JP5617124B2 - Inkjet printer and media conveying method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet printer and a medium conveying method.

  Examples of media printed by the ink jet printer include leaf type printing paper, cut paper, roll type printing paper (hereinafter, roll paper), and the like. In general, printing of leaf-type printing paper, cut paper, or the like is performed by placing a medium on a printing table and moving an inkjet head in a scanning direction to eject ink.

  On the other hand, in printing long roll paper, a mechanism for feeding and winding the roll paper is required. For example, an inkjet printer described in Patent Document 1 includes a supply scroller that supplies roll paper and a take-up scroller that winds up the printed roll paper. Thus, in this ink jet printer, the roll paper is fed and taken up in accordance with printing on the roll paper.

JP 2005-67103 A

  By the way, there are various types (materials) of roll paper to be printed in the ink jet printer, and the thickness thereof varies. In such a roll paper, for example, a roll paper such as a film having a thickness of about 15 μm is likely to be wrinkled when transported. In particular, when a roll paper such as a film is transported by a large ink jet printer, an air pool is generated between the printing table on which the roll paper is placed and the roll paper, and the wrinkle is noticeable due to the air pool. Occurs.

  In view of this, a method for suppressing the generation of wrinkles by adjusting the tension applied to the roll paper has been considered. However, since the adjustment of the tension applied to the thin roll paper is severe, there is a problem that the control of the apparatus for applying the tension to the roll paper becomes complicated. In addition, when wrinkles are generated on thin roll paper, if the roll paper is strongly adsorbed on the printing table in order to extend the wrinkles, there is a problem that a mark of the suction hole remains on the surface of the roll paper.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides an ink jet printer and a medium conveying method capable of easily suppressing the occurrence of wrinkles in a roll paper while maintaining a good state of the roll paper. The purpose is to provide.

In order to solve the above problems, the inkjet printer of the present invention has a plurality of holes formed in a panel on which a roll-type medium is placed, and when printing is performed, a suction force is generated in the holes to attract the medium to the panel. Ink jet printer having a table device to be transported and a transport means for transporting the media placed on the panel, determining the winding amount of the media according to the print area of the media, and monitoring the transport amount of the media And a control device that, when transporting the media, after the media transport amount has reached approximately 90% of the total transport amount , and until the media transport amount reaches the winding amount, The present invention is characterized in that a medium is conveyed by a conveying unit while a suction force that is weaker than a suction force generated in a hole during printing is generated in the hole and the medium is attracted to the panel.

In this ink jet printer, when the media is transported, after the media transport amount has reached approximately 90% of the total transport amount, the media is transported by the transport means while generating the suction force in the holes and attracting the media to the panel To do. As a result, when the transport amount reaches approximately 90% of the total transport amount , the medium is attracted to the panel while the medium is being transported by the transport means, so that tension is applied to the medium. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of wrinkling of the media due to the tension during the conveyance of the media. Thus, since complicated control is not required to apply tension to the medium, the occurrence of wrinkling of the medium can be easily suppressed. As a result, it is possible to prevent air from generating wrinkles, and it is not necessary to strongly adsorb the media to the panel in order to eliminate this air accumulation, so that the media can be maintained well.

  Moreover, it is preferable that a conveyance means is provided with the drawing | feeding-out part which pays out a medium to a panel, and the winding-up part which winds up a medium from a panel. With such a configuration, it is possible to suitably transport the media by winding the media fed from the feeding unit to the panel by the winding unit.

Further, if the medium is attracted to the panel with a strong suction force while the medium is being conveyed , the medium may be deteriorated due to friction between the medium and the panel. On the other hand, since the medium is attracted to the panel with a weak suction force when the medium is in the transport state, the friction between the medium and the panel can be minimized. As a result, the media can be maintained better.

Further, to adsorb the media panel when most of the transport amount is wound needed to feed transportable while reliably perform transfer of the media, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of wrinkles in the media.

Further, when transporting media, it is preferable to release air from the holes until the transport amount of the media reaches approximately 90% of the total transport amount . In this case, the friction between the media and the panel is reduced by the air layer formed between the media and the panel. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the media from being displaced or deteriorated due to friction.

  Further, the present invention can be described as an invention of an ink jet printer as described above, and can also be described as an invention of a method for conveying a roll paper as follows. This is substantially the same invention only in different categories, and has the same operations and effects.

In other words, the roll paper conveying method according to the present invention is a table in which a plurality of holes are formed in a panel on which a roll-type medium is placed, and when printing, a suction force is generated in the holes to attract the medium to the panel. A method of transporting media in an inkjet printer comprising an apparatus and a transport means for transporting media placed on a panel, wherein the inkjet printer determines a winding amount of the media according to a print area of the media And a control device that monitors the transport amount of the media, and when transporting the media, after the transport amount of the media reaches approximately 90% of the total transport amount , and the transport amount of the media is Until the amount of paper is reached, the suction force that is weaker than the suction force that is generated in the hole during printing is generated in the hole to attract the media to the panel, and the media is Characterized in that it sent.

