Ink-jet printer

Abstract

The utility model discloses an ink-jet printer which comprises a cross beam mechanism, a printing trolley, a material transferring module, a cup clamping jig, a curing device and a protruding part detection module, the cross beam mechanism is arranged in the first direction, the printing trolley is arranged on the cross beam mechanism, a driving mechanism is installed at one end of the cross beam mechanism, and a spray head is installed below the printing trolley; the spray head sprays ink drops to a to-be-printed object below the spray head to form an image-text, a cup clamping jig is arranged below the cross beam mechanism and used for installing at least two to-be-printed objects, a material transferring module is arranged at one end of the cup clamping jig, a curing device is arranged below the material transferring module, and a protruding part detection module is installed at one end of the cross beam mechanism and used for detecting the protruding part of the to-be-printed object. The protruding part detection module is used for detecting the protruding part of the to-be-printed object. According to the utility model, ink-jet printing and effective curing can be carried out on common and special curved-surface objects (with protruding parts), and the application range of the ink-jet printer is expanded.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present utility model relates to a kind of inkjet printers, which is used to print curved surface object with protruding part, such as printing mug with handle. BACKGROUND

[0002] The existing printing technology in the market can only be used for one-way rotation inkjet printing of regular curved surface object, such as the curved surface object inkjet printer with patent number CN112373194 A, which can only print in one direction, and cannot perform graphic and text printing on printing objects such as cylinders with protruding parts (such as mugs). Because the nozzle needs to be close to the printing object when performing inkjet work, the distance is usually 1.4mm-3mm. If the height of the protruding part of the printing object is greater than the distance between the nozzle and the printing medium, the nozzle will be stopped when the protruding part rotates to the edge of the nozzle to avoid collision.

[0003] Therefore, it is necessary to design an inkjet printer that can detect the position of the protruding part of the printing object, and can use a jig to hold one or more printing objects with protruding parts. During printing, the control system can control the printing object to rotate back and forth to avoid colliding with the nozzle, and the ultraviolet curing device can overcome the curing blind area and completely dry the ink. UTILITY MODEL CONTENT

[0004] To overcome the above-mentioned defects, the utility model discloses an inkjet printer, which comprises a beam mechanism, a material rotating module, a printing trolley, a curing module and a cup clamping jig. The beam mechanism is arranged along a first direction. A printing trolley is arranged on the beam mechanism. A driving mechanism is installed at one end of the beam mechanism. The driving mechanism can drive the printing trolley to move back and forth along the first direction. A nozzle is installed below the printing trolley. The nozzle sprays ink droplets onto the printing object below to form graphics and text. A cup clamping jig is arranged below the beam mechanism. The cup clamping jig is used to install at least two printing objects. A material rotating module is arranged at one end of the cup clamping jig. The material rotating module is used to drive the printing object to rotate around its central axis. A curing device is arranged below the material rotating module, which is used to cure the printing object. The inkjet printer further comprises a protruding part detection module, which is installed at one end of the beam mechanism. The protruding part detection module is used to detect the protruding part of the printing object.

[0005] The inkjet printer as described above, wherein the printing object is a curved surface object with a protruding part.

[0006] The inkjet printer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the protruding part detection module comprises a first protruding part sensor and a second protruding part sensor, the material rotating module drives the cup clamping jig to rotate in one direction along the rotation center axis of the object to be printed, the first protruding part sensor and the second protruding part sensor detect the position information of the protruding part of the object to be printed, and the software calculates the printing area according to the position information, and limits the range of reciprocating rotation of the object to be printed.

[0007] The inkjet printer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first protruding part sensor detects the position signal P1 of the protruding part of the object to be printed corresponding to the encoder, the control system controls the object to be printed to rotate in the reverse direction, the second protruding part sensor detects the position signal P2 of the protruding part of the object to be printed corresponding to the encoder, and the software calculates the length of the printing area rotated by the object to be printed to avoid the nozzle, which is (P2-P1) ÷ the number of lines of the encoder rotating one circle × 2πR, and R represents the radius of the object to be printed.

