JP7495276B2 - Printing data generating device and ink application device control device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a printing data generating device and a control device for an ink application device.

A dot spacer is used in resistive touch panels to prevent short circuits between two conductive films. The dot spacer is composed of multiple dots made of insulating material that are regularly distributed within a surface. The following Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for forming dot spacers by spraying ink onto a dot spacer formation surface using an inkjet printer. When a desired pattern is drawn using an inkjet printer, raster-formed image data is used to control the ejection of ink from the inkjet head. Raster-format image data is generally generated by converting vector-format data created using CAD. Raster-format image data is defined by multiple pixels that are arranged over almost the entire surface to which ink is to be applied.

JP 2004-139162 A

As the area to be ink-applied becomes larger and the resolution becomes higher, the number of pixels in the image data for printing (print data) becomes enormous. As the number of pixels increases, the time it takes to convert vector-format image data into raster-format image data increases. Furthermore, the data volume of the print data increases.

The object of the present invention is to provide a print data generation device and an ink application device that can reduce the data volume of print data.

According to one aspect of the present invention,
A printing data generating device that generates printing data that is provided to an ink applying device that applies ink to a surface to be drawn by ejecting ink from an inkjet head, and that specifies ink application positions, comprising:
The printing data is
basic image data that specifies ink application positions in each of a plurality of unit areas defined on the drawing surface;
position information that specifies the position of each of the plurality of unit areas on the surface to be drawn;
association information that associates each of the plurality of unit areas with any one of the plurality of basic image data;
There is provided a print data generating device that generates the print data by associating a common single piece of basic image data with unit areas among the plurality of unit areas, the unit areas having the same distribution of a plurality of ink application positions within the unit area.

According to another aspect of the invention,
An inkjet head that ejects ink in droplets;
a substrate is disposed at a position facing the inkjet head, and an ink applying device including a moving mechanism for moving one of the inkjet head and the substrate relative to the other is controlled;
a control device that controls the inkjet head and the movement mechanism to apply ink to ink application positions on the drawing surface of the substrate based on printing data that designates ink application positions on the drawing surface,
The printing data is
basic image data that specifies ink application positions in each of a plurality of unit areas defined on the drawing surface;
position information that specifies the positions of each of the unit areas on the surface to be drawn;
A control device is provided in which a common set of basic image data is associated with unit areas, among the plurality of unit areas, in which a distribution of a plurality of ink application positions within the unit area is the same.

A single common basic image data is associated with unit areas that have the same distribution of ink application positions within the unit area, which reduces the data volume of the printing data.

Figure 1A is a schematic front view of a printing data generation device according to one embodiment, and an ink application device that performs drawing using image data generated by the printing data generation device, and Figure 1B is a diagram showing the positional relationship in a plan view of a movable table, an ink ejection unit, and an imaging device. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a drawing area in which a pattern to be formed on the surface of a substrate is arranged. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a surface to be drawn and one drawing area therein, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing various information contained in the drawing information. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing pixels constituting two types of basic image data on a two-dimensional plane of a pixel coordinate system. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of information included in the print data. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of a plurality of unit areas on the surface to be drawn. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the arrangement of a plurality of unit areas on the surface to be drawn. Figure 8A is a diagram showing the positional relationship of multiple drawing areas and unit areas within a drawn surface specified in printing data generated by a printing data generation device in another embodiment, and Figure 8B is a diagram showing the association between the unit areas and basic image data. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the movement trajectory of the inkjet head relative to the substrate when a dot pattern is formed by the ink application device according to this embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the movement trajectory of the inkjet head when applying ink using the printing data shown in FIG.

A print data generating device according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 7. FIG.
1A is a schematic front view of a printing data generating device according to the present embodiment, and an ink application device that performs drawing using printing data generated by the printing data generating device. A movable table 12 is supported on a base 10 by a moving mechanism 11. An xyz orthogonal coordinate system is defined in which the x-axis and y-axis are oriented horizontally and the z-axis is oriented vertically downward. The moving mechanism 11 is controlled by a control device 50 to move the movable table 12 in two directions, the x-direction and the y-direction. As the moving mechanism 11, for example, an XY stage including an X-direction moving mechanism 11X and a Y-direction moving mechanism 11Y can be used. The X-direction moving mechanism 11X moves the Y-direction moving mechanism 11Y in the x-direction relative to the base 10, and the Y-direction moving mechanism 11Y moves the movable table 12 in the y-direction relative to the base 10.

