WO2015111757A1

WO2015111757A1 - Inkjet printing device, inkjet printing method, printing control device, program, and recording medium

Info

Publication number: WO2015111757A1
Application number: PCT/JP2015/052239
Authority: WO
Inventors: 和浩越智; 俊介飽田; 陽一市川
Original assignee: 株式会社ミマキエンジニアリング
Priority date: 2014-01-27
Filing date: 2015-01-27
Publication date: 2015-07-30
Also published as: EP3100859A1; JP2015139903A; EP3100859A4; EP3100859B1

Abstract

　The purpose of the present invention is to minimize the occurrence of density irregularities in printed materials, due to uneven drying. As a means to solve the problem, this inkjet printing device (1) is provided with: a printing unit (10) equipped with an inkjet head (11); a heater (20) and a fan (40) for drying ink; a cleaning means (12) for cleaning the inkjet head (11); and a controller (30). The controller (30) performs control to reduce the drying efficiency of ink during cleaning and/or control to improve the drying efficiency of ink during ink ejection.

Description

Inkjet printing apparatus, inkjet printing method, print control apparatus, program, and recording medium

The present invention relates to an inkjet printing apparatus, an inkjet printing method, a printing control apparatus, a program, and a recording medium.

Patent Document 1 describes an ink jet recording apparatus for the purpose of shortening the recording time when a plurality of images are recorded and formed.

JP 2002-36644 A (published on February 6, 2002)

Some conventional inkjet printing apparatuses such as the inkjet recording apparatus described in Patent Document 1 include a maintenance system that periodically stops and cleans an inkjet head that ejects ink.

In such an ink jet printing apparatus, while the ink jet head is stopped for maintenance of the ink jet head, the drying of the ink discharged onto the recording medium proceeds. Uneven drying occurs. And this drying nonuniformity appeared on printed matter as density nonuniformity, and led to the deterioration of the quality of printed matter. In particular, when an ink that promotes drying at a high temperature with a heater or the like is used, such as latex ink, there is a possibility that the occurrence of uneven density in the printed matter appears remarkably.

SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that an inkjet printing apparatus, an inkjet printing method, a printing control apparatus, a program, and a program capable of suppressing the occurrence of uneven drying during cleaning of an inkjet head are provided. It is to provide a recording medium.

In order to solve the above problems, an ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention dries ink that has landed on the recording medium, and printing means that includes an ink jet head that prints by ejecting ink onto the recording medium. A drying means; and a control means for controlling the drying means, wherein the control means lowers the drying efficiency of the ink during cleaning of the inkjet head to be lower than the drying efficiency of the ink that is ejecting ink from the inkjet head. And / or control for improving the drying efficiency of the ink that is being ejected from the inkjet head over the drying efficiency of the ink that is being cleaned of the inkjet head. It is characterized by.

While the ink jet head is being cleaned, the ink ejected onto the recording medium continues to dry even while printing by the ink jet head is stopped. Therefore, drying unevenness may occur in the dried ink portion during the print stop time. . And this drying nonuniformity appears in printed matter as density nonuniformity, and leads to the deterioration of the quality of printed matter. In particular, when an ink that promotes drying at a high temperature, such as a latex ink, is used, there is a possibility that the density unevenness of the printed matter appears remarkably.

As a result of intensive investigations to prevent drying unevenness that occurs during cleaning of the inkjet head, the inventors have reduced the drying efficiency during cleaning of the inkjet head to be lower than the drying efficiency during printing of the inkjet head, or The inventors have found that by improving the drying efficiency during printing of the ink jet head over the drying efficiency during manufacture of the ink jet head, the occurrence of drying unevenness can be prevented, and the present invention has been completed.

That is, by delaying the drying of the ink during cleaning of the inkjet head, uneven drying is less likely to occur between a portion dried during printing and a portion dried during printing stop. Further, by further promoting the drying of the ink during printing by the ink jet head, similarly, uneven drying is less likely to occur between the portion dried during printing and the portion dried during printing stop. As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of density unevenness in the printed matter due to the drying unevenness and to prevent the quality of the printed matter from being deteriorated.

Further, in the ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention, the drying means includes a fan for blowing air to the printing surface side of the recording medium, and the control means determines the rotation speed of the fan during cleaning of the ink jet head. It is preferable to reduce the rotational speed of the fan that is discharging ink from the inkjet head.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to reduce the drying efficiency of the ink during cleaning of the inkjet head, compared to the drying efficiency of the ink that is ejecting ink from the inkjet head. Progress can be delayed. As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of density unevenness in the printed matter due to the drying unevenness and to prevent the quality of the printed matter from being deteriorated.

