JP2001001512A - Method and apparatus for outputting image - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image output apparatus which can output an image of high gloss without using specified sheet and ink. SOLUTION: An ink jet printer 1 comprises an initial heater 31 for a sheet (recording sheet) P on which an image is formed, and a roller 32 for pressing a heated sheet P. Since the sheep P is pressed under a state where the ink of the image is fused through initial heating, smoothness of the image can be enhanced significantly. Consequently, extremely high gloss can be imparted to the image.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image output apparatus for outputting an image to a printing material such as a recording sheet based on image data input from the outside, and more particularly to an image output apparatus of an ink jet system. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, an image output device for outputting (printing) a digital image input from the outside to a printing material such as recording paper has been developed, and various configurations have been proposed. . Here, the digital image is
For example, an image obtained by photographing with a digital camera or an image created and processed by a personal computer.

In such an image output apparatus, as an output system, in addition to a thermal system, a thermal transfer system, and a laser printing system, an ink jet system for directly ejecting ink onto recording paper is used. In particular, an image output apparatus (inkjet printer) using the ink jet method has advantages of low running cost and excellent quietness during image output. In addition, due to recent advances in technology, the quality of images output by inkjet printers has also become sufficiently high.
Its applications are gradually expanding.

[0004]

However, the conventional ink jet printer mainly relies on natural drying in order to fix the ink on the substrate, and the ink is output by post-processing using a fixing unit. There was no mechanism for increasing the gloss of the image. For this reason, in the conventional ink jet printer, the glossiness of the output image depends on the characteristics of the recording paper and the ink used. Therefore, in order to improve the glossiness of an image, it is necessary to appropriately select recording paper and ink.

For example, when a recording paper having a rough surface such as a silk-like photograph is used, the glossiness of an image is deteriorated.
Further, in the case of recording paper having good ink absorbency, the surface of the ink constituting the image becomes flat (the surface irregularities of the ink are reduced), so that irregular reflection on the image surface is reduced and the glossiness is improved. Also, when the ink particles (molecules) are large,
The ink absorbency of the recording paper deteriorates, and the ink swells. For this reason, diffuse reflection increases and glossiness deteriorates.

As described above, in the conventional ink jet printer, when the glossiness of an image is to be improved, a recording paper having a small surface roughness and a good ink absorbability can be used.
It is necessary to use ink of small particles, which limits the types of recording paper and ink that can be used.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems. An object of the present invention is to provide an image output apparatus capable of outputting an image having a high gloss level without using specific recording paper and ink.

[0008]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image output apparatus, comprising: an image forming unit for forming an image on a printing material using ink; A pressurizing unit for pressurizing the printing material on which the image is formed by the forming unit.

In the above-described configuration, the printing object is paper, Japanese paper, synthetic paper, resin, metal sheet, or the like, and is an object on which an image is formed by an image output device. In addition, as the above-described image forming unit that forms an image using ink, for example, a recording head used in a general inkjet printer can be used.

The above configuration is set so that after an image is formed by the image forming unit, pressure is applied to the printing material by the pressing unit. In this way, the ink forming the image is forcibly pressed against the print substrate,
The surface of the ink can be made flat. Accordingly, the irregular reflection of the image can be reduced without using a specific printing material and ink, and the glossiness of the image can be improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image output device according to the first aspect, the pressing unit includes a first roller for pressing an image forming surface of a printing medium. , A second roller provided opposite to the first roller.
And the first and second rollers are set so as to press the printing medium by rotating the printing medium with the printing medium sandwiched therebetween.

[0012] In the above configuration, the pressurizing section is composed of two rollers. That is, in this configuration, the end of the printing medium after image formation is inserted between the rotating rollers. Then, the printing material is drawn between the rollers due to the frictional force between the roller and the printing material, and the ink on the printing material is crushed. Thereby, the ink surface is flattened, and the glossiness of the image is improved. Thus, according to the above configuration, the configuration described in claim 1 can be easily realized.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image output device according to the second aspect of the present invention, a printing material is pressed between the first roller and the printing material together with the printing material. A contact layer is provided.

In a configuration in which a printing material is pressed by using a roller, it is considered that the glossiness of an image is greatly affected by the roughness of a portion in contact with the image forming surface. In the above configuration, the first roller that presses the image forming surface comes into contact with the print material via the print material contact layer.

Therefore, in this configuration, since the member that directly presses the printing material becomes the printing material contact layer, the contact portion of the first roller with the printing material can be changed only by changing the printing material contact layer. Can be. Therefore, in the above-described configuration, the user can obtain an image having a desired glossiness by appropriately selecting the roughness of the printing material contact layer to be used.

Further, in the above configuration, the first and second
Even when foreign matter enters between the rollers or when used for a long period of time, the only part that will be consumed is the printed material contact layer. Therefore, the damaged portion can be renewed only by replacing the printing material contact layer. Therefore, the first
The running cost can be reduced as compared with the configuration in which the surface of the roller itself comes into contact with the printing material.

The printed material contact layer may be constituted as a coating layer detachably provided on the surface of the first roller. This configuration can be formed, for example, by winding the print material contact layer around the surface of the first roller. Further, the printing material contact layer may be formed in a tube shape, and the first roller may be fitted into the tube. Also, as described in claim 5,
A printing material contact layer having a belt shape, a first roller,
A third roller that rotates with the first roller,
The printing material contact layer may be configured to be detachably stretched. With this configuration, the configuration described in claim 3 can be easily realized.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image output device according to the third aspect, the printing material contact layer has a long band shape, and the printing material contact layer has a long band shape. Is characterized by comprising a storage section for storing the pressurized portion together with the printing material.

In the above configuration, the portion of the printing material contact layer that is pressed together with the printing material is set so as to be stored in the storage portion. That is, in this configuration, the portion used for pressing in the printing material contact layer is
Since it is stored in the storage section, it is not used again. Therefore, according to this configuration, the configuration according to claim 3 can be easily realized, and even when the printing material contact layer is stained by the ink on the printing material, the stain is removed by another printing material. And the image quality of the output image can be prevented from deteriorating.

Further, the image output device according to the present invention uses, for example, a roll sheet of a predetermined length wound around a first bobbin as a print material contact layer and a print material contact layer as an accommodating portion. It is also possible to use a second bobbin for winding the layer. In this configuration, the print sheet contact layer in the form of a roll sheet is sent out from the first bobbin, reaches the first roller, and is wound around the second bobbin.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image output device according to the third aspect, wherein the printed material contact layer has water repellency. In this configuration, since the printing material contact layer has water repellency, it is possible to suppress the ink from adhering to the printing material contact layer (offset phenomenon), and to prevent deterioration in the image quality of the output image. It becomes possible. Further, this configuration can be easily realized by using a fluororesin as a material of the contact layer of the printing material.

The image output device according to claim 9 is
The configuration according to claim 1, wherein:
The surface roughness of the part pressing the image forming surface of the printing material is R
It is characterized in that it is set so that max ≦ 1 μm. In this configuration, Rmax used as a unit of the surface roughness is the maximum height of the convex portion on the surface. In this configuration, the height is 1 μm.
m, which is very low. Therefore, since the image forming surface of the printing medium can be pressed with a very smooth surface, it is easy to improve the glossiness of the image.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the image output device further includes a pressure control mechanism for controlling a pressure applied to the printing medium by the pressing unit. It is characterized by having.

As described above, the glossiness of an image is realized by flattening the surface of the ink on the substrate.
For this reason, it is basically preferable that the pressure applied to the printing material by the pressurizing unit is higher. However, when a soft print is pressed with a strong force, the print may be deteriorated. Therefore, the above configuration has a pressure control mechanism for controlling the pressure applied to the printing medium. Thus, in the above configuration, a pressure corresponding to the material of the printing material can be applied to the printing material, so that it is possible to prevent deterioration of the printing material due to pressurization.

Further, the glossiness can be controlled by controlling the pressure. That is, as a general tendency of the correlation between the two, the gloss increases with strong compression and decreases with weak compression.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, a heating unit for heating the image forming surface of the printing material pressed by the pressing unit is provided. It is characterized by having.

Usually, the ink used for image formation tends to be softened and easily deformed when heated. Therefore, in the above configuration, the printing medium is heated by the heating unit before or simultaneously with the pressing by the pressing unit. Accordingly, in this configuration, the softened ink is pressurized, so that the ink can be easily pressed and the glossiness can be improved. In addition, by heating the ink, it is possible to improve the fixability between the ink and the printing medium, and thus the above-described offset phenomenon can be suppressed.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the image output device according to the eleventh aspect, by controlling the driving force of the heating unit, the temperature of the printing material heated by the heating unit is adjusted. It is characterized by having a control unit.

In this configuration, the control section is set so as to control the driving force of the heating section based on various factors such as the characteristics of the ink and the printing medium, temperature, humidity and the like. Therefore, in this configuration, it is possible to set the temperature of the printing medium to an optimum temperature according to the various characteristics described above.

