JP2013000892A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording apparatus capable of performing flashing without forming a flashing position, and executing flashing that may hardly degrade recording quality.SOLUTION: This recording apparatus includes a recording head including a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink, and a control part for controlling ink ejection operation and flashing operation of the recording head. The control part is configured to perform flashing by discrete ink ejection to a flashing region set in an image region on a recording object material based on image data. The control part is configured to perform the flashing along with ink ejection for forming an image.

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that includes a recording head that includes a plurality of nozzles that discharge ink, and a control unit that controls the ink discharging operation and the flushing operation of the recording head.

  As the recording apparatus, there is known an ink jet printer that performs recording by discharging ink from nozzles of a recording head onto various recording materials such as paper, film, and cloth. Ink jet printers perform flushing for ejecting ink regardless of the image of recording execution in order to prevent thickening of the ink around the nozzle that ejects the ink.

  In many cases, flushing is performed by moving the recording head to a flushing position provided outside in the width direction of the recording material. However, Patent Document 1 discloses not the flushing position but the image on the recording material. In the vicinity, it is described that ink is discretely ejected with a dot size hardly felt by human eyes.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, in a recording apparatus capable of forming a plurality of types of dots having different sizes with ink ejected from nozzles, small dots are formed in proximity to large dots formed in an image. Flushing is described.

  Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a printing apparatus including a plurality of nozzles that eject ink for printing an image and a background on a transparent medium, and flushing the printed background. Are listed.

JP-A-55-139269 JP 2008-179011 A JP 2010-208218 A

However, since the flushing described in Patent Document 1 is performed at a position different from the image area on the recording material, there is a problem that the overall quality is deteriorated even if the dot size is small. The problem becomes more pronounced as the frequency of flushing increases.
In the flushing described in Patent Document 2, even if the flushing dot is a small dot size, there is a dot that is not necessary for image formation in the image. For example, the flushing dot is conspicuous in relation to the density of the image. There is a problem of reducing the quality of the image.
The flushing described in Patent Document 3 is a flushing limited to a recording apparatus having a structure for printing an image and a background on a transparent medium, and has a problem that the applicable range is narrow.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus that can perform flushing without providing a fixed flushing position and that can perform flushing with little risk of deterioration in recording quality.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a first aspect of the recording apparatus according to the present invention includes a recording head including a plurality of nozzles that discharge ink, and a control unit that controls an ink discharging operation and a flushing operation of the recording head. And the control unit is configured to perform flushing by discrete ink ejection in a flushing area set in an image area on a recording material based on image data. .
Here, the term “image” is used in the present specification to include not only so-called images such as landscapes and people but also symbols such as characters and other items recorded with ink. The “image data” means data sent to the recording apparatus in order to record the image on a recording material with ink. Further, “discrete ink ejection” means that ink is ejected such that the positions where the flushing dots are ejected are not concentrated in the flushing area.

  According to this aspect, the flushing area is set based on the image data, in addition to being in the image area where the ink for image formation is ejected instead of the blank area on the recording material. Therefore, even if flushing dots are ejected in the image area, it is possible to preferentially set and use an area that has no quality problem as a flushing area. That is, since the flushing can be performed while avoiding the use of the area where the presence of the flushing dots in the image area may be conspicuous, the above-described image area on the recording material may be provided without providing a fixed flushing position. By using the flushing area set in this way, it is possible to execute flushing with little risk of deterioration in recording quality.

  According to a second aspect of the recording apparatus of the present invention, in the first aspect, the control unit is configured to perform the flushing together with ink ejection for image formation. Is.

  According to this aspect, since the flushing is performed together with the ink ejection for image formation, that is, while performing the recording for the image formation, the flushing operation is performed for the nozzles that are not used for the recording. Therefore, efficient flushing can be performed on the flushing area in the image area.

  According to a third aspect of the recording apparatus of the present invention, in the first aspect or the second aspect, the control unit sets a dark area set by dividing the image area by a gray level as a flushing area. It is characterized by doing.

  According to this aspect, since the dark area set by dividing the image area by the density level based on the image data is set as the flushing area, that is, the light area in the image area can be excluded from the flashing area. It is possible to make the flushing dots inconspicuous in the image area. As a result, it is possible to perform flushing with little risk of deterioration in recording quality.

  According to a fourth aspect of the recording apparatus of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, a plurality of flushing areas are set, and the color of the ink to be flushed and the flushing area are It is characterized by being related.