Further, in the ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that the control means stops the operation of the fan during cleaning of the ink jet head and operates the fan while discharging ink from the ink jet head.

According to the above configuration, by operating the fan during ink ejection and stopping the fan during ink cleaning, the drying efficiency of ink during cleaning of the inkjet head can be improved, and the drying of ink during ejection of ink from the inkjet head can be achieved. The efficiency can be reduced. As a result, it is possible to delay the drying of the ink during the cleaning of the inkjet head, to suppress the occurrence of density unevenness in the printed matter due to drying unevenness, and to prevent deterioration in the quality of the printed matter.

Further, in the ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention, the drying means includes a fan that blows air to the printing surface side of the recording medium, and the control means controls the rotational speed of the fan that is discharging ink from the ink jet head. It is preferable to increase the rotational speed of the fan during cleaning of the inkjet head.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to improve the drying efficiency during printing of the ink-jet head over the drying efficiency during cleaning of the ink-jet head, and it is possible to further promote the drying of ink during printing. As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of density unevenness in the printed matter due to the drying unevenness and to prevent the quality of the printed matter from being deteriorated.

Further, in the ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention, the printing unit includes a plurality of ink jet heads, and the control unit interrupts cleaning when the cleaning unit cleans a part of the plurality of ink jet heads. In addition, after the ink is ejected from the inkjet head and the recording medium is printed, the cleaning by the cleaning unit is restarted, and the inkjet head that is not cleaned among the plurality of inkjet heads is controlled to be cleaned. preferable.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to reduce the cleaning time of the ink jet head once, that is, the printing stop time, and uneven drying occurs between a portion dried during printing and a portion dried during printing stop. It becomes difficult. As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of density unevenness in the printed matter due to the drying unevenness and to prevent the quality of the printed matter from being deteriorated.

Further, in the ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention, the drying means includes a heater that heats the recording medium from a surface facing away from the printing surface at a position facing the ink jet head, and the control means includes It is preferable that the heating temperature of the heater during the cleaning of the ink jet head is lower than the heating temperature of the heater during the discharge of ink from the ink jet head.

Furthermore, in the ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention, the drying means includes a heater that heats the recording medium from a surface facing away from the printing surface at a position facing the ink jet head, and the control means includes It is preferable that the heating temperature of the heater during ejection of ink from the inkjet head is raised above the heating temperature of the heater during cleaning of the inkjet head.

An ink jet printing method according to the present invention includes a printing process in which ink is ejected onto a recording medium from an ink jet head and printing, a drying process in which ink landed on the recording medium is dried, and an ink from the ink jet head. An ink jet printing method including a cleaning step of stopping ejection and cleaning the ink jet head, wherein the ink drying efficiency in the cleaning step is lower than the ink drying efficiency in the printing step; and One or both of improving the drying efficiency of the ink in the printing process as compared with the drying efficiency of the ink in the cleaning process is performed.

According to said structure, there exists an effect similar to the inkjet printing apparatus which concerns on this invention.

A printing control apparatus according to the present invention is a printing control apparatus that controls a printing apparatus including an inkjet head that prints by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, and the ink drying efficiency during cleaning of the inkjet head is increased. The control for lowering the drying efficiency of the ink that is ejecting ink from the inkjet head, and the drying efficiency of the ink that is ejecting ink from the inkjet head are higher than the drying efficiency of the ink that is being cleaned of the inkjet head. It is characterized in that either one of the control to be improved or both are controlled.

The print control apparatus according to the present invention may be realized by a computer. In this case, the print control apparatus is operated by the computer by operating the computer as means for performing each control performed by the print control apparatus. A control program for the print control apparatus to be realized and a computer-readable recording medium on which the control program is recorded also fall within the scope of the present invention.

According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of density unevenness of a printed matter due to drying unevenness and to prevent deterioration of the quality of the printed matter.

It is a mimetic diagram showing the ink jet printer concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows a part of inkjet printing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows another example of a part of inkjet printing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

[Inkjet printer]
An inkjet printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an inkjet printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a part of the inkjet printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ink jet printing apparatus 1 includes a printing unit (printing unit) 10, a heater 20 and a fan 40 as a drying unit, a wiper 12 as a cleaning unit, and a control unit (control unit) 30.