For example, it is preferable that the control unit controls the driving force of the heating unit so that the temperature of the printing medium is equal to or higher than the softening point of the ink. Furthermore, it is preferable that the driving force of the heating unit is controlled such that the temperature of the printing material is equal to or lower than the temperature at which the printing material deteriorates. When the printing medium is made of general recording paper, if the temperature is raised to a very high temperature, the image receiving layer may be peeled off and the printing medium may be deteriorated. Therefore, in the above configuration,
When the heating unit raises the temperature of the printing material, the temperature of the printing material is set so as not to be higher than the upper limit temperature at which the quality of the printing material does not deteriorate, that is, the deterioration of the printing material does not occur and the original properties of the printing material can be exhibited. I have. Therefore, according to the above configuration,
Improve the glossiness of the image without causing deterioration of the print
In addition, it is possible to suppress the offset phenomenon.

Further, the heating section is provided before the printing medium is pressed by the pressing section.
It is preferable that the image forming surface is heated without contacting the print substrate. When heating is performed using a contact-type heating unit such as a heat roller, if the ink on the printing medium is not fixed, the ink is offset-transferred to the heating unit, and the image is easily shifted. Therefore, claim 14
In the configuration described above, the heating unit heats the image forming surface of the printing medium in a non-contact manner. Accordingly, it is possible to avoid offset transfer of the ink to the heating unit, and to prevent image displacement.

In the image output device according to the present invention, the surface roughness of a portion of the pressurizing section that presses the image forming surface of the printing medium may be:
The glossiness of the image after pressing is set so as to be 70 or more in gloss value. In this configuration, the gloss value, which is a unit of the glossiness of an image, is a value based on the ratio of the amount of light between the total reflection light and the specular reflection light on the image surface, and is a kind of index for representing photographic image quality. It is.

Further, the surface roughness of the portion of the pressing portion where the printing material is pressed is directly reflected on the glossiness of the image. In the above configuration, the glossiness of the image is set to 70 or more as a gloss value by appropriately setting the material and the processing accuracy in this portion. As described above, according to the above configuration, gloss with a gloss value of 70 or more can be obtained, so that it is possible to obtain a glossy feeling that is not much different from that of a photograph in general. In particular, if the gloss value is 80 or more, glossiness equal to or higher than that of a photograph can be obtained.

In the image output device according to the present invention, in the configuration according to any one of the first, second, and ninth to fifteenth aspects, the image output device may be configured to be connected to the image forming surface of the printing medium in the pressing unit. The contact surface is formed of a metal. According to the above configuration, since the contact surface is formed of metal, even when the printing target is conveyed while being pressed at a high pressure in the pressing unit, the printing target is pressed against the pressing unit of the printing target. It is possible to prevent the contact surface from being worn by the impact at the time of entry and discharge from the pressing portion. That is, in the above configuration, since the metal has abrasion resistance, it is possible to maintain the smoothness of the contact surface without performing coating, mounting of the contact layer for the printed material, or the like. This eliminates the need for steps such as coating and mounting of the contact layer for the printed material, thereby reducing manufacturing costs. Further, in the pressurized section provided with the coating or the print contact layer, it is necessary to replace the press section itself or the print contact layer in order to maintain the smoothness of the contact surface. On the other hand, according to the above configuration, the smoothness is not lost even when used for a long period of time, and the replacement of the pressurizing section is not required, so that the running cost can be further reduced.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the image output device according to the sixteenth aspect, the contact surface includes:
It is characterized by a mirror finish.

According to the above arrangement, since the contact surface is mirror-finished, excellent glossiness can be obtained without applying a fluorine coating to the contact surface or separately providing a contact layer for a printed material. And the manufacturing cost can be reduced. More specifically, the surface of the ink can be smoothed by a mirror finishing process in which the surface roughness of the contact surface is Rmax ≦ 0.8 μm, and an image having a gloss value of 70 or more can be output. In the case of the unit of the JIS standard, the surface roughness Rmax ≦ 0.8 μm is defined as “Rmax
Is 0.8S or more ".

An image output device according to claim 18 is the image output device according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the metal is stainless steel.

In the image output device, the surface roughness on the contact surface finally determines the glossiness of the image. Therefore,
According to the above configuration, since stainless steel that can easily perform surface processing such as mirror finishing is used, the surface roughness on the contact surface can be easily set low. Further, by using stainless steel having excellent corrosion resistance, it is possible to prevent the roller surface from being corroded due to the adhesion of ink or the like.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image output device according to any one of the sixteenth to eighteenth aspects, the image output device faces the contact surface of the pressurizing unit via the printing medium. The portion is formed of an elastic body.

According to the above configuration, while the contact surface is formed of metal, the portion opposed to the contact surface via the printing medium has a lower specific gravity and a lower hardness than metal. Is formed of an elastic body having low elasticity. As a result, in the above-mentioned portion, the elastic body is distorted and deformed by the pressure from the contact surface. For this reason, compared with the case where the contact surface is also formed of an elastic body, the contact area between the contact surface in the pressurizing section and the print medium to be sandwiched can be formed significantly larger. Therefore, since the heat at the time of fixing can be sufficiently conducted to the printing medium and the ink, the fixing speed can be set high.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the image output device according to any one of the first to eighteenth aspects, the contact area between the pressurizing portion and the image forming surface of the printing medium is increased. It is characterized in that it is provided with means for causing it to do so.

According to the above configuration, the contact area is increased by the means for increasing the contact area, so that heat at the time of fixing can be sufficiently conducted to the printing medium and the ink, and the fixing speed is set high. be able to.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the image output device according to the twentieth aspect, the pressurizing unit includes:
A roller for pressing the image forming surface of the printing medium is provided, and the means for increasing the contact area is a means for increasing a winding angle of the printing medium with respect to the roller.

The wrapping angle of the substrate with respect to the roller is as follows.
It refers to the central angle in the cross section circle of the roller in the direction of the rotation axis corresponding to the contact area between the roller side surface and the image forming surface of the printing medium. Therefore, according to the above configuration, the contact area is increased by increasing the winding angle by the means for increasing the winding angle. Thereby, heat at the time of fixing can be sufficiently conducted to the printing medium and the ink, so that the fixing speed can be set high.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the surface irregularities of the ink for forming the image on the printing medium are flattened by pressing.

According to the above arrangement, irregular reflection of an image formed by ink can be reduced by flattening the surface unevenness of the ink by pressing. For this reason, the glossiness of an image can be improved without using a specific printing material and ink.

[0047]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of an image output system according to the present embodiment (hereinafter, referred to as the present image output system). This image output system is for outputting an image to a predetermined printing material based on an image or image data input from outside. As shown in FIG. 2, an inkjet printer 1, an image reading device 2, a film scanner 3, an image processing device 4 and a monitor 5 are provided. In the present embodiment,
A case in which a sheet-shaped paper (hereinafter, referred to as a sheet) cut to a predetermined size is used as a print target will be described.

First, the components of the image output system will be described. Inkjet printer (image output device)
Numeral 1 is for forming an image on a sheet based on input image data, and is a characteristic configuration of the present image output system. The detailed configuration of the inkjet printer 1 will be described later.

The image reading device 2 has a compact flash 6 which is a semiconductor memory card, reads image data recorded on the compact flash 6 and outputs the image data to the image processing device 4. The image data read by the image reading device 2 is, for example, data obtained by photographing with a digital camera or image processing with a personal computer. The image reading device 2 has a function of reading image data recorded on a recording medium other than the compact flash 6.

The film scanner 3 is for generating image data corresponding to a negative or positive original image recorded on the film 7, and is a kind of image reading device. That is, the film scanner 3 is set to read the original image by scanning the film 7, generate image data corresponding to the original image, and output the image data to the image processing device 4.

The image processing device 4 performs predetermined processing on input image data and outputs the processed image data to the ink jet printer 1. That is, the image processing device 4 performs image processing on image data input from the image reading device 2 or the film scanner 3 and converts the image data into a form that can be processed by the inkjet printer 1. Then, it is set so that the image data after the image processing is output to the inkjet printer 1 or the monitor 5.

The image processing performed by the image processing apparatus 4 includes, for example, converting image data in RGB (Red, Green, Blue) format into YMC (Yellow, Magenta, Cyan) suitable for ink output.
There are a process of converting to a format, an edge emphasizing process for emphasizing the outline of an image, a red correcting process, and the like. In addition, the image processing device 4 also has a function as a central unit that controls all operations in the image output system.

The monitor 5 inputs image data processed by the image processing device 4 and displays an image corresponding to the data. Thus, the user can confirm the form of the image data after the processing and determine the necessity of further image processing.

Next, the configuration of the ink jet printer 1 will be described. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of the inkjet printer 1. Inkjet printer 1
Is for ejecting three color pigment-based inks of YMC based on the image data input from the image processing apparatus 4 to output a color image on a sheet. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus includes a sheet supply unit 11, an image forming unit 12, and a gloss applying unit 13.

The sheet supply section 11 supplies a sheet P for outputting an image. As shown in FIG. 1, a sheet cassette 21 for storing the sheet P and a sheet cassette 21 for storing the sheet P are provided. Conveyance rollers 22a and 22b for taking out the sheet P are provided.

