CN113905889A

CN113905889A - Ink-jet printer and one-pass ink-jet printing method

Info

Publication number: CN113905889A
Application number: CN201980096520.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张原�; 张征宇
Original assignee: Beijing Meikeyi Digital Technology Development Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Meikeyi Digital Technology Development Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-06-14
Filing date: 2019-06-14
Publication date: 2022-01-07
Anticipated expiration: 2039-06-14
Also published as: WO2020248221A1; CN113905889B

Abstract

An ink-jet printer and its printing method are used to print the cylindrical or conic object to be printed, the printer comprises at least two groups of printing units arranged along a printing cross beam (5), namely a first direction, each group of printing units is provided with at least one printing nozzle (7), the printing nozzles in each group of printing units are arranged along the length direction of the printing nozzles, namely a second direction, a conveying device (1) is arranged below the printing nozzles, at least two objects to be printed (9) are arranged on the conveying device (1) side by side along the first direction and are fixed in a jig (2) on the conveying device (1) along the second direction, the upper surfaces of the objects to be printed (9) are parallel to the second direction after the objects to be printed are fixed, when the object (9) to be printed rotates and continuously passes through the lower part of the printing unit along the second direction, the printing nozzle (7) sprays ink, and the object to be printed forms pictures and texts after passing through once. The printer has the advantages of compact structure, low cost and high printing efficiency.

Description

Ink-jet printer and one-pass ink-jet printing method

Technical Field

The invention relates to an ink-jet printer and a one-pass ink-jet printing method, in particular to an ink-jet printer and a one-pass ink-jet printing method for efficiently printing a cylinder, a cone or a printing area of the cylinder/the cone.

Background

In the prior art, the simplest method of printing exquisite patterns and characters on a curved surface is to print on a plane carrier, combine the carrier with a target curved surface, and the method is time-consuming and labor-consuming and cannot ensure the final effect. Chinese patent CN94115805.5 discloses a pattern transfer printing method for transferring a pattern on a curved surface of a molded product, which comprises using silk floss paper as a transfer paper, dyeing ink with high-temperature sublimation gas to print the pattern, pretreating the surface of the molded product, including cleaning, priming, primer thermosetting, applying an induction resin and hardening, coating a layer of induction adhesive on the transfer paper, and adhering the transfer paper on the curved surface, without using a mold to pressurize, using high-temperature gasification sublimation reaction to transfer the pattern onto the curved surface, and has the characteristics of beautiful feeling, durability and uneasy falling off.

Patent 200510045534.7 proposes a device for printing pictures and texts on the surface of a candle, which comprises an ink jet printing unit, wherein the printing unit comprises a printing support, a printing head is arranged on the printing support, the printing head can reciprocate linearly relative to the support, two mutually parallel rotating shafts are arranged below the ink jet printing unit, at least one rotating shaft is connected with a driving device, and the driving device and the ink jet printing unit are connected with a circuit board. The candle to be printed is placed on two mutually parallel rotating shafts, and the driving force of the candle is easy to be insufficient in the rotating process because the device is not provided with a pressing mechanism. And in the printing process, the rotating shaft drives the candle to rotate step by step, and ink drops are sprayed out to be attached to the surface of the candle in the reciprocating motion process of the printing head. The printing speed is low and the printing efficiency is low by adopting the printing method.

Patent 201821191887.7 proposes a printing device of a plurality of cylinders, and the device prints the dolly and removes along the frame, sets up the multiunit on the dolly and beats the printer head, sets up the multiunit transmission shaft and places the cylinder and print the substrate, and every group beats printer head and every group transmission shaft one-to-one below it. The setting direction of the spray holes of each group of printing heads is vertical to the moving direction of the cylinder, and the printing mode belongs to a scanning type printing mode, although a plurality of cylinders can be synchronously printed, the printing efficiency is improved, the number of required spray heads is large, in the printing process, only the part of the spray holes in the middle part, which is close to the radial direction of the cylinder, of the spray heads are used for carrying out ink jet, the spray holes at other end parts are not used for carrying out ink jet, otherwise, the printing quality cannot be ensured, and the utilization rate of the spray heads is low; moreover, when the positioning strip 10 is worn, the printing accuracy is affected, and if the positioning strips 10 at different positions are worn to different degrees, the printing effect of each printing substrate 100 is inconsistent; the device can only print a cylinder and cannot print a conical object.

Technical problem

The ink-jet printing device on the surface of the cylinder adopting the ink-jet printing technology in the prior art has the defects of low printing speed, low efficiency, complex structure, large occupied space and high cost, and a cylinder printing device and a method which have simple structure, compactness, smallness and high printing efficiency need to be designed, and can be compatible with various shapes such as printing cones and the like and span larger objects to be printed in overall dimension so as to adapt to wider personalized customization requirements.

Technical solution

Aiming at the problems in the prior art, the invention aims to provide an ink-jet printer and a one-pass ink-jet printing method, which can ensure the printing precision, improve the utilization rate of a spray head, improve the printing efficiency, reduce the occupied space and reduce the manufacturing cost.