[0008] The inkjet printer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the angle difference between the curing device and the horizontal direction needs to satisfy (180-DA) ÷ 2, wherein DA represents the blind angle of the protruding part of the object to be printed that cannot rotate to avoid the nozzle.

[0009] The inkjet printer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a lifting mechanism is arranged below the material rotating module, the lifting mechanism drives the material rotating module and the cup clamping jig to ascend or descend along the vertical direction according to the size of the object to be printed, so as to adjust the distance between the upper surface of the object to be printed and the nozzle to reach a proper printing distance.

[0010] The inkjet printer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a nozzle wiping maintenance device arranged below one end of the beam mechanism, the nozzle wiping maintenance device is used for wiping the nozzle arranged below the printing trolley to prevent the nozzle hole from being blocked, and the nozzle wiping maintenance device is used for moisturizing and maintaining the nozzle when the printer stops working.

[0011] The inkjet printer of the present patent can detect the position of the protruding part of the object to be printed through the protruding part detection module, can clamp one or more objects to be printed with protruding parts by the jig, can control the object to be printed to reciprocate to avoid colliding with the nozzle in the printing process by the control system, and can overcome the curing blind area and effectively and completely dry the ink by the ultraviolet light curing device, thereby expanding the application field of the inkjet printer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present patent;

[0013] Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a beam mechanism according to an embodiment of the present patent;

[0014] Figure 3 A jig schematic diagram for the inkjet printer in an embodiment of the present application;

[0015] Figure 4 A position schematic diagram of the first solidification device and the second solidification device in an embodiment of the present application;

[0016] Figure 5 A position schematic diagram of the first protruding part sensor and the second protruding part sensor in an embodiment of the present application;

[0017] Figure 6 A flow chart of the printing method in an embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Figure 7 A position schematic diagram of the nozzle, the object to be printed and the solidification device in the pre-curing treatment in an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 8 A position schematic diagram of the nozzle, the object to be printed and the solidification device in the final curing treatment in an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 9 A principle diagram of the object protruding part detection by the infrared sensor in an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figures 10-12 A principle diagram of the object protruding part detection by the sensor in another embodiment of the present application.

[0022] The serial numbers in the figure are: beam mechanism 1, lifting mechanism 2, material rotating module 3, printing trolley 4, ultraviolet light solidification module 5, ink scraping maintenance device 6, cup clamping jig 7, protruding part detection module 8, first motor 11, first direction guide rod 12, first direction guide rail 13, first direction sliding block 14, first direction grating 15, structural steel beam 16, steel beam support column 17, first drag chain 18, drag chain plate 19, material rotating motor 31, coupling 32, material rotating shaft 33, free top shaft 34, tail vertical plate 35, material rotating shaft head end vertical plate 36, material rotating module base plate 37, material lifting cylinder 38, guide rail 39, sliding block 310, first solidification device 5a, second solidification device 5b, first protruding part sensor 81a, second protruding part sensor 81b, object to be printed 0. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The content of the present application will be described in detail below through embodiments.

