JP2001212954A - Ink-jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink-jet printer capable of heating evenly a recording medium to be fed intermittently without irregularity. SOLUTION: In an ink-jet printer 1 for printing on a recording medium P, having a thermoplastic resin layer Pc to provide a resin film by heating, on the surface of an image receiving layer Pb, while feeding the same as well as applying a thermal treatment on the printed portion of the recording medium P while feeding the same, a heating device 16 for heating the printed portion of the recording medium P, comprising a non-contact heater 61 having a flat heating surface 62a without contact with the recording medium P, is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for producing
The present invention relates to an ink jet printer that performs printing and heat treatment on a recording medium having a thermoplastic resin layer that becomes a resin film when heated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of ink jet printer, for example, one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-291306 is known. This ink jet printer includes a cartridge in which a print medium (recording medium) having a porous resin layer which becomes a resin film when heated is wound and accommodated, and a printer body in which the cartridge is detachably mounted. . The printer body includes a print unit having an inkjet head, a cutter unit for cutting a printed portion of the print medium, an intermediate tray for receiving the cut print medium piece, and pressurizing and heating the print medium piece (fixing process). The unit includes a unit, a dakar unit for correcting a curved state of a print medium piece that has passed through the fixing unit, and a plurality of sets of feed rollers for feeding a print medium to each of these units. The print medium fed out of the cartridge by the feed roller is sent to a print unit, where ink jet printing is performed. Further, the print medium is sent to the destination, and the printed portion is cut by the cutter unit. The cut print medium piece is once sent to the intermediate tray, where it is U-turned, then sent to the fixing unit and further to the Dakar unit, and after being subjected to the fixing process and shape correction, is sent out to the outlet. . In this case, the fixing unit includes a pair of heating rollers having a built-in heater, and the print medium is nipped by the pair of heating rollers, and is fed while being pressed and heated to perform a fixing process.

[0003]

In such an ink jet printer, since the heating roller is in direct contact with the recording medium (print medium), there is a possibility that damage such as peeling of a part of the resin layer may occur. On the other hand, if the heating roller is not in contact, such a problem does not occur. However, if the heating roller is simply in non-contact, the recording medium is intermittently fed, which may cause uneven heating.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer capable of uniformly heating a recording medium which is intermittently fed without causing unevenness.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The ink jet printer of the present invention performs printing on a recording medium having a thermoplastic resin layer which becomes a resin film by heating on the surface of the image receiving layer, while feeding the recording medium, and printing the recording medium. An ink jet printer for heating a printed portion of a recording medium while feeding the same, the heating device for heating a printed portion of the recording medium, the heating device being a non-contact heater having a flat heating surface that is not in contact with the recording medium. It is characterized by comprising.

Another ink jet printer of the present invention comprises:
On a recording medium having a thermoplastic resin layer that becomes a resin film by heating on the surface of the image receiving layer, printing is performed while feeding the recording medium, and the printed portion is heated while sending the recording medium. An ink jet printer includes a heating device for heating a printed portion of a recording medium, and the heating device is opposed to the recording medium feed path, and has a flat heating surface that is non-contact with the recording medium. Characterized by the following non-contact heater.

According to these configurations, when printing is performed on the recording medium by the ink jet method while the recording medium is being fed, the recording medium is intermittently fed. Even if the recording medium faces the heating device in this intermittent feeding state, the non-contact heater constituting the heating device has a flat heating surface, that is, faces the recording medium with a predetermined area. It will be heated. If a pair of non-contact heaters are used, the recording medium is uniformly heated on both the front and back surfaces, and the heat treatment can be performed efficiently. Note that it is preferable to use a flat plate heater or a far infrared heater as the non-contact heater.

In this case, it is preferable that the pair of non-contact heaters are configured to be individually controllable.

[0010] The laminated structure of the recording medium varies, and in order to perform the heat treatment efficiently, it may be preferable to heat the front and back surfaces at different temperatures. According to these configurations, the driving of the pair of non-contact heaters can be individually controlled, so that the recording medium can be more efficiently heated.

In these cases, it is preferable that the non-contact heater is constituted by a plate heater.

According to these arrangements, the space occupied by the non-contact heater can be reduced, and the recording medium can be heated with a relatively large heating area.

In these cases, it is preferable that the non-contact heater has a plurality of row heating sections which are divided in the feeding direction of the recording medium and can be individually driven and controlled.

Further, in this case, the plurality of row heating sections are constituted by two row heating sections, and the row heating section located on the upstream side in the feeding direction heats the recording medium at a melting temperature or lower and the downstream in the feeding direction. It is preferable that the row heating unit located on the side heats the recording medium at a melting temperature or higher.

According to this configuration, each section of the recording medium passing through the non-contact heater is gradually heated by the plurality of row heating sections over time. Therefore, the heat transfer to the recording medium is performed well, and it is not necessary to heat the recording medium at an excessively high temperature, without wasting energy, and without causing excessive thermal damage to the recording medium. Can be efficiently heat-treated.

In these cases, it is preferable that the non-contact heater has a plurality of tandem heating sections which are divided in parallel with the recording medium feeding direction and can be individually driven and controlled.

When the recording medium is heated, heat easily escapes at both outer ends in the width direction and hardly escapes at the center, so that even if the recording medium is heated uniformly, the amount of heat received in the width direction of the recording medium may be different. . According to this configuration, the amount of heat received in the width direction of the recording medium can be made uniform by appropriately controlling the plurality of tandem heating units.

In this case, it is preferable that the apparatus further comprises width detecting means for detecting the width of the recording medium orthogonal to the feed direction, and the plurality of tandem heating units are driven and controlled based on the detection result of the width detecting means. .

According to this configuration, it is possible to efficiently heat the recording medium having various widths without wasting energy.