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention provides an ink-jet printer, which is used for printing a cylinder/cone or an object to be printed with a cylindrical/cone image-text area, and is characterized in that at least two groups of printing units are arranged along a printing beam, namely a first direction, the bottom surfaces of the at least two groups of printing units are in the same plane, each group of printing units is provided with at least one printing nozzle, the printing nozzles in each group of printing units are arranged along a second direction (the length direction of the printing nozzles), the printing nozzles are vertical to the first direction, a conveying device is arranged below the printing nozzles, the conveying device conveys the object to be printed along the second direction, the object to be printed is fixed on a jig on the conveying device along the second direction, the upper surface of the fixed object to be printed is parallel to the second direction, at least two objects to be printed are arranged side by side along the first direction, the conveying device continuously conveys the object to be printed along the second direction and passes below the printing units, when the object to be printed continuously passes through the lower part of the printing unit, the nozzle sprays ink, the object to be printed forms images and texts after passing through once, and the object to be printed rotates around the central shaft of the object to be printed at a constant speed in the printing process.

In the above ink-jet printer, the number of the printing units is the same as that of the jigs, the number of the printing units is the same as that of the objects to be printed mounted on the conveying device, and the at least two objects to be printed synchronously rotate and convey in the printing process.

In the ink-jet printer, the pictures and texts printed on the object to be printed can be the same or different.

In the above ink-jet printer, the at least two groups of printing units may be disposed on a printing carriage; or each group of printing units can be independently arranged on one printing trolley, and at least two printing trolleys are arranged along the first direction and can move along the first direction.

In the above ink jet printer, the head of each set of printing units may be provided with color ink and white/transparent/primer-based coating ink.

The invention provides a one-pass ink-jet printing method which is characterized in that at least two groups of printing units are arranged along a printing cross beam, namely a first direction, the bottom surfaces of the at least two groups of printing units are parallel to the first direction and are in the same plane, each group of printing units are provided with at least one printing spray head, the printing spray heads in each group of printing units are arranged along a second direction (the length direction of the printing spray heads per se) vertical to the first direction, a conveying device is arranged below the printing spray heads, and a jig is arranged on the conveying device to install at least two objects to be printed, and the method comprises the following steps:

the method comprises the following steps that firstly, objects to be printed are arranged on a jig, the objects to be printed are fixed along a second direction, the upper surface of the objects to be printed is parallel to the second direction, and at least two objects to be printed are sequentially arranged along the first direction;

secondly, the conveying device synchronously and continuously conveys at least two objects to be printed along a second direction at the same speed and passes below the printing unit;

thirdly, when the at least two objects to be printed pass below the at least two groups of printing units, the nozzles in the printing units synchronously spray ink, the objects to be printed respectively form pictures and texts after passing through once, and the objects to be printed rotate around the central axis of the objects to be printed at a constant speed in the printing process;

and fourthly, after the at least two objects to be printed in the third step are printed, the conveying device continues to synchronously convey the objects to be printed for subsequent operation.

In the one-pass inkjet printing method, the third step may further include curing the object to be printed simultaneously.

In the one-pass inkjet printing method, the subsequent operation in the fourth step may include performing a full curing operation, a detection operation, or a discharging operation on the object to be printed.

In the one-pass inkjet printing method, the first step further includes adjusting a vertical distance between an upper surface of the object to be printed and a plane in which nozzles of the head are located to an optimal printing distance, typically 1 to 3 mm.

In the one-pass inkjet printing method, the images and texts formed by each printing unit in the third step can be the same or different; before formal printing, software calibration of ink jet data is carried out on errors generated after mechanical installation of the nozzles, and the nozzles in each group of printing units jet ink drops according to the calibrated ink jet data.

Advantageous effects

The beneficial effects of the design of the invention are as follows:

1. the printer designed by the invention has compact and ingenious structure, saves space and cost compared with an industrial production line type printing device, and is suitable for customers with high customization requirements. When a plurality of objects to be printed are printed simultaneously, the images printed by each object to be printed can be the same or different, and the use is more flexible.

2. According to the invention, a plurality of objects to be printed synchronously rotate and are synchronously printed, so that the time is saved and the printing efficiency is improved. Meanwhile, the number of rotating circles of an object to be printed is detected by adopting an encoder, and printing is controlled by adopting a computer and a mainboard, so that the control is simplified, and the maintenance is convenient.

3. The multiple groups of nozzles are arranged on the same plane, so that the moisturizing maintenance operation of each nozzle is facilitated, the condition of inconvenient ink scraping and moisturizing caused by the fact that the nozzles have angles is avoided, and the design of the ink scraping maintenance device can prevent the nozzles for printing different colors of ink from generating color cross color when ink is scraped.

4. The invention has wider range of objects to be printed, can be used for printing cylinders, cones and special-shaped objects with cylindrical or conical areas to be printed, such as wine bottles, cosmetic bottles and the like, and can ensure the spray painting quality for the objects to be printed with different sizes.

5. The printer design of the invention can ensure that the object to be printed forms a complete printing pattern after passing through the printer continuously for one time, thereby improving the working efficiency and ensuring the printing effect.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet printer according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the ink jet printer of FIG. 1 with front bezel 41 hidden in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the print carriage in one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a corresponding doctoring maintenance arrangement of the print carriage of FIG. 3 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a front view of an ink jet printer according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a fixture portion fixing cone according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a method of ink jet printing according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet printer according to yet another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of the operation of the ink jet printer of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet printer according to yet another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a front view of fig. 10 in accordance with the present invention.

