JP7003968B2 - Drawing device, drive method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a drawing apparatus, a driving method and a program.

Conventionally, an inkjet drawing apparatus is known in which ink is ejected as fine droplets from an ink ejection surface to draw on a drawing target.
In the case of such an inkjet drawing device, as the drawing head is used, ink adheres to the ink ejection surface of the drawing head or the inside of a nozzle provided with an ejection port on the ink ejection surface, or bubbles or foreign substances are mixed in and the nozzle is formed. It may get clogged. If the drawing operation is not performed for a long period of time, the ink in the nozzle may become dry and difficult to eject, or the ink adhering to the ink ejection surface may solidify and block the ink ejection port. ..
If the drawing operation is continued with this left unattended, the ink ejection direction will be bent and the ink cannot be landed at the correct position, or the ink cannot be ejected from the ink ejection port. Will be difficult to do.

For this reason, in an inkjet drawing device, a purge process is performed to forcibly eject ink from the ink ejection surface, and bubbles and foreign substances adhering to and flowing into the nozzle and the ink ejection port are washed away by the ink, resulting in poor ink ejection. It is known that maintenance such as eliminating the above-mentioned problems and wiping off the ink adhering to the nozzle surface with the wipe member is appropriately performed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-021726

However, since a general inkjet drawing device draws while transporting a drawing target such as paper in a predetermined transport direction, the drawing head is in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction (for example, the Y direction) of the drawing target (for example, the Y direction). For example, it has a uniaxial configuration that moves only in the X direction.
Therefore, as described in Patent Document 1, the drawing area for drawing, the standby area where the drawing head waits when drawing is not performed, and the area for maintenance are set in the movable direction of the drawing head. There was no choice but to arrange them in parallel along.
Therefore, when the maintenance operation is performed between the standby area and the drawing area, the order of maintenance is determined, and it is difficult to adjust the maintenance contents according to the situation.
In addition, there is a problem that it is difficult to secure an efficient flow line because the method of arranging the standby area and the maintenance area is limited.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a drawing device, a driving method , and a program capable of efficiently performing maintenance of a drawing head by appropriately combining and executing maintenance operations according to the situation. It is an advantage to provide.

In order to solve the above problems, the drawing device of the present invention has a drawing head having an ink ejection port for drawing on a drawing target, and a second direction in which the drawing head intersects the first direction and the first direction. The drawing head is provided with a head moving unit that can be moved to, a drawing control unit that controls the drawing head and the head moving unit, and a cap unit that protects the drawing head by covering the ink ejection port. The drawing area in which the drawing by the drawing head is performed and the standby area in which the cap portion is arranged are provided at different positions within the movable range, and the drawing control unit is provided with the drawing control unit. When the ink ejection port is changed from the state where the ink ejection port is not covered by the cap portion to the state where the ink ejection port is covered by the cap portion, the head moving portion causes the drawing head to move in the second direction. When moving from one side to the other to the standby area and changing the state in which the ink ejection port is covered by the cap portion to the state in which the ink ejection port is not covered by the cap portion. A first mode in which the drawing head is moved from the standby area to the first direction and a second mode in which the drawing head is moved from the standby area in the second direction can be selected.

According to the present invention, maintenance of the drawing head can be efficiently performed by executing a combination of maintenance operations as appropriate according to the situation.

It is a perspective view which shows the appearance structure of the nail printing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a perspective view of the main part which showed the internal structure by removing the housing from a nail printing apparatus. It is a top view which shows the structure of the base of the nail printing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a side view which shows typically the structure of the purge part in this embodiment. (A) to (c) are schematic side views explaining the operation of the wipe part. It is a perspective view which shows the scrape part in this embodiment. It is a side view of the scrape part in FIG. It is a side view which shows the state which the drawing head and the scrape part are connected in this embodiment. It is an enlarged perspective view of the main part which connected the drawing head and a scrape part. It is a cross-sectional view of a main part which enlarged the connection part of a drawing head and a scrape part. It is a block diagram of the main part which showed the control composition of the nail printing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the drawing process of the nail printing apparatus in this embodiment. (A) is a flowchart showing the maintenance process in the first maintenance mode, (b) is a flowchart showing the maintenance process in the second maintenance mode, and (c) is the maintenance process in the third maintenance mode. It is a flowchart which shows the process, and (d) is the flowchart which shows the maintenance process by the 4th maintenance mode. (A) is an explanatory diagram showing the maintenance process in the first maintenance mode, (b) is an explanatory diagram showing the maintenance process in the second maintenance mode, and (c) is a third maintenance mode. It is explanatory drawing which shows the maintenance process by a 4th maintenance mode, and (d) is an explanatory diagram which shows the maintenance process by the 4th maintenance mode.

An embodiment of the drawing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 14.
Although the embodiments described below are provided with various technically preferable limitations for carrying out the present invention, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and illustrated examples.
Further, in the following embodiment, the case where the drawing device is a nail printing device that draws on the fingernail of the hand as a drawing target will be described as an example, but the drawing target of the drawing device in the present invention is the finger of the hand. The drawing target is not limited to the nail, and for example, the nail of the toe may be drawn. Further, objects other than nails, such as nail tips and the surfaces of various accessories, may be drawn.

As shown in FIG. 1, the nail printing device 1 in the present embodiment has a housing 11 formed in a substantially box shape.
An operation unit 12 is installed on the upper surface (top plate) of the housing 11.
The operation unit 12 is an input unit in which the user performs various inputs.
The operation unit 12 has, for example, a power switch button for turning on the power of the nail printing device 1, a stop switch button for stopping the operation, a design selection button for selecting a design image to be drawn on the claw T, and a drawing start for instructing the start of drawing. Operation buttons for performing various inputs such as buttons are arranged.

Further, a display device 13 is installed on the upper surface (top plate) of the housing 11.
The display device 13 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic electroluminescence display, or a flat display.
In the present embodiment, the display device 13 has, for example, an image of a nail obtained by photographing the finger U1 (a finger image including an image of the nail T), an image of the contour line of the nail T included in the image of the nail, and the like. , An image in which the original image described later is projected on the nail T, a design selection screen for selecting a design image to be drawn on the nail T, a thumbnail image for design confirmation, an instruction screen for displaying various instructions, etc. are appropriate. Is displayed.
A touch panel for performing various inputs may be integrally configured on the surface of the display device 13. In this case, the touch panel functions as the operation unit 12.

Further, a nail T exposed from the window portion 33 is photographed at a position above the window portion 33 of the finger fixing portion 3 described later on the inside of the upper surface (top plate) of the housing 11, and a nail image (claw T) is taken. An imaging mechanism 50 (see FIG. 11) for acquiring an image of the finger U1 including the above is provided.
The photographing mechanism 50 may be any as long as it can photograph the nail T arranged in the finger fixing portion 3, and the specific arrangement thereof is not particularly limited. For example, it may be fixed to any structure arranged in the housing 11 instead of the inner surface of the housing 11, or it may be fixed to the carriage of the drawing mechanism 40 described later and the head moving mechanism 49 (FIG. FIG. It may be configured to be movable by (see 11) or the like. In this case, the photographing mechanism 50 can be moved in the X direction, which is the first direction, and the Y direction, which is the second direction, by the head moving unit 49 composed of the X direction moving motor 46, the Y direction moving motor 48, and the like. It is composed of.
In this way, when the photographing mechanism 50 is configured to be movable by the head moving portion 49 or the like, when photographing the nail T to be drawn, the nail T exposed from the window portion 33 of the finger fixing portion 3 The photographing mechanism 50 can be arranged above, and the drawing head 41 can be appropriately moved so as to be arranged above the finger fixing portion 3 at the time of drawing.

