JPS6184256A - Printing position control device for inkjet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable printing on the same place of an object to be printed in two alternate directions of a reciprocating head without changing from the outside a detection timing of the material being recorded by providing a detector for an object being conveyed, a distance measuring device and a calculating machine. CONSTITUTION:A detector 4 for an object being conveyed detects the head and the tail of the object (X direction) being conveyed during the moving period of a printing head 3 in one direction (X direction). A distance measuring device measures, based on detection signals, the first distance LA from the head to the print starting position and the second distance LB from the print finishing position to the tail of the object. The calculating machine calculates, based on the measured first and second distances of LA and LB, the print starting position from the head of the object 1 at the time of moving of the printing head 3 in the reversed direction (X' direction). Thus, without changing a detection timing, regardless of alternate directions, a printing at the same position is made feasible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device, and particularly to printing in a recording device that performs printing while reciprocating a print head on a plurality of objects to be conveyed in parallel. The present invention relates to a position control device.

[Background of the invention]

In recent years, conveyance systems such as conveyors have been variously improved with the rationalization of productivity. 2. Description of the Related Art In order to improve transport efficiency, there is an increasing number of systems in which objects are transported on a conveyor in multiple rows (parallel). When printing a predetermined symbol or code on each conveyed object on a conveyor using an inkjet recording device, if there are two or three rows of conveyed objects, it is possible to use the head for the number of rows, but if there are more than that, the equipment Since this increases the cost, a method is used in which the head is moved perpendicular to the conveyor and printing is performed in the column direction. In this case, the conveyor operates intermittently, such as once stopping when the conveyed object comes under the head, and starting to move again when the head moves and printing in the column direction is completed. Here, it would be very convenient in terms of production efficiency if the head could print in both directions.

On the other hand, in industrial inkjet recording devices,
As described in the specification of No. 1-112128, a method is used in which the sending order of print character data is reversed so that printing can be performed normally even when moving in the backward direction compared to the forward direction. This is to be able to cope with any conveyor direction when installing an inkjet recording apparatus. In addition, in industrial applications, since the conveyed object is irregular in shape, it is possible to detect the conveyed object and set the time from the time of detection to the actual printing in advance, so that it can always be printed in the same place. However, when printing in both directions, the relationship between recorded object detection timing and printing position is different in the forward and backward directions, and printing is not performed in the same location. Therefore, even if reciprocating printing is performed, in order to print in the same place, the timing for detecting the conveyed object should be different between the forward and backward movements of the conveyor-shaped print head, or the signal to synchronize with the recorded object should be set at different times. However, this requires special equipment with little flexibility and requires complicated control. [Object of the Invention] The purpose of the present invention is to To provide an inkjet recording device capable of printing at the same location without changing the detection timing in the forward and backward directions on the conveyor side.

[Summary of the invention]

In the present invention, in the forward direction, the size of the recorded object is detected, and the detection time until printing corresponds to the write start time setting value,
By calculating the writing start time in the backward direction based on the detected value of the recorded object after printing, the external value of the inkjet recording device is
This makes it possible to print at the same location on a recording object both in the forward and backward directions of the head without changing the detection timing of the recording object.

That is, the present invention provides an inkjet recording apparatus that prints on each of a plurality of conveyed objects arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction by moving a print head back and forth in the arrangement direction of the conveyed objects. a conveyed object detector that detects the leading edge and trailing edge of the conveyed object when the print head moves in one direction; and a first distance from the leading edge to the printing start position based on the detection signal of this detector; a distance measuring device that measures a second distance from a printing end position to a rear end, and printing from the leading end of the conveyed object when the print head moves in the opposite direction based on the measured first and second distances. The present invention is characterized by comprising a computing unit that calculates a starting position.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, there are multiple rows of objects 1 (in this example, 6 rows).
Conveyor 2 moving in the direction of arrow Y in the column) and Conveyor 2
The head 3 moves in directions x and x' perpendicular to the moving direction Y of
This shows a printing system for an inkjet recording device configured with the following.

The conveyor 2 stops when the conveyed object l comes under the head 3, and when the head 3 moves from the left end in the X direction and prints on the six conveyed objects, the printing direction switch 5 at the right end is turned to
Do N. At this timing, the printing direction is switched. When the printing on the six conveyed objects 1 is completed, the conveyor 2 moves in the Y direction, and when the next six conveyed objects 1 come under the head 3, it stops again. Next, the head 3 moves from the right end in the X' force direction, and after printing on the six conveyed objects 1, the printing direction is switched by the printing direction changeover switch 5 at the left end.