The sequence numbers in the figure are specifically indicated as: the printing device comprises a conveying device 1, a jig 2, a supporting seat 3, a shell part 4, a cross beam 5, a printing trolley 6, a spray head 7, an ink scraping maintenance device 8, an object to be printed 9, an encoder 21, a jacking part 22, a guide rail 23, a slide block 24, a tail jacking block 25, a leveling row part 26, a front baffle plate 41, a first spray head 71, a second spray head 72, a third spray head 73, a fourth spray head 74, a fifth spray head 75, a sixth spray head 76, a first scraping blade 81, a second scraping blade 82, a third scraping blade 83, a fourth scraping blade 84, a fifth scraping blade 85, a sixth scraping blade 86, an ink receiving disc 87, a first object to be printed 91, a second object to be printed 92, a cone 93, a first jig 211, a second jig 212, a third jig 213, an A jig 214, a B jig 215, a first conveying device 11, a second conveying device 12, a third conveying device 13, an A conveying device 14 and a B conveying device 15.

Best mode for carrying out the invention

The invention is described in further detail below with reference to the figures and specific embodiments.

Example one

Fig. 1 and 2 show a perspective view and a front view (a front view after hiding a front bezel 41) of the inkjet printer in this embodiment, respectively, and as shown in fig. 1 to 2, the inkjet printer in this embodiment includes a conveying device 1, a jig 2, a support base 3, a housing portion 4, a cross member 5, and a printing carriage 6. The conveying device 1 is arranged above the supporting base 3, a jig 2 is arranged above the conveying device 1 for mounting the objects to be printed 9, two objects to be printed 9 can be arranged side by side on the jig 2 along an X-axis, i.e. a first direction, in this embodiment, the two objects to be printed 9 are two cylinders, respectively defined as a first object to be printed 91 and a second object to be printed 92, the objects to be printed 9 are arranged along a Y-axis, i.e. a second direction, i.e. a central axis/upper surface of the fixed objects to be printed is parallel to the Y-axis, i.e. the second direction (when the objects to be printed are cones, the upper surface of the fixed cones to be printed is parallel to the Y-axis, i.e. the second direction), the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction, the first object to be printed 91 and the second object to be printed 92 are connected with a same motor (not shown in the figure), the motor can control the first object to be printed 91 and the second object to be printed 92 to synchronously rotate around a self rotation central axis respectively, the conveying device 1 can synchronously convey two objects to be printed 9 back and forth along the Y axis, i.e., the second direction. Set up a crossbeam 5 above tool 2, crossbeam 5 is the first direction setting along the X axle, install a printing dolly 6 on crossbeam 5, set up two sets of shower nozzle printing unit on this embodiment printing dolly 6, two sets of shower nozzle printing unit are arranged in the coplanar side by side along the X axle is the first direction, every group shower nozzle printing unit sets up in the below correspondence on waiting to print the object, be used for printing the corresponding object of waiting to print, set up on every group shower nozzle printing unit along the Y axle be shower nozzle 7 that the second direction (shower nozzle self length direction) concatenates the range in proper order (when every group shower nozzle printing unit only sets up a printing shower nozzle, the shower nozzle sets up along self length direction), theoretically every group shower nozzle printing unit's shower nozzle orifice downwards spray the ink droplet orbit pass through or be close the radial direction that the below corresponds waiting to print the object. As can be seen from the bottom view of the printing cart shown in fig. 3, each set of the nozzle printing units in this embodiment sequentially connects three nozzles in series along the Y axis, i.e., the second direction, the first nozzle printing unit sequentially connects the first nozzle 71, the second nozzle 72, and the third nozzle 73 in series, and the first nozzle 71, the second nozzle 72, and the third nozzle 73 are used for performing image-text printing on the first object to be printed 91 below; the second nozzle printing unit is sequentially connected in series with a fourth nozzle 74, a fifth nozzle 75 and a sixth nozzle 76, and the fourth nozzle 74, the fifth nozzle 75 and the sixth nozzle 76 are used for performing image-text printing on a second object to be printed 92 below. Each set of nozzle printing unit can include printing color ink (cyan ink C, magenta ink M, yellow ink Y, black ink K, light cyan ink LC, light magenta ink LM or other spot color ink) or coating ink (white ink W, transparent ink V or primer ink P, etc.), each nozzle can eject ink of one color or multiple colors, the actual printing color condition is determined according to the requirement, and the number of the printing ink colors of each nozzle and the arrangement mode of the inks of different colors are not limited in the invention. The ink scraping maintenance device 8 is arranged at one end of the cross beam 5 (which is blocked by the housing part 4), the ink scraping maintenance device 8 has a specific structure as shown in fig. 4, two sets of ink scraping units are arranged corresponding to two sets of nozzle printing units, the two sets of ink scraping units are arranged side by side along an X axis, namely, a first direction, and the first set of ink scraping units comprise a first scraping blade 81, a second scraping blade 82 and a third scraping blade 83 which are sequentially connected in series along a Y axis, namely, a second direction, and the first scraping blade 81, the second scraping blade 82 and the third scraping blade 83 are used for scraping ink, specifically, to the first nozzle printing unit: when the printing carriage passes through the wiping maintenance device 8 along the X-axis, i.e., the first direction, the first wiper blade 81 wipes ink from the first head 71, the second wiper blade 82 wipes ink from the second head 72, and the third wiper blade 83 wipes ink from the third head 73; the second group of ink scraping units includes a fourth scraping blade 84, a fifth scraping blade 85 and a sixth scraping blade 86 which are sequentially connected in series along the Y axis, that is, the second direction, and the fourth scraping blade 84, the fifth scraping blade 85 and the sixth scraping blade 86 are used for scraping ink to the second head printing unit, specifically: when the printing carriage passes the wiping maintenance device 8 in the first direction, which is the X-axis, the fourth wiper blade 84 wipes ink from the fourth head 74, the fifth wiper blade 85 wipes ink from the fifth head 75, and the sixth wiper blade 86 wipes ink from the sixth head 76. Further, the wiping maintenance device 8 can still perform wiping maintenance operations in the case where one or two heads are provided for each set of head printing units; when each group of nozzle printing units is connected with four or more nozzles in series, each group of ink scraping units is also provided with scraping blades corresponding to the same number, and the principle is the same. When the blade scrapes the nozzle hole of the head, the waste ink flows into the ink receiving tray 87 and is discharged. The design of this kind of wiping maintenance device 8 can cooperate two sets of shower nozzle printing unit in the same plane, when scraping the shower nozzle fast (shower nozzle wiping moving range reduces), still can prevent to print the shower nozzle of different colour inks and take place the cross color each other. When the spray head needs to be moisturized after printing is finished, the printing trolley 6 moves to the position above the ink scraping maintenance device 8 along the X axis, namely the first direction, the ink scraping maintenance device 8 is driven to rise along the Z axis, namely the vertical direction, the spray head can be moisturized and maintained by covering the spray head bottom plate, so that the spray orifice of the spray head is prevented from being dried and blocked, and at the moment, the scraping blade is arranged in a groove (not shown in the figure) on the left side of the spray head. The exterior of the printer is covered by a housing portion 4, which facilitates the aesthetic appearance of the machine.

