JP6241078B2 - Printer and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer that performs flushing by retracting an inkjet head from a recording medium, and a control method thereof.

  In a printer that prints by ejecting ink toward the recording paper, apart from the operation of ejecting ink onto the recording medium, the inkjet head is moved to the maintenance mechanism at a predetermined timing to cover the nozzle surface with the head cap. By performing flushing to eject ink toward the nozzle, clogging of the nozzles of the inkjet head is prevented or eliminated. Ink discharged by flushing is accumulated in the head cap. When the remaining amount of ink in the head cap exceeds a reference amount, the maintenance mechanism sucks the ink in the head cap and discharges it as waste ink. Patent Document 1 discloses a printer (inkjet recording apparatus) provided with this type of maintenance mechanism.

JP 2006-95820 A

  In a serial head type ink jet printer, printing is performed by ejecting ink while scanning the ink jet head in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the recording medium transported on the platen. In this case, since the inkjet head can be moved to the maintenance mechanism arranged adjacent to the platen for each pass of the printing operation, the throughput is reduced even if flushing is performed in the middle of the printed page. Few.

  In contrast, in a line head type ink jet printer, printing is performed by ejecting ink in synchronization with a recording medium transport operation passing between the platen and the ink jet head while the ink jet head is stopped on the platen. . In this case, since it is not necessary to move the inkjet head during printing, when performing flushing in the middle of a printed page, an extra operation of moving the inkjet head to the maintenance mechanism must be performed. Therefore, there is a problem that throughput is greatly reduced when flushing is performed in the middle of a printed page.

  Inkjet printers prevent clogging of nozzles that are infrequently used by performing flushing periodically, but if flushing is performed at regular intervals, depending on the contents of the print data, flushing may occur in the middle of the page. The timing will come. Therefore, in the line head type ink jet printer, flushing is performed in the middle of the page, and the throughput is greatly reduced. In order to avoid this, it is conceivable to perform control so that flushing is performed at a page break timing. However, if regular flushing is performed every time a page is separated, the flushing interval is shortened and ink consumption is unnecessarily increased.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to suppress a decrease in throughput and an unnecessary increase in ink consumption due to regular flushing in a line head type printer and its control method.

In order to solve the above problems, a printer according to the present invention is a maintenance that includes an inkjet head that ejects ink onto a recording medium, a transport mechanism that transports the recording medium, and a head cap that receives ink ejected from the inkjet head. receiving a mechanism, a head moving mechanism for moving the ink jet head between a position facing the printing position and the maintenance mechanism for ejecting ink to the recording medium at the time of flushing for ejecting ink, the print data, the flushing after it runs on the basis of the elapsed time of the page to the delimiter of the print data and the reference time and the preset determines whether to perform the following the full flushing, and a control unit for controlling the flushing It is characterized by that.

  Further, the printer control method of the present invention performs flushing for ejecting ink to the head cap, and calculates the elapsed time until the page break of the print data when performing printing after the flushing is performed. Based on the elapsed time and a preset reference time, it is determined whether or not to perform the flushing after printing is performed up to the page break of the print data.

  As described above, the printer and the control method thereof according to the present invention can determine whether or not to perform flushing by calculating the elapsed time until the page break in the print data, so that the flushing interval is set in the middle of the page. It is possible to avoid the elapse of a certain reference time, and to perform flushing at a page break timing that is an interval equal to or less than a preset reference time. In this way, by performing flushing at a page break timing that is an interval equal to or less than the reference time, even when print control is performed in units of pages, nozzle clogging is prevented and throughput reduction during printing is suppressed. Is possible. Further, since the flushing can be performed at the page break timing close to the reference time, it is possible to prevent the flushing from being performed at an unnecessarily short interval. In addition, wasteful consumption of ink can be suppressed.

  In the present invention, the control unit causes the flushing to be executed at a time interval shorter than the reference time. In this way, nozzle clogging can be prevented more reliably.

