JP2018069713A - Inkjet printer and waste liquid capacity correction method in inkjet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

A value acquired as a waste liquid capacity stored in a waste liquid tank in an ink jet printer is a value that more accurately reflects a waste liquid capacity actually stored in the waste liquid tank. In an inkjet printer that ejects ink from an inkjet nozzle of an ink head by an inkjet method, an ink head including an inkjet nozzle that ejects ink, a cap member that seals an opening of the inkjet nozzle of the ink head, and a cap A suction pump for supplying negative pressure to the member to suck ink from the ink head, a waste liquid tank for storing the ink sucked by the suction pump as waste liquid, and a measuring means for measuring the weight of the waste liquid stored in the waste liquid tank; And a correcting means for correcting the theoretical value of the suction capacity of the suction pump based on the weight measured by the measuring means. [Selection] Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet printer and a method for correcting a waste liquid capacity in an ink jet printer, and more particularly, to an ink jet printer and an ink jet printer having a waste liquid tank that contains a waste liquid generated in a cleaning process of an ink head that ejects ink by an ink jet method. The present invention relates to a method for correcting a waste liquid volume.

  In this specification, the term “media” refers to various recording media such as plain paper and various recording media such as resin materials such as PVC and polyester, and materials such as aluminum, iron, and wood. Is included.

  Further, in the present specification, the “inkjet method” means various conventionally known methods, including various continuous methods such as a binary deflection method or a continuous deflection method, and various on-demand methods such as a thermal method or a piezoelectric element method. This means a printing method using an inkjet technique using the above method.

  Conventionally, the entire operation is controlled by a microcomputer, and liquid ink is supplied to an ink head that moves relative to a recording paper as a medium, and the supplied ink is supplied from an inkjet nozzle of the ink head by an inkjet method. 2. Related Art Inkjet printers are known that perform printing on recording paper by discharging the recording paper.

  By the way, in such an ink jet printer, when an ink discharge failure occurs in the ink jet nozzle of the ink head, the ink jet of the ink head is used so that the ink can be normally ejected from the ink jet nozzle of the ink head. A cleaning process for the nozzle is performed.

  The cleaning process means the following process. That is, with the cap member capping (sealed) the opening of the ink jet nozzle formed on the ink jet nozzle surface on the lower surface of the ink head, the suction pump is operated to bring the ink jet nozzle surface of the ink head to a negative pressure. Accordingly, the ink in the ink head is forcibly sucked from the ink head side toward the cap member side.

  Ink sucked to the cap member side by the suction pump in the cleaning process described above is sent to the waste liquid tank and stored as waste liquid.

  The operator monitors the capacity of the waste liquid stored in the waste liquid tank (in this specification, “the capacity of the waste liquid stored in the waste liquid tank” is appropriately referred to as “waste liquid capacity”). Before the waste liquid overflowed from the waste liquid tank, the waste liquid contained in the waste liquid tank was discarded.

  In order to reduce the above-described monitoring operation of the waste liquid tank by the worker, for example, a technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-220332 has been proposed.

  In the conventional technology as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-220332, the ink jet printer stores a value of a unit suction capacity in design of the suction pump, that is, a theoretical value, and what is the suction pump. A waste liquid counter is provided to count whether the unit has been sucked. Then, when the value obtained by multiplying the count value counted by the waste liquid counter and the theoretical value of the unit suction capacity of the suction pump exceeds a preset threshold value, it is determined that the tank is full and a full tank display is displayed. The waste liquid stored in the waste liquid tank is discarded by looking at the display.

  That is, in the prior art, the waste liquid capacity accommodated in the waste liquid tank is determined based on the theoretical value of the unit suction capacity of the suction pump and the count value of the waste liquid counter. In other words, the value acquired as the waste liquid capacity stored in the waste liquid tank in the inkjet printer is based on the theoretical value of the unit suction capacity of the suction pump and the count value of the waste liquid counter.

  Here, it is empirically known that the actual unit suction capacity in the suction pump does not show a theoretical value depending on conditions such as a difference in viscosity for each type of ink and a change in outside air temperature. .

  In general, the waste liquid counter is based on the fact that the actual unit suction capacity in the suction pump does not indicate the theoretical value, and from the viewpoint of preventing the waste liquid from overflowing from the waste liquid tank, it is more than the actual count value. It is set to indicate a large value.