The substrate 20 to be coated with ink is held on the upper surface (holding surface) of the movable table 12. The substrate 20 is fixed to the movable table 12 by, for example, a vacuum chuck. The movement mechanism 11 moves the substrate 20 held on the movable table 12 in a direction parallel to the xy plane. An ink ejection unit 30 and an imaging device 40 are supported above the movable table 12 by, for example, a gate-shaped support member 13. The ink ejection unit 30 and the imaging device 40 are supported so that they can be raised and lowered relative to the base 10. The ink ejection unit 30 has multiple nozzles facing the substrate 20. Each nozzle ejects droplets of photocurable (e.g., ultraviolet curable) ink toward the surface of the substrate 20. The ejection of the ink is controlled by a control device 50.

The imaging device 40 captures an image of the top surface of the substrate 20 (the surface on which the ink is applied). An area of the top surface of the substrate 20 that is located within the angle of view of the imaging device 40 is captured by the imaging device 40.

The control device 50 includes a storage unit 51 and a control unit 52. Information (hereinafter referred to as image data) specifying the positions to which ink should be applied is stored in the storage unit 51. The image data is composed of a number of pixels each corresponding to a number of positions on the surface of the substrate 20. The pixels at which ink should land are specified by associating each pixel with information specifying whether or not ink should be applied. In this specification, the positions on the substrate corresponding to each of the pixels of the image data may be simply referred to as "pixels".

The control unit 52 controls the movement mechanism 11 and the ink ejection unit 30 based on this image data, thereby causing ink to land at a predetermined position on the surface of the substrate 20. This forms a dot pattern or film pattern made of ink on the surface of the substrate 20. In this specification, a dot in which ink that has landed on one pixel is not continuous with ink that has landed on other pixels and is isolated is referred to as an "isolated dot".

The print data generating device 60 generates print data based on various information input by the user. The generated print data is input to the control device 50. The print data is input from the print data generating device 60 to the control device 50 using removable media, a communication network such as a LAN, or short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), etc.

FIG. 1B is a diagram showing the positional relationship of the movable table 12, the ink ejection unit 30, and the imaging device 40 in a plan view. The substrate 20 is held on the holding surface of the movable table 12. The ink ejection unit 30 and the imaging device 40 are supported above the substrate 20. The ink ejection unit 30 includes an inkjet head 31 and a curing light source 33. A plurality of nozzles 32 are provided on the surface of the inkjet head 31 facing the substrate 20. The plurality of nozzles 32 are arranged at equal intervals in the x direction. This interval is a dimension corresponding to a resolution of, for example, 600 dpi. Note that the plurality of nozzles 32 do not need to be arranged on a single straight line parallel to the x direction, and may be arranged at positions regularly shifted in the y direction from a reference line parallel to the x direction. For example, they may be arranged in a staggered pattern.

The curing light sources 33 are disposed on both sides of the inkjet head 31 in the y direction, and irradiate the substrate 20 with light for curing the ink applied to the substrate 20. For example, if the ink is ultraviolet-curable, the curing light source 33 irradiates the substrate 20 with ultraviolet light. The curing light source 33 functions as a curing device that cures the ink applied to the substrate 20.

The moving mechanism 11 is controlled by the control device 50 to move the movable table 12 in the x and y directions. Furthermore, the control device 50 controls the ejection of ink from each nozzle 32 of the inkjet head 31.

By ejecting ink from the inkjet head 31 while moving the substrate 20 in the y direction (in other words, while moving the inkjet head 31 relative to the substrate 20 in the y direction), ink can be applied to the substrate 20 at a resolution of, for example, 600 dpi in the x direction. The ink that has landed on the substrate 20 is cured by light emitted from a curing light source 33 located downstream in the direction of movement of the substrate 20. The operation of causing the ink to land on the substrate 20 from the inkjet head 31 while moving the substrate 20 in the y direction is referred to as a "scanning operation." The y direction is referred to as the scanning direction.

