Medium processing device, inkjet printer, method for controlling medium processing device, and method for controlling inkjet printer

Abstract

Provided is a medium processing device that performs predetermined processing, such as printing on an elongate medium, and that is capable of determining the remaining amount of the unprocessed medium using a relatively simple configuration.　The medium processing device comprises: a delivery roll holding unit for holding a delivery roll 11 which is an unprocessed medium 2 wound in a roll shape; a tension bar 25 for applying tension to the unprocessed medium 2 by coming into contact with the medium 2; a position detection mechanism for detecting the position of the tension bar 25; and a rotation mechanism for rotating the delivery roll 11. A control unit of the medium processing device executes a time measurement step for causing the delivery roll 11 to rotate in one direction at a constant rotational speed until the tension bar 25 disposed at a first reference position 25A has moved to a second reference position 25B, and measuring the movement time required for the tension bar 25 to move from the first reference position 25A to the second reference position 25B.

Description

Media processing device, inkjet printer, control method for media processing device, and control method for inkjet printer

[0001] The present invention relates to a media processing device that performs predetermined processing such as printing on long media, a method for controlling such a media processing device, an inkjet printer for printing on media, an inkjet printer equipped with an inkjet head, and a method for controlling such an inkjet printer.

[0002] Inkjet printers that print on long media are known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The inkjet printer described in Patent Document 1 includes a printer main body that prints on the media, a payout roll holder that holds a payout roll of unprinted media wound into a roll, a tension bar that contacts the unprinted media to apply tension to the media, and a frame with a guide groove that guides the tension bar in the up and down direction. The tension bar contacts the unprinted media from above and applies tension to the media by its own weight.

[0003] Also, conventionally, inkjet printers for printing on long media are known (see, for example, Patent Document 2). The inkjet printer described in Patent Document 2 includes an inkjet head (recording head) that ejects ink toward the medium, a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted, a print platen that is disposed below the inkjet head and on which the medium is placed during printing, and a fan that sucks the medium placed on the print platen and holds it against the print platen. The upper surface of the print platen serves as a support surface for supporting the medium. The print platen has multiple suction holes (through holes) formed therein for sucking the medium.

[0004] In the inkjet printer described in Patent Document 2, a space is formed below the print platen, defined by the print platen, two wall members, a bottom member, and the like. A fan is attached to the bottom member and sucks air from the space below the print platen. That is, when the fan is activated, air is exhausted from inside the space below the print platen. When air is exhausted from inside the space below the print platen, the medium is sucked onto the support surface of the print platen, and the medium is held by the print platen. The fan is activated when printing on the medium.

[0005] Also, conventionally, there is known an inkjet printer that includes a head (inkjet head) that ejects ink toward paper, a carriage on which the head is mounted, and a paper feed mechanism that transports the paper (see, for example, Patent Document 3). The inkjet printer described in Patent Document 3 performs desired printing on paper by alternately repeating one-pass printing, in which ink is ejected from the head while the carriage is moved in the main scanning direction, and paper transport, in which the paper is transported a predetermined amount in the sub-scanning direction.

[0006] In the inkjet printer described in Patent Document 3, the head is moved by logical seek in the main scanning direction according to the print start and end positions of one pass of printing, so that the amount of head movement when one pass of printing is repeated is minimized. By moving the head by logical seek, this inkjet printer can reduce the head movement time, and as a result, the paper printing time can be reduced.

[0007] Inkjet printers have also been known that include an inkjet head that ejects ink toward a medium and a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted (see, for example, Patent Document 4). The inkjet printer described in Patent Document 4 performs a flushing operation, which forcibly ejects ink from the inkjet head, as a maintenance operation for the inkjet head. The flushing operation is performed to prevent ink from thickening or drying out near the nozzles of the inkjet head.

[0008] In the inkjet printer described in Patent Document 4, for example, a flushing box for receiving ink during a flushing operation is disposed midway along the path of movement of the inkjet head in the main scanning direction, and the flushing operation is performed when the inkjet head passes over the flushing box. When the flushing operation is performed while the inkjet head is moving in the main scanning direction, it is possible to shorten the printing time on the medium while ensuring the print quality of the medium.

[0009] JP 2019-195973 A JP 2015-74090 A JP 2009-51098 A JP 2020-110989 A

[0010] In the inkjet printer described in Patent Document 1, if the unprinted medium that makes up the payout roll runs out while printing on the medium, printing on the medium cannot be completed and the printing that has been done up to that point will be wasted. Therefore, it is preferable for the inkjet printer described in Patent Document 1 to be able to grasp the remaining amount of unprinted medium that makes up the payout roll.

[0011] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a media processing device that performs predetermined processes such as printing on long media and that is capable of determining the remaining amount of media before processing with a relatively simple configuration.Another object of the present invention is to provide a control method for a media processing device that performs predetermined processes such as printing on long media and that is capable of determining the remaining amount of media before processing with a relatively simple configuration.

[0012] The inventors have also developed a large-sized inkjet printer with a wide main scanning width. This inkjet printer includes a platen on which a medium is placed during printing, a platen support that supports the platen from below, and a suction mechanism that sucks and holds the medium placed on the platen to the platen. The upper surface of the platen is formed with multiple suction holes that suck the medium placed on the platen, and the multiple suction holes communicate with the hollow interior space of the platen. The suction mechanism includes an exhaust fan that exhausts air from the interior space of the platen to the outside of the inkjet printer.

[0013] The present inventors are considering installing multiple filters through which air exhausted from the internal space of the platen by an exhaust fan passes in an inkjet printer under development. Specifically, the present inventors are considering attaching multiple filters to the platen support portion, and are considering providing a filter holding member on the platen support portion with multiple filter mounting portions to which the filters can be attached. Because the inkjet printer under development is wide in the main scanning direction, the present inventors are considering providing multiple filter holding members that are divided in the main scanning direction.

[0014] Furthermore, the inventors of the present invention have considered using multiple common filter holding members by making them identical in shape to reduce the cost of inkjet printers. However, depending on the filter holding member, the number and mounting positions of filters may differ from other filter holding members. In other words, not all filter holding members necessarily mount filters to the same filter mounting portions. Therefore, if multiple common filter holding members are used, there is a risk of filters being installed in the wrong positions when replacing filters in the field.

[0015] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet printer that is equipped with multiple filters through which air discharged from the internal space of the platen passes, and that can prevent incorrect installation of filters when replacing the filters, even if multiple common filter holding members are used as filter holding members to which multiple filters can be attached.

[0016] The inventors are also developing an inkjet printer that includes an inkjet head that ejects ink, a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted, a carriage drive mechanism that moves the carriage in the main scanning direction, and a platen or table that is disposed below the inkjet head. The inventors are considering adding a logical seek function to the printer under development, so that printing can be performed by moving the inkjet head using logical seek.

[0017] Furthermore, the inventors of the present application are considering installing flushing boxes on both sides of the platen or table in the main scanning direction in an inkjet printer currently under development, so that when printing is performed by moving the inkjet head using logical seek, a flushing operation can be performed while the inkjet head is moving in the main scanning direction. In this inkjet printer currently under development, when printing is performed by moving the inkjet head using logical seek, it is preferable that the flushing operation be performed efficiently in order to further shorten the printing time while maintaining print quality.

[0018] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet printer in which flushing boxes are provided on both sides of a platen or table arranged below the inkjet head in the main scanning direction, and which is capable of efficiently performing a flushing operation when printing by moving the inkjet head using logical seek.Another object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet printer control method in which flushing boxes are provided on both sides of a platen or table arranged below the inkjet head in the main scanning direction, and which is capable of efficiently performing a flushing operation when printing by moving the inkjet head using logical seek.

[0019] In order to solve the above problem, the media processing device of the present invention comprises a processing mechanism that processes long media, a payout roll holding unit that holds a payout roll, which is the media before processing that is wound into a roll, a tension bar that is arranged between the payout roll and the processing mechanism in the media movement path and contacts the media before processing to apply tension to the media, a tension bar holding unit that movably holds the tension bar, a position detection mechanism for detecting the position of the tension bar, and a control unit to which the position detection mechanism is electrically connected, wherein the payout roll holding unit has a rotation mechanism that has a drive source electrically connected to the control unit and rotates the payout roll, and the control unit rotates the payout roll in one direction at a constant rotational speed using the rotation mechanism until the tension bar, which is positioned at a predetermined first reference position, moves to a predetermined second reference position, and performs a time measurement step that measures the movement time when the tension bar moves from the first reference position to the second reference position.

[0020] In addition, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the control method for a media processing device of the present invention includes a processing mechanism that processes long media, a payout roll holding unit that holds a payout roll, which is the media before processing that is wound into a roll, a tension bar that is arranged between the payout roll and the processing mechanism in the media movement path and contacts the media before processing to apply tension to the media, a tension bar holding unit that movably holds the tension bar, and a position detection mechanism for detecting the position of the tension bar, and the payout roll holding unit is equipped with a rotation mechanism that rotates the payout roll, and is characterized by rotating the payout roll in one direction at a constant rotational speed using the rotation mechanism until the tension bar, which is positioned at a predetermined first reference position, moves to a predetermined second reference position, and executing a time measurement step that measures the movement time when the tension bar moves from the first reference position to the second reference position.

[0021] In this invention, the feeding roll is rotated in one direction at a constant rotational speed until the tension bar, which is positioned at the first reference position, moves to the second reference position, and a time measurement step is performed to measure the movement time of the tension bar from the first reference position to the second reference position. The movement time required to move the tension bar from the first reference position to the second reference position while rotating the feeding roll in one direction at a constant rotational speed varies depending on the outer diameter of the feeding roll. Therefore, in this invention, by performing the time measurement step, it is possible to determine the outer diameter of the feeding roll. Furthermore, in this invention, it is possible to determine the remaining amount of media before processing by determining the outer diameter of the feeding roll. In this way, this invention makes it possible to determine the remaining amount of media before processing with a relatively simple configuration using a tension bar that is originally included in the media processing device to apply tension to the media.

[0022] In the present invention, for example, the time measurement step includes a first rotation step in which the rotation mechanism rotates the payout roll until the position detection mechanism detects that the tension bar is at a first reference position, and a second rotation step in which, after the first rotation step, the rotation mechanism rotates the payout roll until the position detection mechanism detects that the tension bar is at a second reference position. In this case, for example, if the direction in which the payout roll rotates to pay out the medium toward the processing mechanism is defined as the payout direction, and the direction in which the medium is wound up, which is the opposite direction to the payout direction, is defined as the take-up direction, the control unit rotates the payout roll in the payout direction in the first rotation step, and rotates the payout roll in the take-up direction in the second rotation step.

[0023] In the present invention, for example, the control unit executes a roll diameter calculation step of calculating the diameter or radius of the payout roll based on the movement time measured in the time measurement step.

[0024] In the present invention, a cylindrical core around which the medium is wound is preferably placed at the center of the payout roll, and the control unit preferably executes a media length calculation step of calculating the length of the medium constituting the payout roll based on the diameter or radius of the payout roll calculated in the roll diameter calculation step, the thickness of the medium, and the diameter or radius of the core. With this configuration, the operator of the media processing device can intuitively and easily grasp the remaining amount of medium before processing by checking the media length calculated in the media length calculation step.

[0025] In the present invention, it is preferable that a display unit that displays predetermined information is electrically connected to the control unit, and the control unit displays the medium length calculated in the medium length calculation step on the display unit. With this configuration, an operator of the media processing device can visually check the medium length displayed on the display unit and more intuitively and easily grasp the remaining amount of media before processing.

[0026] In the present invention, for example, the tension bar is movable linearly relative to the tension bar holder, and the position detection mechanism is a linear encoder.

[0027] In the present invention, the processing mechanism is a printing mechanism that performs a printing process on the medium, and the control unit preferably executes a time measurement step before starting printing on the medium. This configuration makes it possible to determine the remaining amount of medium before starting printing on the medium and confirm whether printing on the medium can be completed. Furthermore, this configuration makes it possible to prevent the printing operation on the medium from being interrupted even if the remaining amount of medium before printing can be determined.

[0028] In the present invention, for example, the processing mechanism is a printing mechanism that performs a printing process on a medium, and the printing mechanism includes an inkjet head that ejects ink onto the medium, a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted, and a carriage drive mechanism that moves the carriage in a main scanning direction perpendicular to the up-down direction. The printing mechanism performs a cleaning operation to prevent clogging of the inkjet head nozzles while printing on the medium, and the control unit executes a time measurement step during the cleaning operation. In this case, it is possible to grasp the remaining amount of medium before printing while printing on the medium and confirm whether printing on the medium can be completed. Furthermore, in this case, it is possible to prevent the printing operation on the medium from being interrupted even if it is possible to grasp the remaining amount of medium before printing.

[0029] and a suction mechanism for sucking the medium placed on the platen to hold it thereon, the platen having a top surface formed with a number of suction holes for sucking the medium placed on the platen, the number of suction holes communicating with the hollow internal space of the platen, the suction mechanism including an exhaust fan for exhausting air from the internal space of the platen to the outside of the inkjet printer, and a number of filters through which air exhausted from the internal space of the platen by the exhaust fan passes, the platen support having a number of filter holding members to which the filters are attached, the filter holding members having a number of filter mounting portions to which the filters can be attached, the filter mounting portions having screw holes formed in positions that overlap the filters when viewed from above when the filters are attached to the filter mounting portions, and the filter mounting portions having no filters attached have screws attached to the screw holes.

[0030] In the inkjet printer of the present invention, the plurality of filter holding members include a plurality of filter mounting portions to which filters can be attached, and the filter mounting portions have threaded holes formed therein that are covered by the filters when the filters are attached to the filter mounting portions. Also, in the present invention, in the filter mounting portions where no filters are attached, screws are attached to the threaded holes.

[0031] Therefore, in this invention, when replacing a filter, it is possible to prevent a new filter from being mistakenly attached to a filter mounting portion to which a screw is attached by using a screw attached to a screw hole. In other words, in this invention, when replacing a filter, it is possible to prevent a filter from being mistakenly attached to a filter mounting portion to which no filter was originally attached by using a screw attached to a screw hole. Therefore, in this invention, even if multiple common filter holding members are used as filter holding members to which multiple filters can be attached, it is possible to prevent incorrect installation of filters when replacing the filters.

[0032] In the present invention, for example, the suction mechanism includes a plurality of exhaust fans, the number of which is equal to the number of filters, and a plurality of flow path forming members that form air flow paths connecting each of the plurality of exhaust fans to each of the plurality of filters, and the filters are arranged below the exhaust fans.

[0033] In the present invention, for example, the filter mounting portion has a plurality of slit-shaped exhaust holes, the filter includes a filter body and a case body that houses the filter body, and the case body is formed with elastically deformable engaging pieces that engage with the exhaust holes by snap-fitting. In this case, the filter can be easily attached to and detached from the filter mounting portion by snap-fitting.

[0034] In the present invention, the inkjet printer comprises a carriage on which an inkjet head is mounted, a carriage drive mechanism for reciprocating the carriage in a main scanning direction perpendicular to the up-down direction, and an exhaust pipe for exhausting ink that accumulates in the internal space of the platen, and if the direction perpendicular to the up-down direction and the main scanning direction is defined as the sub-scanning direction, the hollow platen has an internal bottom surface formed with an inclined surface that is inclined with respect to the main scanning direction when viewed from the sub-scanning direction, and the bottom of the platen has an ink receiving section that is located at the lower end of the inclined surface and into which ink that has flowed down the inclined surface flows, and one end of the exhaust pipe is connected to the ink receiving section and the other end of the exhaust pipe is located lower than the one end of the exhaust pipe, and the exhaust pipe is preferably routed so as to be inclined with respect to the main scanning direction when viewed from the sub-scanning direction.

[0035] In the inkjet printer of the present invention, for example, when printing on a medium such as a mesh-like fabric, there is a risk that ink that has passed through the medium will enter the interior of the hollow platen. However, with this configuration, the ink that has entered the interior of the platen can be smoothly discharged from the interior of the platen by utilizing the ink's own weight, thanks to the inclined surface formed on the bottom surface of the interior of the platen, the ink receiving section formed on the bottom of the platen, and the discharge pipe that is connected to the ink receiving section and is routed so that it is inclined with respect to the main scanning direction when viewed from the sub-scanning direction.

