JP2002011860A - Ink-jet printer and printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To rapidly dry an ink. SOLUTION: An image is recorded by ejecting an ink to a recording paper 17 by an ink-jet head 23. A thermal head 22 is provided on the upstream side in the recording paper 17 feeding direction with respect to the ink-jet head 23. By driving a heat generating element of the corresponding thermal head 22 according to the ink ejection amount, the ink ejected on the recording paper 17 is dried efficiently. By the drying operation, deterioration of chroma and resolution derived from mixing with an undried ink can be prevented. The ink-jet recording operation can be executed accurately without partial wave-ink deformation of the recording paper 17 due to adhesion of the ink at the recording position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer and a printing method, and more particularly to an ink jet printer and a printing method for recording an image using an ink jet head having nozzles arranged in a main scanning direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a printer using an ink jet head, there are a serial printer and a line printer.
In a serial printer, an ink jet head is sent by a head carriage in the width direction of a recording sheet, and the recording sheet is sent by the recording area of the ink jet head.
In a line printer, recording is performed line by line while feeding recording paper. Therefore, the line printer can perform high-speed recording.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a line printer,
For example, since the ink is ejected at one time over the entire width of the recording paper, the amount of ink ejected per unit time becomes large unlike the case of recording one line at a time little by little like a serial printer. When the ink ejection amount is large, it becomes difficult to dry by that much, the adjacent undried ink on the recording paper is mixed, and the saturation and the image blur are generated. Further, if the undried ink adheres to the transport roller or the like, the recording paper or the like may be stained. To solve these problems, it is conceivable to provide a blower heater to dry the ink. However, in this case, a device such as a heater and a blower is required, which causes a new problem that the printer itself becomes larger. appear.

[0004] Even if it is a serial printer, recording 1
When the width of the line is widened, the amount of ink ejected increases like the line printer, and the same problem occurs. In such a serial printer, a proposal in which an infrared irradiation means is provided on a carriage or an ink jet cartridge has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-174812. According to this serial printer, the heat beam irradiation means
Drying of ink droplets and preheating of the recording paper are performed. However, this printer simply dries or preheats. For this reason, when the ink ejection amount is partially increased, the ink becomes harder to dry, and the adjacent undried ink on the recording paper is mixed, which causes a problem that the saturation is lowered and the image is blurred. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to increase the amount of heating. In this case, however, heating is also performed on the portion that does not need to be heated, and there is a problem that efficient drying cannot be performed.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer and a printing method capable of efficiently drying or curing ink.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a recording paper or an ink jet head is fed in a sub scanning direction using an ink jet head having a plurality of nozzles arranged in a main scanning direction. In an inkjet printer that ejects ink from each nozzle to record an image on recording paper, the ink is divided in the arrangement direction of the nozzles,
A plurality of heating means for heating the recording paper, and control means for controlling a heating amount of the heating means in accordance with an amount of ink ejected from the nozzle to a heating area on the recording paper by each heating means. It has. Therefore, drying of the ink is performed efficiently. The heating of the recording paper by the heating means is performed before, during, or after ink ejection.

Further, the heating means comprises each heating element of a thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged in the main scanning direction or a plurality of adjacent heating elements.
The recording paper can be heated with high accuracy, and the ink can be dried efficiently.

In addition, there is provided paper feeding means for feeding the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction, and the thermal head is arranged at an upstream position in the recording paper feeding direction with respect to the ink jet head.
It is preferable that each heating element of the thermal head is brought into contact with the recording surface of the recording paper to heat the heating area.
In this case, the preheating eliminates waviness of the recording paper due to local stretching of the recording paper due to ink ejection, and enables accurate inkjet recording.

It is preferable that the thermal head is arranged at a position sandwiching the recording paper together with the ink jet head, and the heating element is brought into contact with a surface of the recording paper opposite to a recording surface to heat the ink during ink ejection. In this case, since the ink is ejected together with the preheating of the recording paper, the cooling loss after the preheating is small, and efficient drying can be performed.

The thermal head is arranged at a downstream position in the recording paper feed direction with respect to the ink jet head, and the heating element is brought into contact with a surface of the recording paper opposite to the recording surface to heat the ink after discharging the ink. Also in this case, the ink can be efficiently dried by the thermal head.
Further, a head shift mechanism for displacing a heating element of the thermal head between a heating position for contacting the recording paper and a retracted position separated from the recording paper is provided, and the heating element is set to the heating position during the heating. Other than the above, it is preferable to be in the retracted position.

