KR20160077502A

KR20160077502A - Inkjet printer

Info

Publication number: KR20160077502A
Application number: KR1020140187231A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 이정환; 김종국; 최하나; 김진태; 김종상; 최양호
Original assignee: 주식회사 포스코
Priority date: 2014-12-23
Filing date: 2014-12-23
Publication date: 2016-07-04

Abstract

According to the present, an inkjet printer comprises: an inkjet body which includes a plurality of inkjet heads which performs printing on a material; and a printing improvement unit provided between the inkjet heads to allow printing on the material to be clear while protecting the inkjet heads. According to the present invention, a restriction means to restrict a movement of the material to the inkjet heads is provided to prevent the inkjet heads from being damaged, and a hardening means to harden ink jetted from a rear end of each inkjet head is provided to allow the printing on the material to be clear. A speed control unit which adjusts the printing speed of a material in correspondence with the supply speed of the material is provided to not expand and contract the printing image.

Description

Inkjet printer < RTI ID = 0.0 >

The present invention relates to an inkjet printing apparatus, and more particularly, to an inkjet printing apparatus for jetting ink onto a work.

Background Art [0002] Continuous printing apparatuses using an inkjet according to the related art have been developed mainly on flexible materials such as paper, fiber, and plastic film.

In the case of such a flexible material such as paper, fiber or film, there is little risk of damaging the ink jet head in the continuous printing apparatus.

However, when the material is a steel sheet, the ink jet head of the continuous printing apparatus may be easily damaged.

In the case of a flexible material such as paper, fiber, film, etc., the feeding speed to be supplied to the continuous printing apparatus is kept constant, so that the printing quality in continuous printing is excellent.

However, in the case where the material is a steel sheet, irregular production speeds due to the characteristics of the steel process lead to irregular feeding speeds when the produced steel sheets are directly fed to the continuous printing, .

It is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet printing apparatus which is designed to solve the above problems and which is configured to improve a printing image.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an inkjet printing apparatus including: an inkjet main body having a plurality of inkjet heads for printing on a material; And a printing improvement unit provided between the plurality of inkjet heads, the printing improvement unit being configured to clearly print the material while protecting the inkjet head.

The printing improvement unit may include a limiting unit that restricts movement of the workpiece toward the inkjet head to prevent damage to the inkjet head due to collision of the workpiece.

At this time, the restricting means includes: a fixing bracket disposed at the front and rear ends of each of the inkjet heads; And a support roll mounted on a lower portion of the fixing bracket and having a height lower than that of the ink jet head.

In addition, the support roll may be connected to the fixing bracket with an elastic member.

In addition, the support roll may be made of rubber.

In addition, the height of the lower end of the support roll may be positioned 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm lower than the ink jet head.

The printing improvement unit may include curing means for curing the ink jetted from each of the inkjet heads before the ink is jetted from the next inkjet head so as to prevent the ink printed on the material from bleeding.

Here, the curing unit may be a UV curing unit disposed at a rear end of each of the plurality of inkjet heads.

The inkjet head may further include a speed controller configured to adjust a printing speed of the material in accordance with the supply speed of the material to the inkjet head.

Specifically, the speed control unit may include an encoder for measuring a rotation speed of the transport roll for advancing the workpiece; And a jetting controller in electrical connection with the encoder and the inkjet head to adjust the jetting speed of the inkjet head in accordance with the rotational speed of the transport roll measured by the encoder.

The above-mentioned material is preferably a steel sheet.

The inkjet printing apparatus according to the present invention has the restriction means for restricting the movement of the material toward the inkjet head to prevent the inkjet head from being damaged and the curing means for curing the ink jetted from the rear end of each inkjet head So that the printing on the material can be clarified.

Further, the present invention has an advantage that a printing image can be prevented from being increased or decreased by providing a speed control unit for controlling the printing speed of the material in accordance with the supply speed of the material.

1 is a schematic view illustrating the interior of an inkjet printing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a side view schematically illustrating the interior of an inkjet printing apparatus according to the prior art.
Figs. 3 and 4 are a side view and a plan view showing the limiting means in the ink jet printing apparatus of Fig. 1;
5 and 6 are a side view and a plan view schematically showing the inside of the ink-jet printing apparatus according to the related art.
FIGS. 7 and 8 are a side view and a plan view of the curing means in the ink jet printing apparatus of FIG. 1;
FIG. 9 is a plan view schematically illustrating the inside of an inkjet printing apparatus according to the related art.
FIGS. 10 and 11 are a side view and a plan view showing a speed control unit in the inkjet printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, in adding reference numerals to the constituent elements of the drawings, the same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference symbols as possible even if they are displayed on different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

In the following description of the present invention, the material to be printed may be a flexible material such as paper, fiber, or film. In addition, a non-flexible and rigid material may be used. Accordingly, the steel sheet will be described as a material in the following technical description.