The image forming section 12 forms an image on the sheet P supplied from the sheet supply section 11 by discharging ink according to image data, and has a plurality of ink discharging sections. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of the ink discharge unit 9 in the image forming unit 12. The ink discharge section 9 is an on-demand type recording head, and is provided for each color of YMC. As shown in FIG. 3, each ink ejection section 9 has a plurality of ink ejection ports 8 arranged in a line. These ink discharge ports 8 have an image resolution of 400 dpi (dots per dot).
inch) for each dot constituting the image.

The ink discharge section 9 has a configuration in which the image density can be controlled by changing the ink discharge amount for each dot. That is, in the ink discharge unit 9, while the amount of ink discharged from each ink discharge port 8 at one time is constant, the number of discharges of each ink discharge port 8 is changed for each dot, thereby discharging each dot. The total amount of ink to be applied is changed for each dot.

Accordingly, ink is overprinted on the dots corresponding to the high-density portions. As shown in FIG. 3, the size of each dot (print dot size) depends on the number of ink ejections. It will be large. In the ink ejection section 9, the ejection amount of ink for each dot is 16
It is controlled in stages. Therefore, the image formed by the image forming unit 12 is expressed in 16 gradations.

Next, the gloss imparting section 13 which is a feature of the ink jet printer 1 will be described. The gloss imparting section 13 is for imparting gloss to the image formed on the sheet P by the image forming section 12, and as shown in FIG.
And transport rollers 33a and 33b.

First, an initial heating heater (heating unit) 31
Will be described. The initial heating heater 31 heats and melts the ink constituting the image by heating the image forming surface of the sheet P, and fixes the ink on the sheet P. The heater 31 for initial heating also has a function of softening the ink and increasing a pressing effect by a pressing roller 32 described later.

As shown in FIG. 1, the initial heating heater 3
Reference numeral 1 denotes a structure in which the sheet P is heated by radiant heat or hot air in a state where the sheet P is not in contact with the sheet P, and may be constituted by, for example, a halogen lamp. The heating of the sheet P by the heater 31 for initial heating is performed by melting the ink on the sheet P,
Is performed to the extent that it does not deteriorate. That is, the heater 31 for initial heating is set so as to heat the sheet P so as to have a temperature range equal to or higher than the softening point of the ink and equal to or lower than the deterioration temperature of the sheet P. In addition,
Hereinafter, this temperature range is referred to as a first temperature range.

Here, the softening point of the ink and the deterioration temperature of the sheet P will be described. As described above, the ink used in the inkjet printer 1 is a pigment-based ink. Such an ink contains a binder resin (resin) for binding pigments together. The softening point of the ink is a temperature at which the binder resin dissolves (the melting point of the resin).

That is, when the ink reaches the softening point, the binder resin melts and becomes jelly-like, and a part of the jelly penetrates into the sheet P, so that the bonding state between the ink and the sheet P is improved, and the fixability in the image is increased. . Further, in this state, deformation due to pressure is likely to occur. The softening point of the ink changes depending on the ratio and material of the binder resin.

The alteration temperature of the sheet P refers to the sheet P
Is the temperature at which the image receiving layer, which is the uppermost layer (the part where an image is formed), is peeled off from the sheet P, or the image receiving layer is cracked and the image is deteriorated. That is, the alteration temperature is the upper limit temperature at which the original properties of the sheet P can be exhibited.

The softening point of the ink and the deterioration temperature of the sheet P differ depending on the properties of the ink and the sheet P. Therefore, in the inkjet printer 1, the first
The temperature range is set for each image output based on the softened state of the ink used and the deteriorated state of the sheet P.

Next, the configuration of the pressure roller (pressure section) 32 will be described. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of the pressure roller 32. The pressure roller 32 presses the sheet P to press the ink against the sheet P, and brings the ink to a smooth state, thereby giving gloss to the image. Further, the pressure roller 32 has a function of drying the ink.

As shown in FIG. 4, the pressure roller 32 is provided with a heating roller 41 provided at a position facing each other.
And a support roller 42. And
These rollers 41 and 42 are set so as to apply pressure to the sheet P by rotating in opposite directions with the sheet P interposed therebetween, and to convey the sheet P in the direction of the conveying rollers 33a and 33b.

The heating roller (first roller) 41 is
It is a hollow roller having a diameter of 50 mm and a length of 6 to 15 inches in the direction of the rotation axis, and is a roller for pressing the image forming surface of the sheet P. As a material for forming the heating roller 41, a silicone rubber having a hardness of about 70 measured by a rubber hardness meter defined by the JIS standard can be used.

Also, as shown in FIG.
Inside 1, a heater 41 a is provided. The heater (heating unit) 41a is electrically heated by electric power supplied from the outside, so that the heating roller 41a is heated.
To raise the surface temperature to a temperature equal to or higher than room temperature, and can be configured using, for example, a halogen lamp. That is, in the ink jet printer 1, the ink on the sheet P sandwiched between the rollers 41 and 42 is forcibly dried by the surface temperature of the heating roller 41.

In the ink jet printer 1, the surface temperature of the heating roller 41 is adjusted to a temperature range in which the ink is easily dried by adjusting a driving force (amount of power) for driving the heater 41a. Has become. Therefore, hereinafter, this temperature range is referred to as a second temperature range. The second temperature range varies depending on the properties of the sheet P and the ink, but is generally about 80 to 150 ° C.

The surface of the heating roller 41 is coated with fluorine. This is to make the surface of the heating roller 41 smooth and to impart water repellency and water resistance to this surface. In the ink jet printer 1, the surface roughness of the heating roller 41 is set such that Rmax (maximum height of the convex portion on the surface) ≦ 1 μm by the fluorine coating.

The support roller (second roller) 42 is
The roller has a diameter of 30 to 50 mm and a length of 6 to 15 inches in the direction of the rotation axis. The sheet P is disposed at a position facing the heating roller 41 so that the sheet P can be pressed together with the heating roller 41. As a material constituting the support roller 42, for example, the surface roughness is Rmax ≦ 1.
μm metal such as aluminum can be used.

The support roller 42 is configured to be able to move up and down by a pressure control mechanism. The pressure control mechanism is for controlling the pressure applied to the sheet P passing between the rollers 41 and 42 by adjusting the position of the support roller 42. The pressure control mechanism includes a holding rod 44, a pivot 45, and a cam 46, as shown in FIG.

The holding rod 44 holds the support roller 42, and the rotation shaft 43 of the support roller 42 passes through a through hole (not shown) provided at one end 44a. The rotation support shaft 45 is a rotation support point of the holding rod 44. The holding rod 44 is set so as to be rotatable around the rotation support shaft 45 in the AB direction shown in FIG. The cam 46 is a triangular cam provided near the other end 44b of the holding rod 44, and can be rotated by a motor (not shown).

In the pressure control mechanism having such a configuration, the holding rod 44 is moved to the end 44 b by the weight of the support roller 42.
Are in contact with the cam 46. And
When the cam 46 rotates, the position of the end portion 44b of the holding rod 44 moves up and down, whereby the holding rod 44 is turned around the turning support shaft 45 in the AB direction. By this rotation, the support roller 42 moves up and down together with the end 44a of the holding rod 44, and the heating roller 41
, The pressing force of the support roller 42 is changed.

As described above, in the pressure control mechanism of the support roller 42, by rotating the cam 46,
The pressing force between the rollers 41 and 42 can be changed. Therefore, the pressure applied to the sheet P passing through the rollers 41 and 42 can be adjusted.

The pressure value applied to the sheet P by the rollers 41 and 42 is preferably determined based on the material of the sheet P. For example, when using a soft sheet P, it is preferable to use a relatively weak pressure value. Therefore, hereinafter, a range of a preferable pressure value determined according to the material of the sheet P is referred to as a first pressure range. The first pressure range is, for example, approximately
It can be about 0 kg / cm ² .

The transport rollers 33a shown in FIG.
33b is a roller provided downstream of the pressure roller 32 so as to face each other. The sheet P discharged from the pressure roller 32 is rotated in opposite directions with the sheet P interposed therebetween, and is conveyed toward a discharge port (not shown) of the inkjet printer 1.

Further, the ink jet printer 1 includes transport rollers 22a and 22b and transport rollers 33a and 33a.
In addition to 3b, a number of transport rollers not shown in FIG. 1 are provided. These rollers assist the conveyance of the sheet P. The transport roller and the pressure roller 32 in the inkjet printer 1 are set to rotate at a speed desired by the user. Therefore, the inkjet printer 1
The conveyance speed of the sheet P in can be set freely by the user.

Next, the operation of the present image output system will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation in the present image output system. As described above, all operations of the image output system are performed under the control of the image processing device 4. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, when the user inputs an image to be output to the image reading device 2 or the film scanner 3 (S1), the image processing device 4
Controls these to generate predetermined image data (S
2) Input the image data.