In these cases, the recording medium is intermittently fed,
It is preferable that the length of the heating surface of the non-contact heater is longer than the intermittent feed pitch of the recording medium.

According to this configuration, each part of the recording medium that is intermittently fed faces the heating surface of the non-contact heater at least once at the time of stopping and feeding, which corresponds to one pitch of intermittent feeding. Therefore, the recording medium does not have uneven heating.

In these cases, in the recording medium feeding direction, a heater paper feed roller is disposed upstream of the non-contact heater and close to the heating surface, and downstream of the heater discharge roller close to the heating surface. Preferably, rollers are provided.

According to this configuration, before and after the non-contact heater in the feeding direction, the recording medium is fed while being held in an appropriate posture by the heater paper feed roller and the heater discharge roller. The gap with the heater is maintained at a pair of dimensions. Therefore, the recording medium does not have uneven heating.

In these cases, it is preferable that the recording medium is a printing tape which is fed out of a state wound in a roll and used for printing.

[0025]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This inkjet printer uses a general recording medium as a printing target, enables printing processing on the printing medium, and heats a recording medium having a thermoplastic resin layer constituting a resin film on a recording surface by heating. And a heating process in addition to the printing process.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of an ink jet printer, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view thereof. As shown in these figures, the ink-jet printer 1 includes a box-shaped device case 3 and an outer shell formed inside a device main body 2. And a part 6. A paper feed port 7 for introducing a recording medium P is formed at an upper corner of the printing section 5 of the apparatus case 3, and a recording medium P is formed at an intermediate side of the heating section 6 of the apparatus case 3. A discharge port 8 for sending the sheet to the outside is formed.

The printing section 5 includes a printing apparatus 10 having a reciprocating head unit 11, a sheet feeding apparatus 12 for feeding the recording medium P inserted into the sheet feeding port 7 to the printing apparatus 10 one by one, and a recording medium. The printer includes a head-side feeding device 13 that receives P from the paper feeding device 12 and sends it to the printing device 10 so as to face the printing device 10, and a head-side controller 14 that controls these devices 10, 12, and 13. Paper feeder 12
The recording medium P sent one by one from the printer 1 is delivered to the head-side feeding device 13, passes near the lower side of the head unit 11, and is sent to the heating unit 6. The recording medium P passing below the head unit 11 is intermittently fed, and the head unit 11 reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the feeding direction, whereby printing on the recording medium P is performed. That is, the reciprocating motion of the head unit 11 and the intermittent feeding of the recording medium P become main scanning and sub-scanning in the printing technique, and ink-jet printing is performed.

The heating unit 6 includes a heating device 16 for heating the printed portion of the recording medium P sent from the printing unit 5 and a curl correcting device for correcting the recording medium P curved (curled) by heating. 17, an air cooling device 18 for cooling the recording medium P before sending it out, and a heating device 16 for receiving the recording medium P received from the head-side feeding device 13.
And a heater-side feeder 19 for feeding the sheet through the curl correcting device 17 to the outside of the device from the sheet discharge port 8, and a heater-side controller 20 for controlling these devices 16, 18, and 19.
And The recording medium P sent from the printing unit 5 has its recording surface heated by a heating device 16, its curved shape is corrected to a flat shape by a curl correction device 17, and is further cooled by an air cooling device 18. It is sent out of the device.

The partition plate 4 is made of a member having heat insulation, and partitions the inside of the apparatus main body 2 into a head side space 2a and a heater side space 2b. A through hole 4 a through which the recording medium P passes is formed at an intermediate position of the partition plate 4. By providing the partition plate 4 in this manner, the head-side space 2a and the heater-side space 2b can be thermally partitioned, and the thermal effect from the heating device 16 such as the head unit 11 can be avoided. .

Although not shown, the head-side controller 14 drives a ROM for storing a control program for controlling the devices 10, 12, and 13, a RAM serving as various work areas, and drives the devices 10, 12, and 13. And a CPU for performing various controls of the printing unit 5 using the driving circuits. The detecting circuit is connected to detecting means for detecting the attribute and the like of the recording medium P. Report to Heater side controller 2
0 is connected to the head-side controller 14 through the diaphragm 4 to receive various detection results,
ROM for storing control programs of 6, 18, and 19,
A RAM serving as a work area, a drive circuit for driving each device, and a CPU for performing various controls described later in the heating unit 6 using the RAM are provided.

Here, each component device will be described in detail, but before that, the recording medium P will be described. The recording medium P may be roll paper or printing tape, but here, cut sheet (printing paper) is used. FIG. 4 illustrates a laminated structure of the recording medium P. The recording medium P includes a base material Pa and an image receiving layer Pb stacked on the front side of the base material Pa, and the image receiving layer Pb defines a recording surface of the recording medium P. Make up. On the surface of the image receiving layer Pb, a thermoplastic resin layer Pc that becomes a resin film by heating is formed. Then, the recording medium P in the present embodiment is introduced into the apparatus main body 2 with the thermoplastic resin layer Pc facing upward.

The substrate Pa is made of, for example, a paper mainly composed of vegetable fibers or a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film. The image receiving layer Pb includes an ink absorbing layer Pd
And a thermoplastic resin layer Pc, and the thermoplastic resin layer Pc
Is formed of polymer fine particles or a porous polymer layer. In printing, when ink adheres to the image receiving layer Pb, the ink passes through the thermoplastic resin layer Pc and is absorbed and held by the ink absorbing layer Pd. When the recording medium P is heated in this state, the thermoplastic resin layer Pc melts to form a resin film. That is, the ink absorbed and held in the ink absorbing layer Pd is protected like a coating by the resin film. The resin film (thermoplastic resin layer Pc) is preferably colorless and transparent, but may be slightly colored.