  For this reason, even if the waste liquid tank is not actually full, a full tank display may occur, and the value acquired as the waste liquid capacity stored in the waste liquid tank in the ink jet printer is the waste liquid tank. However, there is a problem that the volume of waste liquid actually stored is not reflected accurately.

JP 2009-220332 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a value obtained as a waste liquid capacity stored in a waste liquid tank in an ink jet printer. In addition, the present invention provides an ink jet printer and a method for correcting the waste liquid capacity in an ink jet printer so as to more accurately reflect the waste liquid capacity actually stored.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention corrects the theoretical value of the suction capacity of the suction pump based on the weight of the waste liquid actually discharged to the waste liquid tank by the suction of the ink of the suction pump. is there.

  That is, an ink jet printer according to the present invention is an ink jet printer that ejects ink from an ink jet nozzle of an ink head by an ink jet method, and seals an ink head having an ink jet nozzle for ejecting ink and an opening of the ink jet nozzle of the ink head. A cap member that stops, a suction pump that supplies negative pressure to the cap member to suck ink from the ink head, a waste liquid tank that stores ink sucked by the suction pump as waste liquid, and is stored in the waste liquid tank Measuring means for measuring the weight of the waste liquid, and correcting means for correcting the theoretical value of the suction capacity of the suction pump based on the weight measured by the measuring means.

  Further, the ink jet printer according to the present invention is the ink jet printer according to the present invention described above, and further acquires the waste liquid capacity accommodated in the waste liquid tank based on the theoretical value of the suction capacity of the suction pump corrected by the correction means. And a display means for performing a predetermined display based on a comparison result of the comparison means, a comparison means for comparing the waste liquid volume acquired by the acquisition means with a preset threshold value. is there.

  Further, the ink jet printer according to the present invention is the ink jet printer according to the present invention described above, wherein the correcting means acquires the actual suction capacity of the suction pump from the weight measured by the measuring means, The theoretical value of the suction capacity of the suction pump is corrected by the suction capacity.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for correcting a waste liquid volume in an ink jet printer, the method for correcting a waste liquid capacity in an ink jet printer that corrects a waste liquid capacity of a waste liquid stored in a waste liquid tank by a cleaning process of the ink jet printer. Thus, the weight of the waste liquid actually discharged to the waste liquid tank is measured, and the theoretical value of the suction capacity of the suction pump is corrected based on the measured weight.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for correcting a waste liquid volume in an ink jet printer, the method for correcting a waste liquid capacity in an ink jet printer that corrects a waste liquid capacity of a waste liquid stored in a waste liquid tank by a cleaning process of the ink jet printer. Measure the weight of the waste liquid actually discharged to the waste liquid tank, obtain the suction capacity of the suction pump from the measured weight, and correct the theoretical value of the suction capacity of the suction pump by the actual suction capacity acquired It is what you do.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, the value acquired as the waste liquid capacity stored in the waste liquid tank in the ink jet printer more accurately reflects the waste liquid capacity actually stored in the waste liquid tank. It has an excellent effect of becoming a value.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration perspective view showing an example of an embodiment of an ink jet printer according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the ink path from the ink cartridge to the waste liquid tank in the ink jet printer shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a suction pump in the ink jet printer illustrated in FIG. 1. 4A, 4B, and 4C are schematic views showing the configuration and operation of the waste liquid tank, the detection plate, and the sensor in the ink jet printer shown in FIG. 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D are schematic views showing the positional relationship between the detection plate and the sensor in the ink jet printer shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a block configuration explanatory diagram showing a functional configuration related to the implementation of the present invention of the microcomputer in the ink jet printer shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of an inkjet printer according to the present invention and a method for correcting a waste liquid volume in the inkjet printer will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a schematic configuration showing an example of an embodiment of an ink jet printer according to the present invention.

  The ink jet printer 10 includes a fixed base member 14 that is supported by a base member 12 and is disposed extending in the main scanning direction. Side members 16L and 16R are disposed on the left and right ends of the base member 14, and a side unit 18 is disposed on the side member 16R side.

  The inkjet printer 10 includes a central wall 20 that connects the left and right side members 16L and 16R, and a guide rail 22 is disposed on the wall surface of the central wall 20 so as to extend in the main scanning direction.

