WO2020241538A1

WO2020241538A1 - Device having discharge head, liquid discharging method, and system

Info

Publication number: WO2020241538A1
Application number: PCT/JP2020/020443
Authority: WO
Inventors: 充諸橋; 喜彦松村
Original assignee: キヤノン株式会社
Priority date: 2019-05-27
Filing date: 2020-05-25
Publication date: 2020-12-03
Also published as: JP2020192011A

Abstract

A device comprises: a discharge head; a rotation means for making the discharge head rotatable; a stage on which an object is placed; and an opposition rotation support means for rotatably supporting the discharge head while allowing a discharge port of the discharge head to be opposed to the stage by only using the rotation means.

Description

Devices with discharge heads, liquid discharge methods, and systems

The present invention relates to a device provided with a discharge head, and further relates to a device for drawing on a three-dimensional curved surface.

Nail printers that inject ink from the printer head and print the nail design on the nails are known. A general configuration of a nail printer is to print while moving the inkjet printer head horizontally above the object to be printed. However, the shape of the nail is not flat like paper, and both sides of the nail are curved surfaces with a large curvature compared to the central part of the nail. Therefore, at both sides of the claw where the angle formed by the ink landing surface and the ink flight direction is separated from the right angle, the angle formed by the ink landing surface and the ink flight direction is shallow, so that the ink landing elasticity is lowered and the image quality is improved. There is a problem of deterioration.

In response to such a problem, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for reducing blurring of printing by concentrating and ejecting ink in a place where the curvature of the nail portion is large.

Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique of drawing by imitating an inkjet head according to the unevenness of the surface of a print medium detected by a distance sensor while moving in the main scanning direction using an inkjet head having a variable tilt angle. Has been done. Specifically, the rotation shaft is moved up and down by the elevating drive unit, and the inkjet head is rotated by the rotation drive unit while expanding and contracting the gap distance by the head position adjusting mechanism.

However, the device in Patent Document 1 has a problem that the ink that could not be landed becomes mist on both sides of the nail where the angle formed by the ink landing surface and the ink flight direction is shallow, and the print image quality is deteriorated. Further, in the apparatus of Patent Document 2, a rotation shaft is installed above the ejection port of the inkjet head. Therefore, in order to control the ink ejection direction from the inkjet head, it is necessary to simultaneously control the position coordinates in the main scanning direction, the position coordinates of the elevating drive unit, and the rotation angle, which complicates the device and control mechanism. There was a problem of increasing the size.

JP 2000-194838 JP 2017-132075

Provide a device equipped with a discharge head that suppresses a decrease in ink adhesion on a curved surface with a simple configuration.

The device that solves the above problems is
It has a liquid discharge head, a support means that rotatably cantilever supports the liquid discharge head, and a stage on which an object is placed.
With respect to the external rotation center of the liquid discharge head
The liquid discharge head is rotatably supported while facing the discharge port.

By using the above-mentioned characteristic device, it is possible to suppress a decrease in ink adhesion on a curved surface and improve print image quality with a simple configuration.

It is a figure which shows the apparatus of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the apparatus of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the apparatus in the state which put the finger of the 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the apparatus in the state which put the finger of the 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the apparatus in the state which put the finger of the 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of the 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of the 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of the 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of the 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of the 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of the 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the apparatus in the state which put the finger of the 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the apparatus in the state which put the finger of the 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation of the apparatus of 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the processing system which includes the apparatus provided with the processing part which concerns on this invention.

Hereinafter, the apparatus provided with the discharge head according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The device provided with the liquid discharge head according to the present invention has, for example, a support means for rotatably cantileverly supporting the liquid discharge head and the liquid discharge head, and a stage on which an object is placed. The device is rotatably supported while facing the discharge port of the liquid discharge head with respect to the rotation center outside the liquid discharge head. Further, it has a photographing means and draws on the surface of the object based on the photographing information of the object.

FIG. 8 shows a processing system including a device provided with a processing unit using a liquid discharge head as an example. The main body of the processing system has an imaging unit having a camera or the like, and is configured to be able to acquire surface shape data of an object as a digital signal. The surface shape data of the object obtained by the imaging unit is image-processed by the image processing unit, and the surface shape of the object is recognized by extracting the contour, edge, region, or the like of the object. The surface shape of the recognized object and the design data stored in the memory are matched by the control unit, the design data is appropriately modified, and the design data is output to the processing unit as processing data. The object is processed in the processing section based on this processing data, and the surface of the object is processed based on the above-mentioned design data or the modified design data. When machining by the machined portion, the relative position and orientation of the object and the machined portion may be variably configured.