Incidentally, the recording medium P having the above-mentioned laminated structure curls (warps) during the heat treatment due to a difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the substrate Pa and the thermoplastic resin layer Pc.
Therefore, in the recording medium P of the modified example of FIG. 5, the thermoplastic resin layer Pc is formed on the back surface side of the base material Pa. In this case, it is preferable that the thermoplastic resin layer Pc on the recording surface side and the thermoplastic resin layer Pc on the back surface side are formed of the same material and have the same thickness. If the recording medium P has such a laminated structure, the coefficients of thermal expansion of the front and back surfaces are balanced, and curling can be prevented during the heat treatment.

Next, referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3,
Each component of the printing unit 5 will be described in detail. The printing apparatus 10 includes a head unit 11, a carriage motor 31 serving as a driving source, and a reciprocating mechanism 3 that reciprocates the head unit 11 by receiving rotation of the carriage motor 31.
2 is provided. The head unit 11 includes an ink jet head 33 having a large number of ink nozzles formed on a lower surface.
And an ink cartridge 34 for supplying ink to the inkjet head 33, and a carriage 35 on which the inkjet head 33 and the ink cartridge 34 are mounted. In the color printer, yellow, cyan, magenta,
It is preferable to use one filled with four colors of black ink.

The reciprocating mechanism 32 includes a carriage guide shaft 37 having both ends supported by a frame (not shown), and a timing belt 38 extending in parallel with the carriage guide shaft 37.
And The carriage 35 is supported reciprocally by a carriage guide shaft 37, and the carriage 35 is fixed to a part of a timing belt 38.
When the timing belt 38 travels forward / reverse through the pulleys by the carriage motor 31, the head unit 11 is guided by the carriage guide shaft 37 and reciprocates.
Then, during this reciprocating movement, the ink jet head 33
, The ink is ejected appropriately, and printing on the recording medium P is performed.

The paper supply device 12 includes a paper supply motor 41 serving as a driving source, and a paper supply roller 42 rotated by the paper supply motor 41.
And a sheet supply plate 43 for introducing the recording medium P into the apparatus main body 2. The sheet feeding plate 43 has a front end portion inclined forward and downward, and a tail end portion facing the sheet feeding port 7. The paper feed roller 42 is a deformed roller having a flat pressing surface 42b on a part of the outer peripheral surface of the roller body 42a, and a large number of recording media P stacked on the paper feed plate 43.
Can be fed one by one toward the head-side feeding device 13. Note that, instead of the sheet supply plate 43, a sheet supply cassette that stores the recording medium P may be detachably mounted.

The head-side feeder 13 has a paper feed motor 51 serving as a drive source, and a head-side feed roller 52 rotated by the paper feed motor 51.
Reference numeral 2 denotes a feed roller 53 disposed on the upstream side in the feed direction of the recording medium P with the inkjet head 33 interposed therebetween, and a head-side intermediate roller 54 disposed on the downstream side. The feed roller 53 is a driven roller 56a vertically facing the feed path (recording medium P) 21 of the recording medium P.
And a drive roller 56b. The drive roller 56b is connected to the paper feed motor 51. Similarly, the head-side intermediate roller 54 is composed of a pair of free rollers 57a and 57b vertically facing each other across the feed path (recording medium P) 21.

The roller of the driving system in the ink jet printer 1 of the present embodiment is composed of the feeding roller 53 and a sending roller 83 which will be described later.
Is composed of a non-slip roller.
The drive roller 86b of the delivery roller 83 is constituted by a slip roller. Therefore, the feed speed of the recording medium P is controlled by the feed roller 53 and the feed roller 83
Is provided with tension. On the other hand, in the feed path 21 of the recording medium P, a portion from the feed roller 53 to the paper discharge port 8 is formed linearly in a horizontal plane. Therefore,
The recording medium P is fed straight and continuously from the feeding roller 53 to the paper discharge port 8 while maintaining a horizontal posture.
Thereby, the head unit 11 and the heating device 16 can be arranged close to each other, and the feed mechanism and the like of the recording medium P can have a simple structure.

Next, the components of the heating section 6 will be described in detail. The heating device 16 is configured by a so-called non-contact heater 61 that faces the recording medium P that is being sent in a non-contact manner. The non-contact heater 61 includes a pair of flat plate heaters 62, 62 facing each other with the feed path 21 interposed therebetween. The pair of flat plate heaters 62 and 62 face each other in parallel with a predetermined gap therebetween, and the feed path 21 is positioned in parallel between the gaps. That is, the recording medium P
Is sent while maintaining a certain gap between each part of the heater and the pair of flat plate heaters 62, 62.

The flat plate heater 62 has a fixed length in the feeding direction of the recording medium P, and has a heating surface 62a having a width corresponding to the maximum width of the recording medium P to be used. The length of the heating surface 62a is preferably formed to be at least longer than the intermittent pitch of the recording medium P that is intermittently fed, so that the recording medium P that passes through the flat plate heater 62 in the intermittent feeding can be uniformly heated. It has become. Further, it is preferable that the pair of flat plate heaters 62 be configured to be individually driven by the heater-side controller 20. In this way, the best heating mode can be obtained for various types of recording media P having different materials and the like of the base material Pa. In this embodiment, a pair of flat plate heaters 62 are used as the non-contact heater 61, but a far infrared heater or the like may be used. Further, the non-contact heater 61 may be provided only on the recording surface side of the recording medium P.

