JPH07214768A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily perform the maintenance of a feed part or head shading correctin processing without scaling up an image forming apparatus. CONSTITUTION:Slide rails 105 are arranged on the left and right side plates of a feed part 100 and a printing part 1000 is supported on the slide rails to be made slidable and the feed part 100 is made easily openable and an HS station 1600 forming a test pattern applied in head shading(HS) processing is provided to the slide distination position of the printing part 1000. The HS station 1600 is arranged above the unwinding roller 11 of a fabric 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and, for example, to an image forming apparatus using a cloth as a print medium and an ink jet print head for ejecting ink onto the cloth and printing the cloth.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A textile printing apparatus using an ink jet method is a technique that has recently been known. This type of printing device has advantages such as a high degree of freedom in printing images and a small overall cost in printing, mainly because an original plate of an image to be printed is not required unlike screen printing. Have

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 5-212851 discloses a conventional example of a textile printing apparatus using an ink jet system. In this textile printing apparatus, as is apparent from the description of FIG. 2 of the publication, ink is ejected from the nozzle head onto the fabric conveyed in the vertical direction and printing is performed.
That is, ink is ejected horizontally from the nozzle head. Further, in the printing section where the ink is ejected, a printing unit having a nozzle head and a transport mechanism having an endless belt are arranged so as to face each other at a position sandwiching the cloth.

Further, in the textile printing apparatus as described above, the print unit is generally constructed so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction, and it is generally possible to adjust the distance from the cloth and move the print unit when the endless belt is replaced. is there.

Incidentally, even in the ink jet type printing apparatus as described above, the improvement of the printing speed is an inevitable request as in the case of general printing apparatuses.

In order to improve the printing speed,
In the case of printing on a relatively long continuous fabric such as textile printing, increasing the number of ink ejection ports of the inkjet head, that is, lengthening the inkjet head is the most direct realization method. . More specifically, by increasing the number of ejection ports arranged in the transport direction of the non-recording medium such as cloth (by increasing the length of the inkjet in the transport direction), printing is performed by one scan of this head. The width of one line becomes larger,
If the transport amount is increased accordingly, the printing speed can be improved.

However, when the length of the ink jet head is increased, and in the case of the printing apparatus as disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, the ejection heads in the ink jet head are arranged in the vertical direction, and the water head between the respective ejection openings is changed. The difference is relatively large. Such a water head difference between the respective ejection ports appears as a difference in the ejection amount, which may lead to deterioration in print quality.

On the other hand, the present applicant has known a so-called downward head structure for ejecting ink vertically downward, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-31905. According to this, since the discharge ports are arranged in the horizontal direction, a head difference between the discharge ports does not occur in principle, and the above problem can be solved.

Further, as an effect of using such a downward head, a recovery process such as ink suction can be uniformly performed in all the ejection ports in association with the head difference, as described above.
It is also possible to prevent water droplets or the like adhering to the ejection port surface from entering the ejection port.

[0010]

However, when the downward head is used as it is in the printing apparatus, various problems are caused due to the constitution peculiar to this apparatus.

That is, in the printing apparatus, as described above, the distance between the ink jet head and the fabric must be properly adjusted according to the thickness of one of the various fabrics used, and the endless belt is It is desirable that the entire head unit (printer section) can be easily moved from the printing position to ensure ease of replacement work, but the size and weight of the printer section are large compared to office or personal use printers. When the downward head is used, there is a problem that these adjustments and movements are not easy because the head unit and the belt transport mechanism face each other in the vertical direction.

Further, in the case of using an inkjet ink having a large number of ejection openings arranged as print elements, in order to avoid density unevenness in a formed image due to variation in ink ejection amount among ejection openings, There may be provided means for forming a test pattern on an appropriate medium, measuring the variation of the ejection amount by reading the test pattern, and obtaining data for correcting the variation, but the processing may be easily performed. Therefore, it is desired that the device does not increase the size of the device.

An object of the present invention is to use a printer unit in which a print head is arranged so as to apply a printing agent downward to a print medium conveyed in a substantially horizontal direction by the conveyance unit, and the printer unit with respect to the conveyance unit is used. It is to facilitate the separation of the test patterns and the setting in the test pattern forming section.

Another object of the present invention is to prevent the apparatus from becoming large due to the existence of the separating mechanism and the test pattern forming section.

[0015]

In order to solve at least one of these objects, an image forming apparatus of the present invention substantially prints a print medium with a print surface facing upward in a print area to which a printing agent is applied. And a printer section that performs image formation using a print section that horizontally conveys the print material, a print head that faces the print area, and applies the print agent downward by a plurality of print elements, and the printer section. And a conveyance unit that relatively slidably supports the conveyance unit between an opposed position and a non-opposed position separated from the opposed position in the conveyance direction of the conveyance unit, and the printer unit and the conveyance unit. A shape of a test pattern that faces the printer unit when and are in the non-opposing position, and is used for measuring the variation in the amount of printing agent applied to the plurality of printing elements. Characterized in that comprising a test pattern forming unit for receiving.

Here, the supporting means has slide rails provided on side plates arranged on both sides of the carrying section in the carrying direction, and the printer section is slidable along the slide rails. The test pattern forming portion may be arranged at the slide destination portion.

In this embodiment, the test pattern forming section can be arranged above the feeding section that feeds the print medium toward the conveying section.

In the above, the test pattern forming portion may have a mounting portion for mounting a cut sheet-shaped test pattern forming medium.

Alternatively, the test pattern forming section is
It is possible to have a means for transporting a continuous sheet-shaped medium for forming a test pattern to a position facing the print head.

Here, a reading means for reading the test pattern formed on the continuous sheet-shaped medium for forming the test pattern to measure the variation is provided with the reading pattern for the position facing the print head. It can be provided downstream of the transport path for the forming medium.

In the above, there can be provided means for correcting the drive signal of the print element based on the measured variation.

Further, in the above, the print head may be an ink jet print head which uses ink as the printing agent and ejects the ink, and the ink jet print head is used for ejecting ink. It is possible to have an element that generates thermal energy that causes film boiling in the ink as the energy to generate the film. Furthermore, the print medium on which printing is performed by the above device can be a cloth.

[0023]

According to the present invention, the printer unit using the downward head can be slid relative to the transport unit in the substantially horizontal direction, which is the print medium transport direction, and is tested when the transport units do not face each other. Since the pattern forming unit faces the printer unit, maintenance of the transport unit and execution of processing for variation correction are facilitated. In addition, it is possible to avoid an increase in size of the apparatus by sliding in the carrying direction and by disposing the test pattern forming section above the print medium feeding section.

[0024]

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings in the following procedure.

(1) Outline of device (FIG. 1) (2) Configuration of printer unit (FIGS. 2 and 3) (3) Slide mechanism (FIGS. 4 to 11) (4) HS station (FIGS. 12 to FIG. 20) (5) Mounting position of the drying heater, etc. (FIGS. 21 to 24) (6) Configuration of the transport unit (FIGS. 25 to 41) (7) Operation and maintenance of the apparatus (FIGS. 42 to 4)
7) (8) Head gap adjusting mechanism (FIGS. 48 to 55) (9) Head gap adjusting mechanism using slide mechanism (FIGS. 56 to 58) (10) Others (FIG. 59) (1) Device overview FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a textile printing apparatus as an example of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. Here, 1 is a cloth as a print medium, which is unwound in accordance with the rotation of the unwinding roller 11, and is substantially conveyed by the conveying unit 100 provided at a portion facing the printer unit 1000 via the intermediate rollers 13 and 15. After being conveyed horizontally in a horizontal direction, the take-up roller 2 passes through the feed roller 17 and the intermediate roller 19.
It is wound up to 1.

The transport section 100 is generally configured as transport rollers 110 and 120 provided on the upstream side and the downstream side of the printer section 1000 in the transport direction of the cloth 1, and a transport belt in the form of an endless belt wound between these rollers. 130, and a pair of platen rollers 140 provided to improve the flatness by stretching the conveyor belt 130 with a proper tension in a predetermined range in order to regulate the printed surface of the cloth to be flat when printing by the printer unit 1000. ing. Here, the conveyor belt 130 is made of metal as disclosed in JP-A-5-212851 in this example, and an adhesive layer is formed on the surface thereof as partially enlarged in FIG. (Sheet) 13
3 is provided. Then, the cloth 1 is the application roller 1
50 is adhered to the conveyor belt 130 by the adhesive layer 133, and flatness at the time of printing is secured.

The cloth 1 conveyed in such a state where the flatness is ensured is provided with the printing agent by the printer unit 1000 in the region between the platen rollers 140, and the conveyor belt 130 or the adhesive is applied at the portion of the conveyor roller 120. Although it is peeled off from the layer 133 and taken up by the take-up roller 21, the drying process is performed by the drying heater 600 on the way. The drying heater 600 is particularly effective when a liquid is used as the printing agent, and the dimensions and the disposition site will be described later with reference to FIGS. 21 to 24. As the drying heater 600, warm air is applied to the cloth 1
It is possible to use those having an appropriate form such as those for spraying on, those for irradiating infrared rays, and the like.

(2) Structure of Printer Unit FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the printer unit 1000 and the transport system for the cloth 1, and FIG. 3 is a schematic exploded perspective view thereof. Printer unit 1000 using
The configuration of will be described.

First, in FIGS. 1 and 2, the printer section 1000 is scanned in a direction different from the conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction) f of the cloth 1, for example, in the width direction S of the cloth 1 orthogonal to the conveyance direction f. It has a carriage 1010. 1
Reference numeral 020 denotes a support rail extending in the S direction (main scanning direction), and the slider 10 fixed to the carriage 1010.
A slide rail 1022 that supports and guides 12 is supported. Reference numeral 1030 denotes a motor that serves as a drive source for performing main scanning of the carriage 1010, and its driving force is transmitted to the carriage 1010 via a belt 1032 to which the carriage 1010 is fixed and other appropriate transmission mechanisms.

The carriage 1010 has a print head 1100 having a large number of printing material application elements arranged in a predetermined direction (conveying direction f in this example) in a direction different from the predetermined direction (main scanning direction S in this example). And a plurality of them are held in the conveying direction in this example. A plurality of print heads 1100 in each stage are provided corresponding to the printing agents having different colors, thereby enabling color printing. The color used for the printing agent and the number of print heads can be appropriately selected according to the image to be formed on the fabric 1 and the like, but for example, the three primary colors of printing are yellow (Y), magenta (M) and cyan (C). ), Or black (Bk) added thereto. Alternatively, or in addition to them, special colors (metal colors such as gold and silver, vivid red, blue, etc.) that cannot be expressed or are difficult to express in the three primary colors can be used. Alternatively, a plurality of printing agents may be used for the same color, depending on the density.

In this example, a plurality of print heads 1100 arranged in the main scanning direction S are provided in two stages in the carrying direction f, as shown in FIG. The color, the number of prints, the order of prints, etc., used by the print heads in each stage may be the same or different in each stage depending on the image to be printed. Further, it is also possible to print again the area to be printed by the main scan of the print head of one stage by the print head of the next stage (complementary thinning printing is performed by the print head of each stage). However, it is also possible to perform overlapping printing) or to share the printing area and perform high-speed printing. Further, the number of stages of the print head is not limited to two, but may be one or three or more.

In this example, the printhead 1100
As an inkjet head, for example, a bubble jet head proposed by Canon Inc. having a heating element that generates heat energy that causes film boiling of ink as energy used for ejecting ink is used. Then, with respect to the cloth 1 which is conveyed in the substantially horizontal direction by the conveying section 100, the ink ejection port as the printing agent applying element is used in a state of facing downward, thereby eliminating the water head difference between the ejection ports, The discharge conditions are made uniform to enable good image formation, and uniform recovery processing for all discharge ports is possible.

Further, when cleaning the ink ejection surface with the wiping blade described below, if the longitudinal direction of the head is arranged vertically, a part of the ink remaining on the head surface is scattered and spills into the carriage. On the other hand, when the ejection direction is set downward, the scattered ink drops by the action of gravity in the direction away from the head, so the above problem does not occur.

Furthermore, by arranging the print medium conveying path in the horizontal direction, it is easy to secure a holding space when a medium having high rigidity such as a plate material is used as the print medium, and a large holding force is not required even for a heavy medium. As a result, it becomes easy to handle the print medium.

In addition, considering the arrangement configuration including the ease of attachment / detachment of the print medium, the apparatus can be miniaturized by setting the ejection direction downward and setting the recording medium conveyance path in the horizontal direction.

A flexible cable 1110 provided to follow the movement of the carriage 1010 is connected to each print head 1100, and various signals such as a head drive signal and a head status signal are exchanged with a control means (not shown). . Further, ink is supplied to the print head 1100 from an ink supply source 1130 containing ink of each color via a flexible tube 1120.