Such a series of processes may be executed by accepting input by a user's operation through a user interface (UI) provided in the main body, or may be executed by a main body control unit of an operation terminal configured to be communicable. It may be executed by accepting input by a user operation based on the stored software. Further, the operation terminal may be connected to the Internet or a cloud virtually configured on the Internet, and may be configured so that necessary data and programs can be appropriately distributed or downloaded to the operation terminal.

Hereinafter, a nail printer device will be specifically described as an example, but it can be applied to various curved surface drawing devices and applications as long as the gist of the present invention is not deviated.

The surface of the object on which the liquid is discharged may have a curved surface or a plurality of different planes.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a view showing a nail printer device, FIG. 1A is a view showing the front surface of the device, FIG. 1B is a view showing the side surface of the device, with a part of the exterior of the nail printer device omitted. In FIG. 1, the inkjet head 101 includes an inkjet head ejection port 102 that ejects ink and is supported by a connecting member 111, and the connecting member 111 is configured to be rotatable with respect to a rotating shaft 110. As the liquid discharge head, a thermal type or piezo type inkjet head may be used, or a pressure type dispenser head may be used.

Ink is ejected from the inkjet head ejection port 102 in the flight direction 103. With the above configuration, the inkjet head discharge port 102 is configured to be movable along the track 104. A camera 105 having a viewing angle 106 for acquiring image information is further provided, and is used together with illumination (not shown). The stage 107 on which the finger is placed is configured so that the finger or the nail tip can be inserted from the outside of the exterior of the nail printer device, and the height can be adjusted by the stage raising / lowering mechanism (not shown). is there. A cleaning member 108 made of a waste cloth for cleaning the ejection port 102 of the inkjet head is further provided. The connecting member 111 and the inkjet head 101 are integrally rotated with respect to the rotating shaft 110 by the motor 109 which is rotatable and has an encoder and can acquire the rotation angle. The rotation shaft 110 is an external rotation center of the liquid discharge head.

In the present embodiment, it is provided on the connecting member 111 to which the inkjet head 101, the camera 105, and the motor 109 are connected.

The frame 112 is responsible for connecting the stage 107, the cleaning member 108, and the motor 109. The input / output unit 113 performs input to and outputs from a control unit (not shown) that controls the inkjet head 101, the camera 105, and the motor 109, and is attached to the frame 112.

The control unit may be provided in the nail printer device, or may be provided in a terminal different from the nail printer device. Further, the terminal may be a mobile terminal, and may be configured as an application that is started on a device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal.

As described above, the apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a discharge head, a rotating means for cantilevering and rotating the discharge head, a stage on which an object is placed, and a discharge port of the discharge head by the rotating means. It has means for rotatably supporting the stage while facing the stage.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a nail printer device with a finger having a claw placed on it, FIG. 2A is a diagram showing the front surface of the device, and FIG. 2B is a diagram showing a side surface of the device. In FIG. 2, 201 is a finger and 202 is a nail.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the movement of the nail printer device, and operates in the order of FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B, FIG. 3C, FIG. 3D, FIG. 3E, and FIG. 3F. The operation of the nail printer device will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3A, the nail design is selected from the input / output unit 113, and the finger 201 is placed on the stage 107.

That is, the object as the finger 201 proceeds with the following steps in a state where the entire object is not arranged inside the nail printer device, such as a part of the object being placed inside the device and a part of the object being outside the device. be able to.

<(A) step>
When the camera 105 recognizes the finger 201 and the nail 202 and the entire area of the nail 202 is placed within the viewing angle 106, the camera 105 takes a picture, and the acquired image is used to take a picture of the camera 105, the finger 201, and the nail 202. Get the relative position information with. In the following, relative position information shall refer to position information and / or attitude information.

The relative position information may be distance information, in which case a triangulation method may be adopted. For example, by using the rotation of the motor 109 to shoot from at least two different positions and postures, it is possible to acquire distance information by a triangulation method using a plurality of acquired images. Further, the relative position information may be contour information or area information of the claw 202. By executing the photographing process in this way, the relative position information between the camera 105 and the claw 202 can be acquired, and the position of the inkjet head ejection port 102 and the position of the claw 202 can be associated with each other.