[0036] In the present invention, one side in the main scanning direction is defined as a first direction side, and the opposite side of the first direction side is defined as a second direction side. The bottom surface inside the platen has inclined surfaces including a first inclined surface that slopes downward as it approaches the first direction side, a second inclined surface that is disposed on the first direction side of the first inclined surface and slopes downward as it approaches the second direction side, a third inclined surface that is disposed on the first direction side of the second inclined surface and slopes downward as it approaches the first direction side, and a fourth inclined surface that is disposed on the first direction side of the third inclined surface and slopes downward as it approaches the second direction side. Therefore, it is preferable that a fourth inclined surface inclined downward is formed, a first ink receiving portion as an ink receiving portion is disposed between the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface in the main scanning direction, a second ink receiving portion as an ink receiving portion is disposed between the third inclined surface and the fourth inclined surface in the main scanning direction, and a portion of the discharge pipe having one end connected to the first ink receiving portion is routed so as to be downward as it approaches the second direction, and a portion of the discharge pipe having one end connected to the second ink receiving portion is routed so as to be downward as it approaches the first direction. With this configuration, it is possible to smoothly discharge ink that has entered the inside of the platen from inside the platen, even if the width of the platen in the main scanning direction is wide.

[0037] In the present invention, the inkjet printer includes a rotating shaft inserted into the inner periphery of a take-up roll, which is a roll of printed media, a gear fixed to the rotating shaft, a cover member for covering the gear, and a holder for rotatably holding the rotating shaft and the cover member. The cover member is rotatable relative to the holder along the axial direction of the rotating shaft and between a covered position that covers the gear and an open position that exposes the gear. Preferably, a permanent magnet is fixed to one of the cover member and the holder for holding the cover member in the open position, and the other of the cover member and the holder is made of a magnetic material, so that the cover member is held in the open position by magnetic attraction between the other of the cover member and the permanent magnet. This configuration makes it possible to easily hold the cover member in the open position. Furthermore, this configuration makes it possible to easily rotate the cover member from the open position to the covered position.

[0038] Furthermore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an inkjet printer of the present invention is an inkjet printer equipped with an inkjet head that ejects ink, the inkjet printer comprising: a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted; a carriage drive mechanism that moves the carriage back and forth in a main scanning direction that is perpendicular to the up-down direction; a platen or table that is arranged below the inkjet head; first and second flushing boxes that are arranged below the inkjet head and that receive ink ejected from the inkjet head by a flushing operation; and a control unit that controls the inkjet printer, wherein one side in the main scanning direction is defined as a first direction side, and the other side in the main scanning direction opposite the first direction side is defined as a second direction side, the first flushing box is arranged on the first direction side of the platen or table, and the second flushing box is arranged on the second direction side of the platen or table, and an image printed by the inkjet head in one pass of the carriage in the main scanning direction is defined as a one-pass printed image. a one-pass print image printed by the inkjet head moving together with the carriage in the first direction is defined as a first print image, a one-pass print image printed by the inkjet head moving together with the carriage in the second direction is defined as a second print image, a flushing operation performed on the first flushing box is defined as a first flushing operation, and a flushing operation performed on the second flushing box is defined as a second flushing operation; print data is input to the control unit before printing starts, the control unit moves the inkjet head in the main scanning direction by logical seek, which moves the inkjet head together with the carriage in the main scanning direction according to the print start position and print end position of the one-pass print image, and before printing the first print image, determines whether or not to perform the first flushing operation after printing the first print image according to the print end position of the first print image, and before printing the second print image, determines whether or not to perform the second flushing operation after printing the second print image according to the print end position of the second print image.

[0039] Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a control method for an inkjet printer of the present invention includes an inkjet head that ejects ink, a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted, a carriage drive mechanism that moves the carriage back and forth in a main scanning direction that is perpendicular to the up-down direction, a platen or table that is arranged below the inkjet head, and a first flushing box and a second flushing box that are arranged below the inkjet head and receive ink ejected from the inkjet head by a flushing operation, wherein one side in the main scanning direction is defined as a first direction side and the other side in the main scanning direction opposite the first direction side is defined as a second direction side, the first flushing box is arranged on the first direction side of the platen or table, and the second flushing box is arranged on the second direction side of the platen or table, and wherein an image printed by the inkjet head in one pass of the carriage in the main scanning direction is defined as a one-pass print image, and the inkjet head is moved in the main scanning direction together with the carriage according to a print start position and a print end position of the one-pass print image. a first print image is a one-pass print image printed by the inkjet head moving in the first direction together with the carriage, and a second print image is a one-pass print image printed by the inkjet head moving in the second direction together with the carriage, and the flushing operation performed on the first flushing box is the first flushing operation, and the flushing operation performed on the second flushing box is the second flushing operation. In the determination step, before printing the first print image, whether to perform the first flushing operation after printing the first print image is determined in accordance with the print end position of the first print image, and before printing the second print image, whether to perform the second flushing operation after printing the second print image is determined in accordance with the print end position of the second print image.

[0040] In the inkjet printer of the present invention, an image printed by the inkjet head in one pass of the carriage in the main scanning direction is defined as a one-pass printed image, a one-pass printed image printed by the inkjet head moving in the first direction, which is one side of the main scanning direction, is defined as a first printed image, a one-pass printed image printed by the inkjet head moving in the second direction, which is the other side of the main scanning direction, is defined as a second printed image, a flushing operation performed on the first flushing box is defined as a first flushing operation, and a flushing operation performed on the second flushing box is defined as a second flushing operation, and before printing the first printed image, the control unit determines whether or not to perform the first flushing operation after printing the first printed image depending on the printing end position of the first printed image, and before printing the second printed image, determines whether or not to perform the second flushing operation after printing the second printed image depending on the printing end position of the second printed image.

[0041] In addition, the inkjet printer control method of the present invention includes a judgment step for judging and deciding whether to perform a flushing operation on the first flushing box or the second flushing box, and in the judgment step, before printing the first print image, it is judged whether to perform the first flushing operation after printing the first print image depending on the printing end position of the first print image, and before printing the second print image, it is judged whether to perform the second flushing operation after printing the second print image depending on the printing end position of the second print image.

[0042] Therefore, in this invention, if the printing end position of the first print image is close to the first flushing box, the first flushing operation is performed after printing the first print image, and if the printing end position of the first print image is far from the first flushing box, the first flushing operation is not performed after printing the first print image. Furthermore, in this invention, if the printing end position of the second print image is close to the second flushing box, the second flushing operation is performed after printing the second print image, and if the printing end position of the second print image is far from the second flushing box, the second flushing operation is not performed after printing the second print image. Therefore, in this invention, the flushing operation can be performed efficiently when printing is performed by moving the inkjet head using logical seek. The inkjet head that ejects ink toward the first or second flushing box during the flushing operation may be moved in the main scanning direction together with the carriage during the flushing operation.

[0043] In the present invention, it is preferable that if the printing end position of the first print image is on the first direction side of the center of the platen or table in the main scanning direction, a first flushing operation is performed unconditionally or when certain conditions are met after the first print image is printed, and if the printing end position of the second print image is on the second direction side of the center of the platen or table in the main scanning direction, a second flushing operation is performed unconditionally or when certain conditions are met after the second print image is printed. With this configuration, it is determined whether to perform the flushing operation on the first flushing box or the second flushing box based on the center of the platen or table in the main scanning direction, making it possible to appropriately determine whether to perform the flushing operation on the first flushing box or the second flushing box.

[0044] In the present invention, the number of times the carriage performs one pass without a flushing operation after printing starts or after the previous flushing operation has been performed is defined as the number of non-flushing operations, and the distance the carriage moves without a flushing operation after printing starts or after the previous flushing operation has been performed is defined as the non-flushing operation distance.In this case, the judgment step determines whether to perform a first flushing operation after printing the first print image based on the printing end position of the first print image and the number of non-flushing operations or the non-flushing operation distance, and determines whether to perform a second flushing operation after printing the second print image based on the printing end position of the second print image and the number of non-flushing operations or the non-flushing operation distance.If the number of non-flushing operations is less than a predetermined reference number, or if the non-flushing operation distance is less than a predetermined reference distance, it is preferable that the first flushing operation is not performed after printing the first print image, and the second flushing operation is not performed after printing the second print image. With this configuration, for example, even when ink is used that allows print quality to be maintained even if the frequency of flushing operations is reduced, it is possible to perform the flushing operation efficiently.

[0045] In the inkjet printer control method of the present invention, when a next one-pass print image is printed after a one-pass print image is printed, it is preferable to include a second determination step of determining whether to perform a flushing operation on the first flushing box or the second flushing box before printing the next one-pass print image, depending on a pre-printing movement distance, which is the distance in the main scanning direction between the print start position of the next one-pass print image and the current position of the inkjet head. With this configuration, if the pre-printing movement distance is long and ink viscosity is likely to increase, the flushing operation can be performed before printing the next one-pass print image, and if the pre-printing movement distance is short and ink viscosity is unlikely to increase, the flushing operation can be omitted. This makes it possible to perform the flushing operation more efficiently.

[0046] In the present invention, for example, if the pre-printing movement distance is longer than half the width of the platen or table in the main scanning direction, and certain conditions are met, a flushing operation is performed on the first flushing box or the second flushing box before printing the next one-pass print image.

[0047] In the present invention, in the second judgment step, it is determined whether to perform a flushing operation on the first flushing box or the second flushing box before printing the next one-pass print image depending on the pre-printing movement distance and the current position of the inkjet head, and if the printing of the next one-pass print image is the printing of the first print image, and the current position of the inkjet head is on the second direction side of the second flushing box, it is preferable that the second flushing operation is not performed before printing the next first print image, and if the printing of the next one-pass print image is the printing of the second print image, and the current position of the inkjet head is on the first direction side of the first flushing box, it is preferable that the first flushing operation is not performed before printing the next second print image.

[0048] When the printing of the next one-pass print image is the printing of the first print image and the current position of the inkjet head is on the second direction side of the second flushing box, or when the printing of the next one-pass print image is the printing of the second print image and the current position of the inkjet head is on the first direction side of the first flushing box, it is assumed that a flushing operation is being performed just before the inkjet head moves to its current position, and thus this configuration makes it possible to prevent excessive flushing operations from being performed.

[0049] In the present invention, the number of one-pass carriage operations without a flushing operation after the start of printing or the previous flushing operation is defined as the number of non-flushing operations, and the distance the carriage has moved without a flushing operation after the start of printing or the previous flushing operation is defined as the non-flushing operation distance. In the second determination step, it is determined whether to perform a flushing operation on the first flushing box or the second flushing box before printing the next one-pass print image based on the pre-printing movement distance and the number of non-flushing operations or the non-flushing operation distance. If the number of non-flushing operations is equal to or less than a predetermined reference number, or if the non-flushing operation distance is equal to or less than a predetermined reference distance, and certain conditions are met, it is preferable that a flushing operation not be performed before printing the next one-pass print image. This configuration makes it possible to efficiently perform flushing operations when print quality can be ensured even if the frequency of flushing operations is reduced.

[0050] As described above, the present invention makes it possible to grasp the remaining amount of media before processing with a relatively simple configuration in a media processing device that performs predetermined processing such as printing on long media.

[0051] 14 is a side view illustrating the configuration of a media processing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the media processing device shown in FIG. 1. It is a diagram illustrating the operation of the media processing device when calculating the length of the media constituting the payout roll in the media processing device shown in FIG. 1. It is a perspective view of an inkjet printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view showing the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 4 from the bottom. It is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 4. It is a front view showing the configuration of a portion of the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 4. It is a diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing the platen body shown in FIG. 4. It is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a detection mechanism that detects that the platen body has been attached to the platen frame shown in FIG. 6. (A) is an enlarged view of portion E in FIG. 5, and (B) is an enlarged view of portion F in FIG. 5. It is a cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of the filter and filter holding member shown in FIG. 10. It is a bottom view of the filter holding member shown in FIG. 10. It is a bottom view of the filter holding member shown in FIG. 10 with the filter and screws attached. It is a perspective view of portion G in FIG. 4 with the platen body removed. It is a cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of portion H in FIG. It is a side view illustrating the configuration of the cover member of the take-up roll holding unit shown in FIG. 4. Fig. 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of an inkjet printer according to a modified example of the present invention. Fig. 19 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the inkjet printer shown in Fig. 17. Fig. 19 is a schematic diagram illustrating the timing and location of a flushing operation performed when bidirectional printing is performed with the logical seek function turned on in the inkjet printer shown in Fig. 17. Fig. 19 is a schematic diagram illustrating the timing and location of a flushing operation performed when bidirectional printing is performed with the logical seek function turned on in the inkjet printer shown in Fig. 17. Fig. 19 is a schematic diagram illustrating the timing and location of a flushing operation performed when bidirectional printing is performed with the logical seek function turned on in the inkjet printer shown in Fig. 17.27 is a schematic diagram for explaining the timing and location of a flushing operation performed when bidirectional printing is performed with the logical seek function turned on in the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 17. 28 is a schematic diagram for explaining the timing and location of a flushing operation performed when unidirectional printing on only the forward path is performed with the logical seek function turned on in the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 17. 29 is a schematic diagram for explaining the timing and location of a flushing operation performed when unidirectional printing on only the forward path is performed with the logical seek function turned on in the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 17. 29 is a schematic diagram for explaining the timing and location of a flushing operation performed when unidirectional printing on only the forward path is performed with the logical seek function turned on in the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 27. 30 is a schematic diagram for explaining the timing and location of a flushing operation performed when unidirectional printing on only the forward path is performed with the logical seek function turned on in the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 17. 31 is a flowchart for explaining a printing operation when the logical seek function is turned on in the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 17. 32 is a flowchart for explaining a determination step shown in FIG. 27. 33 is a flowchart for explaining a second determination step shown in FIG. 27. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a determination step according to a modified example of the present invention.

[0052] First Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0053] (Configuration of Media Processing Device) Fig. 1 is a side view illustrating the configuration of a media processing device 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the media processing device 1 shown in Fig. 1.

[0054] The media processing device 1 is a device for performing predetermined processing on a long medium 2. In this embodiment, the media processing device 1 is a printer that performs printing processing on the medium 2. Specifically, the media processing device 1 is an inkjet printer. Hereinafter, the media processing device 1 will be referred to as the "printer 1." The printer 1 is, for example, a commercial inkjet printer. The medium 2 is, for example, a sheet-like medium such as paper, fabric, or a resin sheet. The printer 1 is equipped with a printing mechanism 3 as a processing mechanism that performs printing processing on the medium 2.

[0055] The printing mechanism 3 includes an inkjet head 4 (hereinafter referred to as the "head 4") that ejects ink onto the medium 2, a carriage 5 on which the head 4 is mounted, a carriage drive mechanism 6 that moves the carriage 5 in a main scanning direction (Y direction in FIG. 1 ) perpendicular to the up-down direction (vertical direction), a support frame (Y bar) 7 that supports the carriage 5 so that it can move in the main scanning direction, and a platen 8 that is disposed below the carriage 5. The head 4 ejects ink downward. The underside of the head 4 forms an ink ejection surface on which a large number of nozzles that eject ink are disposed. The carriage drive mechanism 6 includes, for example, a belt that is partially fixed to the carriage 5, a pulley around which the belt is stretched, and a motor for rotating the pulley. The medium 2 to be printed is placed on the platen 8.

[0056] The printing mechanism 3 also includes a medium transport mechanism for transporting the medium 2 placed on the platen 8 in a sub-scanning direction (X direction in FIG. 1 ) that is perpendicular to the up-down direction and the main scanning direction. The medium transport mechanism transports the medium 2 in the longitudinal direction of the medium 2. In the following description, the main scanning direction (Y direction) is referred to as the "left-right direction," and the sub-scanning direction (X direction) is referred to as the "front-to-rear direction." Furthermore, one side of the front-to-rear direction is referred to as the X1 direction in FIG. 1, and the opposite side is referred to as the X2 direction in FIG. 1, and the "rear" side is referred to as the X3 direction. The medium 2 before printing is transported from the rear side to the top surface of the platen 8, and the medium 2 after printing is transported from the top surface of the platen 8 to the front side.

