WO2019088038A1

WO2019088038A1 - Printing device and printing method

Info

Publication number: WO2019088038A1
Application number: PCT/JP2018/040164
Authority: WO
Inventors: 憲司北田
Original assignee: セイコーエプソン株式会社
Priority date: 2017-10-31
Filing date: 2018-10-29
Publication date: 2019-05-09
Also published as: JP2019081314A; JP7039931B2

Abstract

The present invention suppresses deviation of the printing location of a printing device that prints on the surface of a printing target. According to the present invention, a printing device is moved relative to a printing target, the movement targeting a printing path direction that has been preset in a direction that intersects the direction in which dot-forming elements of a printing head have been arranged, and the degree to which the movement direction of the printing device deviates from the printing path direction is detected. Then, the direction in which the dot-forming elements of the printing device are arranged is altered within the plane of the printing target, and, in accordance with the detected degree of deviation, the arrangement direction of the dot-forming elements is adjusted to approach the arrangement direction for when the printing device is moved in the printing path direction.

Description

Printing apparatus and printing method

The present invention relates to a technology for performing printing by moving relative to a print target without providing a mechanism for positioning the print target.

The printer or printing apparatus includes a mechanism for positioning a print target such as paper, and the printing apparatus itself controls the discharge or application position of the ink to the print target. For example, in the case of a so-called serial printer, the printer controls the position (main scanning direction position) of the print head with respect to the width direction of the sheet and the conveyance direction position (sub scanning direction position) of the sheet. On the other hand, various apparatuses have been proposed in recent years that do not have a mechanism for positioning the print target, and the apparatus moves relative to the print target to print (for example, Patent Document 1 below) , 2).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-35032 Japanese Patent Publication No. 2007-520374

The patent document 1 discloses a printing apparatus which is manually moved on a print target. This printing apparatus performs printing by selecting a nozzle corresponding to the area to be originally printed, when the moving direction by hand is shifted with respect to the printing pass direction which is the direction in which the image is to be printed. Further, Patent Document 2 discloses an electronic brush that performs printing manually, detects a shift in the moving direction of the electronic brush with respect to the original printing pass, drives the driving roller according to the shift amount, and determines the moving direction. Correct the moving direction of the electronic brush to match the print pass direction.

However, in these printing apparatuses, the movement direction does not sufficiently cope with the deterioration in print quality when it is deviated from the original print pass direction. For example, in the technology described in the cited document 1, although printing is performed in the area corresponding to the original printing pass, if the moving direction of the printing apparatus is inclined with respect to the printing pass direction, the nozzle array with respect to the printing pass Is inclined, printing is performed with the printing pitch shifted, and as a result, the image quality is degraded.

Further, in the apparatus described in Patent Document 2, when the moving direction of the printing apparatus deviates from the original printing pass, the driving roller is driven to correct this. Then, since the electronic brush is originally moved manually by the user, two forces will be applied to the electronic brush, and the influence of the unevenness of the surface to be printed is not taken into account, so the control of the printing position Accuracy may be insufficient.

The present invention has been made to solve at least a part of the above-described problems, and can be realized as the following modes or application examples.

(1) As a first aspect, a printing apparatus that performs printing on a print target is provided. The printing apparatus has a print head in which a plurality of dot forming elements formed in dot units on the surface of the printing target are arrayed; and a printing pass direction predetermined as a direction intersecting the direction in which the dot forming elements are arrayed A moving mechanism for realizing the movement of the printing apparatus with respect to the print target; a position detection unit for detecting the degree of deviation of the moving direction of the printing apparatus realized by the moving mechanism from the print path direction; In accordance with the degree of separation detected, the arrangement direction of the dot formation elements is made closer to the arrangement direction when the printing apparatus is moved in the printing pass direction, according to the detected degree of separation. An angle adjustment unit may be provided to perform adjustment.

In such a printing apparatus, the movement mechanism realizes movement of the printing apparatus relative to the print target with the printing pass direction as the target direction, but such movement is only performed with the printing pass direction as the target direction. A departure from the direction can occur. The printing apparatus detects the degree of departure from the print pass direction, and adjusts the alignment direction of the dot forming elements to approach the alignment direction when the printing apparatus is moved in the print pass direction according to the degree of departure. Do. Therefore, the position of dot formation by the dot formation element approaches when the movement direction matches the print pass direction, and the deviation of the dot formation position is alleviated. As a result, the deterioration of the image quality of the formed image is suppressed.

(2) In such a printing apparatus, the mechanism for changing the direction of arrangement of the dot formation elements in the angle adjustment unit may be a rotation mechanism that rotates the print head about an axis perpendicular to the surface to be printed. The angle adjustment unit may rotate the print head using this rotation mechanism according to the degree of separation from the print pass direction, and adjust the arrangement direction of the dot formation elements. By so doing, it is possible to ease the deviation of the dot formation position with a simple configuration.

(3) Alternatively, in such a printing apparatus, the mechanism for changing the direction of arrangement of the dot formation elements in the angle adjustment unit is such that the print head is along the print pass direction at at least two places separated in the arrangement direction of the dot formation elements. It is good also as a sliding mechanism which moves back and forth. The angle adjustment unit may adjust the arrangement direction of the dot formation elements using this sliding mechanism according to the degree of separation from the printing pass direction. Also by doing this, it is possible to alleviate the deviation of the dot formation position. In addition, adjustment of the arrangement direction of the dot formation elements can be performed more flexibly.

(4) The angle adjustment unit adjusts the dot formation elements in the movement realized by the movement mechanism by moving the printing device in the print pass direction by performing the adjustment according to the degree of separation from the print pass direction. It may be made to correspond to the arrangement direction in the case of In such a printing apparatus, the distance between the dots formed is equal to that in the case of movement in the print pass direction, and the deterioration of the image quality can be further suppressed.

