JP2009235589A - Inkjet printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inkjet printing apparatus which can clean only partial head units of a line head. <P>SOLUTION: Provided is the inkjet printing apparatus 1 for printing a fabric C, which includes a line head 6 in which a plurality of head units 61 each having a jetting surface 611 having a plurality of jetting ports formed therein are arranged in the width direction of the fabric C, and cleaning units 6 having cleaning mechanisms 61 for cleaning the jetting surface 611 of the several head units 60 obtained by dividing the head units 61, for each head unit group 60. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet printing apparatus for printing an object to be printed.

Conventionally, screen printing apparatuses, roller printing apparatuses, and the like have been widely used as apparatuses for printing on fabrics such as cotton, silk, and polyester. However, these printing apparatuses need to prepare a screen frame, an engraving roller, and the like for each pattern. However, the screen frame and the engraving roller are expensive, and thus are not suitable for printing a small variety of products. On the other hand, the ink jet textile printing apparatus is suitable for production of a small quantity and a wide variety of products since it can cope with the change of the design only by changing the digital data. This ink jet textile printing apparatus can be roughly divided into a serial head system and a line head system. One of these, a line head type inkjet printing apparatus, has a plurality of head units each having a plurality of ejection openings arranged in the width direction of a printed material such as a fabric (a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the fabric). A line head is provided (see, for example, FIG. 3 of Patent Document 1). This line head type ink jet printing apparatus has the merit that the printing time can be shortened because the object to be printed can be continuously conveyed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-235858

  By the way, in the ink jet textile printing apparatus, when ink is ejected for a long time, the ink adheres to the periphery of the ejection port on the ejection surface of the line head, and the adhered ink is hardened around the ejection port, so that the ink ejection becomes worse. There is. For this reason, the inkjet printing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is provided with a cleaning blade having the same length as the width direction of the line head, and the discharge surface of the line head is cleaned by this cleaning blade (patent) Refer to FIG. 5 of Document 1.

  However, in the above-described ink jet textile printing apparatus, for example, even when ink adheres only to a part of the discharge surface of the line head, it is necessary to clean the entire discharge surface of the line head. Further, even when only a part of the cleaning blade is damaged, it is necessary to replace all the cleaning blades.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet textile printing apparatus capable of cleaning only a part of the head units of the line head.

  An inkjet printing apparatus according to the present invention is made to solve the above-described problems, and is an inkjet printing apparatus that prints an object to be printed. The inkjet printing apparatus includes a head unit having a discharge surface on which a plurality of discharge ports are formed. A plurality of line heads arranged in the width direction of the object to be printed and the plurality of head units are divided into several head unit groups, and a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the ejection surface of the head unit is provided for each head unit group. And a cleaning unit.

  According to the ink jet textile printing apparatus, the plurality of head units are divided into several head unit groups, and the cleaning unit has a cleaning mechanism for each head unit group. For this reason, cleaning can be performed for each head unit group, and efficient cleaning becomes possible. The “head unit group” is a concept including a single head unit. The “width direction” is a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the fabric C.

  The inkjet printing apparatus can take various configurations. For example, each of the cleaning mechanisms is configured to reciprocate the wiper member for cleaning the discharge surface of the head unit and the wiper member to wipe the discharge surface of each head unit. It can also comprise so that it may have a drive cylinder to move.

  According to the present invention, it is an object to provide an ink jet textile printing apparatus capable of cleaning only a part of head units of a line head.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of an ink jet textile printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of an ink jet apparatus. In the following description, the left side of FIG. 1 is referred to as the upstream side, and the right side is referred to as the downstream side.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an inkjet printing apparatus 1 includes an unwinding roller 2 that unwinds a fabric (printed object) C, an endless transport belt 3 that transports the fabric C, and an upstream side that drives the transport belt 3. A driving roller 4 and a downstream driving roller 5 are provided. Between the upstream drive roller 4 and the downstream drive roller 5 and above the conveyor belt 3, a plurality of line heads 6 for ejecting ink onto the fabric C and printing are installed, and each line A cleaning unit 7 for cleaning the ejection surface of the head unit of the head 6 is provided for each line head 6. In addition, a pasting roller 8 is provided above the upstream drive roller 4 to attach the fabric C onto the transport belt 3. Furthermore, the fabric C is dried between the winding roller 9 that winds the fabric C printed by each line head 6 and conveyed to the downstream drive roller 5, and between the downstream drive roller 5 and the winding roller 9. A drying heater plate 10 is installed.

