JP2802297B2 - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a physical distribution system and the like, for example, letters, numbers, and other marks and symbols indicating the manufacturer, the contents of the package, the quantity thereof, etc. on the side of the cardboard box for packaging. The present invention relates to an ink-jet printing apparatus used for printing an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of printing apparatus is roughly composed of four blocks, and a head block of a first block is provided with an ink jet print head and mounted with a drive signal correction board. The second block is an ink tank unit having a built-in ink tank for supplying ink to the print head, and the input terminal of the third block is for inputting print contents, and includes a display, Equipped with a keyboard for input,
The fourth block is a control unit for controlling the drive of the print head. The unit includes a drive circuit board for generating a drive signal and generating a signal for driving the print head, a power supply circuit board, and other control circuits. The board is mounted. And the drive circuit board of this control unit and the drive signal correction circuit board in the head block are:
It is electrically connected by a bellows-shaped pipe conduit having a flat cable inside, and the drive signal generated by this drive circuit is corrected and printed by this drive signal correction circuit board according to the characteristics of the print head. The print head is supplied to the head, and the print head is driven.

[0003] Adjustment of the height of print characters or the like involves changing the attitude of the head block by rotating it.
For this purpose, the mounting screws used for mounting the head block on the support column are once loosened to adjust the posture.

[0004]

However, in order to adjust the height of the printed characters, the head block is once inclined by guesswork and then printed, and the height of the printed characters and the like is measured and adjusted. If necessary, change the inclination angle of this block and then print again.Adjusting the height of printed characters, such as determining the height of characters by repeating such work, takes time. It was very complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet printing apparatus which can easily adjust the height of printed characters and the like.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a head block provided with an ink jet type print head in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in parallel. In a printing apparatus in which the size of a print character or the like can be changed by rotating the head block and changing its attitude, the rotation center position of the head block is set to a plurality of nozzles.
Match the center position of the nozzle located at the end of the
There is provided a display means for displaying the height of a print character or the like corresponding to the rotation angle of the head block.

[0007]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a head block 1.
Are supported by a support base 2 so as to be adjustable in height and in a reciprocating direction. That is, the vertical column 21 is provided on the support 2
The horizontal plate 24 is supported by a mounting member 23 fixed to the vertical column, and the head block 1 can move forward and backward and rotate at the rear end at the front end of the horizontal plate. It is supported by.

An ink tank unit 3 containing an ink tank (not shown) is mounted and fixed on an ink tank unit bracket 25 fixed to the rear end of the horizontal plate 24.

A fixed base 4 separately installed behind the support base 2
Is fixed to the upper end of the support column 41. A control unit 5 including a power supply circuit board and a control circuit board (not shown) is fixed on the fixing base 4.

An input terminal 6 is provided on the control unit 5 and includes a keyboard 61 for inputting print contents and a display device 62 for displaying the same. The keyboard 61 is mounted on the control unit 5. Connected to the control circuit board.

The control unit 5 and the head block 1 are connected by a conduit 7 with a built-in flat cable, and the space between the ink tank unit 3 and the head block 1 is connected with a conduit 8 with a built-in ink tube (FIG. 3).
(Shown).

FIGS. 2 and 3 are a cross-sectional view and a vertical cross-sectional view of the head block 1, respectively.
Inside, a driving circuit board 12 is supported by columns 11. The drive circuit board 12 includes a circuit that generates a print head drive signal described later. The conduit 7 is connected to a head block via a conduit connector 71, and a front end of a flat cable 72 provided inside is connected to a rear end of the drive circuit board 12 via a socket 73. A drive signal correction circuit board 14 is connected to a leading end of the drive circuit board 12 via a card edge connector 13. The drive signal is supplied from the drive circuit board 12 to the drive signal correction circuit board 14, and the drive signal from the drive circuit board 12 is corrected according to the characteristics of the print head 16 and supplied to the print head. Things. The ink tube 82 built in the conduit 8 connected via the conduit connector 81 penetrates the front plate 10a of the base plate 10 and reaches the front. The upper opening of the base plate 10 is covered by an upper cover 15.

The control circuit board incorporated in the control unit 5 controls the driving of a print head 16 to be described later via a drive circuit board 12 and a drive signal correction circuit board 14.