  Reference numeral 24 is a wire arranged in parallel with the wall surface of the central wall 20 so as to be movable in the main scanning direction. The carriage 26 is fixedly disposed on the wire 24 and is slidably mounted on the guide rail 22. An ink head 30 is mounted on the carriage 26 so as to face a recording paper 28 that is a medium positioned on the base member 24, and a damper 32 connected to the ink head 30 is mounted.

  The overall operation of the ink jet printer 10 is controlled by the microcomputer 34.

  In the inkjet printer 10, the recording paper 28 is used as the medium as described above. The recording paper 28 is supplied onto the base member 14 by a paper feeding device (not shown), has a predetermined length in the main scanning direction as the width direction, and is a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction, that is, recording. It is conveyed in the longitudinal direction of the paper 28. The direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction, that is, the conveyance direction of the recording paper 28 and the longitudinal direction of the recording paper 28 is hereinafter referred to as “sub-scanning direction”.

  In the inkjet printer 10, printing is performed on the recording paper 28 under the control of the microcomputer 34.

  That is, when the wire 24 is moved by winding the wire 24 in accordance with the control of the microcomputer 10, the carriage 26 reciprocates in the forward direction (forward path) and the return direction (return path) in the main scanning direction as the wire 24 moves. Moving. As a result, the damper 32 and the ink head 30 mounted on the carriage 26 travel in the forward direction (outward direction) and the return direction (return direction) in the main scanning direction on the recording paper 28 supplied onto the base member 14 by the paper feeding device. The reciprocating movement is integrally performed, and printing is performed on the recording paper 28.

  In the inkjet printer 10, a waste liquid tank 42 is disposed on the base member 14, and an ink path 100 is formed from the ink cartridge 36 detachably disposed on the side unit 18 to the waste liquid tank ink 42. (See FIG. 2).

  The ink jet printer 10 is provided with a cap device 38 for capping the ink jet nozzles provided on the ink jet nozzle surface 30 a of the ink head 20.

  Reference numeral 40 denotes an operation panel provided with an operator for controlling the operation of the ink jet printer 10 by an operator, and a display unit 40 a for displaying the operation state of the ink jet printer 10 is provided.

  Here, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the ink path 100 in the ink jet printer 10 shown in FIG.

  The ink path 100 shown in FIG. 2 is connected to one end 102a so as to communicate with the ink cartridge 36, and connected to the other end 102b so that one end 104a of the connector 104 communicates. A flexible ink supply tube 102 is provided. The end 102b of the ink supply tube 102 and the end 104a of the connector 104 are detachably connected.

  The ink cartridge 36 stores ink to be supplied to the ink head 30, and a sensor (not shown) that detects the amount of ink stored in the ink cartridge 36 is provided.

  The connector 104 has a hollow pipe shape having a bendable bellows-like portion, and a damper 32 is connected to the other end 104b.

  The damper 32 is mounted on the carriage 26 together with the ink head 30 and includes a storage chamber (not shown) that temporarily stores the ink that has passed through the connector 104. The damper 32 absorbs ink pressure fluctuations in the ink path 100 when the carriage 26 reciprocates with respect to the recording paper 28.

  An ink head 30 having an ink jet nozzle (not shown) communicating with the storage chamber of the damper 32 is connected to the damper 32, and the ink stored in the ink cartridge 36 passes through the damper 32 to the ink head. 30. The ink supplied to the ink head 30 is ejected from the ink head nozzles opened in the inkjet nozzle surface 30a.

  In the ink supply tube 102, a valve valve 106 is provided between one end 102a and the other end 102b. The valve valve 106 is constituted by a solenoid valve, for example. The valve valve 106 opens the valve valve 106 to allow the ink supply from the ink cartridge 36 to the ink head 30, or closes the valve valve 106 to stop the ink supply from the ink cartridge 36 to the ink head 30. Can be selectively controlled.

  In addition, as described above, the ink jet printer 10 is provided with the cap device 38 for capping around the ink jet nozzles formed on the ink jet nozzle surface 30a of the ink head 30.

  The cap device 38 includes a cap member 112 that seals the opening of the ink jet nozzle formed on the ink jet nozzle surface 30a of the ink head 30, and a suction pump 114 that can suck ink in the ink path 100. ing. The suction pump 114 supplies negative pressure to the cap member 112 that seals the opening of the ink jet nozzle formed on the ink jet nozzle surface 30 a of the ink head 30, and sucks ink in the ink supply path 100.