The curl correction device 17 includes a non-contact heater 61.
The recording medium P, which has been curved (curled) by being heated by, is restored to its original flat state,
It is constituted by a slit plate 65 composed of a pair of upper and lower correction plates 66, 66 facing each other with the feed path 21 interposed therebetween.
The pair of correction plates 66, 66 are made of a polyimide resin or the like having high heat resistance, and a slit gap is widened on the upstream side in the feeding direction. In this case, the slit gap between the pair of correction plates 66, 66 is
It is formed sufficiently narrower than the gap between the pair of flat plate heaters 62, 62, and the curled recording medium P is corrected to a flat shape by passing through the slit gap.

Since the recording medium P is composed of a plurality of laminated materials, the recording medium P curls (warps) due to a difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion (particularly, front and back). When the sheet reaches the slit gap of the slit plate 65 from the flat plate heater 62, the curl is corrected and the cooling is gradually performed, so that the sheet is discharged after being stabilized to a flat shape.

The air cooling device 18 includes a blower fan 71 (with a motor) and a switching damper 7 for switching the blown air of the blower fan 71 between the discharge port 8 side and the non-contact heater 61 side.
2 and a duct plate 7 for guiding the blowing air to the paper discharge port 8 side
And 3. The switching damper 72 is configured by an electric damper, and is controlled by the heater-side controller 20 together with the blower fan 71. In a state where the switching damper 72 is switched to the paper discharge port 8 side, the blast air from the blower fan 71 flows toward the part of the feed path 21 before the paper discharge port 8 and the downstream part of the correction plate 66, The recording medium P and the correction plate 66 approaching the opening 8 are cooled. Further, when an abnormal situation described later occurs, the switching damper 72 switches to the non-contact heater 61 side, flows toward the blower air ぱ the non-contact heater 62, and cools the non-contact heater 62 that has been turned off.

On the other hand, near the flat plate heater 62, a jamming detection sensor 75 for detecting the jamming of the recording medium P generated in the gap between the flat plate heaters 62, 62 is provided. The jamming detection sensor 75 is connected to the heater-side controller 20.
Is interlocked with the driving of the flat plate heater 62 and the switching damper 72
Is switched to the discharge port 8 side, the blower fan 71 is driven. When the jamming detection sensor 75 detects the jamming of the recording medium P, the both flat heaters 62 are turned off,
The switching damper 72 is switched to the non-contact heater 61 to drive the blower fan 71.

As described above, the air cooling device 18 normally operates
The recording medium P discharged from the discharge port 8 to the outside of the apparatus is cooled to the extent that the user can hold it by hand, and in the event of an abnormality such as jamming, the non-contact heater 61 is cooled so that the user can quickly perform the jam removal processing. ing. Further, by cooling the non-contact heater 61, it is possible to prevent the molten resin film of the recording medium P from adhering to the flat plate heater 62 during jamming.

The heater-side feeder 19 has a discharge motor 81 serving as a driving source, and a heater-side feed roller 82 rotated by the discharge motor 81.
Is composed of a delivery roller 83 disposed near the downstream side in the feed direction with the non-contact heater 61 interposed therebetween, and a heater-side intermediate roller 84 disposed near the upstream side. The delivery roller 83 is composed of a driven roller 86a and a drive roller 86b that face up and down with the delivery path (recording medium P) 21 interposed therebetween. The drive roller 86b is connected to the paper discharge motor 81. Similarly, the heater-side intermediate roller 84 is constituted by a pair of free rollers 87a and 87b vertically facing each other with the feed path (recording medium P) 21 interposed therebetween.

In this case, a driven roller 86a and a driving roller 86b constituting the delivery roller 83, and a pair of free rollers 87 constituting the heater-side intermediate roller 84.
Each of a and 87b has a cylindrical roller main body that rolls over the recording medium P in the width direction thereof, and the recording medium P is rotationally fed while being sandwiched. For this reason,
The recording medium P is flattened by a non-contact heater 61 by a delivery roller 83 and a heater-side intermediate roller 84.
Pass through. Specifically, immediately before the recording medium P is fed to the non-contact heater 61 by the rollers 83 and 84, the recording medium P is straightened even if it has a bending habit (curl habit). Immediately after the sheet is discharged from the printer, the sheet is flattened even if it is curled.

Therefore, the recording medium P passing through the non-contact heater 61 is prevented from curling (curling) by the rollers 83 and 84. That is, the delivery roller 83 and the heater-side intermediate roller 84 are nipping rollers for nipping and feeding the recording medium P, and also serve as a feeding mechanism for the recording medium P and a curl prevention mechanism for preventing the bending of the recording medium P. I have.

For this reason, it is possible to suppress the curling of the recording medium P due to bending or heating, and to prevent the recording medium P from contacting the non-contact heater 61. The recording medium P is fed by a feed roller 53 on the head side.
When the head unit 11 and the non-contact heater 61 can be disposed relatively close to each other, one or both of the head-side intermediate roller 54 and the heater-side intermediate roller 84 are provided. May be omitted. However, if one of the head-side intermediate roller 54 and the heater-side intermediate roller 84 is a driving roller (slip roller), the head unit 11 and the non-contact heater 61 have to be provided separately by the partition plate 4 or the like. Even when there is no recording medium P, the recording medium P can be properly sent in a stretched state.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A convex portion 89 serving as a mark such as a character or a symbol may be formed on the outer peripheral surface of the driven roller 86a in No. 3, and the resin film may be marked while feeding the recording medium P after the heat treatment. By doing so, it is possible to leave the recording of the unevenness on the processed recording medium, and to confirm the replacement of the resin film by the presence or absence of the marking. For example, when a membership card or the like is created on the recording medium P, it is possible to prevent falsification of the description.