1 is a schematic view of an inkjet printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, the present invention includes an ink jet main body having a plurality of ink jet heads 110 to print on a steel sheet 1, and a printing improvement unit provided between the plurality of ink jet heads 110.

Here, the printing improving unit may be configured to clearly print the steel strip 1 while protecting the ink jet head 110.

In this case, the printing improvement unit may include a limiting unit 120 and a curing unit 130 provided between a plurality of the inkjet heads 110. The limiting unit 120 may include a plurality of inkjet heads 110, The inkjet head 110 is prevented from being damaged due to the impact of the ink on the steel plate 1. The curing unit 130 is configured to prevent ink from being printed on the steel plate 1. [

In addition, the present invention may further include a speed control unit (including an encoder 140) for controlling the printing speed of the steel strip 1. [

The limiting means 120 of the present invention will now be described in comparison with the prior art with reference to Figs. 2 to 4. Fig.

First, a conventional inkjet printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

2 is a side view schematically illustrating the interior of an inkjet printing apparatus according to the prior art.

Referring to the drawings, the inkjet printing apparatus according to the related art does not include a structure for protecting the inkjet head 10 separately from the inkjet head 10 except that the inkjet head 10 is disposed at a predetermined distance from each other in the traveling direction of the steel strip 1 .

Such an ink-jet printing apparatus is widely used in flexible materials such as plain paper, fiber, and plastic film. Therefore, even if a material collides with the ink-jet head 10 due to vibration or other impact, 10 are hardly damaged.

However, when the material is the steel plate 1 as shown in the drawing, when the material physically collides with the inkjet head 10 due to vibration or impact, the inkjet head 10 is damaged and printing becomes impossible There are disadvantages.

In comparison, an ink-jet printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG.

Figs. 3 and 4 are a side view and a plan view showing the limiting means in the ink jet printing apparatus of Fig. 1;

The printing improvement unit of the present invention includes a limiting means 120 for limiting the movement of the steel strip 1 toward the ink jet head 110 so as to prevent the damage of the ink jet head 110 due to the impact of the steel strip 1. [ ).

Specifically, the limiting means 120 may include a fixing bracket 121 disposed at the front and rear ends of the inkjet head 110, and a support roll 122 mounted at a lower portion of the fixing bracket 121 .

Here, the fixing bracket 121 may be disposed before or after the respective inkjet heads 110. [

In addition, the support roll 122 may be mounted on a lower portion of the fixing bracket 121, and the height of the lower end of the support roll 122 may be lower than that of the ink jet head 110.

In addition, the support roll 122 may be connected to the fixing bracket 121 by an elastic member 123.

The support means 122 is connected to the fixing bracket 121 by the elastic member 123 and is disposed at the front and rear ends of the inkjet heads 110, Can be prevented from being damaged by the collision with the steel plate 1. [

That is, even if the steel strip 1 is moved to the ink jet head 110 side due to vibration or impact, the support roll 122 whose lower end is disposed lower than the ink jet head 110 blocks the ink roll, It is possible to prevent the ink jet head 110 from being damaged by protecting the ink jet head 110 from being hit.

Furthermore, when the steel strip 1 is cut off by the support roll 122, the support roll 122 absorbs the impact by the elastic member 123, thereby preventing the material from being damaged.

In addition, the support roll 122 is preferably made of rubber. This is because if the support roll 122 is made of a metal material, the coated film that is printed when the steel strip 1 is contacted is damaged.

In addition, the height of the lower end of the support roll 122 may be positioned 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm lower than the ink jet head 110. This is because when the height of the lower end of the support roll 122 is lower than that of the ink jet head 110 by 0.5 mm or less, the steel strip 1 can not be completely cut off and the height of the lower end of the support roll 122 The distance between the steel plate 1 and the inkjet head 110 is too great to allow a clear image to be realized with the ink jetted from the inkjet head 110 There is a limit to the absence.

The curing means of the present invention will now be described in comparison with the prior art with reference to Figs. 2 to 8. Fig.

First, a conventional inkjet printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG.

5 and 6 are a side view and a plan view schematically showing the inside of the ink-jet printing apparatus according to the related art.

Referring to the drawings, an inkjet printing apparatus according to the related art includes an inkjet head 10 disposed at a predetermined distance from each other in the traveling direction of the steel strip 1, Only one curing member to be cured is disposed.

That is, the material is printed with four basic colors of black (K), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and blue (Cyan, C).

Such an ink-jet printing apparatus generally does not pose a serious problem on the surface quality in a material which absorbs ink such as paper or fiber in general.

However, when the material is the steel sheet 1 as shown in FIG. 6, all the four colors are printed due to the property that the material property of the steel sheet 1 is not absorbed by the ink, Or a scattering phenomenon occurs.

As a result, a desired image can not be printed on the steel plate 1, and a blurred image I is obtained, thereby causing a problem of product failure.

In comparison, an ink-jet printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are a side view and a plan view of the curing means in the ink jet printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

Referring to the drawings, the printing improvement unit of the present invention may include a curing unit 130 to prevent the ink printed on the steel plate 1 from smearing.