  Hereinafter, each member which comprises the inkjet textile printing apparatus 1 mentioned above is demonstrated.

  The transport belt 3 can employ various materials such as metal, rubber, and plastic, and an adhesive surface is formed on the outer surface thereof. This pressure-sensitive adhesive surface can be formed, for example, by applying a pressure-sensitive pressure-sensitive adhesive to the surface of the conveyor belt 3. Thus, since the adhesive surface is formed on the surface of the conveyance belt 3, the cloth C is affixed on the conveyance belt 3 by pressing the fabric C onto the conveyance belt 3 with the sticking roller 8 described later. Can do.

  The upstream drive roller 4 and the downstream drive roller 5 rotate in the direction of travel by rotating clockwise in FIG. 1 using a motor (not shown) as a drive source. The upstream drive roller 4 and the downstream drive roller 5 are rotating at the same timing and at the same speed.

  Four line heads 6 are arranged in the traveling direction of the fabric C. From the upstream side, a cyan line head 6a, a magenta line head 6b, a yellow line head 6c, and a black line head 6d. It is installed in the order. The line head 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 is a plan view of the line head, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the line head. 2 and 3, the line head 6 includes a plurality of head units 61 each having a discharge surface 611 in which a plurality of discharge ports are formed. The head units 61 are staggered in the width direction of the fabric C. Is arranged. Elevating cylinders 11 for raising and lowering the line head 6 are installed at both ends on the width direction side of the line head 6 thus configured. The lift cylinder 11 lowers the line head 6 when discharging ink onto the fabric C, and lifts the line head 6 when cleaning the discharge surface with the cleaning unit 7 described later. FIG. 3 shows the line head in a raised state. The lifting cylinder 11 is not particularly limited as long as it can move the line head 6 up and down, and a fluid pressure cylinder such as a pneumatic cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder, a motor, or the like can be used.

  On the upstream side of each line head 6, cleaning units 7a to 7d are respectively installed. The cleaning unit 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 is a plan view of the cleaning unit 7, and FIG. 5 is a side view of the cleaning unit 7. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cleaning unit 7 includes three cleaning mechanisms 70. Each cleaning mechanism 70 includes a reciprocating cylinder 71, a first mounting member 72 a and a second mounting member 72 b that reciprocate by the reciprocating cylinder 71, and wiper members 73 that are mounted two by two on each mounting member 72. It has. Note that a piston rod 712 of the reciprocating cylinder 71 described later and the first mounting member 72a are connected by a first connecting member 74, and the first mounting member 72a and the second mounting member 72b are connected to each other. They are connected by the second connecting member 75.

  The reciprocating cylinder 71 has a cylinder main body 711, a piston (not shown) in the cylinder main body, and a piston rod 712 extending from the piston and protruding from the cylinder main body 711. The reciprocating cylinder 71 may be any one that can reciprocate each mounting member 72, and a fluid pressure cylinder such as a pneumatic cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder, a motor, or the like can be used similarly to the lifting cylinder 11. .

  The attachment member 72 extends in the width direction of the fabric C, and the first and second attachment members 72 are installed with their positions shifted in the width direction of the fabric C. The mounting member 72 is divided into the first mounting member 72a and the second mounting member 7b, and these are further shifted in the width direction because the positions of the head units 61 of the line heads 6 arranged in a staggered manner are as follows. This is to meet the requirements. An attachment groove 721 for attaching the wiper member 73 is formed on the upper end surface of each attachment member 72.

  A wiper member 73 made of an elastic material such as rubber is attached to the attachment groove 721 of each attachment member 72. More specifically, two wiper members 73 are attached to the first and second attachment members 72 in a replaceable manner. The length of the wiper member 73 is substantially the same as the length of the head unit 61 of the line head 6. In a state where the wiper member 73 is attached to the attachment member 72, the height of the upper end of the wiper member 73 is equal to or higher than the discharge surface located at the lower end of the head unit 61 when the line head 6 is raised. It has become.