The photographing mechanism 50 is an imaging means for photographing the nail T and acquiring an image of the finger U1 including the nail T, and is an image acquisition means.
The photographing mechanism 50 includes a photographing device 51 and a lighting device 52.
The photographing device 51 is, for example, a small camera configured to include a solid-state photographing element having pixels of about 2 million pixels or more, a lens, and the like.
The lighting device 52 is, for example, a lighting lamp such as a white LED. In the present embodiment, a plurality of lighting devices 52 are arranged so as to surround the photographing device 51. The number and arrangement of the lighting devices 52 are not limited to the illustrated examples.
The imaging mechanism 50 is connected to the imaging control unit 811 of the control device 80 described later, and is controlled by the imaging control unit 811.
The image data of the image taken by the photographing mechanism 50 is stored in the nail image storage area 823 or the like, which will be described later.

Further, on the front side (front side in FIG. 1) of the housing 11, substantially in the center of the nail printing device 1 in the X direction (X direction in FIG. 1), there is a shooting mechanism by the nail printing device 1 and a drawing mechanism. To insert the finger U1 corresponding to the nail T to be drawn during the drawing operation by the 40, and set the nail T at the shooting possible position where the shooting mechanism 50 can shoot and the drawing position where the drawing mechanism 40 can draw. The opening 14 is formed.
As will be described later, a finger fixing portion 3 for fixing the claw T (finger U1 including the claw T) is arranged inside the opening portion 14.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part showing the internal configuration of the nail printing device 1 by removing the housing 11 from the nail printing device 1 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a base 2 in which various internal structures are incorporated is provided in the housing 11.
The surface of the base 2 (that is, the upper surface of the nail printing device 1 as shown in FIG. 2) is the base upper surface 20 constituting the XY plane in the present embodiment.

A position on the upper surface of the base 20 that is the front side of the device (the front side in the Y direction in FIG. 2), is approximately the center of the width direction of the device (the X direction in FIG. 2), and corresponds to the opening 14 of the housing 11. A finger fixing portion 3 is arranged on the.
The finger fixing portion 3 is a box-shaped member having an opening 31 on the front side of the device, and a finger fixing member 32 for fixing the finger U1 is arranged inside the finger fixing portion 3.
The finger fixing member 32 pushes up and supports the finger U1 from below, and is made of, for example, a flexible resin or the like. In the present embodiment, the finger fixing member 32 has a shape in which a substantially central portion in the width direction is recessed, and when the finger U1 is placed on the finger fixing member 32, the abdominal portion of the finger U1 is a finger fixing member. 32 can prevent the finger U1 from rattling in the device width direction (X direction in FIGS. 1 and 2).
The finger fixing member 32 may be any as long as it can support the finger U1 from below, and its configuration is not particularly limited. For example, it may be urged from below by an elastic member such as a spring. Further, for example, the finger fixing member 32 may be configured to be expandable and contractible by changing the internal pressure, and may be configured to push up the finger U1 in the expanded state and fix the position thereof.

The back side of the top surface of the finger fixing portion 3 is an opening window portion 33. The claw T of the finger U1 inserted into the finger fixing portion 3 is exposed from the window portion 33.
In the present embodiment, the area provided with the window portion 33 is the drawing area 21 (see FIG. 3) in which drawing is performed by the drawing mechanism described later.
The position where the window portion 33 is provided in the finger fixing portion 3 (that is, the position of the drawing region 21) is not limited to the illustrated example, but the drawing region 21 is on the base upper surface 20 which is an XY plane and the head moving portion 49 (FIG. The drawing head 41 is provided within a movable range according to (see 11), which will be described later).

Further, the front side of the top surface of the finger fixing portion 3 is a finger presser 34 that prevents the finger U1 from rising and regulates the upward position of the finger U1. The finger U1 and its claw T are supported from below by the finger fixing member 32, and the upper side of the finger U1 is pressed by the finger presser 34, so that the position in the height direction is positioned at a predetermined position.
Further, in the present embodiment, a nail mounting portion 35 on which the nail T is placed is provided on the back side in the finger insertion direction.
By mounting the tip of the claw T on the claw mounting portion 35, the position of the claw T in the horizontal direction (that is, the X direction and the Y direction) is defined, and the position in the height direction thereof is also regulated. ..

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a drawing mechanism 40 for drawing on the drawing target surface is provided inside the housing 11. Here, the drawing target surface is the surface of the drawing target, and in the present embodiment, it is the surface of the fingernail T of the finger U1.
The drawing mechanism 40 has a drawing head 41 which is a drawing mechanism main body, a head carriage 42 which supports the drawing head 41, and a drawing head 41 in the X direction which is the first direction (X direction in FIGS. 1 and 2, etc., nail printing device 1). The X-direction moving stage 45 for moving in the left-right direction of the The Y-direction moving stage 47 for moving in the Y-direction and the front-back direction of the nail printing device 1 in FIG. 2 and the like, a Y-direction moving motor 48 (see FIG. 11), and the like are provided.

The Y-direction moving stages 47 are located on both sides of the upper surface of the base 20 in the device width direction (X-direction in FIGS. 1 and 2, left-right direction of the nail printing device 1), respectively, in the Y-direction (FIGS. 1 and 2 and the like). It has a support member 471 extending in the Y direction (the front-rear direction of the nail printing device 1).
Pulleys 477 are attached to both ends of the pair of support members 471 in the extending direction. A drive belt 474 extending in the front-rear direction (Y direction in FIG. 2 and the like) of the device is wound around the pulleys 477 on the left side of the device and the pulley 477 on the right side of the device.
Pulleys 477 provided on the back side of the device are attached to both ends of the drive shaft portion 476. A Y-direction moving motor 48 (see FIG. 11) is connected to the drive shaft portion 476, and the drive shaft portion 476 and the pulley 477 attached to the drive shaft portion 476 are appropriately corrected by driving the Y-direction moving motor 48. Rotate in the opposite direction.
The rotation of the pulley 477 also rotates the drive belt 474 wound around the pulley 477, whereby the X-direction moving stage 45 (and the drawing head 41 mounted on the X-direction moving stage 45) can move in the Y direction. It has become.
Further, a guide shaft 475 extending in the Y direction in parallel with the drive belt 474 is provided on the support member 471.

The X-direction moving stage 45 has a back plate 451 that is erected on the back side of the device with respect to the upper surface 20 of the base and extends in the X direction of the base 2, and an eave that projects from the upper end of the back plate 451 to the front of the device. It has a portion 452 and a pair of side surface portions 453 erected so as to close both side portions of a substantially L-shaped portion in a side view composed of a back plate 451 and an eaves portion 452.
The pair of left and right side surface portions 453 are each provided with a shaft insertion portion 453a through which the guide shaft 475 is inserted, and the guide shaft 475 is inserted into each of the pair of shaft insertion portions 453a to drive the Y-direction drive motor 48. As the drive belt 474 rotates, the X-direction moving stage 45 can move in the Y-direction along the guide shaft 475.

Further, a pulley (not shown) to which the X-direction moving motor 46 is connected is provided inside the pair of side surface portions 453, and the pulley extends in the left-right direction (X-direction in FIG. 2 and the like) of the device. The drive belt 454 is wound around. Further, inside the X-direction moving stage 45, a guide shaft 455 that is substantially parallel to the drive belt 454 and extends in the X-direction of the base 2 is provided.
A head carriage 42 that supports the drawing head 41 is mounted on the X-direction moving stage 45.
On the back side (back side of the device) of the head carriage 42, a carriage support member 421 having a shaft insertion portion 422 (see FIG. 8 and the like) through which the guide shaft 455 is inserted is provided.
The guide shaft 455 is inserted through the shaft insertion portion 422 of the head carriage 42, the X-direction drive motor 46 is driven, and the drive belt 454 rotates, so that the head carriage 42 moves along the guide shaft 455 in the X-direction moving stage 45. It is possible to move in the X direction.