  Reference numeral 116 denotes a waste liquid tube. One end 116 a is connected to the cap member 112 and the other end 116 b is connected to the waste liquid tank 42. The suction pump 114 is provided between one end 116a and the other end 116b of the waste liquid tube 116.

  As the suction pump 114, it is possible to use various types of conventionally known structures. For example, a tube pump or a trochoid pump can be used.

  Here, tube pumps and trochoid pumps generate suction force by rotating rollers and gears in the pump. In tube pumps and trochoid pumps, the suction capacity per rotation of a roller or gear is set as a unit suction capacity as a theoretical value in design (in this specification, “unit suction capacity by theoretical value” is This is referred to as “theoretical unit suction volume” as appropriate.)

  Specifically, as the suction pump 114, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, a tube pump having the same configuration as the tube pump disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4857798 can be used.

  The suction pump 114 shown in FIG. 3 is a tube pump, and is provided in a waste liquid tube 116 that connects the cap member 112 and the waste liquid tank 42. By rotating the inner rollers 114a and 114b, the pressing state of the inner tube 114c is changed, and a negative pressure is supplied to the cap member 112 to generate a suction force.

  Reference numeral 118 denotes a waste liquid counter that counts how many times the suction pump 114 has rotated, in other words, how many units of suction have been performed. Since the waste liquid counter 118 is a conventionally known technique as described above, a detailed description of its configuration and operation is omitted.

  Reference numeral 122 denotes a sensor for detecting the position of the detection plate 120 provided in the waste liquid tank 42. As the sensor 122, various sensors such as an optical sensor that detects the detection plate 122 with light and a contact sensor that detects the detection plate 122 from a contact state with the detection plate 122 can be appropriately used.

  4A, 4 </ b> B, and 4 </ b> C are schematic diagrams illustrating the configuration and operation of the waste liquid tank 42, the detection plate 120, and the sensor 122 in the inkjet printer 10.

  The waste liquid tank 42 is configured to include a bottle-shaped main body portion 42a having an open top and a lid 42b that is detachably attached to the opening portion of the main body portion 42a. The lid part 42b is attached so that the end part 116b of the waste liquid tube communicates.

  Furthermore, one end 42d-1 of a spring 42d having a preset contraction force is attached to the upper end of the lid 42b. The other end 42d-2 of the spring 42d is attached to the horizontal wall 14a of the base member 14. For example, a coil spring can be used as the spring 42d.

  The detection plate 120 is attached to the lid portion 42 b of the waste liquid tank 42. On the other hand, the sensor 122 is attached to the vertical wall portion 14 b of the base member 14.

  In the empty state in which the waste liquid is not stored in the waste liquid tank 42 shown in FIG. 4A, the waste liquid tank 42 is positioned on the upper side by the contraction force of the spring 42d, and the sensor 122 detects the detection plate 120. Absent. When the waste liquid accumulates in the waste liquid tank 42 from the state shown in FIG. 4A, the waste liquid tank 42 moves downward against the contraction force of the spring 42d, and the sensor as shown in FIG. 4B. 122 detects the detection plate 120. Further, when the waste liquid accumulates in the waste liquid tank 42 from the state shown in FIG. 4B, the waste liquid tank 42 moves further downward against the contraction force of the spring 42d, and the structure shown in FIG. As shown, the sensor 122 no longer detects the sensing plate 120.

  That is, as the waste liquid is accommodated in the waste liquid tank 42 by the suction of the ink by the suction pump 114, the position of the waste liquid tank 42 changes from the state shown in FIG. 4A to the state shown in FIG. 4B. Move to the state shown in FIG.

  As the position of the waste liquid tank 42 in the vertical direction is moved, the positional relationship between the detection plate 120 and the sensor 122 changes as shown in FIGS. That is, when the waste liquid tank 42 is empty, the sensor 122 does not detect the detection plate 120 as shown in FIG. 5A (the state shown in FIG. 4A). When the waste liquid is accumulated in the waste liquid tank 42, the sensor 122 shown in FIG. 5B becomes a sensor hit which is a timing at which the detection plate 120 is first detected. When the waste liquid further accumulates in the waste liquid tank 42, the positional relationship between the detection plate 120 and the sensor 122 is changed to the state shown in FIG. 4B, and the sensor 122 shown in FIG. It becomes sensor unhit, which is the timing to finish. After the sensor unhit, the detection plate 120 gradually moves away from the sensor 122 as the waste liquid accumulates in the waste liquid tank 42, and the sensor 122 does not detect the detection plate 120 as shown in FIG. The state shown in (c).)