Next, the image processing apparatus 4 performs image processing on the input image data, and converts the input image data into a form that can be output by the inkjet printer 1 (S3). Thereafter, an image based on the converted data is displayed on the monitor 5 (S4), and the user is requested to judge whether or not the image data after the image processing (after the conversion) is appropriate (S4).
5) Image processing is repeated until image data desired by the user is generated.

When the user inputs an instruction that desired image data has been generated, the image processing device 4
The image data is transmitted to the inkjet printer 1. Then, the inkjet printer 1 is controlled to perform an image output process described later (S6), and the process ends.

Here, shown as S6 in FIG.
An image output process in the inkjet printer 1 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the inkjet printer 1 during the image output processing. Note that all operations in this processing are controlled by a control unit (not shown) provided in the inkjet printer 1.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, when image data is input from the image processing device 4, the control unit controls the transport rollers 22a and 22b to take out the sheet P from the paper cassette 21 and The sheet is transported to the forming section 12 (S11).

Next, the control section controls the image forming section 12 based on the input image data, and forms an image corresponding to the data on the sheet P (S12). At this time, the control unit controls the ink ejection units 9 in the image forming unit 12 to adjust the amount of ink ejected from each ink ejection port 8. Thus, the ink ejection amount is adjusted for each dot forming the image, and an image of 16 gradation display is formed.

Further, the control unit determines the first pressure range and the first and second temperature ranges based on the characteristics of the ink and the sheet P before S12 is completed. The controller controls the heater 41a to heat the surface of the heating roller 41 to a temperature within the second temperature range, and controls the pressure control mechanism to control the rollers 41 and 42.
The intervening pressure is set to a value within a first pressure range. Further, at this time, the control unit determines the driving force (initial heating power (initial heating power) of the heater 31 for initial heating necessary for setting the sheet P to the first temperature range based on the transport speed set in advance by the user. Amount of electricity)).

After S12, the control unit controls a conveying roller (not shown) to convey the sheet P to the initial heating heater 31 in order to give gloss to the image. And
The heater 31 for initial heating is driven by the above-mentioned initial heating power, and the sheet P is initially heated so as to have a temperature within the first temperature range (S13). Thereby, the ink on the sheet P is heated and melted, the ink is softened, and the fixing property of the ink is improved.

Next, the control unit controls a transport roller (not shown) to transfer the initially heated sheet P to the pressing roller 3.
Transport to 2. Then, the heating roller 41 and the supporting roller 42 are controlled to pressurize the sheet P in the first pressure range while heating in the second temperature range (S1).
4). As a result, the ink on the sheet P is heated and pressed, giving gloss to the image and drying the image. Finally, the control unit controls the transport rollers 33a and 33b.
To discharge the sheet P from the sheet discharge port (S1).
5), end the processing.

As described above, in the ink jet printer 1 in the present image output system, the sheet P on which the image is formed by the image forming unit 12 is pressed while being heated by the pressing roller 32.

Thus, the ink on the sheet P is pressed and
It can be heated and can add gloss to the image without the use of specific sheets and inks. further,
Since the ink on the sheet P can be dried quickly and reliably, even if the discharged sheets P are stacked, the image does not adhere to another sheet P.
Thus, the sheets P can be stacked one after another after the sheet is discharged, and the processing speed can be improved.

In the ink jet printer 1, before the sheet P is conveyed to the pressure roller 32, the sheet P
Is raised to within the first temperature range by the heater 31 for initial heating. For this reason, it is possible to soften the ink and fix the ink to the sheet P before pressing by the pressing roller 32.

Accordingly, the softening of the ink facilitates the pressure contact of the ink by the pressure roller 32, and can promote the improvement of the glossiness. Further, by fixing the ink to the sheet P, it is possible to suppress the ink from adhering to the pressure roller 32 (in particular, the heating roller 41) (offset phenomenon). Thereby, it is possible to prevent the image quality of the output image from deteriorating, and to protect the surface of the heating roller 41 from contamination by the ink.

Further, in the ink jet printer 1, the heating roller 4 is controlled so that the surface roughness is Rmax ≦ 1 μm.
1 is coated with fluorine to improve its smoothness. Thus, the sheet P can be pressed on a very smooth surface, so that the glossiness of the image can be further increased. Further, the offset phenomenon can be further suppressed due to the water repellency of the fluorine coating.

As described above, in the ink jet printer 1, after the sheet P on which the image is formed is heated in the first temperature range by the heater 31 for initial heating, the sheet P is pressed by the pressure roller 32 having high smoothness. Is performed, it is possible to make the glossiness of the image extremely high. In addition, as a result of performing measurement while changing the types of the ink and the sheet P in various ways, it has been found that the glossiness of the image output by the inkjet printer 1 reaches a gloss value of 70 or more.

Here, the gloss value is a value based on the ratio of the amount of light between the totally reflected light and the specularly reflected light on the image surface, and is a kind of index for expressing photographic image quality. Normally, the gloss value of an image output by a conventional inkjet printer is limited to about 40 to 60, which is inferior in glossiness to a photograph (a gloss value of about 80 to 100). However, since the inkjet printer 1 can output an image having a gloss value of 70 or more, it is possible to obtain an image having a gloss similar to a photograph.

Further, in the ink jet printer 1,
By pressing and heating the ink on the sheet P, the color fastness of the image can be improved. Criteria for evaluating the degree of color fastness of an image include, for example, the rate of decrease in density of each monochromatic light, the rate of change in density between colors, the degradation of resolution, and the water resistance (whether ink drops due to wetness, Decreases (concentration decreases)
That).

In the present embodiment, a case has been described in which a sheet-like paper cut to a predetermined size is used as a printing material, but the printing material used in the image output system is not limited to a sheet. That is, in the present image output system, an image can be output even on a roll of paper.

In the operation of the ink jet printer 1 shown in FIG. 6, the control unit determines the initial heating power based on the transport speed set in advance by the user. That is, the power (driving force) for driving the initial heating heater 31 is set to be strong when the transport speed is high and to be weak when the transport speed is low. That is, the control unit controls the amount of heat supplied per unit time from the heater 31 for initial heating in accordance with the transport speed by adjusting the initial heating power, and adjusts the temperature of the sheet P to the first temperature range. It is supposed to be inside.

In this embodiment, the heating roller 4
1 is provided with a heater 41a, and the sheet P is dried by the heater 41a. However, when it is not necessary to dry the ink, such as when using an ink having a very fast drying property, the heater 41a is used.
Is not required.

Further, in the present embodiment, the ink jet printer 1 is provided with the heater 31 for initial heating, whereby the sheet P is initially heated to the first temperature range. However, the invention is not limited thereto, and the driving force of the heater 41a in the heating roller 41 is adjusted,
The temperature of the sheet P may be set in the first temperature range by the heater 41a. In this way, the ink can be heated and melted without using the heater 31 for initial heating.

Further, if the pressure applied to the sheet P by the pressure roller 32 is increased, the temperature of the sheet P becomes the first temperature.
, The glossiness of the image can be increased even when the temperature does not reach the above temperature range and the ink is not sufficiently softened.

For example, if the pressure is sufficiently increased at a very high pressure, sufficient gloss can be provided even for an image which has not undergone initial heating and has not been softened at all.
In this case, both the heater 31 for initial heating and the heater 41a become unnecessary. When the ink jet printer 1 is not provided with the heater 31 for initial heating, it is preferable to employ a combination of the sheet P and the ink so that the fixing property of the ink to the sheet P is improved.

In the present embodiment, after the temperature of the sheet P is raised to the first temperature range by the heater 31 for initial heating, the first pressure range based on the material of the sheet P is increased by the pressing roller 32. Pressurizes the sheet P. However, due to insufficient driving force of the initial heating heater 31 and the heater 41a, the sheet P is moved to the first position.
When the temperature does not reach the temperature range described above and the ink is not sufficiently softened, the pressure roller 32 preferably presses the sheet P with a pressure value higher than the first pressure range. That is, it is preferable that the pressure value of the pressure roller 32 be determined based on the material of the sheet P and the softened state of the ink in the sheet P.

In this embodiment, the rollers 41
Although the roller 42 rotates in opposite directions with the sheet P interposed therebetween, one of the rollers 41 and 42 may be a driven roller.

In this embodiment, the heating roller 4
1 and the surface roughness of the support roller 42 are Rmax ≦ 1 μm.
m, but these rollers 41
The surface roughness of 42 is not limited to a value within this range. However, it is preferable that the surface roughness of the rollers 41 and 42 is set to a sufficiently small value so that the glossiness of the image output by the inkjet printer 1 is 70 or more.

That is, since the surface roughness of the rollers 41 and 42 is directly reflected on the glossiness of the image, the materials and processing accuracy of the rollers 41 and 42 are adjusted so that the glossiness of the image becomes 70 or more. Is preferably set appropriately.

The glossiness of an image can also be controlled by selecting and using rollers (including tubes, sheets, rubber, and the like) having physically different surface roughness as the rollers 41 and 42.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the materials, hardness, diameter,
Various properties such as axial length are described.
The properties of 42 are not limited to these values. For example, the length of the rollers 41 and 42 in the rotation axis direction may be set to be longer than the width of the sheet to be used.