It is preferable that the heating means is constituted by each infrared light emitting element of a light emitting means in which a plurality of infrared light emitting elements are arranged in the main scanning direction or a plurality of adjacent infrared light emitting elements. In this case, it is preferable that the light emitting unit is disposed at a position downstream of the ink jet head in the recording paper feeding direction, and the heating area is heated by infrared rays from the light emitting unit. In addition, it is preferable that the position where the ink ejected from the inkjet head adheres or the vicinity of the position where the ink adheres is irradiated with infrared rays.

It is preferable that the heating element is drive-controlled in accordance with the recording paper feed speed. For example, the amount of heating by each heating element is increased as the recording paper is fed faster.
If the feeding of the recording paper becomes slow, the amount of heating by each heating element is reduced. Further, when the recording paper feed speed is close to "0", the heating amount is set to "0".

It is preferable that the heating element is selectively heated and controlled in accordance with the width of the recording sheet. For example, when the recording element is changed to a recording sheet having a different width, the heating element is driven in accordance with the sheet width. Is selected. Further, it is preferable to increase the amount of heating by each heating element corresponding to the case where the amount of ink discharged from each nozzle is large. This allows
The amount of expansion of the recording paper due to ink application is locally suppressed. Therefore, the recording paper is not deformed in a wavy manner, and the recording quality is not deteriorated.

The recording width of the recording paper in the main scanning direction is 80 mm.
That is, the feed speed of the recording paper is 20 mm / sec or more, and it is preferable to apply the present invention when recording a full-color image. In this case, it is preferable to reduce the ink speed without lowering the recording speed. Drying can be performed quickly.

According to the present invention, an ink-jet head having a plurality of nozzles arranged in the sub-scanning direction is moved in the main scanning direction by a head carriage to perform band-like recording on recording paper. Synchronously send the recording paper or inkjet head and head carriage in the sub-scanning direction by the amount corresponding to the band-like recording,
In a serial type ink jet printer that records an image on the recording paper, the nozzle is divided in the arrangement direction of the nozzles,
A plurality of heating means for heating the recording paper are provided, and a heating amount of the heating means is controlled in accordance with an amount of ink ejected from the nozzle to a heating area on the recording paper by each heating means. . As the heating means, a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements, a light emitting means having an infrared light emitting element, or the like is preferably used, and these are provided adjacent to and integrally with the ink jet head. Therefore, in addition to being able to dry the ink efficiently, the elongation of the recording paper due to the ejection of the ink is suppressed, and highly accurate serial inkjet recording can be performed.

[0016] By providing a temperature sensor for detecting an environmental temperature and a control unit for controlling the driving of each of the heating elements according to the environmental temperature detected by the temperature sensor, each heating element is controlled according to the environmental temperature. It is driven and efficient drying is performed. In addition, by providing a control unit that controls the driving of each of the heating elements according to the type or thickness of the recording paper, or the type and thickness, heating according to the type of recording paper can be performed, and the efficiency can be improved. Good drying is performed.

In the ink jet printer according to the twentieth aspect, an ultraviolet curable ink which is cured by irradiation with ultraviolet light is used as the ink, and ultraviolet irradiation means capable of changing the irradiation intensity or irradiation amount of ultraviolet light in the arrangement direction of the nozzles;
Control means for controlling the ultraviolet irradiation intensity or the irradiation amount of the ultraviolet irradiation means in accordance with the ink discharge amount from the nozzle. Thus, in an ink jet printer using an ultraviolet curable ink, efficient curing can be performed, and yellowing of recording paper or the like due to excessive irradiation of ultraviolet light can be suppressed.

In the ink jet printing method according to the twenty-first aspect, the recording paper is heated by a plurality of heating means divided in the arrangement direction of the nozzles, and the ink is ejected from the nozzles to a heating area on the recording paper by each heating means. By controlling the amount of heating by the heating means according to the amount, the ink is dried efficiently. Drying of the ink is performed by a heating element of the thermal head, an infrared light emitting element of the light emitting means, or the like, so that the heating according to the ink ejection amount is performed with high accuracy. The heating of the recording paper is preferably performed before, during, or after ink ejection. In the case where an ultraviolet curable ink is used as the ink instead of drying the ink by heating, the irradiation intensity or irradiation amount of the ultraviolet light is controlled according to the amount of ink discharged from the nozzle. Is preferred.