Further, in the present invention, the control unit, based on the page length of the page after the page length and the pagination of the previous page of the page break, it is desirable to determine whether to execute the flushing. Based on the page length, it can be determined whether or not the next page can be printed within the reference time. Therefore, flushing can be performed at an appropriate timing, a decrease in throughput during printing can be suppressed, and wasteful consumption of ink can be suppressed.

Here, in the present invention, the control unit controls the execution of the idle suction for discharging the ink from the head cap, when executing the air-suction, it is desirable to determine whether to execute the flushing . Periodic idle suction is performed in parallel with flushing. However, if it takes a long time to perform periodic idle suction, the flushing determination is performed when periodic idle suction is executed, so that flushing is performed during the printing of the next page. It is possible to prevent the reference time from being exceeded. Therefore, clogging of the nozzle can be prevented. In addition, unnecessary flushing after the regular idle suction can be avoided, so that wasteful consumption of ink can be suppressed.

  In the present invention, the dimension of the ink jet head in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium is larger than the dimension of the print area of the recording medium in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium. As described above, when a line head type inkjet head is used, since print control is performed in units of pages, it is possible to prevent clogging of the nozzles and suppress a decrease in throughput during printing. Can be suppressed.

  According to the present invention, since it is possible to determine whether or not to perform flushing by calculating the elapsed time until the page break in the print data, the reference time set as the flushing execution interval elapses in the middle of the page. This can be avoided, and flushing can be executed at the timing of page breaks at intervals equal to or shorter than a preset reference time. Therefore, even when printing control is performed in units of pages, it is possible to prevent nozzle clogging and to suppress a decrease in throughput during printing. Further, since the flushing can be performed at the page break timing close to the reference time, it is possible to prevent the flushing from being performed at an unnecessarily short interval. In addition, wasteful consumption of ink can be suppressed.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating an overall configuration of a printer according to an embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically an inkjet head, a head moving mechanism, a platen, and a maintenance mechanism. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the control system of a printer. It is a flowchart of execution timing control of regular flushing. It is a flowchart of execution timing control of regular flushing when regular idle suction is performed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a printer to which the present invention is applied and a control method thereof will be described with reference to the drawings.

(overall structure)
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the overall configuration of the printer according to this embodiment. The inkjet printer 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as “printer 1”) performs printing on a recording paper P (recording medium) using a plurality of types of color inks. The printer 1 passes a roll paper loading unit 3 for loading the roll paper 2, a platen 4 disposed on the printer front side of the roll paper loading unit 3, and a recording paper P drawn from the roll paper 2 via the platen 4. A transport mechanism 6 that transports the recording paper in a forward and reverse direction along the recording paper transport path 5.

  The transport mechanism 6 includes a feeding roller 7, a transport roller pair 8, a paper feed motor 9, and the like. The recording paper P drawn from the roll paper 2 loaded in the roll paper loading unit 3 is drawn around the feed roller 7 and drawn to the front side of the printer, and then the transport roller arranged on the back side of the printer of the platen 4. It is set so as to pass through the platen 4 via the pair 8. The conveyance roller pair 8 includes a driving roller 8a that contacts the recording paper P from below and a driven roller 8b that contacts the driving roller 8a from above. A paper feed motor 9 that rotates the driving roller 8a in the forward and reverse directions is disposed below the conveying roller pair 8.

  The printer 1 includes a carriage 10, a line head type inkjet head 11 mounted on the carriage 10, an ink cartridge mounting unit 12 on which an ink cartridge that supplies ink to the inkjet head 11 is mounted, and maintenance of the inkjet head 11. A maintenance mechanism 13 (see FIG. 2) is provided, and an inkjet head 11 and a head moving mechanism 14 (see FIG. 2) that moves the carriage 10 on which the inkjet head 11 is mounted.