In the present embodiment, the X-direction moving motor 46, the Y-direction moving motor 48, and the like constitute a head moving portion 49 (see FIG. 11) capable of moving the drawing head 41 in the X and Y directions on the XY plane. The operation is controlled by the control device 80 (particularly the drawing control unit 814) described later.
It is not necessary that all the drawing control units 814 for controlling the operation of the drawing head 41 and the operation of the head moving unit 49 are provided on one control board. For example, a control unit 81 that controls ink ejection of the drawing head 41, operation of the X-direction moving motor 46, and the like is mounted, and a control board (not shown) electrically connected to the main control board is provided on the X-direction moving stage 45. It may have been. In the present embodiment, a flexible printed wiring board 425 is provided on the back side of the head carriage 42. The printed wiring board 425 is electrically connected to the control board provided on the X-direction moving stage 45, and the control signal from the drawing control unit 814 provided on the main control board is in the X-direction. It is sent to the printed wiring board 425 via the control board provided on the moving stage 45, and the ink ejection control of the drawing head 41 is performed according to the control of the drawing control unit 814.

The drawing head 41 of the present embodiment is an inkjet head that draws by an inkjet method.
The drawing head 41 is, for example, an ink cartridge (not shown) corresponding to yellow (Y; YELLOW), magenta (M; MAGENTA), and cyan (C; CYAN) inks and a drawing target (surface of the claw T) in each ink cartridge. It is an ink cartridge integrated head integrally formed with an ink ejection surface 411 provided on a facing surface (lower surface in FIG. 4 and the like in this embodiment). On the ink ejection surface 411, ejection ports (ink ejection ports, not shown) of a nozzle array including a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink of each color are formed in a row. The drawing head 41 atomizes the ink and sprays the ink directly from the ink ejection surface 411 (ink ejection port of the ink ejection surface 411) to the drawing target surface (that is, the surface of the claw T) to be drawn. I do. The drawing head 41 is not limited to the one that ejects the above three colors of ink. It may be provided with an ink cartridge for storing other inks and an ink ejection port.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the configuration of the base upper surface 20 by removing the drawing head 41 supported by the X-direction moving stage 45 of the drawing mechanism 40 and the head carriage 42.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the finger fixing portion 3 is arranged on the front side in the Y direction of the upper surface of the base 20 and substantially in the center in the X direction as described above. In the present embodiment, the finger fixing portion 3 is arranged. The area corresponding to the window portion 33 of the finger fixing portion 3 is a drawing region 21 in which the drawing head 41 performs a drawing operation at the time of drawing.
Further, the back side of the upper surface of the base 20 in the Y direction and the right side in the X direction (right side in FIGS. 2 and 3) is a standby area 22 in which the drawing head 41 is arranged during non-drawing.
The standby area 22 is arranged at a position different from that of the drawing area 21. The standby area 22 may be arranged on the XY plane within a range in which the drawing head 41 can be moved by the head moving portion 49, and is not limited to the illustrated example.

The standby area 22 is provided with a cap portion 23 that covers the ink ejection surface 411.
The cap portion 23 protects the ink ejection surface 411 from drying and the like when not drawing, and is formed of, for example, a flexible resin or the like.
When the cap portion 23 is in the initial position that does not cover the drawing head 41 (for example, in the state shown in FIG. 3), the cap portion 23 faces the front side in the Y direction (lower side in FIG. 3) by the urging member 231 having a spring or the like. Is being urged. In this state, the upper surface of the cap portion 23 is lowered to a sufficiently low position so as not to come into contact with the lower surface of the drawing head 41 (that is, the ink ejection surface 411). As a result, the cap portion 23 does not come into contact with the drawing head 41 or hinder its movement during drawing.

Then, when the drawing head 41 moves to the standby area 22 while moving from the front side to the back side in the Y direction, the drawing head 41 and the head carriage 42 supporting the drawing head 41 become the urging force of the urging member 231. Against this, the cap portion 23 is pushed inward in the Y direction.
As a result, the cap portion 23 is guided by a rail or the like (not shown) and rises to a position where it covers the ink ejection surface 411 of the drawing head 41, and the ink ejection surface 411 is capped by the cap portion 23. Further, when the drawing head 41 is separated from the standby area 22, the cap portion 23 is pushed back to the initial position by the urging member 231 and descends to a height position that does not interfere with the drawing head 41 again.
The configuration in which the cap portion 23 can be moved up and down between the height position that does not interfere with the drawing head 41 and the height position that covers the ink ejection surface 411 of the drawing head 41 is not limited to those exemplified here.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of maintenance units for maintaining the drawing head 41 are on the back side in the Y direction of the upper surface of the base 20 and on the left side in the X direction (left side in FIGS. 2 and 3). Is provided.
In the present embodiment, the plurality of maintenance units perform maintenance having different contents from each other. Specifically, a purge unit 6 for performing a purge process and a wipe unit 7 for wiping the ink ejection surface 411 are provided. There is.
The plurality of maintenance units (purge unit 6 and wipe unit 7 in this embodiment) are located at different positions from the drawing area 21 and the standby area 22 on the XY plane, and the drawing head 41 can be moved by the head moving unit 49. It is placed within the range.
Further, the plurality of maintenance units (purge unit 6 and wipe unit 7) are arranged at positions deviated from each other in at least one of the X direction and the Y direction. In the present embodiment, the purge portion 6 and the wipe portion 7 are substantially the same in the X direction, but the purge portion 6 is arranged on the front side (lower side in FIG. 3) in the Y direction of the wipe portion 7. There is.
The specific arrangement of the purge section 6 and the wipe section 7 is not limited to the illustrated example, and for example, the positions of the purge section 6 and the wipe section 7 in the Y direction may be reversed, or the purge section 6 may be located in the opposite direction. And the wipe portion 7 may be arranged so as to be offset in the X direction instead of the Y direction, or may be arranged so as to be offset in both the X direction and the Y direction.

The purge unit 6 forcibly ejects ink from the ink ejection port of the ink ejection surface 411, and ejects air and impurities in the ink flow path such as in the nozzle, ink with increased viscosity, and the like to the outside together with the ink. This is a maintenance unit that receives ink forcibly ejected from the ink ejection surface 411 during the so-called purge process.
By performing the purge process, clogging or the like generated in the nozzle of the drawing head 41 can be eliminated, and a good ejection state can be restored.
FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing how the drawing head is maintained in the purge portion. In FIG. 4, for convenience of explanation, the inside of the purge portion 6 is shown transparent. Further, in FIG. 4, the ink droplet L ejected by the purge process is represented by a broken line.
As shown in FIG. 4, the purge portion 6 includes an opening 61 formed slightly larger than the ink ejection surface 411 and a waste ink tank 62 formed in a continuous manner from the opening 61. Further, an absorber 63 for absorbing ink is provided in the waste ink tank 62. The absorber 63 may be any as long as it can quickly absorb ink, and for example, felt, sponge-like resin, or the like, which is a porous material, is applied.
In the present embodiment, an inclined surface is formed from the opening 61 toward the waste ink tank 62, and the ink ejected from the ink ejection surface 411 of the drawing head 41 is as shown by a black arrow in FIG. It flows along the inclined surface into the waste ink tank 62.
The absorber 63 or the entire purge portion 6 may be a part that can be taken out and replaced.

The wipe unit 7 is a maintenance unit that cleans the ink ejection surface 411 by wiping it, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of wipe members 71 are erected. In this embodiment, the four wipe members are staggered and arranged in a staggered manner. The arrangement, size, number, and the like of the wipe members 71 are not limited to the illustrated examples.
For example, the wipe member 71 may be one as long as it can wipe the entire ink ejection surface 411 wider than the width of the ink ejection surface 411 (width dimension in the X direction in FIG. 3 and the like). Further, more wipe members 71 may be arranged side by side in a plurality of rows.
The wipe member 71 is a cleaning blade that wipes off ink or the like adhering to the ink ejection surface 411, and is formed of an elastic body such as rubber. The wipe member 71 is preferably made of a corrosion-resistant material that does not easily corrode even if it is repeatedly touched with ink.
The wipe member 71 or the entire wipe portion 7 may be a part that can be taken out and replaced.

