Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Controller
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-05
2001-09-25
Nguyen, Thinh (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Controller
C347S030000, C347S043000, C347S033000, C347S035000, C347S019000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293641
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus for printing at high speed by emitting ink onto a cloth to be recorded. More specifically, the present invention relates to a recording apparatus capable of high speed printing and not wasting ink in which drying of an ink jet head is prevented even when inks of different properties are used.
2. Description of the Background Art
Methods of industrial textile printing for dying cloth include screen printing, roller printing and transfer printing. Each of these printing methods is a printing technique completed by organic combination of a series of steps including planning of design pattern, engraving or processing of the design pattern, production of starch and preparation of cloth. Such printing technique requires four steps as well as high skill. Therefore, printing of a cloth requires time and labor, and therefore, considerable cost. Further, such printing methods are not necessarily suitable for producing various different types of products in small amount.
Recently, ink jet printing method, which is considered suitable for producing various types of products in small amount has been practically used. Ink jet printing method includes a method of printing using inks of four colors, that is, yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (B) as in a printer for a personal computer, a method using eight colors including red (R), green (G), blue (B) and a special color in addition to Y, M, C and B, and a method using a total of ten colors.
Further, in order to attain realer printing, density of printing ink is changed in accordance with the design to be printed, so that various tones are realized.
Generally, in a nozzle of a head which is not frequently used, ink dries in the ink emission hole and the vicinity thereof, so that the ink comes to have higher viscosity. This leads to the problems of failure in ink emission or in stability of the direction of ink emission. As already described, when wider variety of inks are used, frequency of use per unit time of each type of ink is reduced, making the problem more serious.
In order to prevent ink viscosity from being increased, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 59-7053 discloses an ink jet recording apparatus in which ink of which viscosity has been increased is emitted to an ink receiving equipment at a portion other than the printing portion, at the time of power on. This smoothes subsequent ink emission, ensuring satisfactory printing.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 62-116153 discloses a recording apparatus in which whether ink is to be emitted or not is determined dependent on atmospheric moisture, and when the moisture is lower than a prescribed value, ink is emitted. This prevents increase in ink viscosity.
In an ink jet recording apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 63-260450, ink emission control is performed dependent on moisture and temperature of the atmosphere. This prevents increase in ink viscosity.
However, in any of the above described three apparatuses, a head is moved to the ink receiving equipment, stopped there and ink is emitted at a time point when it is determined that intermission is necessary. Therefore, much time is consumed for ink emission. Further, inks of all types are emitted simultaneously. This results in increased size of the ink receiving equipment. Further, inks are wasted, as inks of which viscosity are not increased are simultaneously emitted.
Further, a mechanism for preventing overflow of ink from the ink receiving equipment is also important.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The prevent invention was made to solve the above described problems and its object is to provide a recording apparatus capable of printing with high resolution and high precision at high speed, by preventing drying of the ink jet head.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus capable of printing with high resolution and high precision at high speed by preventing drying of the ink jet head with small amount of ink emission.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus capable of printing with high resolution and high precision at high speed, while preventing drying of the ink jet head and overflow of discharged ink from an ink receiving equipment.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus capable of printing with high resolution and high precision at high speed by preventing drying of the ink jet head even when atmospheric temperature changes.
The recording apparatus in accordance with an aspect of the present invention includes an ink jet head for emitting a plurality of different types of inks independently while performing a reciprocating operation; an ink receiving equipment provided outside a recording area, for receiving the inks emitted from the ink jet head; an ink emission amount setting unit for setting, for each ink, the amount of emission of the ink to be emitted to the ink receiving equipment; and a control unit for controlling the ink jet head such that the ink of the set emission amount is periodically emitted to the ink receiving equipment.
The ink jet head emits inks to the ink receiving equipment periodically, by the amount determined for each ink. Therefore, drying of the ink jet head can be prevented without consuming much time. Even when a plurality of inks of different properties are used, it is possible to set optimal amount of emission for each ink, and therefore printing with high resolution and high precision is possible.
Preferably, the control unit includes a circuitry for controlling the ink jet head such that the ink of the aforementioned emission amount is emitted to the ink receiving equipment at every reciprocating operation of the ink jet head.
The ink jet head emits inks by the amount determined for each ink, at every reciprocating operation, to the ink receiving equipment. Accordingly, drying of the ink jet head can be prevented without consuming much time. Further, only a small amount of ink need be emitted for one reciprocating operation. Further, it becomes unnecessary to provide ink receiving equipments at opposing ends of the recording apparatus.
More preferably, the ink receiving equipment includes an ink tank provided outside the aforementioned recording area for receiving the inks emitted from the ink jet head, and a sensor for detecting whether the inks received by the ink tank reached a prescribed amount or not.
Since the ink receiving equipment has a detecting unit for detecting whether the received inks reached a prescribed amount or not, it is possible to prevent overflow of the discharged ink from the ink receiving equipment.
The recording apparatus in accordance with another aspect of the present invention includes an ink jet head for emitting a plurality of different types of inks independently while performing a reciprocating operation; an ink receiving equipment provided outside a recording area for receiving the inks emitted from the ink jet head; a prescribed emission amount setting unit for setting a prescribed amount of emission for each ink; a circuitry for measuring the amount of emission of the inks emitted to the recording area by the ink jet head for each ink; and a control unit for controlling the ink jet head such that inks are periodically emitted to the ink receiving equipment by the amount determined for each ink.
The ink jet head emits to the ink receiving equipment the ink of which amount of emission has not yet reached the prescribed amount of emission. Therefore, drying of the ink jet head can be prevented without consuming much time, and ink is not wasted. Even when a plurality of inks of different properties are used, it is possible to set optimal amount of emission for each ink, and therefore printing with high resolution and high precision is possible.
Preferably, the recording apparatus further includes a circuitry for measuring temperature of the ink jet head, and the prescribed emission amount setting unit includes a circu
Ochi Norihiro
Yoshimura Hisashi
Nguyen Thinh
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
Stewart Jr. Charles W.
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