This operation is repeated thereafter. In this system, the print position Q and the detection axis R of the conveyed object detector 4 are arranged to be at the same position.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. First, the writing timer value T^ from the operation input section 16 to the writing timer 14 via the logic and arithmetic operation section 11 is determined by the distance MLA from the left end of the conveyed object l to the printed character 17 in FIG. 4, and the printed character. Assuming that the distance between the horizontal dots of 17 is Px, it is assumed that Ta=LA/Px when the printing position Q and the detection axis R of the conveyed object detector 4 are at the same position.

In a normal printing operation, when the conveyed object detector 4 detects the conveyed object l, the logic and arithmetic operation section 11 performs printing after a delay of the write start timer value Tm.

The write start timer value setting control when the printing direction is switched is programmed in the storage section 10, and a flowchart of this program is shown in FIG.

The write timer value setting control of the logical, logical, and arithmetic operation section 11 will be explained with reference to this flowchart.

When the head 3 starts moving in the X direction, the transported object l is first detected by the transported object detector 4 (block 2).
0).

When the recorded object l is detected, the recorded object detection counter A12
Turn on. By updating the recorded object detection counter A12 at regular intervals (the shorter the time, the higher the accuracy), the writing start distance LA in FIG. 3 of Q1 is measured (blocks 21 and 22).

When printing starts, the recorded object detection power rank A12 is set to 0FI.
F' to do. The counter value at this time is set to NA (block 23).

Next, when printing is completed (block 24), the recorded object detection counter B13 is turned on. This recorded object detection counter B13 is updated at the same time intervals as the recorded object detection counter A12, and measures the distance L++ from the end of printing to the right end of the recorded object I in FIG. 3 (block 25).
．． 26) When the input of the recorded object detector 4 turns OFF, the recorded object detection counter B13 is turned OFF'. The counter value at this time is set as NB (block 27).

NA, Nl and X direction write timer value T found above
From a, the X' force direction write timer value Tn can be calculated using the following formula (block 2ε).

The printing in the X direction is completed, and the printing direction changeover switch 5 is turned to O.
When the result is N, the X' force direction write timer value TB obtained in block 28 is set in the write timer 14.

As described above, even when printing in the X' force direction, printing can be performed at the same position as in the X direction.

In addition to the printing direction switching switch 5 shown in FIG. 1, the printing direction switching manual power 15 is not particularly specified as long as it is a signal input at the timing when printing in one direction is completed.

According to this embodiment, printing in the reciprocating direction is possible without performing special write start control, so when converting from unidirectional printing to reciprocating printing in order to increase production capacity due to increased production volume, etc. This can be achieved with almost no modification to the existing conveyor.

Thus, when performing reciprocating printing, it is possible to print in the same location even in the backward direction by setting the write start timer only in the forward direction, thereby eliminating the need to control the printing start timing in the forward and backward directions, which has been necessary in the past.

Furthermore, when printing the same number of pieces, the number of movements is halved, so the service life against bending of the cable connected to the head is doubled. Also, wear on rotating parts is halved.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, printing can be performed at the same position without changing the detection timing of the transported object in the forward and backward directions.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a conveyance system and a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is an elevational view thereof, FIG. 3 is a control block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the correlation between conveyed objects, detectors, and printing, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart diagram illustrating the flow of control of the present invention. 1...Recorded object, 2...Conveyor, 3...Head, 4...Recorded object detector, 5...Print direction changeover switch, 11...Logic, arithmetic operation section, 12 ...Recorded object detection counter A, 13...Recorded object detection counter B, 14 (lO) 4th Ward Leopard 5 Figure C Reisho D

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an inkjet recording device that prints on each of a plurality of conveyed objects arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction by moving a print head back and forth in the arrangement direction of the conveyed objects. , a conveyed object detector that detects the leading edge and trailing edge of the conveyed object when the print head moves in one direction; and a first conveyed object detector that detects the leading edge and trailing edge of the conveyed object when the print head moves in one direction; a distance measuring device that measures the distance and a second distance from the print end position to the rear end; and a distance measuring device that measures the distance and a second distance from the print end position to the rear end; and a front end of the conveyed object when the print head moves in the opposite direction based on the measured first and second distances. 1. A printing position control device for an inkjet recording device, comprising: a computing unit that calculates a printing start position from the above. 2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the distance measuring device is a counter that counts pulses based on a detection signal from a conveyed object detector. .