Example two

Fig. 5 is a front view of an inkjet printer according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which three sets of head printing units are disposed on a printing cart 6, each set of head printing units is disposed side by side along an X-axis (i.e., a first direction) and in the same plane, each set of head printing units is provided with at least one head, the heads in each set of head printing units are disposed along a Y-axis (i.e., a second direction) (i.e., a length direction of the heads), and when two or more head printing units are disposed in each set, the heads are sequentially arranged in series along the Y-axis (i.e., the second direction) (i.e., the length direction of the heads). Three objects to be printed 9 (cylinders) are respectively fixed on the conveying device 1 below each group of corresponding nozzle printing units, the self rotating central shafts of the three objects to be printed 9 (cylinders) are also parallel to the Y axis, namely the second direction, the three objects to be printed 9 are arranged side by side along the X axis, namely the first direction, and theoretically, the ink drop tracks downwards sprayed from the nozzle orifices of each group of nozzle printing units pass through or are close to the radial direction of the corresponding objects to be printed below. Other structural designs, motion control modes and ink scraping maintenance modes of the printer are the same as the principle of the first embodiment, and are not repeated here.

EXAMPLE III

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of a fixture 2 for fixing a cone according to another embodiment of the present invention, the fixture 2 includes an encoder 21, a tightening member 22, a guide rail 23, a slider 24, a tail top block 25, a leveling row 26, and a support member. A guide rail 23 is arranged on a supporting plate at the bottom of the jig 2 along a Y axis, namely a second direction, a slide block 24 is matched with the guide rail 23 and can slide along the guide rail, namely the second direction, the slide block 24 is connected with a tightening part 22 above the slide block 24 so as to drive the tightening part 22 to slide along the second direction, further a tail part jacking block 25 on the tightening part 22 is controlled to be propped against the bottom of an object to be printed (a cone 93) and to be tightly propped and fixed, a driving motor (not shown in the figure) and an encoder 21 are arranged at the opposite side of the tightening part 22 along the Y axis, namely the second direction, the driving motor is used for driving the two cones 93 to be printed to synchronously rotate around the central axis of the encoder 21, the encoder 21 is used for recording the number of rotation or the angle of the two cones 93 to be printed and feeding back information to a control system for controlling the ink discharging printing of the object to be printed, a parallel adjusting part 26 is also arranged below the jig, the parallel adjusting portion 26 is used for adjusting the upper surface of the sidewall of the cone 93 mounted above to be parallel to the plane of the nozzle hole of the head, that is, to be parallel to the Y-axis, that is, the second direction. When the cone is printed, software is needed to calculate ink feeding data with different densities corresponding to different diameters. The difference from the printer shown in the first embodiment is that the first embodiment mounts two cylinders of the same size, while the second embodiment mounts two cones 93 of the same size, and the other printer is arranged in the same principle.

In summary, in addition to the above three embodiments, the number of nozzle printing units in the printing cart is not limited, and one or more nozzle printing units may be provided, where the number of nozzle printing units is the same as the number of objects to be printed on the lower conveying device. Besides, besides the above implementation mode of arranging one printing trolley and arranging a plurality of groups of spray head printing units on the printing trolley, a plurality of printing trolleys can be arranged, the positions of the printing trolleys on the cross beam can be independently adjusted along the X axis, namely the first direction, and meanwhile, the positions of the objects to be printed corresponding to the lower part can also be adjusted along the X axis, namely the first direction, so that the ink drop tracks sprayed downwards from the spray head spray holes of the spray head printing units on each printing trolley can be ensured to pass through or be close to the radial direction of the objects to be printed corresponding to the lower part through the adjustment of the two.

In the above embodiment, the object of waiting to print can be the cylinder also can be the cone, still can be for the printing area for the special shape object of cylinder or cone, for example beverage bottle, cosmetic bottle etc. supporting different tool can, and wait to print the object of waiting that the overall dimension of object can change, all can ensure good air brushing quality.