The print head 1100 is provided with a unique mechanism because it is an ink jet head. This will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

Reference numeral 1200 is a recovery device for performing a recovery operation of the print head 1100, that is, an operation for maintaining the ink ejection state in a good state.
220, clogging prevention means 1231, wiping blade 1235 and the like.

The capping means 1220 is in contact with the ejection port surface of each print head 1100 during non-printing operation to suppress the drying thereof and the mixing of foreign matter, or remove the foreign matter. Specifically, during the non-printing operation, the print head 1100 causes the capping unit 12 to operate.
Move to a position facing 20. Then, the capping means 1220 is driven in the cap direction by the driving means 1210 and presses an elastic member or the like against the ejection port surface to perform capping.

The clogging preventing means 1231 receives the ejected ink when the print head 1100 performs the ejecting operation (preliminary ejecting operation) for equalizing the ejecting condition by the ink refresh. The clogging prevention means 1231 is provided outside the print area of the print head, facing the print head, and a liquid receiving member for absorbing and receiving the pre-ejected ink is provided between the capping means 1220 and the print area. Is located on the opposite side. A liquid holding member is provided in the liquid receiving member, and a sponge-like porous member or the like is used as its material.

The capping means 1220 is appropriately combined with a cleaning agent tank 1260 and an air pump driver (not shown), and discharges the cleaning agent and injects air from the nozzles provided in the capping means 1220, respectively.

Further, a wiping blade 1270 capable of sliding on the ejection opening surface of the print head 1100 is arranged between the capping means 1220 and the printing area, and water droplets, dust or the like attached to the ejection opening surface by the rubbing. I try to get rid of it.

Printer unit 1000 that holds the above-mentioned units
The structure may be formed in a box shape formed of an iron plate, but in this example, the structure shown in FIG. 3 is adopted in consideration of cost reduction, simplification of the structure, weight reduction, and the like. .
That is, in this example, the printer base 1300 is arranged on the pair of left and right transport unit side plates 103, and the I-shaped steel material (support rail) 1020 is supported by the printer base 1300 at a portion inside the end portion thereof. A scanning rail 1022 is arranged on the above so that the carriage 1010 can run. The printer side plate 1310 is fixed to the end of the support rail 1020, and the printer base 13
Columns 1320 are fixed to 00, and a cover 1330 is fixed between them. The recovery device 1200 also includes the printer base 1300 and the printer side plate 13.
It is fixed between 10 and.

According to the present embodiment, the support rail 1020 is supported inside the rail end portion, so that the change in the rail deflection amount due to the movement of the carriage 1010 is small. Further, the deflection of the support rail itself can be suppressed to be small. Further, since the frame is made of I-shaped steel to secure the strength, the strength of the outer peripheral surface of the printer is not required so much. Therefore, the outer peripheral surface can be composed of a thin sheet metal or the like, and the weight and cost can be reduced. .

(3) Slide Mechanism etc. In this example, the cloth 1 is conveyed in a substantially horizontal direction, and the print head 1100 in the form of an ink jet head is arranged with the discharge port facing downward. Therefore, the printer unit 1000 is located right above the transport unit 100. Further, in this example, the transport unit side plate 1
The printer unit 1000 is supported at 03.

On the other hand, in the transport section 100, maintenance work such as replacement of each section such as the transport belt 130 due to wear or repair, cleaning due to stain of each section or the like may be required. It will require opening 100. Therefore, although the printer unit 1000 is removed when the transport unit 100 is opened, removing the printer unit 1000 each time maintenance work requires removing screws and other mounting members, and the size and size of the printer unit 1000. It is not preferable because it does not endure bothersome due to the relationship with the weight, and the gap between the discharge port and the fabric 1 (hereinafter referred to as the head cap) is readjusted when mounting after maintenance. Therefore, in this example, the printer unit 1000 and the transport unit can be relatively separated / closed by a simple operation to solve these problems.

FIGS. 4 (A) and 4 (B) are schematic sectional views for explaining the construction and operation of the embodiment,
In this example, the slide rails 105 are arranged on the left and right side plates 103 of the conveyance unit 100, while the printer unit 100 is arranged.
The slider (slide bush) 1350 is attached to the printer base 1300 of No. 0 and is engaged with the slide rail 105, that is, the printer unit 1000 is moved to the slide rail 10.
5 and the slider 1350 so as to be supported by the transport unit side plate 103.

The slide rail 105 is a member having a substantially I-shaped cross section, as shown in an enlarged view of the arrow B in FIG. 4A, in which the slider 1 is provided via balls 1351.
350 is attached. Then, when opening the transport unit 100, the printer unit 1000 is slid in the B direction, thereby opening the inside of the transport unit 100 as shown in FIG. Becomes After the work is completed, the printer unit 1000 may be returned to the position shown in FIG. Here, an appropriate lock mechanism may be provided so that movement in the sliding direction does not occur at each of the normal print position ((A) in the figure) and the retracted position ((B) in the figure).

That is, according to this example, even when the size and weight of the printer section is relatively large as in the textile printing apparatus of this example, the maintenance work of the transport section 100 is performed.
Since it suffices to slide the printer unit 1000, it is possible to eliminate the troublesome work of removing / attaching the printer unit 1000 each time. Further, since the head gap is regulated by the engagement of the slide rail 105 and the slider 1350, if the mounting accuracy of them is ensured,
It is not necessary to readjust the head gap except for the case where the fabric 1 having different thickness is used. The mechanism for adjusting the head gap according to the thickness will be described later.

In the above example, the printer unit 1000 is moved with respect to the transport unit 100.
As shown in FIG. 3, the printer unit 1000 is fixed to the main body of the apparatus, the transport unit 100 is supported on the slide rail 106 via a slide (not shown) attached to the lower portion of the side plate 103, and the transport unit 100 itself slides. It may be configured to be possible.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, the printer unit 10
As an example of the maintenance work for the transport unit 100 that is opened by retracting 00, the work for replacing the transport belt 130 will be described.

6 to 8 show the procedure of the work.

First, in FIG. 6, 160 and 162
Is a side plate that is provided on the upper surface of the transport unit 100 inside the transport unit side plate 103 and supports the transport rollers 110 and 120 (or the platen roller 140). One side plate 160 has a U-shaped groove 164 for receiving the insertion of the support shaft 172, and the other side plate 162 is provided with a bearing hole 166 for receiving the shaft end portion of the support shaft 172.

Bearings are provided on the roller shaft supporting portions of both the supporting side plates 160 and 162 in order to smoothly rotate them, and at least one roller (for example, the driven roller 11).
The bearing for 0) is attached to the support side plates 160 and 162 so as to be displaceable by an appropriate amount in the conveyance direction of the cloth 1.
The bearing that supports one of the shafts is the roller 110,
It is urged by a spring or the like in a direction of increasing the distance between the 120, and thereby an appropriate tension is applied to the conveyor belt 130. Here, as shown in FIG.
The pair of platen rollers 140 are arranged as shown in FIG. 4, but the uppermost position of them is set slightly above the surface formed by connecting the uppermost parts of the rollers 110 and 120, and the conveyor belt at the printing position is set. 130 to improve the flatness of the fabric 1. Therefore, by setting the position of the platen roller 140, the transport belt 130
However, in this example, since the distance between the rollers 110 and 120 can be changed (the distance can be reduced against the spring force) according to the action of such tension, the tension acting on the conveyor belt 130 can be properly adjusted. Can be adjusted to any value.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 180 denotes the support side plate 16
It is an inside frame provided inside 0, and a support shaft 1
It has a hole 182 for receiving the insertion of 72, and also has long holes 183, 184 provided for receiving the relative displacement of the shafts of the transport rollers 110, 120. In addition, the width W of the inside frame 180 is smaller than the diameter D of the transport rollers 110 and 120 as shown in FIG. 6 (B), so that there is no interference when the transport belt 130 is attached and detached.

The procedure of replacing the conveyor belt 130 will be described with reference to FIGS.

For removal, first, as shown in FIG. 6, the abutment 170 is set beside the transport section 100, and the support shaft 172 is inserted into the bearing hole 174 of the abutment 170. Further, a U-groove 164 provided on the carrying roller supporting side plate 160, a hole 182 provided on the inside frame 180, the carrying belt 13
The support shaft 172 is inserted through the inner side of 0, and the end portion is axially supported by the bearing hole 166 provided in the conveyance roller support side plate 162.

According to the settings up to FIG. 6, the conveying rollers 110 and 120 and the conveying belt 130 are fixed to the support 170,
Inside frame 180 and conveyance roller side plate 162
Since it is supported by, the bolt 161 can be removed and the transport roller supporting side plate 160 can be removed as shown in FIG. In this state, the conveyor belt 130 is completely free, so that it can be easily pulled out in the direction of arrow A as shown in FIG.

When the transport roller supporting side plate 160 is fixed again on the transport unit 100 from the state shown in FIG. 8, the supporting shaft 172 is supported by the U groove 164 and the bearing hole 166 this time, so that the abutment 170 is removed. The conveyor belt 130 can be removed.

Subsequently, a new conveyor belt 130 is supported to support the shaft 1.
It passes through 72 and sets the abutment 170 again. In this state, the support shaft 172 is held by the abutment 170 and the bearing hole 166, so that the transport roller supporting side plate 160 can be removed.

Then, a new conveyor belt 130 is set on the conveyor rollers 110 and 120 over the inside frame 180, and the conveyor roller supporting side plate 160 is again mounted on the conveyor section 100.
If fixed to, the belt replacement is complete.

Finally, the support shaft 172 is pulled out and the support 17
It is removed from the transport unit 100 together with 0.

According to the above example, the rollers 110, 120
Even if the weight of the belt is large, the belt can be easily replaced by human power.

It should be noted that the above structure can be modified appropriately. For example, the number of supporting shafts may be two or more depending on the weight of the transport roller and the like. Further, in the description of the present configuration example, the platen roller 140 of FIG. 1 is omitted to simplify the description, but the platen roller 140 is not shown.
The bearing portion of the above-mentioned bearing may have the same structure as that of the bearing of the transport roller 110, and may be vertically movable as described later. One bearing is the inside frame 18
It is also possible to support the transport roller supporting side plate 160 through 0 and the other bearing by the transport roller side plate 162.

By the way, in the case of this example, the attaching roller 150 provided to adhere the cloth 1 to the adhesive layer 131 of the conveyor belt 130 is located on the printer section 1000 side. Further, the sticking roller 150 is biased by the conveying roller 110 in order to improve the adhesiveness. Therefore, it is preferable to adopt a configuration that does not hinder the sliding operation of the printer unit 1000 during maintenance work of the transport unit 100 and the like.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are views for explaining the configuration and operation therefor. In this example, the sticking roller 150 is supported by one end of the arm 1500, and the arm 1500 is placed in the middle of the printer section. The rotating shaft 1510 provided on 1000 is pivotally supported. And arm 1
At the other end of 510, the rod 1522 of the air cylinder 1520 is attached.
Attached, rod 1 accompanying the operation of the air cylinder 1520
The arm 1500 is rotated around the shaft 1510 in accordance with the advance / retreat of the 522, so that the sticking roller 150 can be urged against the conveying roller 110 and released therefrom.

That is, in FIG. 9A, the air cylinder 1
520 retracts the rod 1522 to attach the sticking roller 15
0 is biased to the transport roller 110, and in this state, the printing operation can be executed. And
For maintenance work of the transfer section 100, the air cylinder 1520 is operated to move the rod 1522 forward,
The pasting roller 150 is sufficiently separated from the transport roller 110, and in this state, as shown in FIG.
When 00 is slid, the sticking roller 150 does not interfere with the sliding operation. Further, when returning to the position for printing operation, the printer unit 1000 is slid in the state shown in FIG. 7B, and when the rod 1522 is retracted when it reaches a predetermined position, the rollers 130,
There is no interference between 110.

It is to be noted that the sticking roller 150 may not be rigidly fixed and urged against the conveying roller 110, but may be elastically supported so that the sticking roller 150 does not hinder the sliding operation of the printer section 1000. For example, the following configuration can be adopted.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the other end of the arm 1500 is attached to the tension spring 1300.
And attaches the sticking roller 130 to the conveying roller 1 by giving the arm 1500 a turning tendency in the counterclockwise direction in the figure.
Energize for 10. Assuming that the printer unit 1000 is moved from the state shown in FIG. 7A to the state shown in FIG. 7B, the sticking roller 150 is allowed to be displaced by the expansion and contraction of the spring 1530, which greatly hinders the sliding operation. There is no such thing. In the figure, reference numeral 1530 denotes an arm 1500 when the printer unit 1000 is in a sliding state.
The stopper is a stopper that prevents the excessive rotation of the sticking roller 150 and the reattachment of the attaching roller 150 and the conveying roller 110.