Next, a plurality of other embodiments of each constituent device in the ink jet printer 1 of this embodiment will be described in order. FIG. 7 shows a heating device 16 according to the second embodiment. In this embodiment, the inside of each flat heater 62 is divided into a main heating unit 101 and a sub-heating unit 102 in the feed direction. The main heating unit 101 and the sub-heating unit 102 are respectively connected to the heater-side controller (heater driver) 20 described above, and the sub-heating unit 102 located on the upstream side in the feeding direction transfers the recording medium P to the thermoplastic resin layer. The main heating unit 101 located on the downstream side in the feeding direction below the melting temperature of Pc heats the recording medium P above the melting temperature of the thermoplastic resin layer Pc.

Thus, the pair of flat plate heaters 62, 62
The recording medium P passing through is first preheated by the sub-heating unit 102, and is subsequently heated by the main heating unit 101. Thereby, heat transfer to the recording medium P is promoted, the recording medium P gradually reaches a predetermined melting temperature (of the thermoplastic resin layer Pc), and a heat treatment is performed. Therefore, the heating temperature for melting the thermoplastic resin layer Pc does not need to be increased more than necessary, and thermal damage to the recording medium P can be reduced as much as possible. In the figure, approximately one third of the feeding direction (length direction) is set as the sub-heating unit 102.
For example, 4 or 1/2 may be changed to the sub-heating unit 102, and may be appropriately changed. The main heating unit 101 and the sub-heating unit 10
2 may be composed of separate heaters, namely a high temperature heater and a low temperature heater. Furthermore, only the upper flat plate heater 62 can be formed into a two-part structure.

FIG. 8 shows a heating device 16 according to the third embodiment.
In this embodiment, each flat plate heater 62 is divided into five heater element portions in parallel with the feeding direction. That is, each flat plate heater 62 includes a first heating unit 104 located at the center in the width direction, a pair of second heating units 105 and 105 located outside the first heating unit 104, and a pair located at the outermost end. These heating units 104, 105, and 106 are connected to a heater-side controller (a heater driver) 20. Although not shown in the figure, width detecting means for detecting the width (size) of the recording medium P is provided, and each of the heating units 104, 105, 1 is detected based on the detection result of the width detecting means.
It is preferable to control 06 as follows.

The ink jet printer 1 of the embodiment is
For example, when printing can be performed on A4 size and B5 size recording media P, for A4 size recording media P,
The first to third heating units 104, 105, and 106 are driven to perform a heating process, and the B5 size recording medium P is heated by driving the first and second heating units 104 and 105. Is performed, and only the first heating unit 104 is driven for the recording medium P having a smaller width. By doing so, waste of energy and excessive heating can be prevented.

On the other hand, in the heating by the non-contact heater 61,
In the width direction of the recording medium P, heat is easily released at both ends. In other words, the flat heater 62 is
If the first to third heating units 104, 105, 106 are heated at the same temperature unless the width of the recording medium P is formed sufficiently large, the heat receiving temperature of the recording medium P becomes low at both ends in the width direction, resulting in uneven heat receiving. State. Therefore, for example, when heating the recording medium P of A4 size, the first and second
The third heating unit 106 is driven at a somewhat higher temperature than the heating units 104 and 105. In the B5-size recording medium P, the second heating unit 105 is driven at a somewhat higher temperature than the first heating unit 104 (the third heating unit 106 is not driven).

As in the second embodiment, in this case as well, the first to third heating units 104, 105, and 106 may be constituted by separate heaters (heater arrays). It is also possible to adopt a five-part structure. Further, the flat plate heater 62 may have a three-part or seven-part structure instead of the five-part structure. Furthermore,
By combining the second embodiment and the third embodiment, a structure in which the heating portion of the flat plate heater 62 is divided into a lattice shape can be adopted.

On the other hand, in the second and third embodiments, the non-contact heater 61 having the vertical or horizontal split structure has been described. Further, it is also possible to dispose a non-contact heater having a divided structure (not necessarily the flat plate heater 62) 61 only on the recording surface side of the recording medium P.

FIG. 9 shows a heating device 16 according to the fourth embodiment.
In this embodiment, a pair of flat plate heaters 62, 6
A preheat plate 111 is disposed on the upstream side in the feed direction of No. 2. The preheating plate 111 is constituted by a pair of upper and lower flat plates 112, 112 facing each other with the feed path 21 interposed therebetween. The pair of flat plates 112 are made of a material having high heat resistance, for example, a plate made of a polyimide resin or a metal. A pair of flat plates 112, 11
The upstream end of the second roller 2 expands mutually to face the head-side intermediate roller 54 (in this case, the heater-side intermediate roller 84 is omitted), and the downstream end is They are in contact with the inner surfaces of the plate heaters 62, 62, respectively.

In such a configuration, the heat of the flat plate heater 62 is transferred to the flat plate 112, and the flat plate 112 is appropriately heated (heated). For this reason, the recording medium P passing through the flat plate heater 62 is preheated by the flat plate 112 and then fully heated by the flat plate heater 62. More specifically,
The flat plate 112 transfers the recording medium P to the thermoplastic resin layer P
The flat plate heater 62 heats the recording medium P above the melting temperature of the thermoplastic resin layer Pc below the melting temperature of c. Thereby, heat transfer to the recording medium P is promoted, the recording medium P gradually reaches a predetermined melting temperature (of the thermoplastic resin layer Pc), and a heat treatment is performed. Therefore, the heating temperature for melting the thermoplastic resin layer Pc does not need to be increased more than necessary, and thermal damage to the recording medium P can be reduced as much as possible. Further, since the gap between the pair of flat plates 112, 112 is formed narrower than the gap between the pair of flat heaters 62, 62, the pair of flat plates 112, 112 It also has a function of guiding P on its upstream side. For this reason, the recording medium P
Can be prevented from contacting the flat plate heater 62.

