JPH05138878A - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] An object of the present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus, and in particular, to provide an inkjet recording apparatus having improved input operability of a set value of a print character width. A main control element (CPU) sets a print character width set value and ink particles based on respective input conditions of a print object conveyance speed, a print dot pattern, and a print character width desired by a user of an inkjet recording apparatus. This can be achieved by calculating and calculating the number of brooms and using a control configuration that automatically sets. [Effect] Since the main control element calculates based on the input conditions,
There is no setting error and the setting is completed in a short time. Further, since the maximum number of the ink particle splashes is set within the allowable range, the printing distortion can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus, and more particularly to an ink jet recording apparatus having improved input operability of a set value of character width for printing by the ink jet recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the spread of ink jet recording apparatuses in various fields, the operability of the ink jet recording apparatus, and particularly the setting of a print character width for printing with a character width desired by a user of the ink jet recording apparatus. , Simplification is desired.

Conventionally, the print character width of an ink jet recording apparatus is not set by the length (mm).
Preliminary calculation is performed based on the conditions of the number of ink particles, the number of vertical dots in the print dot pattern, the number of dots, the ink excitation frequency, and the print dot diameter, and the operator manually inputs from the input section of the inkjet recording device. Had set.

There is also a configuration in which the print character width is set by communication from an external device such as a control computer as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 227465/1984, but both of them are skilled in the operation of an ink jet recording apparatus. Operator involvement was essential.

[0005]

In the conventional method, in the case of a beginner-level operator who operates the ink jet recording apparatus for the first time, it takes time to pre-calculate the print character width, and trial and error by trial printing is repeated. As a result, a desired print character width setting value is obtained.

An object of the present invention is to set a minimum condition for printing with an ink jet recording apparatus and to automatically set a desired print character width without performing a preliminary calculation of the print character width. An object is to provide an excellent inkjet recording device.

[0007]

The above object is based on the minimum conditions for printing with an ink jet recording apparatus.
This is achieved by the main control element (CPU) in the inkjet recording apparatus computing and calculating the set value of the print character width.

[0008]

The set value of the print character width is, as described in the section of the prior art, the conveyance speed of the print object, the number of ink particle spreads, the number of vertical dots of the dot pattern to be printed, the number of horizontal dots, the ink excitation frequency, the printing It is calculated based on each condition of the dot diameter, but among these, the conveyance speed of the printing object and the number of vertical dots and the number of horizontal dots of the dot pattern to be printed are conditions determined by the user of the inkjet recording device, and before printing The data is stored in the storage element in the inkjet recording apparatus from the input unit as data. Further, since the ink excitation frequency is a constant determined by the ink used and the print dot diameter is a constant determined by the nozzle used, it is stored in advance in the storage element as data. Therefore, by setting the print character width (length) desired by the user from the input section, the main control element in the inkjet recording device can print the desired print character based on conditions other than the number of ink particle spreads. The character width setting value and the number of ink particle splashes can be calculated and calculated.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a control system of the present invention.

The CPU 1 is a ROM via the bus line 2.
3, a main control element for reading and executing programs and data from the RAM 4. The ROM 3 is a read-only storage element, and the RAM 4 is a readable / writable storage element. Pi
A5 is an input / output element for reporting the state of each part of the inkjet recording apparatus (hereinafter abbreviated as IJP) to the CPU.
The input unit 6 is means for inputting the contents (print data) to be printed by IJP or the conditions for printing.

The print data and print conditions input from the input unit 6 are read by the CPU 1 via the bus line 2 and stored in the RAM.
Stored in 4. The set value of the print character width described above is also input from the input unit 6 and stored in the RAM 4. In the present invention, the CPU 1 can set the print character width by the CPU 1 only by setting the minimum necessary conditions for printing in IJP, such as the desired print character width and the printing material conveyance speed, by the user of the IJP. Is calculated and calculated, and is automatically set and stored in the RAM 4, the details of which will be described later.

Next, the printing principle of IJP will be described with reference to FIG.

An excitation power source 8 is connected to the nozzle 7, and the ink supplied to the nozzle 7 is turned into particles near the ejection port by the action of the excitation power source 8. When the particle-shaped ink passes through the charging electrode 9, it is charged with an electric charge amount corresponding to a signal from the character signal generator 10. The charged charged ink particles are deflected according to the charge amount in the electric field generated by the high-voltage power supply 12 connected to the deflection electrode 11 while passing through the deflection electrode 11, and the printed matter is printed. Reach the surface of 13. The printing principle of IJP is to print dot characters by scanning charged ink particles in the vertical direction and transporting the print object in the horizontal direction. The ink particles that are not charged are not affected by the electric field in the deflection electrode 11 and are not deflected, and thus are collected by the gutter 14 and reused as the supplied ink.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a dot pattern of a character printed by IJP.

FIG. 3 shows a pattern example of 7 dots in the vertical direction and 5 dots in the horizontal direction.

Since the print character width is determined by the distance that the print object moves after one vertical line (7 dots) is printed and before the printing of the next line is started, the transfer speed of the print object is determined. In this case, the print character width can be adjusted by changing the time until the printing of the next row starts in the vertical one-row printing as described above.

The print character width in IJP is expressed by the following equation.

[0018]

[Equation 1]

W: Width of print character (mm) Y: Number of dots in the horizontal direction M: Number of dots of ink particles T: Number of dots in the vertical direction s: Set value of print character width V: Conveyance speed of print object (m / min) f : Ink excitation frequency (kHz) d: Print dot diameter The above number is the part related to the adjustment of the print character width, and defines the time from the start of the vertical line to the start of the next line. It is a part. As described above, T (the number of dots in the vertical direction) and f (ink excitation frequency) are determined by the dot pattern to be printed by the user and the ink used, and therefore are treated as constants. Conventionally, s (the set value of the print character width) and M (the number of ink particle spreads) have been obtained by pre-calculation based on the respective conditions in accordance with the above mathematical expression 1.