[0024] Figure 1The utility model discloses a kind of inkjet printing device. The inkjet printing device includes beam mechanism 1, lifting mechanism 2, material rotating module 3, printing trolley 4, ultraviolet light curing module 5, ink scraping maintenance device 6, cup clamping jig 7, convex part detection module 8. Beam mechanism 1 is arranged along first direction, define first direction as X axis direction, one printing trolley 4 is arranged on beam mechanism 1, one drive mechanism is installed in one end of beam mechanism 1, drive mechanism can drive printing trolley 4 reciprocate along first direction (X axis direction). Ink cartridge and corresponding negative pressure control system for accommodating ink can be arranged on printing trolley 4, a nozzle bottom plate is arranged below printing trolley 4, nozzle is installed on nozzle bottom plate, nozzle jet ink drop on object to be printed to form graphics, ink can include magenta ink (M), yellow ink (Y), cyan ink (C), black ink (K), white ink (W), pre-treatment ink (P) or some special color ink, the ink used in printing nozzle in the embodiment is UV ink. A cup clamping jig 7 is arranged below beam mechanism 1, cup clamping jig 7 is used to install several objects to be printed, the object to be printed is curved surface and has convex part object, such as cup, one end of cup clamping jig 7 is provided with a material rotating module 3, the material rotating module 3 is used to drive the rotation of several objects to be printed on the cup clamping jig 7 around the center axis thereof. Lifting mechanism 2 is arranged below material rotating module 3, lifting mechanism 2 drives material rotating module 3 to ascend or descend along vertical direction according to the size of object to be printed, so as to adjust the distance between the upper surface of object to be printed and nozzle to reach appropriate printing distance, ultraviolet light curing module 5 is arranged below material rotating module 3 on both sides, and ultraviolet light curing module 5 is used for curing treatment of jet ink. An ink scraping maintenance device 6 is arranged below one end of beam mechanism 1, and the ink scraping maintenance device 6 is used for wiping nozzle installed below printing trolley 4 to prevent nozzle hole from being blocked; when the printer stops working, the ink scraping maintenance device 6 can also maintain the nozzle, prevent ink in nozzle hole from drying and solidifying, avoid damaging nozzle hole, ensure that the quality of ink drawing is ensured. In addition, convex part detection module 8 is installed below the other end of beam mechanism 1, on the opposite side of ink scraping maintenance device 6, and the convex part detection module 8 is used for detecting the convex part of object to be printed, when the object to be printed is a cup, the handle of the cup is detected.

[0025] As Figure 2As shown, the crossbeam mechanism 1 includes a first motor 11, a first direction guide rod 12, a first direction guide rail 13, a first direction sliding block 14, a first direction grating 15, a structural steel beam 16 and a steel beam support column 17. One end of the crossbeam mechanism 1 is provided with the first motor 11, the output shaft of the first motor 11 is connected with the first direction guide rod 12, the first direction guide rod 12 is connected with the printing trolley 4, a structural steel beam 16 is arranged below the first direction guide rod 12, the structural steel beam 16 is arranged along the first direction, the structural steel beam 16 is supported by the steel beam support column 17 which is vertically symmetrical, a first direction guide rail 13 is installed on the inner side wall of the structural steel beam 16, the first direction guide rail 13 is used in cooperation with the first direction sliding block 14, a first direction grating 15 is further arranged below the first direction guide rod 12 along the first direction, and the first direction grating 15 is used for recording and feeding back the real-time position information of the printing trolley 4. In the printing process, the control system controls the first motor 11 to drive the printing trolley 4 to reciprocate along the first direction (X-axis direction) at a substantially constant speed, the first direction sliding block 14 is installed at the rear of the printing trolley 4, the first direction sliding block 14 cooperates with the first direction guide rail 13 above the structural steel beam 16 to constrain the movement direction, the crossbeam mechanism 1 further includes a first drag chain 18, the first drag chain 18 is installed on a drag chain plate 19, and the first drag chain 18 reciprocates along the first direction (X-axis direction) with the printing trolley 4. During the movement of the printing trolley 1 along the first direction (X-axis direction), the control system also needs to control the nozzle below to spray ink droplets onto the object to be printed.

[0026] Figure 3 A perspective view of a cup clamping jig for inkjet printer installed in the material rotating module. The cup clamping jig for inkjet printer includes a material rotating module 3 and a cup clamping jig 7, the cup clamping jig 7 is a modular design, used to clamp a plurality of objects to be printed with protruding parts, and installed on the material rotating module 3 at one time, the material rotating module 3 controls the cup clamping jig 7 and the objects to be printed installed thereon to rotate back and forth.

[0027] The structure design of the material rotating module 3 and the cup clamping jig 7 will be introduced in detail as follows: the material rotating module 3 includes a material rotating head end driving rotating module, a material rotating head end moving module, a material rotating tail end module and a material rotating module base plate 37, the material rotating module base plate 37 is arranged at the lowermost part of the material rotating module 3 as a reference surface.