Further, when transporting media, it is preferable to release air from the holes until the transport amount of the media reaches approximately 90% of the total transport amount .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily suppress the occurrence of wrinkles in a roll paper while maintaining the state of the roll paper as thin as about 15 μm.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the II-II sectional view taken on the line in FIG. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of an inkjet printer. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of an inkjet printer. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the conveyance amount of the roll paper in a conventional inkjet printer, and operation | movement of an air control part. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the conveyance amount of the roll paper in the inkjet printer of this embodiment, and operation | movement of an air control part.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In all drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the following description, terms such as “front” and “rear” correspond to the front-rear direction of the inkjet printer.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a flat bed type ink jet printer 1 includes a flat bed type table device 2 on which a medium to be printed is placed and sucked or floated, and an ink jet head (not shown) that ejects ink droplets. And a printing unit 3 on which is mounted.

  The table device 2 includes a table 5 held at a predetermined height by the frame 4, an air control unit 6 having a pump (vacuum) function that applies a suction force to the table 5 and a blow function that releases air from the table 5. It has. The air control unit 6 is controlled for air suction and discharge by a control device 30 (see FIG. 3) described later. Then, the ink jet printer 1 causes the printing unit 3 to move in the sub-scanning direction (direction orthogonal to the scanning direction) while ejecting ink droplets while moving the ink jet head in the scanning direction with the medium adsorbed on the table 5. Print images on media by moving them. In the following description, roll-type printing paper (hereinafter, roll paper M) is used as the medium. The roll paper M has a thickness of about 15 μm.

  2 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 taken along the line II-II. As shown in FIG. 2, the table 5 includes a base panel 7 connected to the air control unit 6 and four panels 8 that are supported by the base panel 7 and have a large number of holes H. . The hole H formed in the panel 8 communicates with the air control unit 6 through a communication groove 7a and a communication pipe 7b formed in the base panel 7. When the air control unit 6 applies a suction force to the holes H, the table 5 causes the roll paper M to be adsorbed to the panel 8, and the air control unit 6 releases air from the holes H, so that the roll paper M and the panel An air layer is formed between the two. The table 5 is supported in a state where four panels 8 are laid on one base panel 7. For this reason, for example, when the dimension of the base panel 7 is length: 3000 mm × width: 1600 mm, the dimension of the panel 8 is length: 1500 mm × width: 800. The base panel 7 and the panel 8 are joined by screwing in a stacked state.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the inkjet printer 1 includes a feed roller 10 that feeds the roll paper M and a roll that is fed from the feed roller 10 as a configuration for printing the roll paper M. Rollers 11 to 13 for applying a predetermined tension to the paper M, a winding roller 14 for winding the roll paper M, and rollers 15 to 17 for applying a predetermined tension to the roll paper M wound up by the winding roller 14 It has. The feeding roller 10 and the take-up roller 14 constitute a conveying unit for conveying the roll paper M.

  The feeding roller 10 is a part that feeds the roll paper M to the table 5 (panel 8). The feeding roller 10 has a cylindrical shape, and is provided on the rear frame 18 on the rear side of the table 5 in the conveyance direction of the roll paper M. In the feeding roller 10, the roll paper M is fed out by a driving unit (not shown) such as a motor, and the driving unit that drives the feeding roller 10 is controlled by a control device 30 described later. The feed amount of the roll paper M fed from the feed roller 3 is determined by the controller 30 according to the diameter (winding amount) of the roll paper M, the count value of the encoder that detects the rotation speed of the feed roller 10, and the like. It is adjusted by control. Control of the feeding roller 10 by the control device 30 will be described later.

  The rollers 11 to 13 are portions that apply a predetermined tension to the roll paper M fed from the feeding roller 10. The rollers 11 to 13 have a cylindrical shape and are rotatably supported by the rear frame 18. The roll paper M fed from the feeding roller 10 is passed from the front to the roller 11, then from the rear to the roller 12, passes over the roller 13, and is fed to the table 5.

  The winding roller 14 is a part that winds the printed roll paper M from the table 5. The take-up roller 14 has a cylindrical shape and is provided on the front frame 19 on the front side of the table 5 in the transport direction of the roll paper M. In the take-up roller 14, the roll paper M is taken up by a drive unit (not shown) such as a motor, and the drive unit that drives the take-up roller 14 is controlled by the control device 30. The winding amount of the roll paper M taken up by the winding roller 14 is driven by the control device 30 in accordance with the feeding amount from the feeding roller 10 and the count value of the encoder that detects the rotation speed of the winding roller 14. It is adjusted by the control of the part. Control of the winding roller 14 by the control device 30 will be described later.

