JP2021011060A - Inkjet recording device and inkjet recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an inkjet recording device that can perform high-quality sublimination transfer on a recording medium such as a cloth, with a compact configuration.SOLUTION: An inkjet recording device 100 comprises: a printing part 110 that forms a printed image on an intermediate transfer belt 120 by discharging sublimable ink through an inkjet head 111; a drying part 130 that dries the sublimable ink adhering onto the intermediate transfer belt 120; and a transfer part 140 that transfers the dried sublimable ink on the intermediate transfer belt 120 to a recording medium 1, which performs formation, drying and sublimination transfer of the printed image continuously, with the intermediate transfer belt 120 interposed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention particularly relates to a sublimation transfer type inkjet recording device and an inkjet recording method.

Conventionally, a sublimation transfer type inkjet recording method has been proposed in Patent Document 1 and the like.

In the sublimation transfer type inkjet recording method, a sublimation ink is adhered to an intermediate transfer medium, the water content of the ink is evaporated by heating, and after concentration, the intermediate transfer medium is pressed against the recording medium to transfer the ink. It is designed to suppress ink bleeding and penetration into the recording medium.

In particular, when the recording medium is a cloth, if the ink is applied directly by the inkjet head, the cloth will be blurred. Therefore, the sublimation transfer type inkjet recording device is superior to such a direct type. It can be said that there is.

JP-A-2002-240712

However, conventionally, the configuration for embodying a sublimation transfer type inkjet recording device has not been sufficiently studied.

An object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet recording apparatus and an inkjet recording method capable of performing high-quality sublimation transfer on a recording medium such as a cloth with a compact configuration.

One aspect of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention is
A printing unit that ejects sublimable ink from an inkjet head to form a printing image on a carrier,
A transfer unit that sublimates and transfers the printed image of the carrier to a recording medium,
A drying portion provided between the printing portion and the transfer portion to dry the printing image of the carrier, and a drying portion.
To be equipped.

One aspect of the inkjet recording method of the present invention is
A step of ejecting sublimable ink from an inkjet head to form a print image on a carrier,
A step of sublimating and transferring the printed image formed on the carrier to a recording medium,
A step of drying the printed image formed on the carrier before sublimation transfer to the recording medium.
Including
The carrier is a long carrier that is continuous over the printing part, the drying part, and the transfer part.
The formation of the printed image, the drying, and the sublimation transfer are continuously performed via the elongated carrier.

According to the present invention, the formation of a photographic image, the drying of the photographic image, and the sublimation transfer of the photographic image can be performed by the same apparatus, so that high-quality sublimation transfer can be performed on a recording medium such as a cloth with a compact configuration. You will be able to do it.

Overall configuration diagram of the inkjet recording device of the embodiment The figure which shows the structure of the inkjet recording apparatus of another embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the inkjet recording apparatus of another embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the inkjet recording apparatus of another embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an inkjet recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The inkjet recording device 100 includes a printing unit 110 having an inkjet head 111, an intermediate transfer belt 120 as a carrier, a heating roller 131, and a pressure belt 141.

The printing unit 110 includes an inkjet head 111 and a driving unit (not shown) for driving the inkjet head 111. The inkjet head 111 ejects sublimable ink and forms a printing image on the intermediate transfer belt 120. In the case of the present embodiment, the printing unit 110 is a shuttle type that drives the inkjet head 111 with the direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the intermediate transfer belt 120 (the direction of arrow a in the drawing) as the main scan. However, the printing unit 110 is not limited to the shuttle type, and a line type may be adopted.

The transfer surface side of the intermediate transfer belt 120 (that is, the surface facing the inkjet head 111) is blasted, for example, by polishing. This makes it difficult for the sublimable ink to spread on the belt surface. As a result, deterioration of image quality on the intermediate transfer belt 120 is suppressed.

The intermediate transfer belt 120 is an endless belt, and is bridged between a heating roller 131 and a drive roller 161. The intermediate transfer belt 120 is conveyed in the direction of arrow a in the drawing by rotationally driving the drive roller 161.

The inkjet recording device 100 has a recording medium transport unit 150. The recording medium transport unit 150 has a feed roller 151, a take-up roller 152, and a presser roller 153, and winds the recording medium 1 wound around the feed roller 151 with the take-up roller 152.

In the case of this embodiment, the recording medium 1 is a cloth. More specifically, the recording medium 1 is a polyester fiber.