The printing unit 10 includes an inkjet head 11 that prints by ejecting ink onto the recording medium 50. The printing unit 10 causes the inkjet head 11 to scan above the recording medium 50 that is conveyed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 by a conveying unit 60 that is configured by a plurality of rollers. Thereby, the relative position of the recording medium 50 and the inkjet head 11 is moved. Then, ink is ejected from the inkjet head 11 moved to a predetermined position onto the recording medium 50 to print the recording medium 50.

As shown in FIG. 2, the inkjet head 11 ejects ink droplets from the nozzles 13 arranged on the bottom surface onto the recording medium 50. The printing unit 10 only needs to be provided with one inkjet head 11, but a configuration in which a plurality of inkjet heads are provided and controlled independently, such as the inkjet heads 11a and 11b shown in FIG. But you can.

The heater 20 and the fan 40 prompt the ink that has landed on the recording medium 50 to dry. In the present embodiment, a configuration including both the heater 20 and the fan 40 as a drying unit will be described as an example, but a configuration including only one of them may be used. Driving of the heater 20 and the fan 40 is controlled by the control unit 30. By prompting the ink landed on the recording medium 50 to be dried by the heater 20 and the fan 40, the ink can be prevented from bleeding on the recording medium 50 and the ink can be suitably fixed on the recording medium 50.

The heater 20 heats the recording medium 50 from the side facing away from the printing surface at a position facing the inkjet head 11 with the recording medium 50 interposed therebetween. Thereby, drying of the ink that has landed on the printing surface of the recording medium 50 is urged. The heater 20 may be configured to heat the recording medium 50 by transferring heat to the recording medium 50. As such a heater 20, an electric heater using a ceramic or nichrome wire can be used.

Further, a preheater (not shown) for heating the recording medium 50 from the printing surface side or the surface side facing away from the printing surface is provided upstream of the position facing the inkjet head 11 of the recording medium 50. May be. By heating the recording medium 50 before landing of the ink by the preheater, drying of the ink immediately after the landing of the ink is promoted, and ink bleeding can be further prevented. Further, an after heater (not shown) for heating the recording medium 50 from the printing surface side or the surface side facing away from the printing surface is provided on the downstream side of the position facing the inkjet head 11 of the recording medium 50. May be. By heating the recording medium 50 after ink landing by the after heater, drying of the ink on the recording medium 50 is promoted, and the ink can be fixed to the recording medium 50 more preferably.

The fan 40 blows air toward the printing surface side of the recording medium 50. For example, the fan 40 may be provided on a ceiling or the like in a casing in which each component of the inkjet printing apparatus 1 is accommodated, and may circulate the gas in the casing to generate an air flow. By blowing air on the printing surface of the recording medium 50 by this air flow, drying of ink landed on the printing surface of the recording medium 50 is promoted. A plurality of fans 40 may be provided in a housing in which each component of the inkjet printing apparatus 1 is accommodated.

The wiper 12 is for cleaning the inkjet head 11. Ink jet head 11 may not properly eject ink (nozzle omission, etc.) from ink jet head 11 during printing due to clogging of ink in nozzle 13 or condensation. In order to prevent this, the inkjet head 11 is regularly maintained and cleaned. A method for cleaning the inkjet head 11 is not particularly limited, but cleaning may be performed by wiping the nozzle surface of the inkjet head 11 like a wiper 12 shown in FIG.

The inkjet head 11 may be cleaned in the maintenance station by moving the inkjet head 11 to a maintenance station (not shown) provided at a position away from the recording medium 50. In this case, the inkjet head 11 after cleaning is returned to the position facing the recording medium 50, and printing is resumed.

The control unit 30 controls driving of the printing unit 10, the heater 20, the fan 40 and the wiper 12. Then, the control unit 30 stops the ejection of ink from the inkjet head 11 and causes the wiper 12 to clean the inkjet head 11. At this time, the control unit 30 controls the driving of the heater 20 and the fan 40 to make the drying efficiency during printing of the inkjet 11 different from the drying efficiency during cleaning of the inkjet 11.

That is, the control unit 30 controls the ink drying efficiency during cleaning of the ink jet head 11 to be lower than the ink drying efficiency during ink ejection from the ink jet head 11, and the ink ejection from the ink jet head 11. At least one of control for improving the drying efficiency of the ink over the drying efficiency of the ink during cleaning of the inkjet head 11 is performed.

