The present invention relates to a liquid discharging apparatus having a configuration in which a medium supporting surface of a transportation belt capable of transporting a medium while supporting the medium on the medium supporting surface is cleaned with a cleaning solution by a cleaning member.
As a liquid discharging apparatus of this type, an ink jet recording apparatus as described in
Cleaning capability of the cleaning with water by the cleaning brush is lowered as an environment temperature becomes lower. However,
An advantage of an aspect of the invention is to provide a liquid discharging apparatus having a configuration in which a medium supporting surface of a transportation belt is cleaned with a cleaning solution and a cleaning member, which is not easily influenced by lowering of an environment temperature.
A liquid discharging apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention is defined in claim 1.
According to the aspect of the invention, the liquid discharging apparatus includes the heater that supplies heat to the cleaning portion of the medium supporting surface by the cleaning member and the controller that controls the cleaning temperature on the cleaning portion by driving the heater. Accordingly, control to increase the cleaning temperature on the cleaning portion can be performed. With this, even when the environment temperature lowers, the control is performed so as not to be influenced easily by the lowering of the environment temperature. That is to say, lowering of the cleaning capability can be suppressed even when the environment temperature lowers.
The expression "controls the cleaning temperature based on information relating to an environment temperature" has the following meaning. That is, when the environment temperature is low and the temperature of the cleaning portion is also lowered so that a cleaning effect by the cleaning member is lowered, the controller controls to increase the cleaning temperature by driving the heater.
According to the aspect of the invention, the cleaning temperature is controlled based on the information relating to the environment temperature. Therefore, when the environment temperature lowers, the cleaning temperature can be increased automatically.
Preferably, the controller controls the cleaning temperature on the cleaning portion based on information relating to a contamination degree of the medium supporting surface.
The expression "information relating to a contamination degree" includes information obtained by measuring the contamination degree directly, and physical amounts having correlations with change in the contamination degree, for example, information on the number of rotations of the transportation belt and the number of rotations of a motor for driving the transportation belt. Furthermore, the expression is also used to include an image data amount relating to a discharging amount of the liquid, a type of a fabric (whether or not the fabric is a type easy to be permeated with liquid, fiber density and so on) when the medium is a fabric, a method of performing preprocessing on the fabric (permeation processing or non-permeation processing), recording without margins or with margins, whether or not the medium supporting surface is used for a flushing region, and so on.
As the temperature of the cleaning solution or the like becomes higher, the cleaning capability becomes higher normally.
Accordingly, when a highly contaminated state where a contamination level is high is determined based on the information relating to the contamination degree, control to increase the cleaning temperature is performed so as to enhance the cleaning capability. Accordingly, sufficient cleaning can be performed.
Preferably, the heater supplies heat to the transportation belt.
Accordingly, the cleaning temperature can be increased easily and effectively.
Preferably, the heater supplies heat to the cleaning solution.
Accordingly, the cleaning temperature can be increased easily and effectively.
Preferably, the heater supplies heat to the cleaning member.
Accordingly, the cleaning temperature can be increased easily and effectively.
Preferably, the controller adjusts at least any one of a) a pressing force of the cleaning member, b) a rotating speed of the cleaning member, and c) a transportation speed of the transportation belt based on the information relating to the contamination degree of the medium supporting surface.
The expression "adjust" means that the controller increases/decreases the pressing force, the rotating speed, and/or the transportation speed, in other words, adjusts strength of a cleaning force of the cleaning member for the medium supporting surface.
The expression "a transportation speed of the transportation belt" is used to indicate a movement speed of the transportation belt when the belt moves continuously like a line printer or the like. It is also used to indicate the speed at which the belt moves and/or indicate a stop time (standby time) mainly when the transportation belt moves intermittently.
Accordingly, the controller adjusts at least any one of a) the pressing force of the cleaning member, b) the rotating speed of the cleaning member, and c) the transportation speed of the transportation belt based on the information relating to the contamination degree of the medium supporting surface. Through this adjustment, the strength of the cleaning force of the cleaning member for the medium supporting surface can be controlled. With this, the strength of the cleaning force of the cleaning member can be changed in accordance with the contamination degree of the medium supporting surface of the transportation belt.
Accordingly, a problem that the cleaning force of the cleaning member becomes too large relative to the actual contamination level and the medium supporting surface is abraded can be solved. Furthermore, a problem that the cleaning force of the cleaning member becomes insufficient relative to the actual contamination level and the cleaning quality is lowered can also be solved. That is, the medium supporting surface can be cleaned with an appropriate strength of the cleaning force in accordance with the contamination degree. This can suppress the abrasion without lowering the cleaning quality.