The recording medium 1 is introduced between the intermediate transfer belt 120 and the pressure belt 141 wound around the predetermined region of the heating roller 131. As a result, the recording medium 1 is conveyed in the same direction as the transfer direction of the intermediate transfer belt 120 while being pressurized and heated in the direction of the intermediate transfer belt 120.

In the inkjet recording apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the heating roller 131 and the intermediate transfer belt from the winding start position of the intermediate transfer belt 120 to the heating roller 131 to the contact start position of the recording medium 1 with the intermediate transfer belt 120. The region of 120 functions as the drying portion 130.

Further, in the inkjet recording apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the heating roller 131 is intermediate from the contact start position of the recording medium 1 to the intermediate transfer belt 120 to the contact end position of the recording medium 1 to the intermediate transfer belt 120. The regions of the transfer belt 120 and the pressure belt 141 function as the transfer unit 140.

The drying unit 130 dries the sublimable ink adhering to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 120 by the heat of the heating roller 131 before the sublimation transfer to the recording medium 1. As a result, bleeding of ink during sublimation transfer can be suppressed.

The winding length of the intermediate transfer belt 120 around the heating roller 131 in the drying portion 130, that is, the drying distance is preferably 3/4 or more and ½ or less of the peripheral length of the heating roller 131. Here, by setting it to 1/4 or more of the peripheral length, the distance for heating and drying can be lengthened. This also contributes to the miniaturization of the heating roller 131. Further, by setting the peripheral length to 1/2 or less, it is sufficient for the transfer unit 140 sharing the heating roller 131 to sublimate and transfer the sublimable ink adhering to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 120 to the recording medium 1. A great distance can be secured.

The winding length of the pressure belt 141 and the intermediate transfer belt 120 on the heating roller 131 in the transfer unit 140 is preferably 1/4 or more and 1/2 or less of the peripheral length of the heating roller 131. Here, by setting the winding length to 1/4 or more of the peripheral length, the sublimation ink adhering to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 120 can be heated and pressurized to increase the sublimation / transfer distance. .. This also contributes to the miniaturization of the heating roller 131. Further, by setting the peripheral length to 1/2 or less, a sufficient distance can be secured for the drying portion 130 sharing the heating roller 131 to dry the sublimable ink.

Incidentally, in the example of FIG. 1, the pressure belt 141 of the transfer unit 140 is suspended by four rollers 141a to 141d. The two rollers 141a and 141b are provided so as to face the heating roller 131. The winding length of the pressure belt 141 around the heating roller 131 is determined by the arrangement of the two rollers 141a and 141b. It is preferable that one of the rollers 141a and 141b is a tension roller. As a result, the pressing force at the transfer unit 140 can be changed by controlling the tension of the tension roller.

The heating roller 131 has a heating source inside, and the heating source is controlled so that the surface temperature of the heating roller 131 is in the range of 150 ° C. to 230 ° C.

The inkjet recording device 100 has a workbench 154. The workbench 154 is arranged at a position immediately before the recording medium 1 is introduced into the transfer unit 140. Thereby, for example, the operator can perform a cutting operation of cutting the recording medium 1 which is a cloth to a desired size by using the workbench 154.

The inkjet recording device 100 has a belt cleaning unit 170 on the downstream side of the transfer unit 140 and on the upstream side of the printing unit 110 with respect to the transport direction of the intermediate transfer belt 120. The belt cleaning unit 170 has a cleaning blade 171, and the cleaning blade 171 removes the sublimative ink remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 120 by pressing the intermediate transfer belt 120 in the direction of the drive roller 161.

In the above configuration, first, the sublimable ink is ejected from the inkjet head 111 and adheres to the recording medium 1 to form a printed image on the intermediate transfer belt 120.

Next, the sublimable ink adhering to the intermediate transfer belt 120 is dried by the heat of the heating roller 131 in the drying portion 130.

Next, the dried intermediate transfer belt 120 and the recording medium 1 are conveyed to the transfer unit 140. Specifically, the dried intermediate transfer belt 120 and the recording medium 1 are conveyed so as to pass between the heating roller 131 and the pressure belt 141. As a result, in the transfer unit 140, the intermediate transfer belt 120 and the recording medium 1 are heated and pressurized, so that the sublimable ink on the intermediate transfer belt 120 is sublimated and transferred to the recording medium 1.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the inkjet recording device 100 ejects sublimative ink from the inkjet head 111 to form a printing image on the intermediate transfer belt 120, and the printing unit 110 and the intermediate transfer belt 120. By having a drying unit 130 for drying the sublimating ink adhering to the printing ink and a transfer unit 140 for transferring the dried sublimating ink on the intermediate transfer belt 120 to the recording medium 1, the recording medium has a compact configuration. It is possible to realize an inkjet recording apparatus capable of performing high-quality sublimation transfer. That is, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, as compared with the case where the drying portion and the transferring portion are embodied by separate devices, the intermediate transfer belt 120 is interposed to form, dry, and print the printed image. Since sublimation transfer can be performed continuously, it is possible to integrate the device into one unit, and it is possible to compactly realize from inkjet printing to blur-free sublimation transfer with one device. Become.