In one scanning operation, the inkjet head 31 may make at least one round trip in the y direction. In this case, by shifting the inkjet head 31 in the x direction relative to the substrate 20 by 1/2 the pitch of the nozzles 32 on the forward and return trips, it is possible to land ink on the substrate 20 at a resolution of 1200 dpi. By shifting the inkjet head 31 by 1/4 the pitch of the nozzles 32 and making the inkjet head 31 make two round trips, it is possible to land ink on the substrate 20 at a resolution of 2400 dpi. In this way, even when the inkjet head 31 is moved multiple times in the negative and positive directions of the y axis to increase the resolution, the multiple movements are collectively referred to as one scanning operation.

When one scanning operation is completed, the control device 50 moves the movable table 12 in the x direction. In other words, it moves the inkjet head 31 in the x direction relative to the substrate 20. This operation is referred to as the "shift operation". The x direction is referred to as the shift direction. By repeating the scanning operation and the shift operation, ink can be applied to the entire substrate 20. The amount of movement of the inkjet head 31 in the x direction relative to the substrate 20 may be approximately equal to the distance between the two nozzles 32 located at both ends in the x direction. Note that, when some of the nozzles 32 near both ends are not used for ejecting ink, the amount of movement may be approximately equal to the distance between the nozzles 32 located at both ends among the nozzles 32 actually used.

By performing multiple scans without shifting, ink can be deposited multiple times on a single pixel, i.e., the ink can be layered. By layering the ink, isolated dots can be made taller, resulting in a thicker film.

When a scanning operation is performed while the substrate 20 is irradiated with light from the curing light source 33, the ink ejected from the inkjet head 31 is provisionally cured immediately after landing on the substrate 20. Specifically, the ink is provisionally cured in the short time it takes for the ink impact point to move into the path of the light irradiated from the curing light source 33 after landing. Until the ink is provisionally cured, the ink that has landed on the substrate 20 spreads in the in-plane direction of the substrate 20. The extent of this spread depends on the degree of lyophilicity of the surface of the substrate 20. After the ink is provisionally cured, the ink does not spread in the in-plane direction of the substrate 20.

Figure 2 is a plan view showing a drawing area in which a pattern to be formed on the surface of the substrate 20 is arranged. In this embodiment, dot spacers for use in a resistive touch panel are formed. Eight touch panels are multiplexed on one substrate 20. The surface of the substrate 20 to which ink is to be applied is referred to as the drawing surface 23. A square or rectangular drawing area 25 is defined on the drawing surface 23 corresponding to each of the eight touch panels. The four edges of the drawing surface 23 and the four edges of each of the drawing areas 25 are parallel to the x direction (shift direction) or y direction (scan direction). When the x direction is the row direction and the y direction is the column direction, the eight drawing areas 25 are arranged in a matrix of 4 rows and 2 columns.

As an example, one vertex of the surface 23 to be drawn is defined as the origin O of the xy coordinate system. In FIG. 2, the top left vertex is defined as the origin O. A reference point 24 is defined in each of the drawing areas 25, the position of which is fixed relative to the drawing area 25. As the reference point 24, for example, the vertex closest to the origin O among the four vertices of each of the drawing areas 25 is adopted. In FIG. 2, the top left vertex of each of the surface 23 to be drawn is the reference point 24. By specifying the position of the reference point 24 in the xy coordinate system, the position of the drawing area 25 on the surface 23 to be drawn can be specified.

A pixel coordinate system is defined on the surface 23 to be drawn, and the position of a pixel to be placed on the surface 23 to be drawn is specified by pixel coordinates. Of the multiple pixels to be placed on the surface 23 to be drawn, the pixel that has the origin O of the xy coordinate system as one of its vertices is defined as the origin (0,0) of the pixel coordinate system. The pixel pitch is set according to the resolution of the pattern to be formed on the surface 23 to be drawn. When a position is specified by the xy coordinates, that position can be associated with one pixel in the pixel coordinate system.

A number of isolated dots are placed in each of the drawing areas 25. Printing data generated by a printing data generating device 60 (Figure 1A) specifies the positions of the dots 22 to be placed on the drawing surface 23. A control device 50 applies ink to predetermined positions on the drawing surface 23 by controlling the movement mechanism 11 and the inkjet head 31 based on the printing data.

The area where ink can be applied in one scanning operation is called a pass area 21. Multiple pass areas 21 are arranged side by side in the x direction. In FIG. 2, four pass areas 21 cover the entire area of the surface 23 to be drawn on where ink should be applied. The number of pass areas 21 required varies depending on the size of the substrate 20 and the size of the inkjet head 31.