In the example of FIGS. 9 and 10, the sticking roller 150 is supported on the printer section 1000 side, but it is supported on the apparatus base side to urge and release the conveying roller 110. You can also

FIGS. 11A and 11B are explanatory views of the configuration and operation. In this example, an arm 1541 having one end rotatably provided around a shaft 1540 provided on the device base side and an arm 1543 pivotally supported on the other end side are provided, and the sticking roller 15 is attached to one end of the arm 1543.
0 is mounted, and a spring 1545 is provided between the other end of the arm 1543 and the protrusion 1541A of the arm 1541 so that an appropriate biasing state of the sticking roller 130 with respect to the transport roller 110 can be obtained, and the disengagement / engagement is performed. The operation is done smoothly. Also, the arm 15
In the middle of 41 is a rod 1549 of the air cylinder 1547.
Are engaged and the print operation can be set in accordance with the forward / backward drive (FIG. 11A) and the position that does not hinder the sliding operation (FIG. 11B).

9 and 11, the air cylinder is used as the driving means for retracting the sticking roller 150, but other means such as a hydraulic cylinder or a solenoid valve may be used.

Various types of adhesive layers 131 can be used on the conveyor belt 130. For example, when the adhesive layer 131 is composed of a double-sided adhesive tape, one side of the adhesive layer 131 is pressed onto the conveyor belt 130. Requires. A dedicated roller may be provided as the means, but it also serves as the sticking roller 150 in the apparatus of this example, and the transport roller 11
The double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape can be arranged by inserting the double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape into the nip portion with 0 and driving the conveyor belt 130. In this case, the roller 150 may have poor adhesiveness.

The mechanism for sliding the printer section described above is mainly constituted by the print head facing downward and the cloth conveying direction facing the print head being horizontal. The modification shown below is
This is a positive use of the horizontal transport configuration.

That is, in the conventional ink jet printing apparatus, the cloth sticking roller for sticking the cloth on the conveyor belt is located at the lower part of the printer section, so use the cloth sticking roller when sticking a new adhesive sheet on the conveyor belt. In such a case, the printer unit or the like interferes with operations such as insertion of the adhesive sheet, so that the adhesive sheet cannot be easily attached to the cloth conveying belt. Therefore, in order to peel off the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet and attach a new pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet at the time of maintenance, it is general to prepare a dedicated pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet bonding roller.

On the other hand, in this modification, since the cloth is conveyed horizontally in the printing area, the cloth sticking roller is not covered by the printer unit or the like and is provided at a position visible from the outside of the printing apparatus. Therefore, the cloth sticking roller is also used for sticking the adhesive sheet.

60 and 61 are a schematic sectional view and a perspective view, respectively, of a textile printing apparatus according to this modification. In these figures, the same elements as those described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The cloth sticking roller 150A includes the unwinding roller 11 to the intermediate roller 13 during normal printing.
It is used to press the cloth 1 conveyed through 15 onto the conveyor belt 130 and attach it. The cloth 1 is attached to the conveyor belt 130 because the adhesive sheet 133 is previously adhered to the conveyor belt 130 as described with reference to FIG. 1 and the like, and the cloth adheres to the adhesive sheet 133.

Since the adhesiveness of this pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet decreases when the cloth is repeatedly adhered and separated as the cloth is conveyed, the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet is replaced, for example, at regular intervals.

At the time of this replacement, a new adhesive sheet 133
As shown in FIGS. 60 and 61, is inserted in the same direction as the conveyance direction of the cloth 1, that is, in the horizontal direction between the cloth attaching roller 150A of the conveyance section and the belt 130 on the roller 110. That is, the adhesive sheet 133 is pressed against the belt 130 by the cloth bonding roller 150A and bonded. At this time, a sticker such as paper is pasted on the surface of the adhesive sheet 133 which is in contact with the cloth pasting roller 150A,
The adhesive surface on the side to which the cloth is attached during transportation is covered.

When the adhesive sheet 133 is attached, a space upstream of the cloth attaching roller 150A for conveying the cloth (see FIG. 6).
0, the space on the right side) is the cloth conveying section, the printer unit 10
00, a printer base 1300 that supports the printer unit
Since the adhesive sheet 133 is not housed in the enclosed space, the adhesive sheet 133 can be easily inserted into the transport section. Further, in this configuration, the cloth sticking roller 150A is arranged in the direction perpendicular to the cloth conveying direction (the direction shown by the common tangent line in FIG. 60), so that the adhesive sheet can be inserted more easily.

Although the printer unit is fixed to the carrying section (apparatus main body side) in the above modification, for example, if the printer unit can be moved leftward in FIG. In the state, the cloth sticking roller 150
Even when A is covered with a printer unit or the like, the operation such as inserting the adhesive sheet can be easily performed by moving the print unit when attaching the adhesive sheet.

When the adhesive sheet is attached, it is not necessary to consider the material of the attaching roller 150A because one side is protected by the seal as described above when it is attached. For example, this surface is coated with a fluororesin. If so, even if the adhesive sheet comes into contact with the adhesive surface, the subsequent influence is small, and therefore it is not necessary to protect one adhesive surface with the above-mentioned seal. Incidentally, as the fluororesin, polytetrafluoroethylene, perfluoroalkoxy fluororesin,
Examples thereof include ethylene tetrafluoride hexafluoropropylene copolymer, ethylene tetrafluoride ethylene copolymer, vinylidene fluoride, polychlorotrifluoroethylene, vinyl fluoride and the like.

According to the above embodiments, since the sticking roller can be configured to be exposed to the outside of the apparatus, the work of inserting the adhesive sheet into the sticking roller becomes easy, and the sticking roller also serves as the sticking sheet sticking roller. You can

Further, since the sticking roller is surface-treated with the fluororesin, the friction property is low and the life, cleaning property and peeling property of the roller are increased.

Further, when the pasting roller is attached perpendicularly to the cloth traveling direction, the conveying path can be formed by a flat surface having no curvature, so that not only cloth but also hard material such as paper and steel plate can be conveyed. Becomes

(4) HS Station In an image forming apparatus using an ink jet head in which a large number of ejection openings are arranged, uneven density may occur in a formed image due to variation in ink ejection amount of the ejection openings. In order to avoid this, a test pattern is formed on the print medium, the variation of the ejection amount is measured by reading the test pattern, the data for correcting the variation is obtained, and the image formation is performed for each ejection port or each ejection port. Density unevenness correction technology (head shading; HS) for correcting drive signals
May apply. Then, there is also a system in which automatic head shading (AHS) is performed which automates formation of a test pattern or acquisition of correction data.

In applying the HS to the apparatus of this example,
For example, the printer unit is temporarily retracted, and a sheet-shaped print medium for forming a test pattern (hereinafter referred to as H
It is conceivable that an S sheet) is attached, the printer section is returned to the original position again, the HS operation is started, and the test pattern is formed. Further, it is conceivable that the HS sheet after the operation is conveyed to a predetermined position where it can be easily peeled and then peeled off, or the printer section is again retracted and then peeled.

However, in the apparatus of this example, the transport unit 10
Since the printer unit 1000 employs a slidable structure for zero maintenance, the space at the slide destination is effectively used to perform HS processing, and the workability during AHS processing is improved. A structure that can improve the accuracy of the test pattern and the reading accuracy is adopted.

As a configuration for that, as shown in FIG. 12, an HS processing mode (which may be carried out at the time of maintenance of the carrying section or may be carried out at an appropriate time) on the upper part of the unwinding roller 11 is used. An HS station 1600 for printing a test pattern and the like at the time of implementation is provided. The printer unit 1000 horizontally moves toward the HS station 1600 by the slide rail 105 from the position (the upper part of the conveyor belt 130) during normal printing.
As shown in FIG. 15, at this time, the sticking roller 150 provided in the printer unit is retracted by the air cylinder 1520 so as not to interfere with the HS station.

Then, the printer unit 1000 is positioned with respect to the HS station by a stopper or the like provided at the end of the slide rail 105. Printer unit 10
For the movement of 00, the worker may move the AHS station 1000 after releasing the positioning at the normal printing position, or may be moved by a driving means such as an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, an electric motor or the like. Good.

The HS sheet is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), a double-sided tape, a spray paste, an adhesive agent, etc. are used to prevent the floating sticking plate 1612 made of metal, resin or the like from floating, for example, a print sheet made of the same material as the cloth 1. 1614 is pasted and created.

On the other hand, FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of the apparatus of this example.
As shown in FIG. 4, the HS station 1600 has an HS
L-shaped positioning guide 1 for positioning the sheet
620 is provided. Then, the positioning guide 16
20 of the HS sheet 1610 and the X portion of the HS sheet 1610, and the b portion of the positioning guide 1620 and the Y portion of the HS sheet 1610 are in contact with each other. Part 162
2 and then place the printer unit 1000 in the H position as described above.
Move toward S station 1600 (see FIG.
5). Here, it is assumed that the mounting portion 1622 has flatness with high accuracy. Further, the height of the mounting portion 1622 is set so that the gap between the head 1100 and the print sheet 1614 becomes a predetermined value. Further, since the height of the printer unit 1000 is regulated by the guide rail 105, the proper positional relationship between the head 1100 and the print sheet 1614 is determined only by horizontally moving the printer unit 1000 and abutting it on the stopper 1605. .

When the preparation for the HS mode up to the above is completed, the carriage 1010 is scanned in the same manner as in the normal printing operation, and the test pattern is printed on the print sheet 1614 by the print head 1100. After the formation of the pattern is completed, the printer unit 100
0 is returned from the position of the HS station 1600 to the normal print position, the HS sheet 1610 is taken out, and HS is performed using the system as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 16, the reader 1 as a reading means
630 is a line sensor 163 using, for example, a CCD or the like.
2 is provided to read the HS pattern. In this process, first, the positioning portion A of the positioning guide 1636 provided on the platen glass 1634 and the HS sheet 1610 are used.
Of the HS sheet 1614 on the platen glass 1634 so that the X-section of the plate sheet 1634 and the Y-section of the HS sheet 1610 abut on the other side.
Place 610. Then, with the holding plate 1636, H
The adhesion between the S sheet 1610 and the platen glass 1634 is enhanced, and the line sensor 1632 is scanned to read the test pattern.

After the reading, for example, a CPU in the form of a microcomputer, a ROM storing predetermined data,
Correction means 1640 having a RAM or the like for expanding the correction data (for example, the system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-39042 by the present applicant can be used), and the correction data of each ejection port is read according to the reading result. The print data is corrected based on this, and the print head 1100 is driven.

In the above example, when printing the test pattern, the HS sheet 1610 is placed in the HS station 16
Since it is sufficient to move the printer unit 1000 horizontally after setting it to 00, workability is high. Also,
Since the HS station 1600 is provided at a position avoiding the conveyance route of the fabric 1, the HS process can be executed without removing the fabric 1 which is the target of the normal printing operation from the conveyance unit 100. It is possible to secure continuity of the pattern without overlapping or missing. Further, since the dedicated HS sheet 1610 can easily perform positioning during printing and reading, it is possible to obtain correction data with high accuracy. Further, since the HS station 1600 is provided above the unwinding unit and below the printer unit, the device space can be effectively utilized.

The sticking plate 1612 of the print sheet 1614 may be a plate-like member such as a film sheet made of plastic or a smooth rubber sheet whose surface is polished so that the print sheet does not float. . In this case, since the flat surface may be wavy, as shown in FIG. 17, the HS sheet is placed on the placing portion 1624 having a plurality of suction holes 1624 and suction is performed by vacuum. You may Also, if the print sheet itself has a certain degree of rigidity, or if a suction mechanism using a vacuum is installed in the mounting part, etc. A pattern may be formed.

FIGS. 18A and 18B show a modified example of the HS station, which is an example of the structure of an apparatus using a print medium for test pattern formation in the form of a continuous sheet, for example, a roll, without using the HS sheet. , (A) is its schematic plan view, and (B) is its F direction arrow view.

In this example, the unwinding roll 16 of the test pattern print medium 1660 is prepared for the HS mode.
An operator pulls the end of the medium 1660 from 62, passes the medium 1660 on the HS platen 1664, and grips the end of the medium 1660 by a gripper 1666.
Fix 660. Here, the HS unwinding roll 1662 is provided with a brake 1668 so that the medium 1660 does not sag.
Is provided. HS Platen 1664, Medium 1
Vacuum or static electricity is used to attract the 660 so that it does not float.

A member such as a roll is located above the unwinding portion including the unwinding roller 1 of the conveying device as shown in FIGS.
It is similar to the case of 7. After setting the medium 1660 on the platen 1664, the printer unit 1000 is set to the HS station 16 in the same manner as described in the above example.
00 to print the test pattern. After that, the printer unit 1000 is returned from the position of the HS station 1600 to the normal print position, and the portion where the test pattern is formed is separated from the roll by the cutter 1669.
The cut sheet is placed on the reading system as described with reference to FIG. 16 to obtain the correction data.