  The carriage 10 and the inkjet head 11 are arranged above the platen 4. On the other hand, an ink cartridge mounting portion 12 is disposed below the platen 4. The ink cartridge mounting unit 12 is mounted with an ink cartridge that stores ink of four colors, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. When an ink cartridge is mounted on the ink cartridge mounting unit 12, an ink supply pump mechanism (not shown) and an ink tank of the ink cartridge are connected via an ink supply pipe (not shown).

  2A and 2B are explanatory views schematically showing the inkjet head 11, the head moving mechanism 14, the platen 4, and the maintenance mechanism 13. FIG. 2A is an explanatory view showing a planar configuration, and FIG. 2B is a view from the front side of the printer. It is explanatory drawing which shows a structure. In addition, illustration of the platen 4 is abbreviate | omitted in Fig.2 (a). The inkjet head 11 is formed with an ink nozzle row that ejects ink of each color of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. As shown in FIG. 2A, the inkjet head 11 is formed wider than the recording paper P, and the ink nozzle rows are arranged in an area having a width that can cover the entire printing area of the recording paper P. As shown in FIG. 2B, the ink jet head 11 is mounted on the carriage 10 with the nozzle surface 11a facing downward. The carriage 10 holds the inkjet head 11 at such a height that a gap having a preset size is formed between the nozzle surface 11 a and the platen 4.

  The maintenance mechanism 13 is disposed on the lower side of the platen 4 and at a position away from the recording paper conveyance path 5 in the width direction. The head moving mechanism 14 reciprocates the inkjet head 11 in a range from a printing position A facing the platen 4 to a maintenance position B facing the maintenance mechanism 13 (a position indicated by a broken line in FIGS. 2A and 2B). Let At the printing position A, the ink jet head 11 is in a lateral orientation in which the longitudinal direction is directed in a direction intersecting with the conveyance direction of the recording paper P. On the other hand, at the maintenance position B, the inkjet head 11 is in a posture rotated 90 degrees from the posture at the printing position A, and is in a vertical posture in which the longitudinal direction is directed to the transport direction.

  The head moving mechanism 14 includes a support shaft 15 that extends in the vertical direction of the printer outside the width direction of the platen 4, a carriage motor 16 (see FIG. 3) that rotates the carriage 10 in the forward and reverse directions around the support shaft 15. . The support shaft 15 is attached to one end of the carriage 10. The control unit 20 (see FIG. 3) of the printer 1 controls the rotation of the carriage motor 16 to rotate the carriage 10 about the support shaft 15, so that the print position A and the print position A are counterclockwise. The carriage 10 is moved in the range up to the maintenance position B rotated 90 degrees around. The head moving mechanism 14 is not limited to such a configuration, and may have another configuration.

  The maintenance mechanism 13 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole. As shown in FIG. 2B, a head cap 17 is disposed at the upper end of the maintenance mechanism 13, and a head cap raising / lowering mechanism for raising and lowering the head cap 17 in the vertical direction of the printer is incorporated below the head cap 17. It is. When the inkjet head 11 is moved to the maintenance position B and the head cap 17 is raised, the nozzle cap 11 a of the inkjet head 11 is capped by the head cap 17. In this state, ink discharge operation (flushing) into the head cap 17 or ink suction operation from the head cap 17 side is performed as necessary. The maintenance mechanism 13 includes a wiper (not shown), and can wipe the nozzle surface 11a. When printing on the recording paper P, the head cap 17 and the wiper are retracted downward, and then the inkjet head 11 is moved to the printing position A.

  A waste ink tube (not shown) is connected to the head cap 17, and a tube pump is connected to the waste ink tube. An ink absorbing material 17 a is held in the head cap 17, and ink discharged or sucked from the inkjet head 11 toward the head cap 17 is held by the ink absorbing material 17 a and accumulated in the head cap 17. When the ink is sucked by the tube pump, the ink passes through the waste ink tube and is collected in the waste ink storage portion of the ink cartridge attached to the ink cartridge attachment portion 12.