Here, an explanation of the number of ink particles is shown in FIG.
By

The ink ejected from the nozzle 7 is charged by the charging electrode 9.
As described above, the particles are converted into particles while passing through the sheet and are charged with an electric charge amount corresponding to the signal from the character signal generator 10. It is the number M of ink particle spreads that determines how many individualized ink particles are charged and used for printing. FIG. 4 shows an example in which every two ink particles are charged. As described above, since the ink particles are charged, a Coulomb force is generated between the particles and a repulsive force is generated between them. Due to this repulsive force, the ink particles may reach a position deviated from the specified position of the print target 13, which causes a print distortion. In order to reduce the print distortion, it is necessary to increase the distance between charged ink particles, that is, set the ink particle number M to be large. However, since the number of ink particles (charged ink particles) used for printing decreases per unit time, the printed character width W becomes large. In reality, the ink particle spreading number M is set as large as possible within an allowable range from the print character width W desired by the user of the IJP and the print object conveying speed V, and the set value s of the print character width is set. It has been decided.
In the present invention, the set value s of the print character width is automatically set only by setting the necessary minimum conditions of the print object conveyance speed V, the dot pattern to be used and the desired print character width W from the input unit 6. Therefore, the operation as shown in FIG. 5 is performed. Figure 5
Shows a control flowchart of the present invention. BOX15
, The user selects the dot pattern used for printing,
Set from the input unit 6. The CPU 1 reads the data of the number of dots in the vertical direction T and the number of dots in the horizontal direction Y from the ROM 3 from the selected dot pattern and stores it in the RAM 4 (BOX).
16).

In the BOX 17, when the user sets the print object conveying speed V and the desired print character width W from the input unit 6, the CPU 1 fetches the data and stores it in the RAM 4. Prior to the calculation of the print character width setting value s, the CPU 1
Reads the initial value of the number M of ink particle splashes from the ROM 3 and starts calculation (BOX18, BOX19).

The BOX 20 is a calculation result judgment unit,
When the set value of the print character width as a result of the calculation is negative, in order to realize the desired print character width W, it is unreasonable to select the input condition, that is, the object conveying speed V and the print dot pattern. , And BOX24 displays a message to warn the user. If the calculation result of the BOX 20 is positive or 0, it means that there is the print character width setting value s for realizing the desired print character width W.
The process shifts to 1 and it is determined whether or not the number M of ink particle splashes for reducing the above-described print distortion can be increased. BOX
When it is not possible to increase the number of ink particle blobs as a result of the calculation in 21, the process proceeds to BOX22, the print character width set value s calculated and calculated in BOX19 is stored in the RAM 4, and the setting of the print condition is completed. Further, when the calculation result in the BOX 21 makes it possible to increase the number of ink particle blinks, the process shifts to the BOX 22, the ink particle blink number M is updated, and the calculation is performed again from the BOX 19.

As described above, according to the operation of the control flow chart of the present invention, the set value s of the print character width for realizing the desired print character width W is automatically calculated, and the number of ink particle spreads is within the allowable range. Since M is set to be large, an effect of reducing print distortion is also produced. According to the present invention, the printing material conveying speed V, the print dot pattern, and the desired print character width W
It is necessary to set from the input unit 6, but these conditions are less than the respective conditions of the calculation formula shown in the above-mentioned Formula 1 and are not conditions that cannot be set unless the calculation formula of Formula 1 is understood.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to print with a desired print character width even if the operator of the IJP does not understand the above-mentioned equation 1, and the defect due to the calculation error of the equation 1 is possible. Printing can be prevented. In addition, the number of input setting items is reduced, and the main control element (CPU) automatically calculates, calculates, and sets the set value of the print character width, which has the effect of reducing the setup time. Further, as described above, the maximum value of the number of ink particle splashes is automatically set within the allowable range, so that the print distortion that greatly affects the product value in IJP is reduced.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize the simplification of the setting of the print character width which has been desired conventionally, and it is possible for an operator of a beginner level to fully use the IJP and to improve the print quality. It is possible to provide a good ink jet recording apparatus to industries in each field.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control system showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a printing principle of an inkjet recording device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a dot pattern of an inkjet recording device.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the number of ink particle blinks.

FIG. 5 is a control flowchart according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main control element (CPU), 2 ... Bus line, 3 ... Read-only memory element (ROM), 4 ... Read / write memory element (RAM), 5 ... Input / output element (PiA), 6 ... Input part, 7 ... Nozzle, 8 ... Excitation power supply, 9 ... Charging electrode, 10 ...
Character signal generator, 11 ... Deflection electrode, 12 ... High-voltage power supply,
13 ... Printed matter, 14 ... Gutter.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A print head, which periodically ejects ink particles from a nozzle, and a non-printed material move at a relatively constant speed,
An ink jet recording apparatus for executing printing on the surface of an object to be printed has an input unit for inputting contents and conditions to be printed, and a storage unit for storing information input by the input unit. An inkjet recording apparatus having a function of executing a calculation and calculation of a print character width setting value by using the print condition information input by the above and storing it in the storage means. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a function of calculating and calculating the maximum value of the number of ink particle splashes defined by the print condition information input by the input means, and storing the maximum value in the storage means. Inkjet recording device. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, having a function of issuing a warning to an operator when the calculation result of the print character width setting value is unreasonable.