According to this example, in addition to the effects of improving the workability and effectively utilizing the apparatus space in the examples described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 17, the test pattern forming medium is in the form of a roll paper. Since it is not necessary to prepare the HS sheet each time and the HS sheet can be stored, workability such as HS processing is further improved.

FIG. 19 is a structural example of an apparatus for automatically conveying and ejecting a roll-shaped test pattern forming print medium as another modification of the HS station.

In this example, the preparation for the HS mode is different from the case shown in FIGS.
It is automatically conveyed to the discharge roller 1662a through the platen 1664. The discharge roller 1662a conveys a predetermined amount by a drive system (not shown). Other brakes 1668 and H
The configuration of the S platen 1664 is the same as that in FIGS. 18 (A) and 18 (B).

A member such as a roll may be provided above the unwinding portion including the unwinding roller 11 of the conveying device as shown in FIGS.
It is similar to the case of 7.

After the medium 1660 is automatically conveyed, a test pattern is printed, and then the test pattern forming portion is conveyed to the discharge tray 1669a and separated from the roll by the cutter 1669 provided in the discharge portion 1669b. The cut sheet received by the discharge tray 1669a is placed on the reading system as described with reference to FIG. 16 and the correction data is acquired, as described above.

According to this example, in addition to the test pattern forming medium having a roll shape, the medium is automatically conveyed and automatically ejected thereafter only by setting the end of the medium to the ejection roller. This eliminates the need to set the medium. That is, after setting the medium, the printer unit 1000 is moved to the HS station 1600, printing is performed, the printer unit 1000 is returned to its original position, and the test pattern formation portion is not taken out. Since the test pattern is obtained in the discharge unit 1669b by the activation of the mode, workability such as HS processing is further improved.

FIG. 20 shows another example of the structure of the HS station 1600, which is an example of the structure of an automatic head shading (AHS) mechanism for automatically performing test pattern formation, pattern reading, data processing, and data transfer to the head. is there.

Also in this example, the HS station is provided above the unwinding section of the transport section 100, but the HS reading section 1670 is provided at the side of the unwinding section. The test pattern forming portion can be configured in substantially the same manner as in the example of FIGS. 18 and 19, and the medium 1660 is the HS unwind roll 166.
Then, the sheet is conveyed to the reading roll 1674 through the HS platen 1664 and the platen 1672 of the reading unit 1670.

When the AHS mode is set, the printing unit 100
0 along the slide rail 105 HS station 1
Move to 600. The movement can be performed using an air cylinder or the like as in the upper side. The carriage 1010 is H
The HS pattern is printed on the medium 1660 on the S platen 1664. The HS platen 1664 attracts the medium 1660 by vacuum or static electricity to form a flat surface.

After the printing of the HS pattern is completed, the pattern forming portion is conveyed to the reading platen 1672 in the HS reading unit 1670 on the downstream side. Reading platen 1
The medium 1660 is adsorbed on 672 in the same manner as on the HS platen 1664, and the line sensor 1676 reads the pattern. The read data is correction means 1
It is sent to the head 1100 via 640. After that, the printer unit 1000 returns to the original normal print position.

In addition to the effects similar to those of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, this embodiment also has an effect that head shading can be performed only by starting the HS mode by automating the formation and reading of the test pattern. To be

The examples shown in FIGS.
This corresponds to the case where the printer unit 1000 is slid with respect to 0, but when the transport unit 100 is slid with respect to the fixed printer unit 1000 as shown in FIG. It is possible to make the HS station slidable and replace it with the transport unit 100 so that the printer unit 1000 can be set.

(5) Mounting Position of Drying Heater and the Like Below, the configuration of the mounting position and the like of the drying heater 600 shown in FIG. 1 and the like will be described.

In the printing apparatus as described above with respect to this embodiment, drying the ink applied to the cloth is an important step in the printing process. The reason is that the cloth 1 (see FIG. 1 etc.) on which printing has been completed is wound by the take-up roller 21
(Refer to FIG. 1 etc.), but the ink on the cloth may be transferred to the back side of the other cloth at this time if the drying is not sufficiently performed. This is because the printed image may be damaged when the cloth that has been wound on the winding roller 21 is handled after printing is finished.

Further, as a result of investigations, the present inventors have found that in order to express a subtle color tone unique to ink jet printing with good reproducibility, the dried state after printing is kept uniform before performing color development processing. Found that is necessary. It is considered that this is because the moisture in the fabric greatly affects the dyeing process in the coloring process.

In this embodiment, in addition to the purpose of using the drying heater as described above, the drying can be efficiently performed when the long ink jet head is used.
It is intended to provide a structure of a drying heater capable of making a dried state uniform.

FIG. 21 shows a drying heater 60 according to this embodiment.
It is a typical sectional view for explaining the composition of 0.

In FIG. 21, as described above, the cloth 1 is conveyed in the downward direction of the two ink jet heads 1100, and the belt 130 causes the belt 13 at the most downstream side of the conveying path.
Although it is separated from 0 and conveyed toward the winding roller 21,
During this time, the cloth is dried by the drying heater 600 to accelerate the ink drying.

In the structure shown in FIG. 21, the effective drying length l ₁ of the drying heater 600 on the cloth conveying path is the effective recording width of each ink jet head 1100 (arrangement width of ejection ports in the conveying direction), and the cloth is intermittent. The feed amount d
Configuration of _one or equal greater: a l ₁ ≧ d _1.

According to this structure, regardless of where the drying heater 600 is provided on the conveyance path, the cloth 1
A region having a width d ₁ printed at the same time (width d ₁
1) can always stop within the effective drying length of the drying heater 600 during the intermittent feeding of the same length. As a result, it is possible to prevent a region which is not dried by the drying heater 600 from being generated.

FIG. 22 is a schematic sectional view for explaining another structure of the drying heater 600.

In the configuration shown in the figure, the effective drying length l ₂ of the drying heater 600 is the effective recording width of the ink jet head 1100 and an integral multiple of d ₂ which is the intermittent feed amount: l ₂ = nd ₂ (n = 1, 2, ...).

According to this configuration, the width d ₂ of the cloth 1 printed at the same time is always equal to the total drying time of each portion of the width d ₂ regardless of the position of the drying heater 600. Thereby, the drying time for the cloth can be made uniform.

FIG. 23 is a schematic sectional view for explaining still another configuration example of the drying heater.

The configuration shown here is the same as that shown in FIG. 21 or FIG.
In addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the distance T ₁ from the most downstream position of the printing position to the most upstream position of the drying area is the intermittent feed amount d ₃
Configuration that is an integer multiple of: T ₁ = md ₃ (m = 1, 2, ...)
Is.

According to this construction, the area d ₃ on the fabric which is finally printed at the same time by the downstream inkjet head is always dried at the same time, so that the time from printing to drying is uniform in the area d ₃ . And the drying conditions are equal.

FIG. 24 is a sectional view for explaining the structure of still another drying heater.

The configuration shown in the figure is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 24. In this example, in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 21 or FIG. 22, the drying heater 600 is effective from the most upstream position of the printing position. The configuration in which the distance T ₂ to the most upstream position in the drying area is an integral multiple of the intermittent feed amount d ₄ : T ₂ = pd ₄ (p
= 1, 2, ...).

With this structure as well, the same effects as those of the structure shown in FIG. 23 can be obtained, but in the case of this example, the above effects are secured at least in the area printed by the inkjet head 1100 on the upstream side.

In the configurations shown in FIGS. 23 and 24, the integers n, m and p are values selected in designing the printing apparatus.

In each of the above embodiments, the intermittent feed amount and the effective recording width of each ink jet head are the same, but the intermittent feeding amount is 1 / k (k = k) of the effective recording width.
2, 3, 4, ...), it is clear that the above description is valid.

By adopting the structure of the drying heater of the present embodiment as described above, it is possible to perform the drying properly and satisfactorily, and particularly when the long ink jet head is used as in the present embodiment. In addition, it is possible to perform efficient and uniform drying, and particularly when a recording medium is a cloth, a color-developed image with good reproducibility can be obtained by a color-fixing step that is subsequently performed.

As will be described later, in the case where the inkjet head unit is configured to move its position with respect to the transport system for gap adjustment or the like, the position of the drying heater can also be moved in conjunction with this. May be set.

(6) Constitution of Transporting Section FIG. 25 is a schematic enlarged perspective view of the transporting section 100, FIG.
28 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 25, and FIG. 29 is a sectional view taken along line YY of FIG.

Of the transport rollers 110 and 120 around which the transport belt 110 is wound, the transport roller 120 on the downstream side in the transport direction S is a drive roller driven by a motor (not shown) (hereinafter also referred to as drive roller 120). ), The upstream transport roller 110 is a driven roller (hereinafter, also referred to as the driven roller 110), and the adjustment of the tension applied to the transport belt 130 and the correction of the meandering of the belt are performed by a slight movement of the driven roller 110 in the transport direction. It The pair of platen rollers 140 provided between the transport rollers 110 and 120 are for applying an appropriate tension to the transport belt 130 between them to form planarity, and a flat surface is formed between the platen rollers 140. In the area P ₁ , the area on the conveyor belt 130 in the plane forming area P ₁ is the platen area P ₂ that is the area to be printed. Further, the end detection sensor 2110 such as an optical sensor that detects the end of the transport belt 130 for correcting the meandering, and the sensor pressing roller 2120 that presses the belt end near the end detection sensor 2110 are the platen part P ₂ And driven roller 110
It is provided between and.

Here, the drive roller 120 has the same diameter over the width direction at least in the region other than the width direction both ends and where the cloth 1 as the print medium is conveyed, and the both ends are directed toward the ends. To form a tapered crown with a gradually decreasing diameter. That is, as shown in FIG. 26, the central portion of the driving roller 120 is the straight portion 12
1, both ends form a crown portion 122, and the vicinity of these boundary portions 123 is an R-shaped R portion 124. The conveyor belt 130 also comes into close contact with the crown portion 122 of the drive roller 120 as shown in FIG. 26, but since the conveyor belt 130 is conveyed by the straight portion 121, the crown portion 122.
It is driven with high accuracy without being affected by. In addition, as shown in FIG. 27, the conveyor belt 130 has a belt end 131 with a crown portion 12 depending on the strength of the tension applied to the conveyor belt 130 due to the minute movement of the driven roller 110.
In some cases, the gap g is formed by floating (turning over) from 2, and in this case as well, the straight portion 121 is closely wound. . This gap g is defined by the conveyor belt 13
It is determined by the natural length of 0 and the crown amount of the crown portion 122 of the drive roller 120. In addition, the conveyor belt 13
As shown in FIG. 28, the belt end 131 may be set so that the belt end 131 extends axially outward from the roller end 125 of the drive roller 120. Although the drive roller 120 has been described above, the driven roller 110 is also the drive roller 120.
It has the same shape as. Conveying rollers 110 and 12
For example, when the total length of the conveyor belt is 3100 mm and the diameter of the straight portion 121 is 260 mm, it is preferable that the diameter of the roller end portion is about 0.5% smaller than that of the straight portion.

Further, as shown in FIG. 29, the platen roller 140 also has a straight portion 141 and a crown portion 142 similarly to the conveying rollers 110 and 120. Further, an R portion 144 is formed near the boundary portion 143 between the straight portion 141 and the crown portion 142.

Here, the carrying rollers 110 and 120 and the platen roller 140 are shaped as described above in order to suppress the curling of both end portions in the width direction of the carrying belt 130 as shown below. . In addition,
The description will be given for the transport roller, but the same applies to the platen roller.

Wide endless metal conveyor belt 130
In order to correct the meandering, it is necessary to change the tension amount in the belt width direction by minute movement of the driven roller 110. At this time, if the transport rollers have the same diameter over the entire width direction of the belt, excessive tension is applied to the belt end portion compared to the belt central portion, which may exceed the elastic limit and cause plastic deformation. As a result, the belt peripheral length at the belt end portion becomes longer than that at the central portion, and the belt end portion is curled toward the outer peripheral side of the belt. Further, by continuing to apply tension for a long time, the flipping advances toward the central portion in the width direction and the plastic region expands.
When the belt edge is turned up, a problem occurs that the printer head is caught on the belt edge due to scanning of the carriage. Further, due to the expansion of the plastic region of the belt, the durability of the belt is lowered, and there is a problem that the meandering cannot be corrected by a predetermined minute movement of the conveying roller.

However, according to the above-described conveying rollers 110 and 120, since the crown portions are formed at both ends in the width direction of the rollers, the tension applied to the conveying belt 130 is maximized not at the belt end portion 131, but at the belt end portion 131. It is closer to the center of the belt in the width direction. As a result, the belt end 13
The change in the belt elongation from 1 toward the center in the width direction,
That is, the change in belt strain becomes slow. This action also applies to the belt between the platen rollers 140.
Therefore, it is possible to suppress the curling of the belt end portion to be small. The effect of preventing the curling is greater as the distance from the boundary portion between the straight portion and the crown portion of the conveying roller to the belt end portion is larger, and as shown in FIG.
Is also outside the roller end 125, the effect is large.