Incidentally, in the conventional sublimation transfer using paper as a carrier, a drying device and a transfer fixing device are generally provided separately. Specifically, the paper coated with the sublimation ink by the inkjet head, once dried by the drying device, is taken out from the drying device and then inserted into the transfer device. Therefore, there is a drawback that the device configuration as a whole becomes large. On the other hand, in the configuration of the present embodiment, the drying unit 130 and the transfer unit 140 are configured as one unit, and drying and sublimation transfer can be performed with a very compact configuration. In addition, since the intermediate transfer belt 120 is used, there is an advantage that no waste is generated as compared with the case where paper is used.

Further, in the inkjet recording device 100 of the present embodiment, the drying of the drying unit 130 and the sublimation transfer of the transfer unit 140 are performed by using the same heating roller 131. In other words, heating is shared. This makes it possible to simplify the configuration for heating. Further, the temperature control can be simplified by controlling the heating source constituting the drying unit 130 and the heating source constituting the transfer unit 140 by the same temperature control unit.

Further, the inkjet recording apparatus 100 of the present embodiment further includes a recording medium transfer unit 150 that transfers the recording medium 1 to the transfer unit 140, and the recording medium transfer unit 150 is an intermediate transfer belt 120 on which a printed image is formed. The recording medium 1 is sent to the transfer unit 140 so as to be synchronized with the timing when the image reaches the transfer unit 140. As a result, the printed image on the intermediate transfer belt 120 can be sublimated and transferred to a predetermined position on the recording medium 1.

The above-described embodiments are merely examples of embodiment of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner by these. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from its gist or its main features.

(1) The printing unit 110 may change the printing conditions according to the type of the recording medium 1. For example, when the recording medium 1 is a cloth, the ejection amount of the sublimable ink may be changed according to the thickness of the cloth. For example, the thicker the fabric, the more the amount of sublimable ink ejected.

(2) A winding amount changing portion for changing the winding amount of the intermediate transfer belt 120 around the heating roller 131 in the transfer portion 140 and / or the drying portion 130 may be further provided based on the transport speed of the intermediate transfer belt 120. For example, the faster the transfer speed of the intermediate transfer belt 120, the larger the winding amount of the intermediate transfer belt 120 around the heating roller 131 in the transfer section 140 and / or the drying section 130. By doing so, uniform transfer performance and drying performance can be obtained even when the transfer speed of the intermediate transfer belt 120 changes.

In order to change the winding amount of the intermediate transfer belt 120 in the transfer unit 140, for example, the rollers 141a and 141b may be moved in the circumferential direction of the heating roller 131. Further, in order to change the winding amount of the intermediate transfer belt 120 in the drying portion 130, for example, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the movable roller 201 is located near the introduction portion of the intermediate transfer belt 120 to the heating roller 131. The movable roller 201 may be moved in the circumferential direction of the heating roller 131.

FIG. 2A shows an example in which the movable roller 201 is provided on the printing surface side of the intermediate transfer belt 120. In this case, if the movable roller 201 directly presses the printed surface, the image is undried, so that the image is disturbed. Therefore, the movable roller 201 comes into contact with only both ends of the intermediate transfer belt 120, which is a non-printing (drawing) area. ing.

FIG. 2B is an example in which the movable roller 201 is provided on the surface side of the intermediate transfer belt 120 opposite to the printing surface side. In this case, since the movable roller 201 comes into contact with the intermediate transfer belt 120 from the side opposite to the printing surface, the image may be distorted and may come into contact with the entire width of the belt. In this case, a roller that contacts only both ends of the non-printing (drawing) region is provided between the inkjet head 111 and the movable roller 201 so that the distance between the inkjet head 111 and the intermediate transfer belt 120 is kept constant. You may.