  The rollers 15 to 17 are portions that apply a predetermined tension to the roll paper M fed from the feeding roller 10. The rollers 15 to 17 have a cylindrical shape and are rotatably supported by the front frame 19. The roll paper M fed out from the table 5 passes over the roller 15 and then is passed over the roller 16 from the front, and further over the back of the roller 17 and taken up by the take-up roller 14.

  With the configuration described above, in the inkjet printer 1, the roll paper M fed from the feed roller 10 is placed on the table 5 via the rollers 11-13, and the roll paper M is further fed via the rollers 15-17. The roll paper M is set by being wound around the winding roller 14.

  The inkjet printer 1 includes a control device 30. The control device 30 is a device that performs control related to printing of the ink jet printer 1, and includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. The control device 30 controls the air control unit 6, the feeding roller 10, and the take-up roller 14 based on print data for performing printing input to the inkjet printer 1. Specifically, the control device 30 extracts a print area in the roll paper M based on a command related to ink ejection of the print data, and the conveyance amount of the roll paper M, that is, from the feeding roller 10 according to the print area. A winding amount of the roll paper M that is fed out and to be wound up by the winding roller 14 is obtained. Then, the control device 30 controls the feeding roller 10 and the take-up roller 14 based on the count value detected by the encoder provided on the take-up roller 14, and takes up the roll paper M by the transport amount. Winding is performed by a roller 14.

  Further, as described above, the control device 30 controls the air suction and discharge operations in the air control unit 6 based on the conveyance state of the roll paper M. As shown in FIG. 3, when the roll paper M is in the transport state, the control device 30 controls the air control unit 6 to perform an operation of releasing air. As a result, air is released from the holes H of the panel 8, and air is released between the roll paper M and the panel 8 to form an air layer. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, when the roll paper M is not in the transport state (for example, during printing in which ink droplets are being ejected from the inkjet head), the control device 30 performs suction in the air control unit 6. Control to perform the action. Thereby, a suction force acts on the hole H of the panel 8, and the roll paper M is adsorbed to the panel 8.

  Further, when the roll paper M is wound up in accordance with the transport amount in the winding roller 14, the control device 30 outputs from the encoder of the winding roller 14 whether a predetermined amount has been wound up in the transport amount. Judgment is made based on the counted value. The predetermined amount is about 90% of the carry amount, and the remaining amount is about 10%. Specifically, for example, when the transport amount is 2000 mm, the predetermined amount is 1800 mm. And the control apparatus 30 performs control which switches the operation | movement in the air control part 6 from discharge | release of air to suction | inhalation, when a conveyance amount reaches predetermined amount. At this time, the control device 30 controls the operation so that the suction force is weaker than the normal suction force (adsorption force) until the transport amount is reached, and the winding roller 14 winds up by the transport amount. The air controller 6 controls the operation so that the air is sucked with a normal suction force. Note that the normal suction force referred to here is a suction force at which the roll paper M and the panel 8 are in close contact with each other and the roll paper M is held in the panel 8 without deviation. Further, the above 90% is not strictly set, and means approximately 90%.

  Here, a method of transporting media in a conventional ink jet printer will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the amount of roll paper transport and the operation of the air control unit in a conventional inkjet printer. As shown in FIG. 5, in the conventional inkjet printer, when the ejection of ink droplets by the inkjet head is completed, suction is stopped by the air control unit to release the suction of the roll paper to the panel and the roll is rolled by the take-up roller. The paper is taken up and conveyance of the roll paper is started. When transporting the roll paper, the air control unit releases air between the medium and the panel, and forms an air layer between the panel and the medium. Then, when the amount to be taken up by the take-up roller (for the transport amount) is taken up, suction is started again in the air control unit, and the media is adsorbed to the panel.

  In such an operation, air is generated between the roll paper and the table along with the conveyance of the roll paper, and when the roll paper and the panel are adsorbed, the roll paper is wrinkled by the air accumulation. Will occur. At this time, if the suction force is increased in the air control unit to eliminate the accumulation of generated air, particularly in the case of thin roll paper, there is a problem that holes remain on the surface, and the condition of the roll paper is good. Can not be maintained. This leads to a decrease in print quality.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, in the ink jet printer according to the present embodiment, when the ejection of ink droplets by the ink jet head is finished, the air control unit 6 stops the suction and applies the roll paper M to the panel 8. While releasing the suction, the take-up roller 14 takes up the roll paper, and the conveyance of the roll paper M is started. Then, when the roll paper M is conveyed by a predetermined amount, the air control unit 6 stops releasing the air and switches to the suction operation. At this time, the air control unit 8 applies a weak suction force to the hole H of the panel 8 until the transport amount reaches the transport amount from the predetermined amount, and when the transport amount is reached, the normal suction force is applied to the panel 8. It is made to act on the hole H. As a result, the roll paper M is attracted to the table 5 while being wound around the winding roller 14 at the final stage of conveyance. Therefore, tension is applied to the roll paper M, and the generation of wrinkles on the roll paper M is suppressed.