Further, the transport roller 110 having such a shape.
And 120 and the platen roller 140, the plastic deformation of the conveyor belt 130 starts from the boundary between the straight portion and the crown portion, and the plastic region is surrounded by the elastic region. Lifespan is extended.

Furthermore, as a result of suppressing the curling of the belt end portion in this way, interference between the carriage or the printer head and the belt end portion can be avoided. On the contrary, it is possible to reduce the gap between the conveyor belt, that is, the print medium and the carriage, and bring them closer to each other, thereby improving the printing accuracy.

FIGS. 30 and 31 show an example in which a plurality of thin plate-shaped sliding members 2130 are provided at both ends in the width direction of the conveyor belt 130 in order to more effectively suppress the curling of the belt end portion in the carriage scanning area. Indicates. These sliding members 2130 are fixed to support members 2131 provided at both ends of the platen roller 140 in the width direction and are arranged along the crown portion 142 of the platen roller 140, and the surface of the width direction end portion of the conveyor belt 130. It is designed to slide and suppress curling. Further, intermediate sliding members 2140 similar to the sliding member 2130 are supported by the supporting member 2141 at both ends in the width direction of the conveyor belt 130 at the intermediate position of the platen roller 140, and the same height as the sliding member 2130. It is arranged in parallel. The tips of the sliding members 2130 and 2140 on the belt holding side have corners R that are bent upward so that the surface of the conveyor belt 130 is not easily scratched. In addition, the sliding member 213
0 and 2140 are provided such that the upper end side thereof is substantially at the same height as the surface of the cloth 1 which is a print medium, and are always located at least below the lowermost end position H of the printer head 1100. Head 1
It does not interfere when the 100 moves to the home position HP.

As described above, when the sliding member 2130 effectively suppresses the curling of the belt end portion in the carriage scanning area, it is possible to more effectively avoid the interference between the carriage or the printer head and the belt end portion. On the contrary, it is possible to reduce the gap between the conveyor belt, that is, the print medium and the carriage, and bring them closer to each other, thereby improving the printing accuracy.

32 and 33 show FIGS. 30 and 1.
3 shows an example in which a driven holding plate 2150 having a circular thin plate shape is provided instead of the sliding member 2130 by the modification of 3. The driven pressing plate 2150 is arranged between the pair of platen rollers 140 and on the upstream side and the downstream side of the platen roller 140, and the rotary shafts 21 provided on the support members 2151, respectively.
It is rotatably provided around 52. Further, the driven pressing plate 2150 is inclined along the inclination of the crown portion 141 of the platen roller 140, and its lower surface is in contact with the end surface of the conveyor belt 130. It acts so as to follow the crown portion 141 of the roller 140. Alternatively, the driven pressing plate 2150 may be arranged such that the peripheral length of the belt end portion 131 is pressed so as to have a free length. In addition, the lower side of the peripheral edge part of the driven pressing plate 2150, which is the belt pressing side, is
The R portion 2153 is provided so that the surface of the conveyor belt 130 is not scratched. Further, from the viewpoint of protecting the belt, the length m of the portion of the driven pressing plate 2150 in contact with the belt is set to be half the radius or less, and the conveyor belt 13
It is desirable to minimize the area that slides with 0. Of course, the driven pressing plate 2150 is provided such that the upper end side thereof is substantially at the same height as the surface of the fabric 1 which is the print medium, and is always positioned at least below the lowermost end position H of the printer head 1100. Therefore, even when the printer head 1100 moves to the home position HP, it does not interfere.

The driven pressing plate 2150 that rotates along with the conveyance of the conveyor belt 130 as in this example can obtain the same effect as the above-mentioned sliding member, but when a sliding member is used. Compared with the above, it is possible to prevent abrasion of the conveyor belt and improve the belt durability. Interference between the carriage or the printer head and the belt end can be avoided. On the contrary, it is possible to reduce the gap between the conveyor belt, that is, the print medium and the carriage, and bring them closer to each other, thereby improving the printing accuracy.

Further, neither the sliding member nor the driven pressing plate shown in FIGS. 31 to 34 has a member arranged above the lowermost end position of the printer head, and it is not necessary to consider interference with the head holder. Therefore, the head holder can be composed of a single component. Also, since these can be configured in a flat plate shape, when mounting the head over several stages,
The pitch between the stages can be positioned with high accuracy.
Further, the pitch between the steps of the head can be freely changed regardless of the presence or absence of the pressing member.

In the above example, the transport rollers 110,
When a roller having a crown portion is used for the platen roller 120 and the platen roller 140, a sliding member or a driven pressing plate is provided as a belt flip-up preventing member. However, when a straight roller is used, the sliding member or the driven pressing plate described above is provided. Needless to say, it is effective to use.

34 and 35 show the detailed positional relationship between the edge detecting sensor 2120 and the sensor pressing roller 2110 described above. The end detection sensor 2120, which is an optical sensor, includes a light transmitting unit 2121 located above the belt and a light receiving unit 2122 corresponding to these light transmitting units 2121. The light transmitting unit 2121 and the light receiving unit 2122 do not meander. It has a pair of light-transmitting and light-receiving portions arranged inside and outside the belt end portion (corresponding to the positions (a) and (b) in FIG. 34) so that they have a predetermined sensor gap d _1. It is located in. That is, the light transmitting section 2121 is arranged at a position separated from the upper surface of the conveyor belt 130 by a predetermined sensor height d ₂ , and the light receiving section 211.
22 is separated from the lower surface of the conveyor belt 130 by a gap d ₃ . On the other hand, the sensor pressing roller 2110 is provided upstream and downstream of the end detection sensor 2110. The sensor pressing roller 2110 is arranged so as to have gaps d ₄ and d ₅ with the upper and lower surfaces of the conveyor belt 130 that is normally conveyed. Here, the gap d ₄ from the upper surface of the conveyor belt 130 is the sensor height d ₂
It is smaller and the gap d ₅ from the lower surface is smaller than the gap d ₃ . It should be noted that the gaps d ₄ and d ₅ between the conveyor belt 130 and the sensor pressing portion roller 2110 are set to be substantially 0, and the sensor pressing portion roller 2110 is always in the conveyor belt 13.
You may make it contact 0. In addition, the edge detection sensor 2
120 is not limited to an optical sensor, and may be an ultrasonic sensor, for example. In the edge detection sensor 2120 as described above, as shown in FIG.
It is possible to detect whether the end 131 of 0 is between the sensor positions of (a) and (b), and based on this, the meandering of the conveyor belt 130 can be suppressed. That is, when the meandering is prevented based on the detection data of this sensor, the range where the belt can meander is the range of W _{1 in} the figure. The length W ₂ of the sensor holding roller 2110 in the belt width direction is set larger than the meandering range W ₁ so that even when the belt meanders, it is always prevented from turning over.

Here, the sensor portion pressing roller 2110 is provided to prevent the end portion 131 of the conveyor belt 130 at the position of the end portion detection sensor 2120 from being curled up, and prevent the belt from interfering with the sensor. This is for accurately detecting the position of the end portion 131. When the belt end position is accurately detected, it is possible to accurately detect the start timing and the stop timing of the belt meandering correction, and as a result, the belt meandering amount, that is, the meandering amount of the print medium can be minimized. It is possible to suppress misalignment of the printed matter due to meandering and improve the quality of the printed image.

FIGS. 36 and 37 show an example in which a fixed pressing plate 2160 is provided above and below the conveyor belt 130 instead of the sensor pressing roller 2110. The pressing plates 2160 are provided so as to sandwich the conveyor belt 130 located between the end detection sensors 2120, and both pressing plates 2160 are formed with holes 2161 for passing sensor signals. The edge portion of the hole 2161 is a bent portion 2162 formed by bending in a direction opposite to the belt by a press or the like so that the edge portion of the hole 2161 is less likely to be damaged even if it comes into contact with the conveyor belt 130. Section is provided. In addition, the pressing plate 21
Reference numeral 60 denotes a gap d between the upper and lower surfaces of the conveyor belt.
It is arranged so that there are ₆ and d ₇ . Therefore, the gaps d ₆ and d ₇ are the maximum amount of curling of the conveyor belt 130, and the end portion 131 of the conveyor belt 130 is regulated to be in this range. In addition, such a restraining plate 21
The effect of 60 is the same as the effect of the sensor pressing portion roller described above.

38 to 40 show an example in which a pressing roller 2170 is provided as a belt end curl suppressing member. These rollers are the conveyor belt 13 in the scanning range of the carriage.
It is provided so as to abut the upper surface of 0. In this example, straight rollers are used as the transport rollers 110A and 120A and the platen roller 140A.

In this example, the belt end 131 of the conveyor belt 130 can be prevented from being turned over, and the interference of the conveyor belt 130 with the printer head 1100 head holder 2180 and the carriage 1010 can be prevented. However, it is necessary to prevent interference between the pressing roller 2170 arranged between the platen rollers 140A and the head holder 2180 and the carriage 1010. Therefore, in this example, the head holder 2180 is provided for each two-stage printer head 1100. A concave portion 2190 is provided between them.
Further, in this example, since the pressing roller 2170 is arranged between the two-stage heads 1100, there is also a disadvantage that the head pitch p cannot be freely changed.

Further, in this example, the sensor portion pressing roller is not provided. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 40, when the belt portion is turned up at the sensor portion, there is an inconvenience that the belt portion interferes with the sensor and the edge position is not accurately detected due to an error e.

In FIG. 41, the tension roller 2 is provided in the transport system.
An example in which 210 is provided is shown. In this example, the print medium 1
Is unwound from the unwinding roller 11 and the sticking roller 1
After being adhered to the conveyor belt 130 via 50 and conveyed between the printer head 1100 and the flat portion formed by the pair of platen rollers 140, the take-up roller 2
It is designed to be wound up to 1. In such a case, the print medium 1 is intermittently fed (intermittent feed amount L) according to the print width of the printer head 1100, so that the unwinding roller 11 is suddenly stopped and suddenly rotated. A tension roller 2210 is provided between the unwinding roller 11 and the pasting roller 150 to prevent the unwinding roller 11 from suddenly stopping and suddenly rotating.

The tension roller 2210 is attached to the tip of the rod of the air cylinder 2220 and is provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The tension roller 2210 is a feed amount during intermittent feeding and an unwinding roller during printing (while conveyance is stopped). 11
It is designed to absorb the excess that is unwound from. That is, in this example, the print medium 1 is always unwound from the unwind roller 11 at a constant speed, and the tension roller 2210 is moved downward as shown in (B) while printing is stopped (transport is stopped). The slack of the print medium corresponding to the print width unwound is absorbed. On the other hand, during intermittent feeding, as shown in (A), the tension roller 2210 is fed upward so as to follow the intermittent feeding. As a result, the unwinding roller 11 only needs to rotate at a constant speed at all times, and sudden stop and sudden rotation are eliminated. Therefore, the vibration associated with the non-constant speed rotation of the unwinding roller 11 is not transmitted to the printer section, so that the print image quality can be improved. In addition, since the tension of the print medium 1 becomes substantially constant by providing the tension roller 2210, it is possible to evenly attach the warp of the transport belt 130. In this example, since the printer head 1100 has one step, the intermittent feed amount L and the distance between the pair of platen rollers 140 are substantially the same, but in the case of two steps or three steps or more as in the above example, etc. Of course, the intermittent feed amount and the distance between the platen rollers are different. Further, in this example, the tension roller is provided on the unwinding roller side, but it goes without saying that if the tensioning roller is also provided on the winding roller side, it is possible to prevent sudden stop and sudden rotation of the winding roller.

(7) Operation and Maintenance of Device FIG. 42 shows an arrangement example of the operation panel of the above-mentioned ink jet textile printing device. In the figure, the same members as those in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and overlapping description will be omitted.

As shown in the figure, an operation panel 2310 for issuing a print command to the ink jet textile printing apparatus is arranged on the downstream side of the printer unit and on the side of the conveyor belt 130. Therefore, the printed print medium 1
Is conveyed in the direction of the operation unit, so that the image quality of the print can be checked immediately. That is, for example, in the case of test printing, it is possible to check the sample immediately after issuing a print command from the operation panel 2310,
Further, a print defect can be found during the operation, and when the defect is found, the apparatus can be immediately stopped to perform maintenance, and the defective print can be greatly reduced. If the operation unit is located on the upstream side of the printer unit, the print medium will be conveyed substantially horizontally even after printing, so it is not possible to confirm the printed state by operating the frame of the printer unit while operating. There is an inconvenience.