(3) A winding amount changing portion for changing the winding amount of the intermediate transfer belt 120 around the heating roller 131 in the transfer portion 140 and / or the drying portion 130 may be further provided based on the temperature of the heating roller 131. For example, the lower the temperature of the heating roller 131, the larger the winding amount of the intermediate transfer belt 120 around the heating roller 131 in the transfer unit 140 and / or the drying unit 130. By doing so, uniform transfer performance and drying performance can be obtained even when the temperature of the heating roller 131 changes.

(4) A winding amount changing section for changing the winding amount of the intermediate transfer belt 120 around the heating roller 131 in the transfer section 140 and / or the drying section 130 based on the amount of sublimable ink discharged from the inkjet head 111. It may be provided. For example, as the amount of the sublimable ink ejected increases, the amount of winding of the intermediate transfer belt 120 around the heating roller 131 in the transfer unit 140 and / or the drying unit 130 increases. By doing so, uniform transfer performance and drying performance can be obtained even when the amount of ink changes.

(5) As shown in FIG. 3, a temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of the intermediate transfer belt 120 on the downstream side of the transfer unit 140 and on the upstream side of the printing unit 110 with respect to the transport direction of the intermediate transfer belt 120. 202 may be further provided. By doing so, the temperature of the intermediate transfer belt 120 after the sublimation transfer can be accurately grasped, and the temperature control suitable for drying and transfer can be performed. That is, the temperature of the intermediate transfer belt 120 fluctuates greatly due to the heat transfer of the sublimable ink to the recording medium 1 by the transfer unit 140. Therefore, when the sublimation transfer is continued, the surface temperature of the intermediate transfer belt 120 becomes non-uniform, and the temperature control by the temperature detection by the heating roller 131 alone is an unfavorable temperature that deviates from the actual surface temperature of the intermediate transfer belt 120. May be control. By providing the temperature detection unit 202 and controlling the temperature of the heating roller 131 based on the detected temperature, it is possible to avoid inconvenience caused by heat transfer due to sublimation transfer.

(6) In addition to the above-described embodiment, the printing of the printing unit 110 may be started after detecting that the surface temperature of the entire intermediate transfer belt 120 has reached a predetermined temperature. By doing so, the sublimation ink is dried and the sublimation transfer is performed after the temperatures of the heating roller 131, the pressure belt 141 and the intermediate transfer belt 120 are stabilized at a uniform temperature, which is intended. It becomes possible to obtain drying performance and sublimation transfer performance.

(7) Further, the intermediate transfer belt 120 may be idled without printing until the surface temperature of the entire intermediate transfer belt 120 reaches a predetermined temperature. As a result, the intermediate transfer belt 120 is idled until the temperatures of the transfer unit 140 and the intermediate transfer belt 120 become uniform, so that the temperature rise of the transfer unit 140 can be promoted and the warm-up time can be shortened.

(8) Further, the inkjet head 111 may be retracted from the intermediate transfer belt 120 until the heating roller 131 or the intermediate transfer belt 120 reaches a predetermined temperature (that is, at the time of warming up). As a result, the inkjet head 111 is not heated by the heat from the intermediate transfer belt 120 during warm-up, so that thickening of the ink can be avoided.

(9) In addition to the above-described embodiment, any one or more of the rollers 141a to 141d for suspending the pressure belt 141 may have a heating function to heat the pressure belt 141. In this way, the intermediate transfer belt 120 and the recording medium 1 can be heated by both the heating roller 131 and the pressure belt 141, and the performance of sublimation transfer can be improved. In particular, it is effective when a thick cloth is used as the recording medium 1.

(10) The cleaning liquid used in the belt cleaning unit 170 may be cooled, and the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 120 may be cooled by cleaning. By doing so, it is possible to suppress a temperature rise of the inkjet head 111 due to heat from the intermediate transfer belt 120, and it is possible to avoid thickening of the ink. Of course, the cooling method of the intermediate transfer belt 120 is not limited to this, and the intermediate transfer belt 120 may be cooled by, for example, blowing air from a blower.

(11) In addition to the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, pretreatment is performed on the upstream side of the printing unit 110 and on the downstream side of the belt cleaning unit 170 with respect to the transport direction of the intermediate transfer belt 120. The material coating portion 203 may be provided. The pretreatment coating unit 203 coats the image receiving liquid (pretreatment material) on the surface (the surface on which the printing image is formed) of the intermediate transfer belt 120. As a result, the sublimable ink is less likely to spread on the belt surface, and deterioration of the image quality of the printed image on the intermediate transfer belt 120 is suppressed. Further, if the flexographic printing method is adopted in the pretreatment material coating unit 203, the amount of the pretreatment material coated can be reduced, and the pretreatment material can be accurately coated at the position where the printed image is formed.