  Here, the waste liquid counter 118 counts the number of rotations of the suction pump 114 from the sensor hit shown in FIG. 5B to the sensor unhit shown in FIG. (In this specification, “a count value counted between a sensor hit and a sensor unhit” is appropriately referred to as a “count value during detection”).

  On the other hand, the weight necessary to extend the spring 42 by the distance L is obtained based on the contraction force of the spring 42 and the distance L of the detection plate 120 from the sensor hit to the sensor unhit (in this specification, “ The “weight obtained based on the contraction force of the spring 42 and the distance L” is appropriately referred to as “reference weight”.) The reference weight can be acquired in advance because the contraction force of the spring 42 is preset and the distance L is also a known value.

  A value obtained by converting the above-described reference weight into a capacity is a capacity of waste liquid stored in the waste liquid tank 42 between a sensor hit and a sensor unhit (in this specification, “from sensor hit to sensor unhit” The “volume of waste liquid accommodated in the waste liquid tank 42” is referred to as “reference waste liquid capacity” as appropriate.) Similar to the reference weight, the reference waste liquid volume can be acquired in advance.

  Therefore, the value obtained by dividing the reference waste liquid volume by the count value during detection becomes the actual unit suction capacity in the suction pump 114 (in this specification, “actual unit suction capacity in the suction pump 114” is expressed as “actual unit suction capacity”. Appropriately referred to as "capacity"). The difference between the measured unit suction volume and the theoretical unit suction volume is a correction value, and this correction value is added to the theoretical unit suction volume (in this specification, “the correction value is added to the theoretical unit suction volume”). “Value” is appropriately referred to as “correction unit suction volume”.) The total count value counted by the waste liquid counter 118 (in this specification, the “total count value” refers to the value when the waste liquid tank 42 is empty. The value obtained by multiplying the total number of count values) is obtained as the waste liquid capacity accommodated in the waste liquid tank 42 in the inkjet printer 10, and the waste liquid capacity actually stored in the waste liquid tank 42 is roughly accurate. The value reflected in is obtained.

  Next, FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration related to the implementation of the present invention of the microcomputer 34 in the inkjet printer 10.

  The microcomputer 34 includes a control unit 202, a storage unit 204, a sensor detection unit 206, a waste liquid counter detection unit 208, a correction value calculation unit 210, a waste liquid volume calculation unit 212, a waste liquid volume comparison unit 214, and a display. And a control unit 216.

  The control unit 202 controls the entire processing including various processing such as printing processing and cleaning processing executed by the inkjet printer 10.

  The storage unit 204 stores a theoretical value unit suction amount of the suction pump 114, a reference waste liquid volume, a threshold value of the waste liquid volume, information used for various processes such as a printing process and a cleaning process.

  The sensor detection unit 206 detects the timing of sensor hit and sensor unhit in the sensor 122.

  The waste liquid counter detection unit 208 detects the count value during detection and the total count value counted by the waste liquid counter.

The correction value calculation unit 210 calculates using the calculated count value detected by the waste liquid counter detection unit 208, the theoretical value unit suction amount stored in the storage unit 204, and the reference waste liquid volume, and calculates a correction value. That is, the actual unit suction volume is obtained by dividing the reference waste liquid volume by the count value during detection.
The difference between the actually measured unit suction volume and the theoretical unit suction volume is calculated as a correction value.
The waste liquid volume calculation unit 212 adds the correction value calculated by the correction value calculation unit 210 to the theoretical value unit suction volume to obtain a correction unit suction volume, and multiplies the correction unit suction volume by the total count value to calculate the waste liquid volume. To do.

  The waste liquid volume comparison unit 214 compares the waste liquid volume calculated by the waste liquid volume calculation unit 212 with the threshold value of the waste liquid volume stored in the storage unit 204, and the waste liquid volume calculated by the waste liquid volume calculation unit 212 is stored in the storage unit 204. It is determined whether or not the threshold value of the waste liquid volume stored in the above has been exceeded.

  When it is determined that the waste liquid volume calculated by the waste liquid volume calculation unit 212 by the waste liquid volume comparison unit 214 exceeds the threshold value of the waste liquid volume stored in the storage unit 204, the display control unit 216 displays the display unit 40a of the operation panel 40. Is controlled to display “full” on the display unit 40a.