FIG. 10 shows a heating device 1 according to the fourth embodiment.
6 is a modification example of FIG. In this modification, a preheat plate 111 is provided on the upstream side in the feed direction of the pair of flat plate heaters 62, and a post-heat plate 114 is provided on the downstream side. Post-heat plate 114 is also pre-heat plate 1
Similarly to 11, the upper and lower flat plates 115 and 115 are opposed to each other with the feed path 21 interposed therebetween, and the pair of flat plates 115 and 115 are formed of a polyimide resin or the like having high heat resistance. The upstream ends of the pair of flat plates 115 constituting the post-heat plate 114 are in contact with the downstream end surfaces of the plate heaters 62, 62, respectively.

As described above, by disposing the post-heat plate 114 downstream of the flat plate heater 62, the recording medium P after the heat treatment is gradually cooled while the pair of flat plates 1
It passes through the gap between 15,115. The gap between the pair of flat plates 115, 115 is also determined by the pair of flat plate heaters 62,
Since the recording medium P is configured to be narrower than the gap 62, the recording medium P passing through the flat plate heater 62 is guided on the downstream side. In particular, the recording medium P heated by the flat plate heater 62 may be curved (curled) under the influence of the heat. For this reason, the pair of flat plates 115, 115
The function of correcting the curled recording medium P to a flat state is also provided.

A heating device 16 according to the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, of the pair of flat plate heaters 62a and 62b, the upper flat plate heater 62a is configured to be vertically movable. That is, the heating device 16 includes an actuator 121 including a motor or a cylinder serving as a driving source,
An upper heater holder 122 and a lower heater holder 123 for holding a pair of flat plate heaters 62a and 62b, respectively, and an operation lever 124 operated by an actuator 121.
And

The upper heater holder 122 is the lower heater holder 1
23, and a pair of front and rear and left and right 2 formed on both side plates 126, 126 of the upper heater holder 122.
A pair of four pins 127 are formed on a pair of front and rear and left and right 2 formed on both side plate portions 128 of the lower heater holder 123.
The upper heater holder 1 is engaged with four long holes 129 in total.
Reference numeral 22 is engaged with the lower heater holder 123 so as to be vertically movable. Further, horizontal guide holes 130 extending horizontally in the front-rear direction are formed in both side plate portions 128 of the lower heater holder 123, and correspondingly, in both side plate portions 126 of the upper heater holder 122,
Inclined guide holes 131 extending inclining in the front-rear direction, respectively
Are formed.

On the other hand, a pair of arms 134, 134 are vertically provided on the left and right ends of the lever main body 133 so as to be located outside the lower heater holder 123, and the operation lever 124 is attached to the pair of arms 134, 134. Are provided with inward guide pins 135, respectively. Each guide pin 135 passes through the horizontal guide hole 130 and the inclined guide hole 131, and when the operation lever 124 is moved in the front-rear direction, the guide pin 135 is guided by the horizontal guide hole 130 and moves in the front-rear direction. At the same time, the guide pin 135 that moves the inclined guide hole 131 in the front-rear direction.
Thereby, the upper flat plate heater 62a moves in the vertical direction via the upper heater holder 122. That is, pin 1
27, long hole 129, guide pin 135, horizontal guide hole 1
A parallel moving mechanism (heater moving mechanism) is constituted by the inclined plate 30 and the inclined guide hole 131.
a moves up and down while maintaining the parallel posture with respect to the lower flat plate heater 62b.

As shown in FIG.
1 is connected to the heater-side controller 20, and the heater-side controller 20 has a pair of flat heaters 62.
a detection sensor 137 (which may be a separate sensor) for detecting curling or jamming of the recording medium P occurring between a and 62b.
Is connected. When the detection sensor 137 facing between the pair of flat plate heaters 62a and 62b detects curling or jamming of the recording medium P, the actuator 121 is driven to move the upper flat plate heater 62a upward. Thereby, (the resin film of) the recording medium P is moved to the upper plate heater 62.
a can be prevented from being contacted. Of course, as in the first embodiment, during jamming, the flat heater 6
2a, the heaters 62a and 62b are turned off.
F and the air cooling device 18 is turned on.

The operation lever 124 may be manually operated. Further, not only the upper plate heater 62a but also the lower plate heater 62b may be configured to move at the same time. Furthermore, a pair of flat plate heaters 62a, 62
The gap b may be set in advance depending on the degree of curl based on the material of the recording medium P, or when the fine temperature adjustment of the plate heaters 62a and 62b is impossible, the recording medium P The heat receiving temperature of the recording medium P may be adjusted by adjusting the separation distance between the recording medium P and the flat heater 62a. More specifically, the heater-side controller 20
The distance between the recording medium P and the flat plate heater 62a is adjusted based on the heating temperature of each recording medium P stored in the storage medium.

FIG. 13 shows a curl correcting device 17 according to the sixth embodiment. In this curl correcting device 17, the slit plate 65 is composed of a pair of upper and lower curved plates 141 and 141. Each of the pair of curved plates 141 and 141 is curved in an arc shape with a slit gap. This is because, for example, when the recording medium P has a property of curling in a chevron in the length direction due to heating, the curl state is canceled by passing through the slit plate 65 curved in a valley shape opposite to the chevron. This is to obtain a flat recording medium P. Further, when the recording medium P is made of roll paper having a curl (bending curl), the slit plate 6
By curling in the direction opposite to the curl direction by 5, the recording medium P can be straightened.

FIG. 14 shows a heater-side feeding device 19 according to the seventh embodiment. In the heater-side feeder 19, a driven roller 86a located above the delivery roller 83 and a free roller 87a located above the heater-side intermediate roller 84
Is a roller shaft 145 and three (plural) roller bodies 14 fixed at equal intervals with a gap between the roller shafts 145.
6, 146, and 146, respectively. Three
Each of the roller bodies 146 is formed to be narrow, and is in rolling contact with the recording medium P in such a manner as to press at three positions at both ends and an intermediate portion in the width direction of the recording medium P.