[0057] The printing mechanism 3 is equipped with a maintenance unit (not shown) for preventing clogging of the nozzles of the head 4. This maintenance unit is located in a position outside the printing area in the left-right direction (main scanning direction) where printing on the medium 2 is performed. In the printing mechanism 3, the maintenance unit performs a cleaning operation to prevent clogging of the nozzles of the head 4 while printing on the medium 2. In the printing mechanism 3, the maintenance unit also performs a cleaning operation before printing on the medium 2. Cleaning operations include, for example, purging, which forcibly sucks ink out of the nozzles of the head 4, flushing, which forcibly ejects ink from the nozzles of the head 4, and wiping, which wipes the ink ejection surface of the head 4 with a specified wiper member.

[0058] In addition to the printing mechanism 3, the printer 1 includes a payout roll holding unit 12 that holds a payout roll 11, which is the unprinted medium 2 (i.e., the unprocessed medium 2) wound into a roll, and a take-up roll holding unit 14 that holds a take-up roll 13, which is the printed medium 2 wound into a roll. The payout roll holding unit 12 is located below and behind the printing mechanism 3. The take-up roll holding unit 14 is located below and in front of the printing mechanism 3.

[0059] The payout roll 11 and the take-up roll 13 are rotatable with the left-right direction as the axis of rotation. A cylindrical winding core (paper tube) 15 around which the medium 2 is wound is disposed at the center of the payout roll 11. A cylindrical winding core (paper tube) 16 around which the medium 2 is wound is disposed at the center of the take-up roll 13. The ends of the long medium 2 wound around the winding cores 15, 16 are fixed to the winding cores 15, 16. Alternatively, the medium 2 is wound around the winding cores 15, 16 with its ends not fixed to the winding cores 15, 16.

[0060] The payout roll holding unit 12 includes a rotation mechanism 20 that rotates the payout roll 11. The rotation mechanism 20 includes a rotation shaft 21 that is inserted into the inner periphery of the winding core 15, a motor 22 that serves as a drive source for rotating the rotation shaft 21, and a power transmission mechanism for transmitting the power of the motor 22 to the rotation shaft 21. The take-up roll holding unit 14 includes a rotation mechanism 23 that rotates the take-up roll 13. The rotation mechanism 23 includes a rotation shaft 24 that is inserted into the inner periphery of the winding core 16, a motor that serves as a drive source for rotating the rotation shaft 24, and a power transmission mechanism for transmitting the power of the motor to the rotation shaft 24.

[0061] The printer 1 also includes a tension bar 25 that contacts the medium 2 before printing and applies tension to the medium 2, a tension bar holder 26 that movably holds the tension bar 25, and a position detection mechanism 27 that detects the position of the tension bar 25. The tension bar holder 26 is located, for example, behind the payout roll holder 12. The tension bar 25 is located so that its axial direction coincides with the left-to-right direction. The tension bar 25 is located between the payout roll 11 and the printing mechanism 3 in the movement path of the medium 2. The tension bar 25 is also located behind and below the rotation shaft 21.

[0062] The tension bar 25 is movable linearly relative to the tension bar holder 26. In this embodiment, the tension bar 25 is movable linearly in the vertical direction relative to the tension bar holder 26. More specifically, the tension bar 25 is movable linearly relative to the tension bar holder 26 in a direction slightly tilted from the vertical direction. The tension bar holder 26 is formed with a linear guide groove 26a that guides the tension bar 25. The guide groove 26a is slightly tilted from the vertical direction so that it approaches the rear as it approaches the upper side. A portion of the tension bar 25 engages with the guide groove 26a. The tension bar 25 contacts the medium 2 from above before printing and applies tension to the medium 2. The tension bar 25 also applies tension to the medium 2 by its own weight. The guide groove 26a may be parallel to the vertical direction.

[0063] The position detection mechanism 27 is a linear encoder. The position detection mechanism 27 is, for example, a transmissive or reflective optical linear encoder. The position detection mechanism 27 may also be, for example, a magnetic linear encoder. The position detection mechanism 27 includes a linear scale 28 (see FIG. 3) attached to the tension bar holder 26 and a sensor 29 attached to the tension bar 25. The sensor 29 moves linearly together with the tension bar 25 relative to the linear scale 28 attached to the tension bar holder 26.

[0064] The printer 1 also includes a tension bar 30 that contacts the printed medium 2 and applies tension to the medium 2, a tension bar holder 31 that movably holds the tension bar 30, and a position detection mechanism for detecting the position of the tension bar 30. The tension bar holder 31 is located, for example, in front of the take-up roll holder 14. The tension bar 30 is located so that its axial direction coincides with the left-right direction. The tension bar 30 is located between the printing mechanism 3 and the take-up roll 13 in the movement path of the medium 2. The tension bar 30 is also located below and in front of the rotation shaft 24. The tension bar 30 contacts the printed medium 2 from above and applies tension to the medium 2 by its own weight.

[0065] The tension bar 30 is movable linearly relative to the tension bar holder 31. In this embodiment, the tension bar 30 is movable linearly in the up and down direction relative to the tension bar holder 31. A linear guide groove 31a is formed in the tension bar holder 31 to guide the tension bar 30. A portion of the tension bar 30 engages with the guide groove 31a. The position detection mechanism for detecting the position of the tension bar 30 is configured similarly to the position detection mechanism 27.

[0066] The printer 1 includes a control unit 35 for controlling the printer 1. The control unit 35 is electrically connected to the position detection mechanism 27. Specifically, the sensor 29 is electrically connected to the control unit 35. The control unit 35 is also electrically connected to the motor 22. The control unit 35 controls the motor 22 based on the detection result of the sensor 29 (i.e., based on the detection result of the position detection mechanism 27). Similarly, the control unit 35 is electrically connected to the motor of the rotation mechanism 23 and the position detection mechanism for detecting the position of the tension bar 30. The control unit 35 controls the motor of the rotation mechanism 23 based on the detection result of the position detection mechanism for detecting the position of the tension bar 30.

[0067] A display unit 36 ​​that displays predetermined information is electrically connected to the control unit 35. The display unit 36 ​​is a display such as a liquid crystal display. The display unit 36 ​​is attached to the frame of the printer 1, for example. The display unit 36 ​​may also be a display of a PC (personal computer) connected to the printer 1, for example.

[0068] (Printer Control Method) FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the printer 1 shown in FIG. 1 when calculating the length of the medium 2 that constitutes the payout roll 11. In FIG.

[0069] The control unit 35 calculates the length of the medium 2 constituting the payout roll 11 (i.e., the length of the medium 2 wound around the winding core 15) to determine the remaining amount of the medium 2 before printing and to predict when the medium 2 before printing will run out, thereby performing the following control. The control unit 35 first rotates the payout roll 11 in one direction at a constant rotational speed using the rotation mechanism 20 until the tension bar 25, which is located at a predetermined first reference position 25A (see FIG. 3A), moves to a predetermined second reference position 25B (see FIG. 3B), and measures the movement time it takes for the tension bar 25 to move from the first reference position 25A to the second reference position 25B (time measurement step). That is, the control unit 35 performs the time measurement step.

[0070] The time measurement step includes a first rotation step (see FIG. 3A) in which the rotation mechanism 20 rotates the payout roll 11 until the position detection mechanism 27 detects that the tension bar 25 is at a first reference position 25A, and a second rotation step (see FIG. 3B) in which, after the first rotation step, the rotation mechanism 20 rotates the payout roll 11 until the position detection mechanism 27 detects that the tension bar 25 is at a second reference position 25B. The first reference position 25A is, for example, a predetermined position close to the lower limit position within the movable range of the tension bar 25, and the second reference position 25B is, for example, a position close to the upper limit position within the movable range of the tension bar 25. The tension bar 25, which is positioned at the first reference position 25A, rises toward the second reference position 25B.

[0071] If the direction in which the payout roll 11 rotates to pay out the medium 2 toward the printing mechanism 3 (counterclockwise in FIG. 3 ) is defined as the payout direction, and the direction in which the medium 2 is wound up (clockwise in FIG. 3 ), which is the opposite direction to the payout direction, is defined as the winding direction, in this embodiment, the control unit 35 rotates the payout roll 11 in the payout direction in the first rotation step, and rotates the payout roll 11 in the winding direction in the second rotation step. The control unit 35 executes a time measurement step before starting printing on the medium 2. The control unit 35 also executes a time measurement step during a cleaning operation that is performed during printing on the medium 2.

[0072] The movement time required to rotate the payout roll 11 in the winding direction at a constant rotational speed and move the tension bar 25 from the first reference position 25A to the second reference position 25B varies depending on the diameter (outer diameter) of the payout roll 11. Therefore, after the time measurement step, the control unit 35 calculates the diameter of the payout roll 11 based on the movement time measured in the time measurement step (roll diameter calculation step). That is, the control unit 35 executes the roll diameter calculation step.

[0073] In this embodiment, an approximate formula for calculating the diameter of the payout roll 11 is experimentally determined in advance based on the movement time of the tension bar 25 from the first reference position 25A to the second reference position 25B when the payout roll 11 is rotated at a constant rotation speed. This approximate formula is stored in advance in the control unit 35. In the roll diameter calculation step, the control unit 35 calculates the diameter of the payout roll 11 using this approximate formula.

[0074] After the roll diameter calculation step, the control unit 35 calculates the length of the medium 2 constituting the payout roll 11 based on the diameter of the payout roll 11 calculated in the roll diameter calculation step, the thickness of the medium 2, and the diameter of the winding core 15 (medium length calculation step). That is, the control unit 35 executes the medium length calculation step. If the length of the medium 2 constituting the payout roll 11 is L (m), the diameter of the payout roll 11 is D1 (mm) (see FIG. 3A), the thickness of the medium 2 is t (μm), and the diameter of the winding core 15 is D2 (mm) (see FIG. 3A), the control unit 35 calculates the length L of the medium 2 using the following formula in the medium length calculation step: L=(D1 ２ -D2 ２ ) × π / (4 × t) / 1000

[0075] The thickness of the medium 2 and the diameter of the winding core 15 are, for example, input in advance into the control unit 35 by the operator of the printer 1 and stored. Alternatively, the type of the medium 2 is input in advance into the control unit 35 by the operator of the printer 1, and the control unit 35 determines the thickness of the medium 2 and the diameter of the winding core 15 based on the input type of the medium 2. When the length of the medium 2 is calculated in the medium length calculation step, the control unit 35 displays the calculated length of the medium 2 on the display unit 36.

[0076] In the roll diameter calculation step, the control unit 35 may calculate the radius of the payout roll 11 based on the movement time measured in the time measurement step. In this case, in the medium length calculation step, the control unit 35 calculates the length of the medium 2 constituting the payout roll 11 using the radius of the payout roll 11. In addition, in the medium length calculation step, the control unit 35 may calculate the length of the medium 2 constituting the payout roll 11 using the radius of the winding core 15 instead of the diameter of the winding core 15.

[0077] (Major Effects of This Embodiment) As described above, in this embodiment, the control unit 35 rotates the payout roll 11 in one direction at a constant rotational speed until the tension bar 25, which is located at the first reference position 25A, moves to the second reference position 25B, and executes a time measurement step of measuring the movement time taken for the tension bar 25 to move from the first reference position 25A to the second reference position 25B. Also, as described above, the movement time taken for the tension bar 25 to move from the first reference position 25A to the second reference position 25B by rotating the payout roll 11 in one direction at a constant rotational speed varies depending on the outer diameter of the payout roll 11.

[0078] Therefore, in this embodiment, by executing the time measurement step, it is possible to determine the outer diameter of the payout roll 11. Furthermore, in this embodiment, it is possible to determine the remaining amount of medium 2 before printing by determining the outer diameter of the payout roll 11. In this way, in this embodiment, it is possible to determine the remaining amount of medium 2 before printing with a relatively simple configuration that uses the tension bar 25 and position detection mechanism 27 that are originally provided in the printer 1 to apply tension to the medium 2.

[0079] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the control unit 35 calculates the length of the medium 2 constituting the payout roll 11 in the medium length calculation step based on the diameter of the payout roll 11 calculated in the roll diameter calculation step, the thickness of the medium 2, and the diameter of the winding core 15, so the operator of the printer 1 can intuitively and easily grasp the remaining amount of medium 2 before printing by checking the length of medium 2 calculated in the medium length calculation step. In particular, in this embodiment, the length of medium 2 calculated in the medium length calculation step is displayed on the display unit 36, so the operator of the printer 1 can more intuitively and easily grasp the remaining amount of medium 2 before printing by visually checking the length of medium 2 displayed on the display unit 36.

[0080] In this embodiment, the control unit 35 executes the time measurement step before starting printing on the medium 2. Therefore, in this embodiment, before starting printing on the medium 2, it is possible to grasp the remaining amount of medium 2 before printing and confirm whether printing on the medium 2 can be completed. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the control unit 35 executes the time measurement step during the cleaning operation performed during printing on the medium 2, so it is possible to grasp the remaining amount of medium 2 before printing and confirm whether printing on the medium 2 can be completed during printing on the medium 2. Furthermore, in this embodiment, even if it is possible to grasp the remaining amount of medium 2 before printing, it is possible to prevent the printing operation on the medium 2 from being interrupted.

[0081] (Modifications) The above-described embodiment is one example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this and various modifications can be made within the scope that does not change the gist of the present invention.

[0082] In the above-described embodiment, for example, the first reference position 25A may be a predetermined position close to the upper limit position within the movable range of the tension bar 25, and the second reference position 25B may be a position close to the lower limit position within the movable range of the tension bar 25. In this case, the tension bar 25 located at the first reference position 25A descends toward the second reference position 25B. In this case, the control unit 35 rotates the payout roll 11 in the winding direction in the first rotation step, and rotates the payout roll 11 in the payout direction in the second rotation step. In the above-described embodiment, for example, the first reference position 25A may be an intermediate position within the movable range of the tension bar 25. In this case, the control unit 35 may rotate the payout roll 11 in the winding direction or in the payout direction in the first rotation step.

[0083] In the embodiment described above, if the tension bar 25 is already positioned at the first reference position 25A when the time measurement step is started, the first rotation step does not have to be executed. Also, in the embodiment described above, the position detection mechanism 27 may be equipped with, in addition to the linear scale 28 and the sensor 29, a sensor for detecting that the tension bar 25 is positioned at the first reference position 25A, or a sensor for detecting that the tension bar 25 is positioned at the second reference position 25B.

[0084] In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 35 may execute the time measurement step only before starting printing on the medium 2, or may execute the time measurement step only during a cleaning operation that is performed during printing on the medium 2. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit 35 may not execute the medium length calculation step. In this case, for example, the control unit 35 displays the diameter of the payout roll 11 calculated in the roll diameter calculation step on the display unit 36. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit 35 may not execute the roll diameter calculation step. In this case, for example, the control unit 35 displays the movement time calculated in the time measurement step on the display unit 36. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the media processing device 1 may include a processing mechanism other than the printing mechanism 3 that performs a predetermined process on the medium 2.

[0085] Second Embodiment A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0086] (Overall configuration of inkjet printer) Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an inkjet printer 100 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the inkjet printer 100 shown in Fig. 4 from the bottom side. Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of the inkjet printer 100 shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a front view showing the configuration of a portion of the inkjet printer 100 shown in Fig. 4.

[0087] The inkjet printer 100 (hereinafter referred to as "printer 100") of this embodiment is, for example, a commercial inkjet printer that prints on a medium 102 (see FIG. 6). The medium 102 is, for example, a long medium (sheet-like medium) such as paper, fabric, or a resin sheet. As shown in FIG. 6, the printer 100 includes an inkjet head 103 (hereinafter referred to as "head 103") that ejects ink onto the medium 102, a carriage 104 on which the head 103 is mounted, a carriage drive mechanism 105 that reciprocates the carriage 104 in a main scanning direction (Y direction in FIG. 4, etc.) perpendicular to the up-down direction (vertical direction), and a support frame (Y bar) 106 that supports the carriage 104 so that it can move in the main scanning direction. The printer 100 of this embodiment is a large printer that is wide in the main scanning direction.

[0088] The head 103 ejects ink downward. A plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink are formed on the underside of the head 103. In other words, the underside of the head 103 serves as an ink ejection surface for ejecting ink. The head 103 is equipped with a piezoelectric element for ejecting ink from the nozzles. The carriage drive mechanism 105 is equipped with, for example, a belt partly fixed to the carriage 104, a pulley around which the belt is stretched, and a motor for rotating the pulley.