  In the above configuration, in the ink jet printer 10, the recording paper is supplied from the ink head jet nozzle of the ink head 30 while opening the valve valve 106 and supplying ink from the ink cartridge 36 to the ink supply tube 102 under the control of the microcomputer 34. Ink is ejected onto the memory 28 and printing on the storage paper 28 is performed.

  When an ink discharge failure occurs in the ink jet nozzle of the ink head 30, a cleaning process is performed on the ink jet nozzle of the ink head 30 so that the ink can be normally discharged from the ink jet nozzle of the ink head 30. Is called.

  With the cap member 112 capping the ink jet nozzle opening formed on the ink jet nozzle surface 30a of the ink head 30, the suction pump 14 is operated to make the ink jet nozzle surface 30a of the ink head 30 negative pressure. Accordingly, the ink in the ink head 30 is forcibly sucked from the ink head 30 side toward the cap member 112 side. The ink sucked to the cap member 112 side by the suction pump 114 is sent as waste liquid to the waste liquid tank 42 and stored therein.

  As waste liquid is stored in the waste liquid tank 42, the positional relationship between the detection plate 120 and the sensor 122 changes as shown in FIGS. 5 (a), 5 (b), 5 (c), and 5 (d).

  At this time, the control unit 202, the storage unit 204, the sensor detection unit 206, the waste liquid counter detection unit 208, the correction value calculation unit 210, the waste liquid volume calculation unit 212, the waste liquid volume comparison unit 214, and the display in the microcomputer 34 are displayed. As described above, the correction value calculation unit 210 calculates the correction value by the processing with the control unit 216, and the waste liquid volume calculation unit 212 calculates the waste liquid volume from the correction unit suction volume. When the waste liquid volume comparison unit 214 determines that the waste liquid volume calculated by the waste liquid volume calculation unit 212 exceeds the waste liquid volume threshold value stored in the storage unit 204, the display control unit 216 controls the display unit 40a to display the waste liquid volume. “Full” is displayed.

  As described above, according to the ink jet printer according to the present invention, the value acquired as the waste liquid capacity accommodated in the waste liquid tank 42 almost accurately reflects the waste liquid capacity actually accommodated in the waste liquid tank 42. Value.

  For this reason, it can be made to recognize that the waste liquid tank 42 is full with an appropriate timing with respect to an operator, and an operator's workability | operativity can be improved.

  The embodiment described above may be modified as shown in the following (1) to (2).

  (1) In the above-described embodiment, detailed timings at which the sensor detection unit 206, the waste liquid counter detection unit 208, the correction value calculation unit 210, the waste liquid volume calculation unit 212, the waste liquid volume comparison unit 214, and the like execute processing. Although explanation is omitted, for example, the following timing may be used.

  That is, when the sensor detection unit 206 and the waste liquid counter detection unit 208 detect the sensor hit and sensor unhit timings while the inkjet printer 10 is activated and various processes including the cleaning process are performed, the correction value calculation unit 210 A correction value is calculated, the waste liquid volume calculation unit 212 calculates a correction unit suction volume based on the calculated correction value, and the calculated correction unit suction volume is stored in the storage unit 204. The waste liquid volume calculation unit 212 reads the correction unit suction volume stored in the storage unit 204 at every predetermined timing, and calculates the waste liquid volume using the read correction unit suction volume. When the waste liquid volume comparison unit 214 determines that the waste liquid volume calculated by the waste liquid volume calculation unit 212 exceeds the waste liquid volume threshold value stored in the storage unit 204, the display control unit 216 controls the display unit 40a to display “ “Full” is displayed.

  Alternatively, a processing program for calculating a correction value is set as one of the processing programs of the ink jet printer 10, and when the operator attaches the empty waste liquid tank 42 to the ink jet printer 10, the operator Start up. When this processing program is activated, the cleaning process is forcibly continued and the sensor detection unit 206 and the waste liquid counter detection unit 208 can detect the timing of sensor hit and sensor unhit. When the sensor detection unit 206 and the waste liquid counter detection unit 208 detect the timing of sensor hit and sensor unhit, the correction value calculation unit 210 calculates the correction value, and the waste liquid volume calculation unit 212 calculates the correction unit suction volume based on the calculated correction value. Is calculated, the calculated correction unit suction volume is stored in the storage unit 204, and the processing program is terminated. Then, the correction unit suction capacity stored in the storage unit 204 is read at every predetermined timing while the ink jet printer 10 is activated and various processes including the cleaning process are executed, and the waste liquid is read using the read correction unit suction capacity. Calculate capacity. If it is determined by the waste liquid volume comparison unit 214 that the waste liquid volume calculated by the waste liquid volume calculation unit 212 exceeds the threshold value of the waste liquid volume stored in the storage unit 204, the display control unit 216 controls the display unit 40a to display “full tank”. Is displayed.