While the ink jet head 11 is being cleaned, the ink discharged onto the recording medium 50 continues to be dried while printing by the ink jet head 11 is stopped. Therefore, drying unevenness occurs in the dried ink portion during the printing stop time. Sometimes. And this drying nonuniformity appears in printed matter as density nonuniformity, and leads to the deterioration of the quality of printed matter. In particular, when an ink that promotes drying at a high temperature, such as a latex ink, is used, there is a possibility that the density unevenness of the printed matter appears remarkably.

As a result of intensive studies to prevent drying unevenness that occurs during cleaning of the inkjet head 11, the present inventors have reduced the drying efficiency during cleaning of the inkjet head 11 to be lower than the drying efficiency during printing of the inkjet head 11. Or by improving the drying efficiency during printing of the inkjet head 11 over the drying efficiency during manufacture of the inkjet head 11, it has been found that the occurrence of drying unevenness can be prevented, and the present invention has been completed.

That is, by delaying the drying of the ink during cleaning of the inkjet head 11, drying unevenness is less likely to occur between a portion dried during printing and a portion dried during printing stop. Further, by further promoting the drying of the ink during printing by the inkjet head 11, similarly, uneven drying is less likely to occur between the portion dried during printing and the portion dried during printing stop.

As a method for reducing the drying efficiency of the ink during cleaning of the inkjet head 11 to be lower than the drying efficiency of the ink during ejection of ink from the inkjet head 11, the control unit 30 rotates the rotation speed of the fan 40 during cleaning of the inkjet head 11. May be made lower than the rotational speed of the fan 40 that is discharging ink from the inkjet head 11. By reducing the rotational speed of the fan 40 during cleaning of the inkjet head 11, the progress of ink drying can be delayed.

In addition, as another method for reducing the drying efficiency of ink during cleaning of the inkjet head 11 to be lower than the drying efficiency of ink during ejection of ink from the inkjet head 11, the control unit 30 includes a heater during cleaning of the inkjet head 11. The heating temperature of 20 may be lower than the heating temperature of the heater 20 that is discharging ink from the inkjet head 11. By lowering the heating temperature of the heater 20 during cleaning of the inkjet head 11, the progress of ink drying can be delayed.

As a method for improving the drying efficiency during printing of the inkjet head 11 over the drying efficiency during cleaning of the inkjet head 11, the control unit 30 determines the number of rotations of the fan 40 that is discharging ink from the inkjet head 11 as the inkjet head 11. The rotational speed of the fan 40 during the cleaning may be increased. By increasing the rotation speed of the fan 40 during printing of the inkjet head 11, it is possible to further promote the drying of the ink during printing.

As another method for improving the drying efficiency during printing of the inkjet head 11 over the drying efficiency during cleaning of the inkjet head 11, the control unit 30 sets the heating temperature of the heater 20 that is discharging ink from the inkjet head 11. The heating temperature of the heater 20 during cleaning of the inkjet head 11 may be increased. By increasing the heating temperature of the heater 20 during printing of the inkjet head 11, it is possible to further promote the drying of the ink during printing.

The control unit 30 transmits a driving signal for driving the wiper 12 to a wiper driving unit (not shown) in accordance with a predetermined timing or an input from the user. The control unit 30 determines whether or not the inkjet head 11 is being cleaned, for example, by determining whether or not the wiper 12 has been driven. Further, the control unit 30 may determine whether or not cleaning is being performed by controlling the wiper by a control unit different from the control unit 30 and recognizing whether or not the wiper is being driven. . When the control unit 30 determines that the inkjet head 11 is being cleaned, a signal for changing the drying efficiency of at least one of the heater 20 and the fan 40 is sent to a heater driving unit (not shown) and a fan driving unit (see FIG. (Not shown). The signal for changing the drying efficiency may be a signal for changing the temperature of the heater 20 or the rotation speed of the fan 40 to a predetermined value, or by detecting the dry state, the heater according to the dry state. A signal for changing the temperature of 20 and the rotational speed of the fan 40 may be used. In addition, the user inputs a desired drying efficiency, calculates at least one of the temperature of the heater 20 and the rotation speed of the fan 40 according to the drying efficiency, and the heater is set to the temperature and the rotation speed. 20 and the fan 40 may be driven. Further, the control unit 30 may determine whether or not ink is being ejected from the inkjet head 11 by determining whether or not ink is ejected from the inkjet head 11. In this case, when the control unit 30 determines that ink is being ejected from the inkjet head 11, a signal for increasing the drying efficiency by at least one of the heater 20 and the fan 40 more than during cleaning is output from the heater driving unit and the fan driving unit. Send to.

