JPH05330085A - Ink jet printer for continuously running band-like matter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently carry out the printing on a band-like woven matter running continuously using a general-purpose head by a printer wherein arranging direction of nozzles of multi-nozzle heads, containing 2 heads in 1 set, is orthogonal with respect to the running direction of the band-like matter and the nozzles are fixedly arranged optionally so as to avoid overlapping of the positions of the nozzles. CONSTITUTION:Thirty-six multi-nozzle heads necessary for a slide fastener chain having a width of 60mm are used. While the 36 multi-nozzle heads are deviated in the cross direction of the slide fastener chain by a specified length respectively, they are fixedly arranged in the longitudinal direction sequentially. In the arrangement of the heads, 1 set is made of 2 multi-heads. The nozzle position between 2 multi-nozzle heads at each set is arranged by deviating it in the cross direction of the slide fastener chain by a side length (0.14m) of a dot as a 1/2 of a nozzle interval (0.14X2), and the heads are arranged such that the nozzle positions of the multi-nozzle heads in each set do not overlap. Thus, high speed printing will be possible at a low cost.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer for continuously printing various patterns and characters at high speed on the surface of a continuously running long strip.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Printing by an ink jet printer has many advantages unlike other sublimation type thermal transfer or melt type thermal transfer, and is expected to be applied to various fields.

The main advantage of the printer is that it is a so-called non-contact type printer that does not directly contact the image receiving layer, so that the image receiving layer does not need to be a flat surface and accurate printing can be performed even on a complicated three-dimensional surface. Not only is it possible to print directly on the highly flexible image receiving layer, but secondly, it is possible to record directly on the image receiving layer, and there is no need for transfer or fixing and the device is simple. Thirdly, in addition to being easy to colorize, it is also possible to deal with special colors such as fluorescent colors. In addition, there is little color misregistration, colors can be clearly expressed, and simultaneous printing is possible. Etc.

In order to take full advantage of such advantages, it is necessary to eliminate the influence of dust and air bubbles and to be less susceptible to environmental changes, but at the same time, speed up printing and further improve sharpness. Is required.

In order to increase the printing speed, multiple head nozzles have been realized, and recently 1792 × per head.
A full multi-head having four nozzles has been developed. In addition, various developments have been made in terms of sharpness, and one example thereof is miniaturization of the ink particle size by a piezo oscillator.

[0006]

Although various technical developments have been made in the field of ink jet printers, for example, the above-mentioned full multi-head is not versatile and is not only costly but also maintenance-friendly. However, its use is naturally limited because it is complicated, and it is not actively adopted except for being used in a specific field such as cut paper, and all of those that require color printing. It has not reached the full range.

[0007] The above-mentioned advantages of the ink jet printer can be expected to be high in cost and print in spite of great demand in the field of printing knitted fabrics for clothes, bags and the like, which are required to be fashionable and to be produced in small lots of various kinds. At present, it has not been industrially put to practical use in terms of efficiency. That is, the knitted and woven fabric is required to have a continuous pattern, and since the knitted and woven fabric as an image receiving layer has not only various widths but also an extremely long length, high-speed continuous printing is required to improve productivity. It is necessary to be able to cope with a change in width easily.

By the way, the dot density of the head of a general-purpose inkjet printer is 180 DPI (DOT PER
INCH), and in the case of an inkjet printer with 4 × 4 16 gradations, the length of one side of one dot is 0.14 (mm), and with 4 gradations of 4 × 4, one side of a pixel is 0.14 mm. ×
4 = 0.56 (mm). This printing for one pixel is performed by simultaneously moving two nozzles forward by 0.56 (mm) in the width direction of the image receiving layer, and then sending the image receiving layer by one dot (0.14 mm) in the length direction. Then, the two nozzles are simultaneously printed in the widthwise direction of the image receiving layer while moving backward by 0.56 (mm). 1 color for this
Using a multi-nozzle head with two 4-color nozzles, a total of 48 nozzles, the head is moved 0.56 (mm) back and forth in the direction orthogonal to the feeding direction of the image receiving layer. Print width is 3.36 (= 0.56 ×
It becomes 12/2) mm.