Next, with reference to Figures 3A and 3B, we will explain the information that specifies the range of the drawing area 25 and the dot pattern to be formed in the drawing area 25 (hereinafter referred to as drawing information).

Figure 3A shows the surface 23 to be drawn and one drawing area 25 within it. The upper left vertex of the surface 23 to be drawn corresponds to the origin O of the xy coordinate system. The drawing area 25 is disposed within the surface 23 to be drawn. The drawing area 25 is divided into a peripheral portion 25A and an inner depth portion 25B. The area inside the drawing area 25 and outside the inner depth portion 25B is the peripheral portion 25A. The upper left vertex of the peripheral portion 25A coincides with the reference point 24 of the drawing area 25. The upper left vertex of the inner depth portion 25B is set as the reference point 24B of the inner depth portion 25B.

Each drawing area 25 constitutes one unit area 28. The unit area 28 is the unit for generating basic image data 90 (Figure 3B) described below. The reference point 24 of the drawing area 25 is used as the reference point 29 that is the basis for specifying the position of the unit area 28 on the drawing surface 23.

Figure 3B is a chart showing various information contained in the drawing information. The drawing information set for one drawing area 25 includes information specifying the position of the drawing area 25 on the drawing surface 23, the range of the drawing area 25, and the distribution rule of the ink application positions (dots) within the drawing area 25. Information specifying the position of the drawing area 25 is used as information specifying the position of the reference point 24 (Figure 3A) of the drawing area 25. Information specifying the range of the drawing area 25 is used as information specifying the x-direction dimension and y-direction dimension of the drawing area 25. Information specifying the distribution rule of the ink application positions is used as information specifying the pitch in the x-direction and y-direction (dot pitch) of the dots arranged on the peripheral portion 25A, the relative position of the reference point 24B of the innermost portion 25B with respect to the reference point 24 of the drawing area 25, the x-direction and y-direction dimension of the innermost portion 25B, and the x-direction and y-direction dot pitch of the innermost portion 25B.

The print data generating device 60 (FIG. 1A) allows the user to input this information contained in the drawing information. Furthermore, the print data generating device 60 generates basic image data 90 based on the information in the drawing information input by the user other than the position information of the reference point 24 of the drawing area 25. The basic image data 90 is image data in a raster format composed of a plurality of pixels 70, and each of the plurality of pixels 70 is assigned information specifying whether or not to apply ink (whether or not to place a dot).

The print data generating device 60 (FIG. 1A) generates a single common basic image data 90 for multiple drawing areas 25 in which the drawing information is identical except for the position information of the reference point 24.

Figures 4A and 4B are diagrams showing pixels 70 constituting two types of basic image data 90A and 90B on a two-dimensional plane of a pixel coordinate system. Basic image data 90A and 90B specify the positions of multiple dots 71 to be placed in the corresponding unit area 28 (Figure 3A). In Figures 4A and 4B, the pixels 70 in which dots 71 are placed are painted black. The pixels 70 in which dots 71 are placed may be simply referred to as dots 71. Also, in Figures 4A and 4B, the peripheral portion 25A is hatched.

A plurality of dots 71 are regularly arranged at equal pitches in the x and y directions in the peripheral portion 25A and the innermost portion 25B, respectively. In the example shown in FIG. 4A, the pitch of the dots 71 arranged in the innermost portion 25B is wider than the pitch of the dots 71 arranged in the peripheral portion 25A. In the example shown in FIG. 4B, the pitch of the dots 71 arranged in the innermost portion 25B is narrower than the pitch of the dots 71 arranged in the peripheral portion 25A. Note that the plurality of dots 71 may be arranged according to a distribution pattern other than the dot arrangement shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B. For example, the plurality of dots 71 may be arranged uniformly over the entire unit area 28.

Figure 5 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of information contained in the printing data 95. The printing data 95 includes basic image data 90A, 90B (Figures 4A and 4B), and information defining each of a plurality of unit areas 28. The information defining each of the unit areas 28 includes information specifying the position of the unit area 28 on the surface to be drawn 23 (hereinafter referred to as position information). The position of the unit area 28 is specified by the position of the reference point 29. The position of the reference point 29 is specified, for example, by pixel coordinates defined on the surface to be drawn 23.