As a result, the free roller 87 can be moved without impairing the function of feeding and curling the recording medium P.
In a, the adhesion of the ink to the roller is suppressed, and in the driven roller 86a, the adhesion of the resin film to the roller is suppressed. It is preferable that the four rollers 86a and 87a that are in contact with both ends in the width direction of the recording medium P are in contact with the margin of the recording medium P. In the case of the recording medium P whose both ends in the width direction are warped upward, the roller body 146 located at the middle may be omitted. Further, the roller main body 146 may be configured by a star-shaped roller (star wheel).

FIG. 15 shows a heater-side feeder (curl prevention mechanism) 19 according to the eighth embodiment. In the heater-side feeder 19, nine through-holes 151 are formed in the upper and lower flat plate heaters 62, 62, and a pair of upper and lower thin free rollers 152 (only the upper side is shown) is disposed in each through-hole 151. Have been. Thin free roller 152
Are disposed at each of three positions at both ends and an intermediate portion in the width direction of the recording medium P, and are brought into contact with the recording medium P in the flat heater 62 so as to press the recording medium P.
With this configuration, the recording medium P being heated can be held down so as not to curl, and curling of the recording medium P can be suppressed as much as possible. Also in this case, the upper thin free roller 152 is replaced with a star-shaped roller (star wheel).
It is preferable that a plurality of sets of the thin free rollers 152 rolling on both ends in the width direction roll on the margin of the recording medium P.

Next, the above-described ink jet printer 1
The control method in the head-side controller 14 and the heat-side controller 20 which are the control systems described above will be described, in particular, a method of processing control information. For example, as described above, when the control information is closed in the inkjet printer 1, the result is as shown in FIG. That is, the attribute information of the recording medium P detected by the head-side controller 14 is transmitted to the heater-side controller 20, and the heater-side controller 20 searches a condition table based on the attribute information to determine the heating conditions and the like in the heating unit 6. To determine.

In this case, the heating conditions include the material of the base material of the recording medium P, the thickness of the recording medium P, the melting temperature of the thermoplastic resin layer, and the like. As these detecting means, for example, a detecting means for attaching a barcode or the like (tag) in which the above-mentioned various attributes are coded to the recording medium P and optically reading the barcode or the like is conceivable. In other words, according to this configuration, various attributes of the recording medium can be taken into consideration in controlling the heating conditions (heating heat amount and the like) in the heating processing of the recording medium P. P can be appropriately heat-treated according to its attributes.

In this case, a detecting means (temperature sensor or the like) for detecting the environmental temperature is provided in the heating section 6 or the like, and the detection result is input as environmental information as shown in FIG. It can also be corrected. That is,
In this case, the heating conditions such as the amount of heat of heating can be corrected by the environmental temperature. Can be appropriately heated.

In these cases, the heating condition (for example, the control element of the heating heat amount) depends on the heating temperature of the recording medium P and the recording medium P
And preferably a feed speed of According to this configuration, for example, if the feeding speed of the recording medium P is constant, only the heating temperature needs to be controlled, and the control of the heating heat amount can be easily performed. In this case, the feed speed of the recording medium may be a fixed value determined by the printing resolution, and the heating temperature of the recording medium may be a variable value. According to this configuration, the amount of heating heat can be easily controlled without sacrificing the printing resolution of the recording medium.

In the above-described example, the case where the control information is closed in the ink jet printer 1 has been described. For example, as shown in FIG. Information may be linked (although a cable is connected in the figure, optical communication or other communication means is also possible). The transfer of the control information in this case is as shown in FIG. In this case, the transmission and reception of information between the print unit 5 (the head-side controller 14 thereof) and the personal computer PC are mainly related to print information, and are performed via a printer driver, similarly to the connection between a general printer and a personal computer. Done.

On the other hand, hardware or software (hereinafter referred to as a “heat system driver”) for controlling the attribute information is prepared on the personal computer PC side, and the attribute information of the recording medium P is transmitted to the heating unit via the heat system driver. 6 (the heater-side controller 20). In this case, the function of the heat system driver may be added to a personal computer by using hardware such as a logic circuit or the like as an expansion board, or installing the software in a disk if using software.

In this case, the recording medium P is
The ink jet printer 1 that prints and heat-processes a printed portion while sending the print data is linked to a personal computer PC that can input attribute information of the recording medium P relating to heating conditions, and based on the attribute information input to the personal computer PC. , The heating conditions are determined, and the amount of heating heat of the recording medium P is controlled. For this reason, in this configuration, if an input is made to the personal computer PC by an external storage means or a communication means, the ink jet printer 1 linked to the personal computer PC through the input means, based on the attribute information of each recording medium P, The amount of heating heat can be controlled. That is, the personal computer P
Utilizing the input function and calculation function of C, each recording medium P
Can be appropriately heated. This also allows the attribute information of the recording medium P to be stored in the inkjet printer 1.
Need not be stored in the storage medium, and a new recording medium can be easily handled.

In this case, the ink jet printer 1 detects the type of the recording medium P and outputs the type information to the personal computer PC. The information is output to the ink jet printer 1, and the ink jet printer 1 can determine the heating condition of the recording medium P based on the attribute information and control the heating heat amount and the like. Similarly, the inkjet printer 1 detects the type of the recording medium P and outputs the type information to the personal computer PC, and the personal computer PC records the type information from the attribute information of the corresponding recording medium P based on the type information. The heating condition of the recording medium P may be controlled via the inkjet printer 1 by determining the heating condition of the medium. According to these configurations, the functions of the personal computer PC and the ink jet printer 1 can be mutually utilized, so that the recording medium P can be appropriately heated and the trouble of inputting the type of the recording medium P by the user can be eliminated. The recording medium P can be automatically heated appropriately.