The controller 30 is cleaning the inkjet head 11 by setting the voltage value applied to the fan 40 during cleaning of the inkjet head 11 to be lower than the voltage value applied to the fan 40 during ejection of ink from the inkjet head 11. The rotational speed of the fan 40 may be reduced. For example, the control unit 30 controls the voltage applied to the fan 40 to 0 V during the cleaning of the inkjet head 11 (control to stop the fan), and controls the fan 40 to 24 V while discharging ink from the inkjet head 11. You may control to apply a voltage.

Further, the control unit 30 may stop the operation of the fan 40 during cleaning of the inkjet head 11 and operate the fan 40 only while ink is being ejected from the inkjet head 11. Further, when the inkjet printing apparatus 1 is provided with a plurality of fans, the number of fans operated during cleaning of the inkjet head 11 is smaller than the number of fans operated during ejection of ink from the inkjet head 11. May be.

For example, the control unit 30 performs control to stop heating by the heater 20 during cleaning of the inkjet head 11, and controls the heating temperature of the heater 20 that is discharging ink from the inkjet head 11 to 60 ° C. or more. The heating temperature of the heater 20 during the cleaning of the inkjet head 11 may be lower than the heating temperature of the heater 30 that is discharging ink from the inkjet head 11. The control unit 30 may stop the operation of the heater 20 during cleaning of the inkjet head 11 and operate the heater 20 only while ink is being ejected from the inkjet head 11.

The control unit 30 controls the ink drying efficiency during cleaning of the ink jet head 11 to be lower than the ink drying efficiency during ejection of ink from the ink jet head 11, or the ink drying efficiency during printing of the ink jet head 11. Control that improves the drying efficiency during cleaning of the inkjet head 11 may be performed by either one of the operation control of the heater 20 or the operation control of the fan 40, or may be performed by both.

The cleaning of the inkjet head 11 may be performed as appropriate according to the state of the inkjet head 11, or may be performed periodically at regular intervals. In order to shorten the printing stop time, it is preferable to control so that the cleaning time of one time is as short as possible, and it is more preferable that the cleaning time is 8 seconds or less.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the printing unit 10 includes a plurality of inkjet heads 11 like the inkjet heads 11a and 11b, the control unit 30 causes the wiper 12 to clean the inkjet head 11a, for example. Even if the cleaning is interrupted at this point and ink is ejected from at least one of the inkjet heads 11a and 11b to print the recording medium 50, the wiper 12 is moved to the inkjet head 11b side and the inkjet head 11b is cleaned. Good.

That is, the control unit 30 interrupts cleaning when the wiper 12 cleans a part of the plurality of inkjet heads 11, discharges ink from the inkjet head 11, and prints the recording medium 50. The inkjet head 11 that has not been cleaned among the plurality of inkjet heads 11 is cleaned by restarting the cleaning. Accordingly, it is possible to shorten the cleaning time of one time, that is, the printing stop time, and it is difficult for uneven drying to occur between a portion dried during printing and a portion dried during printing stop.

For example, the user may input in advance the timing at which the control unit 30 interrupts the cleaning, the cleaning range indicating how much of the wiper 12 is cleaned by the timing, and the information indicating the timing at which the cleaning is restarted. Then, the above-described timing and the cleaning range may be calculated from information input by the user in advance by causing the user to input a desired printing speed and a degree of drying unevenness suppression. The control unit 30 drives the wiper 12, the inkjet head 11, and the like according to information input by the user and / or information calculated by the control unit 30 itself.

As described above, in the inkjet printing apparatus 1, the control unit 30 controls the ink drying efficiency during cleaning of the inkjet head 11 to be lower than the ink drying efficiency during ejection of ink from the inkjet head 11, and Since at least one of the control for improving the drying efficiency of the ink that is being ejected from the inkjet head 11 is higher than the drying efficiency of the ink that is being cleaned of the inkjet head 11, it is possible to dry the portion that has been dried during printing and the printing that has been stopped. Unevenness in drying is unlikely to occur between the printed portion and the printed portion, and the occurrence of unevenness in the density of the printed matter due to the unevenness in drying can be suppressed, and the quality of the printed matter can be prevented from deteriorating.