[0028] A material rotating head end driving rotating module is installed on one side above the material rotating module base plate 37, the material rotating head end driving rotating module includes a material rotating motor 31, a shaft coupling 32 and a material rotating shaft 33, the output end of the material rotating motor 31 is connected with the material rotating shaft 33 through the shaft coupling 32, the material rotating shaft 33 is connected with the cup clamping jig 7, the cup clamping jig 7 is arranged as a detachable integrated clamping module, a plurality of objects to be printed are installed in the cup clamping jig 7, the material rotating motor 31 drives the material rotating shaft 33 to drive the cup clamping jig 7 to rotate forward or reverse around the center axis thereof.

[0029] A material rotating head end moving module is arranged below the material rotating head end driving rotating module, the material rotating head end moving module comprises a material rotating shaft head end vertical plate 36, a material lifting cylinder 38, a guide rail 39 and a sliding block 310, the material rotating shaft head end vertical plate 36 is connected with the material rotating motor 31 through a connecting plate, the sliding block 310 is connected at the lower end of the material rotating shaft head end vertical plate 36, the sliding block 310 is matched with the sliding rail 39 arranged along the first direction, a material lifting cylinder 38 is connected at the bottom outside of the material rotating shaft head end vertical plate 36, the material rotating shaft head end vertical plate 36 and the material rotating head end driving rotating module connected with the material lifting cylinder 38 are pushed out or withdrawn along the guide rail 39 in the first direction, so that the cup clamp jig 7 is tightly fixed.

[0030] A material rotating tail end module is installed on the opposite side of the material rotating head end driving rotating module above the material rotating module base plate 37, the position of the material rotating tail end module is fixed, the material rotating tail end module comprises a free center shaft 34 and a tail vertical plate 35, the tail vertical plate 35 is installed above the material rotating module base plate 37, a free center shaft 34 is arranged inside the tail vertical plate 35, which is used for clamping and fixing the cup clamp jig 7 on the material rotating module 3.

[0031] A first curing device 5a and a second curing device 5b are respectively installed on both sides of the material rotating module 3 and obliquely below the cup clamp jig 7 (as shown in the middle of the figure) Figure 4 The first curing device 5a and the second curing device 5b are composed of a plurality of UV-LED lamp bead modules for irradiating ultraviolet light arranged along the first direction (X axis), and each UV-LED lamp bead module can independently control its switch and energy output value. A first protruding part sensor 81a and a second protruding part sensor 81b are respectively installed on the front and back of one end of the beam mechanism 1, and the first protruding part sensor 81a and the second protruding part sensor 81b are used to detect the position information of the protruding part of the object to be printed installed on the cup clamp jig 7.

[0032] The first curing device 5a and the second curing device 5b are respectively installed on the material rotating shaft module base plate 37, and each has an independent motor, transmission mechanism and guide mechanism. The independent motor can drive the first curing device 5a and the second curing device 5b to respectively approach or move away from the object to be printed along the radial direction arranged by itself.

[0033] Figure 6The flow chart of the printing process of the inkjet printer, after the operator clamps and installs a plurality of to-be-printed objects on the cup clamping jig 7, fixes the cup clamping jig 7 on the material rotating module 3, clicks the start button to start printing, the material rotating module 3 drives the cup clamping jig 7 to rotate one circle along the rotation center axis of the to-be-printed object in one direction, and the protruding part position information of the to-be-printed object is detected through the first protruding part sensor 81a and the second protruding part sensor 81b; the software calculates the printing area according to the position information of the two ends of the protruding part fed back by the first protruding part sensor 81a and the second protruding part sensor 81b, and limits the reciprocating rotation range of the to-be-printed object.

