JP2021159862A - Droplet ejection control device, image formation apparatus, droplet ejection control method and droplet ejection control program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a droplet ejection control device which can apply ink to a wall surface of at least one of a convex portion and a concave portion provided on a plane in the same manner as the plane, an image formation apparatus, a droplet ejection control method and a droplet ejection control program.SOLUTION: A CPU 30A causes a nozzle 20 to discharge ink while relatively moving the nozzle 20 discharging ink in a scan direction along a plane 61A with respect to a recording medium 62 in which a convex portion 63 is provided on the plane 61A. The CPU 30A performs control so as to eject droplets with a drawing resolution with respect to the plane 61A as a first resolution, and eject droplets with a drawing resolution with respect to a wall surface 63A of a wall part extending in a direction intersecting the scan direction of the nozzle 20 in the convex portion 63 provided in the recording medium 62 as a second resolution higher than the first resolution.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present disclosure relates to a drip control device, an image forming device, a drip control method, and a drip control program.

Generally, there is known an image forming apparatus that forms an ink film as an image on a recording medium by ejecting ink onto a recording medium provided with at least one of a convex portion and a concave portion on a flat surface. For example, in Patent Document 1, an inkjet drawing apparatus is used to land and apply ink containing metal fine particles to the inner wall of the fine holes while moving the ink head relative to a silicon substrate provided with the fine holes. However, a technique for forming an ink film on a part of the inner wall is described.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-129251

By the way, when an ink film is formed on a recording medium provided with at least one of a convex portion and a concave portion on a flat surface by an image forming apparatus, the flat surface is formed on the wall surface of at least one of the convex portion and the concave portion provided on the flat surface. Similarly, it was sometimes difficult to apply ink. For example, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is not considered that an ink film is applied only to a part of an inner wall region by an inkjet drawing apparatus and an ink film is formed on a flat portion of a substrate.

The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and is an image of a drip control device capable of applying ink to at least one wall surface of a convex portion and a concave portion provided on a flat surface in the same manner as on a flat surface. It is an object of the present invention to provide a forming device, a dropping control method, and a dropping control program.

To achieve the above object, the drip control device of the first aspect of the present disclosure includes at least one processor and a memory for storing instructions that can be executed by the processor, and the processor is convex on a plane. The ink is ejected from the nozzle while moving the nozzle for ejecting ink relatively in the direction along the plane with respect to the recording medium provided with at least one of the recesses, and the drawing resolution with respect to the plane is set to the first resolution. The drawing resolution for the wall surface of the wall portion extending in the direction intersecting the moving direction of the nozzle at least one of the convex portion and the concave portion provided on the recording medium is set to be higher than the first resolution. Control is performed to drip as a high second resolution.

The drip control device of the second aspect of the present disclosure is the drip control device 1 of the first aspect, in which the processor sets the pitch of the ink droplets that have landed on the wall surface to the ink droplets that have landed on a flat surface. A second resolution is derived that is equal to the pitch of.

The drip control device of the third aspect of the present disclosure is the drip control device of the first aspect or the second aspect, in which the processor ejects ink from a nozzle and drip onto a recording medium as a control. Generates drip control data to control.

The drip control device according to the fourth aspect of the present disclosure is the drip control device according to any one of the first to third aspects. The ratio of the second resolution to the first resolution is derived based on the drop velocity and the angle between the wall surface and the perpendicular to the plane.

In the drip control device of the fifth aspect of the present disclosure, in the drip control device of the fourth aspect, the processor expresses the ratio as T, the moving speed as V _scan , the drip speed as V _drop , and the angle as α. The ratio is derived by the following equation (1).

In the drip control device of the sixth aspect of the present disclosure, the drip control device of any one of the first to third aspects, the processor identifies the first resolution and the second resolution. The relative movement speed of the nozzle is Vscan, the first resolution is D1, the second resolution is D2, the droplet speed of ink is Vdrop, and the angle between the wall surface and the perpendicular to the plane is α (2). Control is performed by relatively moving the nozzle at the movement speed derived from the equation ().

The drip control device according to the seventh aspect of the present disclosure is the drip control device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the processor landed upward on the wall surface in the vertical direction. The amount of droplets should be larger than the amount of droplets of ink that land downward on the wall surface in the vertical direction.

The image forming apparatus of the eighth aspect of the present disclosure includes the drip control device of the present disclosure and an image forming unit that ejects ink from a nozzle to form an image on a recording medium.

In the drip control method according to the ninth aspect of the present disclosure, the nozzle for ejecting ink is relatively moved in the direction along the plane with respect to the recording medium provided with at least one of a convex portion and a concave portion on the plane. The ink is ejected from the nozzle, the drawing resolution with respect to the plane is set as the first resolution, and the ink is dropped, and the ink is ejected with respect to the moving direction of the nozzle at at least one of the convex portion and the concave portion provided on the recording medium. This is a method for a computer to perform a process of controlling the drawing resolution of a wall surface extending in a direction as a second resolution higher than the first resolution.