[0009]

Therefore, as long as the ordinary general-purpose multi-nozzle head is used, the print width is 3.
Since it is only 36 mm and it is necessary to reciprocate the head 0.56 mm in the print width direction for one pixel, not only the driving mechanism is added to make the structure complicated, but also it is advanced in synchronization with these operations. Since the distance between the image receiving layers is only 0.14 mm, the printing speed is so small that it cannot withstand industrial use.

Further, in order to eliminate the reciprocating motion of the head and to increase the printing speed, it is sufficient to use the above-mentioned full multi-head, but the head not only becomes costly as described above, but especially the width is changed and the handle is changed. In order to adapt the knitted and woven fabrics, which are frequently changed, there are many problems in system design, and it is unsuitable for industrial production in terms of complexity in maintenance.

It is an object of the present invention to develop a printer which enables efficient printing, particularly on a belt-like material such as a continuously running knitted fabric, by using a general-purpose multi-nozzle head in an ink jet printer.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an inkjet printer having a multi-nozzle head having n nozzles and a nozzle interval of p (mm), and a print width of w (mm). ) Is a printer for printing a pattern of a desired color tone on a continuously running strip, and is provided with w / (n × p) sets of multi-nozzle heads, all multi-nozzle heads Nozzle array direction is arranged orthogonal to the running direction of the strip, all the multi-head nozzles are sequentially arranged in parallel in the running direction of the strip, and the nozzle position of each set of multi-head nozzles is set. The main configuration is that they are installed with a shift of at least 0.5 × p (mm), and are arranged and fixed arbitrarily so that the nozzle positions of all multi-head nozzles do not overlap.

[0013]

[Function] A w / (n × p) multi-nozzle head having n nozzles and a nozzle spacing of p (mm) is fixedly used, and 2 w / (n × p) printers are simultaneously used. Therefore, as compared with a printer that uses a single multi-nozzle head of the same specifications and reciprocates in the width direction of the strip, the present invention eliminates the drive mechanism for reciprocating the head and simplifies the structure. 2w / (n ×
p) times as much printing capability.

[0014]

EXAMPLE An example in which the inkjet printer of the present invention is applied to printing on the surface of a slide fastener having a width (w) of 60 mm will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a plan view conceptually showing an arrangement example of a multi-nozzle head in an inkjet printer of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same, and FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a principle of forming output pixels by a general inkjet printer, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a nozzle operation for forming one pixel by the printer.

The ink jet printer used has a dot density of 180 DPI, 16 gradations of 4 × 4, and 12 dots per color.
The inkjet printer includes a multi-nozzle head of four colors (total of 48 nozzles) having a number (n) of nozzles.

As described above, the dot density is 180 D
In a 4 × 4 16-level inkjet printer with a PI, since the size of one dot is 180 dots per inch, the length of one side is 1 in / 180 dots = 15. 4mm / 180 dots =
0.14 mm, and the dot spacing (p) is 0.28 (0.14
X2). As a result of creating 4 × 4 16 gradations, one pixel has a side of 0.56 mm as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, since the print width (w) of the slide fastener chain is 60 mm, the number of nozzles per color is 60/0.
14 = 428 are required, and 4 colors are 428 × 4 = 17.
Twelve nozzles are required. Therefore, when using the multi-nozzle head with 12 nozzles (n) per color, if 428/12 ≈ 36 multi-nozzle heads are used, simultaneous printing can be performed on the slide fastener chain of 60 mm width. It is possible.

By the way, since the nozzle interval (p) in one head is equal to twice the length of one side of the dot (0.14 mm) (0.28 mm), it is usually 1 × 16 × 4 gradations of 4 × 4. In order to print pixels, the image receiving layer is advanced by one dot (0.14 mm) as shown in FIG. 4, and two nozzles are moved by 0.56 mm at right angles to the image receiving layer advancing direction.
(0.14mm × 4) Since it is performed by reciprocating,
The total number of nozzles per color is 1/2, which is 214, and the number of multi-nozzle heads is 18, but
As described above, a drive mechanism for reciprocating the head is required, which not only complicates the structure but also increases the size.
Moreover, it does not contribute to speeding up printing.

Incidentally, the head surface of the multi-nozzle head has a size of 100 mm × 100 mm, and the exclusive width of one multi-nozzle head exceeds the width of 60 mm of the slide fastener chain.