In addition, the number of the nozzles arranged in each group of the printing units is not limited, in the first embodiment, each group of the nozzle printing units is sequentially connected with three nozzles in series along the Y axis, namely the second direction, only one nozzle can be arranged or two/four/multiple nozzles can be sequentially connected in series, and the ink jet is designed, installed and controlled according to actual printing requirements.

As shown in fig. 7, firstly, at least two objects to be printed are placed in a jig 2 side by side along an X axis, i.e. a first direction, the objects to be printed are placed along a Y axis, the upper surface of the objects to be printed is parallel to the Y axis, i.e. a second direction, and the distance between the upper surface of the objects to be printed and the surface of the nozzle hole of the nozzle on the printing trolley is adjusted to be the most suitable distance for printing, generally 1 to 3 mm; then starting a starting button, and driving at least two objects to be printed placed on the jig 2 to be synchronously conveyed along the Y axis, namely the second direction by the conveying device 1, wherein the conveying process is continuous and has no pause; when an object to be printed passes through the lower part of the printing unit, the nozzles in each group of printing units sequentially eject ink to the object to be printed which correspondingly enters the printing area from the lower part to form images and texts, and the images and texts on the object to be printed are synchronously formed, as in the printer in the first embodiment, the first nozzle 71, the second nozzle 72 and the third nozzle 73 which are connected in series in the first nozzle printing unit sequentially perform ink jet printing on the area to be printed of the first object to be printed 91 which is conveyed to the lower part, and simultaneously, the fourth nozzle 74, the fifth nozzle 75 and the sixth nozzle 76 which are connected in series in the second nozzle printing unit sequentially perform ink jet printing on the area to be printed of the second object to be printed 92 which is conveyed to the lower part, during the printing process, the first object to be printed 91 and the second object to be printed 92 rotate around the central axes thereof at a constant speed, and the rotating speeds are the same, and after the object to be printed continuously passes through the printing trolley, the required image and text are printed. In the printing process, the ejected ink droplets may be subjected to a pre-curing process or directly subjected to a full curing process, depending on the image requirements, ink characteristics, and other specific conditions (this is not a specific limitation of the present invention); after the objects to be printed are printed simultaneously, subsequent complete curing operation or image painting quality detection operation and the like can be performed on the objects to be printed (the specific operation process is performed according to actual needs), after the required operations are completed, the conveying device 1 reversely conveys the objects to be printed to an initial loading position along a Y axis, namely a second direction, and an operator unloads the objects. Then judging whether an object to be printed needs to be printed or not, if so, carrying out the steps again to carry out feeding, printing and subsequent operation on the new object to be printed; if not, then whole printing is accomplished, can keep wet the maintenance operation to the shower nozzle of printing dolly, and at this moment, the printing dolly moves to the party of crossbeam along X axle first direction promptly, and the scraping of below is maintained the device and is detained the cover and make it keep moist on the shower nozzle, avoids orifice dry and hard to block up.

It should be noted that the images and texts printed on the objects to be printed (the first object to be printed 91 and the second object to be printed 92) may be the same or different. Because of the mechanical manufacturing error of the bottom plate for installing the spray heads or the error generated during the installation of the spray heads, the arrangement of the spray heads in each group of spray head printing units is not in a completely consistent state, before formal printing, objects to be printed at each position need to be respectively tested and printed, software carries out error calibration on the ink discharge data of each group of spray head printing units according to the test result, and then the calibrated data is used for controlling the printing operation of the spray heads.

The printing method uses one (or more) motor(s) to synchronously control two or more objects to be printed to synchronously rotate, uses the same encoder to feed back the rotating angle information of at least two objects to be printed, uses a computer and a main board to control printing, and has two nozzle control boards, wherein each nozzle control board receives data sent by the main board and respectively controls different nozzles to spray ink drops.