In the drip control program according to the tenth aspect of the present disclosure, the nozzle for ejecting ink is relatively moved in the direction along the plane with respect to the recording medium provided with at least one of a convex portion and a concave portion on the plane. The ink is ejected from the nozzle, the drawing resolution with respect to the plane is set as the first resolution, and the droplet intersects with respect to the moving direction of the nozzle at at least one of the convex portion and the concave portion provided on the recording medium. Control is performed so that the drawing resolution for the wall surface of the wall portion extending in the direction is dropped as a second resolution higher than the first resolution.

According to the present disclosure, ink can be applied to at least one wall surface of a convex portion and a concave portion provided on a flat surface in the same manner as on a flat surface.

It is a block diagram of an example of the structure of the image forming apparatus of an embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows an example of a recording medium. It is a schematic diagram of an example of the functional configuration of the drip control device of the embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the control of the drawing resolution by a generation part. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the control of the drawing resolution by a generation part. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the control of the drawing resolution by a generation part. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the control of the drawing resolution by a generation part. It is a figure for demonstrating the generation of the drop control data. It is a figure for demonstrating the generation of the drop control data. It is a figure for demonstrating the generation of the drop control data. It is a flowchart which showed an example of the flow of the droplet control process executed in the droplet control apparatus of embodiment. It is a flowchart which showed an example of the droplet control data generation processing. It is the flowchart which showed the other example of the drop control data generation processing. It is a figure for demonstrating a specific example of generation of a drop control data. It is a side view for demonstrating the modification of embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the modification of embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that each embodiment does not limit the present invention.

The image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment.

In the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to form an image on a recording medium provided with at least one of a convex portion and a concave portion on a plane. FIG. 2 shows a perspective view showing an example of such a recording medium 62. As shown in FIG. 2, the recording medium 62 is provided with _{two convex portions 63 (63 1} and 63 2) on the flat surface 61A of the flat surface portion 61. _{When the convex portions 63 1} and 63 ₂ are collectively referred to without distinguishing them individually, the reference numerals for distinguishing the individual portions are omitted, and the convex portions 63 1 and 63 2 are simply referred to as the convex portions 63. The convex portion 63 of the recording medium 62 shown in FIG. 2 has a wall surface 63A and an upper surface 63B protruding from the flat surface 61A. The material of the recording medium 62 is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) on which a circuit element or the like is mounted as the convex portion 63. The image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment draws on the flat surface 61A of the recording medium 62, the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63, and the upper surface 63B.

Further, as an example, an embodiment in which an inkjet printer that forms an image by a single-pass method is applied as the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment will be described. The single-pass method is a method in which the formation of an image on a recording medium is completed by one relative movement between the head for ejecting ink and the recording medium.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment includes an image forming unit 12 and a drip control device 14. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming unit 12 of the present embodiment includes a carriage 24, a carriage moving unit 26, and a discharge driving unit 28.

The carriage 24 is equipped with a head 22 provided with a nozzle 20 for ejecting ink. The nozzle 20 and the head 22 are integrally reciprocated together with the carriage 24 in the direction along the plane 61A by the carriage moving portion 26. In the following, the direction in which the nozzle 20 moves when drawing is referred to as a "scan direction".

An ink cartridge (not shown) is connected to the head 22 by a supply path (not shown), and the ink stored in the ink cartridge is supplied to the head 22 via the supply path. The head 22 is driven by the ejection drive unit 28 to eject ink from the nozzle 20.

The type of ink used for image formation is not particularly limited, but an ink having a metal oxide or metal fine particles may be used. For example, when the recording medium 62 is a PCB as described above, ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) ink or the like having an electromagnetic shielding function may be used.

Further, in FIG. 1, only one nozzle 20, head 22, and carriage 24 are shown for simplification of illustration, but the nozzle 20, head 22, and carriage provided in the image forming apparatus 10 are provided. The number of 24 is arbitrary and not limited. For example, in the case of the image forming apparatus 10 for forming a color image, the nozzle 20 and the head 22 corresponding to each color of the plurality of colors of ink for forming the image may be mounted on the carriage 24. Further, for example, one head 22 may be provided with a plurality of nozzles 20.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the drip control device 14 of the present embodiment includes a control unit 30, a storage unit 32, and an I / F (Interface) unit 34. The drip control device 14 of the present embodiment temporarily stores the image data received from an external computer or the like via the I / F unit 34 in the storage unit 32, and based on the image data stored in the storage unit 32. The image forming unit 12 generates drip control data for drawing on the recording medium, and outputs the data to the image forming unit 12. The drip control data is data for controlling the timing of ejecting ink from the nozzle 20 and dropping the ink on the recording medium in order to form an image corresponding to the image data.

The control unit 30 controls the operation of the drip control device 14 and the formation of an image by the image forming unit 12. The control unit 30 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 30A, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 30B, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 30C. Various programs including the drip control program 31 executed by the CPU 30A are stored in the ROM 30B in advance. The RAM 30C temporarily stores various data. The CPU 30A of the present embodiment is an example of the processor of the present disclosure, and the ROM 30B of the present embodiment is an example of the memory of the present disclosure.