  The three cleaning mechanisms 70 configured as described above are fixed on the movable table 76 in a state of being arranged in a line in the width direction of the fabric C. A slide member 761 is provided on the bottom surface of the movable table 76 so as to slide on the guide rail 12 installed on the main body frame (not shown) of the inkjet textile printing apparatus 1. The slide member 761 is connected to the piston rod 131 of the slide cylinder 13 installed on the main body frame (not shown) of the ink jet textile printing apparatus 1. 7 is slid in the traveling direction of the fabric C.

  Next, a cleaning method for the ink jet textile printing apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described. First, the discharge from each line head 6 is stopped, and the upstream and downstream drive rollers 4 and 5 are stopped to stop the conveying belt 3.

  Next, the lifting cylinder 11 is operated to raise each line head 6 so that the height of the ejection surface 611 of the head unit 61 is higher than the upper end of the mounting member 72 of the cleaning mechanism 70 and lower than the upper end of the wiper member 73. Of height. Then, the slide cylinder 13 is operated to move the cleaning unit 7 along the guide rail 12, and the cleaning unit 7 is moved so that each wiper member 73 is positioned below the head unit 61 of the line head 6 (FIG. 6). . When the cleaning unit 7 is moved in this way, the upper end portion of the wiper member 73 is in contact with the ejection surface 611 of the head unit 61.

  In this state, the wiper member 73 is reciprocated by operating the reciprocating cylinder 71 to reciprocate the mounting members 72. Accordingly, the upper end portion of the wiper member 73 reciprocates so as to wipe the ejection surface 611 of the head unit 61, and the ink attached to the ejection surface can be removed by the wiper member 73. 4 cleans the head unit group 60a composed of the left four head units 61 in FIG. 2, and the central cleaning mechanism 70b in FIG. 4 has the four head units 61 in the center in FIG. 4 is cleaned, and the right end cleaning mechanism 70c of FIG. 4 is a head unit group 60c of the right four head units 61 of FIG. 2 (only two head units are shown in FIG. 2). Clean it.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the 12 head units are divided into four heads to form three head unit groups 60, and the cleaning mechanism 70 is installed for each head unit group 60. For this reason, for example, when only the central head unit group 60b is to be cleaned, the reciprocating cylinder 71 of the central cleaning mechanism 70b is operated so that only the central head unit group 60b can be cleaned. Cleaning can be performed. Further, for example, when it is necessary to replace the wiper member 73 of the right end cleaning mechanism 70c, it is economical because only the wiper member 73 of the right end cleaning mechanism 70c can be replaced.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these, A various change is possible unless it deviates from the meaning of this invention. For example, the cleaning mechanism 70 further includes a cleaning liquid supply unit, and wipes the discharge surface 611 of the head unit 61 with the wiper member 73 while supplying the cleaning liquid, thereby removing the ink attached to the discharge surface 611 more efficiently. Can do.

  In the above embodiment, four line heads 6 of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are installed. However, in addition to this, line heads 6 for light magenta and light cyan can be additionally installed. Each line head 6 is provided with twelve head units 61, but this number is not particularly limited.

It is a schematic perspective view which shows embodiment of the inkjet textile printing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a top view of the line head concerning this embodiment. It is the front view which looked at the line head concerning this embodiment from the upper stream side. It is a top view of the cleaning unit which concerns on this embodiment. It is a side view of the cleaning unit concerning this embodiment. It is a side view which shows the state which is cleaning the discharge surface of a head unit with the cleaning unit which concerns on this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet textile printing apparatus 6 Line head 60 Head unit group 61 Head unit 611 Discharge surface 7 Cleaning apparatus 70 Cleaning mechanism 71 Reciprocating cylinder 73 Wiper member

Claims (2)

An ink jet printing apparatus for printing an object to be printed,
A line head in which a plurality of head units each having a discharge surface in which a plurality of discharge ports are formed are arranged in the width direction of the object to be printed;
A plurality of head units divided into several head unit groups, and a cleaning unit for each head unit group having a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the ejection surface of the head unit;
An inkjet printing apparatus comprising: Each of the cleaning mechanisms includes
A wiper member for cleaning the ejection surface of the head unit; and a reciprocating cylinder for reciprocating the wiper member to wipe the ejection surface of each head unit;
The inkjet printing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:

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