The stage 107 adjusts the mounting heights of the fingers 201 and the claw 202 from a vertical mechanism (not shown). At this time, the positions of the stage 107, the camera 105, the inkjet head 101, the positions of the inkjet head discharge port 102, and the motor rotation shaft 110 are known from the design values. Therefore, the position of the stage 107 is adjusted so that the finger 201 and the claw 202 do not come into contact with the inkjet head discharge port trajectory 104 in which the inkjet head discharge port 102 moves due to the rotation of the motor 109. The mounting height may be adjusted based on the relative position information, or the shooting step described above may be executed after adjusting the mounting height.

As the design value of this embodiment, the distance between the motor rotation shaft 110 and the inkjet head discharge port 102 is set to 12 mm from the measured value of one's finger. The discharge movement region is calculated from the image information of the claw 202 acquired by the camera 105 and the ejection port trajectory 104 of the inkjet head. The height adjustment value of the stage 107 was set so that the minimum distance between the ejection port 102 of the inkjet head and the finger 201 and the claw 202 in the ejection movement region was 1 mm. Further, the nail region is recognized by comparing the acquired image of the camera 105 with the nail model data prepared in advance. The nail model data may be a three-dimensional model corresponding to the nail shape, or may be a two-dimensional model corresponding to the captured image information.

Create three-dimensional shape information of the nail part in which the nail part and the finger part other than the nail part are distinguished from the result information of recognizing this nail area and the above-mentioned relative position information (for example, distance information). Create drawing control information to instruct ejection to the inkjet head 101 based on the polar coordinate information calculated from the position of the motor rotation shaft 110 and the ejection port 102 of the inkjet head, the three-dimensional shape information of the claw, and the selected nail design. To do.

<(B) step>
As shown in FIG. 3B, the step of cleaning the inkjet head discharge port 102 by the cleaning member 108 made of a waste cloth by the rotation of the motor 109 is executed as necessary. At this time, it may be utilized that the positions of the cleaning member 108, the positions of the inkjet head 101 and the inkjet head discharge port 102, and the motor rotation shaft 110 are known from the design values. That is, when the cleaning step is executed, it is preferable to rotate the motor rotation shaft 110 at a predetermined angle. By doing so, the cleaning member 108 and the inkjet head discharge port 102 come into contact with each other, and a cleaning step of removing deposits in the vicinity of the inkjet head discharge port 102 can be executed. Further, when there is no ejection instruction signal to the inkjet head 101, a mode is configured in which the cleaning member 108 and the inkjet head ejection port 102 are in contact with each other, and the cleaning mode is activated as needed. May be good. By performing the cleaning step of removing the deposits or keeping the ejection port of the inkjet head in a good condition in this way, it is possible to suppress a decrease in printing accuracy due to clogging of the ejection port 102 of the inkjet head or adhesion of dried matter. be able to. The cleaning member may have a configuration other than a waste cloth, for example, a configuration in which a cleaning device is separately attached.

<Step (c)>
As shown in FIG. 3C, the inkjet head 101 is moved to the drawing start position by the rotation of the motor 109 based on the drawing control information created in the step (a).

<(D) step>
As shown in FIG. 3D, based on the drawing control information, ink is ejected from the ejection port 102 of the inkjet head, and the drawing process of the selected nail design for the nail 202 is started.

<(E) step>
As shown in FIG. 3E, drawing is performed based on the drawing control information. That is, the inkjet head discharge port 102 rotates while facing the external rotation center (motor rotation shaft 110) of the inkjet head 101, and ink is ejected to the claw 202.

<Step (f)>
When the drawing of the selected nail design is completed, the drawing is completed based on the drawing control information as shown in FIG. 3F.

In this way, even on both sides of the curved nail, the angle formed by the ink landing surface and the ink flight direction can be brought close to a right angle with a simple configuration, the decrease in ink landing elasticity can be suppressed, and the image quality can be improved. Can be done.

Note that the configuration and each member of the first embodiment are not limited to the description contents, and various ones can be used if the functions are satisfied. For example, the input / output unit of the device may be performed via an application installed in a PC or smartphone which is a communication terminal different from the device. In addition to holding the design data of the nail design in advance, the design data may be configured to be downloadable to an input / output unit of a smartphone or the like other than the device unit via the Internet. In that case, the terminal of the input / output unit may be provided with a billing function, and a function for making a payment via the terminal may be configured.