The storage unit 32 stores image data used for image formation by the image forming unit 12, various other information, and the like. Specific examples of the storage unit 32 include HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and SSD (Solid State Drive). The operation unit 36 is used for the user to input an instruction regarding image formation, various information, and the like. The operation unit 36 is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include various switches, a touch panel, a touch pen, and a mouse. The display unit 38 displays various information. The operation unit 36 and the display unit 38 may be integrated into a touch panel display. The I / F unit 34 communicates various information with an external device of the image forming apparatus 10 by wireless communication or wired communication.

Further, FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example of the functional configuration of the drip control device 14 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the drip control device 14 includes an acquisition unit 40 and a generation unit 42. As an example, in the drip control device 14 of the present embodiment, the CPU 30A of the control unit 30 executes the drip control program 31 stored in the ROM 30B, so that the CPU 30A functions as the acquisition unit 40 and the generation unit 42.

The acquisition unit 40 has a function of acquiring information on the surface on which the recording medium 62 is drawn (hereinafter, referred to as “image forming surface information”). In the present embodiment, the size of the entire surface on which drawing is performed, the position of the convex portion 63 provided on the plane 61A, the height of the convex portion 63, and the inclination angle of the wall surface 63A are adopted as the image forming surface information. There is. In the present embodiment, the angle formed by the vertical line with respect to the plane 61A and the wall surface 63A (see FIG. 5, angle α) is defined as the inclination angle of the wall surface 63A. The method by which the acquisition unit 40 acquires the image forming surface information is not limited. For example, as the design information of the recording medium 62, the image forming surface information may be acquired from an external device of the image forming apparatus 10 via the I / F unit 34. Further, for example, when the image forming apparatus 10 includes a reading device capable of reading the surface of the recording medium 62 and generating image forming surface information, the image forming surface information generated by this reading device may be acquired. .. The image forming surface information acquired by the acquisition unit 40 is output to the generation unit 42.

The generation unit 42 has a function of controlling the dropping of ink ejected from the nozzle 20 of the image forming unit 12. Specifically, the generation unit 42 drops droplets on the flat surface 61A of the flat surface portion 61 at the first resolution and with respect to the wall surface 63A of the wall portion extending in the direction intersecting the scanning direction of the convex portion 63. , Generates drop control data for dropping at a second resolution higher than the first resolution. According to the generated drip control data, the carriage moving unit 26 moves the carriage 24 in the scanning direction, while the ejection driving unit 28 drives the nozzle 20 to eject ink.

Further, as described above, the generation unit 42 of the present embodiment sets the resolution for the flat surface 61A as the first resolution and the resolution for the wall surface 63A as the second resolution higher than the first resolution, thereby forming the flat surface 61A. Control is performed so that the pitch of the ink droplets that have landed and the pitch of the ink droplets that have landed on the wall surface 63A are the same. In addition, the same thing here shall be ignored for errors within the permissible range. This control by the generation unit 42 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7.

As shown in FIG. 4, since the generating unit 42 ejects the ink droplet 60 from the nozzle 20 while moving the nozzle 20 in the scanning direction indicated by the arrow S, the droplet 60 is in the natural falling direction (FIG. 4). Is discharged in an oblique direction forming an angle θ with respect to (vertical direction in). When the moving speed in the scanning direction (hereinafter referred to as "scanning speed") is V _scan and the dropping speed when the droplet 60 naturally falls is V _drop , the ejection angle θ, the scanning speed V _scan , and the dropping speed V _The relationship represented by the following equation (1) holds between the drops.
V _scan ÷ V _drop = tan θ ・ ・ ・ (1)

As shown in FIG. 5, both the landing pitch of the droplets 60 in the plane 61A of the planar portion 61, and the landing pitch of the droplet 60 on the wall surface 63A of the protrusion 63 and _{P 0.} In this case, the pitch at which ink is ejected from the nozzle 20 onto the flat surface 61A (hereinafter referred to as “drawing pitch”) is P _0, which is the same as the landing pitch. Further, the drawing pitch for ejecting ink from the nozzle 20 onto the upper surface 63B of the convex portion 63 is also P ₀ , similarly to the landing pitch. On the other hand, since the wall surface 63A has an angle α with respect to the perpendicular line H with respect to the flat surface 61A, the drawing pitch for ejecting ink from the nozzle 20 to the wall surface 63A is P, which is different from the landing pitch.

FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of a part of the wall surface 63A in FIG. In FIG. 6, for simplicity of illustration, instead droplet 60, describes the center 61 of the droplets 60 a (61 ₁ and 61 _2). It centered 61 _1, between the center 61 ₂ droplet 60 landed on the next wall surface 63A of the droplet 60 having a center 61 ₁ is landed pitch _{P 0.} Jetting angle theta, the angle alpha, by landing the pitch _{P 0,} the following equation (2) to (5) is obtained.
z = P ₀ × cosα ・ ・ ・ (2)
x1 = P ₀ × cos α × tan θ ・ ・ ・ (3)
x2 = P ₀ x sinα ・ ・ ・ (4)
From the above equations (3) and (4), the drawing pitch P with respect to the wall surface 63A can be obtained by the following equation (5).
P = x1 + x2 = P ₀ × (cosα × tanθ + sinα) ・ ・ ・ (5)

Here, considering the drawing pitch P with respect to the wall surface 63A and the drawing pitch P ₀ with respect to the plane 61A, it is set as the drawing resolution of the image forming the _{pitch P GCD} which can be regarded as the greatest common divisor of P and P _0. For example, _{by thinning out the droplets on the pitch P GCD} , drawing by either the drawing pitch P or the drawing pitch P _{0 becomes possible.}

For example, when the drawing pitch P ₀ is 30 μm and the drawing pitch P is 20 μm, the _{pitch P GCD which is the greatest common divisor of P 0} = 30 μm and P = 20 μm is 10 μm. Since the drawing resolution is the reciprocal of the drawing pitch, the drawing resolution when the drawing pitch is 10 μm is 2540 dpi (dots per inch). In the present embodiment, the resolution corresponding to the drawing pitch is referred to as the drawing resolution, and represents the density of droplets in the scanning direction. Therefore, the drawing resolution may differ from the resolution of the image actually formed on the surface of the recording medium 62. Specifically, the drawing resolution of the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 of the recording medium 62 is different from the resolution of the image formed on the wall surface 63A.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the drawing pitch P ₀ = 30 μm, the drawing resolution can be set to 847 dpi by thinning out from the drawing resolution of 2540 dpi to 2 px (Pixel), that is, 2 drops. Further, when the drawing pitch P = 20 μm, the drawing resolution can be set to 1270 dpi by thinning out from the drawing resolution of 2540 dpi to 1 px, that is, one drop.

_{The relationship between the drawing pitch P 0 with} respect to the plane 61A, the drawing pitch P with respect to the wall surface 63A, and the greatest common divisor pitch P _GCD is expressed by the following equations (6) and (7). However, "N" and "M" in the following equations (6) and (7) are integers.
P = N × P _GCD ... (6)
P ₀ = M × P _GCD ... (7)

Therefore, from the above equation (5), _{the relationship between the scan speed V scan} , the drop velocity V _drop , the angle α of the wall surface 63A, and the discharge angle θ is expressed by the following equation (8).
tan θ = V _scan ÷ V _drop = (N ÷ M-sin θ) ÷ cos α ・ ・ ・ (8)

・・・（９） Assuming that the ratio of the drawing resolution D1 to the plane 61A and the drawing resolution D2 to the wall surface 63A is T (T = D2 ÷ D1 = M ÷ N), the drawing resolution ratio T is the following (9) from the above equation (8). It is represented by an expression. The drawing resolution D1 of the present embodiment is an example of the first resolution of the present disclosure, and the drawing resolution D2 of the present embodiment is an example of the second resolution of the present disclosure.

... (9)

From the above equation (9), for example, if the drawing resolution D1 with respect to the plane 61A, the scan speed V _scan , the drop speed V _drop , and the angle α of the wall surface 63A can be obtained, the drawing resolution D2 with respect to the wall surface 63A can be derived.

・・・（１０） Further, from the above equation (8), the scan speed V _scan is expressed by the following equation (10).

... (10)

From the above equation (10), for example, when the drawing resolution D1 for the plane 61A and the drawing resolution D2 for the wall surface 63A are determined from the image quality of the image to be formed, drawing is performed at _{the scan speed V scan derived by the above equation (10).} I know I should do it.

Further, a method of generating drip control data for drawing at the drawing resolution D1 for the plane 61A and the drawing resolution D2 for the wall surface 63A will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 9B.

8 shows a side view of one example of a recording medium 62 in which the convex portion 63 ₁ and the convex portion 63 ₂ is provided (A), a top view of an example of a recording medium 62 as viewed from the top 63B side (B) Is shown. The height of the convex portion 63 _{1 is h 1} , and the height of the convex portion 63 _{2 is h 2} . Further, the inclination angles of the convex portion 63 ₁ and the convex portion 63 ₂ are both angles α.

The generation unit 42 quantifies the information regarding the height of the entire surface to be drawn on the recording medium 62 as shown in FIG. 8C. The example shown in FIG. 8C shows an example in which information representing the height of the entire surface to be drawn is quantified when the height of the plane 61A is used as a reference (0).

