| CPC D05C 11/24 (2013.01) [B41J 2/145 (2013.01); B41J 3/4078 (2013.01); D05C 5/02 (2013.01); D06P 5/30 (2013.01); D06P 7/00 (2013.01)] | 11 Claims |
|
1. A liquid discharge apparatus to be coupled to a post processor to perform post-processing using a linear medium such that the post processor is disposed downstream from the liquid discharge apparatus in a conveyance direction of the linear medium, the liquid discharge apparatus comprising:
a discharge head including a nozzle to discharge droplets onto the linear medium to dye the linear medium;
a conveyor to convey the linear medium in conjunction with the post processor;
a head driver to drive the discharge head in conjunction with conveyance of the linear medium;
control circuitry configured to control the head driver and determine whether to execute maintenance of the discharge head based on a time required for the post-processing for each dyeing job; and
a memory to store a set time serving as a threshold value for determining whether to execute the maintenance,
wherein the linear medium is a thread,
wherein the post-processor is an embroidery apparatus including a needle and an embroiderer to create embroidery data based on an embroidery original and perform embroidery on a cloth using a thread passed through the needle in accordance with the embroidery data,
wherein one dyeing job is an operation based on a thread dyeing instruction associated with one embroidery original,
wherein the control circuitry is configured to acquire a number of stitches and thread linear-velocity information of the embroidery data created based on an embroidery image from the embroidery apparatus,
wherein the control circuitry is configured to calculate an estimated required time of embroidery associated with a dyeing job for outputting the embroidery original, based on the number of stitches and the thread linear-velocity information,
wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine whether to execute the maintenance of the discharge head based on the estimated required time of the embroidery,
wherein a job to be executed includes a plurality of dyeing jobs, and
wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine to execute the maintenance when a total time of the estimated required time of the embroidery associated with the dyeing job from a previous maintenance execution time to an end time of a next dyeing job is equal to or longer than the set time at an end time of a current dyeing job.
|