[0089] The printer 100 also includes a platen 107 on which the medium 102 is placed during printing, a platen support 108 that supports the platen 107 from below, two support legs 109 and 110 that support the platen support 108 from below, and a suction mechanism 111 (see FIG. 7 ) that sucks and holds the medium 102 placed on the platen 107 to the platen 107. The platen 107 is located below the head 103 and the carriage 104. The thickness direction of the medium 102 when printing is performed by the head 103 coincides with the up-down direction.

[0090] The X direction in FIG. 4 , etc., which is perpendicular to the up-down direction and the main scanning direction, is the sub-scanning direction. The portion of the medium 102 placed on the platen 107 moves in the sub-scanning direction. In the following description, the Y direction in FIG. 4 , etc., which is the main scanning direction, is referred to as the "left-right direction," and the X direction in FIG. 4 , etc., which is the sub-scanning direction, is referred to as the "front-to-back direction." The left-to-right direction is also the width direction of the medium 102, which is perpendicular to the thickness direction of the medium 102 and the longitudinal direction of the medium 102. In the following description, the X1 direction side in FIG. 4 , etc., which is one side of the front-to-back direction, is referred to as the "front" side, the X2 direction side in FIG. 4 , etc., which is the opposite side, is referred to as the "rear" side, the Y1 direction side in FIG. 4 , etc., which is one side of the left-to-right direction, is referred to as the "right" side, and the Y2 direction side in FIG. 4 , etc., which is the opposite side, is referred to as the "left" side. In this embodiment, the left side (Y2 direction side) is the first direction side, which is one side of the main scanning direction, and the right side (Y1 direction side) is the second direction side, which is opposite the first direction side.

[0091] The printer 100 further includes a media transport mechanism 114 that transports the medium 102 in the longitudinal direction of the medium 102, a payout roll holder 115 that holds a payout roll, which is the unprinted medium 102 wound into a roll, and a take-up roll holder 117 that holds a take-up roll 116 (see FIG. 16 ), which is the printed medium 102 wound into a roll. The media transport mechanism 114 includes a drive roller and multiple pad rollers that are positioned opposite the drive roller and biased toward the drive roller. The drive roller and pad rollers are positioned behind the platen 107. The medium 102 is transported sandwiched between the transport roller and the pad roller. The payout roll holder 115 is positioned behind and below the platen 107. The take-up roll holder 117 is positioned in front of and below the platen 107.

[0092] (Configuration of Platen, Suction Mechanism, and Platen Support Section) FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a manufacturing method of the platen body 120 shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a detection mechanism 123 that detects that the platen body 120 has been attached to the platen frame 121 shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 10(A) is an enlarged view of part E in FIG. 5, and FIG. 10(B) is an enlarged view of part F in FIG. 5. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of the filter 129 and filter holding member 133 shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 12 is a bottom view of the filter holding member 133 shown in FIG. 10. Figure 13(A) is a bottom view of the filter 129 and screw 135 attached to the filter holding member 133A shown in Figure 10, Figure 13(B) is a bottom view of the filter 129 and screw 135 attached to the filter holding member 133B shown in Figure 10, Figure 13(C) is a bottom view of the filter holding member 133C shown in Figure 10 with screw 135 attached, and Figure 13(D) is a bottom view of the filter 129 and screw 135 attached to the filter holding member 133D shown in Figure 10.

[0093] The platen 107 is formed in an elongated shape that is elongated in the left-right direction. Specifically, the platen 107 is formed in the shape of a flat rectangular parallelepiped box that is elongated in the left-right direction. In other words, the platen 107 is formed hollow, and a space is formed inside the platen 107. Hereinafter, this space will be referred to as the "internal space S" (see FIG. 6). The platen 107 includes a platen main body 120 on whose upper surface the medium 102 is placed, and a platen frame 121 to which the platen main body 120 is attached on the upper surface side.

[0094] The platen body 120 is formed in the shape of a rectangular flat plate that is elongated in the left-right direction. The platen body 120 forms the upper surface of the platen 107. The platen frame 121 is formed in the shape of a rectangular box with an open top. The platen body 120 is attached to the upper end of the platen frame 121 so as to close the opening in the top surface of the platen frame 121. In this embodiment, the platen body 120 is detachably attached to the platen frame 121. Therefore, for example, even if the top surface of the platen body 120 becomes soiled with ink, the platen body 120 can be removed from the platen frame 121 to perform maintenance on the platen body 120.

[0095] As described above, the printer 100 is a large printer that is wide in the left-right direction (main scanning direction). The printer 100 is capable of printing on a medium 102 that is, for example, approximately 3200 mm wide. The platen 107 of this embodiment includes two platen bodies 120 that are arranged adjacent to each other in the left-right direction. In the following description, when the two platen bodies 120 are to be distinguished from each other, the platen body 120 arranged on the right side will be referred to as the "platen body 120A" and the platen body 120 arranged on the left side will be referred to as the "platen body 120B."

[0096] The platen body 120 is made of an aluminum alloy. The platen body 120 is manufactured by extrusion. Specifically, the platen body 120 is manufactured by cutting an extruded material 122 formed by extrusion to a predetermined length (see FIG. 8). The length of the extruded material 122 is, for example, several tens of meters, and multiple platen bodies 120 are formed from one piece of extruded material 122.

[0097] In this embodiment, two platen bodies 120A and 120B adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction of the extrusion material 122 are used in one printer 100. In this embodiment, the platen bodies 120A and 120B are attached to the upper end of the platen frame 121 so that the cut surfaces 120a between the platen bodies 120A and 120B face each other (see FIG. 6). Predetermined markings are provided on the platen bodies 120A and 120B to prevent the platen body 120A from being attached to the left side and the platen body 120B from being attached to the right side.

[0098] In this manner, in this embodiment, two platen bodies 120A, 120B adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction of the extrusion material 122 are used in one printer 100, and therefore, even if the aluminum alloy platen body 120 is manufactured by extrusion, it is possible to suppress variations in the thickness of the two platen bodies 120 attached to the platen frame 121. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the platen bodies 120A and 120B are attached to the upper end of the platen frame 121 so that the cut surfaces 120a between the platen bodies 120A and 120B face each other, and therefore it is possible to suppress variations in the thickness of the platen body 120 at the boundary between the platen bodies 120A and 120B.

[0099] A detection mechanism 123 is attached to the platen frame 121 to detect that the platen body 120 is attached to the platen frame 121 (see FIG. 9). Specifically, a detection mechanism 123 is attached to the platen frame 121 to detect that the platen body 120A is attached to the platen frame 121, and a detection mechanism 123 is attached to the platen frame 121 to detect that the platen body 120B is attached to the platen frame 121. The detection mechanism 123 is, for example, a lever-type microswitch having a lever 124.

[0100] A protrusion 125 that comes into contact with the lever 124 is fixed to the bottom surface of the platen body 120. In this embodiment, the protrusions 125 are fixed to the left end of the platen body 120A and the right end of the platen body 120B. A through-hole 121a through which the protrusion 125 is inserted is formed in the platen frame 121. As shown in FIG. 9B , when the platen body 120 is attached to the platen frame 121, the protrusion 125 presses down the lever 124, and it is detected that the platen body 120 has been attached to the platen frame 121.

[0101] The platen body 120 has a large number of suction holes 120b formed therein for sucking the medium 102 placed on the platen 107 (see FIG. 6). That is, a large number of suction holes 120b are formed in the upper surface of the platen 107. The suction holes 120b are formed in large numbers over almost the entire area of ​​the platen 107. The suction holes 120b penetrate the platen body 120 in the vertical direction. The large number of suction holes 120b communicate with the internal space S of the platen 107.

[0102] The suction mechanism 111 includes an exhaust fan 128 (see FIG. 7 ) for discharging air from the internal space S of the platen 107 to the outside of the printer 100, and a filter 129 through which air discharged from the internal space S to the outside of the printer 100 by the exhaust fan 128 passes. The suction mechanism 111 of this embodiment includes multiple exhaust fans 128 and multiple filters 129. Specifically, the suction mechanism 111 includes six exhaust fans 128 and six filters 129. That is, the suction mechanism 111 includes the same number of exhaust fans 128 as the number of filters 129. The suction mechanism 111 also includes multiple flow path forming members 130 that form air flow paths connecting each of the multiple exhaust fans 128 and the multiple filters 129. That is, the suction mechanism 111 includes six flow path forming members 130.

[0103] As shown in FIG. 7 , the exhaust fan 128 is attached to the bottom surface of the platen frame 121 (i.e., the bottom surface of the platen 107). The platen frame 121 has exhaust holes formed therein for discharging air from the internal space S of the platen 107. The six exhaust fans 128 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the left-right direction. The exhaust fans 128 function to suck air from the medium 102 placed on the platen 107. Note that the printer 100 may also print on a medium 102 such as a mesh-like fabric. In this case, for example, the platen body 120 is detached from the platen frame 121. The exhaust fan 128 is stopped. Ink that passes through the mesh-like medium 102 lands on the bottom surface of the interior of the platen 107 (i.e., the upper surface of the bottom portion of the platen frame 121).

[0104] The filter 129 is attached to the platen support portion 108. The filter 129 is disposed below the exhaust fan 128. The flow path forming member 130 is formed in a cylindrical shape and is disposed between the exhaust fan 128 and the filter 129 in the up-down direction. The filter 129 includes a filter body 131 and a case body 132 that houses the filter body 131 (see FIG. 11 ). The case body 132 is formed of, for example, resin. The top surface of the case body 132 is open. An elastically deformable engagement piece 132a is formed on the case body 132. The engagement piece 132a engages with an exhaust hole 133d (described below) formed in the platen support portion 108 by snap fitting.

[0105] In the printer 100, when the exhaust fan 128 operates, air in the internal space S of the platen 107 is exhausted to the outside of the printer 100. The air exhausted from the internal space S by the exhaust fan 128 passes through a filter 129 before being exhausted to the outside of the printer 100. Furthermore, when the air in the internal space S is exhausted, the medium 102 is sucked onto the upper surface of the platen 107, and the medium 102 is held by the platen 107. The exhaust fan 128 operates when printing on the medium 102.

[0106] The platen support portion 108 includes a plurality of filter holding members 133, 134 to which the filters 129 are attached. The platen support portion 108 of this embodiment includes four filter holding members 133 and one filter holding member 134. The filter holding members 133, 134 are, for example, rectangular metal plates formed in a flat plate shape. The filter holding members 133, 134 are arranged so that the thickness direction of the filter holding members 133, 134 coincides with the up-down direction. The filter holding members 133, 134 form the bottom surface of the platen support portion 108.

[0107] The filter holding member 134 is disposed at the center in the left-right direction of the platen support portion 108. Two of the four filter holding members 133 are disposed adjacent to each other in the left-right direction on the right side of the filter holding member 134. The remaining two filter holding members 133 are disposed adjacent to each other in the left-right direction on the left side of the filter holding member 134. The four filter holding members 133 and the filter holding members 134 are disposed at the same position in the front-rear direction.

[0108] In the following description, when distinguishing between the four filter holding members 133, the filter holding member 133 located on the far right will be referred to as "filter holding member 133A," the filter holding member 133 located second from the right will be referred to as "filter holding member 133B," the filter holding member 133 located second from the left will be referred to as "filter holding member 133C," and the filter holding member 133 located on the far left will be referred to as "filter holding member 133D."

[0109] The filter holding member 133 has a plurality of filter mounting portions 133a, 133b, and 133c to which the filters 129 can be attached. The filter holding member 133 in this embodiment has three filter mounting portions 133a to 133c. One filter 129 can be attached to each of the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c. When viewed from the top and bottom, the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c have a rectangular shape that is elongated in the left-right direction. The three filter mounting portions 133a to 133c are arranged at the same position in the front-to-rear direction. The filter mounting portion 133a is arranged on the right end side of the filter holding member 133. The filter mounting portions 133b and 133c are arranged adjacent to each other in the left-to-right direction on the left end side of the filter holding member 133. The filter mounting portion 133b is arranged to the right of the filter mounting portion 133c.

[0110] The width of the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c in the left-right direction is narrower than the width of the filter 129 in the left-right direction. The width of the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c in the front-rear direction is approximately equal to the width of the filter 129 in the front-rear direction. A plurality of slit-shaped exhaust holes 133d are formed in the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c (see FIG. 11). The exhaust holes 133d penetrate the filter holding member 133 in the up-down direction. The exhaust holes 133d are formed as elongated slits in the left-right direction. The plurality of exhaust holes 133d are arranged at regular intervals in the front-rear direction. Note that the exhaust holes 133d are not shown in FIGS. 10, 12, and 13.

[0111] The filter 129 can be attached to the lower surfaces of the filter attachment portions 133a to 133c. The filter 129 attached to the lower surfaces of the filter attachment portions 133a to 133c has the engagement piece 132a of the case body 132 engaged with the exhaust hole 133d. That is, the filter 129 is attached to the filter attachment portions 133a to 133c by a snap fit that utilizes the elastic deformation of the engagement piece 132a. Therefore, in this embodiment, the filter 129 can be easily attached to and detached from the filter attachment portions 133a to 133c. Therefore, in this embodiment, a dirty filter 129 can be easily replaced with a new filter 129.

[0112] The filter mounting portions 133a to 133c are formed with screw holes 133e that are covered by the filter 129 when the filter 129 is attached to the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c. That is, the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c are formed with screw holes 133e at positions that overlap with the filter 129 when viewed from the top-bottom direction when the filter 129 is attached to the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c. Each of the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c is formed with one screw hole 133e. The screw hole 133e passes through the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c in the top-bottom direction. The filter mounting portion 133a has a screw hole 133e formed in its center. The filter mounting portion 133b has a screw hole 133e formed on the left end side of the filter mounting portion 133b, and the filter mounting portion 133c has a screw hole 133e formed on the right end side of the filter mounting portion 133c.

[0113] In this embodiment, the filter 129 is attached to the filter mounting portions 133a and 133c of the filter holding member 133A, the filter mounting portion 133b of the filter holding member 133B, and the filter mounting portions 133a and 133b of the filter holding member 133D (see FIG. 13 ). That is, the filter 129 is not attached to the filter mounting portion 133b of the filter holding member 133A, the filter mounting portions 133a and 133c of the filter holding member 133B, the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c of the filter holding member 133C, or the filter mounting portion 133c of the filter holding member 133D. Therefore, the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c to which the filter 129 is not attached have screw holes 133e that are not covered by the filter 129. That is, the platen support portion 108 has screw holes 133e that are not covered by the filter 129.

[0114] In the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c where the filter 129 is not attached, screws 135 are attached to the screw holes 133e. That is, the screws 135 are attached to the screw holes 133e that are not covered by the filter 129. The screws 135 are headed screws such as pan head screws. The screws 135 are attached to the screw holes 133e from below. The heads of the screws 135 protrude downward from the underside of the filter holding member 133. Therefore, in the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c where the screws 135 are attached to the screw holes 133e, the engaging pieces 132a of the case body 132 cannot be engaged with the exhaust hole 133d. That is, the filter 129 cannot be attached to the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c where the screws 135 are attached to the screw holes 133e.

[0115] The left end of filter 129 attached to filter mounting portion 133b overlaps with the right end of filter mounting portion 133c but does not overlap with the screw 135 attached to screw hole 133e of filter mounting portion 133c. The right end of filter 129 attached to filter mounting portion 133c overlaps with the left end of filter mounting portion 133b but does not overlap with the screw 135 attached to screw hole 133e of filter mounting portion 133b.

[0116] The filter holding member 134 has one filter mounting portion formed in the same manner as the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c. The filter mounting portion of the filter holding member 134 also has a plurality of slit-shaped exhaust holes formed therein, similar to the exhaust hole 133d. The filter 129 is attached to the lower surface of the filter mounting portion of the filter holding member 134. The lower end of the flow path forming member 130 is connected to the exhaust hole of the filter holding member 134 and the exhaust hole 133d of the filter holding member 133 to which the filter 129 is attached.

[0117] (Configuration of Platen Frame and Its Surrounding Area) Fig. 14 is a perspective view of part G in Fig. 4 with the platen body 120 removed. Fig. 15 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of part H in Fig. 14.