This curing means 130 may be configured to cure the ink jetted from each inkjet head 110 before the ink is jetted from the next inkjet head 110.

Specifically, the curing unit 130 may be a UV curing unit disposed at a rear end of each of the plurality of inkjet heads 110.

The curing unit 130 is disposed at the rear end of each of the plurality of inkjet heads 110 and hardens the ink jetted from each inkjet head 110 before the ink is jetted from the next inkjet head 110, It is possible to prevent blurring of the ink printed on the steel plate 1, thereby obtaining a clear image D. [

In the meantime, the present invention may further include a speed control unit for controlling the printing speed of the steel sheet. The speed control unit will be described in comparison with the related art, with reference to FIG. 9 through FIG.

FIG. 9 is a plan view schematically illustrating the inside of an inkjet printing apparatus according to the related art.

Referring to FIG. 1, the inkjet printing apparatus according to the related art has a structure in which the inkjet heads 10 are arranged at a predetermined interval from each other in the traveling direction of the steel strip 1, and the printing speed of the steel strip 1 is separately adjusted I never do that.

In such an ink-jet printing apparatus, if the product production process is a single process and the process speed is constant, the ink-jet printing speed may be kept constant.

However, when the material is the steel sheet 1 as shown in the drawing, the process speed is variable due to the characteristics of the steel process. Therefore, in order to apply the ink-jet printing process to the steel process,

That is, in the case where the speed of the ink jet printing apparatus is kept constant but the feeding speed of the steel strip 1 is variable, when the printing speed of the steel strip 1 is faster than the printing speed of the steel strip 1, If the printing speed of the steel sheet 1 is slower than the printing speed of the steel sheet 1, there is a limit in that an image distortion phenomenon is obtained in which a printed image S is reduced.

In comparison, an ink-jet printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are a side view and a plan view showing a speed control unit in the inkjet printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

Referring to the drawings, the printing improvement unit of the present invention may be configured to control the printing speed of the steel strip 1 in accordance with the feeding speed of the steel strip 1 to the ink jet head 110.

Specifically, the speed control unit may include an encoder 140 for measuring a rotation speed of a transport roll for advancing the steel strip 1, and a jetting regulator electrically connected to the encoder 140 and the inkjet head 110 have.

Here, the jetting controller may be configured to adjust the jetting speed of the inkjet head 110 according to the rotation speed of the transport roll measured by the encoder 140. At this time, although not shown in the drawing, the jetting controller may be separately mounted in the inkjet printing apparatus, or may be included in the control configuration of the inkjet printing apparatus.

The speed control unit measures the feeding speed of the steel strip 1 by the encoder 140 and adjusts the jetting speed of the inkjet head 110 in accordance with the feeding speed of the steel strip 1 by the jetting regulator, (C) which is a desired printing image which is not enlarged or reduced by controlling the printing speed of the image forming apparatus (1) can be obtained.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. It is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

1: steel plate 110: ink jet head
120: restriction means 121: fixed bracket
122: support roll 123: elastic member
130: hardening means I: hazy image
D: Clear image 140: Encoder
L: Long image C: Short image
C: Selected images

Claims

An inkjet main body having a plurality of inkjet heads for printing on a material; And
A printing improvement unit provided between the plurality of inkjet heads, the printing improvement unit being configured to clearly print the material while protecting the inkjet head;
The ink jet printing apparatus comprising:

The method according to claim 1,
The printing improvement unit includes:
Limiting means for restricting movement of the material to the inkjet head side so as to prevent damage of the inkjet head due to collision of the material;
The inkjet printing apparatus comprising:

3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the limiting means comprises:
A fixing bracket disposed at front and rear ends of each of the ink jet heads; And
A support roll mounted on a lower portion of the fixing bracket and having a lower end disposed lower than the ink jet head;
The inkjet printing apparatus comprising:

The method of claim 3,
Wherein the support roll is connected to the fixing bracket with an elastic member.

The method of claim 3,
Wherein the support roll is made of a rubber material.

The method of claim 3,
Wherein the support roll has a bottom height of 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm lower than the ink jet head.

The method according to claim 1,
The printing improvement unit includes:
Curing means for curing the ink jetted from each of the inkjet heads before the ink is jetted from the next inkjet head to prevent bleeding of the ink printed on the material;
The inkjet printing apparatus comprising:

8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the curing unit is a UV curing unit disposed at a rear end of each of the plurality of inkjet heads.

The method according to claim 1,
A speed control unit configured to adjust a printing speed of the material corresponding to a supply speed of the material to the inkjet head;
Further comprising an ink-jet recording head.

10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the speed control unit comprises:
An encoder for measuring a rotation speed of the transport roll for advancing the material; And
A jetting regulator electrically connected to the encoder and the inkjet head to adjust a jetting speed of the inkjet head in accordance with a rotation speed of the transport roll measured by the encoder;
And an ink-jet recording head.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
Wherein the material is a steel sheet.