  A conductive material (not shown) is attached to the head cap 17 so as to be electrically connected to the ink absorbing material 17a. The electrical signal that has flowed through the conductive material is taken out by wiring or the like and input to the control unit 20 (see FIG. 3) of the printer 1. Charged ink is ejected from the nozzle on the nozzle surface 11a facing the head cap 17, and a signal of current change that occurs when the ejected ink droplets land on the ink absorbing material 17a can be detected. If this signal is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value even though ink is ejected from the nozzle, it can be determined that the nozzle is defective in ejection. In this manner, by ejecting ink into the head cap 17, it is possible to perform a dot missing inspection that detects the position and number of defective nozzles on the nozzle surface 11a.

(Control system)
FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing a control system of the printer 1. The control system of the printer 1 is mainly configured by a control unit 20 having a storage area such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The control unit 20 is connected to the host device 21 and receives print data and commands from the host device 21. The control unit 20 supplies control signals to the transport mechanism 6, the inkjet head 11, the maintenance mechanism 13, the head moving mechanism 14, and the like based on the received print data and commands, and controls each unit of the printer 1.

  When printing the print data received from the host device 21, the control unit 20 drives the head moving mechanism 14 to position the inkjet head 11 at the print position A and stop it. In this state, the transport mechanism 6 and the inkjet head 11 are driven based on the print data, and an ink ejection operation is performed every time the recording paper P is transported by a predetermined pitch. Further, when the printing is completed, the control unit 20 retracts the inkjet head 11 to the maintenance position B that is removed from the platen 4 and makes the inkjet head 11 stand by at the maintenance position B.

  In addition, as a maintenance operation for preventing or eliminating clogging of the nozzles of the inkjet head 11, the control unit 20 performs regular flushing that periodically ejects ink from the inkjet head 11 to the head cap 17. When performing regular flushing, the control unit 20 drives the head moving mechanism 14 to position the inkjet head 11 at the maintenance position B and stop it. Then, ink is ejected to the head cap 17.

(Periodic flushing execution timing control)
In this embodiment, since the inkjet head 11 is a line head type, the control unit 20 performs print control of print data in units of pages. Further, the control unit 20 controls the execution of the regular flushing in parallel with the printing operation, and the regular flushing is performed so that the flushing can be performed at a predetermined frequency while printing the print data in units of pages. Control the execution timing of. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the flushing is performed at intervals equal to or less than the preset reference time T as the execution condition of the regular flushing.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart of execution timing control for periodic flushing. The control unit 20 performs the regular flushing execution determination in step S1 when printing the print data, at the start of printing, and at the page break timing of the print data. The control unit 20 measures an elapsed time t from the previous flushing to the current time (print start time or page break timing), and the periodic flushing execution determination is performed based on the elapsed time t. Is called. For example, the remaining time Δt = T−t until the timing at which the next flushing should be performed is calculated, and if Δt is equal to or greater than a reference value (for example, 1 / 2T), it is determined that the next page can be printed ( Step S1: Yes), the process proceeds to Step S2. On the other hand, if Δt is less than the reference value, it is determined that flushing is necessary before the next page is printed (step S1: No), and the process proceeds to step S3. The reference value may be a value other than 1 / 2T.

  When the process proceeds to step S2, the control unit 20 performs printing for one page based on the print data. When printing for one page is completed, the process returns to step S1. When the process proceeds to step S3, the control unit 20 positions the inkjet head 11 at the maintenance position B, and then performs a predetermined ink discharge operation (flushing). Subsequently, the inkjet head 11 is positioned at the printing position A. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S2 to print one page. The control unit 20 repeats this control until printing of all pages of the print data is completed.