[0034] The control system controls the reciprocating rotation of the object, controls the inkjet head to spray ink downward on the to-be-printed object to form a figure and text, and the curing device performs pre-curing treatment on the object, specifically: the first curing device 5a and the second curing device 5b move to the working position from the UV axis origin according to the protruding part information of the to-be-printed object calculated by the software, at this time, the positions of the first curing device 5a and the second curing device 5b are the pre-curing positions of the figure and text printing, and the first curing device 5a and the second curing device 5b control the light source section switch and the output energy level of ultraviolet light of the curing device according to the control of the control system, at this time, the first curing device 5a and the second curing device 5b are pre-set to a low-energy curing level.

[0035] Then, the software judges whether the printing is completed, if not, the above-mentioned reciprocating rotation printing and pre-curing treatment are continued; if yes, the final curing process is carried out, specifically: the first curing device 5a retreats to the original position of the UV axis-5a shaft, the second curing device 5b approaches the object along the UV axis-5b according to the pre-set distance of the program, until the final curing position is reached and the high-energy curing level is started, the material rotating shaft module 3 rotates the object around the rotation center axis of itself by a certain angle, the rotation angle is determined by the printing area of the surface of the object, the second curing device 5b performs the final complete curing treatment on the ink drops on the surface of the object, and the object can be reciprocated according to the above-mentioned angle for multiple times until the ink drops are completely dried, and the printing is completed.

[0036] Next, according to the above-mentioned process Figure 7To explain the design principles of the printing and pre-curing process for the object to be printed (0), since the object has protruding parts, such as the handle of a cup, it cannot rotate 360 ​​degrees, otherwise it will collide with the printhead. To avoid the printhead, the protruding parts of the object can reciprocate during printing. When one side of the protruding part approaches the printhead, it rotates in the opposite direction. When the other side of the protruding part approaches the printhead, it changes direction and rotates back, rotating until one side of the protruding part approaches the printhead, then reverses direction again, and so on. Following this reciprocating rotation method, if a curing device LA is set up, since the object cannot rotate 360 ​​degrees, the single curing device will have blind spots when curing the image on the object. Therefore, a second curing device LB needs to be set up symmetrically to compensate for the area not covered by the first curing device. According to the simulation calculation of the blind spot, the angle difference LP between the curing device and the horizontal direction needs to be less than or equal to (180-DA)÷2, where LP is... Figure 7 The curing device shown in the diagram has a radiation range far from the angle between the outer edge of the horizontal line L passing through the center of the object to be printed and the horizontal line L. DA represents the blind zone angle of the protruding part of the object, which cannot rotate to avoid the printhead. Furthermore, since the protruding part has a certain height HD, the first curing device LA and the second curing device LB should be positioned such that their radial distance from the surface of the object to be printed is greater than HD. At this point, the ink curing ability is relatively weak, and this is defined as a preliminary pre-curing process.

[0037] After the graphics and text are printed on the object to be printed (0), the pre-curing process is completed simultaneously, followed by the final curing process. For example... Figure 8 As shown, the graphics on the surface of the object to be printed 0 have been printed. The printing carriage retracts to the initial printing position along the first direction (X-axis direction) to avoid collision with the protruding parts of the object to be printed 0. At the same time, a curing device moves along the radial direction of the object to be printed and approaches the object to be printed 0. In this embodiment, the second curing device LB moves along the radial direction of the object and approaches the object to be printed 0. The control system controls the object to be printed 0 to reciprocate in a way that avoids the second curing device LB. During the reciprocating motion, the ability to cure ink is strong, and the curing device LB performs the final curing treatment on the ink droplets on the surface of the object.

[0038] Below is a brief explanation of how to obtain the height HD of the protruding part of the object to be printed and the position information of the blind zone angle DA where the protruding part of the object to be printed cannot rotate to avoid the printhead. Figure 9For the detection principle of the height of the protruding part of the object to be printed, the object to be printed in the embodiment is a mug, a set of opposite sensors is arranged at the two ends of the beam mechanism 1, the height of the protruding part of the object to be printed is detected through the opposite sensors, so that the height of the cup gripper 7 for fixing the object to be printed in the vertical direction is controlled, and the distance between the two curing devices and the object to be printed in the printing process is determined.

