JP6768325B2 - Inkjet recording device and its control method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device and a control method thereof.

As a background technology in this technical field, there is Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-001960 (Patent Document 1). In this publication, in an inkjet recording device that forms characters to be printed with dots of ink particles, the vertical arrangement data of dots vertically arranged along the direction in which the ink particles are deflected is grasped for each column and converted into vertical arrangement data. Based on this, the number of dots used for printing and whether or not the dots used for printing are continuously charged by the dots of the ink particles ejected from the nozzle body for each row are calculated and continuously. When there are continuously charged dots that are charged, it is described that printing distortion is reduced so that dots that are not used for printing in the same row are interposed between the continuously charged dots.

JP-A-2002-001960

The patent document 1 describes a control for changing the charging order of print necessity dots from the vertical arrangement data. However, in the inkjet printer described in Patent Document 1, although the print quality is improved, the print speed cannot be increased. On the other hand, the present invention provides an inkjet recording device having a high printing speed and a control method thereof.

In order to solve the above problems, for example, the configuration described in the claims is adopted.

The present application includes a plurality of means for solving the above problems. For example, a nozzle for ejecting ink, a charging electrode for charging the ink ejected by the nozzle, and a charging electrode for charging the ink ejected by the nozzle are used. An inkjet recording device including a deflection electrode that deflects ink and a control unit that controls the nozzle, the charging electrode, or the deflection electrode. The control unit uses ink particles to be charged in each column of printed characters. The printing time of a column is determined based on the maximum value of, and when the number of ink particles to be charged in a predetermined column of the printed characters is smaller than the maximum value of the ink particles to be charged , the printing time in the predetermined column is determined. It is characterized in that the difference between the number of ink particles to be charged and the maximum value of the ink particles to be charged is set as uncharged dots .

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an inkjet recording device having an increased printing speed and a control method thereof.

Issues, configurations and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the description of the following embodiments.

It is a figure which shows the relationship between the step wave of a dot pattern and printing time in the inkjet recording apparatus which concerns on this invention. This is an example of a configuration diagram of an inkjet recording device. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the staircase wave of a dot pattern and printing time in the conventional inkjet recording apparatus. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the step wave of a dot pattern and printing time in the inkjet recording apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the step wave of a dot pattern and printing time in the inkjet recording apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which searches the maximum number of dots for printing. It is a flowchart about the method of storing a predetermined charge amount in a charge RAM based on the charge presence or absence of each vertically arranged dot.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a configuration diagram of an inkjet recording device.
101 is an MPU (micro processing unit) that controls the entire ink-ink recording device, 102 is a RAM (random access memory) that temporarily stores data in the ink-ink recording device, and 103 is a ROM (read) that stores a charge control program. (Only memory), 104 is a panel for inputting setting data groups such as the number of printing steps, character size, and print contents, 105 is a charging RAM for storing charging voltage data to be actually printed, 106 is a printed object signal detection circuit, 107 is A sensor that detects printed matter, 108 is a character signal generation circuit, 109 is a bus that sends data, 110 is the head of an inkjet recording device, 111 is a nozzle that ejects ink, and 112 is that the ink ejected from the nozzle becomes particles. A charging electrode that applies charge to the ink particles, 113 is a deflection electrode that deflects the charged ink particles, 114 is a gutter that collects ink that is not used for printing, 115 is a pump that supplies the ink collected from the gutter to the nozzle again, 116 Is a printed matter to be printed, and 117 is a belt conveyor that conveys the printed matter.

Next, a series of operation outlines from the input of the print data of the characters to be printed to the completion of printing will be described.

The print data of the print input from the panel 104 is stored in the RAM 102 via the bus line 109. When the instruction to end the input of the print data is input from the panel 104, the MPU 101 stores the print data in the RAM 102 via the bus line 109. After the storage, the MPU converts the print content transmitted by the program stored in the ROM 103 into staircase wavy data and stores it in the charged RAM 105 via the bus line 109. When the printed matter sensor 107 detects the printed matter, the print start command is sent to the MPU 101 through the printed matter detection circuit 106 and the bus line 109. The MPU2 takes out the created staircase wavy data from the charged RAM 105 and sends it to the character signal generation circuit 108 via the bus line 109.