5 (a) to 5 (c) are schematic side views showing how the ink ejection surface of the drawing head is wiped by the wipe member of the wipe portion.
As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, the wipe member 71 is a plate-shaped member extending in the X direction orthogonal to the Y direction when the drawing head moves in the Y direction. When the drawing head 41 passes above the wipe portion 7, its tip is formed at a position and height in contact with the ink ejection surface 411.
As described above, the wipe member 71 is an elastic member, and as shown in FIGS. 5 (b) and 5 (c), it flexibly bends according to the movement of the drawing head 41, and the tip portion thereof is an ink ejection surface. The ink and the like adhering to the ink ejection surface 411 can be removed by sliding contact with the 411.

When the ink ejection surface 411 of the drawing head 41 is wiped, the ink adheres to the tip portion of the wipe member 71 and the like.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the scrape portion 70 for removing the ink adhering to the wipe member 71 is provided on the back side (upper side in FIG. 3) in the Y direction from the wipe portion 7.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part of the scrape portion 70, and FIG. 7 is a side view of the main part of the scrape portion 70 shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, the wipe portion 7 that overlaps with the scrape portion 70 is shown by a broken line.
As shown in FIG. 6, the scrape portion 70 includes a scrape portion main body 73 and guide portions 75 provided on both sides of the scrape portion main body 73.
On the front side (front side in the Y direction, lower side in FIG. 3) of the scraping portion main body 73, a scraping member 74 that slides into contact with the wipe member 71 and scrapes off ink adhering to the tip portion of the wipe member 71 or the like is provided. ing. The material, shape, and the like of the scrape member 74 are not particularly limited as long as they can remove the ink adhering to the wipe member 71.

Guide rails 76 are provided on both sides of the scrape portion 70 along the Y direction.
The guide portions 75 provided on both sides of the scrape portion 70 are adapted to fit with the guide rail 76, and the scrape portion 70 moves smoothly in the Y direction by the guide portion 75 being guided by the guide rail. can do.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a connecting spring 77 is provided on the top surface of the scraped portion main body 73 of the present embodiment. The connecting spring 77 is, for example, a thin plate-shaped spring.
The rear end portion (right end portion in FIG. 7) of the connecting spring 77 is fixed by a screw 771. Further, a locking portion 770 formed by folding a part of a plate-shaped spring into a mountain is provided at a front end portion (left end portion in FIG. 7) of the connecting spring 77.
In the present embodiment, in order to bring the scrape portion 70 into sliding contact with the wipe member 71, a method of hooking the scrape portion 70 on the drawing head 41 or the head carriage 42 holding the drawing head 41 (head carriage 42 in the present embodiment) and moving the scraping portion 70 is used. It is adopted.
By using the operation of the drawing head 41 or the like to move the scraping portion 70 in this way, it is not necessary to separately provide a motor or the like for moving the scraping portion 70, and the wipe member 71 has a simple configuration. Maintenance can be performed.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a state in which the scrape portion 70 has moved together with the drawing head 41 and the head carriage 42 to a position where it can be slidably contacted with the wipe member 71 of the wipe portion 7, and FIG. 9 is a side view showing the state shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part connecting a head carriage and a scrape member, and FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the part shown in an enlarged manner in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, in the present embodiment, a recess 426 is formed on the lower surface of the support member 421 provided on the head carriage 42, and the locking portion 770 of the connecting spring 77 is formed in the recess 426. By fitting, the scrape portion 70 is connected to the head carriage 42.

When connecting the scrape portion 70 to the head carriage 42, the head carriage 42 (drawing head 41 supported by the head carriage 42) moves above the scrape portion 70 from the rear or front of the scrape portion 70, and either in the Y direction. Move in that direction. Since the height of the locking portion 770 of the connecting spring 77 is higher than the height (gap) to the lower side surface of the head carriage 42, the locking portion 770 is pressed and compressed. Then, when the concave portion 426 reaches the position corresponding to the locking portion 770 of the connecting spring 77, the convex locking portion 770 returns to the original shape due to the spring property, and as shown in FIG. 10, the inside of the concave portion 426 Fit into. As a result, the scrape portion 70 is connected to the head carriage 42. By moving the head carriage 42 in this connected state, the scrape portion 70 can move to a position where the wipe member 71 of the wipe portion 7 can be scraped.
As shown in FIG. 8, there is a purge section 6 on the front side in the Y direction from the wipe section 7, and the head carriage 42 moves to the purge section 6 and the like after passing the wipe section 7, but the scrape section 70 is purged. It hits part 6 and stops. Since the connecting spring 77, which is a leaf spring, can be flexibly deformed, when a strong force is applied to the purge portion 6, the locking portion 770 is deformed and comes off from the recess 426. As a result, the connection between the scrape portion 70 and the head carriage 42 is released. The scrape portion 70 is provided with a spring or the like for returning to the initial position (in the present embodiment, a position deeper in the Y direction than the wipe portion 7) after the connection with the head carriage 42 is released. It is preferable to have.
The method of hooking the scrape portion 70 on the drawing head 41 or the head carriage 42 holding the drawing head 41 and moving the scraping portion 70 is not particularly limited, and a configuration other than those exemplified here can be adopted.

The control device 80 is installed on, for example, a substrate (not shown) arranged on the lower surface side of the top surface of the housing 11. In the present embodiment, as described above, the substrates are distributed and provided on the X-direction moving stage 45, the head carriage 42, etc., in addition to the main substrate arranged on the lower surface side of the top surface of the housing 11. By electrically connecting these, each part is controlled in an integrated manner and operates in cooperation with each other.
FIG. 11 is a main block diagram showing a control configuration in the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 11, the control device 80 includes a control unit 81 composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like (neither is shown). It is a computer including a storage unit 82 composed of.

The storage unit 82 stores various programs, various data, and the like for operating the nail printing device 1.
Specifically, in the program storage area 820 composed of a ROM or the like in the storage unit 82, for example, a maintenance program for performing a maintenance operation for maintaining the drawing head 41, the shape of the claw T from the claw image, and the claw T. Various types of nail information detection program for detecting various nail information such as contour, nail width, and nail area, drawing data generation program for generating drawing data, drawing program for performing drawing processing, etc. Programs are stored, and by executing these programs by the control device 80, each part of the nail print device 1 is controlled in an integrated manner.
Further, in the present embodiment, the storage unit 82 is provided with a maintenance mode storage area 821 containing data related to the maintenance mode and the like, and a nail design storage area 822 photographing mechanism 50 for storing image data of the nail design drawn on the nail T. Nail image storage area 823 for storing the acquired nail image of the nail T of the finger U1 and nail information detected by the nail information detection unit 813 (contour of the nail T, inclination angle of the nail T (degree of curvature), etc.) A claw information storage area 824 or the like is provided.

From a functional point of view, the control unit 81 includes a shooting control unit 811, a claw information detection unit 812, a drawing data generation unit 813, a drawing control unit 814, a display control unit 815, and the like. Functions such as the shooting control unit 811, the claw information detection unit 812, the drawing data generation unit 813, the drawing control unit 814, the display control unit 815, etc. are stored in the CPU of the control unit 81 and the program storage area 820 of the storage unit 82. It is realized by cooperating with the program.
Further, in the present embodiment, the control unit 81 is provided with a timer 816 so that various elapsed times and the like can be grasped.