[0118] The hollow platen 107 has inclined surfaces 107a to 107d formed on the bottom surface of its interior, which are inclined with respect to the left-right direction when viewed from the front-to-rear direction. That is, four inclined surfaces 107a to 107d are formed on the upper surface of the bottom portion of the platen frame 121. The platen frame 121 includes four inclined surface forming members 139 on which the inclined surfaces 107a to 107d are formed, and a fixing member 140 to which the inclined surface forming members 139 are fixed. The inclined surfaces 107a to 107d are formed on the upper surface side of the inclined surface forming members 139. The inclined surfaces 107a to 107d are arranged at the same position in the front-to-rear direction. The inclined surfaces 107a to 107d have the same width in the left-to-right direction.

[0119] The inclined surfaces 107a to 107d are arranged in this order from right to left. That is, the inclined surface 107b is arranged to the left of the inclined surface 107a, the inclined surface 107c is arranged to the left of the inclined surface 107b, and the inclined surface 107d is arranged to the left of the inclined surface 107c. The inclined surfaces 107a and 107c are inclined downward toward the left. The inclined surfaces 107b and 107d are inclined downward toward the right. The inclined surfaces 107a to 107d are gently inclined with respect to the horizontal direction. In this embodiment, the inclined surface 107a is the first inclined surface, the inclined surface 107b is the second inclined surface, the inclined surface 107c is the third inclined surface, and the inclined surface 107d is the fourth inclined surface.

[0120] The bottom of the platen frame 121 is formed with an ink receiving portion 107e serving as a first ink receiving portion and positioned between the inclined surfaces 107a and 107b in the left-right direction, and an ink receiving portion 107f serving as a second ink receiving portion and positioned between the inclined surfaces 107c and 107d in the left-right direction. That is, the bottom of the platen 107 is formed with the ink receiving portion 107e positioned on the lower end side of the inclined surfaces 107a and 107b, and the ink receiving portion 107f positioned on the lower end side of the inclined surfaces 107c and 107d. The ink receiving portions 107e and 107f are formed in a box shape with an open top. The lower ends of the inclined surfaces 107a and 107b are connected to the upper end of the ink receiving portion 107e. The lower ends of the inclined surfaces 107c and 107d are connected to the upper end of the ink receiving portion 107f. Ink that has flowed down the inclined surfaces 107a and 107b due to its own weight flows into the ink receiving portion 107e and accumulates therein. Ink that has flowed down the inclined surfaces 107c and 107d due to its own weight flows into the ink receiving portion 107f and accumulates therein.

[0121] The printer 100 is equipped with discharge pipes 141 and 142 for discharging ink accumulated in the internal space S of the platen 107. The discharge pipes 141 and 142 are, for example, corrugated tubes made of resin. One end of the discharge pipe 141 is connected to the ink receiving portion 107e. One end of the discharge pipe 142 is connected to the ink receiving portion 107f. The other ends of the discharge pipes 141 and 142 are connected to a waste liquid tank 143. The waste liquid tank 143 is located below the one ends of the discharge pipes 141 and 142. In other words, the other ends of the discharge pipes 141 and 142 are located below the one ends of the discharge pipes 141 and 142. The waste liquid tank 143 is located at both left and right ends of the printer 100 (see FIG. 7). Tank housing members 144 that house the waste liquid tank 143 are attached to the support legs 109 and 110. 4 and 5, the waste liquid tank 143 is not shown.

[0122] The discharge pipe 141 is connected to the bottom of the ink receiving section 107e. As shown in FIG. 7, the discharge pipe 141 is routed downward from the ink receiving section 107e, then routed toward the lower right, and then routed further downward. That is, the discharge pipe 141 is routed so as to be inclined with respect to the left-right direction when viewed from the front-to-back direction. Specifically, the entire discharge pipe 141 is routed so as to be inclined with respect to the left-to-right direction when viewed from the front-to-back direction. Furthermore, a portion of the discharge pipe 141 is routed so as to be downward as it moves toward the right side. The other end of the discharge pipe 141 is connected to a waste liquid tank 143 located at the lower right end of the printer 100.

[0123] The discharge pipe 142 is connected to the bottom of the ink receiving portion 107f. The discharge pipe 142 is routed downward from the ink receiving portion 107f, then routed toward the lower left, and then routed further downward. That is, the discharge pipe 142 is routed so as to be inclined with respect to the left-right direction when viewed from the front-to-back direction. Specifically, the entire discharge pipe 142 is routed so as to be inclined with respect to the left-to-right direction when viewed from the front-to-back direction. Furthermore, a portion of the discharge pipe 142 is routed so as to be inclined downward as it moves toward the left. The other end of the discharge pipe 142 is connected to a waste liquid tank 143 located at the lower left end of the printer 100. Note that the other end portions of the discharge pipes 141 and 142 are not shown in FIG. 5.

[0124] As shown in Figure 15, the slope forming member 139 is fixed to the upper surface side of the fixing member 140. The slope forming member 139 is fixed to the fixing member 140 by screws 145. The screws 145 are headed screws. The slope forming member 139 has through holes 139a formed therein, through which the screws 145 are inserted. The through holes 139a pass through the slope forming member 139 in the vertical direction. The upper ends of the through holes 139a open at the inclined surfaces 107a to 107d. The fixing member 140 has screw holes 140a formed therein, into which the screws 145 are engaged.

[0125] A washer 146 is disposed between the head of a screw 145 disposed on the upper side of the slope forming member 139 and the upper surface of the slope forming member 139. An O-ring 147, which is a sealing member, is disposed between the washer 146 and the upper surface of the slope forming member 139. The O-ring 147 is sandwiched and crushed between the washer 146 and the upper surface of the slope forming member 139. The O-ring 147 functions to prevent ink flowing along the slopes 107a to 107d from leaking below the slope forming member 139 through the through-hole 139a.

[0126] (Configuration of Take-Up Roll Holding Section and Its Surrounding Area) FIG. 16 is a side view for explaining the configuration of the cover member 152 of the take-up roll holding section 117 shown in FIG.

[0127] The take-up roll holding unit 117 includes a rotating shaft 150 that is inserted into the inner periphery of the take-up roll 116, and a drive mechanism that rotates the rotating shaft 150. The drive mechanism includes a motor as a drive source and a power transmission mechanism that transmits the power of the motor to the rotating shaft 150. The power transmission mechanism includes a gear 151 that is fixed to the rotating shaft 150. The take-up roll holding unit 117 also includes a cover member 152 that covers the gear 151. The rotating shaft 150 is disposed so that its axial direction coincides with the left-right direction, and the rotating shaft 150 is rotatable with the left-right direction as its axial direction. In other words, the left-right direction is the axial direction of the rotating shaft 150.

[0128] The rotating shaft 150 is rotatably held by two support legs 109, 110. The support leg 109 is located at the right end of the printer 100, and the support leg 110 is located at the left end of the printer 100. A gear 151 is fixed to the left end of the rotating shaft 150. The cover member 152 is formed by bending a thin metal plate of a predetermined shape into a predetermined shape. The cover member 152 is rotatably held by the support leg 110. The support leg 110 in this embodiment serves as a holder that rotatably holds the rotating shaft 150 and also rotatably holds the cover member 152.

[0129] The cover member 152 is disposed on the front side of the support leg 110. The cover member 152 is rotatable relative to the support leg 110 with the left-right direction as the rotation axis direction. The cover member 152 is also rotatable relative to the support leg 110 between a cover position 152A (see FIG. 16A) in which it covers the gear 151, and an open position 152B (see FIG. 16B) in which the gear 151 is exposed. A permanent magnet 153 is fixed to the cover member 152 to hold the cover member 152 in the open position 152B.

[0130] The support legs 110 are made of a magnetic material. Specifically, the support legs 110 are made of a soft magnetic material. When the take-up roll 116 is attached to or detached from the take-up roll holding portion 117, the cover member 152 is positioned in the open position 152B. When the cover member 152 is positioned in the open position 152B, the support legs 110 and the permanent magnet 153 are in contact with each other. In this embodiment, the cover member 152 is held in the open position 152B by the magnetic attraction force between the support legs 110 and the permanent magnet 153.

[0131] (Major Effects of the Present Embodiment) As described above, in the present embodiment, when the filter 129 is attached to the filter attachment portions 133a to 133c, the filter attachment portions 133a to 133c have screw holes 133e formed in the filter attachment portions 133a to 133c at positions that overlap with the filter 129 when viewed from above and below, and in the filter attachment portions 133a to 133c to which the filter 129 is not attached, there are screw holes 133e that are not covered by the filter 129. Furthermore, in the filter attachment portions 133a to 133c to which the filter 129 is not attached, the screws 135 are attached to the screw holes 133e. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the filter 129 cannot be attached to the filter attachment portions 133a to 133c in which the screws 135 are attached to the screw holes 133e.

[0132] Therefore, in this embodiment, when replacing the filter 129, the screws 135 attached to the screw holes 133e can prevent a new filter 129 from being erroneously attached to the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c to which the screws 135 are attached. That is, in this embodiment, when replacing the filter 129, the screws 135 attached to the screw holes 133e can prevent a filter 129 from being erroneously attached to the filter mounting portions 133a to 133c to which no filter 129 was originally attached. Therefore, in this embodiment, even if four common filter holding members 133 are used as the filter holding members 133 to which the multiple filters 129 are attached, it is possible to prevent the filters 129 from being erroneously attached when replacing the filters 129.

[0133] In this embodiment, inclined surfaces 107a to 107d are formed on the inner bottom surface of a hollow platen 107, and an ink receiving portion 107e located below the inclined surfaces 107a and 107b and an ink receiving portion 107f located below the inclined surfaces 107c and 107d are formed on the bottom of the platen 107. In this embodiment, one end of a discharge pipe 141 is connected to the ink receiving portion 107e, one end of a discharge pipe 142 is connected to the ink receiving portion 107f, and the other ends of the discharge pipes 141 and 142 are connected to a waste liquid tank 143 located below the one ends of the discharge pipes 141 and 142. In this embodiment, the discharge pipes 141 and 142 are routed so as to be inclined with respect to the left-right direction when viewed from the front-to-rear direction.

[0134] Therefore, in this embodiment, for example, when printing is performed on a mesh-like medium 102 such as fabric, even if ink that has passed through the medium 102 lands on the bottom surface inside the platen 107, the inclined surfaces 107a to 107d, the ink receiving portions 107e, 107f, and the discharge pipes 141, 142 make it possible to smoothly discharge the ink that has entered the inside of the platen 107 from inside the platen 107 by utilizing the ink's own weight.

[0135] Furthermore, in this embodiment, four inclined surfaces 107a to 107d arranged in order from right to left are formed on the platen 107, and an ink receiving portion 107e arranged between inclined surfaces 107a and 107b and an ink receiving portion 107f arranged between inclined surfaces 107c and 107d are formed on the platen 107, and a discharge pipe 141 having one end connected to ink receiving portion 107e is routed toward the right, and a discharge pipe 142 having one end connected to ink receiving portion 107f is routed toward the left. Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the width of the platen 107 in the left-right direction is wide, ink that has entered the inside of the platen 107 can be smoothly discharged from the inside of the platen 107.

[0136] In this embodiment, the cover member 152 is held in the open position 152B by the magnetic attraction force between the permanent magnet 153 fixed to the cover member 152 and the support leg 110 made of a magnetic material. Therefore, in this embodiment, the cover member 152 can be easily held in the open position 152B. Also, in this embodiment, the cover member 152 disposed in the open position 152B can be easily rotated to the cover position 152A.

[0137] (Modifications) The above-described embodiment is one example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this and various modifications can be made within the scope that does not change the gist of the present invention.

[0138] In the embodiment described above, the permanent magnet 153 may be fixed to the support leg 110. In this case, the cover member 152 is made of a magnetic material, and the cover member 152 is held in the open position 152B by the magnetic attractive force between the cover member 152 and the permanent magnet 153. Also, in the embodiment described above, the permanent magnet 153 does not have to be fixed to the cover member 152. In this case, for example, a damper for holding the cover member 152 in the open position 152B may be attached between the cover member 152 and the support leg 110.

[0139] In the above-described embodiment, the number of inclined surfaces formed on the inner bottom surface of the platen 107 may be two. In this case, one ink receiving portion located between the two inclined surfaces is formed on the bottom of the platen 107, and one end of the discharge pipe is connected to this ink receiving portion. Also, the number of inclined surfaces formed on the inner bottom surface of the platen 107 may be one. In this case, one ink receiving portion located on the lower end side of the inclined surfaces is formed on the bottom of the platen 107, and one end of the discharge pipe is connected to this ink receiving portion. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the inclined surfaces and the ink receiving portion do not have to be formed on the platen 107.

[0140] In the above-described embodiment, a plurality of filters 129 may be attachable to each of filter attachment portions 133 a to 133 c. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a plurality of screw holes 133 e may be formed in each of filter attachment portions 133 a to 133 c. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, filter 129 may be detachably attached to filter attachment portions 133 a to 133 c by an attachment method other than snap-fitting.

[0141] In the above-described embodiment, the number of filter holding members 133 included in the platen support portion 108 may be two, three, or five or more. Also, in the above-described embodiment, the number of filter mounting portions included in the filter holding member 133 may be two, or four or more. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the number of exhaust fans 128 included in the suction mechanism 111 may be fewer than the number of filters 129 included in the suction mechanism 111, and the number of filters 129 included in the suction mechanism 111 may be fewer than the number of exhaust fans 128 included in the suction mechanism 111. Also, in the above-described embodiment, the suction mechanism 111 may be provided with a suction fan for sucking the medium 102 placed on the platen 107, in addition to the exhaust fan 128.

[0142] Third Embodiment A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0143] (Configuration of Inkjet Printer) Fig. 17 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of an inkjet printer 201 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 18 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the inkjet printer 201 shown in Fig. 17.

[0144] The inkjet printer 201 (hereinafter referred to as the "printer 201") of this embodiment is, for example, a commercial inkjet printer that prints on a medium 202 such as paper, fabric, or resin film. The medium 202 is, for example, formed in a long, rectangular shape. The printer 201 includes an inkjet head 203 (hereinafter referred to as the "head 203") that ejects ink toward the medium 202, a carriage 204 on which the head 203 is mounted, a carriage drive mechanism 205 that moves the carriage 204 in a main scanning direction (Y direction in FIG. 17, etc.) perpendicular to the up-down direction (vertical direction), a guide rail 206 that guides the carriage 204 in the main scanning direction, and a platen 207 on which the medium 202 is placed. The printer 201 of this embodiment is a large printer that is wide in the main scanning direction. The printer 201 is capable of printing on a medium 202 that is, for example, approximately 3200 mm wide in the main scanning direction.

[0145] The printer 201 also includes a control unit 209 for controlling the printer 201. The printer 201 also includes a medium transport mechanism for transporting the medium 202 in a sub-scanning direction (X direction in FIG. 17 , etc.) perpendicular to the up-down direction and the main scanning direction. The medium transport mechanism includes, for example, a transport roller for transporting the medium 202, a roller drive mechanism for driving the transport roller, and a plurality of pinch rollers disposed opposite the transport roller and biased toward the transport roller. The roller drive mechanism includes a motor as a drive source. The medium 202 is transported while sandwiched between the transport roller and the pinch roller.

[0146] In the following description, the main scanning direction (Y direction) is referred to as the "left-right direction," and the sub-scanning direction (X direction) is referred to as the "front-rear direction." Furthermore, the Y1 direction side in FIG. 17 , etc., which is one side of the left-right direction, is referred to as the "left side," and the Y2 direction side in FIG. 17 , etc., which is the opposite side of the left side, is referred to as the "right side." In this embodiment, the left side (Y1 direction side) is the first direction side, which is one side of the main scanning direction, and the right side (Y2 direction side) is the second direction side, which is the opposite side of the first direction side (i.e., the other side of the main scanning direction). Furthermore, the left-right direction (Y direction) in this embodiment is the width direction of the medium 202. Furthermore, the up-down direction is the thickness direction of the medium 202 placed on the platen 207 during printing, and the front-rear direction (X direction) is the transport direction of the medium 202 moving over the platen 207.