The character signal generation circuit 108 changes the sent staircase wave-shaped data into a character signal (staircase wave-shaped charging signal) and sends it to the charging electrode 112. The ink ejected from the nozzle 111 is atomized in the charging electrode 112 and receives the charge of the charging signal forming a stepped wave shape, is deflected by the deflection electrode 113, and the ink flies and adheres to the object to be printed 116 and is used for printing. The uncharged ink particles that were not used for printing are collected by the gutter 114 and supplied to the nozzle 111 again by the pump 115.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the staircase wave of the dot pattern and the printing time in the conventional inkjet recording apparatus.

It is a figure of the staircase wave of the dot pattern of a column, and the printing time of the column extracted from the figure of 10 × 12 by a conventional machine. As a conventional control, the number of ejected dots in a vertical column is determined for the printing time in a vertical column regardless of the charge. Therefore, when printing 10 × 12, the printing time in a vertical column can be calculated by the number (1).

(Number 1)
Vertical 1-row printing time t1 = 12 x (1 / excitation frequency)
When creating a staircase wave from a column of dot patterns, the ink particles in the first row are charged in the order of (2) (3) (4) (9) (10) (11), and the remaining ink particles are charged. Instead, they are collected in the gutter 114 as uncharged ink particles that are not used for printing. At this time, the charge amount of each ink particle is ((2) → Q2), ((3) → Q3), ((4) → Q4), ((9) → Q9), ((10) → Q10). , ((11) → Q11).

Similarly, the ink particles in the second row are charged in the order of (4) and (9). The remaining ink particles are not charged and are collected in the gutter 114 as uncharged ink particles that are not used for printing. At this time, the charged amounts of the respective ink particles are ((4) → Q4) and ((9) → Q9).

In addition, the staircase wave of the dot pattern of the column extracted from the 12 × 16 figure shown in FIG. 3 and the printing time of the column will be described. Since the number of ejected dots in the column is determined by the printing time in the vertical column regardless of the charge, when printing 12 × 16, the printing time in the vertical column can be calculated by the number (2).

(Number 2)
t2 = 16 × (1 / excitation frequency)
When creating a staircase wave from a dot pattern in a column, the ink particles in the first row are charged in the order of (3), (4), (5), (13), (14), and (15). The remaining ink particles are not charged and are collected in the gutter 114 as uncharged ink particles that are not used for printing. At this time, the charge amount of each ink particle is ((3) → Q3), ((4) → Q4), ((5) → Q5), ((13) → Q13), ((14) → Q14). , ((15) → Q15). Similarly, the ink particles (5) and (13) in the second row are charged in this order. The remaining ink particles are not charged and are collected in the gutter 114 as uncharged ink particles that are not used for printing. At this time, the charged amounts of the ink particles are ((5) → Q5) and ((13) → Q13).

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a relationship between a staircase wave of a dot pattern and a printing time in the inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

It is a figure of the staircase wave of the dot pattern of the column, which was extracted from the figure of 10 × 12 and 12 × 16 in this invention, and the printing time of the column. The number of printing dots is calculated for each column of the dot pattern. The number of printing dots in each column is compared to determine the maximum value. Here, the maximum number of printing dots is calculated to be 6. Since the printing time of one vertical row depends on the maximum number of dots for printing, here, the printing time T1 = 6 × (1 / excitation frequency) of one vertical row can be calculated based on the number (3).

(Number 3)
Printing time in one vertical row T = (maximum number of dots for printing) x (1 / excitation frequency)
When creating a staircase wave from a dot pattern in a column, the six ink particles (2) (3) (4) (9) (10) (11) printed in the first column are charged in order. .. At this time, the charge amount of each ink particle is ((2) → Q2), ((3) → Q3), ((4) → Q4), ((9) → Q9), ((10) → Q10). , ((11) → Q11).

Similarly, the two ink particles printed in the second row are (4) and (9), and are charged in this order. At this time, the charged amounts of the respective ink particles are ((4) → Q4) and ((9) → Q9). Since the number of printing dots in the second row is 2 with respect to the maximum number of dots for printing of 6, the printing time of each column is made the same as that of the first row by inserting four uncharged ink particles that are not used for printing. To do.
Next, the staircase wave of the dot pattern of the column extracted from the figure of 12 × 16 and the printing time of the column will be described.