The photographing control unit 811 controls the photographing device 51 and the lighting device 52 of the photographing mechanism 50, and the image of the finger including the image of the fingernail T of the finger U1 fixed to the finger fixing unit 3 by the photographing device 51 (nail image). Is to be photographed.
The image data of the nail image acquired by the photographing mechanism 50 is stored in the nail image storage area 821 of the storage unit 82.

The nail information detection unit 813 detects the nail information about the finger T of the finger U1 based on the image of the nail T of the finger U1 fixed to the finger fixing unit 3 photographed by the photographing device 51.
Here, the claw information includes, for example, the contour of the claw T (the shape of the claw, the XY coordinates of the horizontal position of the claw T, etc.), the height of the claw T (the position in the vertical direction of the claw T, hereinafter "the vertical position of the claw T". "Or simply" the position of the claw T "), the curvature (degree of curvature) of the claw T, and the like.
The nail information detected by the nail information detection unit 812 is stored in the nail information storage area 822 of the storage unit 82.

The drawing data generation unit 813 generates drawing data applied to the nail T of the finger U1 by the drawing head 41 based on the nail information detected by the nail information detection unit 812.
Specifically, the drawing data generation unit 813 adjusts to the shape of the nail T by enlarging, reducing, cutting out, etc. the image data of the nail design based on the shape of the nail T detected by the nail information detection unit 812. Performs a crowding process.
Further, when the curvature of the nail T is acquired by the nail information detection unit 812, the drawing data generation unit 813 appropriately corrects the curved surface and draws the drawing data on the surface of the nail T which is the drawing target surface. To generate.

The drawing control unit 814 outputs a control signal to the drawing mechanism 40 based on the drawing data generated by the drawing data generation unit 813, and draws the claw T according to the drawing data. It is a control unit that controls the X-direction moving motor 46, the Y-direction moving motor 48, the drawing head 41, and the like of the 40.
Further, in the present embodiment, the drawing control unit 814 moves the drawing head 41 from the standby area 22 to the drawing area 21 by the head moving unit 49 in the first direction (X direction in the present embodiment). And it is possible to move in the second direction (Y direction in this embodiment) so as not to pass through at least one of a plurality of maintenance sections (purge section 6 and wipe section 7 in this embodiment). And.
In particular, in the present embodiment, drawing is performed so that at least one maintenance operation is performed in at least one of a plurality of maintenance units (purge unit 6 and wipe unit 7 in the present embodiment) according to a predetermined maintenance mode. It controls the head 41 and the head moving unit 49.

The maintenance modes in the present embodiment include a first maintenance mode in which one maintenance unit performs a plurality of maintenance operations, a second maintenance mode in which all maintenance units perform a maintenance operation once each, and maintenance in the wipe unit 7. There is a third maintenance mode in which no operation is performed, and a fourth maintenance mode in which the maintenance operation in the purge unit 6 is not performed.
The second maintenance mode is a mode performed in a normal drawing operation. On the other hand, the first maintenance mode is a mode selected when, for example, it is desired to enhance the maintenance operation. Further, the third maintenance mode is a mode selected when, for example, a drawing process is desired to be performed quickly. The fourth maintenance mode is a mode selected, for example, when the ink remaining amount of the drawing head 41 is low.
The details of each maintenance mode will be described later.

Further, as an element for determining and setting which maintenance mode the drawing control unit 814 maintains the drawing head 41, that is, the content of the maintenance operation, for example, the ink is ejected from the ink ejection surface 411 of the drawing head 41. There is a total amount of ink.
Of the total amount of ink, the amount of ink ejected by drawing is grasped based on the drawing data, which drawing data is used for drawing after the drawing head 41 is set in the apparatus. Further, the amount of ink ejected by the purge process in the purge unit 6 is grasped by the drawing control unit 814 for each purge process.
The drawing control unit 814 grasps the ink ejection amount due to these drawing and the ink ejection amount due to the purge process as the total ink amount, and from this, grasps (estimates) the ink remaining amount of the drawing head 41, and determines and sets the maintenance mode. do.

For example, when the remaining amount of ink is less than the "predetermined amount", the drawing control unit 814 selects a fourth maintenance mode in which maintenance with a large amount of ink ejection is not performed as in the purge process.
It should be noted that the "predetermined amount", which is a criterion for determining that the ink remaining amount is low, is a matter to be appropriately set. Further, this "predetermined amount" may be set / changed by the user after the fact. For example, if the user selects the eco mode or the like so as to operate with the ink consumption suppressed as much as possible, the "predetermined amount" is set to a large value and the purging process is performed even if the ink remaining amount is still sufficient. A maintenance mode (in the present embodiment, a fourth maintenance mode) that does not perform such operations may be selected.

Further, as an element for the drawing control unit 814 to determine and set the maintenance mode, for example, the elapsed drawing time after the drawing operation by the drawing head 41 is started may be considered.
The control unit 81 of the present embodiment is provided with a timer 816 as a drawing time acquisition unit for acquiring the drawing elapsed time since the drawing operation by the drawing head 41 is started, and the drawing elapsed time is acquired by the timer 816. Will be done.
The drawing control unit 814 may set the maintenance mode based on the elapsed drawing time acquired by the timer 816.
For example, if the elapsed drawing time is longer than a predetermined time, there is a high possibility that ink clogging or the like has occurred, so that the first maintenance mode is set in order to perform a sufficient maintenance operation. On the other hand, when the drawing operation is performed for only a short time, the fourth maintenance mode may be selected so that only a simple maintenance operation is required.
It should be noted that when the drawing time is determined to be longer or shorter than the predetermined time is a matter to be appropriately set. In this case, the user may be able to change the predetermined time set by default.

Further, the timer 816 of the present embodiment also functions as a pause time acquisition unit for acquiring the pause elapsed time since the last drawing operation by the drawing head 41 is performed.
The drawing control unit 814 may set the maintenance mode based on the pause elapsed time acquired by the timer 816.
For example, when the elapsed pause time is longer than a predetermined time, there is a high possibility that the ink dries and becomes clogged in the nozzle, or the viscosity of the ink increases and it becomes difficult to eject the ink. Therefore, the first maintenance mode is set in order to perform sufficient maintenance operation. On the other hand, when only a short time has passed since the previous drawing, the fourth maintenance mode may be selected so that only a simple maintenance operation is required.
In this case as well, it is a matter to be appropriately set when the drawing time is determined to be longer or shorter than the predetermined time. In this case, the user may be able to change the predetermined time set by default.

In addition, a maintenance mode setting button or the like may be provided on the operation unit 12 or the like of the nail printing device 1 so that the user can input the mode setting. In this case, when the control unit 81 accepts the input operation of the mode setting, the drawing control unit 814 performs the maintenance operation in the maintenance mode in which the setting is input.

The display control unit 815 controls the display device 13 to display various display screens on the display device 13. In the present embodiment, the display control unit 815 has, for example, a nail design selection screen, a thumbnail image for design confirmation, a nail image acquired by photographing the finger U1, an image obtained by projecting an original image on the nail T, and various instruction screens. , The operation screen and the like are displayed on the display device 13.

Next, the drawing method in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14.
When performing nail printing by the nail printing device 1, first, as shown in FIG. 12, the display control unit 815 reads out the nail design from the nail design storage area 824 and asks the user to select the nail design. It is displayed on the display device 13 (step S1). When the user selects one of the nail designs displayed on the display device 13 by performing an input operation such as a touch operation, the desired nail design is selected as the design to be drawn on the nail T (step S2). ).
Further, the display control unit 817 displays an instruction screen instructing the finger fixing unit 3 to set the nail T to be drawn (step S3).
When the finger U1 is set on the finger fixing unit 3, the photographing control unit 811 controls the photographing mechanism 50 to photograph the nail T and acquire the nail image (step S4). Then, the nail information detection unit 813 detects nail information such as the contour and curvature of the nail T from the nail image (step S5).
When the nail information is detected, the drawing data generation unit 813 reads the drawing image data of the nail design selected by the user, and corrects the drawing image data based on the nail information detected for the nail T. And generate drawing data (step S6). The drawing data generated by the drawing data generation unit 813 is sent to the drawing control unit 814.