(5) Furthermore, among the plurality of dot formation elements, the dot formation elements used to form the dots may be selected according to the degree of deviation of the moving direction, and dots may be formed on the surface to be printed. . In this case, when the moving direction deviates from the printing pass direction, the printing range can be made closer to the printing range when the moving direction coincides with the printing pass direction by not selecting the dot forming element in the separating direction. it can.

(6) At this time, it is also preferable to make the maximum width of dot formation by a plurality of dot formation elements wider than the width of the range in which the printing device forms dots by one movement in the print pass direction. In this way, even if the moving direction of the printing apparatus deviates from the printing pass direction, dots can be formed in the printing range when the moving direction matches the printing pass direction up to the maximum width of dot formation. .

(7) In such a printing apparatus, the position detection unit includes a gyro sensor for detecting the angle of the movement direction on the surface of the printing object with respect to the printing pass direction which is a predetermined direction with respect to the initial position of the printing apparatus; The degree of deviation of the movement direction from the print pass direction may be detected based on the output of the sensor. In this way, the degree of deviation can be detected by the printing apparatus itself.

(8) The position detection unit can identify the direction corresponding to the print pass direction, and detects the relative positional relationship with the plurality of specific units installed on the print target, thereby moving from the print pass direction. The degree of direction deviation may be detected. In this way, the print pass direction can be determined with high accuracy for the print target.

(9) In such a printing apparatus, the moving mechanism may be composed of a plurality of rollers disposed before and after the print pass direction with respect to the print head and rotating in contact with the surface to be printed. In this case, the print head is disposed between the plurality of rollers, and it is easy to ease the fluctuation of the separation distance between the print head and the print target when the printing apparatus is moved.

(10) In addition to implementation as a printing apparatus, implementation as a printing method for printing on a print target is also possible. According to this printing method, a print head having a plurality of dot forming elements formed in dot units on the surface to be printed is mounted on the printing apparatus; predetermined as a direction intersecting the direction in which the dot forming elements are arranged The movement of the printing apparatus with respect to the printing object is realized with the printing pass direction as the target direction; the degree of departure of the printing apparatus movement direction from the printing pass direction is detected; Are adjusted in the plane to be printed, and the arrangement direction of the dot formation elements is adjusted to be close to the arrangement direction when the printing apparatus is moved in the print pass direction according to the detected degree of separation. Also by this printing method, the same operation and effect as the printing apparatus can be obtained. The present invention can also be implemented as a method of manufacturing a printing apparatus or a method of manufacturing a printed matter. Furthermore, the present invention can also be implemented as a print head control device, a print head position adjustment method, or the like.

If printing is performed with the moving direction of the printing apparatus shifted from the printing pass direction if the configuration of the present invention described above is adopted, the dot arrangement of the printed image has dot spacing in the direction perpendicular to the printing pass direction. , It changes as compared with the case where the composition of the present invention is not adopted. If the arrangement direction of the dot formation elements and the printing pass direction are perpendicular, the dot interval becomes wide. Therefore, for example, when an image of a fixed density is printed and the image is subjected to Fourier transform to obtain the spatial frequency, compared with the case where the configuration of the present invention is not adopted, the peak among frequency components in the direction perpendicular to the print pass direction. And the frequency to be changed. Therefore, it is easy to recognize from the printed matter whether or not the configuration of the present invention is adopted.

It is a perspective view showing the appearance of the printing device of a 1st embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view of the printing apparatus placed on the surface to be printed. It is explanatory drawing which added the electrical control system to the schematic structure which looked at the printing apparatus from the bottom face. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing an execution state of an application operating on a smartphone communicating with the printing apparatus. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a manual printing process performed by a control unit of the printing apparatus. 5 is a flowchart showing details of print processing. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a case where the movement direction of the printing apparatus matches the print pass direction. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a case where the movement direction of the printing apparatus is deviated from the print pass direction. It is explanatory drawing which shows the shift | offset | difference of the position in which a dot is formed. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a printing state in the case where the printing apparatus is moved while being shifted by an angle θ with respect to the printing pass direction X. It is an explanatory view showing the composition around a head main part of a printing device in a 2nd embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the printing apparatus as 3rd Embodiment. It is a flow chart which shows printing processing in a 3rd embodiment. 5 is a flowchart illustrating print range selection processing; It is explanatory drawing shown about a printing range.

A. First embodiment:
(1) Configuration of printing apparatus:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the printing apparatus 20 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view of the printing apparatus 20 placed on the surface of the printing target PS. As shown to both figures, the printing apparatus 20 is provided with the main body 21 and the handle 22 protruded above the center of the upper surface of the main body 21. As shown in FIG. The user of the printing apparatus 20 holds the handle 22 and moves the printing apparatus 20 over the print target to print on the surface of the print target.

The printing apparatus 20 is provided with three front and

rear wheel rollers

31, 32, and 33 on the lower surface thereof. The

front wheel rollers

31 and 32 are provided on the left side in FIG. 1, and one rear wheel roller 33 is provided on the opposite side. The front and rear rollers 31 to 33 are also simply referred to as rollers 31 to 33. A head body 40 is provided between the

front wheel rollers

31 and 32 and the rear wheel roller 33. The head main body 40 is provided with a print head 41 which ejects ink onto the surface to be printed and forms an image by the ink dots. Therefore, the printing apparatus 20 is configured as a type of inkjet printer in the present embodiment, and the print head 41 is provided with a plurality of ink ejection nozzles as dot formation elements. The image forming method is not limited to the ink jet, and another method such as thermal transfer, thermal sublimation, or dot impact, as long as a plurality of dot forming elements are arrayed on the print head and printing is performed dot by dot It does not matter. In the present embodiment, the ink cartridge 46 for supplying the black ink to the print head 41 is detachably provided in the head main body 40 because the configuration of the ink jet printer is adopted.

The printing apparatus 20 includes a motor 45 for rotating the head main body 40, a gyro sensor 50 for specifying the moving direction of the printing apparatus 20, a control unit 60 for controlling the entire printing apparatus 20, and power for the entire printing apparatus 20. A battery 52 for supplying the battery is also provided. The control unit 60 controls the head main body 40 to be rotated by a motor 45 to adjust the angle of the print head 41 as one control of the entire printing apparatus 20. This is an example of the angle adjustment unit.