Preferably, the controller executes adjustment of "a) the pressing force of the cleaning member" first based on the information relating to the contamination degree.
Accordingly, the controller executes adjustment of "a) the pressing force of the cleaning member" first based on the information relating to the contamination degree. This makes it possible to adjust the strength of the cleaning force of the cleaning member for the medium supporting surface effectively and easily.
Preferably, the controller has a plurality of cleaning operation modes in which strengths of cleaning forces of the cleaning member for the medium supporting surface are different, and selects and executes one of the plurality of cleaning operation modes based on the information.
Accordingly, the controller selects and executes one of the plurality of cleaning operation modes in which strengths of the cleaning forces are different based on the information relating to the contamination degree. Therefore, a control configuration can be simplified.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements.
Hereinafter, an ink jet recording apparatus as a liquid discharging apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The ink jet recording apparatus 1 in the embodiment includes a feeding portion 2. The feeding portion 2 can feed out a roll R1 of a recording medium P formed by a fabric medium in a roll form for recording, as an example. Furthermore, the ink jet recording apparatus 1 includes a transportation mechanism 3. The transportation mechanism 3 transports the recording medium P in a transportation direction A by an endless transportation belt 10. The transportation belt 10 supports the recording medium P on a medium supporting surface F to which an adhesive is attached. It should be noted that the adhesive may not be attached to the transportation belt. In addition, the ink jet recording apparatus 1 includes a recording mechanism 4. The recording mechanism 4 performs recording by causing a recording head 7 as a discharging head to reciprocate in a width direction (that is also as a width direction of the recording medium P) B of the transportation belt 10. The width direction B intersects with the transportation direction A of the recording medium P.
The ink jet recording apparatus 1 in the embodiment includes a cleaning mechanism 15 for cleaning the transportation belt 10. Furthermore, the ink jet recording apparatus 1 includes a winding mechanism 18. The winding mechanism 18 includes a winding shaft 17 for winding the recording medium P therearound and a cutter 16 for cutting the recording medium P that is being wound.
The feeding portion 2 includes a rotating shaft 5 also serving as a set position of the roll R1 of the recording medium P for recording. The feeding portion 2 has a configuration capable of feeding out the recording medium P to the transportation mechanism 3 from the roll R1 set on the rotating shaft 5 through a driven roller 6. When the recording medium P is fed out to the transportation mechanism 3, the rotating shaft 5 rotates in a rotating direction C.
The transportation mechanism 3 includes the transportation belt 10, a transportation driving roller 8, and a transportation driven roller 9. The transportation belt 10 transports the recording medium P that has been fed out from the feeding portion 2 while supporting the recording medium P. The transportation driving roller 8 and the transportation driven roller 9 move the transportation belt 10. The recording medium P is mounted on the transportation belt 10 at a position on the upstream side in the transportation direction A so as to be attached to the medium supporting surface F of the transportation belt 10 in a pressurized manner by a pressure roller 12.
When the recording medium P is transported, the transportation driving roller 8 rotates in the rotating direction C and the transportation belt 10 moves in a movement direction E, that is, is rotationally moved.
The recording mechanism 4 includes the recording head 7, a carriage (not illustrated), and a carriage motor 26 (
The recording mechanism 4 causes the recording head 7 to reciprocate for recording at the time of the recording. While the recording head 7 is being moved, the transportation mechanism 3 stops transportation of the recording medium P. In another expression, the reciprocation of the recording head 7 and the transportation of the recording medium P are alternately performed at the time of the recording. That is to say, the transportation mechanism 3 transports the recording medium P intermittently so as to correspond to the reciprocation of the recording head 7 at the time of the recording.
The recording mechanism 4 has a configuration in which the recording head 7 is caused to reciprocate for recording. Note that the recording mechanism is not limited to having the configuration. Alternatively, the recording mechanism may include a what-is-called line head on which nozzle rows for discharging ink are provided in the width direction intersecting with the transportation direction A.
The cleaning mechanism 15 of the transportation belt 10 includes a cleaning roller 13 as a cleaning member, a cleaning solution tank 14 accommodating a cleaning agent for cleaning the cleaning roller 13, and a cylinder 19 as a pressing portion that presses the cleaning roller 13 against the transportation belt 10. The cylinder 19 not only can press the cleaning roller 13 against the transportation belt 10 but also can separate the cleaning roller 13 from the transportation belt 10.
