JP-2026075340-A - Liquid dispensing device, control device, liquid dispensing method, and program

JP2026075340AJP 2026075340 AJP2026075340 AJP 2026075340AJP-2026075340-A

Abstract

[Problem] To suppress variations in the quality of the image formed on the transfer substrate by minimizing the influence of variations in the quality of the transfer substrate. [Solution] The liquid dispensing device 1 comprises a liquid dispensing unit that dispenses liquid onto a transfer substrate, a heating unit that heats the transfer substrate from which the liquid has been dispensed, a measuring unit that measures the state of a measurement pattern formed on the transfer substrate by the liquid dispensing unit, and a control unit that controls the operation of the heating unit and the liquid dispensing unit based on the measurement results from the measuring unit. The liquid dispensing unit is capable of dispensing color ink and white ink as liquid, and the control unit controls the liquid dispensing unit to dispense color ink, and then dispense the white ink in the area where the color ink has been dispensed. [Selection Diagram] Figure 5

Inventors

宮部由佳

Assignees

株式会社リコー

Dates

Publication Date: 20260508
Application Date: 20241022

Claims (8)

A liquid dispensing unit that dispenses liquid onto a transfer substrate, A heating unit for heating the transfer substrate from which the liquid has been discharged, A measuring unit that measures the state of a measurement pattern formed on the transfer substrate by discharging liquid from the liquid discharging unit, The system includes a control unit that controls the operation of the heating unit and the operation of the liquid discharge unit based on the measurement results from the measuring unit, The liquid dispensing unit is capable of dispensing color ink and white ink as the liquid. The control unit controls the liquid dispensing unit to dispense the color ink, and then dispenses the white ink into the area where the color ink was dispensed.
The liquid discharge unit has a plurality of nozzle rows for discharging the liquid, The liquid dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit calculates the average value of the measurement results of a plurality of dots included in the measurement pattern for each of the plurality of nozzle rows, and controls the heating temperature by the heating unit based on the average value for each of the nozzle rows.
The control unit, After causing the liquid dispensing unit to perform a first dispensing operation based on a first job, control is performed to cause the liquid dispensing unit to perform a second dispensing operation based on a second job. The control unit, After the first dispensing operation is performed, and before the second dispensing operation is performed, The liquid is discharged from the liquid discharge section to form the measurement pattern on the transfer substrate. The state of the measurement pattern is measured by the measurement unit. A liquid dispensing device according to claim 1 or 2, which controls the operation of the liquid dispensing unit based on the results of the measurement.
The liquid dispensing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the measuring unit measures the dot diameter of the white ink contained in the measuring pattern using the difference in brightness between the white ink contained in the measuring pattern and the transfer substrate.
The liquid dispensing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the measurement pattern includes black ink, which is the liquid dispensed from the liquid dispensing unit, and white ink dispensed on the area where the black ink was dispensed.
A control device for controlling a liquid dispensing device comprising: a liquid dispensing unit for dispensing liquid onto a transfer substrate; a heating unit for heating the transfer substrate from which the liquid has been dispensed; and a measuring unit for measuring the state of a measuring pattern formed on the transfer substrate by the liquid being dispensed from the liquid dispensing unit, The system includes a control unit that controls the operation of the heating unit and the operation of the liquid discharge unit based on the measurement results from the measuring unit, The liquid dispensing unit is capable of dispensing color ink and white ink as the liquid. The control unit is a control device that controls the liquid dispensing unit to dispense the color ink, and then dispenses the white ink into the area where the color ink was dispensed.
A step of discharging liquid from a liquid discharging unit onto a transfer substrate to form a measurement pattern, A step of heating the transfer substrate on which the measurement pattern has been formed using a heating unit, A step of measuring the state of the measurement pattern formed on the transfer substrate using a measuring unit, The process includes controlling the operation of the heating unit and the operation of the liquid discharge unit based on the measurement results from the measurement process described above. The liquid dispensing unit is capable of dispensing color ink and white ink as the liquid. The liquid dispensing method involves controlling the liquid dispensing unit to dispense the color ink, and then dispensing the white ink into the area where the color ink was dispensed.
A program that causes a computer to execute a process to control the operation of discharging liquid from a liquid discharging unit onto a transfer substrate, and the operation of heating the transfer substrate from which the liquid has been discharged using a heating unit, The aforementioned program, A process to measure the state of the measurement pattern formed on the transfer substrate using a measuring unit, The process includes controlling the operation of the heating unit and the operation of the liquid discharge unit based on the measurement results from the measuring unit, The process for controlling the operation of the liquid dispensing unit includes a process for dispensing color ink and white ink as the liquid. The process for controlling the operation of the liquid dispensing unit includes dispensing the color ink, and then dispensing the white ink in the area where the color ink was dispensed. A program that causes a computer to perform the aforementioned process.