  Here, the regular flushing execution determination in step S1 can be performed based on the elapsed time t and the print contents of the next page. For example, when performing the regular flushing execution determination at the page break timing, the control unit 20 determines the page length of the next page based on the print data. Then, based on the elapsed time t, the remaining time Δt = T−t until the timing at which the next flushing is to be performed is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the next page can be printed with the remaining time Δt. To do. In this way, even when pages with various page lengths are continuously printed, flushing can be performed at intervals equal to or less than a preset reference time T.

  Even if the page length is the same, the printing time is different if the printing resolution is different. Therefore, the control unit 20 can calculate the required printing time based on the print contents of the next page, and can perform the regular flushing execution determination based on the calculated required printing time and the elapsed time t. In this way, regular flushing can be carried out more reliably at intervals equal to or less than a preset reference time T.

(Periodic flushing execution timing control when regular idle suction is performed)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of execution timing control of periodic flushing when regular idle suction is performed. Waste ink accumulated in the head cap 17 by a maintenance operation such as flushing is sucked by the tube pump and discharged from the head cap 17. The control unit 20 monitors the waste ink amount of the head cap 17 based on the ink discharge amount by flushing or the like, and sucks the waste ink of the head cap 17 before the waste ink amount exceeds the holding limit amount of the head cap 17. Then, perform regular idle suction. Here, when the time required for regular idle suction is long, nozzle clogging may occur during regular idle suction. Therefore, when performing regular flushing in parallel with regular idle suction, it is desirable to determine whether to perform regular flushing at the timing when regular idle suction ends. In the following, a description will be given of the control when performing regular idle suction and regular flushing during printing.

  In FIG. 5, the control in steps S1 to S3 is as described above. After executing flushing in step S3, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S4, and determines the necessity of regular idle suction based on the amount of waste ink accumulated in the head cap 17. When the accumulated amount of waste ink is equal to or greater than the retention limit amount (step S4: Yes), the process proceeds to step S5, and regular idle suction is performed. On the other hand, if the accumulated amount of waste ink is less than the retention limit amount (step S4: No), the process returns to step S1.

  In step S <b> 5, the control unit 20 monitors the elapsed time t from the time when the previous flushing is performed, in parallel with the regular idle suction. If the elapsed time t = the reference time T before the regular idle suction is completed, the flushing is performed in parallel while the regular idle suction is performed. Then, when the regular idle suction is completed, the process returns to step S1, and the regular flushing execution determination is performed again. In this way, when the execution of flushing is determined when the regular idle suction is executed, clogging of the nozzle can be prevented even when the regular idle suction is being performed. In addition, since flushing after regular idle suction can be performed when necessary, it is possible to prevent flushing from being performed at unnecessarily short intervals.

  Further, in the printer 1, after the flushing is performed, a missing dot inspection is performed to inspect the recovery status of the nozzles. For example, as described above, the dot dropout inspection can be performed based on the current change when the ink has landed in the head cap 17. Therefore, when the time required for dot dropout inspection is long, it is desirable to perform periodic flushing in parallel with dot dropout inspection and perform periodic flushing execution determination after dot dropout inspection, as in the case of performing periodic idle suction. . That is, during the dot dropout inspection, the elapsed time t from the previous flushing is monitored as in the case of performing the regular idle suction. If the elapsed time t = the reference time T before the dot missing inspection is completed, flushing is performed at that timing without waiting for the dot missing inspection to end. Then, the dot missing inspection may be resumed after the flushing is performed, and the periodic flushing execution determination may be performed again after the dot missing inspection is completed. In this way, nozzle clogging can be prevented even when dot missing inspection is performed. In addition, since flushing after dot missing inspection can be performed when necessary, it is possible to prevent flushing from being performed at unnecessarily short intervals.