An ink jet print head 16 is fixed to the front surface of the front plate 10a of the base plate 10. A front cover 17 that covers the ink jet print head 16 is detachably connected to the front plate 10a by a set screw 17a. The front end of the drive signal correction circuit board 14 is the print head 1
6, the front end of the ink tube 82 is connected to the print head 16, and can supply ink to the nozzle portion 16a provided on the front surface of the print head. The nozzle portion 16a is slightly recessed so as to fit into a window hole 17c opening in the front surface 17b of the front cover 17, so that the front surface 16b of the nozzle portion and the front surface 17b of the front cover are maintained at substantially the same level. I'm dripping.

As shown in FIG. 4, the front surface 17b of the front cover
, The diagonal corners of the window hole 17c (lower right and upper left corners)
Are provided with two projections 17d, respectively. The two protrusions at one corner are slightly separated from each other, and the gap is substantially a groove. The projections 17d are for maintaining a predetermined gap between the projection 17d and the printing surface during printing. When the gap between the two protrusions at one corner is formed as a groove, when ink overflows from a nozzle 16d, which will be described later, it becomes a passage through which excess ink flows, and does not stain the printing surface or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a seal member 18 made of rubber or the like is provided in a gap between the window hole 17c and the nozzle portion 16a, and ink from a nozzle 16d to be described later intrudes into the inside from the outside. Is prevented. An operation knob 16c protrudes from the side of the print head 16 for forcibly discharging ink when ink is clogged due to dust or bubbles in the ink flow path.

FIGS. 3 to 7 show the head block 1 connected to the horizontal plate 2.
4 shows a means 9 for supporting the retractable and rotatable support. By rotating the head block 1, the size of a character or the like to be printed can be set. 4 and 5 are viewed from the front side, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are viewed from the back side. On the rear end side of the base plate 10, rotation support plates 91 and 92 (shown in FIG. ) Protrudes, and a bracket 93 is provided so as to be able to slide on the rotation support plates 91 and 92. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, nozzles 16d are arranged in a horizontal row in the nozzle portion 16a, and the center of the nozzle portion 16a is located at the back face facing the rightmost nozzle 16d1 as shown in FIG. The head block 1 and the bracket 93 are rotatably connected to each other by the rotation center screw 94 as shown in FIGS. The bracket 93 is slidably engaged with the horizontal plate 24 in a fixed posture so that the head block 1 moves forward and backward.
, And the head block 1 can move forward and backward together with the bracket 93. Rotation center screw 9
4 is aligned with the center of the rightmost nozzle 16d1 of the nozzle, so that the portion of the character printed by the nozzle 16d1 (for example, the lower side position) is always kept constant, and the portion of the character etc. printed by the other nozzle 16d is kept constant. Will change according to the rotation angle.

As means for regulating the rotation angle, FIG.
5 is provided with an arc-shaped guide groove 91a centered on the nozzle 16d1.
When they are horizontally aligned, a fixing screw 91b that penetrates through the left end of the guide groove 91a and is slidable in the guide groove is screwed into the front surface of the bracket 93. Also, FIG.
7 is provided on the back surface of the bracket 93 with an arc-shaped guide groove 93a centered on the rotation center screw 94. When the nozzle 16b is horizontally aligned, the guide groove 93a is provided.
A fixing screw 93b that passes through the left end of the rotation supporting plate 92 and is slidable in the guide groove is screwed to the back surface of the rotation supporting plate 92.

4 and 6 show a state in which the fixing screws 91b and 93b are fixed to the left ends of the guide grooves 91a and 93a, and the nozzles 16d are horizontally aligned. FIGS. 5 and 7 show that the fixing screws 91b and 93b
a, 93a are fixed in a middle position, and the nozzles 16d are aligned in a left-up incline. If the inclination angle is large, the height difference between the nozzle 16d at the right end and the nozzle 16d at the left end is large, so that characters with a high height can be printed. When printing is possible and the nozzles are aligned horizontally, it will be a line or dot print.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in order to facilitate the setting of the inclination angle, that is, the setting of the height of the printed characters and the like, a display means for displaying the height of the printed characters and the like along the guide groove 93a. The scale 95 is attached. 5mm with large scale
The height of characters and the like can be set in increments, and printing of characters and the like having a maximum height of 40 mm is possible. The small scale indicates 8 mm and 12 mm as heights usually used for small letters and the like.