[0147] The head 203 ejects ink downward. The head 203 of this embodiment ejects, for example, aqueous ink. An ink ejection surface on which a large number of nozzles that eject ink are arranged is formed on the underside of the head 203. A plurality of nozzle rows arranged in the left-right direction (main scanning direction) are formed on the ink ejection surface. The nozzle rows are made up of a large number of nozzles arranged in the front-rear direction. The head 203 is equipped with a large number of piezoelectric elements (piezo elements) 210 that eject ink from each of the large number of nozzles. The piezoelectric elements 210 are electrically connected to the control unit 209. A platen 207 is disposed below the head 203. The medium 202 to be printed is placed on the platen 207.

[0148] The carriage drive mechanism 205 includes a motor 211 as a drive source and a power transmission mechanism that transmits the power of the motor 211 to the carriage 204. The power transmission mechanism includes, for example, two pulleys and a belt that is stretched across the two pulleys and has a portion fixed to the carriage 204. The head 203 mounted on the carriage 204 moves left and right (in the main scanning direction) together with the carriage 204.

[0149] The printer 201 is equipped with an encoder 212 for detecting the position of the carriage 204 in the left-right direction (i.e., for detecting the position of the head 203 in the main scanning direction). The encoder 212 is, for example, a rotary encoder having a rotary scale and a sensor, or a linear encoder having a linear scale and a sensor. The encoder 212 is electrically connected to the control unit 209. Specifically, the sensor of the encoder 212 is electrically connected to the control unit 209. In this embodiment, the current position of the head 203 is detected based on the detection result of the encoder 212.

[0150] The printer 201 is capable of two types of printing: bidirectional printing, in which ink is ejected from the head 203 on both the outward path where the carriage 204 moves to the left and the return path where the carriage 204 moves to the right, to print on the medium 202; and unidirectional printing, in which ink is ejected from the head 203 only on the outward path where the carriage 204 moves to the left, or only on the return path where the carriage 204 moves to the right, to print on the medium 202. The printer 201 also alternates between one-pass operation (one operation) of the carriage 204 to the left or right and the operation of transporting the medium 202 by the medium transport mechanism, to print on the medium 202.

[0151] In the printer 201, a flushing operation is performed to forcibly eject ink from the nozzles of the head 203 in order to prevent clogging of the many nozzles of the head 203. The printer 201 is equipped with flushing boxes 215 and 216 that receive ink ejected from the head 203 during the flushing operation. The printer 201 is also equipped with a capping mechanism 217 that suppresses an increase in the viscosity of ink in the nozzles of the head 203 when the head 203 is idle and not ejecting ink. The flushing boxes 215 and 216 are, for example, shaped like a rectangular box with an open top. The capping mechanism 217 is equipped with a cap member or the like that covers the ink ejection surface of the head 203 from below.

[0152] If the area in the main scanning direction where printing is performed on the medium 202 by the head 203 is defined as the printing area PA, the flushing boxes 215, 216 and the capping mechanism 217 are installed in positions outside the printing area PA in the main scanning direction. Specifically, the flushing box 215 is located to the left of the platen 207, and the flushing box 216 is located to the right of the platen 207. The capping mechanism 217 is located to the right of the flushing box 216.

[0153] The left-right distance from the left end of the platen 207 to the flushing box 215 is equal to the left-right distance from the right end of the platen 207 to the flushing box 216. The flushing boxes 215, 216 and the capping mechanism 217 are disposed below the head 203. In addition, the flushing boxes 215, 216 and the capping mechanism 217 are disposed at the same position as the head 203 in the front-rear direction.

[0154] In this embodiment, the head 203 that ejects ink toward the flushing box 215 or 216 during the flushing operation moves left and right together with the carriage 204. That is, in this embodiment, the flushing operation is performed when the moving head 203 (i.e., the head 203 performing the main scanning operation) that is moving left and right passes over the flushing boxes 215 and 216, so-called running flushing is performed. In this embodiment, the flushing box 215 is the first flushing box, and the flushing box 216 is the second flushing box.

[0155] In the following description, when distinguishing between the flushing operation (running flushing) performed on flushing box 215 and the flushing operation (running flushing) performed on flushing box 216, the flushing operation performed on flushing box 215 will be referred to as the "first flushing operation" and the flushing operation performed on flushing box 216 will be referred to as the "second flushing operation."

[0156] The printer 201 has a logical seek function, and when the logical seek function is on, the head 203 moves left and right in accordance with the width of the image to be printed on the medium 202. In other words, if an image printed by the head 203 with one pass of the carriage 204 moving left and right is considered to be a one-pass print image, when the logical seek function is on, the control unit 209 moves the head 203 by logical seek, which moves the head 203 left and right together with the carriage 204 in accordance with the print start position and print end position of the one-pass print image, so as to minimize the amount of movement of the head 203 when repeatedly printing the one-pass print image. On the other hand, when the logical seek function is off, the printer 201 prints on the medium 202 by moving the head 203 left and right across the entire width of the medium 202, for example.

[0157] Below, we will explain the timing and location of the flushing operation (specifically, running flushing) performed by the printer 201 when the logical seek function is turned on (i.e., when printing on the medium 202 is performed in logical seek mode).

[0158] (Example of image printed on medium and operation of head) Figures 19 to 22 are schematic diagrams for explaining the timing and location of the flushing operation that is performed when bidirectional printing is performed with the logical seek function turned on in the printer 201 shown in Figure 17. Figures 23 to 26 are schematic diagrams for explaining the timing and location of the flushing operation that is performed when unidirectional printing on the forward path only is performed with the logical seek function turned on in the printer 201 shown in Figure 17.

[0159] Before describing the timing and location of the flushing operation performed by the printer 201 when the logical seek function is turned on, an example of an image printed on the medium 202 and the operation of the head 203 will be described. As described above, if the image printed by the head 203 in one pass of the carriage 204 moving left and right is considered a one-pass print image, then the one-pass print image shown in Figures 19 to 26, for example, is printed on the medium 202. Figures 19 to 26 illustrate the state in which three one-pass print images have been printed on the medium 202.

[0160] 19 to 26, the head 203 in a state before the start of printing the first one-pass print image after the printer 201 starts printing the medium 202 is designated "203A," the head 203 in a state after the printing operation of this one-pass print image is completed is designated "203B," the head 203 in a state before the start of printing the next one-pass print image is designated "203C," the head 203 in a state after the printing operation of this one-pass print image is completed is designated "203D," the head 203 in a state before the start of printing the next one-pass print image is designated "203E," and the head 203 in a state after the printing operation of this one-pass print image is completed is designated "203F." The head 203 (head 203A) before the start of printing the first one-pass print image is disposed above the capping mechanism 217, for example.

[0161] In the following explanation, in Figure 3, after printer 201 starts printing on medium 202, the first one-pass printed image to be printed is image P11, the one-pass printed image to be printed after image P11 is image P12, and the one-pass printed image to be printed after image P12 is image P13. Similarly, in each of Figures 20 to 26, after printer 201 starts printing on medium 202, the first one-pass printed images are images P21, P31, P41, P51, P61, P71, and P81, the one-pass printed images printed after images P21, P31, P41, P51, P61, P71, and P81 are images P22, P32, P42, P52, P62, P72, and P82, and the one-pass printed images printed after images P22, P32, P42, P52, P62, P72, and P82 are images P23, P33, P43, P53, P63, P73, and P83 (see Figures 20 to 26).

[0162] 19 to 22 are printed by bidirectional printing, so when images P11, P13, P21, P23, P31, P33, P41, and P43 are printed, head 203 moves to the left together with carriage 204, and when images P12, P22, P32, and P42 are printed, head 203 moves to the right together with carriage 204. Images P51 to P53, P61 to P63, P71 to P73, and P81 to P83 shown in Figures 23 to 26 are printed by unidirectional printing on the forward path only, so when images P51 to P53, P61 to P63, P71 to P73, and P81 to P83 are printed, head 203 moves to the left together with carriage 204.

[0163] In this embodiment, images P11, P13, P21, P23, P31, P33, P41, P43, P51 to P53, P61 to P63, P71 to P73, and P81 to P83 are first print images, which are one-pass print images printed by the head 203 moving to the left. Images P12, P22, P32, and P42 are second print images, which are one-pass print images printed by the head 203 moving to the right.

[0164] (Timing and location of flushing operation) Fig. 27 is a flowchart for explaining the printing operation when the logical seek function is turned on in the printer 201 shown in Fig. 17. Fig. 28 is a flowchart for explaining the determination step S2 shown in Fig. 27. Fig. 29 is a flowchart for explaining the second determination step S6 shown in Fig. 27.

[0165] Before the printer 201 starts printing on the medium 202, print data for printing on the medium 202 is input to the control unit 209. The print data includes, for example, the print range of the one-pass print image in the left-right direction, and the control unit 209 determines the print start position and print end position of the one-pass print image based on the print data. Alternatively, the control unit 209 specifies the print range of the one-pass print image in the left-right direction based on the input print data, and also specifies the print start position and print end position of the one-pass print image.

[0166] When printing on the medium 202, the control unit 209 first checks the print end position of the first one-pass print image before printing the first one-pass print image (step S1). That is, in step S1, the control unit 209 checks the print end positions of images P11, P21, P31, P41, P51, P61, P71, and P81. Then, the control unit 209 determines whether to perform a flushing operation after printing images P11, P21, P31, P41, P51, P61, P71, and P81 (determination step, step S2). That is, in step S2, the control unit 209 determines whether to perform a flushing operation on the flushing box 215 after printing images P11, P21, P31, P41, P51, P61, P71, and P81.

[0167] In step S2, the control unit 209 first determines whether the print end positions of images P11, P21, P31, P41, P51, P61, P71, and P81 exceed a predetermined reference position (step S21). In this embodiment, the control unit 209 determines in step S21 whether the print end positions of images P11, P21, P31, P41, P51, P61, P71, and P81 exceed the center CL of the platen 207 in the left-right direction in the movement direction of the head 203 during printing (i.e., whether the print end positions of images P11, P21, P31, P41, P51, P61, P71, and P81 are to the left of the center CL of the platen 207).

[0168] When the print end position is to the left of the center CL of the platen 207 and exceeds the center CL of the platen 207, as in the case of images P11, P31, P51, and P71, the control unit 209 determines to perform a flushing operation (specifically, to perform a first flushing operation) after printing of images P11, P31, P51, and P71 (step S22). On the other hand, when the print end position is to the right of the center CL of the platen 207 and does not exceed the center CL of the platen 207, as in the case of images P21, P41, P61, and P81, the control unit 209 determines not to perform a flushing operation (specifically, not to perform a first flushing operation) after printing of images P21, P41, P61, and P81 (step S23).

[0169] When step S22 or step S23 is completed, step S2 is completed. After step S2 is completed, the control unit 209 prints the one-pass print image (step S3). That is, in step S3, the control unit 209 controls the piezoelectric element 210 and the motor 211 based on the detection result of the encoder 212 to print images P11, P21, P31, P41, P51, P61, P71, and P81.

[0170] If it is determined in step S2 that a flushing operation is to be performed, the control unit 209 performs a first flushing operation in step S3 by moving the head 203 to the left (i.e., moving the carriage 204 to the left) after printing the one-pass print image (see FIGS. 3, 21, 23, and 25). When the first flushing operation is to be performed, the head 203, which has finished printing the one-pass print image, stops on the left side of the flushing box 215.

[0171] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 that the flushing operation will not be performed, the control unit 209 stops the head 203 (i.e., stops the carriage 204) after printing the one-pass print image in step S3, and does not perform the first flushing operation (see FIGS. 20, 22, 24, and 26). If the first flushing operation is not performed, the head 203, which has finished printing the one-pass print image, stops to the left of the printing end position of the one-pass print image.

[0172] The number of one-pass operations of the carriage 204 without a flushing operation after printing on the medium 202 starts or after the previous flushing operation is performed is referred to as the number of non-flushing operations. The number of non-flushing operations is stored in the control unit 209. In this embodiment, if a flushing operation is performed in step S3, the control unit 209 resets the number of non-flushing operations to "0" in step S3. On the other hand, if a flushing operation is not performed in step S3, the control unit 209 increments the number of non-flushing operations in step S3. If images P21, P41, P61, and P81 are printed in step S3, the number of non-flushing operations is incremented to "1" in step S3.

[0173] The control unit 209 then determines whether printing on the medium 202 is complete (step S4). Even though printing of images P11, P21, P31, P41, P51, P61, P71, and P81 is complete, printing on the medium 202 is not complete. Therefore, the control unit 209 checks the print start position of the next one-pass print image (step S5). That is, in step S5, the control unit 209 checks the print start position of images P12, P22, P32, P42, P52, P62, P72, and P82. The control unit 209 then determines whether to perform a flushing operation on the flushing boxes 215 and 216 before printing the next one-pass print images, images P12, P22, P32, P42, P52, P62, P72, and P82 (second determination step, step S6).

[0174] In step S6, the control unit 209 first determines whether or not it is possible to skip the flushing operation (step S31). Specifically, in step S31, the control unit 209 determines whether or not the number of unperformed flushing operations stored in the control unit 209 exceeds a predetermined reference number, and determines that it is possible to skip the flushing operation if the number of unperformed flushing operations is equal to or less than the reference number, and determines that it is not possible to skip the flushing operation if the number of unperformed flushing operations exceeds the reference number.

[0175] In this embodiment, the reference number of times is two. Therefore, if the next one-pass print image is image P12, P22, P32, P42, P52, P62, P72, or P82, the number of times that flushing has not been performed will be less than the reference number, and the flushing operation can be skipped in step S31. The reference number of times may be one, or three or more. The reference number of times is set, for example, depending on the type of ink ejected by the head 203.

[0176] If skipping the flushing operation is possible in step S31, the control unit 209 determines whether the pre-printing movement distance, which is the horizontal distance between the print start position of the next one-pass print image and the current position of the head 203, exceeds a predetermined reference distance LB (see FIG. 3) (step S32). In this embodiment, the reference distance LB is the same distance as half the horizontal width of the platen 207. Furthermore, if the next one-pass print image is images P12, P22, P32, P42, P52, P62, P72, or P82, the current position of the head 203 in step S32 is the position of head 203B in FIGS. 19 to 26.

[0177] 3, if the pre-printing movement distance L1, which is the horizontal distance between the print start position of image P12 and the current position of head 203, is less than or equal to reference distance LB and does not exceed reference distance LB, the control unit 209 determines not to perform the flushing operation before printing image P12, which is the next one-pass print image (step S33). Similarly, if the pre-printing movement distance is less than reference distance LB, as shown in FIGS. 20, 21, and 24 to 26, the process proceeds to step S33.

[0178] 22 and 23, if the pre-printing movement distance exceeds the reference distance LB, the control unit 209 selects either the flushing box 215 or the flushing box 216 (step S34). Specifically, in step S34, the control unit 209 selects the flushing box 216 if the next one-pass print image is the first print image (i.e., if the next one-pass print image is printed by the head 203 moving to the left, for example, image P52), and selects the flushing box 215 if the next one-pass print image is the second print image (i.e., if the next one-pass print image is printed by the head 203 moving to the right, for example, image P42).

[0179] The control unit 209 then determines whether the current position of the head 203 is laterally outboard of the flushing boxes 215, 216 selected in step S34 (step S35). As shown in Fig. 22, if the current position of the head 203 is to the right of the flushing box 215 selected in step S34, the control unit 209 determines to perform a flushing operation on the selected flushing box 215 before printing image P42, the next one-pass print image (step S36). Also, as shown in Fig. 23, if the current position of the head 203 is to the left of the flushing box 216 selected in step S34, the control unit 209 proceeds to step S36 and determines to perform a flushing operation on the selected flushing box 216 before printing image P52, the next one-pass print image.

[0180] On the other hand, in step S35, if the current position of the head 203 is outside the flushing boxes 215, 216 selected in step S34 in the left-right direction, the process proceeds to step S33. Also, if it is not possible to skip the flushing operation in step S31, the process proceeds to step S34.

[0181] When step S33 or step S36 is completed, step S6 is completed. When step S6 is completed, the control unit 209 determines, based on the result of step S6, whether to perform a flushing operation before printing the next one-pass print images, that is, images P12, P22, P32, P42, P52, P62, P72, and P82 (step S7).