The drawing control unit 814 determines the maintenance mode and causes the maintenance process according to the maintenance mode to be performed before shifting to the drawing operation (step S7).
Here, the maintenance process will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14.
In FIG. 14, I to V indicate the directions of movement of the drawing head 41.

First, in a normal case where the drawing head 41 is moved from the standby area 22 to the drawing area 21 to perform a drawing operation, as shown in FIGS. 13 (b) and 14 (b), the drawing control unit 814 is used. Adopts the second maintenance mode, and moves the drawing head 41 to the left side in the X direction (left side in FIG. 14B) from the state of being capped by the cap portion 23 of the standby area 22 (step S21). The ink ejection surface 411 is wiped by the wipe portion 7 (step S22). Next, the drawing head 41 is moved to the front side in the Y direction (lower side in FIG. 14B) as it is, and the ink is forcibly ejected in the purge unit 6 (step S23). After that, the drawing head 41 is moved to the front side in the Y direction and the right side in the X direction to move above the drawing area 21 (step S24).

In addition, when the elapsed drawing time is longer than the predetermined time, or when the elapsed pause time is longer than the predetermined time, the discharge is disturbed in the actually attempted drawing, and the user is in the maintenance enhancement mode (first maintenance mode). ) Is selected and set, as shown in FIGS. 13 (a) and 14 (a), the drawing control unit 814 adopts the first maintenance mode, and the cap unit 23 of the standby area 22 is used. From the capped state (step S11), the drawing head 41 is first slightly moved to the front side in the Y direction (lower side in FIG. 14A), and further to the left side in the X direction (left side in FIG. 14A). It is moved and the ink is forcibly ejected in the purge unit 6 (step S12). Next, the drawing head 41 is once slightly moved to the back side in the Y direction (upper side in FIG. 14A), and the ink ejection surface 411 is wiped by the wipe portion 7 (step S13). Next, the drawing head 41 is moved to the front side in the Y direction (lower side in FIG. 14A) as it is, and the ink is forcibly ejected again in the purge unit 6 (step S14). After that, the drawing head 41 is moved to the front side in the Y direction and the right side in the X direction to move above the drawing area 21 (step S15).

Further, when the user selects and sets the maintenance omission mode (third maintenance mode) because he / she wants to perform the drawing process quickly, as shown in FIGS. 13 (c) and 14 (c), The drawing control unit 814 adopts a third maintenance mode, and from the state of being capped by the cap unit 23 of the standby area 22 (step S31), the drawing head 41 is first placed on the front side in the Y direction (FIG. 14 (c)). It is slightly moved to the lower side) and further moved to the left side in the X direction (left side in FIG. 14C) to forcibly eject ink in the purge section 6 (step S32). After that, the drawing head 41 is moved to the front side in the Y direction and the right side in the X direction to move above the drawing area 21 (step S33).

In addition, when the remaining amount of ink is less than a predetermined amount, or when the user selects and sets the maintenance omission mode (fourth maintenance mode) for reasons such as wanting to reduce the amount of ink consumed or performing drawing processing quickly. As shown in FIGS. 13 (d) and 14 (d), the drawing control unit 814 adopts a fourth maintenance mode and is capped by the cap unit 23 of the standby area 22 (step). From S41), the drawing head 41 is moved to the left side in the X direction (left side in FIG. 14D), and the ink ejection surface 411 is wiped by the wipe portion 7 (step S42). After that, the drawing head 41 is moved to the front side in the Y direction and the right side in the X direction to move above the drawing area 21 (step S43).
If the judgment in the drawing control unit 814 and the content set by the user are different, the input content of the user may be prioritized. In addition, a display screen is displayed on the display device or the like to inform the current state of the drawing head 41 (the remaining amount of ink is low, the pause elapsed time is long, and careful maintenance is required, etc.), and which maintenance mode is selected. You may ask the user for further judgment.

Returning to FIG. 12, when the drawing head 41 moves to the upper part of the drawing area 21, the drawing control unit 814 outputs drawing data to the drawing mechanism 40 and starts the drawing process (step S8).
The drawing control unit 814 determines whether or not the drawing process is completed (step S9), and if the drawing process is not completed (step S9; NO), returns to step S8 and continues the drawing process.
On the other hand, when the drawing of the nail design for the nail T is completed (step S9; YES), the drawing process in the present embodiment is completed.
When the drawing process is completed, the display device 13 or the like may be displayed to that effect.
When the drawing process is completed, the user removes the finger U1 from the device and performs post-processing such as drying of the drawing mechanism and application of an overcoat agent.

Although not particularly described above, when drawing on the nail T with the nail printing device 1 of the present embodiment, the user first applies an undercoating agent such as white to the nail region and dries it. After performing the pretreatment, it is preferable to fix the finger U1 and its claw T to the finger fixing portion 3. By applying an undercoat to the nail T in advance in this way, the color of the ink ejected on the nail T is improved, and a more beautiful finish can be obtained. Further, when an undercoat agent such as white is applied to the nail T, the boundary between the nail T and the skin portion of the finger U1 can be easily recognized by the nail information detection unit 812, and the contour of the nail T to be drawn can be further defined. It is possible to detect with high accuracy.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the drawing area 21 and the standby area 22 are provided at different positions on the XY plane within the range in which the drawing head 41 can be moved by the head moving unit 49. The plurality of maintenance units are arranged at positions different from the drawing area and the standby area on the XY plane within a range in which the drawing head 41 can be moved by the head moving unit 49, and a plurality of maintenance units are maintained. The units are arranged at positions deviated from each other in at least one of the X direction and the Y direction, and the drawing control unit 814 responds to a predetermined maintenance mode while moving the drawing head 41 from the standby area 22 to the drawing area 21. Therefore, the drawing head 41 and the head moving unit 49 are controlled so that at least one of the plurality of maintenance units performs the maintenance operation at least once.
In the case of a general drawing device that draws on paper, the drawing head 41 is used to perform the drawing operation while transporting the paper to be drawn in a predetermined transport direction (for example, the Y direction in FIG. 3 or the like). Has a uniaxial configuration in which it moves only in a direction orthogonal to this transport direction (for example, the X direction in FIG. 3 and the like).
On the other hand, when the drawing head 41 has a biaxial configuration that can move in either the X direction or the Y direction as in the present embodiment, the drawing head 41 can be moved by the head moving unit 49. On the XY plane, the drawing head 41 can be appropriately arranged at each position regardless of where the drawing area, the standby area, and the maintenance area are arranged.
Therefore, the degree of freedom in the arrangement and design inside the device is increased, and when a plurality of maintenance units such as the purge unit 6 and the wipe unit 7 are provided as in the present embodiment, the arrangement positions are freely dispersed. Therefore, it is possible to make an efficient arrangement in which the drawing head 41 does not move as much as possible.
Further, since the arrangement can be dispersed when a plurality of maintenance units are provided, it is possible to freely select the maintenance units and their combinations to stop by to perform the maintenance operation according to the state of the drawing head 41 and the like. can. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently perform head maintenance by executing a combination of necessary maintenance operations as appropriate according to the situation.
As a result, it is possible to sufficiently solve problems such as ejection defects, omit some maintenance operations and give priority to quick drawing processing, and perform maintenance operations with a large amount of ink ejection such as purge processing. By omitting it, it is possible to realize flexible maintenance according to various situations and requests, such as reducing ink consumption.
Further, if unnecessary maintenance operations can be omitted in this way, it is possible to suppress the consumption of consumable parts such as the wipe member 71 of the wipe portion 7 and the absorber 63 of the purge portion 6.