A device equipped with a liquid discharge head for discharging droplets in this way and a system equipped with an input / output unit different from the device configured to be connectable to the Internet are configured.

As a method of acquiring the distance information as the relative position information between the camera 105 and the finger 201 and the claw 202, a stereo camera method in which a plurality of cameras are arranged to measure the distance or a DFD method in which the distance is measured from the out-of-focus of the camera is used. You may. Further, the distance may be acquired by the LIDAR method using a laser together with the camera. TOF method distance The distance may be acquired by the TOF method using an image sensor and a light source. The vertical mechanism of the stage may be electric or manual. An allowable range may be set for the height adjustment value of the stage, and if the finger cannot be placed in the allowable range, an error may be output to alert the user.

If a finger is placed in the permissible range, the user may be alerted by outputting and displaying on the user's operation terminal that drawing can be executed. In addition to setting the design value of the distance between the motor rotation shaft 110 and the inkjet head discharge port 102 to 12 mm, it is designed according to S, M, and L sizes, such as clothing sizes, to accommodate different finger sizes depending on the individual. You may. In addition, the finger may be measured in advance for each individual, designed to an appropriate value, and made to order. As the cleaning member, those used for printer parts such as wipers, blades, sponges, and rubber rollers may be used. Since the camera and the inkjet head are arranged on concentric circles, the state of the print target after ink ejection may be acquired as an image. The printed state may be acquired from this image and used for improving the quality of the ink and the ejected material. The landing shape, color or reaction color of the ink may be obtained from this image to evaluate the care state of the nail or the health state of the user. The positional relationship between the camera, the inkjet head, the motor rotation axis, and the rotation angle may be corrected by comparing this image with the drawing control information. The next drawing control information may be corrected by comparing this image with the drawing control information. The substance discharged from the inkjet head may be a nail base coat material or a top coat material in addition to ink. The substance discharged from the inkjet head may be a beauty essence composed of oil, vitamins, sulfur, silicon, fragrance and the like. The inkjet head may have a structure in which the ink cartridge is replaceable or impossible. An IC tag or the like may be provided on the ink cartridge to read the name or physical properties of the contents and display them on the input / output unit, or the ejection control may be changed according to the contents. The printing direction may be clockwise or counterclockwise. The printing process may be printed as a set of reciprocating operations of clockwise and counterclockwise. Alternatively, a plurality of sets may be used as one printing process. The rotation of the motor may be 360 degrees in one direction. In that case, a space is provided under the stage so that the inkjet head and the camera do not interfere with each other. The motor may be an electromagnetic type or an ultrasonic type (USM). The inkjet head discharge port may be provided with a lid for protecting the inkjet head when the device is not in use. As long as the function of protecting the inkjet head is satisfied, spaces may be provided on the left, right, and below the stage and arranged in the apparatus.

In the above explanation, the object to be printed is mainly the nail 202, but a nail tip or skin may also be used. By performing the above-described configuration and operation, the apparatus of the present invention can bring the angle formed by the ink landing surface and the ink flight direction close to a right angle with a simple configuration, and suppress a decrease in ink landing elasticity.

[Second Embodiment]
The apparatus according to the present embodiment is characterized in that a plurality of liquid discharge heads are provided and the plurality of liquid discharge heads are arranged concentrically. Hereinafter, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a nail printer device. In FIG. 4, 401 is an inkjet head provided with cyan ink. Reference numeral 402 denotes an inkjet head equipped with magenta ink. Reference numeral 403 is an inkjet head provided with yellow ink. Reference numeral 404 is an inkjet head provided with white ink. These inkjet heads are provided with respect to the connecting member 111, and are integrally rotatable. Further, a cleaning member 405 for cleaning the ejection port of the inkjet head is provided.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the movement of the nail printer device, and operates in the order of FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C, FIG. 5D, FIG. 5E, and FIG. 5F. 5B, 5C, and 5E, which are different parts from the first embodiment due to the movement of the apparatus, will be described, and cyan ink is provided for each inkjet head whose relative position does not change in the drawings in order to avoid complication. The inkjet head 401 is described, and the others are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the white inkjet head 404 and the yellow inkjet head 403 are cleaned from the cleaning member 405. As shown in FIG. 5C, the cyan inkjet head 401 and the magenta inkjet head 402 are cleaned from the cleaning member 405. Since the inkjet heads are arranged on concentric circles as shown in FIG. 5E, there is an effect that the flight direction of each ink can be controlled only by rotating one axis. The configuration and each member of the second embodiment are not limited to the description contents, and various ones can be used if the functions are satisfied. For example, the order of the position of the camera and the position of the inkjet head may be changed. The position of the inkjet head may be offset with respect to the position of the camera. The combination of substances discharged from the inkjet head may be used as a top coat material, white ink, red ink, or base coat material, and the number of inkjet heads is not limited and may be increased or decreased. It may be applied to a device configuration in which a plurality of the present devices are installed and a plurality of fingers are printed at the same time.