In the above-mentioned textile printing apparatus, since the ink ejection direction of the printer head is the vertical direction (perpendicular to the ground surface), when observing the ink ejection port when printing failure such as ejection failure or white streak occurs. Since the printer head must be seen from the lower side, there is a risk that ink may drip and enter the eyes of the administrator. 43 to 4
7 shows an example for solving such a problem. Note that the same members as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and overlapping description will be omitted.

43 and 44 show an example in which a carriage 1010 for mounting the printer head 1100 is rotatably provided so that the ejection port of the head can be easily observed. That is, the carriage 1010 is mounted on the two slide rails 1022 extending in the main scanning direction via the slider 1012, but the slider 1012 on one side is provided with the slider and the carriage 1010. 2320 that is rotatable about its axis
Is provided, and the slider 1012 on the other side and the carriage 101
0 and can be removed. Therefore, in this example, the carriage 1010 can be rotated about the hinge portion 2320 in the range of, for example, 45 to 120 degrees, the ejection port of the head can be easily observed, and the cleaning operation can be easily performed.

45 and 46 show an example in which a mirror 2330 for observing the ejection port of the head is provided. That is, in this example, the length of the printer unit 1000 in the main scanning direction S is set to be longer than the width of the left and right side plates 103 in the width direction of the conveyance unit, and one of the printer units 1000 protruding outside from the left and right side plates 103. An opening 2340 is provided on the lower surface of the printer frame, and a mirror 2330 is arranged below the opening 2340. The mirror 2
The inclination of 330 with respect to the horizontal direction may be adjusted to, for example, about 30 to 60 degrees so that the ejection port of the head 1100 mounted on the carriage 1010 is imaged on the mirror 2330 for easy observation.

In FIG. 47, a television camera 2350 is provided instead of the mirror 2330, and the state of the ejection port of the head 1100 mounted on the carriage 1010 is shown on the television monitor 2360.
It can be observed at.

If the ejection port of the print head 1100 is indirectly observed by the mirror 2330 or the television camera 2350 as described above, it is not necessary to look up the head from below, and the work safety can be secured.

(8) Head Gap Adjustment Mechanism In the ink jet textile printing apparatus, it is necessary to change the print gap, which is the gap between the ink ejection port of the print head and the print medium, according to the thickness of the print medium 1. . Hereinafter, a mechanism that can easily adjust the head gap with a simple mechanism will be described.

48 to 52 show a first example of a mechanism for adjusting the head gap by moving the platen roller up and down.

FIG. 48 is a diagram schematically showing the outer appearance of the gap adjusting mechanism. The pair of platen rollers 140 arranged below the printer section 100 are moved up and down to be stretched by the conveying rollers 110 and 120. The platen portion P ₂ of the conveyor belt 130 is moved up and down to adjust the head gap. 49 to 52 are views in which the printer section is omitted, FIGS. 49 and 50 are cross-sectional views and a plan view when adjusting the initial height of the platen roller 140, and FIGS. 51 and 52 are cloths at the time of printing. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view and a plan view when moving up and down to adjust the gap of the platen roller according to the thickness of the platen roller.
In this description, if necessary, the platen roller on the upstream side (driven shaft side) and the members of the adjusting mechanism thereof will have an A after the number, and the member on the downstream side (driving shaft side) will have an A after the number. A description will be given.

As shown mainly in FIG. 49 and FIG.
Both ends of the platen rollers 140A and 140B are supported by platen roller bearings 2410A and 2410B. Each platen roller bearing 2410A and 2410
B is movably supported in the vertical direction with its axial position and the position in the left-right direction orthogonal thereto being restricted by a bearing holder 2420 provided on the conveyance roller supporting side plate 160, and the lower side thereof is a vertical movement shaft. 2430A and 24
30B includes platen roller bearings 2410A and 241.
It is fixed non-rotatably with respect to 0B. Each vertical axis 24
The lower ends of 30A and 2430B are vertically movable shaft supports 2
It is supported by 440A and 2440B so as to be vertically movable. Also, each vertical movement shaft 2430A and 2430
Helical gears 2450A and 245 in the middle of 30B
0B is fitted, and vertical movement shafts 2430A and 243
Male screw and helical gear 2450 formed around 0B
The internal threads formed on the inner circumferences of A and 2450B mesh with each other. Each helical gear 2450A and 2450
B is rotatably supported in a state in which the vertical position is regulated, and the helical gears 2450A and 245 are supported.
By rotating 0B, the vertical shafts 2430A and 2430
B moves up and down. 49 and 51 show the case where the platen roller bearing is the lowest and the gap between the platen portion P ₂ and the head is the widest (that is, the position where the upper surfaces of the conveying rollers 110 and 120 are connected by a straight line). ing. In this way, each platen roller 1
A mechanism for moving the end portions of 40A and 140B up and down independently is essential when installing the platen rollers 140A and 140B.
When the 40B is installed, the platen roller bearings 2410A and 2410B are moved up and down by rotating the four helical gears 2450A and 2450, respectively, so that the parallelism with respect to the printer head of the printing unit 1000 is obtained. Then, the head gap adjusting mechanism of the present example interlocks these helical gears 2450A and 2450B to vertically move the entire platen rollers 140A and 140B.

The interlocking mechanism interlocks with two helical gears 2450A and 2450B provided at both ends of the platen rollers 140A and 140B, respectively, and interlocks the two.
And a pair of worm gears 2470 that mesh with the helical gears 2450B at both ends of one of the platen rollers 140B (downstream side in this example). Each interlocking helical gear 2460 includes a vertical shaft support 24 provided at both ends of the platen rollers 140A and 140B.
Helical gear bearings 2461 arranged between the two are fixed to a shaft 2462 whose both ends are rotatably supported. On the other hand, the worm gear 2470 includes a worm gear shaft 247 arranged along the platen roller 140B.
1 and the worm gear shaft 2471 has a bearing plate 247 provided on the conveyor belt support side plates 160 on both ends.
It is rotatably supported by 2. Further, one end of the worm gear shaft 2471 penetrates the bearing plate 2472,
A handle 2473 is fixed to the penetrating end.
In such an interlocking mechanism, by rotating the handle 2473 to rotate the worm gear 2470, the helical gear 2450B meshed with the worm gear 2470 rotates, and this rotation is transmitted to the other helical gear 2450A via the interlocking helical gear 2460. It That is, the rotation of the handle 2473 causes the helical gear 2450A to rotate.
And 2450B simultaneously rotate in the same direction, and the platen rollers 140A and 140B can move in parallel in the vertical direction while maintaining parallelism with the printer unit. As shown in FIG. 48, the driven roller 110 is provided with a belt tension spring 112 that biases the bearing 111 of the driven roller 110 in the direction opposite to that of the drive roller 120. Therefore, even if the head gap is adjusted, the driven roller 110 moves following the tension so that the tension of the conveyor belt 130 is kept constant, so that the tension of the conveyor belt is kept constant.

Here, the interlocking helical gear 2 of the interlocking mechanism is used.
The 460 and the worm gear 2470 are detachably provided. That is, first, the platen roller 140
Helical gears 2450A and 2450B for vertically moving the four ends of A and 140B independently of each other
After the parallelism of the platen roller 140 is adjusted by rotating, the interlocking helical gear 2460 and the worm gear 2470 are provided in this state to form an interlocking mechanism.

The features of the head gap adjusting device of this example are as follows.
Helical gears 2450A and 2 after adjusting parallelism
450B is used, these are fixed and interlocked by an interlocking helical gear while maintaining parallelism, and these are interlocked by the worm gear 2470 and the worm gear shaft 2471, whereby the platen rollers 140A and 140B
Is that it can be easily translated in the vertical direction. Therefore, there is an effect that the head gap can be changed very easily without waste of the device.

53 and 54 show another example of a head gap device in which the vertical movement mechanism of the platen roller is also interlocked in the same manner. Here, FIG. 54 is a sectional view in the axial direction of the interlocking worm gear shaft 2541 described later. In this description, the platen roller on the upstream side and the members of the adjusting mechanism for the upstream platen are also followed by A after the number as necessary.
Will be described by adding B after the number.

As shown, the platen roller 140A
Both ends of and 140B are supported by bearings 2510A and 2510B, respectively. The bearings 2510A and 2510B are swingably supported by the conveyor belt side plate 160 around a fulcrum 2511 that is offset inward from the roller shaft in the direction orthogonal to the shaft. Further, each of the bearings 2510A and 2510B has a bearing worm wheel portion 2512 that expands downward in a fan shape around the fulcrum 2511 and has a threaded portion on the periphery. The bearing worm wheel portion 2512 swings integrally with the bearing body. This bearing worm wheel 2
Below 512, worm gears 2520A and 2520 that mesh with each other and have opposite threads
B is provided. Worm gear 2520A and 2
520B includes two interlocking shafts 25 provided at both ends of the platen rollers 140A and 140B and orthogonal to the roller shafts.
It is rotatably supported by 30. Here, the interlocking shaft 2530 is rotatably supported by bearings 2531 provided at both ends thereof, and an interlocking worm wheel 2532 for interlocking the two interlocking shafts 2530 is provided at the center of the interlocking shaft 2530. It is fixed. Further, the worm gears 2520A and 2520B are provided with worm gear fixing screws 2521.
By means of 21, the worm gears 2520A and 2520B can be integrated with the interlocking shaft 2530 that supports them in a penetrating state. On the other hand, the interlocking worm wheel 2532 meshes with the interlocking worm gear 2540, and the interlocking worm gear 2540 is supported by the interlocking worm gear shaft 2541 rotatably supported by the conveyor belt side plate 160. Further, the interlocking worm gear shaft 2541 projects outward from the conveyor belt side plate 160, and a handle 2542 is fixed to the end portion thereof.

In this mechanism, the initial platen roller 1
When parallelizing 40A and 140B, loosen the worm gear fixing screw 2521 to remove the interlocking shaft 2530.
On the other hand, the worm gears 2520A and 2520B are freely rotatable. In this state, each worm gear 25
When 20A and 2520B are rotated, each bearing 251
0A and 2510B swing around the fulcrum 2511, and the ends of the platen rollers 140A and 140B are moved in the vertical direction. At this time, the worm gear 2520
Since A and 2520B have reverse screws, when rotated in the same direction, the bearings 2510A and 2510B swing in the opposite direction, and the platen rollers 140A and 140B move in the same direction. The bearings 2510A and 2510B
Needless to say, if the worm gears have the same shape instead of being symmetrical as shown in FIG. In this way, the platen roller 140A
And adjust the parallelism to the printer section of 140B,
In this state, tighten the worm gear fixing screw 2521 to move the worm gears 2520A and 2520B to the interlocking shaft 253.
Fixed at 0. In this state, the four worm gears 2520A and 2520B are interlocked via the interlocking shaft 2530, the interlocking worm wheel 2532, the interlocking worm gear 2540 and the interlocking worm gear shaft 2541. Therefore, when the handle 2542 is rotated, the worm gears 2520A and 2520B are rotated in the same direction, the bearings 2510A and 2510B are swung, and the platen rollers 140A and 140B are integrally moved in parallel in the vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 53,
The driven roller 110 has its bearing 111 mounted on the drive roller 1.
Belt tension spring 11 for urging in the direction opposite to 20
2 is provided, the driven roller 110 follows and moves so as to keep the tension of the conveyor belt 130 constant even if the head gap is adjusted, and the tension of the conveyor belt is kept constant. Is the same as.

55 (A) and 55 (B) show another example of the head gap adjusting mechanism. In this example, the printer unit 1
The head gap is adjusted by moving 000 in the vertical direction, but it is necessary to separately provide a mechanism for vertically moving each end of the platen roller 140 when the apparatus is installed to adjust the parallelism. .

In this example, the printer base of the printer unit 1000 is replaced by the upper printer base 2610 and the lower printer base 26.
The upper printer base 2610 is vertically movable with respect to the lower printer base 2620 while being guided by the guide member 2630. A jack 2640 that can move the upper printer base 2610 and the entire printer unit in the vertical direction is provided between the upper printer base 2610 and the lower printer base 2620. Height adjusting screws 2650 are provided at the four corners. The height adjusting screws 2650 are provided at four corners of the upper printer base 2610 in a penetrating state and can be positioned and moved in the vertical direction, and the heights of the lower printer base 2620 and the upper printer base 2610 can be adjusted by their positions. It is possible.
On the other hand, the jack 2640 is, for example, an air cylinder or the like, and has a stroke larger than the height adjustment range of the height adjustment screw 2650. The lower printer base 2620
Is provided on the slide rail 105 via a slider 2625 fixed to the lower surface of the printer unit 10.
00 is slidable in the left-right direction in the figure, as in the example shown in FIG.