  According to this aspect, since a plurality of flushing areas are set, and the color of the flushed ink is associated with the flushing area, for example, a dark image area is a flushing area for dark ink (for example, black ink). Therefore, it is possible to use the middle area of light and dark as a flushing area for light ink (for example, yellow ink) without using a light image area. This configuration can also increase the degree of discreteness of the flushing dots, and can perform flushing with less fear of deterioration in recording quality.

  According to a fifth aspect of the recording apparatus of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the ink is an ink that is cured by irradiation with electromagnetic waves, and the recording head is an image. And a background head, and the flushing area is set in an image area formed on a transparent recording material and / or in a background area formed on the image, and the control unit The ink ejected from the both heads is configured to irradiate the electromagnetic wave.

  According to this aspect, for example, when an image and a background are recorded on a transparent recording material with UV curable ink that is cured by ultraviolet rays (UV) that is one of electromagnetic waves, both the image area and the background area are flushed areas. It can be used as a setting target area.

  According to a sixth aspect of the recording apparatus of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the recording apparatus includes an image display unit, and flushes by looking at an image displayed on the image display unit. The area is configured to be settable.

According to this aspect, the image to be recorded can be displayed on the screen of the image display device, and the flushing area can be set after viewing the image. As a result, it is possible to perform flushing with little risk of deterioration in recording quality.
For example, when the image is a person image as a viewpoint other than the above-described “lightness of image”, the face portion can be removed from the flushing region, and the hair portion can be set as the flushing region.
Further, when the image is a tree, a trunk or a branch portion can be set as a flushing region, and a flower or a leaf portion can be removed from the flushing region.
When the image is an automobile, the glass portion can be removed from the flushing region, and the body and tire portions can be set as the flushing region.

  According to a seventh aspect of the recording apparatus of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the flushing area is set based on the image data and the type of the recording material, The recording material is a fabric or a large sheet.

When the recording material is a cloth, high-quality recording is difficult because the density of the surface of the cloth is lower than that of paper. In particular, in the case of a recording material in which ink is recorded through the openings of the mesh, such as mesh media, the image quality is further deteriorated. In addition, since a large-size sheet of A3 size or larger has a large recorded image, it is usually viewed from a distance, and the image quality of fine portions is often not visible.
When the invention is applied to a recording apparatus that performs recording on such a type of recording material, the effect obtained is remarkable.

1 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a control flow of a control unit of the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the invention. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a control flow of a control unit of a recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the invention.

[Example 1] (FIGS. 1-2)
The illustrated recording apparatus 1 is a serial ink jet printer 1 (the same reference numerals as those of “recording apparatus” are used). In the ink jet printer 1, image data is sent from the computer 2 to the control unit 3, and the CPU 4 of the control unit 3 performs predetermined processing based on the image data, and the control unit 6 and the transport unit 7. Recording is executed by controlling the head unit 8. In the figure, reference numeral 5 denotes a memory.

The head unit 7 includes a recording head including a plurality of nozzles that eject ink. The recording head is mounted on a carriage, and is configured to reciprocate in the width direction of a recording material conveyed while being guided by a carriage guide shaft.
The controller 3 controls the ink ejection operation and the flushing operation of the recording head. Further, the control unit 3 is configured to perform processing for setting a flushing area in an image area on the recording material based on image data sent from the computer 2. And it is comprised so that the flushing by discrete ink discharge may be performed with respect to the set flushing area | region.
Discrete ink ejection is performed so that the positions of the flushing dots are not concentrated in the flushing area. When the size of the flushing dot at the time of the flushing is made smaller than the dot size of the ink ejection for image formation, the degree of discreteness can be increased more effectively.

  As shown in FIG. 2, according to the above configuration, the flushing area is not in the blank area on the recording material but in the image area where ink for image formation is ejected, and based on the image data. It is set (steps S1 and S2). Therefore, it is possible to preferentially use an area that has almost no problem even if flushing dots are ejected in the image area as a flushing area (step S2). That is, since the flushing can be performed by discrete ink discharge while avoiding the use of the area where the presence of the flushing dots in the image area may be conspicuous (step S3), the flushing with a low possibility of deteriorating the recording quality can be executed. .

  In this embodiment, the control unit 3 is configured to perform the flushing together with ink ejection for image formation. As a result, while performing the recording for image formation, the flushing operation is performed for the nozzles not used for the execution of the recording, so that the efficient flushing is performed on the flashing area in the image area. Can do.

  In the present embodiment, the control unit 3 is configured to make a dark area set by dividing the image area in accordance with the gray level as a flushing area. As a result, the dark area set by dividing the image area by the density level based on the image data is set as the flushing area, that is, the light area in the image area can be excluded from the flashing area. It is possible to make the flushing dots inconspicuous. As a result, it is possible to perform flushing with little risk of deterioration in recording quality.