[0039] Figures 10-12 For the principle diagram of the sensor detecting the protruding part of the object in another embodiment of the utility model, Figure 10 The protruding part of the object to be printed is located directly below, the left side is provided with a left sensor LS, and the right side is provided with a right sensor RS, the control system controls the object to be printed to rotate clockwise, when the outer edge of the protruding part approaches the nozzle, as shown in the figure, Figure 11 The left sensor LS detects the encoder position signal P1 corresponding to the protruding part at this time, then the control system controls the object to be printed to rotate counterclockwise, when the other outer edge of the protruding part approaches the other side of the nozzle, as shown in the figure, Figure 12 The right sensor RS detects the encoder position signal P2 corresponding to the protruding part at this time, at this time, the software can calculate the length of the printing area rotated by the object to be printed to avoid the nozzle, the length is (P2-P1) ÷ the number of lines of the encoder rotating one circle × 2πR, and R represents the radius of the object to be printed. According to the position signals P1 and P2 fed back after the above-mentioned sensors are triggered, the reciprocating motion track of the object to be printed can be controlled, and the printing effect that the protruding part automatically avoids the nozzle is realized.

Claims

1. An inkjet printer comprising a beam mechanism, a material rotating module, a printing trolley, a curing module and a cup clamping jig, the beam mechanism is arranged along a first direction, a printing trolley is arranged on the beam mechanism, a driving mechanism is installed at one end of the beam mechanism, the driving mechanism can drive the printing trolley to reciprocate along the first direction, a nozzle is installed below the printing trolley, the nozzle sprays ink droplets onto the object below to form text and graphics, a cup clamping jig is arranged below the beam mechanism, the cup clamping jig is used to install at least two objects to be printed, a material rotating module is arranged at one end of the cup clamping jig, the material rotating module is used to drive the object to be printed to rotate around its central axis, and a curing device is arranged below the material rotating module to cure the object to be printed, characterized in that, The inkjet printer further comprises a protruding part detection module, which is installed at one end of the beam mechanism and is used for detecting the protruding part of the object to be printed.

2. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein The object to be printed is a curved object with a protruding part.

3. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein The protruding part detection module comprises a first protruding part sensor and a second protruding part sensor. The material rotating module drives the cup clamping jig to rotate in one direction along the rotation center axis of the object to be printed for one circle. The first protruding part sensor and the second protruding part sensor detect the position information of the protruding part of the object to be printed. The software calculates the printing area according to the position information and limits the range of reciprocating rotation of the object to be printed.

4. The inkjet printer according to claim 3, wherein The first protruding part sensor detects the encoder position signal corresponding to the protruding part of the object to be printed as P1. After the control system controls the object to be printed to rotate in the opposite direction, the second protruding part sensor detects the encoder position signal corresponding to the protruding part of the object to be printed as P2. The software calculates the length of the printing area that the object to be printed rotates to avoid the nozzle, which is (P2-P1) ÷ the number of lines of the encoder rotating one circle × 2πR, where R represents the radius of the object to be printed.

5. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein The angle difference between the curing device and the horizontal direction needs to satisfy less than or equal to (180-DA) ÷ 2, where DA represents the blind angle of the protruding part of the object to be printed that cannot rotate to avoid the nozzle.

6. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein A lifting mechanism is arranged below the material rotating module. The lifting mechanism drives the material rotating module and the cup clamping jig to ascend or descend along the vertical direction according to the size of the object to be printed, so as to adjust the distance between the upper surface of the object to be printed and the nozzle to reach a suitable printing distance.

7. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein The inkjet printer further comprises a nozzle scraping maintenance device, which is arranged below one end of the beam mechanism. The nozzle scraping maintenance device is used for scraping the nozzle installed below the printing trolley to prevent the nozzle hole from being blocked. When the printer stops working, the nozzle scraping maintenance device maintains the nozzle.

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