[0182] When the carriage 204 is preliminarily operated as the head 203 moves from its current position to the print start position of the next one-pass print image (for example, the carriage 204 is preliminarily operated as the head 203 moves from the position of head 203B to the position of head 203C), if a flushing operation is to be performed before printing images P42 and P52, as shown in Figures 22 and 23, the control unit 209 causes the carriage 204 to perform a preliminarily operation involving a flushing operation (step S8) and returns to step S1. In step S8, the control unit 209 resets the number of unperformed flushing operations to "0".

[0183] On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 19 to 21 and 24 to 26, if a flushing operation is not performed before printing images P12, P22, P32, P62, P72, and P82, the control unit 209 determines whether the current position of the head 203 coincides with the print start position of the next one-pass print image (step S9). As shown in FIG. 20, if the current position of the head 203 coincides with the print start position of image P22, the next one-pass print image, and preparatory operation is not required, the process returns to step S1. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3, 21, and 24 to 26, if the current position of the head 203 does not coincide with the print start position of the next one-pass print image and preparatory operation is required, the control unit 209 causes the carriage 204 to perform a preparatory operation without a flushing operation (step S10) and then returns to step S1. In step S10, the control unit 209 increments the number of flushing operations not yet performed.

[0184] When returning to step S1 from step S8, step S9, or step S10, the control unit 209 checks the print end positions of images P12, P22, P32, P42, P52, P62, P72, and P82, which are the one-pass print images to be printed, before printing them in step S1. In addition, the control unit 209 determines whether to perform a flushing operation on the flushing box 215 or the flushing box 216 in step S2.

[0185] In step S2, the control unit 209 determines to perform the second flushing operation after printing images P12 and P22 if the printing end position is to the right of the center CL of the platen 207, as in images P12 and P22, and determines to perform the first flushing operation after printing images P52, P72, and P82 if the printing end position is to the left of the center CL of the platen 207, as in images P52, P72, and P82. Also, in step S2, the control unit 209 determines not to perform the flushing operation after printing images P32, P42, and P62 if the printing end position is to the left of the center CL of the platen 207, as in images P32 and P42, or if the printing end position is to the right of the center CL of the platen 207, as in image P62.

[0186] If it is determined in step S2 that a flushing operation is to be performed, the control unit 209 performs the flushing operation in step S3 by printing the one-pass print image and then moving the head 203 (i.e., moving the carriage 204) (see FIGS. 3, 20, 23, 25, and 26). On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 that a flushing operation is not to be performed, the control unit 209 performs the flushing operation in step S3 by stopping the head 203 (i.e., stopping the carriage 204) after printing the one-pass print image (see FIGS. 21, 22, and 24).

[0187] The control unit 209 then determines in step S4 whether printing on the medium 202 is complete. However, since printing on the medium 202 is not complete even after printing of images P12, P22, P32, P42, P52, P62, P72, and P82 is complete, the control unit 209 checks the print start positions of the next one-pass print images, images P13, P23, P33, P43, P53, P63, P73, and P83, in step S5. The control unit 209 then determines in step S6 whether to perform a flushing operation on the flushing boxes 215 and 216 before printing images P13, P23, P33, P43, P53, P63, P73, and P83.

[0188] Step S6 is executed as described above. In the example shown in Fig. 3, the pre-printing movement distance L2, which is the horizontal distance between the print start position of image P13 and the current position of head 203, exceeds the reference distance LB, so the process proceeds from step S32 to step S34. In step S34, the control unit 209 selects flushing box 216 because image P13 is the first print image. Also, in the example shown in Fig. 3, the current position of head 203 (the position of head 203D) is to the right of the flushing box 216 selected in step S34, so the process proceeds from step S35 to step S33.

[0189] 24, when the next one-pass print image to be printed is image P63, the number of times that flushing has not been performed is three, exceeding the reference number of two. Therefore, in step S31, it is determined that skipping the flushing operation is not possible, and the process proceeds from step S31 to step S34. In step S34, the control unit 209 selects the flushing box 216 because image P63, the next one-pass print image, is the first print image. Also, in the example shown in FIG. 24, the current position of the head 203 (the position of head 203D) is to the left of the flushing box 216 selected in step S34, so the process proceeds to step S36.

[0190] When returning to step S1 from step S8, step S9, or step S10, steps S1 to S3 are executed in the same manner. When step S3 is executed and printing on the medium 202 is completed (step S4 is "Yes"), the control unit 209 moves the head 203 above the capping mechanism 217 (step S11). When step S11 is completed, the printing operation on the medium 202 in the printer 201 is completed.

[0191] Thus, in this embodiment, when bidirectional printing is performed by the printer 201, the control unit 209 determines in step S2, before printing the first print images P11, P13, P21, P23, P31, P33, P41, and P43, whether or not to perform a first flushing operation after printing the first print images, based on the print end position of the first print images. Also, when bidirectional printing is performed by the printer 201, the control unit 209 determines in step S2, before printing the second print images P12, P22, P32, and P42, whether or not to perform a second flushing operation after printing the second print images, based on the print end position of the second print images.

[0192] Furthermore, when unidirectional printing is performed on the forward pass only in the printer 201, the control unit 209 determines in step S2, before printing the first print images P51 to P53, P61 to P63, P71 to P73, and P81 to P83, whether or not to perform a first flushing operation after printing the first print images, based on the print end position of the first print images. Note that, when unidirectional printing is performed on the backward pass only in the printer 201, the control unit 209 determines in step S2, before printing the second print image, whether or not to perform a second flushing operation after printing the second print image, based on the print end position of the second print image, just as when unidirectional printing is performed on the forward pass only in the printer 201.

[0193] In addition, in this embodiment, if the printing end position of the first print image is to the left of the center CL of the platen 207 in the left-right direction, the first flushing operation is performed unconditionally after printing the first print image, and if the printing end position of the second print image is to the right of the center CL of the platen 207, the second flushing operation is performed unconditionally after printing the second print image.

[0194] Furthermore, in this embodiment, in step S6, the control unit 209 determines whether to perform a flushing operation on the flushing box 215 or on the flushing box 216 before printing the next one-pass print image, depending on the pre-printing movement distance, which is the horizontal distance between the print start position of the next one-pass print image and the current position of the head 203. Furthermore, if the pre-printing movement distance is longer than a reference distance LB, which is the same distance as half the horizontal width of the platen 207, the control unit 209 performs a flushing operation on the flushing box 215 or on the flushing box 216 before printing the next one-pass print image, if certain conditions are met.

[0195] Specifically, in step S6, the control unit 209 determines whether to perform a flushing operation on the flushing box 215 or on the flushing box 216 before printing the next one-pass print image, depending on the pre-printing movement distance and the current position of the head 203. Furthermore, if the printing of the next one-pass print image is the printing of a first print image, and the current position of the head 203 is to the right of the flushing box 216, the control unit 209 does not perform a second flushing operation before printing the next first print image. Similarly, if the printing of the next one-pass print image is the printing of a second print image, and the current position of the head 203 is to the left of the flushing box 215, the control unit 209 does not perform a first flushing operation before printing the next second print image.

[0196] In addition, in this embodiment, in step S6, the control unit 209 determines whether to perform a flushing operation on the flushing box 215 or on the flushing box 216 before printing the next one-pass print image, depending on the pre-printing movement distance and the number of times flushing operations have not been performed, and if the number of times flushing operations have not been performed is less than a reference number and certain conditions are met, a flushing operation will not be performed before printing the next one-pass print image.

[0197] (Main effect of this embodiment) As described above, in this embodiment, before printing the first print image, the control unit 209 determines whether or not to perform a first flushing operation after printing the first print image, depending on the printing end position of the first print image, and before printing the second print image, determines whether or not to perform a second flushing operation after printing the second print image, depending on the printing end position of the second print image.

[0198] Therefore, in this embodiment, if the printing end position of the first print image is close to the flushing box 215, the first flushing operation is performed after the first print image is printed, and if the printing end position of the first print image is far from the flushing box 215, the first flushing operation is not performed after the first print image is printed. Also, if the printing end position of the second print image is close to the flushing box 216, the second flushing operation is performed after the second print image is printed, and if the printing end position of the second print image is far from the flushing box 216, the second flushing operation is not performed after the second print image is printed. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is possible to efficiently perform the flushing operation when printing by moving the head 203 using logical seek.

[0199] In this embodiment, if the printing end position of the first print image is to the left of the center CL of the platen 207 in the left-right direction, the first flushing operation is unconditionally performed after printing the first print image, and if the printing end position of the second print image is to the right of the center CL of the platen 207, the second flushing operation is unconditionally performed after printing the second print image. That is, in this embodiment, the center CL of the platen 207 is used as a reference to determine whether or not to perform the flushing operation on the flushing boxes 215, 216. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not to perform the flushing operation on the flushing boxes 215, 216.

[0200] In this embodiment, in step S6, the control unit 209 determines whether to perform a flushing operation on the flushing box 215 or the flushing box 216 before printing the next one-pass print image, depending on the pre-printing movement distance, which is the horizontal distance between the print start position of the next one-pass print image and the current position of the head 203. Therefore, in this embodiment, if the pre-printing movement distance is long and ink viscosity is likely to increase, it is possible to perform a flushing operation before printing the next one-pass print image, and if the pre-printing movement distance is short and ink viscosity is unlikely to increase, it is possible to not perform a flushing operation before printing the next one-pass print image. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is possible to perform a flushing operation more efficiently.

[0201] In this embodiment, if the printing of the next one-pass print image is the printing of the first print image, and the current position of the head 203 is to the right of the flushing box 216, the second flushing operation is not performed before the printing of the next first print image. Also, in this embodiment, if the printing of the next one-pass print image is the printing of the second print image, and the current position of the head 203 is to the left of the flushing box 215, the first flushing operation is not performed before the printing of the next second print image. If the printing of the next one-pass print image is the printing of the first print image and the current position of the head 203 is to the right of the flushing box 216, or if the printing of the next one-pass print image is the printing of the second print image and the current position of the head 203 is to the left of the flushing box 215, it is assumed that the flushing operation is performed immediately before the head 203 moves to its current position. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is possible to prevent excessive flushing operations from being performed.

[0202] In this embodiment, the control unit 209 determines in step S6 whether to perform a flushing operation on the flushing box 215 or the flushing box 216 before printing the next one-pass print image, depending on the pre-printing movement distance and the number of times that flushing operations have not been performed, and if the number of times that flushing operations have not been performed is equal to or less than a reference number, and if certain conditions are met, the flushing operation will not be performed before printing the next one-pass print image. Therefore, in this embodiment, when print quality can be ensured even if the frequency of flushing operations is reduced, it is possible to perform flushing operations efficiently.

[0203] (Modification of the second determination step) In the embodiment described above, if the operation distance (movement distance) of the carriage 204 without a flushing operation after the start of printing or after the previous flushing operation is defined as the non-flushing operation distance, the non-flushing operation distance may be stored in the control unit 209 instead of the number of non-flushing operations. In this case, in step S31, the control unit 209 determines whether the non-flushing operation distance exceeds a predetermined reference distance, and if the non-flushing operation distance is equal to or less than the reference distance, determines that it is possible to skip the flushing operation, and if the non-flushing operation distance exceeds the reference distance, determines that it is impossible to skip the flushing operation.

[0204] That is, in this modified example, in step S6, the control unit 209 determines whether to perform a flushing operation on the flushing box 215 or on the flushing box 216 before printing the next one-pass print image, depending on the pre-printing movement distance and the non-flushing operation distance, and if the non-flushing operation distance is less than the reference distance, and certain conditions are met, the flushing operation will not be performed before printing the next one-pass print image.

[0205] In this modified example, if a flushing operation is performed in step S3, the control unit 209 resets the non-flushing operation distance to "0" in step S3, and if a flushing operation is not performed in step S3, the control unit 209 updates the non-flushing operation distance in step S3. In this modified example, the control unit 209 resets the non-flushing operation distance to "0" in step S8, and updates the non-flushing operation distance in step S10.

[0206] (Modification of the Determination Step) FIG. 30 is a flowchart for explaining the determination step S2 according to a modification of the present invention.

[0207] In the embodiment described above, the control unit 209 may determine whether or not the flushing operation can be skipped if the print end position of the one-pass print image exceeds the reference position in step S21 (step S24). In this modification, the control unit 209 determines whether or not the number of unperformed flushing operations stored in the control unit 209 exceeds a predetermined reference number in step S24. If the number of unperformed flushing operations is equal to or less than the reference number, the control unit 209 determines that the flushing operation can be skipped, and if the number of unperformed flushing operations exceeds the reference number, the control unit 209 determines that the flushing operation cannot be skipped. In this case, the reference number is, for example, two times. However, the reference number may also be one time or three or more times. The reference number is set, for example, depending on the type of ink ejected by the head 203.

[0208] In this modified example, if skipping the flushing operation is not possible in step S24, the process proceeds to step S22, and if skipping the flushing operation is possible in step S24, the process proceeds to step S22. That is, in this modified example, if the printing end position of the first print image is to the left of the center CL of the platen 207 in the left-right direction and a certain condition is met, a first flushing operation is performed after printing the first print image, and if the printing end position of the second print image is to the right of the center CL of the platen 207 and a certain condition is met, a second flushing operation is performed after printing the second print image.

[0209] In this way, in step S2, it is possible to determine whether to perform the first flushing operation after printing the first print image based on the printing end position of the first print image and the number of times that flushing operations have not been performed, and it is also possible to determine whether to perform the second flushing operation after printing the second print image based on the printing end position of the second print image and the number of times that flushing operations have not been performed. If the number of times that flushing operations have not been performed is equal to or less than the reference number and flushing operations can be skipped, it is not necessary to perform the first flushing operation after printing the first print image, and it is not necessary to perform the second flushing operation after printing the second print image. In this modified example, for example, flushing operations can be performed efficiently when ink is used that can ensure print quality even when flushing operations are performed less frequently.

[0210] In step S24, the control unit 209 determines whether the non-flushing operation distance exceeds a predetermined reference distance, and may determine that the flushing operation can be skipped if the non-flushing operation distance is less than the reference distance, or that the flushing operation cannot be skipped if the non-flushing operation distance exceeds the reference distance.

[0211] That is, in step S2, the control unit 209 may determine whether to perform a first flushing operation after printing the first print image based on the printing end position of the first print image and the non-flushing operation distance, and may determine whether to perform a second flushing operation after printing the second print image based on the printing end position of the second print image and the non-flushing operation distance. In this case, if the non-flushing operation distance is equal to or shorter than the reference distance, the first flushing operation is not performed after printing the first print image, and the second flushing operation is not performed after printing the second print image.

[0212] (Other Modifications) The above-described embodiment is one example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this and various modifications can be made within the scope that does not change the gist of the present invention.

[0213] In the above-described embodiment, the reference position compared with the printing end position of the one-pass print image in step S21 may be a position shifted from the center CL in the left-right direction of the platen 207. Also, in the above-described embodiment, the reference distance LB compared with the pre-printing movement distance in step S32 may be a distance longer than half the left-right width of the platen 207, or may be a distance shorter than half the left-right width of the platen 207.

[0214] In the above-described embodiment, steps S31 and S32 may be interchanged. In this case, if, in step S32, the pre-printing movement distance, which is the horizontal distance between the print start position of the next one-pass print image and the current position of the head 203, is less than or equal to the reference distance LB, the process proceeds to step S31. If the pre-printing movement distance, which is the horizontal distance between the print start position of the next one-pass print image and the current position of the head 203, exceeds the reference distance LB, the process proceeds to step S34. Also, if, in step S31, it is possible to skip the flushing operation, the process proceeds to step S33. If it is not possible to skip the flushing operation, the process proceeds to step S34. Also, in the above-described embodiment, step S31 may be omitted.

[0215] In the above-described embodiment, the printer 201 may include, instead of the platen 207, a table on which the medium 202 is placed and a table drive mechanism that moves the table back and forth. In this case, a flushing box 215 is disposed on the left side of the table, and a flushing box 216 is disposed on the right side of the table. Also, in the above-described embodiment, the printer 201 may be a 3D printer that forms a three-dimensional object. In this case, the printer 201 includes a table on which the three-dimensional object is placed.