The information defining the unit area 28 further includes information (hereinafter referred to as association information) that associates each of the multiple unit areas 28 with one of the basic image data 90A, 90B. Associating the unit area 28 with the basic image data means that one of the multiple basic image data can be accessed from the information that specifies each of the multiple unit areas 28. For example, as the association information, identification information that specifies one of the multiple basic image data, or a pointer that points to the address where the basic image data is stored, can be used. In FIG. 5, the association between the unit area 28 and the basic image data 90A, 90B is represented by an arrow 91 that points from one of the basic image data 90A, 90B to the unit area 28. The positions of the multiple dots to be placed in each of the multiple unit areas 28 are specified by the basic image data 90A or 90B associated with the unit area 28.

The control device 50 (FIG. 1A) controls the moving mechanism 11 and the inkjet head 31 to form a dot pattern specified by the basic image data 90A within the unit area 28 to which the basic image data 90A is associated, and to form a dot pattern specified by the basic image data 90B within the unit area 28 to which the basic image data 90B is associated.

Next, the excellent effects of the above embodiment will be described.
Usually, raster format image data generated for the entire area of the surface 23 to be drawn (FIG. 2) is used as the printing data. In this embodiment, one basic image data 90 (FIG. 3B) is generated for a plurality of unit areas 28 having the same dot pattern among the eight unit areas 28. The area of the unit area 28 for which the basic image data 90 specifies the positions of dots is smaller than the entire area of the surface 23 to be drawn. Therefore, the data capacity of the basic image data 90 is smaller than the data capacity of the raster format image data generated for the entire area of the surface 23 to be drawn. In addition, the total data capacity of the plurality of basic image data 90A, 90B included in the printing data 95 (FIG. 5) according to the embodiment is also smaller than the data capacity of the raster format image data generated for the entire area of the surface 23 to be drawn.

The data capacity of the information specifying the position of the unit area 28 included in the printing data 95 (FIG. 5) and the information associating the unit area 28 with one of the multiple basic image data 90A, 90B is sufficiently smaller than the data capacity of the basic image data 90A, 90B. Therefore, by generating the printing data with the printing data generating device 60 (FIG. 1A) according to the above embodiment, the data capacity of the printing data can be reduced.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, one common basic image data 90 is generated for multiple unit areas 28 with the same dot pattern, so the time required to generate the print data can be reduced compared to when image data is generated for each of all unit areas 28 to serve as print data.

Next, another excellent effect will be described with reference to FIG.
Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of a plurality of unit areas 28 on the surface to be drawn 23. In the example shown in Fig. 5, eight unit areas 28 are arranged in a matrix of four rows and two columns. In contrast, in the example shown in Fig. 6, no unit areas 28 are arranged in the first and second rows of the first column.

Two unit areas 28 are arranged in the first and second pass areas 21 from the left, and four unit areas 28 are arranged in the third and fourth pass areas 21. In Figure 6, the trajectory of the movement of the inkjet head 31 relative to the substrate 20 is shown by a broken line with an arrow.

The control device 50 (Figure 1A) determines the range in which the unit areas 28 are located in the y direction for each pass area 21 from the position of the reference point 29 and the basic image data 90A, 90B. In the scanning operation, the inkjet head 31 does not scan the range in which the unit areas 28 are not located. In the scanning operation, the travel distance of the inkjet head 31 is shorter than when the entire range of the surface 23 to be drawn in the y direction is scanned. This makes it possible to shorten the ink application time.

Next, another excellent effect will be described with reference to FIG.
Fig. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the arrangement of a plurality of unit areas 28 on the surface to be drawn 23. In the example shown in Fig. 7, no unit area 28 is arranged at the position of the first column, second row. During the scanning operation, when the inkjet head 31 passes through an area in the y direction where no unit area 28 is arranged, the movement speed of the inkjet head 31 is increased. In Fig. 7, the area where the inkjet head 31 is moved at an increased movement speed is indicated by an arrow thicker than the broken line with arrow indicating the trajectory of the inkjet head 31.

By increasing the movement speed of the inkjet head 31 in a portion of the pass area 21, it is possible to shorten the ink application time.