Example four

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of an inkjet printer according to another embodiment, which includes a first fixture 211, a second fixture 212, a third fixture 213, a first conveyor 11, a second conveyor 12, a third conveyor 13, a support base 3, a housing portion 4, a cross beam, and a print carriage (which is blocked by the housing portion 4). The first conveying device 11, the second conveying device 12 and the third conveying device 13 are arranged above the supporting seat 3 side by side along an X axis, namely a first direction, a first jig 211 is arranged above the first conveying device 11 for installing two objects to be printed, a second jig 212 is arranged above the second conveying device 12 for installing two objects to be printed, a third jig 213 is arranged above the third conveying device 13 for installing two objects to be printed, the two objects to be printed on each jig are arranged side by side along the X axis, namely the first direction, each object to be printed 9 is fixedly installed along a Y axis, namely a second direction, the first direction is vertical to the second direction, a rotation central axis of each object to be printed 9 is parallel to the Y axis, namely the second direction before printing (if the objects to be printed are cones, the upper surfaces of the cones are parallel to the Y axis, namely the second direction), each conveying device can convey the objects to be printed on the conveying device to and fro along the Y axis, namely the second direction, the object to be printed can synchronously rotate around the central shaft of the object to be printed under the driving of the motor; a beam is arranged above the jig, the beam is arranged along an X axis, namely a first direction, a printing trolley is arranged on the beam, the printing trolley can move back and forth along the X axis, namely the first direction, two groups of spray head printing units are arranged on the printing trolley in the embodiment, the two groups of spray head printing units are arranged side by side along the X axis, namely the first direction, each group of spray head printing units respectively correspond to an object to be printed in the printing jig, each group of spray head printing units are provided with spray heads which are sequentially connected in series along a Y axis, namely a second direction (when only one spray head needs to be arranged, the spray heads are arranged along the length direction of the spray head printing units), theoretically, an ink droplet track sprayed downwards from spray head spray holes of each group of spray head printing units passes through or is close to the radial direction of the object to be printed corresponding to the lower part, referring to the bottom view of the printing trolley shown in figure 3, each group of spray head printing units are sequentially connected in series along the Y axis, namely the second direction, and are provided with three spray heads, namely: the first group of nozzle printing units are sequentially connected in series with the first nozzle 71, the second nozzle 72 and the third nozzle 73, the first nozzle 71, the second nozzle 72 and the third nozzle 73 are used for performing image-text printing on an object to be printed on the left side of the lower jig, the second group of nozzle printing units are sequentially connected in series with the fourth nozzle 74, the fifth nozzle 75 and the sixth nozzle 76, and the fourth nozzle 74, the fifth nozzle 75 and the sixth nozzle 76 are used for performing image-text printing on the object to be printed on the right side of the lower jig. Each group of nozzle printing units can be provided with one, two, three or more nozzles, each group of nozzle printing units can also print color ink (cyan ink C, magenta ink M, yellow ink Y, black ink K, light cyan ink LC, light magenta ink LM or other special color ink) or coating ink (white ink W, transparent ink V or primer ink P), each nozzle can spray one color or multiple colors, and the actual printing color condition is determined according to requirements, and the invention does not limit the printing colors of the nozzles and the arrangement mode of different color inks. A wiping maintenance device (not shown in the figure) is arranged at one end of the cross beam, the wiping maintenance device has a specific structure as shown in fig. 4, two sets of wiping units are arranged corresponding to the two sets of nozzle printing units, the first set of wiping units is used for wiping ink corresponding to the first set of nozzle printing units, and the second set of wiping units is used for wiping ink corresponding to the second set of nozzle printing units. When the spray head needs to be moisturized after printing is finished, the printing trolley is moved to the position above the ink scraping maintenance device along the X axis, namely the first direction, the ink scraping maintenance device is driven to rise along the Z axis, namely the vertical direction, the spray head can be moisturized and maintained by buckling the cover on the bottom plate of the spray head, and the spray orifice of the spray head is prevented from being blocked by dry and hard.

In the actual working process, the operator is located in front of the printer, and because the printing device has a compact structure, one operator can respectively carry out loading and unloading operations on the three positions of the first jig 211, the second jig 212 and the third jig 213. The following description is given by taking an operation example, and the work flow is shown in fig. 9, but the operation method is not limited to this: an operator firstly installs two objects to be printed on the second jig 212; after the installation is completed, the second conveying device 12 continuously conveys two objects to be printed along the Y axis, namely the second direction, the two objects to be printed pass below the printing cross beam and are controlled by the motor to synchronously rotate around the central axis of the second conveying device 12, meanwhile, the control system controls the printing trolley to move to the position above the second conveying device 12 along the cross beam, namely the first direction, when the two objects to be printed on the second conveying device 12 continuously pass below the printing trolley, the spray head performs printing operation on the two objects to be printed, the printing of pictures and texts is completed after one pass, and in the conveying and printing process of the second jig 212, an operator installs the other two objects to be printed on the first jig 211; after the printing trolley finishes the printing operation on two objects to be printed on the second jig 212, the two objects to be printed are moved to the upper part of the first conveying device 11 along the cross beam, namely the first direction, the first conveying device 11 continuously conveys the two objects to be printed along the Y axis, namely the second direction, the motor controls the two objects to be printed on the first conveying device to synchronously rotate around the central axis of the first conveying device, when the two objects to be printed on the first conveying device 11 continuously pass through the lower part of the printing trolley, the spray head prints the two objects to be printed, the printing of pictures and texts is finished after one pass, meanwhile, the objects printed on the second jig 212 are completely cured (the objects are conveyed back to the initial feeding position after the curing is finished), and meanwhile, an operator continuously installs the two objects to be printed on the third jig 213; after the printing trolley finishes the printing operation on two objects to be printed on the first jig 211, the objects to be printed are moved to the position above the third conveying device 13 along the cross beam, namely the first direction, the third conveying device 13 continuously conveys the two objects to be printed along the Y axis, namely the second direction, the motor controls the two objects to be printed on the third conveying device to synchronously rotate around the central axis of the third conveying device, when the two objects to be printed on the third conveying device 13 continuously pass through the position below the printing trolley, the spray head prints the two objects to be printed, the printing of pictures and texts is finished after one pass, meanwhile, the objects which are printed on the first jig 211 are completely cured (the objects are conveyed back to the initial feeding position after the curing is finished), and meanwhile, an operator unloads the two objects to be printed and cured which are printed and cured on the second jig 212 which is conveyed back to the initial position and installs new objects to be printed; after the printing trolley finishes the printing operation on two objects to be printed on the third jig 213, the objects to be printed are moved to the upper part of the second conveying device 12 along the cross beam, namely the first direction, the second conveying device 12 continuously conveys the two objects to be printed along the Y axis, namely the second direction, and the motor controls the two objects to be printed on the objects to be printed to synchronously rotate around the central axis of the second conveying device 12; after the printing trolley finishes the printing operation on two objects to be printed on the second jig 212, the two objects to be printed are moved to the upper part of the first conveying device 11 along the cross beam, namely the first direction, the first conveying device 11 continuously conveys the two objects to be printed along the Y axis, namely the second direction, the motor controls the two objects to be printed on the first conveying device to synchronously rotate around the central axis of the first conveying device, when the two objects to be printed on the first conveying device 11 continuously pass through the lower part of the printing trolley, the spray head prints the two objects to be printed, the printing of pictures and texts is finished after one pass, meanwhile, the objects which are printed on the second jig 212 are completely cured (the objects are conveyed back to the initial feeding position after the curing is finished), and meanwhile, an operator unloads the two objects to be printed and cured on the third jig 213 which is conveyed back to the initial position and installs new objects to be printed; after the printing trolley finishes the printing operation on two objects to be printed on the first jig 211, the objects to be printed are moved to the position above the third conveying device 13 along the cross beam, namely the first direction, the third conveying device 13 continuously conveys the two objects to be printed along the Y axis, namely the second direction, the motor controls the two objects to be printed on the third conveying device to synchronously rotate around the central axis of the third conveying device, when the two objects to be printed on the third conveying device 13 continuously pass through the position below the printing trolley, the spray head prints the two objects to be printed, the printing of pictures and texts is finished after one pass, meanwhile, the objects which are printed on the first jig 211 are completely cured (the objects are conveyed back to the initial feeding position after the curing is finished), and meanwhile, an operator unloads the two objects to be printed and cured which are printed and cured on the second jig 212 which is conveyed back to the initial position and installs new objects to be printed; … …, the process is repeated until no objects to be printed are found, and all the processes are completed.