In addition, although this embodiment demonstrated the case where the inkjet heads 11a and 11b were located side by side as shown in FIG. 2, it is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the inkjet heads 11a and 11b may be arranged in a staggered arrangement. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a modified example of the inkjet head 11. As shown in FIG. 3, the inkjet heads arranged in a staggered arrangement can also suppress density unevenness and provide a high-quality printed matter.

[Inkjet printing method]
An ink jet printing method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a printing process in which ink is ejected from an ink jet head onto a recording medium, printing, a drying process in which ink landed on the recording medium is dried, and the ink jet head. A cleaning step of cleaning the inkjet head by stopping the ejection of ink from the ink, and lowering the drying efficiency of the ink in the cleaning step than the drying efficiency of the ink in the printing step, and At least one of improving the drying efficiency of the ink in the printing process over the drying efficiency of the ink in the cleaning process is performed.

That is, an embodiment of the inkjet printing method according to the present invention is a printing method performed using the above-described inkjet printing apparatus according to the present invention. Therefore, one embodiment of the ink jet printing method according to the present invention conforms to the above description of the ink jet printing apparatus according to the present invention.

[Print control device]
A printing control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is a printing control apparatus that controls a printing apparatus including an inkjet head that prints by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, and the ink during cleaning of the inkjet head. The drying efficiency of the ink that is being discharged from the inkjet head is controlled to be lower than the drying efficiency of the ink that is being discharged from the inkjet head, and the drying efficiency of the ink that is being discharged from the inkjet head is At least one of the controls for improving the drying efficiency is performed.

That is, an embodiment of the printing control apparatus according to the present invention is a control unit of the above-described inkjet printing apparatus according to the present invention. Therefore, one embodiment of the printing control apparatus according to the present invention conforms to the above description of the inkjet printing apparatus according to the present invention.

[Example of software implementation]
The control by the control unit 30 may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like, or a CPU (Central
It may be realized by software using a Processing Unit.

In the latter case, the control unit 30 includes a CPU that executes instructions of a program that is software that realizes each function, and a ROM (Read Only) in which the program and various data are recorded so as to be readable by the computer (or CPU).
Memory) or a storage device (these are referred to as “recording media”), a RAM (Random Access Memory) for expanding the program, and the like. And the objective of this invention is achieved when a computer (or CPU) reads the said program from the said recording medium and runs it. As the recording medium, a “non-temporary tangible medium” such as a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, a programmable logic circuit, or the like can be used. The program may be supplied to the computer via an arbitrary transmission medium (such as a communication network or a broadcast wave) that can transmit the program. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

[Additional Notes]
The ink jet printing apparatus 1 cleans the ink jet head 11, a printing unit 10 including an ink jet head 11 that prints by ejecting ink onto a recording medium 50, a drying unit that dries ink landed on the recording medium 50, The wiper 12 that controls the drying efficiency of the ink during the cleaning of the inkjet head 11 and the drying efficiency of the ink that is discharging the ink from the inkjet head 11, and the control of the ink that is discharging the ink from the inkjet head 11 And a control unit 30 that performs at least one of the controls for improving the drying efficiency to be higher than the drying efficiency of the ink during cleaning of the inkjet head 11.

That is, by delaying the drying of the ink during cleaning of the inkjet head 11, drying unevenness is less likely to occur between a portion dried during printing and a portion dried during printing stop. Further, by further promoting the drying of the ink during printing by the inkjet head 11, similarly, uneven drying is less likely to occur between the portion dried during printing and the portion dried during printing stop. As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of density unevenness in the printed matter due to the drying unevenness and to prevent the quality of the printed matter from being deteriorated.

Further, in the inkjet printing apparatus 1, the drying unit includes a fan 40 that blows air to the printing surface side of the recording medium 50, and the control unit 30 determines the rotational speed of the fan 40 during cleaning of the inkjet head 11 from the inkjet head 11. The number of rotations of the fan 40 that is discharging ink is lower than the number of rotations.

According to the above configuration, the drying efficiency of the ink during cleaning of the inkjet head 11 can be reduced below the drying efficiency of the ink that is ejecting ink from the inkjet head 11, and the inkjet head 11 is being cleaned. Ink drying progress can be delayed. As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of density unevenness in the printed matter due to the drying unevenness and to prevent the quality of the printed matter from being deteriorated.