In such a head gap adjusting mechanism,
First, the printer unit 1000 is moved upward using the jack 2640. In this state, the height adjusting screw 2650 is rotated to finely adjust the height. In this state, since the weight of the printer unit 1000 is not applied to the height adjusting screw 2650, the adjustment is easy. In addition, it is preferable that the heights of the four corners be adjusted to the same height by adjusting the number of rotations of the screw or the scales at the upper and lower positions. An interlocking mechanism for interlockingly rotating the four height adjusting screws 2650 may be provided. Next, the head gap is adjusted by operating the jack 2640 and lowering the upper printer base 2610 on which the printer unit 1000 is mounted onto the lower printer base 2620.

In the head gap adjusting mechanism of this embodiment, fine adjustment of the height adjusting screw 2650 can be performed in a state where the weight of the printer unit 1000 is not applied, so that the adjustment can be performed with a light operating force, the work is easy, and the adjusting unit Wear can be prevented and stable gap adjustment accuracy can be maintained. Further, by separating the lifting mechanism and the height adjusting mechanism of the heavy printer unit 1000, the head gap can be finely adjusted with high precision by a simple mechanism.

Needless to say, any of the above-described or later-described head gap vertical movement adjusting mechanism can incorporate the above-described mechanism for exchanging the conveyor belt at the same time.

(9) Head Gap Adjusting Mechanism Using Slide Mechanism In the above-described ink jet textile printing apparatus, as shown in FIG.
The printer unit 100 is provided on the upper side so as to be slidable, so that the printer unit 100 can be easily separated / approached from the conveyance unit 100.
Here, in the image forming apparatus in which the printer unit and the transport unit are relatively movable via the guide member in this way, a head for easily adjusting the head gap between the printer unit and the transport unit. The gap adjusting device will be described. The head gap adjusting mechanism can be applied to an image forming apparatus such as an ordinary ink jet printer, an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a computer, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, etc. The printing device will be described as an example, and the same members as those described above will be denoted by the same reference numerals and redundant description will be omitted.

56 and 57 show an example of a head gap adjusting mechanism using a slide mechanism. As described above, the printer section 1000 including the print head 1010 is arranged above the platen portion P ₂ formed by the platen roller 140 of the conveyor belt 130 conveyed by the conveyor rollers 110 and 120, as described above. Similar to the example. In this example, two slide rails 2710 serving as guide members that support the printer unit 1000.
Is inclined with respect to the platen portion P ₂ of the conveyor belt 130 to adjust the head gap. That is, the slide rail 2710 is provided on the left and right side plates 2715 in which the upper end of the transport unit 100 is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction, while the printer base 2 that supports the printer unit 1000.
The lower surface of 720 is inclined along the slide rail 2710, and the printer unit 1000 can slide on the slide rail 2710 via a slider 2725 provided on the lower surface of the printer base 2720. In this state, the ejection surface of the printer unit 1000 and the conveyor belt 130
Is parallel to the platen portion P _{2 of} the printer. Therefore, when the printer portion 1000 is guided and slid by the slide rail 2710, the ejection surface and the platen portion P ₂ are kept parallel to each other, and the head gap therebetween is maintained. Changes.

The mechanism for sliding the printer unit 1000 in order to adjust the head gap in this way has an air cylinder 2730 and a gap setting piece 2740 as shown in this example. The air cylinder 2730 is provided on the left and right side plates 2715 or either along the slide rail 2710, and the tip of the rod 2731 thereof is a connecting member 27 provided at the lower end of the printer base 2720.
The printer unit 10 is connected to the printer unit 10 by its driving.
00 can be slid along the slide rail 2710. In this example, the air cylinder 2720 is on the lower side of the slope and is configured to push up the printer unit 1000, but it is of course possible to pull up the printer unit 1000. On the other hand, in the gap setting piece 2740 that slides on the slide rail 2710, the engagement position with the positioning adjustment member 2741 provided near the lower end of the inclination of the rail can be adjusted stepwise and the position can be fixed with the fixing screw 2742. The printer base 2720 is positioned by making contact with the lower end of the printer base 2720 in the inclination direction. Further, on the side surfaces of the gap setting piece 2740 and the positioning adjustment member 2741, a gap adjustment index 274 is provided.
3 is formed. Note that stoppers 2711 are provided at both ends of the slide rail 2710 to prevent excessive movement of the printer base 2720.

To adjust the head gap with such a mechanism, first, the air cylinder 2730 is driven to move the printer unit 1000 upward along the slide rail 2710. In this state, the gap setting piece 2740 is fixed at a predetermined position. Next, the air cylinder 2730 is driven in reverse to move the printer unit 1000 to the slide rail 2710.
And the lower end of the printer base 2720 abuts on the gap setting piece 2740. At this time, it is preferable that the position of the printer unit 1000 is fixed by urging the printer unit 1000 downward by the air cylinder 2730 as necessary. In addition,
The air cylinder 2730 can, of course, also be used when moving the printer unit 1000 on the slide rail 2710 in order to separate / approach the printer unit 1000 from the transport unit 100.

The head gap adjusting mechanism shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, when the gap setting piece 2740 is moved to the uppermost position, the maximum head gap HG _max becomes,
Conversely, as shown in FIG. 57, the gap setting frame 2740
When moving to the bottom, the minimum head gap HG
It will be _min . Here, the setting range of the maximum head gap HG _max and the minimum head gap HG _min is 0.5 to 6 m.
About m is enough. Further, since the position of the printer head 1010 in the carrying direction is also displaced due to the gap adjustment, the printer head 1010 needs to lengthen the platen portion P ₂ in addition to the length determined by the arrangement of the heads. Therefore, when the movement distance of the printer unit 1000 in the carrying direction is 60 mm and the gap is changed by 6 mm, the slide rail 2710 may be inclined by about 5.7 degrees. Note that the position of the printer head changes due to the adjustment of the head gap, but if the print start position is slightly affected, such as when printing on a cut print medium, etc., the signal from the sensor that detects the edge of the medium It may be linked with the information on the head position. Further, as described above, when the position of the heater 600 is multiplied by an integer multiple of the intermittent feed amount, the change in the print position affects the heater position. However, the length of the heater 600 in the carrying direction is determined by the movement amount of the print head. The size of the heater may be increased as much as it is absorbed, or the position of the heater may be moved according to the position of the print head.

Such a head gap adjusting mechanism adjusts the head gap easily and highly accurately with a simple mechanism using a slide mechanism for separating / proximizing the printer section 1000 and the conveying section 100. is there. Further, since the printer unit 1000 is always stably mounted on the slide rail 2710 even during the gap adjustment, an unreasonable force is not applied to the printer frame, and even if the rigidity of the printer frame is lowered, the accuracy of the gap alignment is reduced. Does not fall. Further, in the above-described example, the positioning means and the driving means are separate, so that a gap can be formed with high accuracy by a simple mechanism. Needless to say, it is also possible to provide a driving unit capable of positioning and moving the printer unit with high accuracy, instead of the air cylinder, without providing the gap setting piece and the like.

FIG. 58 shows a modification of the head gap adjusting mechanism described above. This example is basically the same as the example described above, but instead of inclining the slide rail 2710, the printer head 1010 and the conveyor belt 13 are used.
The platen portion P _{2 of} 0 is inclined. In the figure, members having the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 56 and 57, and duplicate description is omitted.

The operational effects of this example are also basically the same as those of the above example. However, in this example, the printing unit 100
Since it is sufficient to move 0 on the horizontal slide rail 2710, a large force is not required for the movement, so that a large driving force is not required and the air cylinder 27 can be operated during the gap changing operation.
The printer unit 1000 does not slide down on the slide rail 2710 even if the air of 30 is released. Further, since the weight of the printer unit 1000 is not added to the gap setting piece 2740, the gap setting piece 272 as described above is used.
The structure in which 0 and the positioning adjustment member 2741 are engaged is not always necessary, and the positioning strength does not become insufficient and the positioning does not become unstable. Even if the printer head and the conveyor belt are tilted in this way, as described above, the side plate can be detached for replacement of the conveyor belt, or the printer unit is moved out of the conveyor unit so that Needless to say, a configuration capable of ASH pattern printing can be adopted.

(10) Others In the above-described embodiments, the case where the cloth is used as the print medium has been described, but it goes without saying that the invention can also be applied to the printing of a normal roll paper or a roll-shaped film. Also, if it is transformed as shown in FIG. 59,
It is possible to print on a plate-like material that does not bend or is heavy.

In the example shown in FIG. 59, the heights of the platen rollers 140 forming the platen portions corresponding to the print heads 1010 are substantially the same as the heights of the platen portions corresponding to the print heads 1010 upstream and downstream of the conveyor belt 130 conveyed by the conveyor rollers 110 and 120. By providing the supporting roller 2810, the plate-shaped material 1A can be conveyed to the printing unit and printing is possible.
In the horizontal transport system of the present invention, since the transport path is horizontal,
It is easy to secure a holding space even in the case of a medium having high rigidity such as a plate-like object, and a large holding force is not required even for a heavy medium, so that various media can be handled easily.

The present invention is not limited to the ink jet printing method described above, and various printing methods can be adopted. When the ink jet printing method is adopted,
Among them, a method of providing a means for generating thermal energy as energy used for ejecting ink, a method of causing a change in the state of ink by the thermal energy, that is, a bubble jet type print head proposed by Canon Inc. By using a printing device, an excellent effect is brought about. This is because such a method can achieve high density and high definition printing.

Regarding its typical structure and principle, see, for example, US Pat. No. 4,723,129 and US Pat. No. 4,740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
It can be applied to any of the continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to the sheet holding the liquid (ink) or the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the print information and causing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, and film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the print head. This is effective because bubbles can be generated in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal one-to-one as a result. Due to the growth and contraction of the bubbles, the liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be immediately and appropriately grown and contracted, so that liquid (ink) ejection with excellent responsiveness can be achieved. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124, which is an invention relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface, are adopted, more excellent printing can be performed.

As the constitution of the print head, in addition to the combination constitution of the discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the linear liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, The present invention also includes a configuration using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which the heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region. In addition, for multiple electrothermal converters,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670, which discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as the discharge portion of the electrothermal converter, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 59-63, which discloses a structure in which an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is associated with the discharge portion. The effects of the present invention are effective even with a configuration based on Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 138461. That is, according to the present invention, regardless of the form of the print head, printing can be surely performed efficiently.

In addition, it goes without saying that the print head can be constructed in accordance with the form of the printing apparatus, and in the case of a so-called line printer form, the ejection ports are arranged in a range corresponding to the width of the print medium. It should be one. Further, as the serial type print head as in the above example, the print head fixed to the apparatus main body or mounted on the apparatus main body enables electrical connection with the apparatus main body and supply of ink from the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip type print head or a cartridge type print head in which an ink tank is integrally provided in the print head itself is used.

Further, as the constitution of the printing apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable to add the ejection recovery means of the print head, the preliminary auxiliary means and the like because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If you list these specifically,
Capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suctioning means for the print head, preheating means for heating using an electrothermal converter or another heating element or a combination thereof, and printing Preliminary ejection means for performing another ejection can be mentioned.

In addition, in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, the ink is described as a liquid, but an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. Or, in the inkjet method, it is common to control the temperature of the ink itself within the range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is within the stable ejection range. Sometimes, a liquid ink may be used. In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy of the state change of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or in order to prevent the evaporation of the ink, it is solidified and heated in the standing state. You may use the ink liquefied by. In any case, the ink is liquefied by applying heat energy according to the print signal,
The present invention is also applicable to the case of using an ink that has the property of being liquefied only when heat energy is applied, such as one that ejects liquid ink or one that has already started to solidify when it reaches the printing medium. . The ink in such a case is in a state of being held as a liquid or a solid in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260. Alternatively, it may be configured to face the electrothermal converter. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

Further, as a form of the present invention, in addition to being used as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a computer, it may be a form of a copying machine combined with a reader or the like.

Further, the present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus which prints on various print media, but when it is applied to the textile printing apparatus as in the above example, particularly when the textile printing is performed by the inkjet printing, the inkjet printing is performed. As the cloth for use, (1) the ink can be developed to a sufficient density
(2) Ink dyeing rate is high, (3) Ink dries quickly on the cloth, (4) Irregular ink bleeding on the cloth is small, (5) In-apparatus It is required to have excellent performance such as excellent transportability. In order to satisfy these required performances, in the present invention, the fabric may be pretreated in advance, if necessary. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 62-53492 discloses fabrics having an ink receiving layer, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-46589 proposes fabrics containing a reduction inhibitor and an alkaline substance. There is. Examples of such pretreatment include a treatment in which the cloth is made to contain a substance selected from alkaline substances, water-soluble polymers, synthetic polymers, water-soluble metal salts, urea and thiourea.