  As described above, the printer 1 and its control method perform flushing execution determination at the page break timing in the print data during printing. Then, it is avoided that the reference time T set as the regular flushing execution interval elapses in the middle of the page being printed, and the flushing is performed at the timing of the page break immediately before. Specifically, it is determined whether or not to perform flushing by calculating the elapsed time t until the page break in the print data, and that the reference time T set as the flushing execution interval elapses in the middle of the page. In order to avoid this, flushing is performed at the timing of page breaks with an interval less than the reference time. In this way, by performing flushing at a page break timing that is an interval equal to or less than the reference time T, even when print control is performed in units of pages, nozzle clogging is prevented and throughput reduction during printing is suppressed. It becomes possible. Further, since the flushing can be performed at the page break timing close to the reference time T, the flushing can be prevented from being performed at an unnecessarily short interval. In addition, wasteful consumption of ink can be suppressed.

  In the above embodiment, the regular flushing execution determination is performed at the page break timing. However, it is possible to calculate the time required for printing all pages in advance based on the print data. Therefore, in the regular flushing execution determination performed before the start of printing, it may be determined at which page break timing of the print data the regular flushing is performed. For example, execution of flushing can be determined based on the page length of the page immediately before the page break and the page length of the page immediately after the page break.

  Moreover, although the said form has applied this invention to the printer 1 provided with the line head type inkjet head 11, this invention is applicable also to the printer of the other system which performs printing control per page.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inkjet printer (printer), 2 ... Roll paper, 3 ... Roll paper loading part, 4 ... Platen, 5 ... Recording paper conveyance path, 6 ... Conveyance mechanism, 7 ... Feeding roller, 8 ... Conveyance roller pair, 8a ... Drive Roller, 8b ... driven roller, 9 ... paper feed motor, 10 ... carriage, 11 ... inkjet head, 11a ... nozzle surface, 12 ... ink cartridge mounting part, 13 ... maintenance mechanism, 14 ... head moving mechanism, 15 ... spindle, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 16 ... Carriage motor, 17 ... Head cap, 17a ... Ink absorber, 20 ... Control part, 21 ... Host apparatus, A ... Printing position, B ... Maintenance position, P ... Recording paper (recording medium)

Claims (8)

An inkjet head that ejects ink onto a recording medium;
A transport mechanism for transporting the recording medium;
A maintenance mechanism comprising a head cap for receiving ink ejected from the inkjet head during flushing for ejecting ink;
A head moving mechanism for moving the inkjet head between a printing position for discharging ink to the recording medium and a position facing the maintenance mechanism;
Control whether the next flushing is executed or not based on the elapsed time from the reception of the print data and the execution of the flushing until the page break of the print data and a preset reference time. A control unit,
I have a,
Further, the control unit
Controlling the execution of empty suction for discharging ink from the head cap;
In parallel with the execution of the empty suction, the elapsed time from the previous flushing is monitored,
A printer characterized by determining whether or not to perform flushing . The said control part performs the said flushing during execution of the said idle suction.
printer. The controller is
Printer according to claim 1 or 2 to execute the flushing at a time interval shorter than the reference time. The controller is
The printer according to claim 3 , wherein the flushing is determined based on a page length of the page before the page break and a page length of the page after the page break. The controller is
Control the missing dot inspection to inspect the recovery status of the nozzle after the flushing,
In parallel with the execution of the missing dot inspection, the elapsed time from the previous flushing is monitored.
The printer according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not to perform the flushing. Wherein the dimension in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the recording medium of the ink-jet head, any one of claims 1 to 5 is greater than the dimension in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the recording medium of the printing area in the recording medium Printer. Perform flushing to eject ink to the head cap,
When executing printing after executing the flushing, the elapsed time until the page break of the print data is calculated,
Based on the calculated elapsed time and a preset reference time, it is determined whether or not to perform the flushing after executing printing until the page break of the print data ,
Furthermore, empty suction for discharging ink from the head cap is executed,
Monitor the elapsed time from the previous flushing in parallel with the execution of the idle suction,
A printer control method, comprising: determining whether or not to perform flushing . The printer control method according to claim 7 , wherein an interval at which the flushing is performed is shorter than the reference time.

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