Further, as a material of the heating roller 41,
In addition to silicone rubber, NBR (acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer rubber) rubber, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) rubber, metal, and the like can be used. Further, when the heating roller 41 is formed of a hard roller made of metal or the like, the surface of the ink on the sheet P can be flattened more than the case where the heating roller 41 is formed of a resin. Can be improved.

The coating on the surface of the heating roller 41 is not limited to the above-described fluorine coating, but may be, for example, a PTFE coating. In addition, if the entire heating roller 41 is made of PTFE-based rubber, the heating roller 41 itself has water repellency, and in this case, the coating of the heating roller 41 becomes unnecessary.

In the present embodiment, the ink jet printer 1 forms a color image using three color pigment inks of YMC. However,
The color of the ink ejected by the inkjet printer 1 is Y
The color is not limited to the MC, and any color may be used as long as a color image can be output. Further, the setting may be made so as to output a monochrome image. Further, the ink used by the inkjet printer 1 is not limited to the pigment-based ink, but may be a dye-based ink.

In the present embodiment, all operations of the image output system are performed under the control of the image processing apparatus 4. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the image output system may be provided with a control device for controlling operations, and the control device may be set so that all operations are controlled.

Further, in the present embodiment, the image output processing in the ink jet printer 1 shown in FIG. 6 is controlled by a control unit (not shown) of the ink jet printer 1. However, the image output processing may be set to be controlled by the image processing device 4 of the present image output system.

Further, in the present embodiment, in the image output process shown in FIG. 6, the control unit determines the first pressure range and the first pressure range based on the characteristics of the ink and the sheet P before S12 is completed. A second temperature range is determined; However, these pressure and temperature ranges
It may be determined before the image output processing. Furthermore, these ranges will be changed before the image output process is performed.
It may be set to be transmitted from the outside to the control unit.

Further, a program for performing all or a part of the processing in the control unit of the image processing apparatus 4 and the ink jet printer 1 is stored in a CD-ROM (Re-
An information processing device that can be recorded on a recording medium such as an ad only memory (FD) or a floppy disk (FD) and that can read this program may be used in place of the image processing device 4 and the control unit.

Further, in the present embodiment, the ink ejection section 9
However, while keeping the amount of ink ejected at one time constant,
By changing the number of ejections of each ink ejection port 8 for each dot, the amount of ink ejected to each dot is controlled. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the ink ejection unit 9 changes the amount of ink ejected at one time,
The ejection amount of the ink may be set to be changed for each dot.

The softening point and melting point of the ink can be expressed as follows. That is, the softening point of the ink is a temperature at which the ink is softened (softening point → high viscosity), and is a temperature at which the ink can be deformed by a pressing force. The melting point of the ink is a phase transition temperature at which the ink melts (melting point → low viscosity), and is a temperature at which the ink melts and spreads. Even if the ink does not reach the melting point, it becomes softer when the temperature is raised. Further, even when the temperature of the sheet is equal to or lower than the melting point of the ink, the glossiness of the image can be increased by increasing the pressure applied to the sheet.

[Embodiment 2] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the image output system shown in the first embodiment, in order to increase the glossiness of the image, the sheet P is set to be initially heated by the heater 31 for initial heating and pressurized by the pressing roller 32. Have been.

As described above, in this image output system, the glossiness of the output image is determined not only by the initial heating temperature and the pressing force but also by the smoothness of the surface of the heating roller 41. ing. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a configuration in which a desired glossiness is obtained by adjusting the smoothness of the heating roller 41 will be described.

An image output system according to the present embodiment (hereinafter, referred to as the present image output system) is different from the image output system shown in FIG. The configuration is provided with a simple pressure roller 35. As shown in FIG. 7, the pressure roller 35 has a configuration in which, in the configuration of the pressure roller 32, the surface of the heating roller 41 is not coated with the fluorine coating, but a coating tube 41 b is wound therearound. It is.

The covering tube (substrate to be printed, covering layer) 41b is made of a fluororesin thin film and can be easily attached and detached by the user. The image output system includes a plurality of coated tubes 4 having different surface roughnesses.
1b are prepared, and the user selects the coating tube 41b having a desired surface roughness,
1 can be attached.

Therefore, in the present image output system, the user can obtain an image having a desired glossiness by appropriately selecting the roughness of the coating tube 41b mounted on the heating roller 41. . That is, for example,
A plurality of coated tubes 41b (for example, R
max = 2, 1, 0.5, 0.2 (μm)), and when it is desired to obtain an image having a high glossiness, a coating tube 41b having a small surface roughness is used, while When an image having a low degree is desired, an image having a large surface roughness may be used. In the present image output system, the gloss value of the output image can be changed in the range of 10 to 90 by appropriately replacing the coating tube 41b.

In addition, the contact surface of the heating roller 41 with the sheet P may lose its smoothness due to scratches caused by foreign matter entering between the rollers 41 and 42 and abrasion due to long-term use. However, in the present image output system, it is possible to renew the contact surface of the heating roller 41 with the sheet P and restore its smoothness only by replacing the coating tube 41b. Therefore, compared to a configuration in which the surface of the heating roller 41 itself contacts the sheet P, it is not necessary to replace the heating roller 41 in order to maintain the smoothness of the contact surface. ing.

Note that the pressure roller 35 in the present image output system may be configured as shown in FIGS.

That is, the configuration shown in FIG. 8 is different from the configuration shown in FIG. 7 in that an endless belt-shaped coating belt 41c is provided instead of the coating tube 41b, and a belt roller for supporting the coating belt 41c is provided. (Third roller) 47 is provided. The covering belt (substrate to be printed) 41c is a thin film belt made of a fluororesin similarly to the covering tube 41b.
And the heating roller 41 are detachably stretched.
Accordingly, the coating belt 41c enters between the heating roller 41 and the support roller 42, and the coating belt 41c
Is in contact with the sheet P.

In this configuration, the belt roller 47 is set to rotate in accordance with the rotation of the heating roller 41. In accordance with the rotation of these rollers 41 and 47, the coating belt 41c rotates while being pressed together with the sheet P below the heating roller 41.

The configuration shown in FIG. 9 is different from the configuration shown in FIG. 7 in that a covering sheet 41d is provided instead of the covering tube 41b, and bobbins 48a and 48b are provided.
And auxiliary rollers 49. The covering sheet (substrate to be printed) 41d is a thin film sheet made of fluororesin, like the covering tube 41b. And it is stretched under the heating roller 41 and the auxiliary rollers 49, 49, and one end of the bobbin 4
8b, the remaining portion including the other end is wound around the bobbin 48a. Therefore, the covering sheet 41d is formed by the heating roller 41 and the supporting roller 42.
And the covering sheet 41d is
It comes in contact with.

In this configuration, the bobbins 48a and 48b and the auxiliary rollers 49 and 49 are set to rotate according to the rotation of the heating roller 41. Then, in response to this rotation, the covering sheet 41d is sent out from the bobbin 48a and wound on the bobbin 48b while being pressed together with the sheet P below the heating roller 41.

In the configurations shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, similarly to the configuration shown in FIG. 7, a desired glossiness can be obtained by appropriately selecting the roughness of the coating belt 41c or the coating sheet 41d. Images can be obtained. Further, by simply replacing the coating belt 41c or the coating sheet 41d, the contact surface of the heating roller 41 with the sheet P can be renewed, the smoothness can be restored, and the running cost can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, the coating tube 4
1b, the covering belt 41c and the covering sheet 41d are made of a fluororesin thin film, but the material of the thin film constituting these is not limited to the fluororesin. As these materials, for example, silicone rubber, NBR (acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer rubber) rubber, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) rubber and the like can be used.

Here, a configuration example of the ink discharge section 9 (see FIG. 3) shown in the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 10 shows one ink ejection port 8 in the ink ejection section 9.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration in the vicinity (see FIG. 3). As described above, the ink ejection unit 9 is a recording head of an on-demand system (drop-on-demand system), and the ink ejection ports 8 are arranged for each dot forming an image.
As shown in FIG. 10, a pressure chamber 52 and a piezoelectric element (piezo element) 5 are provided near the ink ejection port 8.
3 and a vibration partition 54 are provided.

In this configuration, when the piezoelectric element 53 vibrates according to a signal output from a control unit (not shown), the vibration propagates to the vibration partition 54. Then, the ink 55 filled in the pressure chamber 52 is pressurized by the vibration of the vibration partition 54. Thereby, the ink 55
Is set to be ejected from the ink ejection port 8 to a sheet (not shown) as an ink droplet 55a. As described above, in the above configuration, the setting is such that the ink droplet 55a is ejected in accordance with the input of the signal. The pressure chamber 52 is connected to an ink tank (not shown) in which the ink 55 is stored. Then, the ink 55 is supplied from the ink tank as needed.