Further, in the inkjet printing apparatus 1, the control unit 30 stops the operation of the fan 40 during the cleaning of the inkjet head 11 and operates the fan 40 while ejecting ink from the inkjet head 11.

According to the above configuration, the fan 40 is operated during the ink ejection and the fan 40 is stopped during the ink cleaning, whereby the ink drying efficiency during the cleaning of the ink jet head 11 can be improved. The ink drying efficiency can be lowered. As a result, it is possible to delay the drying of the ink during the cleaning of the inkjet head 11, suppress the occurrence of uneven density of the printed matter due to the unevenness of drying, and prevent the quality of the printed matter from being deteriorated.

In the inkjet printing apparatus 1, the drying unit includes a fan 40 that blows air toward the printing surface of the recording medium 50, and the control unit 30 determines the rotation speed of the fan 40 that is discharging ink from the inkjet head 11. 11 is increased more than the number of rotations of the fan 40 during cleaning.

According to said structure, it is possible to improve the drying efficiency during the printing of the inkjet head 11 rather than the drying efficiency during the cleaning of the inkjet head 11, and it can further promote the drying progress of the ink during printing. . As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of density unevenness in the printed matter due to the drying unevenness and to prevent the quality of the printed matter from being deteriorated.

Further, in the inkjet printing apparatus 1, the printing unit 10 includes a plurality of inkjet heads 11, and the control unit 30 interrupts the cleaning when the wiper 12 partially cleans the plurality of inkjet heads 11, and the inkjet head After the recording medium 50 is printed by ejecting ink from the recording medium 11, the cleaning by the wiper 12 is resumed, and the inkjet head 11 that has not been cleaned among the plurality of inkjet heads 11 is controlled.

According to said structure, the cleaning time of the inkjet head 11 once, ie, printing stop time, can be shortened, and a dry nonuniformity exists between the part dried during printing, and the part dried during printing stop. It becomes difficult to occur. As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of density unevenness in the printed matter due to the drying unevenness and to prevent the quality of the printed matter from being deteriorated.

Further, in the inkjet printing apparatus 1, the drying unit includes a heater 20 that heats the recording medium 50 from the side facing away from the printing surface at a position facing the inkjet head 11. The heating temperature of the heater 20 during cleaning is made lower than the heating temperature of the 20 heater that is discharging ink from the inkjet head 11.

Further, in the ink jet printing apparatus 1, the drying unit includes a heater 20 that heats the recording medium 50 from the side facing away from the printing surface at a position facing the ink jet head 11. The heating temperature of the heater 20 that is discharging ink is raised above the heating temperature of the heater 20 that is cleaning the inkjet head 11.

The ink jet printing method includes a printing process in which ink is ejected from the ink jet head 11 to the recording medium 50 for printing, a drying process in which ink landed on the recording medium 50 is dried, and ink ejection from the ink jet head 11. A cleaning step of stopping and cleaning the inkjet head 11, reducing the drying efficiency of the ink in the cleaning step below the drying efficiency of the ink in the printing step, and the drying efficiency of the ink in the printing step, At least one of improving the drying efficiency of the ink in the cleaning process is performed.

According to said structure, there exists an effect similar to the inkjet printing apparatus 1. FIG.

The print control apparatus is a print control apparatus that controls the ink jet printing apparatus 1 including the ink jet head 11 that prints by ejecting ink onto the recording medium 50, and the ink drying efficiency during cleaning of the ink jet head 11 is controlled. Control that lowers the drying efficiency of the ink that is being ejected from the inkjet head 11, and the drying efficiency of the ink that is ejecting the ink from the inkjet head 11 is greater than the drying efficiency of the ink that is being cleaned of the inkjet head 11. At least one of the control to improve is performed.

The print control apparatus may be realized by a computer. In this case, the print control apparatus is realized by the computer by operating the computer as means for performing each control performed by the print control apparatus. A control program and a computer-readable recording medium on which the control program is recorded also fall within the scope of the present invention.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

Using an inkjet printer (JV400-160LX, manufactured by MIMAKI ENGINEERING CO., LTD.) Similar to the inkjet printing apparatus 1, an experiment was conducted on the occurrence of uneven drying of printed matter due to periodic inkjet head wipe cleaning.

