of the printing apparatus 10, and the description thereof is omitted. Keep it simple.

  The stage rotating device 132 has a stepping motor 134, and the operation of the stepping motor 134 rotates the rotating plate 32 of the stage 20 around the axis with respect to the fixed plate 30. The stepping motor 134 is a motor that rotates every 20 °, and the circuit board 12 placed on the stage 20 rotates step by step with respect to the circuit board 12 in the initial state every 20 °. That is, the circuit board 12 rotates to an angle corresponding to a multiple of 20 ° by the operation of the stage rotating device 132.

  In the printing apparatus 130 according to the modified example, when the circuit pattern is printed, when the angle formed by the straight line portion of the circuit pattern and the straight line extending in the X-axis direction is an angle corresponding to a multiple of 20 °, A circuit pattern can be printed by a printing method similar to that of the printing apparatus 10. However, when the angle formed by the straight line portion of the circuit pattern and the straight line extending in the X-axis direction is not an angle corresponding to a multiple of 20 °, a circuit pattern approximate to the circuit pattern to be printed is printed.

  Specifically, for example, a case where the circuit pattern 140 having the shape shown in FIG. 9 is a circuit pattern scheduled to be printed on the circuit board 12 will be described. The circuit pattern 140 is a pattern composed of one straight line portion, and an angle formed by the straight line portion and a straight line extending in the X-axis direction is 50 °. That is, the controller 72 calculates the inclination angle of the straight line portion of the circuit pattern 140 as 50 °. Then, the controller 72 extracts two angles close to the calculated tilt angle (= 50 °) out of the rotation angle of the circuit board 12 by the stage rotating device 132, that is, an angle corresponding to a multiple of 20 °. The Specifically, from the angle corresponding to a multiple of 20 °, 40 ° which is the maximum angle less than 50 ° and 60 ° which is the minimum angle exceeding 50 ° are extracted.

  Then, the circuit board 12 rotates to each of two angles (40 ° and 60 °) extracted from the circuit board 12 in the initial state by the operation of the stage rotating device 132, and the circuit board 12 at each rotation angle. As a result, the circuit pattern approximate to the circuit pattern 140 to be printed is printed. Specifically, first, the circuit board 12 is rotated by 40 ° from the circuit board 12 in the initial state as shown in FIG. Then, two linear portions 144 and 146 are printed by the ejection head 22 on the circuit board 12 rotated by 40 ° from the initial state. In the drawing, the ejection head 22 when printing the straight line portion 144 is indicated by a solid line, and the discharge head 22 when printing the straight line portion 146 is indicated by a dotted line.

  Next, the circuit board 12 is rotated by 60 ° from the circuit board 12 in the initial state as shown in FIG. Then, two linear portions 148 and 150 are printed by the ejection head 22 on the circuit board 12 rotated by 60 ° from the initial state. Incidentally, the linear portion 148 is printed so that both end portions thereof coincide with one end portion of the linear portion 144 and one end portion of the linear portion 146. Further, the straight line portion 150 is printed so that one end portion thereof coincides with the other end portion of the straight line portion 146. In the drawing, the ejection head 22 when printing the linear portion 148 is indicated by a solid line, and the ejection head 22 when printing the linear portion 150 is indicated by a dotted line.

  By printing the four straight portions 144 and the like on the circuit board 12 by the above method, the circuit pattern 152 approximate to the circuit pattern 140 to be printed is formed by the four straight portions 144 and the like. As described above, in the printing apparatus 130, when the circuit board 12 cannot be rotated at the calculated inclination angle, that is, when the extending direction of the circuit pattern 140 to be printed cannot match the X-axis direction. Even so, it is possible to form the circuit pattern 152 approximate to the circuit pattern 140.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the control device 70 of the printing apparatus 130 includes a set angle extraction unit 160 in addition to the pattern acquisition unit 120, the calculation unit 122, and the stage rotation control unit 124. The set angle extraction unit 160 is a functional unit that extracts two angles close to the calculated tilt angle from the angles at which the circuit board 12 can be rotated.

  Incidentally, in the above-described embodiments and modifications, the printing apparatuses 10 and 130 are examples of printing apparatuses. The circuit board 12 is an example of a print medium. The stage 20 is an example of a stage. The ejection head 22 is an example of a droplet ejection head. The stage moving device 24 is an example of a moving device. The stage rotation devices 26 and 132 are an example of a rotation device. The nozzle hole 36 is an example of a discharge hole. The control device 70 is an example of a control device. The pattern acquisition unit 120 is an example of a pattern acquisition unit. The calculation unit 122 is an example of a calculation unit. The stage rotation control unit 124 is an example of a stage rotation control unit. The set angle extraction unit 160 is an example of a set angle extraction unit.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example and modification, It is possible to implement in the various aspect which gave various change and improvement based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Specifically, for example, in the above-described embodiments and modifications, the stage 20 is configured to move in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, but the ejection head 22 is moved in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. It can be configured to move. Further, the stage 20 can be moved in one of the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and the ejection head 22 can be moved in the other of the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.

  In the above-described embodiments and modifications, conductive ink is used as the discharged liquid, but various liquids can be used. Specifically, for example, it is possible to employ ink capable of printing a resin pattern, dye-based ink, pigment-based ink, and the like. Furthermore, the print medium is not limited to a circuit board, and various print media can be employed. Specifically, for example, a substrate having a chip, paper, or the like can be employed.

10: Printing device 12: Circuit board (printing medium) 20: Stage 22: Discharge head (droplet discharge head) 24: Stage moving device (moving device) 26: Stage rotating device (rotating device) 36: Nozzle hole (discharging hole) 70: Control device 120: Pattern acquisition unit 122: Calculation unit 124: Stage rotation control unit 130: Printing device 132: Stage rotation device (rotation device) 160: Set angle extraction unit

Claims (1)

A stage for supporting the print medium;
A droplet discharge head in which a plurality of discharge holes for discharging droplets to a printing medium supported by the stage are formed side by side in a predetermined direction;
A moving device that relatively moves the stage and the droplet discharge head in a direction intersecting at least the predetermined direction;
A rotating device that rotates the stage around an axis extending in a droplet discharge direction by the droplet discharge head ;
A control device for controlling the operation of the rotating device ,
The control device is
A pattern acquisition unit for acquiring a print pattern to be printed on a print medium;
When at least a part of the print pattern acquired by the pattern acquisition unit is configured by one or more linear portions, an angle formed between each of the one or more linear portions and a straight line extending in a preset direction is set. A computing unit for computing,
A stage rotation control unit that rotates the stage based on the angle calculated by the calculation unit;
Have
The rotating device is
An apparatus for rotating the stage to a set angle that is a plurality of angles set stepwise with respect to the preset direction;
The control device is
A setting angle extraction unit that extracts two setting angles, a maximum angle less than the angle calculated by the calculation unit and a minimum angle exceeding the angle calculated by the calculation unit, from the plurality of set angles. And
The stage rotation control unit is
Each of the two setting angles that have been extracted by said setting angle extracting unit, the printing apparatus according to claim Rukoto rotating the stage.

Images