Further, the generation unit 42 derives the moving distances (hereinafter, “scan distances”) L1 and L2 of the nozzle 20 for drawing the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 based on the information representing the quantified height. .. Scan distance L1 and L2 are both the height of the convex portion _{63 (h 1, h 2)} , the inclination angle alpha, and on the discharge angle theta. Specifically, the scan distance L1 for drawing on the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 ₁ can be derived by the following equation (11), and the scan distance for drawing on the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 ₂ L2 can be derived by the following equation (12).
L1 = h ₁ × (tan θ + tan α) ・ ・ ・ (11)
L2 = h ₂ × (tan θ + tan α) ・ ・ ・ (12)

The generation unit 42 is a region 90 in the region where the recording medium 62 is drawn, from a position where drawing of the region corresponding to the wall surface 63A is started to a position corresponding to the scan distances L1 and L2 derived as described above. in ₁ and 90 ₂ are drawing resolution D1 serving as a writing pitch P, for example, to perform drawing at 2540 dpi. On the other hand, the generation unit 42 causes the recording medium 62 to draw at a drawing resolution D2, for example, 847 dpi, which is a drawing pitch P0 in other areas. The generation unit 42 generates drop control data for dropping drops at drawing resolutions D1 and D2.

As shown in FIG. 9A, when the nozzle 20 is moved in the scanning direction indicated by the arrow S for drawing, the wall surface 63A which is the shadow of the convex portion 63 and the region 92 of the plane 61A in the vicinity of the convex portion 63 are drawn. The droplet 60 does not land on. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9B, in the return route in which the nozzle 20 is moved on the same line, the region 92 in which the droplet 60 is not landed in the drawing of the outward route as shown in FIG. 9A. By drawing only on the image, one line of image is completed.

Therefore, the generation unit 42 generates the drip control data for performing the drip in the state shown in FIG. 8D as the drip control data for the outward route, and also as the drip control data for the return route. Drip control data for performing drip in the state shown in FIG. 8 (E) is generated. As shown in FIG. 8 (E), the drip control data for the return route includes _{the region 92 1} where the droplet 60 was not landed on the outward _{route for the convex portion 63 1} and the droplet 60 on the outward route for the convex portion 63 _2. a droplet ejection control data for drawing to the region 92 ₂ which have not been hit.

In the drawing according to the droplet control data shown in FIGS. 8 (D) and 8 (E), among the wall surfaces 63A of the wall surface 63A, the droplet 60 is on the wall surface 63A extending in the direction intersecting the scanning direction. However, the droplet 60 does not land on the wall surface 63A extending in the direction parallel to the scanning direction. That is, drawing is not performed on the wall surface 63A extending in the direction parallel to the scanning direction. Therefore, in the present embodiment, after drawing is performed by moving the nozzle 20 with the outward path and the return path as a set as described above, the recording medium 62 is rotated 90 degrees with respect to the carriage 24. Arrange and draw on the wall surface 63A extending in the direction parallel to the scanning direction. Therefore, the generation unit 42 also generates the drip control data when performing the main drawing. As an example, the generating unit 42 of the present embodiment, the drawing resolution from the position to start the drawing of the region corresponding to the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 in the region 90 ₁ and 90 ₂ of the position to which corresponds to the scan distance L1 and L2 Drip control data for the outward route and drip control data for the return route for drawing in D2 are generated.

As described above, the generation unit 42 of the present embodiment generates four types of droplet control data when the droplet 60 is landed on the entire upper surface of the recording medium 62 for drawing.

In the above description, the case where _{the inclination angle of the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 1} and the inclination angle of the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 ₂ are the same (angle α) has been described, but the inclination angle of the wall surface 63A of the _{convex portion 63 1 has been described.} And the inclination angle of the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 _{2 may be different.} In this case, the drawing resolution D2 for drawing the wall surface 63A of _{the convex portion 63 1 and the drawing resolution D2 of the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 2} may be set to the drawing resolutions corresponding to the respective inclination angles. When the difference between the inclination angle of the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 ₁ and the inclination angle of the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 ₂ is relatively small, the drawing resolution corresponding to one of the inclination angles of the convex portion 63 2 is obtained. _{Both the wall surface 63A of 1 and} the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 ₂ may be drawn.

Next, the operation of the drip control device 14 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the drip control device 14 of the present embodiment, the CPU 30A of the control unit 30 executes the drip control program 31 stored in the ROM 30B to execute the drip control process shown in FIG. 10 as an example. FIG. 10 shows a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the droplet control process executed by the droplet control device 14 of the present embodiment. This drip control process is executed, for example, when an instruction to start drawing on the recording medium 62, which is performed by the operation of the operation unit 36 of the user, is received.

As described above, in step S100 of FIG. 10, the acquisition unit 40 acquires the image forming surface information of the recording medium 62 and outputs the acquired image forming surface information to the generation unit 42.

In the next step S102, the generation unit 42 performs the droplet control data generation process shown in FIG. 11A or FIG. 11B, and generates the droplet control data as described above.