The operator carries out the material loading respectively on each tool, the unloading operation, print the dolly and come and go in proper order and move to each conveyer top and carry out the formula of going once and print the operation to the below object of waiting to print that lasts to pass through, still will carry out the curing operation after the picture and text is accomplished, curing operation time is longer (for example when spraying transparent ink and make the printing image have the light effect, just need long-time solidification, the visual effect of long-time solidification will be far superior to the visual effect of short time solidification), in order to make the dolly work fully not wasted time of printing (printing the dolly and lasting work, do not carry out the original place and wait), just set up three tool position and correspond three conveyer, thereby can guarantee to have all the time that the object of waiting to print of certain tool position has done printing preparation, and then improve printer work efficiency.

It should be noted that, in the above embodiments, the feeding and discharging of the object to be printed are performed manually by an operator, and may also be implemented automatically.

The above is only a specific example, and in actual operation, the order of placing the object to be printed on the first fixture 211, the second fixture 212, and the third fixture 213 by the operator at the beginning can be arbitrarily interchanged, and the principle is not changed.

Before the color image is printed, the method can also comprise pretreatment operations (such as operations of spraying primer ink and the like) besides the feeding operation, and after the printing is finished, other operations such as printing quality detection and the like can be carried out.

EXAMPLE five

Fig. 10-11 illustrate yet another embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the fourth embodiment described above in that: the printer of this embodiment includes two tools: the a jig 214 and the B jig 215, the a conveying device 14 for conveying the a jig 214 is disposed below the a jig 214, the B conveying device 15 for conveying the B jig 215 is disposed below the B jig 215, and the a jig 214 and the B jig 215 are respectively used for installing two objects to be printed 9. A beam 5 is arranged above the jig, the beam 5 is arranged along an X axis, namely, a first direction, a printing trolley 6 is arranged on the beam 5, the printing trolley 6 can move back and forth along the X axis, namely, the first direction, one end of the beam 5 is provided with an ink scraping maintenance device, the ink scraping maintenance device is shielded by a machine shell part 4, and the arrangement of nozzles on the printing trolley 6, the printing mode and the structure and the working principle of the ink scraping maintenance device are the same as those described in the fourth embodiment.

In the actual working process, an operator is positioned in front of the printer, firstly two objects to be printed are arranged on the B jig 215, then the start button of the station is pressed, the B conveying device 15 continuously conveys the B jig 215 and the two objects to be printed arranged on the B jig along the Y axis, namely the second direction, passes through the lower part of the beam 5, the motor controls the two objects to be printed on the B jig to synchronously rotate around the central axis of the B conveying device, and at the same time, the printing trolley 6 is controlled to move along the cross beam 5 to the corresponding upper position of the B conveying device 15, as shown in figure 10, when the two objects to be printed on the jig 215B continuously pass below the printing trolley 6, the nozzle on the printing trolley 6 synchronously prints the two objects to be printed below, the printing of the pictures and texts is finished after passing through once, the solidification treatment can be carried out while printing, the solidification treatment can also be carried out independently after the printing is finished, and after the solidification treatment is finished, the two objects to be printed are transmitted back to the initial position of the feeding along the Y-axis in the opposite direction. After the operator mounts two objects to be printed on the B fixture 215, during the process of transporting and printing the objects, the operator continues to mount another two objects to be printed on the a fixture 214, after the printing trolley 6 finishes the printing operation on the two objects to be printed on the jig 215B, the two objects to be printed are moved to the position above the A conveying device 14 along the cross beam 5, the A conveying device 14 continuously conveys the two objects to be printed along the Y axis, namely the second direction, the motor controls the two objects to be printed on the B conveying device to synchronously rotate around the central axis of the A conveying device, when the two objects to be printed on the A conveying device 14 continuously pass below the printing trolley, the spray head prints the two objects to be printed, the printing of the pictures and texts is finished after passing through once, the solidification treatment can be carried out while printing, the solidification treatment can also be carried out independently after the printing is finished, and after the solidification treatment is finished, the two objects to be printed are transmitted back to the initial position of the feeding along the Y-axis in the opposite direction. After the B jig 215 returns to the initial position, the operator unloads the printed and cured object and installs another two new objects to be printed, and re-performs the above process for transferring, printing and curing the two new objects to be printed on the B jig 215, and similarly, after the a jig 214 returns to the initial position, the operator unloads the printed and cured object and installs another two new objects to be printed, and re-performs the above process for transferring, printing and curing the two new objects to be printed … … on the a jig 214 in such an alternating manner, and the cycle is repeated until all the objects to be printed are printed.