Note that the configuration shown in FIG.
It is a so-called piezo type using 3
The configuration of the ink discharge unit 9 is not limited to this. That is, the ink ejection unit 9 may be configured as a thermal (bubble jet type, thermal inkjet type) recording head. The thermal method is a method in which a heating plate is disposed in a pressure chamber, the heating plate is heated to generate bubbles, and ink is ejected by the expansion pressure of the bubbles.

The ink discharging section 9 may be configured as a continuous type recording head instead of the on-demand type. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the vicinity of one ink ejection port 8 in this configuration. Also in this configuration, the ink discharge ports 8 are arranged for each dot constituting the image, and in the vicinity thereof, a PZT (piezo element) 62, a nozzle 63, a charge control electrode 64, a deflection electrode 6
5, an ink catcher 66, an ink reservoir 67, and a pump 68 are provided.

In this configuration, the ink stored in the ink reservoir 67 is pressurized by the pump (ink pump) 68 and reaches the nozzle 63. The ink that has reached the nozzle 63 is set so as to be continuously ejected from the tip of the nozzle 63 as an ink droplet 69a and to pass through the charge control electrode 64 in accordance with the high frequency vibration of the PZT 62.

An electric field is applied to the charge control electrode 64 according to a signal output from a control unit (not shown). Therefore, an electric charge is appropriately applied to the ink droplet 69a passing through the charge control electrode 64 in accordance with the above signal.

Then, the ink droplet 69 a passing through the charge control electrode 64 passes through the deflection electrode 65. At this time, the ink droplet 69a to which the charge is given by the charge control electrode 64 is affected by the electric field at the deflection electrode 65,
The traveling direction turns and reaches the sheet P. On the other hand, the ink droplet 69 a having no charge travels straight through the deflection electrode 65 and reaches the ink catcher 66. The ink in the ink catcher 66 moves to the ink reservoir 67 through the piping path, and is stored and accumulated. As described above, in the above configuration, the ink is circulated while constantly discharging the ink droplet 69a from the nozzle 63, and the flying direction of the ink is controlled in accordance with the image signal to form an image.

Note that the image output device of the present invention can be expressed as the following first to seventh image output methods and first to twelfth image output devices.

That is, the first image output method includes a first step of forming an image on a printing medium using ink and a second step of pressing the printing medium on which the image is formed. It is. Further, the second image output method is a method according to the first image output method, wherein the second step includes a third step of pressing the substrate by two rollers rotating in opposite directions to each other. .

The third image output method is the same as the second image output method, except that a detachable printing material contact layer is disposed between the roller for pressing the image forming surface of the printing material and the printing material. That is the way it is. In a fourth image output method, in the third image output method, a plurality of print contact layers having different surface roughnesses are prepared, and a print contact layer having a desired surface roughness of a user is used. How to

The fifth image output method is a method according to the first image output method, which includes, before the second step, a fourth step of heating the image forming surface of the printing medium.
Further, the sixth image output method is a method of controlling the temperature of the printing material realized in the fourth step to a temperature desired by the user in the fifth image output method. Also,
A seventh image output method is the sixth image output method,
This is a method in which the temperature of the printing material realized in the fourth step is equal to or higher than the softening point of the ink forming the image and equal to or lower than the deterioration temperature of the printing material.

The first image output device is an image output device for outputting a color image using a plurality of color inks, in which a heating means for heating the ink and a pressure means for applying pressure after the heating are provided. It is. Further, the second image output device has a configuration in which, in the configuration of the first image output device, a non-contact method is used as a heating method of the ink in the heating unit.

Further, the third image output device is the same as the first and second image output devices, except that the ink contact portion of the pressurizing means has a high accuracy such that the surface roughness is Rmax ≦ 1 μm. Alternatively, the glossiness of the image after pressing is 70
(Gross value) or more.

Further, the fourth image output device includes first to third
Is a configuration in which a water-repellent effect is given to the ink contact portion of the pressurizing means in the configuration of the image output device of the above. The fifth image output device has a configuration in which, in the configuration of the first to fourth image output devices, a fluorine coat is applied to the ink contact portion of the pressurizing unit in order to impart a water-repellent effect.

The sixth image output device includes the first to fifth image output devices.
Is a configuration for controlling the heating temperature of the heating means in the configuration of the image output device of (1). Further, the seventh image output device has a configuration in which the heating temperature of the heating unit is controlled according to the characteristics of the ink and / or the printing substrate in the configuration of the first to sixth image output devices. Further, the eighth image output device includes:
In the configuration of the seventh image output apparatus, the heating temperature is set to be equal to or higher than the softening point of the ink and equal to or lower than the deterioration temperature of the printing medium.

A ninth image output device is the same as the first image output device, except that a sheet or tube made of a fluororesin is provided at the ink contact portion of the pressurizing means. Further, a tenth image output device has a configuration in which a means for replacing a fluororesin tube or a fluororesin sheet in an ink contact portion is provided in the configuration of the ninth image output device. In addition, the eleventh image output device is a ninth image output device.
In the configuration of the image output apparatus, the means for replacing the fluororesin tube or the fluororesin sheet at the ink contact portion with a material having a different surface roughness is provided.

The twelfth image output apparatus includes an image forming section for forming an image on a printing medium using ink, and a pressing section for pressing the printing medium on which the image is formed by the image forming section. A heating unit for heating the image forming surface of the printing material pressurized by the pressing unit, and a control for adjusting a temperature of the printing material heated by the heating unit by controlling a driving force in the heating unit. The control unit controls the driving force of the heating unit based on at least one of the temperature characteristics of the ink and the printing medium. Since the temperature at which the fixing and the gloss of the ink or the printing material are best varies depending on the type, according to the configuration of the twelfth image output apparatus, it is possible to set the optimum heating temperature. In this configuration, the control unit may control the driving force of the heating unit such that, for example, the temperature of the printing material is equal to or lower than the deteriorated temperature of the printing material.

[Embodiment 3] A third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the image output system described in the second embodiment, in order to increase the glossiness of an image, in addition to the initial heating temperature and the pressing force, smoothness on the surface of the heating roller 41 is an important factor. In view of the above, the configuration has been described in which the printing material contact layer is provided on the heating roller 41 to adjust its smoothness and obtain a desired glossiness.

However, depending on the magnitude of the pressure applied to the image forming surface of the printing medium in the pressurizing section, the surface of the heating roller 41 may be worn by being damaged by the printing medium and losing smoothness. This is that when the printing material is conveyed while being pressed, the leading end portion of the printing material in the conveyance direction rushes into the pressing portion, or when the rear end portion is discharged from the pressing portion, the surface of the heating roller 41,
That is, the contact surface with the image forming surface is damaged by the edges of the both ends.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the smoothness of the heating roller 41 is maintained by using a material having excellent wear resistance as the surface material of the heating roller 41 irrespective of the printing material contact layer. Thus, a configuration for obtaining a desired glossiness will be described.

The image output system according to the present embodiment (hereinafter, referred to as the present image output system) is different from the image output system shown in FIG. The configuration includes a pressure roller 36. In the configuration of the pressure roller 32, instead of the surface of the heat roller 41 having no fluorine coating, the pressure roller 36 is formed of stainless steel (JIS) in which the heat roller 41 is mirror-finished.
(Standard symbol: SUS304), and the surface material of the support roller 42 is formed of rubber.

In the present embodiment, the contact surface 41e of the heating roller 41 with the image forming surface of the sheet P is formed of the above stainless steel. In the present embodiment, the contact surface 41e is mirror-finished.

That is, in the present image output system, an image having a desired glossiness can be obtained by appropriately setting the surface roughness of the contact surface 41e of the heating roller 41 by surface processing of the metal used. It has become.

As shown in FIG. 13, a heater 41a is provided inside the heating roller 41. The heater 41a is used to raise the surface temperature of the heating roller 41 to a temperature equal to or higher than room temperature by being electrically heated by electric power supplied from the outside. In the present embodiment, the heater 41a is configured using a halogen lamp. Have been.
As indicated by the arrows in the figure, the radiant heat of infrared rays radially emitted from the heater 41a is transmitted to the contact surface 41e formed of stainless steel, and the surface temperature rises to room temperature or higher.

In this image output system, as described above,
By forming the contact surface 41e of stainless steel, the leading end portion of the sheet P in the transport direction is transported to the pressing portion of the pressing roller 36, and the rear end portion of the sheet P in the transport direction is discharged from the pressing portion. In this case, the surface of the heating roller 41 can be prevented from being worn out due to an impact or the like.

Further, in the above configuration, since the contact surface 41e is mirror-finished, the surface of the heating roller 41 is not coated with fluorine, or the coating material and the print material are not provided without separately providing a print material contact layer. Since a gloss level equal to or higher than the gloss level of an image obtained by the contact layer can be obtained, manufacturing costs can be reduced.

Further, in the heating roller 41 provided with a coating or provided with a printed material contact layer, it is necessary to replace the heating roller 41 itself or the printed material contact layer in order to maintain the smoothness of the contact surface. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, since the stainless steel has abrasion resistance, the heating roller 41 needs to be replaced without the loss of the smoothness even after long-term use. , The running cost can be further reduced.