  As described above, in the inkjet printer 1, when the roll paper M is transported, after the transport amount of the roll paper M reaches a predetermined amount, an H suction force is generated in the hole so that the roll paper M is applied to the panel 8. The roll paper M is conveyed by the feeding roller 10 and the take-up roller 14 while being adsorbed. As a result, when the transport amount reaches a predetermined amount, the roll paper M is adsorbed to the panel 8 while the roll paper M is being transported by the feeding roller 10 and the take-up roller 14. Tension is applied. Therefore, when the roll paper M is transported, wrinkles of the roll paper M can be suppressed by tension. Thus, since complicated control is not required in order to give tension to roll paper M, generation | occurrence | production of the wrinkle of roll paper M can be suppressed easily. As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of air accumulation that generates wrinkles, and the roll paper M does not need to be strongly adsorbed to the panel 8 in order to eliminate this air accumulation, so that the roll paper M can be maintained well.

  Further, the suction force generated in the hole H after the transport amount of the roll paper M reaches a predetermined amount is weaker than the suction force generated in the hole H during printing. If the roll paper M is attracted to the panel 8 with a strong suction force when the roll paper M is being conveyed, the roll paper M may be deteriorated due to friction between the roll paper M and the panel 8. On the other hand, since the roll paper M is attracted to the panel 8 with a weak suction force when the roll paper M is in the transport state, friction between the roll paper M and the panel 8 can be suppressed to a minimum. As a result, the roll paper M can be maintained better.

  The predetermined amount is approximately 90% of the total transport amount. In this way, when most of the conveyance amount necessary for conveyance is wound up, the roll paper M is adsorbed to the panel 8 so that the roll paper M is reliably conveyed and the wrinkles of the roll paper M are removed. Occurrence can be suppressed.

  Further, when the roll paper M is transported, air is released from the holes H until the transport amount of the roll paper M reaches a predetermined amount. In this case, the friction between the roll paper M and the panel 8 is reduced by the air layer formed between the roll paper M and the panel 8. Thereby, the shift | offset | difference and deterioration of the roll paper M by friction can be prevented.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the air control unit 6 performs suction and release of air, but devices having respective functions may be provided.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inkjet printer, 2 ... Table apparatus, 5 ... Table (table apparatus), 6 ... Air control part (table apparatus), 8 ... Panel, 10 ... Feeding roller (conveying means, feeding part), 14 ... Winding roller ( Conveying means, winding unit), H ... hole, M ... roll paper (media).

Claims (5)

A plurality of holes are formed in a panel on which a roll-type medium is placed, and when printing, a table device that generates a suction force in the holes and attracts the medium to the panel;
Conveying means for conveying the media placed on the panel;
An inkjet printer comprising:
A control device for determining a winding amount of the medium according to a printing area of the medium and monitoring a conveyance amount of the medium;
When transporting the media, after the media transport amount has reached approximately 90% of the total transport amount and until the media transport amount reaches the winding amount, An ink jet printer, wherein the medium is transported by the transporting means while a suction force weaker than a suction force generated in the hole is generated in the hole and the medium is attracted to the panel. The conveying means is
A feeding section for feeding the media to the panel;
A winding unit for winding the media from the panel;
The inkjet printer according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein when the medium is transported, air is discharged from the hole until the transport amount of the medium reaches approximately 90% of the total transport amount . A plurality of holes are formed in a panel on which a roll-type medium is placed, and when printing, a table device that generates a suction force in the holes and attracts the medium to the panel;
Conveying means for conveying the media placed on the panel;
A method for transporting media in an inkjet printer comprising:
The inkjet printer further includes a control device that determines a winding amount of the medium according to a printing area of the medium and monitors a conveyance amount of the medium,
When transporting the media, after the media transport amount has reached approximately 90% of the total transport amount and until the media transport amount reaches the winding amount, A medium transporting method, wherein the medium is transported by the transporting means while a suction force weaker than a suction force generated in the hole is generated in the hole and the medium is attracted to the panel. 5. The method of transporting media according to claim 4, wherein when transporting the media, air is discharged from the holes until the transport amount of the media reaches approximately 90% of the total transport amount .

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