Next, a modification of the above embodiment will be described.
In the above embodiment, two basic image data 90A, 90B are generated as shown in Figure 5, but if the dot patterns of multiple unit areas 28 are classified into three or more types, three or more pieces of basic image data 90 can be generated according to the number of types of dot patterns.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 8A to 9. Below, a description of the configuration common to the embodiment shown in Figures 1A to 5 will be omitted.

Figure 8A is a diagram showing the positional relationship of multiple drawing areas 25 and unit areas 28 in the drawing surface 23 specified in the printing data generated by the printing data generating device 60 (Figure 1A) according to this embodiment. Eight drawing areas 25 are arranged in a matrix of 4 rows and 2 columns. In Figure 8A, the drawing areas 25 are hatched. Also, drawing areas 25 with the same dot pattern are hatched with the same pattern. The dot patterns of the unit areas 28 in the first and second rows are the same, and the dot patterns of the unit areas 28 in the third and fourth rows are the same. The dot patterns of the unit area 28 in the first row and the unit area 28 in the third row are different.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 1A to 5, one drawing area 25 constitutes one unit area 28 (Figure 5). In contrast, in this embodiment, two drawing areas 25 aligned in the x direction constitute one unit area 28, and a total of four unit areas 28 are aligned in the y direction. The reference point 29 of the unit area 28 coincides with the reference point 24 of the drawing area 25 on the left side in Figure 8A.

The basic image data 90 (Figure 3B) associated with one unit area 28 is generated based on the drawing information of the two drawing areas 25 that make up the unit area 28. In Figure 8A, the position within the unit area 28 of the dot to be placed in the right drawing area 25 can be determined taking into account the relative position of the reference point 24 of the right drawing area 25 with respect to the reference point 24 of the left drawing area 25.

Figure 8B is a diagram showing the association between unit areas 28 and basic image data 90C, 90D. Basic image data 90C is associated with unit areas 28 in the first and second rows, and basic image data 90D is associated with unit areas 28 in the third and fourth rows.

Figure 9 is a diagram showing the trajectory of the movement of the inkjet head 31 relative to the substrate 20 when a dot pattern is formed by the ink application device of this embodiment. In Figure 9, the trajectory of the movement of the inkjet head 31 is shown by a broken line with an arrow. The area to be coated with ink is covered by three pass areas 21. The central pass area 21 includes a portion of the drawing area 25 in the left column and a portion of the drawing area 25 on the right column.

Next, the excellent effects of this embodiment will be described.
In this embodiment, similarly to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A to 5, one basic image data 90 is shared by a plurality of unit areas 28, so that the data volume of the print data can be reduced.

Furthermore, the superior effect of this embodiment compared to applying ink using the printing data 95 shown in FIG. 5 will be explained with reference to FIG. 10.

Figure 10 shows the trajectory of the movement of the inkjet head 31 when applying ink using the printing data 95 shown in Figure 5. One drawing area 25 constitutes one unit area 28. A reference point 29 is set for each unit area 28. The ink application position within the unit area 28 is specified as a relative position to the reference point 29.

The control device 50 (FIG. 1A) therefore determines the ink application position based on different reference points 29 when applying ink to the unit areas 28 in the first row and when applying ink to the unit areas 28 in the second row. This makes it difficult to simultaneously apply ink to the unit areas 28 in the first row and the unit areas 28 in the second row with a single scanning operation.

When performing a scanning operation on the second pass area 21 from the left, ink is applied to a portion of the unit area 28 in the first row, so ink cannot be applied to the unit area 28 in the second row, which has a different reference point 29, at the same time. In order to apply ink to the unit area 28 in the second row, a third and fourth scanning operation must be performed. For this reason, a total of four scanning operations must be performed.

In contrast to this, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, two drawing areas 25 aligned in the x direction are combined into one unit area 28, and one reference point 29 is associated with the area spanning two drawing areas 25 aligned in the x direction. The control device 50 controls the inkjet head 31 based on this one reference point and one basic image data 90, thereby applying ink to the area spanning two drawing areas 25 aligned in the x direction with one scanning operation. As a result, ink can be applied to all drawing areas 25 with three scanning operations.

In this embodiment, it is possible to reduce the number of scan operations compared to the case shown in FIG. 10. As a result, it is possible to shorten the ink application time.