Further, in the present embodiment, the standby area 22 is provided with a cap portion 23 that covers the ink ejection surface 411.
As a result, it is possible to prevent the ink ejection surface 411 from drying during non-drawing, and to maintain a state in which the drawing operation can be performed immediately, and the ink ejection surface 411 is suitable for drawing even when the device is not used for a long period of time. The device can be stored while maintaining a good condition.

Further, in the present embodiment, the plurality of maintenance units include a purge unit 6 that receives ink forcibly ejected from the ink ejection surface 411, and a wipe portion 7 that cleans the ink ejection surface 411 by wiping.
By performing maintenance operations by the purge unit 6 and the wipe unit 7, the ink adhering to the ink ejection surface 411 and the ink ejection port formed therein, the air accumulated in the nozzle, foreign matter, etc. are appropriately removed, which is good. It is possible to recover the discharge state.

Further, in the present embodiment, in the predetermined maintenance mode, the content of the maintenance operation is set based on the total amount of ink ejected from the ink ejection surface of the drawing head.
As a result, when the remaining amount of ink is low, maintenance operations such as purging processing that consume a large amount of ink can be avoided, and the drawing head 41 can be made to last for a long time.

Further, in the present embodiment, the timer 816 is provided as a drawing time acquisition unit for acquiring the drawing elapsed time since the drawing operation by the drawing head is started, and the predetermined maintenance mode is the drawing progress acquired by the timer 816. The content of the maintenance operation is set based on the time.
Therefore, when the ink ejection surface is expected to be dirty, for example, after drawing for a long time, it is appropriate to select a mode (for example, the first maintenance mode) in which careful maintenance can be performed. It is possible to take measures to realize normal ink ejection.

Further, in the present embodiment, the timer 816 is provided as a pause time acquisition unit for acquiring the pause elapsed time since the last drawing operation by the drawing head is performed, and the predetermined maintenance mode is acquired by the timer 816. The content of the maintenance operation is set based on the elapsed pause time.
For this reason, if the dirt adhering to the ink ejection surface is solidified or the ink may be thickened in the nozzle, for example, when the device has been left unattended for a long time, be careful. It is possible to realize normal ink ejection by taking appropriate measures such as selecting a mode in which various maintenance can be performed (for example, the first maintenance mode).

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to such embodiments and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

For example, in the present embodiment, the purge unit 6 is exemplified by forcibly ejecting ink in the same operation as normal ink ejection, but the configuration of the purge unit 6 is not limited to this.
For example, a small pump or the like is provided, and a purge unit is provided in which the ink ejection surface 411 is sealed and the ink and impurities remaining in the nozzle or the like are sucked by the pump and forced to be discharged to the outside. May be good.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the purge unit 6 and the wipe unit 7 are provided as the maintenance unit is illustrated, but the type of the maintenance unit is not limited to this. Other maintenance units may be provided in place of or in combination with these.
As another maintenance unit, for example, an absorbent member made of a highly absorbent material such as felt is pressed against the ink ejection surface 411 to absorb and adsorb ink or the like adhering to the ink ejection surface 411 to remove the ink. May be provided.

Further, in the present embodiment, the configuration in which the purge unit 6 and the wipe unit 7 are provided at one location each is exemplified, but the number of the purge unit 6 and the wipe unit 7 provided is not particularly limited, and for example, the standby area 22. One type of maintenance unit may be provided at a plurality of locations, such as providing purge units 6 in the vicinity and in the vicinity of the drawing area, or arranging wipe units 7 in front of and behind the purge units 6 and on the sides thereof.

Further, in the present embodiment, the remaining amount of ink, the elapsed drawing time, the elapsed pause time, etc. are exemplified as the judgment factors when selecting the maintenance mode, but the judgment factors are not limited to this, and other factors are used. You may consider it.
Further, when selecting the maintenance mode, a plurality of factors may be taken into consideration when making a judgment. In this case, if the determination elements are weighted to a certain degree and there are contradictory conditions, the maintenance mode according to the one with high weighting may be selected.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the nail design storage area 822 for storing the image data of the nail design is provided in the storage unit 82 of the nail print device 1 is exemplified, but the image data of the nail design is the nail print device 1. It is not limited to the case where it is stored in the storage unit 82 of.
For example, the image data of the nail design may be stored in a server device or the like that can be connected via a network line or the like, and the image data of the nail design may be configured to be accessible by accessing the server device or the like.
By doing so, it becomes possible to select the design to be drawn from among more nail designs.

Further, in the present embodiment, the drawing head 41 of the nail printing device (drawing device) 1 is provided with an inkjet drawing head 41, but the configuration of the drawing head 41 is not limited to this.
For example, a pen holder for holding a drawing pen for drawing with a pen tip attached to the surface of the nail T may be provided, and drawing may be performed using the pen. Further, a configuration may be configured in which both an inkjet drawing head and a pen holder for holding a drawing pen as in the present embodiment are provided, and drawing is performed using a plurality of drawing means.

Further, the nail printing device 1 may be provided with a drying unit provided with a heater or a fan for drying the ink after drawing.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the claw T of the finger U1 is fixed to the finger fixing portion 3 to perform shooting and drawing processing is exemplified, but the object that can be drawn by the nail printing device (drawing device) 1 is the finger U1. It is not limited to the claw T.
For example, even a nail-like shape such as a nail tip used by being attached to a nail T can be a "nail" that can be drawn by a drawing system.