In the fourth and fifth embodiments, each of the jigs is provided with two objects to be printed, and may also be designed as a jig for installing one object to be printed or more objects to be printed, which is not specifically limited in the present invention.

In the practical application process, the number of the conveying devices and the corresponding jigs is required to be set, and is related to the time of printing operation and the time of non-printing operation, the final purpose is to keep the printing trolley in the ideal state of printing operation as far as possible without waste of time cost, and the general formula is summarized as follows: the number N of the conveying devices is set to be more than or equal to (T non-printing, T printing) +1, the number N of the conveying devices is the minimum integer which meets the formula, T printing represents the printing operation time of ink jetting of the nozzles, T non-printing represents the processing time of objects to be printed except the ink jetting printing operation of the nozzles, the processing time comprises the processing time before printing and the processing time after printing, and the processing time before printing comprises the feeding time of the objects to be printed, the preprocessing time of the objects to be printed, the conveying time of the objects to be printed and the like; the processing time after printing comprises complete curing time of the pictures and texts on the object to be printed, picture and text detection time, blanking time and the like. Besides the above embodiments, two or three conveyors may be provided, and a larger number of conveyors may be provided according to practical situations, which is not specifically limited by the present invention.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the particular embodiments of the invention described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

An ink-jet printer is used for printing a cylinder/cone or an object to be printed with a cylinder/cone in an image-text area to be printed, and is characterized in that at least two groups of printing units are arranged along a printing beam, namely a first direction, the bottom surfaces of the at least two groups of printing units are in the same plane, each group of printing units is provided with at least one printing nozzle, the printing nozzles in each group of printing units are arranged along a second direction (the length direction of the printing nozzles) perpendicular to the first direction, a conveying device is arranged below the printing nozzles and conveys the object to be printed along the second direction, a jig for fixing the object to be printed on the conveying device along the second direction is arranged on the object to be printed, the upper surface of the fixed object to be printed is parallel to the second direction, at least two objects to be printed are arranged side by side along the first direction, the conveying device continuously conveys the object to be printed along the second direction and passes below the printing units, when the object to be printed continuously passes through the lower part of the printing unit, the nozzle sprays ink, the object to be printed forms images and texts after passing through once, and the object to be printed rotates around the central shaft of the object to be printed at a constant speed in the printing process.
The inkjet printer of claim 1, wherein the number of printing units is the same as the number of objects to be printed mounted on the conveyor, and the at least two objects to be printed are rotated and conveyed in synchronization during printing.
The ink jet printer of claim 1, wherein the images printed on the object to be printed are the same or different.
The inkjet printer of claim 1, wherein said at least two sets of printing units are disposed on a print carriage; or each group of printing units can be independently arranged on one printing trolley, and at least two printing trolleys are arranged along the first direction and can move along the first direction.
The ink jet printer of claim 1, wherein the jets of each set of print units are capable of being provided with color inks and white/clear/primer-type coating inks.
A one-pass ink-jet printing method is characterized in that at least two groups of printing units are arranged along a printing beam, namely a first direction, the bottom surfaces of the at least two groups of printing units are parallel to the first direction and are in the same plane, each group of printing units are provided with at least one printing nozzle, the printing nozzles in each group of printing units are arranged along a second direction (the length direction of the printing nozzles) perpendicular to the first direction, a conveying device is arranged below the printing nozzles, and a jig is arranged on the conveying device to mount at least two objects to be printed, and the method comprises the following steps:

the method comprises the following steps that firstly, objects to be printed are arranged on a jig, the objects to be printed are fixed along a second direction, the upper surface of the objects to be printed is parallel to the second direction, and at least two objects to be printed are sequentially arranged along the first direction;

secondly, the conveying device synchronously and continuously conveys at least two objects to be printed along a second direction at the same speed and passes below the printing unit;

thirdly, when the at least two objects to be printed pass below the at least two groups of printing units, the nozzles in the printing units synchronously spray ink, the objects to be printed respectively form pictures and texts after passing through once, and the objects to be printed rotate around the central axis of the objects to be printed at a constant speed in the printing process;

and fourthly, after the at least two objects to be printed in the third step are printed, the conveying device continues to synchronously convey the objects to be printed for subsequent operation.
A one-pass inkjet printing method as defined in claim 6 wherein said third step of printing further includes simultaneously curing the object to be printed.
A one-pass inkjet printing method according to claim 6 wherein the subsequent operations in said fourth step may include a full cure operation, a test operation or a discharge operation of the object to be printed.
A one-pass inkjet printing method as defined in claim 6 wherein said first step further comprises adjusting the vertical distance between the upper surface of the object to be printed and the plane of the nozzles to the most suitable printing distance, typically 1-3 mm.
A one-pass inkjet printing method as defined in claim 6 wherein the graphics formed by each printing element in the third step may be the same or different; before formal printing, software calibration of ink jet data is carried out on errors generated after mechanical installation of the nozzles, and the nozzles in each group of printing units jet ink drops according to the calibrated ink jet data.