First, the drip control data generation process shown in FIG. 11A will be described. FIG. 11A shows an example of the drop control data control process performed when the scan speed V _scan and the _{drop speed V drop are predetermined.}

In step S150 of FIG. 11A, the generation unit 42 acquires information representing the _{scan speed V scan} and the _{drop speed V drop.} The method by which the generation unit 42 acquires information representing the _{scan speed V scan} and the _{drop speed V drop is not limited.} For example, scanning the image forming section 12 velocity _{V scan,} and if the information representative of the Shizukusoku _{V drop} is stored, scanned from the image forming unit 12 velocity _{V scan,} and may acquire information representing the Shizukusoku _{V drop} ..

In the next step S152, the generation unit 42 specifies the drawing resolution D1 of the plane 61A. The drawing resolution D1 of the plane 61A is a drawing resolution that can form an ink film on the entire plane 61A, that is, a state in which so-called white spots do not occur. Therefore, the drawing resolution D1 may be determined according to the size of the landed droplet 60, the image quality, and the like. Further, the drawing resolution D1 may be held in advance in the image forming apparatus 10 as a predetermined value.

In the next step S154, the generation unit 42 derives the drawing resolution D2 of the wall surface 63A as described above. Specifically, first, the generation unit 42 _{derives the drawing resolution ratio T from the scan speed V scan} , the drop speed V _drop , and the inclination angle α of the wall surface 63A by using the above equation (9). Further, the generation unit 42 derives the drawing resolution D2 of the wall surface 63A from the drawing resolution ratio T and the drawing resolution D1.

In the next step S156, the generation unit 42 derives the scan distance corresponding to the wall surface 63A by using the above equation (11) as described above.

In the next step S158, the generation unit 42 generates the outbound drip control data as described above. As described above, in the present embodiment, in order to draw on the entire surface of the recording medium 62, after the first drawing is completed, the direction of the recording medium 62 is rotated by 90 degrees to perform the second drawing. Therefore, in this step, as described above, the generation unit 42 generates the drip control data for the outbound route in the first drawing, and also generates the drip control data for the outbound route in the second drawing.

In the next step S160, the generation unit 42 generates the drip control data for the return route as described above. Specifically, as described above, the generation unit 42 generates the drip control data for the return path in the first drawing, and also generates the drip control data for the return path in the second drawing. When the process of step S160 is completed, the drip control data generation process is completed, and the process proceeds to step S104 of the drip control process shown in FIG.

Next, the drip control data generation process shown in FIG. 11B will be described. FIG. 11B shows an example of the drip control data control process performed when the drawing resolution D1 and the drawing resolution D2 are predetermined. Since the drip control data generation process shown in FIG. 11B performs the processes of steps S151 to S155 instead of the drip control data generation processes S150 to S154 shown in FIG. 11A, the processes of steps S151 to S155 will be described. do.

In step S151 shown in FIG. 11B, the generation unit 42 specifies the drawing resolution of the plane 61A in the same manner as in step S152 of the droplet control data generation process shown in FIG. 11A. As a specific example, when the amount of the droplet 60 of the droplet 60 ejected from the nozzle 20 is 10 pl and the landing diameter of the landed droplet 60 is about 75 μm, drawing is performed in order to perform drawing without white spots. The pitch P ₀ needs to be 52 μm or more. The drawing resolution D1 corresponding to the drawing pitch P ₀ = 52 μm is 480 dpi. Therefore, in this case, the generation unit 42 specifies 480 dpi as the drawing resolution D1 (see FIG. 12).

In the next step S153, the generation unit 42 specifies the drawing resolution D2 of the wall surface 63A. The drawing pitch P _{0 = 52 μm and the pitch P GCD} which is the greatest common divisor of the drawing pitch P with respect to the wall surface 63A are set to 10.5 μm. When the drawing pitch P _GCD is 10.5 μm, the drawing resolution is 2400 dpi. In this case, the value of M in the above equation (7) becomes 5, and as shown in FIG. 12, the drawing resolution can be set to 480 dpi by thinning out from the drawing resolution of 2400 dpi to 4 px, that is, 4 drops.

On the other hand, the drawing resolution D2 is any of 600 dpi, 800 dpi, and 1200 dpi, and a value considering the system of the image forming unit 12 may be specified from these. In the present embodiment, 1200 dpi when the value of N in the above equation (6) is 2, is specified as the drawing resolution D2. As shown in FIG. 12, the drawing resolution can be set to 1200 dpi by thinning out from the drawing resolution of 2400 dpi to 1 px, that is, one drop.

In the present embodiment, both the drawing resolution D1 and the drawing resolution D2 are predetermined and are stored in, for example, the storage unit 32.

In the next step S155, the generation unit 42 derives the _{scan speed V scan} and the _{drop speed V drop.} In the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the drop velocity V _drop is predetermined. Therefore, the generation unit 42 derives _{a scan speed V scan} that moves the nozzle 20 from the drawing resolution D1, the drawing resolution D2, and the inclination angle α of the wall surface 63A by using the above (10). As a specific example, when the drop velocity V _drop is 5 m / s and the inclination angle α is 0 degree, the scan velocity V _scan derived by the above equation (10) is 2 m / s.