Further, in the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the drawing head 41 can be moved in the X direction, which is the first direction, and in the Y direction, which is the second direction intersecting the X direction, by the head moving unit 49. The direction 1 and the second direction may be directions that intersect each other, and are not limited to the X direction and the Y direction.
For example, the drawing head 41 may be able to move diagonally on the XY plane by the head moving unit 49.
Further, the first direction and the second direction do not have to be orthogonal directions. For example, when the drawing head 41 can move diagonally on the XY plane and the diagonal movement direction is set as the first direction, the second direction is used. The direction may be the X direction or the Y direction intersecting with the first direction.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof. ..
The inventions described in the claims originally attached to the application of this application are described below. The claims described in the appendix are the scope of the claims originally attached to the application for this application.
[Additional Notes]
<Claim 1>
A drawing head having an ink ejection surface that ejects ink to the drawing target and drawing on the drawing target,
A head moving portion capable of moving the drawing head in the first direction and a second direction intersecting the first direction,
A drawing control unit that controls the drawing head and the head moving unit,
With multiple maintenance departments
Equipped with
Each of the plurality of maintenance units performs maintenance on the drawing head with different contents.
A drawing area in which the drawing target is placed within a range in which the drawing head can be moved by the head moving portion and the drawing is performed by the drawing head, and when the drawing head is not drawing. The standby area in which the drawing head is arranged and the plurality of maintenance units are provided at different positions from each other.
The drawing control unit
While the drawing head is moved from the standby area to the drawing area, the drawing head is moved in the first direction and the second direction by the head moving unit, and at least one of the plurality of maintenance units is used. A drawing device characterized in that it is possible to prevent passing through one.
<Claim 2>
A claim characterized in that at least one of the plurality of maintenance units is arranged at positions deviated from the first direction and the second direction with respect to at least one of the drawing area and the standby area. Item 1. The drawing apparatus according to item 1.
<Claim 3>
The drawing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the standby region is provided with a cap portion that covers the ink ejection surface.
<Claim 4>
The plurality of maintenance units include a purge unit that receives ink forcibly ejected from the ink ejection surface, and a wipe portion that cleans the ink ejection surface by wiping the ink ejection surface. The drawing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
<Claim 5>
While the drawing control unit moves the drawing head from the standby area to the drawing area, the drawing control unit uses at least one of the plurality of maintenance units at least once according to a set maintenance mode. The drawing head and the head moving unit are controlled so as to perform maintenance operation.
The maintenance mode is described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the content of the maintenance operation is set based on the total amount of ink ejected from the ink ejection surface of the drawing head. Drawing device.
<Claim 6>
It has a drawing time acquisition unit that acquires the elapsed drawing time since the drawing operation by the drawing head is started.
While the drawing control unit moves the drawing head from the standby area to the drawing area, the drawing control unit uses at least one of the plurality of maintenance units at least once according to a set maintenance mode. The drawing head and the head moving unit are controlled so as to perform maintenance operation.
The maintenance mode according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the content of the maintenance operation is set based on the drawing elapsed time acquired by the drawing time acquisition unit. Drawing device.
<Claim 7>
It has a pause time acquisition unit that acquires the pause elapsed time since the last drawing operation by the drawing head is performed.
While the drawing control unit moves the drawing head from the standby area to the drawing area, the drawing control unit uses at least one of the plurality of maintenance units at least once according to a set maintenance mode. The drawing head and the head moving unit are controlled so as to perform maintenance operation.
The maintenance mode according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the content of the maintenance operation is set based on the pause elapsed time acquired by the pause time acquisition unit. Drawing device.
<Claim 8>
It is a drawing method of a drawing device.
The drawing device is movable in a first direction and a second direction intersecting the first direction, and ejects ink to the drawing target to draw on the drawing target, and a plurality of maintenance units. Each of the plurality of maintenance units performs maintenance of different contents to the drawing head, and the drawing target is placed within the movable range of the drawing head by the drawing head. The drawing area where the drawing is performed, the standby area where the drawing head is arranged when the drawing head is not drawing, and the plurality of maintenance units are provided at different positions from each other.
The drawing head is moved in the first direction and the second direction between the drawing area, the standby area, and the plurality of maintenance units.
While moving the drawing head from the standby area to the drawing area, the drawing head is moved in the first direction and the second direction so as not to pass through at least one of the plurality of maintenance units. A drawing method characterized in that the drawing head can be moved.
<Claim 9>
A program executed by a computer that controls a drawing device.
The drawing device is movable in a first direction and a second direction intersecting the first direction, and ejects ink to the drawing target to draw on the drawing target, and a plurality of maintenance units. Each of the plurality of maintenance units performs maintenance of different contents to the drawing head, and the drawing target is placed within the movable range of the drawing head by the drawing head. The drawing area where the drawing is performed, the standby area where the drawing head is arranged when the drawing head is not drawing, and the plurality of maintenance units are provided at different positions from each other.
The drawing head is moved in the first direction and the second direction between the drawing area, the standby area, and the plurality of maintenance units.
While moving the drawing head from the standby area to the drawing area, the drawing head is moved in the first direction and the second direction so as not to pass through at least one of the plurality of maintenance units. Allows the drawing head to be moved,
A program characterized by that.

1 Nail printing device 6 Purge unit 7 Wipe unit 15 Base unit 16 Drawing area 17 Standby area 23 Cap unit 33 Window unit 35 Claw mounting unit 40 Drawing mechanism 41 Drawing head 50 Imaging mechanism 81 Control unit 82 Storage unit 811 Imaging control unit T claw U1 finger

Claims (11)

A drawing head that has an ink ejection port and draws on the drawing target,
A head moving portion capable of moving the drawing head in the first direction and a second direction intersecting the first direction,
A drawing control unit that controls the drawing head and the head moving unit,
A cap portion that protects by covering the ink ejection port and
Equipped with
Within the range in which the drawing head can be moved by the head moving portion, a drawing area in which the drawing by the drawing head is performed and a standby area in which the cap portion is arranged are provided at different positions from each other. ,
When the drawing control unit changes from a state in which the ink ejection port is not covered by the cap portion to a state in which the ink ejection port is covered by the cap portion, the drawing control unit draws the ink by the head moving unit. The head is moved from one of the second directions to the standby area, and the ink ejection port is not covered by the cap portion from the state where the ink ejection port is covered by the cap portion. In the case of changing to, a first mode in which the drawing head is moved from the standby area to the first direction and a second mode in which the drawing head is moved from the standby area in the second direction are selected. A drawing device that is possible . A first maintenance unit for maintaining the ink ejection port is provided.
The drawing control unit
At the time of drawing, the ink is ejected from the ink ejection port while the drawing head is moved in the first direction by the head moving portion.
During non-drawing, the first maintenance unit performs maintenance while the drawing head is moved in the second direction by the head moving unit.
The drawing apparatus according to claim 1. One of the first mode and the second mode is a mode in which the ink ejection port is maintained by the first maintenance unit and then drawing is started.
The other of the first mode and the second mode is a mode in which drawing is started without the ink ejection port being maintained by the first maintenance unit.
The drawing apparatus according to claim 2. The first mode is a mode in which the ink ejection port is maintained by the first maintenance unit by moving the drawing head from the standby area in the first direction and then in the second direction. ,
The drawing apparatus according to claim 3. The ink ejection port is provided with a second maintenance unit that performs maintenance different from that of the first maintenance unit.
The second mode is a mode in which the ink ejection port is maintained by the second maintenance unit by moving the drawing head from the standby area in the second direction and then in the first direction. ,
The drawing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4. The first maintenance unit is arranged so that the position in the second direction is closer to the standby area than the second maintenance unit.
The drawing apparatus according to claim 5. One of the first maintenance unit and the second maintenance unit is a maintenance unit that receives ink forcibly ejected from the ink ejection port.
Either one of the first maintenance unit and the second maintenance unit is a maintenance unit that is cleaned by wiping the ink ejection port.
The drawing apparatus according to claim 5 or 6. The cap portion includes an urging member having an urging force that urges the cap portion from the other side in the second direction toward the one side .
The drawing control unit moves the drawing head from one of the second directions to the standby area, so that the cap unit resists the urging force and causes the second direction. Pushed to the other side and rises to a position that covers the ink ejection port.
The drawing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 . The waiting area is arranged on the other side of the drawing area in the second direction.
The drawing head is arranged in the standby area when the drawing head is not drawing.
The drawing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8. It is a driving method of the drawing device.
The drawing device includes a drawing head that is movable in a first direction and a second direction that intersects the first direction and ejects ink from an ink ejection port to a drawing target to draw on the drawing target. A cap portion that protects by covering the ink ejection port is provided, and a drawing area in which the drawing by the drawing head is performed and a standby area in which the cap portion is provided are provided within the movable range of the drawing head. And are provided at different positions from each other,
When the ink ejection port is changed from the state where the ink ejection port is not covered by the cap portion to the state where the ink ejection port is covered by the cap portion, the head moving portion causes the drawing head to move in the second direction. When moving from one side to the other to the standby area and changing the state in which the ink ejection port is covered by the cap portion to the state in which the ink ejection port is not covered by the cap portion. A first mode in which the drawing head is moved from the standby area to the first direction and a second mode in which the drawing head is moved from the standby area in the second direction can be selected.
Drive method. A program executed by a computer that controls a drawing device.
The drawing device includes a drawing head that is movable in a first direction and a second direction that intersects the first direction and ejects ink from an ink ejection port to a drawing target to draw on the drawing target. A cap portion that protects the ink ejection port by covering the ink ejection port is provided, and a drawing area in which the drawing is performed and a standby area in which the cap portion is provided are provided with each other within a movable range of the drawing head. It is installed in different positions,
When the ink ejection port is changed from the state where the ink ejection port is not covered by the cap portion to the state where the ink ejection port is covered by the cap portion, the head moving portion causes the drawing head to move in the second direction. When moving from one side to the other to the standby area and changing the state in which the ink ejection port is covered by the cap portion to the state in which the ink ejection port is not covered by the cap portion. A first mode in which the drawing head is moved from the standby area to the first direction and a second mode in which the drawing head is moved from the standby area in the second direction can be selected.
program.

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