A position detection sensor 48 for detecting an origin position of the head main body 40 is provided on the outer periphery of the head main body 40. The origin position is adjusted such that the direction in which the nozzles NZ of the print head 41 provided in the head main body 40 are aligned is parallel to the direction of the rotation axes of the

front wheel rollers

31 and 32. The direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the nozzles NZ when the head main body 40 is at the origin position is the print pass direction described later. Although a mechanism for fixing the head body 40 to the origin position is not provided, the stepping motor is used as the motor 45 for rotating the head body 40 in the present embodiment. After the main body 40 is rotated, the head main body 40 remains at the home position due to the self-holding force of the motor 45. The motor 45 is capable of normal rotation and reverse rotation within a range of ± 15 degrees from the origin position by the control unit 60. The resolution of the rotation angle of the head body 40 rotated by the motor 45 is one step of the stepping motor, which is 0.1 degree in this embodiment. The resolution of the rotation angle may be determined according to the adjustment accuracy of the inclination of the print head 41. The mechanism for rotating the head main body 40 is an example of a rotation mechanism.

Next, the signal system of the printing apparatus 20 will be described. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view in which an electrical control system is added to the schematic configuration in which the printing apparatus 20 is viewed from the bottom. As illustrated, the control unit 60 is configured as an arithmetic logic operation circuit including a known CPU, a memory, and the like, and controls the entire printing apparatus 20 by executing a program stored in the memory. A communication circuit 62 is connected to the control unit 60. The communication circuit 62 is provided to communicate with the smartphone 80 as described later.

The control unit 60 is also connected to the print head 41, the motor 45, the gyro sensor 50, etc. described above. Further, encoders 71 to 73 provided on the rollers 31 to 33 are also connected. Therefore, the control unit 60 performs the movement direction of the printing apparatus 20 moved by the user on the surface of the printing target by the signal from the gyro sensor 50 and the movement amount thereof by the signals from the encoders 71 to 73 in real time. Can be read by The gyro sensor 50 only needs to be able to detect a change in at least one direction in a plane (hereinafter referred to as an XY plane) defined by three points at which the three rollers 31 to 33 contact the print target. In practice, the gyro sensor 50 is installed in the handle 22 provided substantially vertically from the main body 21 of the printing apparatus 20 so as to follow the axial direction of the handle 22, and the axial direction of the handle 22 is the Z axis direction. Three-axis sensor. The control unit 60 extracts and uses only signals necessary for the printing process of the printing apparatus 20 from the signals related to the three axes.

Furthermore, the control unit 60 can rotate the head main body 40 by driving the motor 45, and can adjust the angle of the print head 41 provided on the head main body 40. The adjustment of the angle of the print head 41 will be described in detail later. Further, the control unit 60 can output a signal to the print head 41, eject ink droplets from the plurality of nozzles NZ provided in the print head 41, and form an image on the surface of the print target. The ink cartridge 46 provided in the head main body 40 contains black ink and supplies this to the print head 41. However, a plurality of print heads 41 and ink cartridges 46 are provided, cyan (C), magenta ( M), yellow (Y) ink may be ejected, and color printing may be performed. The ink cartridge 46 may be placed outside the head body 40 so as to supply the ink to the print head 41 by a flexible tube or the like.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an execution state of an application operating on the smart phone 80 communicating with the printing apparatus 20. As shown in FIG. The smartphone 80 is provided with a button 81 for activating the smartphone 80 and a display 82 incorporating a touch panel. When an application for printing an image on the printing apparatus 20 is activated, an image 85 to be printed is displayed on the display 82, in addition to a button 83 for determining a printing pass and a button 84 instructing start of printing. Is displayed. The image 85 to be printed can be assumed to be an image captured by a camera (not shown) provided on the smartphone 80, an image attached to a mail, etc. and sent. The smart phone 80 communicates with the control unit 60 via the communication circuit 62 of the printing apparatus 20, and can transmit data of an image to be printed to the control unit 60 of the printing apparatus 20.

(2) Manual printing process:
Next, manual printing performed using the printing apparatus 20 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the manual printing process performed by the control unit 60 of the printing apparatus 20. This process is repeatedly performed when a power switch (not shown) of the printing apparatus 20 is turned on. When this process is started, first, an input from the smartphone 80 is received (step S100). When the printing apparatus 20 is powered on and the dedicated application on the smart phone 80 side is activated, the printing apparatus 20 and the smart phone 80 exchange data constantly.

When the print path determination button 83 on the smart phone 80 side is pressed, the printing apparatus 20 receives a signal corresponding to the print path determination button 83, analyzes this, and determines whether or not the process of determining the direction is instructed. (Step S110). Prior to the printing operation, the printing apparatus 20 needs to determine its own printing pass, that is, which direction is the target direction for printing. Therefore, nothing is performed until the instruction of the process of determining the target direction is received, and the process waits. During this time, the user places the printing apparatus 20 on the printing target PS and adjusts the printing direction to the direction desired by the user.

When the print path determination button 83 on the smart phone 80 side is pressed and it is determined that the process of determining the direction should be performed, the control unit 60 of the printing apparatus 20 performs a print path direction determination process (step S120). This process is a process of determining the ideal direction of the forward / backward direction of the printing apparatus 20 based on the signal from the gyro sensor 50. Specifically, the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the nozzles NZ of the print head 41 at the origin position of the head main body 40 is determined as the print pass direction. The control unit 60 stores the direction of the print pass when the print pass determination button 83 of the smartphone 80 is pressed in association with the direction of the printing apparatus 20 detected by the gyro sensor 50.

Subsequently, the control unit 60 reads an input from the smart phone 80 (step S130), and determines whether the print start button 84 is pressed and a print instruction is issued (step S140). The process waits until the print start button 84 of the smart phone 80 is pressed, and when the print start button 84 is pressed (step S140: "YES"), the smart phone 80 is then exchanged with the smart phone 80, and the smart via the communication circuit 62. A process is performed to receive the image data of the image 85 from the phone 80 (step S150). When all the image data is received, the printing process (step S200) is performed, and then the process routine is ended.