Description

This invention relates to a liquid dispensing device, a control device, a liquid dispensing method, and a program. For example, an ink amount determination method is known that comprises: a first step of printing multiple color patches of different densities onto a medium by ejecting ink onto the medium; a second step of transferring the color patches printed on the medium to a transfer medium; and a third step of determining the amount of ink in the medium based on the selected color patches as a result of reading and comparing the patch images transferred to the transfer medium from both the transfer surface and the back surface opposite the transfer surface (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Furthermore, an inkjet printer is known that has an ink head with multiple nozzles for ejecting ink and is capable of printing a check pattern that allows confirmation of the nozzle ejection status (see, for example, Patent Document 2). The inkjet printer described in Patent Document 2 predicts the cleaning time required to resolve nozzle ejection failures. This is a perspective view showing a liquid dispensing device according to an embodiment.This is a plan view showing a liquid dispensing device according to an embodiment.This is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a liquid dispensing device according to the embodiment.This is a schematic diagram showing the heater of the liquid dispensing device according to the embodiment.This is a plan view showing the arrangement of measurement patterns on a transfer substrate.Figure 6(a) shows an example of a measurement pattern formed for each nozzle row, and Figure 6(b) is a magnified view of the main part of the measurement pattern.This is a cross-sectional view showing color ink and white ink on a transfer substrate.This waveform diagram shows an example of a drive waveform.This is a table showing the properties of the ink.This is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a transfer substrate.This figure shows an example of the arrangement of the liquid dispensing head and sensor.This is a flowchart showing the procedure for liquid dispensing.This is a flowchart showing the procedure for liquid dispensing.This figure shows an example of multiple nozzle rows. The liquid dispensing apparatus, control device, image forming method, and program according to embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. [Overview of Liquid Dispensing Device 1] Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the liquid dispensing device 1 according to this embodiment. Figure 2 is a plan view showing the liquid dispensing device 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the liquid dispensing device 1 comprises a device body 10 and a support base 11 that supports the device body 10. The main body of the device 10 is provided with side plates 10A and 10B on the left and right sides. Guide rods 12 and guide stays 13, which are guide members, are stretched across the side plates 10A and 10B. The liquid discharge device 1 also includes a sub-sheet metal guide 14. The guide rods 12 and guide stays 13 slidably hold the carriage 15. The main scanning mechanism 16, which moves and scans the carriage 15, comprises a main scanning motor 17 located on one side of the main scanning direction, a drive pulley 18 rotated by the main scanning motor 17, a driven pulley 19 located on the other side of the main scanning direction, and a timing belt 20, which is a traction member, wrapped between the drive pulley 18 and the driven pulley 19. The driven pulley 19 is tensioned outward (away from the drive pulley 18) by a tension spring. The carriage 15 moves in the direction of arrow A (main scanning direction) via a timing belt 20, which is rotationally driven by the main scanning motor 17. The carriage 15 is also equipped with an optical sensor 21 for detecting the edge of the medium (paper edge). The carriage 15 is equipped with a liquid ejection head 23 that ejects ink droplets of various colors, such as black (K), yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C), depending on the installed ink cartridge 22. The liquid discharge head 23 in this example is an example of a liquid discharge unit, and includes, for example, heads 23a, 23b, and 23c. When describing heads 23a, 23b, and 23c without distinction, they may be referred to as the liquid discharge head 23. Figure 14 shows an example of a plurality of nozzle rows NLa, NLb, NLc, and NLd. The liquid discharge head 23 has a plurality of nozzle rows NLa, NLb, NLc, and NLd, and the nozzle rows NLa, NLb, NLc, and NLd are arranged in the direction of arrow B (sub-scanning direction). Nozzle row NLa includes a plurality of nozzles N arranged in the sub-scanning direction. Similarly, nozzle rows NLb to NLd include a plurality of nozzles N arranged in the sub-scanning direction. The plurality of nozzle rows NLa, NLb, NLc, and NLd are arranged in the main scanning direction. For example, t