[0216] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Printer (inkjet printer, medium processing device) 2 Medium 3 Printing mechanism (processing mechanism) 4 Head (inkjet head) 5 Carriage 6 Carriage drive mechanism 11 Payout roll 12 Payout roll holding section 15 Winding core 20 Rotation mechanism 22 Motor (drive source) 25 Tension bar 25A First reference position 25B Second reference position 26 Tension bar holding section 27 Position detection mechanism 35 Control section 36 Display section D1 Diameter of payout roll D2 Diameter of winding core Y Main scanning direction, axial direction of rotation shaft 101 Printer (inkjet printer) 102 Medium 103 Head (inkjet head) 104 Carriage 105 Carriage drive mechanism 107 Platen 107a Inclined surface (first inclined surface) 107b Inclined surface (second inclined surface) 107c Inclined surface (third inclined surface) 107d Inclined surface (fourth inclined surface) 107e Ink receiving portion (first ink receiving portion) 107f Ink receiving portion (second ink receiving portion) 108 Platen support portion 110 Support leg (holding body) 111 Suction mechanism 116 Winding roll 120b Suction hole 128 Exhaust fan 129 Filter 130 Flow path forming member 131 Filter body 132 Case body 132a Engagement piece 133 Filter holding member 133a to 33c Filter mounting portion 133d Exhaust hole 133e Screw hole 135 Screw 141, 142 Discharge pipe 150 Rotating shaft 151 Gear 152 Cover member 152A Cover position 152B Open position 153 Permanent magnet S Internal space X Sub-scanning direction Y1: Second direction side in the second embodiment, first direction side in the third embodiment Y2: First direction side in the second embodiment, second direction side in the third embodiment 201: Printer (inkjet printer) 203: Head (inkjet head) 204: Carriage 205: Carriage drive mechanism 207: Platen 209: Control unit 215: Flushing box (first flushing box) 216: Flushing box (second flushing box) CL: Center of platen in main scanning direction L1, L2: Pre-printing movement distanceP11, P13, P21, P23, P31, P33, P41, P43, P51 to P53, P61 to P63, P71 to P73, P81 to P83: 1-pass print image, first print image P12, P22, P32, P42: 1-pass print image, second print image S2: Determination step S6: Second determination step

Claims

a tension bar disposed between the payout roll and the processing mechanism in a path of movement of the medium and in contact with the medium before processing to apply tension to the medium; a tension bar holder that movably holds the tension bar; a position detection mechanism that detects the position of the tension bar; and a control unit to which the position detection mechanism is electrically connected, the feed roll holding unit includes a rotation mechanism that has a drive source electrically connected to the control unit and rotates the feed roll, The control unit rotates the payout roll in one direction at a constant rotational speed using the rotation mechanism until the tension bar, which is positioned at a predetermined first reference position, moves to a predetermined second reference position, and performs a time measurement step to measure the movement time of the tension bar when it moves from the first reference position to the second reference position.

2. The media processing device according to claim 1, wherein the time measurement step includes a first rotation step in which the rotation mechanism rotates the payout roll until the position detection mechanism detects that the tension bar is at the first reference position, and a second rotation step in which, after the first rotation step, the rotation mechanism rotates the payout roll until the position detection mechanism detects that the tension bar is at the second reference position. 　 The direction in which the medium is fed out toward the processing mechanism among the rotation directions of the feeding roll is defined as the feeding direction, and the direction in which the medium is wound up, which is the opposite direction to the feeding direction, is defined as the take-up direction.

3. The media processing device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit rotates the supply roll in the supply direction in the first rotation step, and rotates the supply roll in the take-up direction in the second rotation step.

4. The media processing device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit executes a roll diameter calculation step of calculating a diameter or radius of the payout roll based on the movement time measured in the time measurement step. 　 a cylindrical winding core around which the medium is wound is disposed at the center of the payout roll; The media processing device described in claim 4, characterized in that the control unit executes a media length calculation step that calculates the length of the media that constitutes the payout roll based on the diameter or radius of the payout roll calculated in the roll diameter calculation step, the thickness of the media, and the diameter or radius of the winding core. 　 a display unit that displays predetermined information is electrically connected to the control unit; 6. The media processing device according to claim 5, wherein the control unit displays the length of the media calculated in the media length calculation step on the display unit. 　 The tension bar is movable linearly relative to the tension bar holding portion, 4. The media processing device according to claim 1, wherein the position detection mechanism is a linear encoder. 　 the processing mechanism is a printing mechanism that performs a printing process on the medium, 4. The media processing device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit executes the time measurement step before starting printing on the medium. 　 the processing mechanism is a printing mechanism that performs a printing process on the medium, the printing mechanism includes an inkjet head that ejects ink onto the medium, a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted, and a carriage drive mechanism that moves the carriage in a main scanning direction that is perpendicular to the up-down direction; the printing mechanism performs a cleaning operation to prevent clogging of the nozzles of the inkjet head during printing on the medium; 4. The media processing device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit executes the time measurement step during the cleaning operation. 　 A control method for a media processing device comprising: a processing mechanism for processing long media; a payout roll holder that holds a payout roll, which is the media wound into a roll before processing; a tension bar that is arranged between the payout roll and the processing mechanism in a movement path of the media and that contacts the media before processing to apply tension to the media; a tension bar holder that movably holds the tension bar; and a position detection mechanism that detects the position of the tension bar, wherein the payout roll holder has a rotation mechanism that rotates the payout roll, A control method for a media processing device, characterized in that the rotation mechanism rotates the payout roll in one direction at a constant rotational speed until the tension bar, which is positioned at a predetermined first reference position, moves to a predetermined second reference position, and a time measurement step is executed to measure the movement time of the tension bar when it moves from the first reference position to the second reference position. 　 In an inkjet printer for printing on a medium, an inkjet head that ejects ink onto the medium; a platen that is disposed below the inkjet head and on which the medium is placed during printing; a platen support that supports the platen from below; and a suction mechanism that sucks the medium placed on the platen to the platen and holds it thereon; A number of suction holes are formed on the upper surface of the platen to suck the medium placed on the platen, The plurality of suction holes communicate with an internal space of the platen, which is formed hollow, the suction mechanism includes an exhaust fan for discharging air in the internal space of the platen to the outside of the inkjet printer, and a plurality of filters through which the air discharged from the internal space of the platen by the exhaust fan passes; the platen support portion includes a plurality of filter holding members to which the filters are attached; the filter holding member includes a plurality of filter mounting portions to which the filters can be attached, a screw hole is formed in the filter mounting portion at a position that overlaps with the filter when viewed from above and below when the filter is mounted on the filter mounting portion; The inkjet printer is characterized in that, in the filter mounting portion where the filter is not mounted, a screw is mounted in the screw hole. 　 the suction mechanism includes a plurality of exhaust fans, the number of which is equal to the number of the filters; and a plurality of flow path forming members that form air flow paths connecting each of the plurality of exhaust fans to each of the plurality of filters, 12. The inkjet printer according to claim 11, wherein the filter is disposed below the exhaust fan. 　 The filter mounting portion is formed with a plurality of slit-shaped exhaust holes, The filter includes a filter body and a case body in which the filter body is housed, 13. The ink jet printer according to claim 11, wherein the case body is formed with an elastically deformable engaging piece that engages with the exhaust hole by snap-fitting. 　 a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted, a carriage drive mechanism that reciprocates the carriage in a main scanning direction perpendicular to the up-down direction, and a discharge pipe that discharges ink that accumulates in an internal space of the platen, If the direction perpendicular to the vertical direction and the main scanning direction is the sub-scanning direction, then an inclined surface that is inclined with respect to the main scanning direction when viewed from the sub-scanning direction is formed on the bottom surface of the inside of the hollow platen; an ink receiving portion is formed at the bottom of the platen, the ink receiving portion being disposed on the lower end side of the inclined surface and into which the ink flowing down the inclined surface flows; One end of the discharge pipe is connected to the ink receiving portion, The other end of the discharge pipe is disposed below the one end of the discharge pipe, 13. The inkjet printer according to claim 11, wherein the discharge pipe is routed so as to be inclined with respect to the main scanning direction when viewed from the sub-scanning direction. 　 If one side of the main scanning direction is defined as a first direction side, and the opposite side of the first direction side is defined as a second direction side, then: The platen has an inner bottom surface formed with the following inclined surfaces: a first inclined surface that inclines downward as it approaches the first direction side; a second inclined surface that is disposed on the first direction side of the first inclined surface and inclines downward as it approaches the second direction side; a third inclined surface that is disposed on the first direction side of the second inclined surface and inclines downward as it approaches the first direction side; and a fourth inclined surface that is disposed on the first direction side of the third inclined surface and inclines downward as it approaches the second direction side. a first ink receiving portion serving as the ink receiving portion is disposed between the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface in the main scanning direction; a second ink receiving portion serving as the ink receiving portion is disposed between the third inclined surface and the fourth inclined surface in the main scanning direction; a portion of the discharge pipe connected to the first ink receiving portion at one end thereof is routed downward as it extends toward the second direction; 15. The inkjet printer according to claim 14, wherein a portion of the discharge pipe, one end of which is connected to the second ink receiving portion, is routed downward as it extends toward the first direction. The printing apparatus includes a rotating shaft that is inserted into the inner circumferential side of a take-up roll that is the medium wound into a roll after printing, a gear that is fixed to the rotating shaft, a cover member that covers the gear, and a holder that rotatably holds the rotating shaft and rotatably holds the cover member, the cover member is rotatable relative to the holder about an axial direction of the rotation shaft, and is rotatable relative to the holder between a cover position that covers the gear and an open position that exposes the gear, a permanent magnet is fixed to one of the cover member and the holder for holding the cover member in the open position; the other of the cover member and the holder is made of a magnetic material, 13. The ink jet printer according to claim 11, wherein the cover member is held in the open position by magnetic attraction between the other of the cover member and the holder and the permanent magnet. 　 In an inkjet printer equipped with an inkjet head that ejects ink, the inkjet printer comprises a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted, a carriage drive mechanism for reciprocating the carriage in a main scanning direction perpendicular to the up-down direction, a platen or table disposed below the inkjet head, a first flushing box and a second flushing box disposed below the inkjet head and for receiving ink ejected from the inkjet head during a flushing operation, and a control unit for controlling the inkjet printer, If one side in the main scanning direction is defined as a first direction side, and the other side in the main scanning direction opposite to the first direction side is defined as a second direction side, then: the first flushing box is disposed on the first direction side of the platen or the table, the second flushing box is disposed on the second direction side of the platen or the table, An image printed by the inkjet head during one pass of the carriage in the main scanning direction is defined as a one-pass printed image, the one-pass printed image printed by the inkjet head moving together with the carriage toward the first direction is defined as a first printed image, the one-pass printed image printed by the inkjet head moving together with the carriage toward the second direction is defined as a second printed image, the flushing operation performed on the first flushing box is defined as a first flushing operation, and the flushing operation performed on the second flushing box is defined as a second flushing operation. The control unit receives print data before printing begins, The control unit moving the inkjet head in the main scanning direction by a logical seek that moves the inkjet head together with the carriage in the main scanning direction according to a print start position and a print end position of the one-pass print image; Before printing the first print image, it is determined whether or not to perform the first flushing operation after printing the first print image according to a print end position of the first print image; and an inkjet printer that determines, before printing the second print image, whether or not to perform the second flushing operation after printing the second print image according to a printing end position of the second print image.

18. The inkjet printer according to claim 17, wherein the inkjet head that ejects ink toward the first flushing box or the second flushing box during the flushing operation moves in the main scanning direction together with the carriage during the flushing operation. 　 an inkjet head that ejects ink; a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted; a carriage drive mechanism that reciprocates the carriage in a main scanning direction that is perpendicular to the up-down direction; a platen or table that is disposed below the inkjet head; and a first flushing box and a second flushing box that are disposed below the inkjet head and that receive ink ejected from the inkjet head during a flushing operation; If one side in the main scanning direction is defined as a first direction side, and the other side in the main scanning direction opposite to the first direction side is defined as a second direction side, then: the first flushing box is disposed on the first direction side of the platen or the table, the second flushing box is disposed on the second direction side of the platen or the table, If an image printed by the inkjet head in one pass of the carriage in the main scanning direction is defined as a one-pass printed image, moving the inkjet head in the main scanning direction by logical seek, which moves the inkjet head together with the carriage in the main scanning direction according to a print start position and a print end position of the one-pass print image; A method for controlling an inkjet printer in which print data is input before printing begins, comprising: a determination step of determining whether to perform the flushing operation on the first flushing box or the second flushing box, The one-pass printed image printed by the inkjet head moving together with the carriage in the first direction is defined as a first printed image, the one-pass printed image printed by the inkjet head moving together with the carriage in the second direction is defined as a second printed image, the flushing operation performed on the first flushing box is defined as a first flushing operation, and the flushing operation performed on the second flushing box is defined as a second flushing operation. In the judgment step, before printing the first print image, it is judged whether or not the first flushing operation will be performed after printing the first print image in accordance with the printing end position of the first print image, and before printing the second print image, it is judged whether or not the second flushing operation will be performed after printing the second print image in accordance with the printing end position of the second print image. 　 When a printing end position of the first print image is on the first direction side of the center of the platen or the table in the main scanning direction, the first flushing operation is performed after printing of the first print image unconditionally or when a certain condition is satisfied; A control method for an inkjet printer according to claim 19, characterized in that, when the printing end position of the second print image is on the second direction side of the center of the platen or the table in the main scanning direction, the second flushing operation is performed after printing the second print image unconditionally or when certain conditions are met. 　 The number of one-pass operations of the carriage without the flushing operation after the start of printing or the previous flushing operation is defined as the number of non-flushing operations, and the moving distance of the carriage without the flushing operation after the start of printing or the previous flushing operation is defined as the non-flushing operation distance. In the determination step, it is determined whether or not to perform the first flushing operation after printing the first print image, depending on a printing end position of the first print image and the number of non-flushing operations or the non-flushing operation distance, and it is determined whether or not to perform the second flushing operation after printing the second print image, depending on a printing end position of the second print image and the number of non-flushing operations or the non-flushing operation distance, A control method for an inkjet printer as described in claim 19 or 20, characterized in that if the number of times the flushing operation has not been performed is equal to or less than a predetermined reference number, or if the distance the flushing operation has not been performed is equal to or less than a predetermined reference distance, the first flushing operation is not performed after printing the first print image, and the second flushing operation is not performed after printing the second print image.

21. The inkjet printer control method of claim 19, further comprising a second determination step of determining whether to perform the flushing operation on the first flushing box or the second flushing box before printing the next one-pass print image, in a case where the next one-pass print image is printed after the printing of the one-pass print image, depending on a pre-printing movement distance, which is the distance in the main scanning direction between the print start position of the next one-pass print image and the current position of the inkjet head.

23. A control method for an inkjet printer according to claim 22, wherein, when the pre-printing movement distance is longer than half the width of the platen or the table in the main scanning direction, if certain conditions are met, the flushing operation is performed on the first flushing box or the second flushing box before printing the next one-pass print image. 　 in the second determination step, it is determined whether the flushing operation is to be performed on the first flushing box or the second flushing box before printing the next one-pass print image, depending on the pre-printing movement distance and the current position of the inkjet head; When the printing of the next one-pass print image is the printing of the first print image, if the current position of the inkjet head is on the second direction side of the second flushing box, the second flushing operation is not performed before the printing of the next first print image, 23. A control method for an inkjet printer according to claim 22, wherein when the printing of the next one-pass print image is the printing of the second print image, if the current position of the inkjet head is on the first direction side of the first flushing box, the first flushing operation is not performed before the printing of the next second print image. 　 The number of one-pass operations of the carriage without the flushing operation after the start of printing or the previous flushing operation is defined as the number of non-flushing operations, and the moving distance of the carriage without the flushing operation after the start of printing or the previous flushing operation is defined as the non-flushing operation distance. in the second determination step, it is determined whether or not the flushing operation is to be performed on the first flushing box or the second flushing box before printing the next one-pass print image, depending on the pre-printing movement distance and the number of times the flushing operation has not been performed or the distance the flushing operation has not been performed, 23. A control method for an inkjet printer according to claim 22, wherein if the number of times the flushing operation has not been performed is equal to or less than a predetermined reference number, or if the distance the flushing operation has not been performed is equal to or less than a predetermined reference distance, and if certain conditions are met, the flushing operation is not performed before printing the next one-pass print image.

20. A control method for an inkjet printer according to claim 19, wherein the inkjet head that ejects ink toward the first flushing box or the second flushing box during the flushing operation moves in the main scanning direction together with the carriage during the flushing operation.

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