Next, the printing process (step S200) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The control unit 60 analyzes the received image data and prepares dot data for one row (step S210). The dot data for one row is data for a portion where dots are simultaneously formed by all the nozzles NZ arranged in the print head 41. The dot data is prepared as binary data in which “1” indicates that a dot is formed, and “0” indicates that a dot is not formed. In order to prepare such dot data for one row, adjustment of resolution, halftone processing, and the like are required as preprocessing, but these processes may be performed by the smartphone 80, or the control unit 60. You may

Next, the control unit 60 reads the signals of the encoders 71 to 73 provided on the three rollers 31 to 33, and acquires the rotation amounts D1 to D3 of the rollers 31 to 33 (step S220). Subsequently, it is determined whether all the acquired rotation amounts D1, D2 and D3 are equal to or more than the threshold Dref (step S230), and the rotation amounts D1 to D3 of the three rollers 31 to 33 are all the threshold Dref. The processes of steps S220 to S230 are repeated until the value of. The threshold Dref is determined based on the image data and the position information acquired from the gyro sensor 50. The printing device 20 performs printing by the user holding the handle 22 and moving the print device 20, so that the print head 41 is driven while detecting the amount of movement. The reason for looking at the amount of rotation of all three rollers is that when the user grips and operates the handle 22, the printing device 20 floats from the printing target PS, and part of the rollers of the printing device 20 is the printing target This is because printing is not performed when not in contact with PS. If the amount of rotation D1 to D3 of the three rollers 31 to 33 exceeds the threshold Dref, the amount of movement XD of the printing apparatus 20 forms dots on the printing target PS according to the dot data for one row prepared in step S210. It means that the power value has been reached. Therefore, when the determination in step S230 is "YES", the control unit 60 executes the processing in step S240 and the subsequent steps, controls the print head 41, and finally prints dot data for one row. Do.

If the rotation amounts D1 to D3 of the three rollers exceed the threshold value Dref, then a process of reading a signal from the gyro sensor 50 is performed (step S240). The gyro sensor 50 can obtain signals of change amounts for three axes, but the control unit 60 extracts only the change amount from the direction of one axis specified in the print path direction determination (FIG. 5, step S120). It is reading. Then, processing is performed to detect the shift amount θ between the current movement direction of the printing apparatus 20 and the print pass direction (step S250). Since the printing apparatus 20 is moved manually by the user, it may deviate from the initially set printing pass direction. In this embodiment, the degree of deviation is detected as the deviation amount θ. The process of detecting this amount of deviation θ is one configuration example of the position detection unit.

The point that the dot formation position is shifted due to the deviation of the moving direction will be described using FIGS. 7 to 9. FIG. FIG. 7 shows the case where the movement direction of the printing apparatus 20 matches the print pass direction. The print pass direction is referred to as the X direction, and the direction perpendicular to the direction X is referred to as the Y direction. In the printing apparatus 20, the arrangement direction of the nozzles of the print head 41 is adjusted to match the Y direction. At this time, the spacing in the Y direction of the printed dots (the spacing between the dot centers) is equal to the pitch K 1 of the nozzles NZ in the print head 41.

The moving direction may be inclined with respect to the printing pass direction by manual operation by the user. This situation is shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows the case where the movement direction is inclined by an angle θ with respect to the print pass direction X. In this case, since the print head 41 is also inclined, the spacing K2 in the direction perpendicular to the printing pass direction among the spacings of the printed dots is relative to the pitch K1 of the nozzles NZ:
K2 = K1 · cos θ
It becomes.

The relationship of this deviation is shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, for convenience of understanding, the inclination θ is drawn larger than that in FIG. As illustrated, when the print head 41 is inclined by an angle θ, the position of the dot formed by the nozzle NZ adjacent to the nozzle is in the print pass direction with respect to the position where the dot is formed by one nozzle NZ. In contrast,
ΔX = K1 · sin θ
Only shift back and forth. This shift amount ΔX is accumulated depending on the number of nozzles. For example, if the distance between the nozzles at both ends of the print head 41 is 50 mm and the inclination is 5 degrees, the print pass direction of the dots formed by the nozzles at both ends of the print head 41 The amount of displacement along X is about 3.5 mm.

Therefore, after the control unit 60 determines the shift amount θ, the control unit 60 performs processing for obtaining the control amount RR to be output to the motor 45 to rotate the head main body 40 in order to eliminate the shift amount θ (step S260). . Since the shift amount θ and the control amount RR have a correlation, they are stored in advance as a function f,
RR = f (θ)
As the

After the control amount RR is obtained, a signal of the step corresponding to the control amount RR is transmitted to the motor 45, and the motor 45 is rotated around the rotation center RC by an angle corresponding to the control amount RR (step S270). This situation is shown in FIG. The control amount RR rotates the print head 41 so as to reduce the angle θ which is the degree of dissociation between the movement direction and the print pass direction. As shown in FIG. 10, even if the movement direction is deviated from the printing pass direction X, by rotating the printing head 41, the fluctuation of the formed dot interval and the positional deviation ΔX in the printing pass direction are suppressed or eliminated. it can. It can be said that it is desirable to be able to rotate the print head 41 by a control amount corresponding to the displacement θ in the movement direction, but even if the two are not completely coincident, an effect can be obtained if the displacement in the movement direction can be reduced. The deviation amount θ is a value with a sign that takes positive and negative values because it is measured from the print pass direction X. The direction of rotation of the motor 45 is determined to be forward or reverse based on the positive or negative of the deviation amount θ.

After the head body 40 on which the print head 41 is mounted is rotated by the motor 45 by an angle corresponding to the control amount RR, a signal is sent to the print head 41 to print dot data for one row (step S280). Thereafter, it is determined whether printing has been completed (step S290), and the above-described processes of steps S210 to S290 are repeated until printing of all the image data is completed. When printing of all the image data is completed, the process exits to "NEXT" and the print processing routine is ended.