Further, in the above configuration, by using stainless steel having excellent corrosion resistance, it is possible to prevent corrosion of the roller surface due to adhesion of ink and the like.

When the contact surface 41e is mirror-finished, the range of the surface roughness for obtaining the above gloss level is, for example, 0.8 μm or less, more preferably 0.6 μm or less in Rmax. . When the surface roughness is within the above range, the ink surface of the output image can be smoothed. When Rmax is 0.8 μm or less, the glossiness of the output image can be 70 or more in gloss value.

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the pressure roller 36 is configured such that the surface material of the support roller 42 is formed of rubber. That is,
In the configuration shown in FIG. 12, the heating roller 41 is formed of stainless steel, while the supporting roller 42 is formed.
Is made of rubber having a lower specific gravity, lower hardness and elasticity than the stainless steel.

As a result, the rubber, which is the surface material of the support roller 42, is distorted and deformed, so that the nip (heat roller) is significantly wider than when both the heating roller 41 and the support roller 42 are formed of rubber. 41
(A contact area between the front surface and the sheet P to be sandwiched) can be formed. As a method of forming the surface material of the support roller 42 with rubber, for example, a method of forming the surface of the support roller 42 with a covering tube made of rubber can be cited, but it is not limited to such a method.

That is, in the pressure roller 36, a portion opposing each other via the sheet P and the contact surface 41e of the heating roller 41 is formed of rubber.
As shown by the nip 49 in FIG. 12, the contact area between the surface of the heating roller 41 and the sheet P to be sandwiched can be significantly increased. Therefore, the heat from the heating roller 41 can be sufficiently conducted to the sheet P and the ink, so that the fixing speed can be set high.

By sufficiently transmitting the heat from the heating roller 41 to the sheet P and the ink, the fixing speed can be set high. The effect is that the contact area with the image forming surface of the printing medium in the pressing unit is increased. It can be obtained by using means. In the above, the support roller 4
Although the configuration using rubber as the surface material of No. 2 was adopted, the means for increasing the contact area may be a configuration using an elastic body other than rubber as the surface material, and is not limited to this. May be adopted. For example, immediately before being conveyed between the heating roller 41 and the support roller 42 or immediately after being discharged, the contact area is increased by using a printed material guide member having a curved shape such that the conveyance path of the printed material rises. A configuration may be adopted.

In the present embodiment, the configuration in which rubber is used as the elastic body used for the surface material of the support roller 42 has been described. The material of the elastic body is not particularly limited as long as it has heat resistance and does not harden thermally. Such materials include, for example, silicone rubber, NBR rubber,
PFA (perfluoroalkoxy fluorine) rubber, PT
FE-based rubber or the like can be used.

In the present embodiment, as described above,
Rubber was used as the material of the support roller 42. However, the material of the support roller 42 may be appropriately selected within a range in which a necessary pressure force is secured at the time of fixing by the pressure roller 36, and is not particularly limited.

In addition to the above-described configuration using rubber, if a material that can increase the wrapping angle of the sheet P around the heating roller 41 is used, heat from the heating roller 41 can be transferred to the sheet P and the sheet P. The ink can be sufficiently conducted, and the fixing speed can be set high. In FIG. 12, the winding angle is a central angle α in a cross-section circle in the direction of the rotation axis of the heating roller 41 corresponding to the nip 49, that is, the contact area between the contact surface 41e and the image forming surface of the sheet P. The angle represented.

The effect that the fixing speed can be set high as described above can be obtained by providing the pressure roller 36 with the means for increasing the winding angle. The larger the winding angle, the more heat can be conducted. The size may be set as appropriate in relation to the pressure required for fixing.

In the present embodiment, the configuration is shown in which the heating roller 41 is formed of stainless steel (SUS304). However, the material forming the heating roller 41 has abrasion resistance to such an extent that the material does not wear due to friction with the surface of the conveyed printing material, and is not particularly limited as long as it is a metal capable of obtaining the above effects. , Stainless steel (JI
S standard symbol: SUS303), an aluminum alloy or the like may be used. When stainless steel (SUS304) is used, the heating roller 41 having excellent corrosion resistance can be obtained, and when stainless steel (SUS303) is used, good workability can be obtained.

In the heating roller 41, since the contact surface 41e may be formed of the above-described metal, for example, the contact surface 41e may be formed by metal plating using the above-described metal. It may be.

It is needless to say that this embodiment may be implemented by being appropriately combined with the configuration disclosed in the first embodiment.

[0171]

As described above, in the image output apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, an image forming section for forming an image on a printing substrate using ink, and an image is formed by the image forming section. And a pressurizing unit for pressurizing the printing medium.

The above configuration is set so that after an image is formed by the image forming unit, pressure is applied to the printing material by the pressing unit. This makes it possible to forcibly press the ink forming the image onto the printing substrate and flatten the surface of the ink. Therefore, irregular reflection in an image can be reduced without using a specific printing material and ink, and an effect of improving the glossiness of an image can be achieved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image output device according to the first aspect, the pressing unit includes a first roller for pressing an image forming surface of a printing medium. , A second roller provided opposite to the first roller.
, And the first and second rollers are set so as to press the printing medium by rotating the printing medium. In addition,
One of the first and second rollers may be a driven roller.

In the above configuration, the ink on the printing material is crushed by the two rollers, the ink surface is flattened, and the glossiness of the image is improved.
Therefore, according to this configuration, in addition to the effect of the first aspect,
There is an effect that the configuration according to claim 1 can be easily realized.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image output apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the printing material is pressed together with the printing material between the first roller and the printing material. This is a configuration in which a contact layer is provided.

In this configuration, since the member that directly presses the printing material becomes the printing material contact layer, the contact portion of the first roller with the printing material can be changed only by changing the printing material contact layer. . Therefore, in the above configuration, in addition to the effect of the second aspect, it is possible to obtain an image having a desired glossiness simply by appropriately selecting the roughness of the printing material contact layer used by the user. It works.

Further, in the above configuration, the first and second
Even when foreign matter enters between the rollers or when used for a long period of time, the only part that is consumed is the print contact layer. Therefore, the damaged portion can be renewed only by replacing the printing material contact layer. Therefore, the first
The running cost can be reduced as compared with the configuration in which the surface of the roller itself comes into contact with the printing material.

The printed material contact layer may be constituted as a coating layer detachably provided on the surface of the first roller. Further, as described in claim 5, the printed matter contact layer is formed in a belt shape, and the printed matter contact layer is detachably stretched between the first roller and the third roller. Good. With this configuration, the configuration described in claim 3 can be easily realized.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image output device according to the third aspect, the print material contact layer has a long band shape and the print material contact layer has a long band shape. And a storage section for storing the pressurized portion together with the printing medium.

In the above configuration, the printing material contact layer is set to be housed in the housing portion after being pressed together with the printing material. That is, in this configuration, the portion used for pressing in the printed material contact layer is stored in the storage portion, and is not used again. Therefore,
According to this configuration, in addition to the effect of claim 3, claim 3
Configuration can be easily realized, and even if the printing material contact layer is stained by the ink on the printing material, the contamination can be prevented from affecting other printing materials, and the image quality of the output image is prevented from deteriorating. This has the effect of making it possible to

An image output device according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the image output device according to the third aspect, wherein the printed material contact layer has water repellency. With this configuration, in addition to the effect of the third aspect, since the water-soluble ink can be prevented from adhering to the printing material contact layer (offset phenomenon), it is possible to prevent a decrease in image quality in an output image. Becomes Further, this configuration can be easily realized by using a fluororesin as a material of the contact layer of the printing material.

The image output device according to claim 9 is
The configuration according to claim 1, wherein:
The surface roughness of the part pressing the image forming surface of the printing material is R
The configuration is such that max ≦ 1 μm.
In this configuration, since the surface roughness of the portion where the image forming surface of the printing object is pressed is set to a very low value of Rmax ≦ 1 μm, the printing material can be pressed on a very smooth surface. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, there is an effect that the glossiness of the image can be easily improved.

An image output device according to a tenth aspect of the present invention has a pressure control mechanism for controlling the pressure applied to the printing medium by the pressurizing unit in addition to the configuration according to the first aspect. Configuration. In the above configuration, a pressure corresponding to the material of the printing material can be applied to the printing material. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, it is possible to prevent the printing medium from deteriorating due to pressure.

An image output apparatus according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the first aspect, further comprises a heating unit for heating the image forming surface of the printing material pressed by the pressing unit. It is a configuration provided with. In the above configuration, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, since the ink that has been heated and softened by the heating unit is pressurized, the ink can be easily pressed and the glossiness can be improved. It has the effect of becoming. In addition, by heating the ink, it is possible to improve the fixability between the ink and the printing medium, and thus the above-described offset phenomenon can be suppressed.