[Third Embodiment]
The apparatus according to the present embodiment is characterized in that it includes a moving means that makes the liquid discharge head movable in the radial direction of the support means. Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a nail printer device, FIG. 6A is a diagram showing the front surface of the device, and FIG. 6B is a diagram showing a side surface of the device. FIG. 6 is different from other embodiments in that a linear motion unit 601 capable of moving the inkjet head in the radial direction of the motor rotation shaft 110 is provided.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the movement of the nail printer device, and operates in the order of FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, FIG. 7C, FIG. 7D, FIG. 7E, and FIG. 7F. 7D, 7E, and 7F, which are parts different from those of the first embodiment due to the movement of the device, will be described. As shown in FIG. 7D, the linear motion unit 601 brings the inkjet head close to the nail and ejects ink. As shown in FIG. 7E, the linear motion unit 601 moves the inkjet head away from the nail and ejects ink. As shown in FIG. 7F, the linear motion unit 601 brings the inkjet head closer to the nail and ejects ink. The configuration and each member of the third embodiment are not limited to the description contents, and various ones can be used if the functions are satisfied. For example, the linear motion unit may be an electromagnetic type or an ultrasonic type (USM). The amount of movement of the linear motion unit can be set so that the distance between the ejection port of the inkjet head and the claw is constant. This has the effect of reducing the difference in print dot diameter due to the difference in the distance between the ejection port of the inkjet head and the claw. Further, since the ink flight direction does not change due to the movement of the linear motion unit, there is an effect that the control is easy. Further, since the distance (radius of rotation) between the stage and the ejection port of the inkjet head can be changed, there is also an effect that the range of applicable finger or nail size can be expanded.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the following claims are attached to make the scope of the present invention public.

This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-098540 submitted on May 27, 2019, and all the contents thereof are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

It has a liquid discharge head, a support means that rotatably cantilever supports the liquid discharge head, and a stage on which an object is placed.
With respect to the external rotation center of the liquid discharge head
A device that is rotatably supported while facing the discharge ports of the liquid discharge head.
The device according to claim 1, wherein the support means includes a plurality of the liquid discharge heads, and the plurality of the liquid discharge heads are integrally movable.
The device according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the liquid discharge heads are arranged concentrically.
The device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a moving means that makes the liquid discharge head movable in the radius of gyration direction of the supporting means.
The device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which has a photographing means and draws on the surface of the object based on the photographing information of the object.
The device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the device is controlled by an input / output unit provided in the device.
The device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the device is controlled from an input / output unit different from the device.
The device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the object is a nail, skin, or a nail tip.
The liquid discharge head rotatably supported by the support means is rotated with the discharge port of the liquid discharge head facing the rotation center outside the liquid discharge head, and the liquid is transferred from the liquid discharge head to the object. A discharge method that discharges drops.
The discharge method according to claim 9, wherein the support means includes a plurality of the liquid discharge heads, and the plurality of the liquid discharge heads are integrally moved.
The discharge method according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of liquid discharge heads are arranged concentrically.
The ejection method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein droplets are ejected onto an object based on design data acquired via the Internet.
The discharge method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the device unit provided with the support means and the liquid discharge head is controlled from an input / output unit different from the device unit.
The discharge method according to any one of claims 9 to 13, which is controlled by an application installed in the input / output unit.
The discharge method according to any one of claims 9 to 14, wherein the surface of the object has a curved surface or a plurality of different planes.
The discharge method according to any one of claims 9 to 15, wherein the object is a nail, skin, or nail tip.
A system including the device according to any one of claims 1 to 8 and an input / output unit different from the device configured to be able to connect to the Internet.