(3) Effects of the First Embodiment:
According to the first embodiment described above, when the user manually moves the printing apparatus 20 and performs printing, the rotational shift θ with respect to the printing pass direction X in which the moving direction of the printing apparatus 20 is assumed Even if a problem occurs, the print head 41 is rotated according to the rotational shift in the moving direction, so that the shift in dot formation position due to the rotational shift in the moving direction can be suppressed, and the image quality of the printed image can be made closer to the desired image quality. it can. In the printing apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment, printing is performed by the user holding and moving the handle 22 centered on the printing apparatus 20, so the printing apparatus 20 can be easily pressed against the print target PS. In addition, even if the movement of the arm of the user holding the handle 22 is likely to be a rotational movement centering on the shoulder, and the movement direction of the printing apparatus 20 causes a positive or negative rotational deviation θ with respect to the printing pass direction X This can be corrected to suppress the deviation of the dot formation position.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the shift in the movement direction is detected by the gyro sensor 50 incorporated in the printing apparatus 20, the printing apparatus 20 alone can cope with the shift in the movement direction.

B. Second embodiment:
Next, a second embodiment will be described. The printing apparatus 20 of the second embodiment has the same hardware configuration as that of the first embodiment except for the configuration around the print head. FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing a configuration around the head main body 140 in the second embodiment. In the first embodiment, a mechanism for rotating the head body 40 by the motor 45 is used, but the printing apparatus 20 of the second embodiment adopts a configuration of a sliding mechanism for sliding the head body 140 instead of rotating it. .

In the second embodiment, three print heads 141 to 143 are arranged in parallel and mounted on one head body 140. The head body 140 includes a frame 146 whose longitudinal direction is the direction in which the nozzles NZ in the print heads 141 to 143 are aligned. Since the frame 146 is longer than the head body 140, both ends of the frame 146 protrude from the head body 140 to form

flange portions

148 and 149. The

flange portions

148 and 149 are respectively provided with

long holes

151 and 155 whose major axis is the longitudinal direction of the frame 146.

Cylindrical bosses

152 and 156 provided at the ends of the

racks

191 and 192 are fitted in the

long holes

151 and 155 of the

flange portions

148 and 149, respectively.

The two

racks

191 and 192 are disposed in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the nozzles NZ in the print heads 141 to 43, and mesh with the

racks

191 and 192 on the opposite side to the end where the

bosses

152 and 156 are provided. The

pinions

181 and 182 are provided. The

pinions

181 and 182 are fixed to the rotation shafts of the

motors

171 and 172, respectively. The two

motors

171 and 172 are connected to the control unit 160. The control unit 160 is also connected to the three print heads 141 to 143 of the head main body 140.

With this configuration, in the second embodiment, when the control unit 160 drives the two

motors

171 and 172, the angles of the head main body 140 and thus the print heads 141 to 143 can be adjusted. When the control unit 160 drives the

motors

171 and 172, the

racks

191 and 192 move in the directions of arrows S1 and S2 in the figure by forward rotation or reverse rotation of the

motors

171 and 172, respectively. When the

racks

191 and 192 move in the directions of arrows S1 and S2, the

flanges

148 and 149 fitted with the

racks

191 and 192 through the

bosses

152 and 156 and the

long holes

151 and 155 move in the directions of the same arrows S1 and S2. Moving. For example, by controlling the rotation direction and rotation angle of the two

motors

171 and 172, the motor 171 is rotated to move the rack 191 in the right direction in the arrow S1, and the motor 172 is rotated to rotate the rack 192 in the arrow S2. When moving in the left direction, the head main body 140 can change its inclination within a predetermined range as shown by the frame 146a in broken lines in FIG.

In the second embodiment, in the printing process (FIG. 6) of the first embodiment, a process (step S260) for obtaining the control amount RR of the motor from the shift amount θ with respect to the print pass direction and the motor 45 is rotated by the control amount RR. Instead of the control (step S270), a process of obtaining the control amounts RR1 and RR2 of the two

motors

171 and 172 from the shift amount θ, and a process of rotating the two

motors

171 and 172 by the respective control amounts RR1 and RR2 Do. This embodiment is basically the same as the first embodiment except that the control of the position of the head main body 140 and that there are three print heads and an image of three colors of C, M, and Y can be formed.

According to the second embodiment described above, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the image quality when the user manually moves the printing apparatus 20 to perform printing. Further, in the second embodiment, the positions of the

flange portions

148 and 149 on both sides of the frame 146 arranged in the direction in which the nozzles NZ are arranged can be individually controlled without rotating the head body 140. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the same adjustment as changing the rotation center of the head main body 140 and rotating it is possible. For this reason, when the moving direction of the head main body 140, and hence the print heads 141 to 43 deviates from the printing pass direction, the position of the head main body 140 can be corrected with a movement close to the movement causing the deviation.

Further, even if the shift between the movement direction of the printing apparatus 20 and the printing pass direction X is not detected as the rotational angle shift θ by the gyro sensor 50 placed at the center of the printing apparatus 20, it can be easily coped with it can. For example, in the printing apparatus 20, when the center position on the

front wheel rollers

31, 32 and the center position on the rear wheel roller 33 deviate from the center line drawn in the printing pass direction by Δd1 and Δd2, respectively, the amount of deviation The

motors

171 and 172 may be rotated so that the

racks

191 and 192 move by a distance corresponding to. Such detection of the amount of deviation can be easily realized by using a method in which a marker for position detection is placed outside the printing apparatus 20 and a distance to the marker is detected. In this embodiment, the mechanism for moving the head body 140 is provided symmetrically with respect to the center line in the width direction of the print heads 141 to 143. However, the mechanism need not necessarily be provided symmetrically. It is sufficient if the end of the frame 146 can be moved in a direction intersecting at least the alignment direction of the nozzles NZ. The moving method is not limited to the rotary type motor, and may be moved using a linear motor, piezo or solenoid.