Therefore, in the present invention, 36 multi-nozzle heads required for the above-mentioned slide fastener chain of 60 mm width are used, and these 36 multi-nozzle heads are arranged by a predetermined length in the width direction of the slide fastener chain. The positions of the heads are sequentially arranged in parallel in the lengthwise direction while shifting the positions, and the heads are arranged with two multi-nozzle heads as one set, as conceptually shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The nozzle positions between the two multi-nozzle heads are shifted in the width direction of the slide fastener chain by one side length (0.14 mm) of the dot, which is 1/2 of the nozzle interval (0.14 × 2). Moreover, the nozzle positions of the multi-nozzle heads of each set are arranged so as not to overlap.

Therefore, in the ink jet printer according to this embodiment, 36 multi-nozzle heads are arranged side by side in the length direction of the slide fastener chain over a length of 360 cm, and two heads which are adjacent to each other form a set. The heads of the above are displaced and fixed in the width direction of the slide fastener chain by one side length of one dot (0.14 mm), and the head groups adjacent to each other are sequentially moved in the width direction of the slide fastener chain by 3.36 mm ( = 0.1
4x2x12mm) Shift the position one by one and fix.

The head arrangement is not limited to the arrangement in which the predetermined dimension position is shifted in the width direction of the slide fastener chain as shown in the example, and the heads are sequentially arranged diagonally in the length direction of the slide fastener chain. Even if the nozzles of the heads are arranged at random in the length direction of the slide fastener chain, for example, the nozzles of the heads are displaced from each other in a predetermined dimension position in the width direction of the slide fastener chain so that the nozzle positions do not overlap in the same width direction. The intended purpose of the invention can be achieved.

According to the present invention having such a configuration, it is possible to print at low cost and at extremely high speed with a single ink jet printer, even though 36 multi-nozzle heads are used. For example, in the case of an inkjet printer that uses one multi-nozzle head and reciprocates the head in the width direction of six slide fastener chains to print at the same time, it takes four minutes to print A4
It is possible to print a size (20 cm x 30 cm), and when this is converted into the total printable length for six slide fastener chains, it becomes 270 m / 15 hr, whereas in the inkjet printer of the present invention, the head In addition to the need for a driving mechanism for reciprocating the head, printing can be performed at 36 times the speed (9,800 m / 15 hr) as compared with the printer in which the head reciprocates.

Incidentally, the demand for high-quality graphic fasteners is expected to be at least 100,000 pieces / month with a fastener length of 30 cm. Converting this to Nissan, it becomes 1580 m, and 6 printers of the above-mentioned system in which the multi-nozzle head reciprocates are required to secure this production amount, but according to the present invention, one printer is sufficient The production amount can be achieved.

[0025]

As is clear from the above description, according to the ink jet printer of the present invention, the continuous printing can be performed at a high speed on a long strip at the same time while fully utilizing the characteristics of the ink jet print. It is also a useful invention that can be realized at low cost and ensures high productivity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view conceptually showing an arrangement example of fixed multi-nozzle heads in an inkjet printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a principle of forming output pixels by a general inkjet printer.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a nozzle operation when one pixel is formed by the printer.

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] June 2, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0016

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

As described above, the dot density is 180 D
In a 4 × 4 16-gradation inkjet printer, one dot size has 180 dots per inch, so if the dots are square, the length of one side is 1 in / 180 dots = 25. 4 mm / 180 dots =
0.14 mm, and the dot spacing (p) is 0.28 (0.14
X2). As a result of creating 4 × 4 16 gradations, one pixel has a side of 0.56 mm as shown in FIG.

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location D06P 5/00 111 A 9160-4H

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The number of nozzles is n and the nozzle interval is p (mm).
It is a printer for printing a pattern of a desired color tone on a continuously running strip having a print width w (mm) by an inkjet printer equipped with a multi-nozzle head. / (N × p) sets of multi-nozzle heads, the nozzle arrangement directions of all the multi-nozzle heads are arranged orthogonal to the traveling direction of the strip, and all the multi-head nozzles are in the traveling direction of the strip. And the nozzle positions of the multi-head nozzles of each set are shifted by 0.5 × p (mm), and the nozzle positions of all the multi-head nozzles do not overlap in the width direction of the strip. An inkjet printer for continuous running belts, which is arranged and fixed at will.