In these cases, the personal computer PC manages the heating control state and the printing control state of the recording medium P,
It is preferable to stop the heating control when an abnormality occurs in the printing control. According to this configuration, the storage capacity of the inkjet printer can be reduced by providing the personal computer with a management function related to heating and printing of the inkjet printer. In these cases, the attribute information is stored in an external storage medium such as a CD-ROM, and can be input to the personal computer PC via the external storage medium. According to this configuration, the attribute information is portable. At the same time, the data can be easily input to the personal computer PC. Note that, in these cases as well, the amount of heating heat may be corrected based on the ambient temperature, as described above. Further, the control element of the heating heat amount includes a heating temperature of the recording medium and a feeding speed of the recording medium, and further, the feeding speed of the recording medium is a fixed value determined by the printing resolution,
The control can also be performed using the heating temperature of the recording medium as a variable value.

[0080]

According to the ink jet printer of the present invention, the non-contact heater constituting the heating device faces the recording medium with a flat heating surface having a predetermined area. The heat treatment can be performed uniformly without causing unevenness.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an internal structure of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an internal structure of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a laminated structure of a recording medium.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a laminated structure of a modified example of a recording medium.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the delivery roller.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view around a heating device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view around a heating device according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view around a heating device according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view around a heating device according to a modification of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a heating device according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a side view of a heating device according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view around a curl correction device according to a sixth embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view around a heater-side feeding device according to a seventh embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view around a heater-side feeder according to an eighth embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram for explaining a control method by a controller.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a personal computer and an inkjet printer are linked.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink-jet printer 2 Mounting main body 4 Separation board 5 Printing part 6 Heating part 10 Printing device 11 Head unit 12 Paper supply device 13 Head side feeding device 14 Head side controller 16 Heating device 17 Curl straightening device 18 Air cooling device 20 Heater feeding device 21 Feed path 33 Inkjet head 52 Head side feed roller 53 Feed roller 54 Head side intermediate roller 56b Drive roller 61 Non-contact heater 62 Flat plate heater 62a Heating surface 65 Slit plate 66 Straightening plate 71 Blow fan 72 Switching damper 75 Jamming detection sensor 82 Heater Side feed roller 83 Delivery roller 84 Heater side intermediate roller 86b Drive roller 89 Convex part 101 Main heating part 102 Sub heating part 104 First heating part 105 Second heating part 106 Third heating part 111 Preheat plate 112 Flat plate 114 Post-heat plate 115 Flat plate 121 Actuator 122 Upper heater holder 123 Lower heater holder 124 Operating lever 130 Horizontal guide hole 131 Inclined guide hole 135 Guide pin 137 Detection sensor 141 Curved plate 145 Roller shaft 146 Roller body 151 Penetrating opening 152 Thin free roller PC Personal computer P Recording medium Pa Substrate Pb Image receiving layer Pc Thermoplastic resin layer

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshihiro Oyama 3-3-5 Yamato, Suwa-shi, Nagano Seiko Epson Corporation F-term (reference) 2C056 EB13 EB46 EC14 EC29 HA30 HA46 2H086 BA05 BA15 BA34

Claims (11)

[Claims] A recording medium having a thermoplastic resin layer which becomes a resin film by heating on the surface of an image receiving layer is printed while feeding the recording medium, and the printing medium is fed while sending the recording medium. An ink jet printer for heating a printed portion, comprising a heating device for heating a printed portion of the recording medium, wherein the heating device is a non-contact heater having a flat heating surface that is not in contact with the recording medium. An ink jet printer comprising: 2. On a recording medium having a thermoplastic resin layer that becomes a resin film by heating on the surface of the image receiving layer, printing is performed while feeding the recording medium, and the recording medium is sent while sending the recording medium. An ink jet printer that heats a printed portion, further comprising a heating device that heats a printed portion of the recording medium, wherein the heating device is opposed to the recording medium with a feed path interposed therebetween, and is not opposed to the recording medium. An ink jet printer comprising a pair of non-contact heaters which are in contact and have a flat heating surface. 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein the pair of non-contact heaters are configured to be individually controllable. 4. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the non-contact heater is constituted by a plate heater. 5. The non-contact heater includes a plurality of row heating units that are divided in a feeding direction of the recording medium and can be individually driven and controlled.
The inkjet printer according to any one of the above. 6. The plurality of row heating units are composed of two row heating units, and the row heating unit located on the upstream side in the feed direction heats the recording medium at a melting temperature or lower, and the feed direction The ink jet printer according to claim 5, wherein a row heating unit located downstream of the printer heats the recording medium at a melting temperature or higher. 7. The non-contact heater according to claim 1, wherein the non-contact heater has a plurality of tandem heating units that are divided in parallel with the feeding direction of the recording medium and can be individually driven and controlled. The inkjet printer according to any one of the above. 8. A printer according to claim 1, further comprising a width detection unit configured to detect a width of the recording medium orthogonal to the feeding direction, wherein the plurality of tandem heating units are driven and controlled based on a detection result of the width detection unit. The inkjet printer according to claim 7, wherein: 9. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is intermittently fed, and a length of a heating surface of the non-contact heater is longer than an intermittent feeding pitch of the recording medium. Inkjet printer. 10. A heater feed roller is disposed in the feeding direction of the recording medium upstream of the non-contact heater in proximity to the heating surface, and is disposed downstream in proximity to the heating surface. 10. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, further comprising a discharge roller. 11. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is a printing tape fed from a state wound in a roll and used for printing.