The cleaning roller 13 is pressed against the transportation belt 10 by the cylinder 19. A controller 20 (see
As will be described in detail later, the controller 20 is electrically connected to the cylinder 19, the feeding portion 2, the transportation mechanism 3, the recording mechanism 4, the cleaning mechanism 15, the winding mechanism 18, and the like and controls to transport the recording medium P intermittently so as to correspond to the reciprocation of the recording head 7.
The cleaning roller 13 is formed so as to have a length in the width direction B that is longer than the length of the transportation belt 10 in the width direction B. This enables the cleaning roller 13 to clean overall the transportation belt 10 in the width direction B. Further, a wide contact surface of the transportation belt 10 can be cleaned, thereby suppressing cleaning unevenness in the transportation belt 10 effectively.
The winding mechanism 18 is a mechanism for winding the recording medium P on which recording has been performed and that has been transported from the transportation mechanism 3 through a driven roller 11 around the winding shaft 17. That is to say, the winding mechanism 18 winds the recording medium P as a roll R2 by setting a paper tube or the like for winding on the winding shaft 17 and winding the recording medium P around it.
Then, in the ink jet recording apparatus 1 in the embodiment, the controller 20 controls operations of the cleaning mechanism 15 and the like. That is, the controller 20 is configured so as to adjust the pressing force of the cleaning roller 13 by the cylinder 19 based on information relating to the contamination degree of the medium supporting surface F. With this, the strength of the cleaning force of the cleaning roller 13 for the medium supporting surface F can be adjusted effectively and easily.
Instead of the adjustment of the pressing force of the cleaning roller 13, the controller. 20 may be configured so as to adjust the rotating speed of the cleaning roller 13 by a cleaning roller motor 37, which will be described later, based on the information relating to the contamination degree of the medium supporting surface F. Alternatively, the controller 20 may be configured so as to adjust the transportation speed of the transportation belt 10 by a transportation motor 27, which will be described later, based on the information relating to the contamination degree of the medium supporting surface F.
Furthermore, a plurality of the adjustment targets may be combined. When the plurality of adjustment targets are combined, they are combined in the following manner. That is, first, the controller 20 adjusts the pressing force of the cleaning roller 13, and then, adjusts the rotating speed of the cleaning roller 13 when the adjustment is not sufficient.
In the ink jet recording apparatus 1 in the embodiment, a contamination detector 38 is provided. The contamination detector 38 measures the contamination degree of the medium supporting surface F directly.
As the contamination detector 38, a contamination detector that irradiates the surface of the medium supporting surface F with laser beams so as to obtain the contamination degree based on attenuation of reflected light due to the contamination, and a contamination detector that image-captures the surface of the medium supporting surface F by a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera so as to obtain the contamination degree based on color change can be exemplified. In addition, a contamination detector that emits sound waves onto the surface of the medium supporting surface F so as to obtain the contamination degree based on change of sound quality such as a frequency and an intensity due to the contamination can be exemplified.
The information relating to the contamination degree may be defined using physical amounts having correlations with the change of the contamination degree, for example, the number of rotations of the transportation belt and the number of rotations of the motor for driving the transportation belt.
Alternatively, an image data amount relating to a discharging amount of the liquid, a type of a fabric (whether or not the fabric is a type easy to be permeated with liquid, fiber density and so on) when the medium is a fabric, a method of performing preprocessing on the fabric (permeation processing or non-permeation processing), recording without margins or with margins, whether or not the medium supporting surface is used for a liquid discharging region for flushing, and the like can be used as the information. The flushing is executed as a maintenance operation of the discharging head.
The ink jet recording apparatus 1 in the embodiment further includes a heater 40 that supplies heat to a cleaning portion 39 (
The expression "cleaning temperature" is a temperature of the cleaning portion 39 where the cleaning roller 13 cleans by making contact with the medium supporting surface F of the transportation belt 10 during cleaning. The cleaning temperature is determined by combining temperatures of respective members constituting the cleaning portion 39, such as a temperature of the cleaning solution 41 constituting a part of the cleaning mechanism 15, a temperature of the cleaning roller 13 itself, and a temperature of the medium supporting surface F of the transportation belt 10. The cleaning temperature is changed by changing the temperature of any one of the members constituting the cleaning portion 39, or the temperatures of equal to or more than two of the members.