By comparing the number of printing dots in each column of the dot pattern, it can be calculated that the maximum number of printing dots is six. Further, the printing time of one vertical row can be calculated as the printing time T1 = 6 × (1 / excitation frequency) of one vertical row based on the maximum printing dot 6.

When creating a staircase wave from a dot pattern in a column, the six ink particles (3) (4) (5) (13) (14) (15) printed in the first column are charged in this order. .. At this time, the charge amount of each ink particle is ((3) → Q3), ((4) → Q4), ((5) → Q5), ((13) → Q13), ((14) → Q14). , ((15) → Q15).

Similarly, the two ink particles printed in the second row are charged in the order of (5) and (13). At this time, the charged amounts of the ink particles are ((5) → Q5) and ((13) → Q13). Since the number of printing dots in the second row is 2 with respect to the maximum number of dots for printing of 6, the printing time of each column is made the same as that of the first row by inserting four uncharged ink particles that are not used for printing. To do.

According to the above description, by setting the printing time of the column based on the maximum number of dots for printing the column, the printing time of the column can be minimized and the printing speed can be improved.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the staircase wave of the dot pattern and the printing time in the inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

It is a figure of adjustment of the printing time of a column used when printing a figure of 10 × 12 in this invention. The stair wave of the extracted column dot pattern and the printing time of the column will be described.

Since the upper figure of FIG. 4 shows the same embodiment as that of FIG. 1 already shown, the description thereof will be omitted.

The lower figure of FIG. 4 is an example showing that the printing time can be arbitrarily set.

By calculating and comparing the number of printing dots in each column of the dot pattern, it is calculated that the maximum number of printing dots is six.

Here, the printing time in a vertical row can be set to 6 at the shortest, but the printing time can be appropriately increased according to the environment such as the conditions of the line carrying the object to be printed and the conveyor. The print time is set to 7. Since the maximum number of dots for printing is 6, by adding one printing dot and one non-printing dot to the column, the printing time of one vertical column is calculated as T2 = 7 × (1 / excitation frequency) based on the mathematical formula. ..

When creating a staircase wave, the ink particles (2), (3), (4), (9), (10), and (11) to be printed in the first row are charged in order, and then one non-printing dot is added. insert. At this time, the charge amount of each ink particle is ((2) → Q2), ((3) → Q3), ((4) → Q4), ((9) → Q9), ((10) → Q10). , ((11) → Q11).

Similarly, the ink particles in the second row are charged in this order in (4) and (9). The charge amount of each of the printing dot particles is ((4) → Q4) and ((9) → Q9). Here, since the maximum number of dots for printing is 7, the printing time of each column is made the same as that of the first column by inserting five uncharged ink particles that are not used for printing.

According to the above description, the printing time of the vertical arrangement can be freely set by adding an arbitrary number of non-printing dots to the maximum number of printing dots of the vertical arrangement, and the adjustment to the factory line environment can be performed. It is possible to provide an easy-to-use inkjet recording apparatus and a control method thereof.

Next, the control algorithm will be described with reference to FIGS. 5, 6, and 7.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the staircase wave of the dot pattern and the printing time in the inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention. The upper figure of FIG. 5 is a conventional method, and the lower figure is a description of the present invention.

IJP creates the required charging voltage for the dots requiring charging from the table and stores it in the charging RAM. When actually printing, the particles are taken out in order from the beginning of the charging RAM, and a voltage is applied to the charging electrodes to charge the particles.

Here, in the conventional method, the charged amount of each dot is stored in each table of the charged RAM. As shown in the upper part of FIG. 5, the charge amount 0 is stored in the table corresponding to the non-charged dots. On the other hand, in the present invention shown in the lower figure of FIG. 5, the charging RAM stores only the charging amount of the dots (other than 0) charged in the dot pattern. In a column of print dots (for example, the second column) rather than the maximum number of dots for printing, 0 is stored in the portion of the charging RAM corresponding to the dots that are not charged.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for searching the maximum number of dots for printing.