The printing speed was 11 m ² / h, and the media was printed under the conditions of 900 × 900 ND, 12 pB (6 p × 2 layer), 65/55/70 + 10. As an example, one of the two inkjet heads was periodically wiped at a cycle of alternately wiping every 5 minutes. As a comparative example, two inkjet heads were periodically wiped at a cycle of wiping once every 10 minutes. In addition, one periodical wipe time of the example was 7 seconds, and one periodical wipe time of the comparative example was 15 seconds. Further, in the example, the voltage applied to the ceiling fan was 24 V, and the ceiling fan was stopped during the wiping. In the comparative example, the voltage applied to the ceiling fan during printing and wiping was 20V.

As a result, the wiping stripes corresponding to the printed portion dried at the time of wiping seemed to be thin in the printed matter of the example, but were dark and clearly visible in the printed matter of the comparative example. Further, the color difference (stripe / normal) was ΔE = 0.9 in the printed matter of the example, but ΔE = 3.5 in the printed matter of the comparative example.

The present invention can be used for printing using, for example, an inkjet printing apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printing apparatus 10 Printing part (printing means)
11 Inkjet head 12 Wiper (cleaning means)
13 Nozzle 20 Heater (Drying means)
30 Control unit (control means)
40 fans (drying means)
50 Recording medium 60 Conveying means

Claims

Printing means comprising an inkjet head for printing by discharging ink onto a recording medium;
Drying means for drying ink landed on the recording medium;
Cleaning means for cleaning the inkjet head;
A control means for controlling the drying means, an ink jet printing apparatus comprising:
The control means controls the ink drying efficiency during cleaning of the inkjet head to be lower than the ink drying efficiency during ejection of ink from the inkjet head; and
One or both of the controls for improving the drying efficiency of the ink that is being ejected from the inkjet head to be higher than the drying efficiency of the ink that is being cleaned of the inkjet head are performed. Inkjet printing device.
The drying means includes a fan for blowing air to the printing surface side of the recording medium,
2. The ink jet printing according to claim 1, wherein the control unit lowers the rotation speed of the fan during cleaning of the ink jet head to be lower than the rotation speed of the fan discharging ink from the ink jet head. apparatus.
3. The ink jet printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit stops the operation of the fan during cleaning of the ink jet head and operates the fan while discharging ink from the ink jet head.
The drying means includes a fan for blowing air to the printing surface side of the recording medium,
2. The inkjet printing according to claim 1, wherein the control unit increases the rotational speed of the fan that is discharging ink from the inkjet head to be higher than the rotational speed of the fan that is cleaning the inkjet head. 3. apparatus.
The printing means includes a plurality of inkjet heads,
The control unit interrupts cleaning when the cleaning unit cleans a part of the plurality of ink jet heads, discharges ink from the ink jet head, prints the recording medium, and then cleans the cleaning unit. 2. The inkjet printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning unit is controlled so as to restart the cleaning by the step S <b> 3 and to clean an uncleaned inkjet head among the plurality of inkjet heads.
The drying means includes a heater that heats the recording medium from the side facing away from the printing surface at a position facing the inkjet head,
6. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the heating temperature of the heater during cleaning of the inkjet head is made lower than the heating temperature of the heater during ejection of ink from the inkjet head. 2. An ink jet printing apparatus according to item 1.
The drying means includes a heater that heats the recording medium from the side facing away from the printing surface at a position facing the inkjet head,
6. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the heating temperature of the heater that is discharging ink from the inkjet head is made higher than the heating temperature of the heater that is cleaning the inkjet head. 2. An ink jet printing apparatus according to item 1.
A printing process in which ink is ejected from an inkjet head onto a recording medium and printing is performed;
A drying step of drying the ink landed on the recording medium;
An ink jet printing method including a cleaning step of stopping the ejection of ink from the ink jet head and cleaning the ink jet head,
Reducing the drying efficiency of the ink in the cleaning step below the drying efficiency of the ink in the printing step; and
An ink jet printing method, wherein either or both of improving the drying efficiency of the ink in the printing step is higher than the drying efficiency of the ink in the cleaning step.
A printing control apparatus that controls a printing apparatus including an inkjet head that prints by discharging ink onto a recording medium,
Control for lowering the drying efficiency of the ink during cleaning of the inkjet head to be lower than the drying efficiency of the ink during ejection of the ink from the inkjet head; and
Printing characterized by performing either or both of the controls for improving the drying efficiency of the ink that is being ejected from the inkjet head over the drying efficiency of the ink that is being cleaned of the inkjet head Control device.
10. A program for causing a computer to function as the print control apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the program causes the computer to function as means for performing each control.
A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 10 is recorded.