Next, an electrical configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus 1 in the embodiment is described with reference to
The controller 20 is provided with a central processing unit (CPU) 21 for controlling the ink jet recording apparatus 1 overall. The CPU 21 is connected to a read only memory (ROM) 23 and a random access memory (RAM) 24 through a system bus 22. The ROM 23 stores therein control programs of various types, which are executed by the CPU 21, and the like. The RAM 24 can store data temporarily. The CPU 21 is connected to a head driving portion 25 for driving the recording head 7 through the system bus 22.
The CPU 21 is connected to a motor driving portion 32 through the system bus 22. The motor driving portion 32 is a portion for driving the carriage motor 26, the transportation motor 27, a feeding motor 28, a winding motor 29, and the cleaning roller motor 37.
The carriage motor 26 is a motor for moving the carriage (not illustrated) on which the recording head 7 is mounted. The transportation motor 27 is a motor for driving the transportation driving roller 8. The feeding motor 28 is a rotating mechanism of the rotating shaft 5 and is a motor for driving the rotating shaft 5 for feeding out the recording medium P to the transportation mechanism 3. The winding motor 29 is a driving motor for rotating the winding shaft 17. The cleaning roller motor 37 is a motor for rotating the cleaning roller 13.
The CPU 21 is connected to a cylinder driving portion 36 through the system bus 22. The CPU 21 is also connected to a cutter driving portion 33 for driving the cutter 16 to cut the recording medium P through the system bus 22. The CPU 21 is further connected to the heater driving portion 43 for driving the heater 40 through the system bus 22.
Further, the CPU 21 is connected to an input/output portion 30. The input/output portion 30 is connected to a monitor 34, a control panel 35, an interface 31 for inputting recording data and the like from an external apparatus such as a personal computer (PC) and so on, the contamination detector 38, and the temperature detector 42 that are provided on the ink jet recording apparatus 1 in order to transmit/receive data and signals to and from them. Description of Action,
An action of the embodiment is described with reference to
A recording operation is started at step S1. With the recording operation, ink is discharged from the recording head 7 and recording of an image corresponding to image data is executed on the recording medium P that is being transported intermittently in the transportation direction A by the transportation belt 10 while being supported on the medium supporting surface F.
A cleaning operation is also started at step S1. That is to say, cleaning is performed in a state where the cleaning roller 13 is pressed against the medium supporting surface F of the transportation belt 10 with an initially set pressing force by the cylinder 19.
Whether or not the environment temperature obtained by the temperature detector 42 is equal to or lower than a set level is determined at step S2. The set level can be set appropriately by acquiring test data indicating that cleaning capability by the cleaning roller 13 is lowered due to lowering of the environment temperature.
When the environment temperature is low and the determination at step S2 is "Yes", the process proceeds to step S3 and the heater 40 is turned ON. With this, the temperature of the cleaning solution 41 is increased, so that the cleaning capability is enhanced. The processing at step S3 is controlled so as to prevent the temperature of the cleaning solution from being increased too high and the temperature of the cleaning solution is kept in a set ra nge.
Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S4, and whether or not recording is finished is determined. When the determination is "No", the process returns to step S2.
When the determination is "No" at step S2, the process proceeds to step S5. That is, the heater 40 is turned OFF and unnecessary heating is stopped. Then, the process proceeds to step S4.
As is understood by the above description with reference to
Control in a second embodiment is described with reference to
A recording operation is started at step S11. With the recording operation, ink is discharged from the recording head 7 and recording of an image corresponding to image data is executed on the recording medium P that is being transported intermittently in the transportation direction A by the transportation belt 10 while being supported on the medium supporting surface F.
A cleaning operation is also started at step S11. That is to say, cleaning is performed in a state where the cleaning roller 13 is pressed against the medium supporting surface F of the transportation belt 10 with an initially set pressing force by the cylinder 19.
Whether or not the environment temperature obtained by the temperature detector 42 is equal to or lower than a set level is determined at step S12. When the environment temperature is low and the determination at step S12 is "Yes", the process proceeds to step S13 and whether or not the degree of contamination is equal to or higher than a set level is determined based on the information relating to the contamination degree obtained by the contamination detector 38.
When the determination is "Yes" in the more highly contaminated state, the process proceeds to step S14 and the heater 40 is turned ON. With this, the temperature of the cleaning solution 41 is increased, so that the cleaning capability is enhanced. The processing at step S14 is controlled so as to prevent the temperature of the cleaning solution from being increased too high and the temperature of the cleaning solution is kept in a set range.
Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S15, and whether or not recording is finished is determined. When the determination is "No", the process returns to step S12.
When the determination is "No" at step S12 or step S13, the process proceeds to step S16. That is, the heater 40 is turned OFF and unnecessary heating is stopped. Then, the process proceeds to step S15.
As is understood by the above description with reference to
Control in a third embodiment is described with reference to
A recording operation is started at step S21. With the recording operation, ink is discharged from the recording head 7 and recording of an image corresponding to image data is executed on the recording medium P that is being transported intermittently in the transportation direction A by the transportation belt 10 while being supported on the medium supporting surface F.
A cleaning operation is also started at step S21. That is to say, cleaning is performed in a state where the cleaning roller 13 is pressed against the medium supporting surface F of the transportation belt 10 with an initially set pressing force by the cylinder 19.
Whether or not the degree of contamination is equal to or higher than a set level is determined based on the information relating to the contamination degree obtained by the contamination detector 38 at step S22.
When the determination is "Yes" in the more highly contaminated state, the process proceeds to step S23 and the heater 40 is turned ON. With this, the temperature of the cleaning solution 41 is increased, so that the cleaning capability is enhanced. The processing at step S23 is controlled so as to prevent the temperature of the cleaning solution from being increased too high and the temperature of the cleaning solution is kept in a set range.
Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S24, and whether or not recording is finished is determined. When the determination is "No", the process returns to step S22.
When the determination is "No" at step S22, the process proceeds to step S25. That is, the heater 40 is turned OFF and unnecessary heating is stopped. Then, the process proceeds to step S24.
As is understood by the above description with reference to
In the above embodiments, the heater 40 is provided on the cleaning solution tank 14. However, in the present embodiment, a belt heater 45 for supplying heat to the transportation belt 10 is provided. A cleaning member is constituted by a cleaning brush 46, a cleaning brush 47 for cleaning the cleaning brush 46, and liquid tanks 48, 49 for the respective brushes. Heaters 50 and 51 are provided on the liquid tanks 48, 49, respectively. In
As described in the embodiment, the places on which the heaters are provided other than the cleaning solution tank 14 in the first embodiment can be selected. It is needless to say that the heaters may be provided on only one or some the places as illustrated in
Control in a fifth embodiment is described with reference to
Processings at step S31 to step S33 and step S35 are the same as the processings at step S1 to step S3 and step S5 in the first embodiment, respectively, and description thereof is omitted.
Whether or not the degree of contamination on the medium supporting surface F of the transportation belt 10 is equal to or higher than a set level that has been initially set is determined based on the information relating to the contamination degree measured by the contamination detector 38 at step S34. When the determination is "Yes", the process proceeds to step S36 and the cylinder 19 is driven to strengthen the pressing force by one stage. With this, the cleaning for the transportation belt 10 by the cleaning roller 13 is performed with the cleaning force, which has become stronger by one stage.
Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S37, and whether or not recording is finished is determined. When the determination is "No", the process returns to step S32.
When the determination is "No" at step S34, the process proceeds to step S38 and the cylinder 19 is driven to weaken the pressing force by one stage. With this, the cleaning for the transportation belt 10 by the cleaning roller 13 is performed with the cleaning force, which has become weaker by one stage.
As is understood by the above description with reference to
Control in a sixth embodiment is described with reference to
The sixth embodiment is basically the same as the fifth embodiment. The processings at steps S36 and S38 in the fifth embodiment correspond to adjustment (up/down) of the pressing force of the cleaning roller 13. Instead of this, processings at steps S46 and S48 in the sixth embodiment correspond to adjustment (rotating speed up, rotating speed down) of the rotating speed of the cleaning roller 13.
Description of other configurations and action effects is omitted.
Control in a seventh embodiment is described with reference to
The seventh embodiment is also basically the same as the fifth embodiment. The processings at steps S36 and S38 in the fifth embodiment correspond to adjustment (up/down) of the pressing force of the cleaning roller 13. Instead of this, processings at steps S56 and S58 in the seventh embodiment correspond to adjustment (extension/shortening) of a stop time (standby time) of the transportation belt 10 that is moved intermittently, in other words, the time for which the belt 10 stops at each intermittent movement.
Description of other configurations and action effects is omitted.
The foregoing description has been given by way of example only and it will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.