In the image output device according to the twelfth aspect, in the configuration according to the eleventh aspect, by controlling the driving force of the heating unit, the temperature of the printing material heated by the heating unit is adjusted. This is a configuration having a control unit. In this configuration, the control unit is set to control the driving force of the heating unit based on various factors such as the characteristics of the ink and the printing medium, temperature, humidity, and the like. Therefore, in this configuration, in addition to the effect of the eleventh aspect, it is possible to set the temperature of the printing medium to an optimum temperature according to the above-described various characteristics.

It is preferable that the control unit controls the driving force of the heating unit so that the temperature of the printing material is equal to or lower than the temperature at which the printing material deteriorates.
With this configuration, it is possible to improve the glossiness of the image and suppress the offset phenomenon without causing deterioration of the print medium.

[0187] Further, the above-mentioned heating unit is provided, before the printing medium is pressed by the pressing unit, as described in claim 14.
It is preferable that the image forming surface is heated without contacting the print substrate. When heating is performed using a contact-type heating unit, unfixed ink on a printing medium is offset-transferred to the heating unit, and an image is easily shifted. Therefore, in the configuration of claim 14, the heating unit heats the image forming surface of the printing material in a non-contact manner. Accordingly, it is possible to avoid offset transfer of the ink to the heating unit, and to prevent image displacement.

In the image output device according to the present invention, the surface roughness of the portion of the pressurizing section that presses the image forming surface of the printing medium may be such that the surface roughness of the portion after pressing is reduced. Is set so that the glossiness of the image is 70 or more in gloss value.

[0189] The surface roughness of the portion where the printing material is pressed in the pressing portion is directly reflected on the glossiness of the image. In the above configuration, the glossiness of the image is set to 70 or more as a gloss value by appropriately setting the material and the processing accuracy in this portion. As described above, according to the above configuration, gloss with a gloss value of 70 or more can be obtained, so that it is possible to obtain a glossy feeling that is not much different from that of a photograph in general. In particular, if the gloss value is 80 or more,
A glossiness equal to or higher than that of the photograph can be obtained.

The image output device according to the sixteenth aspect is the image output device according to any one of the first, second, and ninth to fifteenth aspects, wherein the pressurizing unit is provided between the pressurizing unit and the image forming surface of the printing medium. The contact surface is formed of a metal. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the contact surface from being worn due to an impact at the time when the printing material enters and exits the pressing portion. That is, it is possible to maintain the smoothness of the contact surface without performing the coating or the mounting of the contact layer for the printing material, and to suppress the manufacturing cost because the steps of mounting the coating and the contact layer of the printing material are unnecessary. Can be
In addition, the smoothness is not lost even when used for a long period of time, and it is not necessary to replace the pressurizing section, so that the running cost can be further reduced.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the image output device according to the sixteenth aspect, the contact surface includes
It is a mirror-finished configuration. In this configuration,
Without applying a fluorine coating on the contact surface or separately providing a print material contact layer, excellent glossiness can be obtained and production cost can be suppressed. More specifically, the surface of the ink can be smoothed by a mirror finishing process in which the contact surface has a surface roughness Rmax of 0.8 μm or less, and an image having a gloss value of 70 or more can be output.

The image output device according to claim 18 is the image output device according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the metal is stainless steel. In this configuration,
Since stainless steel, which can easily perform surface processing such as mirror finishing, is used, the surface roughness on the contact surface can be easily set low. Further, by using stainless steel having excellent corrosion resistance, it is possible to prevent the roller surface from being corroded due to the adhesion of ink or the like.

In the image output device according to the nineteenth aspect, in the configuration according to any one of the sixteenth to eighteenth aspects, the image output device faces the contact surface of the pressurizing unit via the printing medium. The configuration is such that the portion is formed of an elastic body. With this configuration, the heat at the time of fixing can be sufficiently conducted to the printing medium and the ink, so that the fixing speed can be set high.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the image output device according to any one of the first to eighteenth aspects, the contact area between the pressurizing section and the image forming surface of the printing medium is increased. This is a configuration provided with a means for causing the user to perform the operation.

In the above configuration, the heat at the time of fixing can be sufficiently conducted to the printing medium and the ink, so that the fixing speed can be set high.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the image output device according to the twentieth aspect, the pressurizing unit comprises:
A roller for pressing the image forming surface of the printing medium is provided, and the means for increasing the contact area is a means for increasing a winding angle of the printing medium with respect to the roller.

In the above configuration, since the heat at the time of fixing can be sufficiently conducted to the printing medium and the ink, the fixing speed can be set high.

An image output method according to a twenty-second aspect is configured to flatten the surface irregularities of the ink for forming an image on a printing material by pressing.

According to the above configuration, irregular reflection of an image formed by ink can be reduced by flattening the surface unevenness of the ink by pressing. For this reason, the glossiness of an image can be improved without using a specific printing material and ink.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of an inkjet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of an image output system including the inkjet printer illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of an ink ejection unit in an image forming unit of the inkjet printer illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a pressure roller in a gloss applying unit of the inkjet printer illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of an operation in the image output system shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of an operation in an image output process in the ink jet printer shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a pressure roller in an ink jet printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing another configuration of the pressure roller in the inkjet printer.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing still another configuration of the pressure roller in the inkjet printer.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of an on-demand type recording head that can be used as the ink ejection unit illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a continuous type recording head that can be used as the ink ejection unit shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a pressure roller in an inkjet printer according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining heat conduction by a halogen lamp provided inside a heating roller in the ink jet printer according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink jet printer (image output device) 11 Sheet supply part 12 Image forming part 13 Glossing part 31 Heater for initial heating (heating part) 32 Pressure roller (pressure part) 35 Pressure roller (pressure part) 36 Pressure Roller (pressing unit) 41 Heating roller (first roller) 41a Heater (heating unit) 41b Coated tube (printed material contact layer, coating layer) 41c Coated belt (printed material contact layer) 41d Coated sheet (printed material contact layer) 41e Contact surface 42 Support roller (second roller) 44 Holding rod (pressure control mechanism) 45 Rotating support shaft (pressure control mechanism) 46 Cam (pressure control mechanism) 47 Belt roller (third roller) 48a Bobbin 48b Bobbin α center angle (wrapping angle) P sheet (substrate)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C056 EA04 EA11 EC06 EC29 EC32 ED01 ED03 FA03 FA04 FA05 HA45 HA46 2H113 AA01 BA20 BB02 BB03 BC09 FA06 FA28 FA29 FA48

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. An image forming unit for forming an image on a printing material using ink, and a pressurizing unit for pressing the printing material on which an image is formed by the image forming unit. Image output device. 2. The pressurizing section includes a first roller for pressing an image forming surface of a printing medium, and a second roller provided opposite to the first roller. 2. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second rollers are set so as to press the print medium by rotating the print medium with the print medium sandwiched therebetween. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first roller and the printing medium are
3. The image output device according to claim 2, further comprising a print material contact layer that is pressed together with the print material. 4. The image output apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the printing material contact layer is a coating layer detachably provided on a surface of the first roller. 5. A third rotating member which rotates together with the first roller.
The printing medium contact layer is detachably stretched around a first roller and a third roller, and is a belt that rotates according to the rotation of both rollers. 3
2. The image output device according to 1. 6. The printing material contact layer has a long strip shape, and further includes a housing portion for housing a portion of the printing material contact layer pressed together with the printing material. The image output device according to claim 3. 7. An image output apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said printing material contact layer has water repellency. 8. The image output apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said printing material contact layer is made of a fluororesin. 9. An image according to claim 1, wherein a surface roughness of a portion of said pressurizing section that presses the image forming surface of the printing material is set so as to satisfy Rmax ≦ 1 μm. Output device. 10. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a pressure control mechanism for controlling a pressure applied to the printing medium by the pressing unit. 11. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a heating unit for heating an image forming surface of the printing material pressed by the pressing unit. 12. The image output device according to claim 11, further comprising a control unit that controls a driving force of the heating unit to adjust a temperature of a printing medium heated by the heating unit. apparatus. 13. The image output apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the control unit controls the driving force of the heating unit such that the temperature of the printing material is equal to or lower than the temperature at which the quality of the printing material deteriorates. 14. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating unit is configured to heat the image forming surface without contacting the printing material before the printing material is pressed by the pressing unit. Item 12. The image output device according to Item 11. 15. The surface roughness of a portion of the pressurizing section that presses the image forming surface of the printing medium is set so that the glossiness of the image after pressing is 70 or more in gloss value. The image output device according to claim 1. 16. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a contact surface of the press section with the image forming surface of the printing medium is formed of metal. Image output device. 17. The image output apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said contact surface is mirror-finished. 18. An image output apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said metal is stainless steel. 19. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein a portion of the pressurizing section which faces the contact surface via the printing medium is formed of an elastic body. Image output device. 20. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for increasing a contact area between the pressurizing section and the image forming surface of the printing medium. . 21. The pressurizing section includes a roller for pressing the image forming surface of the printing medium, and the means for increasing the contact area includes means for increasing a winding angle of the printing medium with respect to the roller. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein
0. The image output device according to 0. 22. An image output method, characterized in that surface irregularities of ink for forming an image on a substrate are flattened by pressing.