Therefore, in this case, the generation unit 42 _{ejects the droplet 60 at a drop} speed V drop of 5 m / s while moving the nozzle 20 at _{a scan speed V scan} of 2 m / s, and basically drops a drop with a drawing resolution of 2400 dpi. and then, in the region corresponding to the plane 61A, thinning 4px, the region corresponding to the wall 63A (see FIG. 8 regions 90 ₁ and 90 _2), to produce a droplet ejection control data for droplet ejection by thinning 1px.

When the drip control data generation process is completed in this way and the process proceeds to step S104 of the drip control process shown in FIG. 10, the generation unit 42 in step S104 captures the drip control data generated in step S102 as an image. Output to the forming unit 12. When the process of step S104 is completed, the drip control process is completed.

In the image forming unit 12, the ejection driving unit 28 ejects the droplet 60 from the nozzle 20 while the carriage moving unit 26 moves the carriage 24 based on the droplet control data input from the droplet control device 14. , An image is formed on the recording medium 62. As described above, in the present embodiment, in order to draw on the entire surface of the recording medium 62, the drawing with the outward path and the return path as a set is performed twice. Therefore, after the first drawing is completed and before the second drawing is performed, information indicating an instruction for the user to rotate the direction of the recording medium 62 by 90 degrees is provided, for example, on the display unit of the drip control device 14. Display on 38. If the image forming apparatus 10 has a mechanism for automatically rotating the orientation of the recording medium 62, the mechanism automatically rotates the recording medium 62 after the completion of the first drawing to perform the second drawing. Just do it.

As described above, the drip control device 14 of the present embodiment includes a CPU 30A as at least one processor and a ROM 30B for storing instructions that can be executed by the CPU 30A. The CPU 30A ejects ink from the recording medium 62 provided with the convex portion 63 on the flat surface 61A while relatively moving the nozzle 20 for ejecting ink in the scanning direction along the flat surface 61A. .. Further, the CPU 30A drops a drawing resolution D1 with respect to the plane 61A as the first resolution, and a wall extending in a direction intersecting the scanning direction of the nozzle 20 in the convex portion 63 provided on the recording medium 62. Control is performed so that the drawing resolution D2 with respect to the wall surface 63A of the portion is dropped as a second resolution higher than the first resolution.

As described above, according to the drip control device 14 of the present embodiment, the drawing resolution D2 of the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 can be made higher than the drawing resolution D1 of the plane 61A, so that the landing droplet 60 The density (coating density) can be adjusted appropriately. For example, the coating densities of the flat surface 61A and the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 can be made equal.

In the present embodiment, the mode in which the recording medium 62 has the convex portion 63 has been described, but even if the recording medium 62 has the concave portion, the same procedure as described above may be applied.

Therefore, according to the drip control device 14 of the present embodiment, ink can be applied to at least one wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 and the concave portion provided on the flat surface 61A in the same manner as the flat surface 61A.

In the above embodiment, the amount of the droplet 60 landing on the wall surface 63A of the convex portion 63 is uniform, but the amount of the droplet 60 of the droplet 60 landing upward in the vertical direction of the wall surface 63A and the wall surface 63A The amount of the droplet 60 of the droplet 60 that lands downward in the vertical direction of the above may be different. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, and most of the liquid droplet volume of the droplet 60 ₁ landing upward in the vertical direction of the wall surface 63A, to reduce the droplet volume of the droplet 60 ₂ landing downwardly, the lowermost it may be the least liquid droplet amount of the droplet 60 ₃ landing on. The droplet 60 that has landed on the wall surface 63A may hang downward in the vertical direction due to gravity, and the droplet 60 that has landed downward may be leveled. In such a case, the wall surface 63A is coated by increasing the amount of droplets landing upward on the wall surface 63A in the vertical direction to be larger than the amount of droplets landing downward on the wall surface 63A in the vertical direction. The amount of ink produced can be made uniform. The specific amount of each droplet 60 may be determined according to the properties and weight of the ink.

Further, in the present embodiment, in order to draw on the entire surface of the recording medium 62, a mode in which drawing with a set of the outward path and the return path is performed twice has been described, but the recording medium 62 with respect to the scanning direction in which the nozzle 20 is moved is described. By adjusting the direction of the convex portion 63 in the above, the drawing may be performed on the entire surface of the recording medium 62 by one drawing. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, by rotating the recording medium 62 by 45 degrees with respect to the scanning direction S, drawing is performed on the two intersecting wall surfaces 63A on the outward route, and on the return route. By drawing on the remaining two wall surfaces 63A, it is possible to draw on the entire recording medium 62 with one drawing with the outward route and the return route as a set.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, as the hardware structure of the processing unit that executes various processes such as the acquisition unit 40 and the generation unit 42, the following various processors are used. be able to. As described above, the various processors include a CPU, which is a general-purpose processor that executes software (program) and functions as various processing units, and a circuit after manufacturing an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or the like. Dedicated electricity, which is a processor with a circuit configuration specially designed to execute specific processing such as Programmable Logic Device (PLD), which is a processor whose configuration can be changed, and ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Circuits and the like are included.