  (2) In the above-described embodiment, the correction value is calculated by the processing of the sensor detection unit 206, the waste liquid counter detection unit 208, and the correction value calculation unit 210. However, the present invention is not limited to this. is there.

  For example, first, an operator attaches an empty waste liquid tank 42 to the inkjet printer 10. Thereafter, the inkjet printer 10 is activated to execute various processes including a cleaning process. The operator removes the waste liquid tank 42 from the ink jet printer 10 at an arbitrary timing, and measures the weight of the waste liquid stored in the waste liquid tank 42. The actually measured unit suction volume is obtained by dividing the value obtained by converting the weight into the volume by the total count. The operator calculates the difference between the actually measured unit suction volume and the theoretical value unit suction volume as a correction value. If the waste liquid volume calculation unit 212 is set to perform processing using the correction value calculated as described above, the waste liquid volume calculation unit 212, the waste liquid volume comparison unit 214, and the display control unit 216 may The same processing may be performed.

  When the operator measures the weight of the waste liquid stored in the waste liquid tank 42 and then inputs the measured value to the inkjet printer 10, a process for calculating a correction value or the like may be automatically executed. Of course.

  The present invention is suitable for use in an ink jet printer that performs predetermined printing by discharging ink from an ink head by an ink jet method.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Inkjet printer, 30 Ink head, 32 Damper, 34 Microcomputer, 36 Ink cartridge, 38 Cap apparatus, 40 Operation panel, 40a Display part, 42 Waste liquid tank, 100 Ink path, 112 Cap member, 114 Suction pump, 118 Waste liquid counter , 120 detection plate, 122 sensor, 202 control unit, 204 storage unit, 206 sensor detection unit, 208 waste liquid counter detection unit, 210 correction value calculation unit, 212 waste liquid volume calculation unit, 214 waste liquid volume comparison unit, 216 display control unit

Claims (5)

In an inkjet printer that ejects ink from an inkjet nozzle of an ink head by an inkjet method,
An ink head having an inkjet nozzle for discharging ink;
A cap member that seals the opening of the inkjet nozzle of the ink head;
A suction pump for supplying negative pressure to the cap member to suck ink from the ink head;
A waste liquid tank for storing ink sucked by the suction pump as a waste liquid;
Measuring means for measuring the weight of the waste liquid stored in the waste liquid tank;
An ink jet printer comprising: a correcting unit that corrects a theoretical value of the suction capacity of the suction pump based on the weight measured by the measuring unit. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, further comprising:
Based on the theoretical value of the suction capacity of the suction pump corrected by the correction means, acquisition means for acquiring the waste liquid capacity stored in the waste liquid tank;
Comparison means for comparing the waste liquid volume acquired by the acquisition means with a preset threshold;
An inkjet printer comprising: display means for performing predetermined display based on a comparison result of the comparison means. The inkjet printer according to claim 1 or 2,
The correction means acquires the actual suction capacity of the suction pump from the weight measured by the measurement means, and corrects the theoretical value of the suction capacity of the suction pump by the acquired actual suction capacity. Inkjet printer. In the method of correcting the waste liquid capacity in the ink jet printer that corrects the waste liquid capacity of the waste liquid stored in the waste liquid tank by the cleaning process of the ink jet printer,
Measure the weight of the waste liquid actually discharged to the waste liquid tank by sucking ink from the suction pump,
An ink jet printer, wherein the theoretical value of the suction capacity of the suction pump is corrected based on the measured weight. In the method of correcting the waste liquid capacity in the ink jet printer that corrects the waste liquid capacity of the waste liquid stored in the waste liquid tank by the cleaning process of the ink jet printer,
Measure the weight of the waste liquid actually discharged to the waste liquid tank by sucking ink from the suction pump,
Obtaining the suction capacity of the suction pump from the measured weight;
A method for correcting a waste liquid volume in an ink jet printer, wherein the theoretical value of the suction capacity of the suction pump is corrected based on the acquired actual suction capacity.

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