(12) In addition to the above-described embodiment, the printing unit 110 has a position detecting unit (encoder) for detecting the transport position of the intermediate transfer belt 120 and a storage unit for storing information from the position detecting unit. The print image position is stored as position information from the position detection unit from the timing at which the printing is started, and the recording medium transport unit 150 sets the transfer start timing of the recording medium 1 to the transfer unit 140 based on the position information from the position detection unit. You may decide. In this way, for example, when the recording medium 1 is a cut cloth, the printing position on the cut cloth can be aligned.

(13) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the cloth is used as the recording medium 1 has been described, but the recording medium 1 is not limited to this, and may be, for example, paper. However, in the above-described embodiment, the pressure belt 141 is wound around the heating roller 131 within a range of 1/4 or more and 1/2 or less of the peripheral length of the heating roller 131, and the heating roller 131 and the pressure belt 141 are combined. Since the recording medium 1 is heated and pressurized between the two, when the recording medium 1 is a cloth, it is possible to obtain an effect that the wrinkles of the cloth can be smoothed and the transfer can be reliably performed.

(14) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the intermediate transfer belt 120 is used as the carrier of the sublimable ink has been described, but the carrier may be, for example, paper. However, by using the intermediate transfer belt 120, since it can be used repeatedly as compared with the case where paper is used, there are advantages that no waste is generated and the running cost can be reduced.

The present invention is widely applicable as a technique for transferring an image with sublimable ink to a recording medium such as cloth.

1 Recording medium 100 Inkjet recording device 110 Printing part 111 Inkjet head 120 Intermediate transfer belt 130 Drying part 131 Heating roller 140 Transfer part 141 Pressurized belt 141a to 141d Roller 150 Recording medium transport part 151 Feed roller 152 Winding roller 153 Presser roller 154 Worktable 161 Drive roller 170 Belt cleaning unit 171 Cleaning blade 201 Movable roller 202 Temperature detection unit 203 Pretreatment material coating unit

Claims (14)

A printing unit that ejects sublimable ink from an inkjet head to form a printing image on a carrier,
A transfer unit that sublimates and transfers the printed image of the carrier to a recording medium,
A drying portion provided between the printing portion and the transfer portion to dry the printing image of the carrier, and a drying portion.
An inkjet recording device equipped with. The carrier is an elongated carrier that is continuous over the printing portion, the drying portion, and the transfer portion.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1. The carrier is an endless intermediate transfer belt.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 2. The heating source of the drying portion and the transfer portion is the same heating roller.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The heating source constituting the drying unit and the heating source constituting the transfer unit are controlled by the same temperature control unit.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The transfer unit
With a heating roller
A pressure belt, which is arranged to face the heating roller and pressurizes a predetermined area of the heating roller,
With
The carrier and the recording medium are passed between the heating roller and the pressure belt while being heated and pressurized.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The drying portion is embodied by winding the carrier, which is an intermediate transfer belt, around a predetermined region of the heating roller and transporting the support.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 6. The transfer unit is further provided with a recording medium transport unit that transports the recording medium.
The recording medium transport unit feeds the recording medium to the transfer unit so as to synchronize with the timing when the carrier on which the printed image is formed reaches the transfer unit.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The printing unit changes the printing conditions according to the type of the recording medium.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8. A winding amount changing portion for changing the winding amount of the intermediate transfer belt with respect to the heating roller in the transfer portion and / or the drying portion is further provided based on the transport speed of the intermediate transfer belt.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 7. A winding amount changing portion for changing the winding amount of the intermediate transfer belt with respect to the heating roller in the transfer portion and / or the drying portion based on the temperature of the heating roller is further provided.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 7. A winding amount changing unit for changing the winding amount of the intermediate transfer belt around the heating roller in the transfer unit and / or the drying unit is further provided based on the amount of the sublimable ink ejected from the inkjet head.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 7. A temperature detection unit for detecting the temperature of the intermediate transfer belt is further provided on the downstream side of the transfer unit and on the upstream side of the printing unit with respect to the transport direction of the intermediate transfer belt.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 7. A step of ejecting sublimable ink from an inkjet head to form a print image on a carrier,
A step of sublimating and transferring the printed image formed on the carrier to a recording medium,
A step of drying the printed image formed on the carrier before sublimation transfer to the recording medium.
Including
The carrier is a long carrier that is continuous over the printing part, the drying part, and the transfer part.
The formation of the photographic image, the drying, and the sublimation transfer are continuously performed via the elongated carrier.
Inkjet recording method.

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