One processing unit may be composed of one of these various processors, or a combination of two or more processors of the same type or different types (for example, a combination of a plurality of FPGAs or a combination of a CPU and an FPGA). It may be composed of a combination). Further, a plurality of processing units may be configured by one processor.

As an example of configuring a plurality of processing units with one processor, first, one processor is configured by a combination of one or more CPUs and software, as represented by a computer such as a client and a server. There is a form in which a processor functions as a plurality of processing units. Secondly, as typified by System On Chip (SoC), there is a form in which a processor that realizes the functions of the entire system including a plurality of processing units with one IC (Integrated Circuit) chip is used. be. As described above, the various processing units are configured by using one or more of the above-mentioned various processors as a hardware structure.

Further, as the hardware structure of these various processors, more specifically, an electric circuit (circuitry) in which circuit elements such as semiconductor elements are combined can be used.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the embodiment in which the drip control program 31 is stored (installed) in the storage unit 32 in advance has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The drip control program 31 is provided in a form recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc Read Only Memory), and a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory. You may. Further, the drip control program 31 may be downloaded from an external device via a network.

10 Image forming device 12 Image forming unit 14 Drip control device 20 Nozzle 22 Head 24 Carriage 26 Carriage moving unit 28 Discharge drive unit 30 Control unit, 30A CPU, 30B ROM, 30C RAM
31 Droplet control program 32 Storage unit 34 I / F unit 36 Operation unit 38 Display unit 39 Bus 40 Acquisition unit 42 Generation unit 60 _{, 60 1} , 60 ₂ , 60 ₃ Droplets 62 Recording medium 61 Flat surface, 61A Flat 63, 63 _1, 63 ₂ protrusions, 63A wall, 63B upper surface _{90 1,} 90 2, 92 _1, 92 ₂ area _h 1, _{h 2} height L1, L2 scan distance P, _{P 0} pitch S scan direction alpha, theta angle

Claims (10)

With at least one processor
It comprises a memory for storing instructions that can be executed by the processor.
The processor
The ink is ejected from the nozzle while moving the nozzle for ejecting ink relatively in the direction along the plane with respect to the recording medium provided with at least one of a convex portion and a concave portion on the plane.
A wall extending in a direction intersecting the moving direction of the nozzle at at least one of the convex portion and the concave portion provided on the recording medium, in which the drawing resolution with respect to the plane is drip as the first resolution. A drip control device that controls the drawing resolution of the wall surface of the portion as a second resolution higher than the first resolution. The processor
The droplet control device according to claim 1, wherein the second resolution is derived so that the pitch of the ink droplets landing on the wall surface is equal to the pitch of the ink droplets landing on the plane. The processor
The drip control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein as the control, drip control data for controlling the timing of ejecting ink from the nozzle and dropping the ink on the recording medium is generated. The processor
A claim for deriving a ratio of the second resolution to the first resolution based on the moving speed of the relative movement of the nozzle, the dropping speed of the ink, and the angle between the wall surface and the perpendicular to the plane. The drip control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The processor
The ratio is derived by the following equation (1) represented by T as the ratio, V _{scan as} the moving speed, V _{drop as the dropping speed, and α as the angle.}

The drip control device according to claim 4. The processor
Identifying the first resolution and the second resolution,
The relative moving speed of the nozzle is V _scan , the first resolution is D1, the second resolution is D2, the droplet speed of the ink is V _drop , and the angle between the wall surface and the perpendicular to the plane is defined. The control is performed by relatively moving the nozzle at the moving speed derived by the following equation (2) expressed as α.

The drip control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The processor
According to any one of claims 1 to 6, the amount of ink droplets landing upward on the wall surface in the vertical direction is made larger than the amount of ink droplets landing downward on the wall surface in the vertical direction. The described drip control device. The drip control device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
An image forming unit that ejects the ink from the nozzle to form an image on a recording medium, and an image forming unit.
An image forming apparatus equipped with. The ink is ejected from the nozzle while moving the nozzle for ejecting ink relatively in the direction along the plane with respect to the recording medium provided with at least one of a convex portion and a concave portion on the plane.
A wall extending in a direction intersecting the moving direction of the nozzle at at least one of the convex portion and the concave portion provided on the recording medium, in which the drawing resolution with respect to the plane is drip as the first resolution. A drip control method in which a computer executes a process of controlling the drawing resolution of a wall surface of a portion as a second resolution higher than the first resolution. The ink is ejected from the nozzle while moving the nozzle for ejecting ink relatively in the direction along the plane with respect to the recording medium provided with at least one of a convex portion and a concave portion on the plane.
A wall extending in a direction intersecting the moving direction of the nozzle at at least one of the convex portion and the concave portion provided on the recording medium, in which the drawing resolution with respect to the plane is drip as the first resolution. A drip control program for causing a computer to perform a process of controlling the drawing resolution of the wall surface of the portion as a second resolution higher than the first resolution.

Images