After the start of operation (S601), the number of print columns (number of print lines) is first read (S602). Here, the number of printed columns is the product of the number of columns (the number of horizontal dots) per character and the number of printed characters. When there are 5 characters per character (10 x 12 dot matrix), there are 50 print lines.

Next, the maximum number of dots for initial printing is set to 0 (S603).

After that, the vertically arranged dot patterns are read in order from the first column of the character string to be printed (5 characters in the above example) (S604). As a result, the number of printing dots for one column is acquired for each column (S605). Comparing the maximum number of printing dots stored in advance (initial value is 0) with the number of printing dots for one column acquired in S605 (S606), when the maximum number of printing dots for printing is less than or equal to the number of printing dots for one column. Updates the maximum number of printing dots with the newly acquired number of printing dots for one column as the maximum number of printing dots (S607). When S604 to S607 are completed, the process proceeds to the next number of print columns (S608), and S604 to S607 are sequentially performed up to the last column (S609). When the processing up to the last column is completed, the process is completed (S610). FIG. 7 is a flowchart relating to a method of storing a predetermined charge amount in the charge RAM based on the presence or absence of charge of each vertically arranged dot.

After the start (S701), the dot data for one column is read (S702), and the position of each printing dot in the corresponding column is acquired (S703).

Next, it is determined whether or not charging is possible in order from the first dot data (S704). For the dots that require charging, the charging voltage data is stored in the charging RAM (S705), and the number of charging dots is increased by 1 (S706). Next, the dot position is updated (S707), and the next dots in the same column are processed from S702 to S707 (S708).

When the processing from S702 to S707 is completed for all the dots in the vertical row, the value obtained by subtracting the number of charged dots in the row from the maximum number of printing dots predetermined in FIG. 6 is calculated as the output correction number (S709). , 0 (not charged) is stored in the charged RAM for the number of output corrections (S710). When the processing for one vertical column is completed in this way, the process proceeds to the next column (S711), and when the processing for all the printing columns (50 columns in the above example) is completed (S712), the process ends (S713).

101 ... MPU, 102 ... RAM, 103 ... ROM, 104 ... panel, 105 ... charged RAM, 106 ... printed object signal detection circuit, 107 ... sensor, 108 ... character signal generation circuit, 109 ... bus, 110 ... head, 111 ... Nozzle, 112 ... Charging electrode, 113 ... Deflection electrode, 114 ... Gutter, 115 ... Pump, 116 ... Printed object, 117 ... Belt conveyor

Claims (4)

A nozzle that ejects ink and
A charging electrode that charges the ink ejected by the nozzle, and
A deflection electrode that deflects the ink charged by the charging electrode and
An inkjet recording device including the nozzle, the charging electrode, or a control unit for controlling the deflection electrode.
The control unit determines the printing time of the columns based on the maximum value of the ink particles to be charged in each column of the printed characters , and the number of the ink particles to be charged in the predetermined columns of the printed characters is the ink to be charged. When the value is smaller than the maximum value of the particles, the inkjet recording apparatus is characterized in that the difference between the number of charged ink particles in the predetermined column and the maximum value of the charged ink particles is set as a non-charged dot . The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1.
The control unit is an inkjet recording device characterized in that the maximum value of the ink particles to be charged is set as the printing time in a column. Ink ejection process and ink ejection process
A charging step of charging the ink ejected by the ink ejection process and
A deflection step of deflecting the ink charged by the charging step and
A control method for an inkjet recording apparatus including a control step for controlling any of the ejection step, the charging step, and the deflection step.
In the control step, the printing time of the columns is determined based on the maximum value of the ink particles to be charged in each column of the printed characters, and the number of the ink particles to be charged in the predetermined columns of the printed characters is the ink to be charged. When the value is smaller than the maximum value of the particles, the control of the inkjet recording apparatus is characterized in that the difference between the number of charged ink particles in the predetermined column and the maximum value of the charged ink particles is set as a non-charged dot. Method. The method for controlling an inkjet recording device according to claim 3.
In the control step, a control method for an inkjet recording apparatus, wherein the maximum value of the ink particles to be charged is set as the printing time in a column.

Images