C. Third embodiment:
Next, a third embodiment will be described. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a printing apparatus 120 according to the third embodiment. The printing apparatus 120 according to the third embodiment is provided with a rider 250 for performing position

detection using markers

211, 212, 213, etc., instead of the gyro sensor 50, on the upper end of the handle 22, and as shown in FIGS. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that printing processing is performed. In the third embodiment, a hardware configuration similar to that of the first embodiment is employed, but the configuration of the head main body 40 can also be the configuration of the second embodiment.

The printing apparatus 120 of the third embodiment precisely detects the distance from the

markers

211, 212, 213 and the like arranged around the printing apparatus 120 by the rider 250 as shown in the drawing. The markers 211 to 213 are an example of the specifying unit, and the rider 250 detects the positional relationship, in particular, the separation distance. A lidar (LIDAR: Light Detection and Ranging) 250 is a device that precisely measures the distance to a marker 211 or the like using laser light or millimeter waves. When the user holds the handle 22 and moves the printing apparatus 120 while pressing the printing apparatus 120, the change in the position of the printing apparatus 120 accompanied by the movement is accurately detected by the rider 250. Any two markers can be arranged in the movement range of the printing apparatus 120 as long as they do not line up with the position of the overlap viewed from the rider 250.

If the positions of the markers 211 to 213 are input to the printing apparatus 120 in advance, the rider 250 travels the current position and travels according to the distance from each of the markers 211 to 213 which changes as the printing apparatus 120 moves. You can know the direction and the trajectory of the travel.

The print processing routine shown in FIG. 13 will be described. This printing process routine corresponds to the printing process (step S200) shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 in the first embodiment. The same processes as the processes shown in FIG. 6 of the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and the description will be simplified. Before the printing process, the process of determining the printing pass direction shown in FIG. 5 is performed. The determination of the print pass direction in the third embodiment is performed using the rider 250. For example, the direction toward one of the plurality of markers 211 to 213 placed around the printing apparatus 120 may be determined as the printing pass direction X. In this case, a smart phone 80 or the like may be used to indicate which marker direction is the print pass direction, or the direction toward the marker present in front of the

front wheel rollers

31, 32 of the printing apparatus 120 is printed The path direction X may be automatically determined.

After determining the print pass direction, when the process shown in FIG. 13 is started, the control unit 60 first prepares dot data for one row (step S210) and obtains the rotation amount from the three rollers. (Step S220) It is determined that the amount of rotation has become equal to or greater than the threshold Dref (step S230). Subsequently, the control unit 60 performs processing of reading the positions of the three external markers 211 to 213 using the rider 250 as processing unique to the third embodiment (step S245). Then, the distance to the markers 211 to 213 is obtained, the current position of the printing apparatus 120 is obtained based on the triangulation method, and the shift amount between the printing pass direction X and the moving direction of the printing apparatus 120 from the change of the position. A process of obtaining θ is performed (step S250).

In the third embodiment, it is observed that the rotation amounts D1 to D3 of the three rollers 31 to 33 become equal to or larger than the threshold Dref. At this time, the movement amount XD of the printing apparatus 120 is dot data for one row It can be determined that the movement amount is to be printed. In the present embodiment, since the distance to the markers 211 to 213 is measured using the rider 250, the current position of the printing apparatus 120 using the rider 250 is used instead of the amount of rotation of the rollers 31 to 33. The amount of movement of the printing apparatus 120 may be determined from the change.

When the shift amount θ from the print pass direction X of the movement direction of the printing apparatus 120 is determined, the control amount RR of the head main body 40 is subsequently determined from the shift amount θ (step S260), and the head main body 40 is controlled using the motor 45. The rotation is performed by the amount RR (step S270). Thereafter, the printing apparatus 120 performs print range selection processing (step S300). The print range selection process (step S300) will be collectively described later. The dot data for one line of the printing range is printed (step S285), and the above-described process is repeated until it is determined that the printing is completed (step S290). When the printing of the desired image is completed with the movement of the printing apparatus 120 (step S290: "YES"), the process exits to "NEXT", and the printing process routine is ended.

The print range selection process shown as step S300 is a process of selecting a print range by the print head 41. As illustrated in FIG. 8 and FIG. 10, when the printing apparatus 120 is moved at an angle θ with respect to the print pass direction X, the print head 41 deviates from the original printing range according to the movement distance. I know that I am going. In the first embodiment, the head main body 40 is rotated against such a shift in the movement direction, and the arrangement direction of the nozzles NZ of the print head 41 is not perpendicular to the movement direction of the printing apparatus 20 but in a direction perpendicular to the printing pass direction X Control was made to approach or match. In the present embodiment, in addition to the control, the process of selecting the print range (step S300) is performed.

This process is shown in FIG. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating print range selection processing. When this process is started, the control unit 60 first performs a process of initializing the variable Q to the value 0 (step S305). This variable Q is used to select the print range. Subsequently, the shift amount ΔY of the printing position of the dot caused by the movement of the printing apparatus 120 is calculated (step S310). Hereinafter, in order to distinguish this amount of deviation ΔY from the amount of deviation θ of the rotation angle, it is referred to as the amount of array deviation ΔY. The misalignment amount ΔY is a misalignment amount of the print head 41 in the Y direction (arrangement direction of the nozzles NZ) when the print head 41 moves to the print position using dot data for one row. As shown in FIG. 10, the array displacement amount ΔY uses the movement amount XD of the print head 41 in the print pass direction and the angle θ at which the movement direction deviates from the print pass direction.
ΔY = XD · sin θ
Is required.