  In this embodiment, a plurality of flushing areas are set in step S2, and the color of the ink to be flushed is associated with the flushing area. Thus, a plurality of flushing areas are set, and the color of the ink to be flushed is associated with the flushing area. For example, a dark image area is a flushing area for dark ink, for example, black ink, and a light image It is possible to use the intermediate region between light and dark as a flushing region for light ink, for example, yellow ink, without using the region. As a result, the degree of discreteness of the flushing dots is increased, and the flushing can be executed with less possibility of deterioration in recording quality.

[Example 2] (FIGS. 3 to 4)
In this embodiment, the ink is ink that is cured by irradiation of electromagnetic waves, the recording head includes an image head and a background head, and the flushing area is an image formed on a transparent recording material. The controller 3 is configured to irradiate the electromagnetic waves from the irradiation unit 9 to the ink ejected from the both heads, set in the area and / or in the background area formed on the image. The image head and the background head are mounted on the carriage side by side in the moving direction of the carriage, and an electromagnetic wave irradiation unit forming an irradiation unit 9 is provided on each outer side of the image head and the background head, Each ink ejected from the head is cured by being irradiated with electromagnetic waves. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  According to the present embodiment, when an image and a background are recorded on a transparent recording material using, for example, a UV curable ink that is cured by ultraviolet rays (UV) that are electromagnetic waves, both the image area and the background area are set as a flushing area. Can be used as a target area.

In this embodiment, the image display unit 10 is provided, and the user can set the flushing area by looking at the image displayed on the screen of the image display unit 10.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the image to be recorded can be displayed on the screen of the image display unit 10, and the flushing area can be set after viewing the image (steps S11 and S12). Accordingly, it is possible to execute flushing with little risk of deterioration in recording quality (step S13).
For example, when the image is a human figure as a viewpoint other than the above-described “shading of the image”, the face portion is removed from the flushing region by looking at the screen of the image display unit 10 in step S12, and the hair portion is set as the flushing region. can do.
Further, when the image is a tree, the trunk and branch portions can be set as the flushing region by looking at the screen in the same manner, and the flower and leaf portions can be removed from the flushing region (step S12).
When the image is an automobile, the glass portion can be removed from the flushing region, and the body and tire portions can be set as the flushing region (step S12).

In this embodiment, the flushing area is set based on the image data and the type of recording material (step S12), and the recording material is a fabric or a large sheet.
When the recording material is a cloth, high-quality recording is difficult because the density of the surface of the cloth is lower than that of paper. In particular, in the case of a recording material in which ink is recorded through the openings of the mesh, such as mesh media, the image quality is further deteriorated. In addition, since a large-size sheet of A3 size or larger has a large recorded image, it is usually viewed from a distance, and the image quality of fine portions is often not visible.
When this embodiment is applied to a recording apparatus that performs recording on such a type of recording material, the effect obtained is remarkable.

[Other embodiments]
The recording apparatus 1 according to the present invention is basically configured to have the above-described configuration, but of course, the partial configuration may be changed or omitted without departing from the gist of the present invention. Is possible.

For example, in addition to the flushing, flushing may be performed on all nozzles at regular time intervals.
Further, a configuration may be adopted in which flushing is preferentially performed on nozzles not used.

1 Inkjet printer (recording device), 2 computer, 3 control unit,
4 CPU, 5 memory, 6 unit control circuit, 7 transport unit,
8 Head unit, 9 Irradiation unit, 10 Image display

Claims (7)

A recording head comprising a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink;
A controller for controlling the ink discharge operation and the flushing operation of the recording head,
The recording apparatus, wherein the control unit is configured to perform flushing by discrete ink ejection in a flushing region set in an image region on a recording material based on image data. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,
The recording apparatus, wherein the control unit is configured to perform the flushing together with ink ejection for image formation. The recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sets a dark area set by dividing the image area according to a gray level to a flushing area. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A recording apparatus, wherein a plurality of flushing areas are set, and the color of ink to be flushed is associated with the flushing areas. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The ink is an ink that is cured by irradiation with electromagnetic waves,
The recording head includes an image head and a background head,
The flushing area is set in an image area formed on a transparent recording material and / or in a background area formed on the image,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to irradiate the ink discharged from the heads with the electromagnetic waves. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A recording apparatus comprising an image display unit and configured to be able to set a flushing region by looking at an image displayed on the image display unit. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and 6,
2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flushing area is set based on the image data and a type of a recording material, and the recording material is a cloth or a large sheet.

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