Next, the printing operation will be described. This printing apparatus prints characters and the like on the side surface of a cardboard box for packaging conveyed by a belt conveyor, for example, while conveying without stopping conveyance. Front 16b of 16a
Can be opposed to the side surface of the box, which is the printing surface, with a gap at least equal to the height of the projection 17d.

First, the head block 1 is rotated so that characters of a desired height can be printed. As described above, the rotation center screw 94 and the fixing screw 9 shown in FIGS.
1b and 93b are loosened, and the head block 1 is rotated to set the fixing screw 93b to the height of the character of 15 mm, for example, as shown in FIG. As a result, the head block 1 has an inclination angle corresponding to the character height of 15 mm, and the nozzle 16d is moved to the position shown in FIG.
It becomes possible to print characters and the like with a height of 15 mm aligned with the upward slope.

Then, the user turns on the power and inputs a print character or the like using the keyboard 61 of the input terminal 6 and displays it on the display device 62. The print signal subjected to data conversion by the control circuit board built in the control unit 5 is input to the drive circuit board 12 of the head block 1 through the flat cable 72. Here, only the drive pulse signals p1, p2 or p1 as shown in FIG. 8 for driving the print head 16 in accordance with the print signal are generated. Since this drive signal is transmitted to each of the piezoelectric elements (not shown) of the print head 16, the drive circuit board 1
2 is supplied to the drive signal correction circuit board 14 via the card edge connector 13. Therefore, the applied drive signal is corrected in accordance with the characteristics of the print head 16 and supplied to the print head 16, and the piezoelectric element is driven by this signal,
Ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle 16d, and printing is performed on the side surface of the box that is transported at the same timing as the printing. The consumed ink is supplied from the ink tank unit 3 to the print head 16 through the ink tube 82.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show changes in the height of printed characters when the head block 1 is rotated to change the inclination angle of the nozzles 16d to be aligned. FIG.
In FIG. 10, the inclination angle is set to 15 °, and in FIG. 10, the inclination angle is set to 34 °. Assuming that the size of the character "A" printed in the state of FIG. 10 is 1, the size of the character "A" printed in the state of FIG. 9 becomes 1/2, and when the inclination angle is further reduced, , The size of the letter “A” is 1 /
It can be 4. In addition, even if the size of the character “A” changes, the position of the lower side of the character “A” does not change. That is, the lower side of the character is the reference position. This is because the head block 1 was rotated clockwise when viewed from the front with the center of the nozzle located at the right end as the rotation center.

The display means for displaying the height of the printed characters and the like is not limited to the one that directly displays the height as shown in the scale 95 in the figure, but displays the inclination angle of the head block. Means may be used that allows the height of a printed character or the like to be known according to the angle. Alternatively, an angle sensor, a magnetic sensor, a light reflection type or a light transmission type sensor is arranged at the center of rotation to detect the rotation angle and position of the head block,
This may be sent to a controller or an input terminal and displayed.

[0026]

As described above, in the ink jet type printing apparatus of the present invention, since the display means for displaying the height of the printed characters corresponding to the rotation angle of the head block is provided, the height of the characters to be printed is provided. This makes it extremely easy to change and adjust, and the efficiency of adjustment work is improved. In addition, the print quality can be further improved by improving the setting accuracy of the head block.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the head block of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the head block of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view showing a means for swinging the head block of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of a state where the head block of FIG. 1 is inclined.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged rear view showing a unit for swinging the head block of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged rear view of a state where the head block of FIG. 1 is inclined.

FIG. 8 is a waveform diagram of a driving signal of the inkjet head.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing the height of characters printed with the head block inclined at 15 °.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing the height of characters printed with the head block inclined at 34 °.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Head block 16 Ink jet print head 95 Display means (scale) of height of print characters etc.

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 2/01 B41J 2/255 B41J 29/42

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A head block provided with an ink jet type print head in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in parallel . In a printing apparatus whose size can be changed, the rotation center position of the head block is set to the plurality of
Match the center position of the outermost nozzle
And a display means for displaying a height of a print character or the like corresponding to the rotation angle of the head block.