Examples of the alkaline substance include alkali metal hydroxides such as sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide,
Examples thereof include amines such as mono-, di- and triethanolamine, and carbonic acid or alkali metal bicarbonate such as sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. Furthermore, there are organic acid metal salts such as calcium acetate and barium acetate, and ammonia and ammonia compounds. Also, sodium trichloroacetate, which becomes an alkaline substance under steaming and dry heat, can be used. Particularly preferred alkaline substances are sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate used for dyeing reactive dyes.

As the water-soluble polymer, starch substances such as corn and wheat, cellulosic substances such as carboxymethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose and hydroxyethyl cellulose, sodium alginate, gum arabic,
Locust bean gum, tragacanth gum, guar gum,
Examples include polysaccharides such as tamarind seeds, protein substances such as gelatin and casein, and natural water-soluble polymers such as tannin-based substances and lignin-based substances.

Examples of synthetic polymers include polyvinyl alcohol compounds, polyethylene oxide compounds, acrylic acid water-soluble polymers, maleic anhydride water-soluble polymers, and the like. Among these, polysaccharide polymers and cellulose polymers are preferable.

Examples of the water-soluble metal salt include compounds having a pH of 4 to 10 which produce typical ionic crystals, such as halides of alkali metals and alkaline earth metals. As a typical example of such a compound, for example, in the case of an alkali metal, NaCl, Na ₂ S
O ₄ , KCl, CH ₃ COONa and the like can be mentioned, and as the alkaline earth metal, CaCl ₂ and Mg.
Cl _{2 and the} like can be mentioned. Of these, salts of Na, K and Ca are preferable.

The method of incorporating the above substances and the like into the cloth in the pretreatment is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a dipping method, a pad method, a coating method and a spraying method which are usually carried out.

Further, the printing ink applied to the ink-jet printing cloth merely adheres to the cloth when it is applied to the cloth. Therefore, the step of fixing the dye in the ink such as the dye to the fiber is subsequently performed. Is preferred. Such a fixing step may be a conventionally known method, for example, a steaming method, an HT steaming method, a thermofix method,
When a cloth which has been previously alkali-treated is not used, the alkali pad steam method, the alkali blotch steam method, the alkali shock method, the alkali cold fix method and the like can be mentioned. Further, the fixing step may or may not include a reaction step depending on the dye, and the latter example includes one in which fibers are impregnated and are not physically separated. Any appropriate ink can be used as long as it has a required dye, and the ink is not limited to a dye and may include a pigment.

Further, the unreacted dye and the substance used in the pretreatment can be removed by washing after the above reaction fixing step according to a conventionally known method. In addition, it is preferable to use a conventional fixing treatment together with this cleaning.

The printed matter which has been subjected to the above-mentioned post-processing steps is then cut into a desired size, and the cut pieces are used for obtaining a final processed product such as sewing, adhesion and welding. After that, clothes such as dresses, dresses, ties, swimwear, duvet covers, sofa covers, handkerchiefs, curtains, etc. can be obtained. For the method of processing cloth by sewing etc. to make clothes and other daily necessities, please refer to known books such as "Latest Knit Sewing Manual" (published by Senyi Journal) and monthly magazine "Soen" (published by Bunka Publishing Bureau). Many are listed.

As the printing medium, cloth, wall cloth, threads used for embroidery, wallpaper, paper, OHP film, plate-like materials such as alumite, and various other liquids that can be applied with a predetermined liquid by using an inkjet technique. The cloth includes all kinds of woven fabrics, non-woven fabrics, and other fabrics regardless of materials, weaving methods, and knitting methods.

[0208]

According to the present invention, the printer unit using the downward head can be slid relative to the transport unit in the substantially horizontal direction which is the print medium transport direction, and when the transport units do not face each other. Since the test pattern forming unit faces the printer unit, the maintenance of the transport unit and the process for correcting variations can be easily performed. In addition, it is possible to avoid an increase in size of the apparatus by sliding in the carrying direction and by disposing the test pattern forming section above the print medium feeding section.

[0209]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a textile printing apparatus as an example of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a printer unit and a conveyance unit of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the printer unit and the transport unit of FIG.

4A and 4B are schematic side views of the apparatus for explaining the configuration and operation of the embodiment in which the printer unit is slid with respect to the transport unit.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a configuration of an embodiment in which a transport unit is slid with respect to a printer unit.

FIG. 6A is a schematic perspective view for explaining an apparatus for attaching and detaching a conveyor belt of a conveyor and an attaching / detaching method;
(B) is an explanatory view of an inside frame on the side of the conveyor belt.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a method of attaching and detaching a conveyor belt.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a method of attaching and detaching a conveyor belt.

9A and 9B are schematic side views of an apparatus for explaining the configuration and operation of an embodiment of a means for joining / releasing a sticking roller to / from a conveying roller in accordance with sliding of a printer unit. Is.

10A and 10B are schematic side views of the device for explaining the configuration and operation of another embodiment of the means for joining / separating the attaching roller to / from the conveying roller according to the slide of the printer unit. It is a figure.

11A and 11B are schematic views of a device for explaining the configuration and operation of still another embodiment of the means for joining / separating the attaching roller to / from the conveying roller according to the slide of the printer unit. It is a side view.

FIG. 12 is a schematic side sectional view of an apparatus in which a head sharding (HS) station is arranged.

13A and 13B are a side view and a plan view showing a configuration example of an HS sheet for forming an HS test pattern.

FIG. 14 is a schematic plan view of an apparatus in which an HS station is arranged.

FIG. 15 is a schematic side sectional view of the apparatus showing a state in which the printer unit is positioned at the HS station.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of an HS system including a reading system for reading a test pattern.

FIG. 17 is a plan view showing a configuration example of an HS sheet placing section on the HS station.

18 (A) and 18 (B) are a schematic plan view and an F-direction arrow view of an apparatus for showing another configuration example of the HS station, respectively.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing still another configuration example of the HS station.

FIG. 20 is a schematic front view showing still another configuration example of the HS station.

FIG. 21 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an inkjet printing apparatus for explaining the configuration of a fixing heater according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an inkjet printing apparatus for explaining the configuration of a fixing heater according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an inkjet printing apparatus for explaining the configuration of a fixing heater according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an inkjet printing apparatus for explaining the configuration of a fixing heater according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a schematic enlarged perspective view of a carrying section.

FIG. 26 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 25.

27 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 25.

28 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 25.

29 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line YY of FIG.

FIG. 30 is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which a thin plate-shaped sliding member is provided.

FIG. 31 is a plan view showing an example in which a thin plate-shaped sliding member is provided.

FIG. 32 is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which a thin plate driven member is provided.

FIG. 33 is a plan view showing an example in which a thin plate driven member is provided.

FIG. 34 is a plan view showing details of the vicinity of the edge detection sensor.

FIG. 35 is a side view showing details of the vicinity of the edge detection sensor.

FIG. 36 is a plan view showing details of the vicinity of the edge detection sensor.

FIG. 37 is a side view showing details of the vicinity of the edge detection sensor.

FIG. 38 is a plan view showing an example in which a pressing roller is provided.

FIG. 39 is a side view showing an example in which a pressing roller is provided.

FIG. 40 is a partially enlarged view showing an example in which a pressing roller is provided.

41 (A) and 41 (B) are side views showing an example in which a tension roller is provided in the conveying system.

FIG. 42 is a perspective view showing an arrangement example of an operation panel.

FIG. 43 is a side view showing an example in which a carriage is rotatably provided.

FIG. 44 is a side view showing an example in which a carriage is rotatably provided.

FIG. 45 is a perspective view showing an example in which a mirror for observing a discharge port is provided.

FIG. 46 is a side view showing an example in which a mirror for observing a discharge port is provided.

FIG. 47 is a perspective view showing an example in which a television camera for observing a discharge port is provided.

FIG. 48 is a diagram schematically showing the outer appearance of an example of a gap adjusting mechanism.

FIG. 49 is a cross-sectional view showing the initial gap formation of the platen portion.

FIG. 50 is a plan view showing the initial gap formation of the platen portion.

FIG. 51 is a cross-sectional view showing vertical movement of the platen roller for adjusting the gap.

52 is a plan view showing the vertical movement of the platen roller for adjusting the gap. FIG.

FIG. 53 is a diagram schematically showing the outer appearance of another example of the gap adjusting mechanism.

FIG. 54 is a diagram schematically showing the outer appearance of another example of the gap adjusting mechanism.

55 (A) and (B) are side views showing still another example of the head gap mechanism.

FIG. 56 is a side view schematically showing an example of a head gap adjusting mechanism using a slide mechanism.

FIG. 57 is a side view schematically showing an example of a head gap adjusting mechanism using a slide mechanism.

FIG. 58 is a side view schematically showing another example of the head gap adjusting mechanism using the slide mechanism.

FIG. 59 is a side view showing an example of an apparatus for printing a plate-like object.

FIG. 60 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a textile printing apparatus according to a modification of the cloth sticking roller.

FIG. 61 is a perspective view of a textile printing apparatus according to the modification of the cloth sticking roller.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Print Medium (Cloth) 11 Unwinding Roller 21 Winding Roller 100 Conveying Section 103 Conveying Section Side Plate 105 Slide Rails 110, 120 Conveying Roller 130 Conveying Belt 133 Adhesive Sheet 140 Platen Roller 150 Adhering Roller 160, 162 Conveying Roller Supporting Side Plate 170 Support Base 172 Support shaft 180 Inside frame 1000 Printer unit 1010 Carriage 1020 Support rail 1022 Slide rail 1030 Drive motor 1032 Drive belt 1100 Printhead 1110 Flexible cable 1120 Ink supply tube 1130 Ink supply source 1200 Recovery device 1300 Printer stand 1500, 1541, 1543 Arm 1520, 1547 Air cylinder 1530, 1545 Spring 1600 HS station 1605 Stopper 1610 HS sheet 1620 Positioning guide 1626 Placement part 1630 Reader 1640 Correcting means 1660 Test pattern print medium 1662 Unwinding roll 1670 Test pattern reading part 1674 Winding roll 2110 Edge pressing roller 2120 Edge detecting sensor 2130 Sliding member 2140 Intermediate sliding member 2150 Driven pressing plate 2160 Pressing plate 2170 Pressing roller 2210 Tension roller 2220 Air cylinder 2310 Operation panel 2320 Hinge part 2330 Mirror 2340 Opening part 2350 Television camera 2360 Television monitor 2410 Platen roller bearing 2420 Bearing holder 2430A, 2430B Vertical movement axis 2450A, 2450B Helical gear 2460 Interlocking helical gear 2470 C Worm gear 2471 worm gear shaft 2472 bearing plate 2473 handle 2510A, 2510B bearing 2511 fulcrum 2512 bearing worm wheel 2520A, 2520B worm gear 2521 fixing screw 2530 interlocking shaft 2531 bearing 2532 interlocking worm gear 20 upper gear 2510 interlocking worm gear 2510 Lower printer base 2630 Guide member 2640 Jack 2650 Height adjustment screw 2710 Slide rail 2711 Stopper 2715 Left right side plate 2720 Printer base 2725 Slider 2730 Air cylinder 2731 Rod 2740 Gap setting core 2741 Positioning adjustment screw 2742 Fixing screw 2743 Index 2810 Support roller

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Yasuyuki Takanaka 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Issei Nishimoto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yoshiko Miyashita 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Takeshi Irizawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A transport unit for transporting a print medium in a substantially horizontal direction with a print surface facing upward in a print region to which a printing agent is applied, and a plurality of print elements facing the print region. A printer unit for forming an image by using a print head for applying the printing agent downward, and a relative position between the printer unit and the conveying unit and a non-opposing position separated from the facing position. Between the supporting unit slidably supporting the transport unit in the transport direction, and facing the printer unit when the printer unit and the transport unit are in the non-facing position, An image forming apparatus, comprising: a test pattern forming unit that receives the formation of a test pattern that is used to measure variations in the amount of printing material applied. 2. The supporting means has slide rails provided on side plates arranged on both sides of the carrying section in the carrying direction, and allows the printer section to slide along the slide rails. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the test pattern forming unit is arranged at the slide destination portion. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the test pattern forming unit is arranged above a feeding unit that feeds the print medium toward the conveying unit. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the test pattern forming unit includes a mounting unit for mounting a cut sheet-shaped test pattern forming medium. apparatus. 5. The test pattern forming unit has means for transporting a continuous sheet-shaped medium for forming a test pattern to a position facing the print head, according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Image forming device. 6. The test pattern forming means for reading the test pattern formed on the continuous sheet-shaped medium for measuring a test pattern to measure the variation with respect to a position facing the print head. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image forming apparatus is provided on a downstream side of a conveyance path of the medium for use. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for correcting a drive signal of the print element based on the measured variation. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print head is an inkjet print head that uses ink as the printing agent and ejects the ink. 9. The inkjet printhead comprises:
The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising an element that generates thermal energy that causes film boiling in the ink as energy used for ejecting the ink. 10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print medium is a cloth.