Next, modified examples of the embodiment shown in Figures 8A to 9 will be described. In the example shown in Figure 8A, the number of drawing areas 25 lined up in the x direction is two. When the number of drawing areas 25 lined up in the x direction is three or more, the three or more drawing areas 25 lined up in the x direction may be combined into one unit area 28. When the number of drawing areas 25 lined up in the x direction is four or more, all of the drawing areas 25 lined up in the x direction may be combined into one unit area 28, or some of the drawing areas 25 may be combined into one unit area 28.

The print data generating device 60 (FIG. 1A) may allow the user to specify multiple drawing areas 25 to be included in one unit area 28. For example, the drawing information (FIG. 3B) set for each drawing area 25 may include information specifying which of the multiple unit areas 28 the unit area 28 includes the drawing area 25.

It goes without saying that each embodiment is merely an example, and that partial substitution or combination of the configurations shown in different embodiments is possible. Similar effects resulting from similar configurations in multiple embodiments are not mentioned one after the other for each embodiment. Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications, improvements, combinations, etc. are possible.

10 Base 11 Movement mechanism 11X X-direction movement mechanism 11Y Y-direction movement mechanism 12 Movable table 13 Support member 20 Substrate 21 Pass area 23 Surface to be drawn 24 Reference point 24B Reference point of innermost part 25 Drawing area 25A Peripheral part 25B Innermost part 28 Unit area 29 Reference point of unit area 30 Ink ejection unit 31 Inkjet head 32 Nozzle 33 Curing light source 40 Imaging device 50 Control device 51 Memory unit 52 Control unit 60 Printing data generating device 70 Pixel 71 Dot 90, 90A, 90B, 90C, 90D Basic image data 91 Arrow indicating association 95 Printing data

Claims (6)

A printing data generating device that generates printing data that is provided to an ink applying device that ejects ink from an inkjet head to apply ink to a surface to be drawn, and that specifies ink application positions, comprising:
The printing data is
basic image data that specifies ink application positions in each of a plurality of unit areas defined on the drawing surface;
position information that specifies the position of each of the plurality of unit areas on the surface to be drawn;
association information that associates each of the plurality of unit areas with any one of the plurality of basic image data;
a print data generating device that generates the print data by associating common basic image data with unit areas among the plurality of unit areas in which a distribution of a plurality of ink application positions within the unit area is the same; A plurality of drawing areas are defined in each of the plurality of unit areas,
drawing information is set for each of the plurality of drawing areas;
the drawing information includes information that specifies a position of a drawing area on the drawing surface, a range of the drawing area, and a distribution rule of ink application positions within the drawing area;
The printing data generating device according to claim 1 , wherein the basic image data is generated based on the drawing information. the ink applying device performs a scanning operation of discharging ink while moving the inkjet head in a first direction relative to the surface to be printed, at different positions in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction;
the plurality of drawing areas are arranged in a matrix with the first direction and the second direction being row directions and column directions, respectively;
The printing data generating device according to claim 2 , wherein a plurality of drawing areas aligned in the second direction are collectively defined as one unit area. The print data generating device according to claim 1 or 2 further has a function that allows the user to specify multiple drawing areas to be included in one unit area. An inkjet head that ejects ink in droplets;
a substrate is disposed at a position facing the inkjet head, and an ink applying device including a moving mechanism for moving one of the inkjet head and the substrate relative to the other is controlled;
a control device that controls the inkjet head and the moving mechanism to apply ink to ink application positions on the drawing surface of the substrate based on printing data that designates ink application positions on the drawing surface of the substrate,
The printing data is
basic image data that specifies ink application positions in each of a plurality of unit areas defined on the drawing surface;
position information that specifies the positions of each of the unit areas on the surface to be drawn;
a control device in which a common set of the basic image data is associated with unit areas among the plurality of unit areas, the unit areas having the same distribution of a plurality of ink application positions within the unit area; a scanning operation of discharging ink while moving the inkjet head in a first direction relative to the surface to be printed, the scanning operation being performed at different positions in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction;
a plurality of drawing areas are defined in each of the plurality of unit areas, and the plurality of drawing areas are arranged in a matrix with the first direction and the second direction being row directions and column directions, respectively;
The control device according to claim 5 , wherein a plurality of drawing areas aligned in the second direction are collectively defined as one unit area.

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