It is determined whether the next misalignment amount ΔY exceeds half of the pitch K1 of the nozzles NZ (step S320). If the array deviation amount ΔY exceeds K1 / 2, next, the variable Q is incremented by 1 (step S325), and a process of removing Q at the end from the nozzles used for printing is performed (step S330) . Further, the dot data assigned to each nozzle is reassigned to Q adjacent nozzles (step S340). Thereafter, the movement amount XD is temporarily initialized to the value 0 (step S350), and the process routine is exited from "NEXT" and the process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S320 that the amount of misalignment of array ΔY is equal to or less than half the pitch K1 of the nozzles NZ, nothing is done, the process routine is exited to “NEXT” and the process ends.

By the above process, the print head 41 is used to determine the range to be printed and the dot data of the image to be printed in the range. As shown in FIG. 15, as the printing apparatus 120 is moved, the position of the print head 41 shifts in the Y direction. It is assumed that the print head 41 starts moving from the initial position P1, moves by the moving amount XD while forming dots, and reaches the position P2 at which dot data for one row should be printed. At this time, the size of the array deviation amount ΔY in the Y direction is determined (step S320), and if the array deviation amount ΔY exceeds half the nozzle pitch K1, the use of one end nozzle is stopped (Q = 1 Furthermore, dot data is moved to the adjacent nozzles one by one (steps S330 and S340). Thereafter, the movement amount XD is initialized (step S350).

By repeating the printing process shown in FIG. 13 and the printing range determination process shown in FIG. 14, even if the printing apparatus 120 deviates from the printing pass direction, dots do not go beyond the original printing range. As shown in FIG. 15, when the printing apparatus 120 is further moved, the position P3 is eventually removed from the printing range up to the second (Q = 2) end, and at the position P4, the third is further deleted. , Removed from the print range. The variable Q is initialized at the start of printing and is then incremented until the printing is completed. On the other hand, the movement amount XD is initialized to the value 0 each time the nozzle is removed from the printing range. Also, although the first nozzle is excluded when the array deviation amount ΔY exceeds 1/2 of the nozzle pitch K1, the subsequent determination (step S320) is substantially the determination for the next nozzle. To
ΔY> 1.5 · K1
Is satisfied. This is why the distance between the position P2 and the position P3 (moving amount XD) is larger than the distance between the position P1 and the position P2 (moving amount XD) in FIG. In any case, the image is not formed along the moving direction, but is formed along the printing pass direction.

In the process shown in FIG. 14, the printing apparatus 120 is assumed to gradually shift from the print pass direction, but it is also possible that the movement direction changes and returns in the print pass direction. In such a case, if the variable Q is incremented by the positive shift, the variable Q is decremented by the negative shift if the variable Q is incremented by the positive shift. Good. Further, in the present embodiment, printing is performed using all dot forming elements, and dot formation is not performed only when the printing area deviates from the original printing range. The maximum width may be made wider than the width of the range in which dots are formed by one movement in the printing pass direction, and dots may be formed within the range of the maximum width.

D. Other embodiments:
Although some embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can be implemented in various aspects. For example, after the ink is ejected toward the print target as the ink in which the ink discharged from the print head for forming the dots is dispersed in the photocurable resin, the photocurable resin dispersed in the ink is irradiated with ultraviolet rays and the like. May be cured to fix the ink to the surface to be printed. If the print head deviates from the print area and a part of the image can not be formed, the user is notified using notification means such as sound, light, or screen display of a smart phone. It is also good.

Although the image to be printed is transmitted from the smartphone 80 in the above embodiment, it may be transmitted from another device such as a computer or a tablet. Alternatively, a card reader may be provided in the printing apparatus, and image data recorded on a memory card may be read using the card reader and printed.

The print head may adopt any head configuration as long as the disposition position in the movement direction can be changed by rotation, sliding, or the like with respect to the print target. For example, it is also possible to use a dot impact type print head or the like.

The nozzles NZ as the dot formation elements are not limited to one row, and a plurality of rows may be provided. A plurality of rows may be provided for each of a plurality of types of ink, or a plurality of rows may be provided for one ink. In the former case, the difference in the type of ink may be the difference in hue or the difference in density among the inks of the same hue. Or it may be a difference in the size of the dot to be formed. In the latter case, dot formation elements of the same type of ink may be alternately arranged in a so-called staggered arrangement, and may be used to improve the resolution, or a plurality of simple rows may be provided and used alternately in the printing pass direction You may use it like this.

As a moving mechanism for realizing the movement of the printing apparatus, in addition to the three-roller configuration adopted in the embodiment, a two-roller configuration, a configuration using four or more rollers, or the like may be employed. Also, instead of a simple roller, a spherical roller rotatable in any direction may be used. Similar to the spherical roller, omni-directionally rotatable omni wheels may be employed. Alternatively, it is also possible to use a jagged roller having projections on the surface of the roller. These rollers and wheels may be mixed. The moving mechanism may be any mechanism as long as the user can manually move the printing apparatus, and it is not necessary to limit the configuration to directly contact a rotating object such as a roller with the printing object. Using an endless track mechanism in which an endless belt is installed between the rollers It is also good. Furthermore, if a means for detecting the movement distance and direction is separately held, instead of a rotating body such as a roller, a member having a low coefficient of friction may be provided on the bottom of the printing apparatus to slide the printing apparatus. . In this case, such a configuration for sliding the printing apparatus corresponds to the moving mechanism. The rollers or the like in the moving mechanism may be provided on both sides of the print head, or may be provided only on one side. Even when provided on both sides of the print head, it does not have to be on both sides in the moving direction, and may be provided on both sides in the arrangement direction of the dot forming elements in the print head. Even in this case, the separation distance between the print head and the print target can be kept constant.

As a position detection unit that detects how far the moving direction of the printing apparatus realized by such a moving mechanism deviates from the assumed printing pass direction, the gyro sensor or the third embodiment used in the first and third embodiments is used. In addition to the combination of a rider and a marker used in the two embodiments, a configuration employing a high precision GNNS (Global Navigation Satellite System) or the like is also possible. Alternatively, the camera is installed outside the printing apparatus, and the position and movement direction of the printing apparatus are acquired by analyzing the image captured by the camera, and the degree of departure from the printing path is detected from this position. It is also good. Also, the printing pass direction may be determined on the printing apparatus side as, for example, the traveling direction of the printing apparatus before the start of printing, and from the external device such as a communicating smartphone or computer, the printing pass direction You may receive the designation of. The print pass direction may be defined as a direction relative to the printing apparatus before the start of printing, or may be defined relative to the outside of the printing apparatus, for example, relative to the print target. Alternatively, it may be defined with respect to the earth coordinate system.

As a mechanism for changing the direction of arrangement of the dot formation elements in the printing apparatus, one that rotates the print head in which the nozzles are arranged, one that slides the opposite end of the print head, the position of the plurality of dot formation elements is individualized Various methods can be adopted such as changing the configuration to. If the dot forming element is, for example, a dot heater for thermal transfer, it is possible to change the position of the dot forming element individually by changing the position of the heater individually with a piezo element or the like. Alternatively, the dot formation elements may be arranged on a head body formed of a flexible resin, and the force of the force may deform the head body to change the position of the dot formation elements. As a force that causes such deformation, in addition to a mechanical force from the outside, a force generated by temperature control using a shape memory alloy or a shape memory resin can also be used.

Adjustment for bringing the arrangement direction of the dot formation elements closer to the arrangement direction when the printing apparatus is moved in the print pass direction may be performed so as to completely eliminate the deviation due to the separation from the print pass direction. It may be limited to the degree of suppression. The adjustment may be performed in proportion to the degree of withdrawal, or may be performed each time the degree of withdrawal exceeds a threshold.

The printing on the print target may start immediately from the place where the printing apparatus starts moving, as described in the embodiment, or may start after moving to a predetermined place. The predetermined place may be designated from an external device such as a smart phone, or may be designated by a marker provided on the print target. For example, a plurality of markers may be arranged, and the location of the start of printing may be specified from the positional relationship of the printing apparatus with respect to the markers. Alternatively, it may be in the form of a sticker or the like indicating the place of start of printing, and may be attached to the print target to indicate the place of start of printing.

In the various embodiments described above, part or all of the functions realized by hardware may be realized by software, and in the embodiment, part or all of the functions realized by software may be electrical circuitry. It may be realized by hardware such as Moreover, about the component which is not described as an essential requirement in this specification, even if the component is removed, it is materialized as invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ...

Printing device

31, 32 ... Front wheel roller 33 ... Rear wheel roller 40 ... Head main body 41 ... Printing head 45 ... Motor 50 ... Gyro sensor 60 ... Control part 80 ... Smart phone 120 ... Printing device 140 ... Head main body 141-143 ... Print head 160: Control unit 171, 172: Motor 211: Marker 250: Rider

Claims

A printing apparatus that performs printing on a print target, and
A print head in which a plurality of dot forming elements formed in dot units are arrayed on the surface to be printed;
A movement mechanism that realizes movement of the printing apparatus with respect to the printing target with a print pass direction predetermined as a direction intersecting the direction in which the dot formation elements are arranged as a target direction;
A position detection unit that detects the degree of departure of the movement direction of the printing apparatus realized by the movement mechanism from the print pass direction;
The printing apparatus includes a mechanism for changing the direction of arrangement of the dot formation elements in the printing apparatus, and the printing apparatus moves the arrangement direction of the dot formation elements in the printing pass direction according to the detected degree of separation. And an angle adjustment unit for making an adjustment to approach the arrangement direction in the case of
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The mechanism for changing the direction of the arrangement of the dot formation elements in the angle adjustment unit is a rotation mechanism for rotating the print head around an axis perpendicular to the surface to be printed,
The printing apparatus, wherein the angle adjustment unit rotates the print head using the rotation mechanism according to the degree of separation, and performs the adjustment of the arrangement direction of the dot formation elements.
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The mechanism for changing the direction of arrangement of the dot formation elements in the angle adjustment unit moves the print head back and forth along the print pass direction at at least two places separated in the arrangement direction of the dot formation elements. A sliding mechanism,
The printing apparatus, wherein the angle adjustment unit performs the adjustment of the arrangement direction of the dot formation elements using the sliding mechanism according to the degree of the detachment.
The angle adjustment unit performs the adjustment according to the degree of separation, whereby the printing apparatus is moved in the printing pass direction in the arrangement direction of the dot formation elements in the movement realized by the movement mechanism. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the printing direction is matched with the arrangement direction of the case.
Among the plurality of the dot formation elements, the dot formation element used for the formation of the dots is selected according to the degree of the deviation in the movement direction, and the dots are formed on the surface of the print target. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a maximum width of dot formation by the plurality of dot formation elements is wider than a range in which the printing apparatus forms dots by one movement in the print pass direction.
The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein
The position detection unit includes a gyro sensor that detects an angle of the movement direction on a surface of the print target with respect to a print pass direction which is a predetermined direction with respect to an initial position of the printing apparatus.
A printing apparatus that detects the degree of deviation of the movement direction from the print pass direction based on the output of the gyro sensor.
The position detection unit detects the relative positional relationship with a plurality of specific units installed on the print target so as to be able to specify a direction corresponding to the print pass direction, whereby the position from the print pass direction is detected. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, which detects a degree of departure of the moving direction.
The said movement mechanism is arrange | positioned before and behind the said printing pass direction with respect to the said printing head, and was comprised from several rollers which contact and rotate the surface of the said printing object. The printing device according to one item.
A printing method for printing a print target, wherein
Mounting a print head in which a plurality of dot formation elements formed in dot units on the surface of the print target are arrayed in a printing apparatus;
The movement of the printing apparatus with respect to the printing target is realized with a print pass direction predetermined as a direction intersecting the direction in which the dot formation elements are arranged as a target direction,
Detecting the degree of departure of the movement direction of the printing apparatus from the print pass direction;
The direction of the arrangement of the dot forming elements in the printing apparatus is changed in the plane of the printing target, and the printing apparatus prints the arrangement direction of the dot forming elements according to the degree of the detected deviation. A printing method that performs adjustment to move closer to the array direction when moving in the pass direction.