[0019]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an ink jet printer according to the present invention. Inkjet printer 9
Is a paper feed unit 10, an image recording unit 11, a recording paper reservoir 1
2, a cutter unit 13 and a sorter 14.
The paper supply unit 10 includes a paper supply roller 16 in a recording paper magazine 15.
Is rotated to pull out the recording paper 17 from the magazine 15. The pulled out recording paper 17 is sent to the image recording unit 11. In this embodiment, the recording paper 17 has a width of 100 mm. The recording length of each image is about 150 mm, and the recording paper 17 is printed in a post card size. May be changed.

The image recording section 11 includes a pair of first and second transport rollers 20, 21, a preheating thermal head 22, and an ink jet head 23. The first and second transport roller pairs 20 and 21 are rotationally driven by a motor 19 via a driver 18 to nip and transport the recording paper 17. These first and second transport roller pairs 20, 2
1, a preheating thermal head 22 and an ink jet head 23 are mounted. These heads 2
Reference numerals 2 and 23 are arranged in parallel with the recording paper width direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the recording paper 17 feeding direction. Platen rollers 24 and 25 are disposed below the preheating thermal head 22 and the inkjet head 23, and these platen rollers 24 and 25 support the recording paper 17.

The preheating thermal head 22 is a shift mechanism 2
6 is configured to be movable up and down. When recording is performed by the inkjet head 23, the recording paper 17 is lowered to sandwich the recording paper 17 between the platen roller 24, and the recording paper 17 is preheated by each heating element. The shift mechanism 26 is set at a retracted position apart from the recording paper 17 except during recording. As shown in FIG. 2, the thermal head 22 is provided with a number of heating elements 27 arranged in a line in the main scanning direction A. The preheating is performed to dry the ejected ink on the recording paper 17 in a short time at the time of recording by ink ejection by the inkjet head 23.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 1, each heating element 27 of the thermal head 22 is driven and controlled via a head driving unit 30. Drive data for each heating element 27 is sent from a system controller (hereinafter simply referred to as a controller) 31 to the head drive unit 30. The drive data is determined based on the ink ejection amount of the inkjet head 23. That is, a relatively large amount of preheating energy is applied to the pixel recording area by the heating element 27 of the thermal head 22 for a pixel having a large ink ejection amount. In addition, a relatively small amount of preheating energy is applied to the pixel recording area by the heating element 27 of the thermal head 22 for a pixel having a small ink ejection amount. The driving data of each heating element 27 for applying the preheating energy is, as described in detail later,
It is determined according to the amount of ink ejected by the inkjet head 23.

From the viewpoint of cooling after preheating, the distance L between the thermal head 22 and the ink jet head 23 is preferably as small as possible. Then, the preheating start position of the thermal head 22 and the recording start position of the ink jet head 23 are specified according to the distance L, and the ink jet head 23 is adjusted to the preheating start position on the recording paper 17.
Is controlled so as to start recording.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ink jet head 23 has nozzles 35, 36, 37, and 38 for line recording of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). Are arranged side by side in the main scanning direction. As is well known, a piezo element is arranged in the ink flow path near each of the nozzles 35 to 38 in the inkjet head 23. By contracting and expanding the ink flow path by the piezo element, ink is ejected and supplied.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, a drive signal corresponding to the image data is given to each piezo element from the ink jet head drive unit 40, so that the ink droplets of the size and the number corresponding to the image data are formed on the recording paper 17. And the ink droplets adhere to the recording paper 17. As a result, a full-color image is recorded on the recording paper 17 by attaching Y, M, C, and K inks. In the present embodiment, high-quality printing is realized by using both the dot diameter control method and the dot density control method as a gradation expression method. This is one of the dot diameter control method and the dot density control method. May be adopted. Note that each line is formed at a constant pitch in the sub-scanning direction B, and the piezo elements of each color are driven by shifting the image data to be recorded. As a result, eventually, ink droplets based on the same color image data are recorded on the same line.

FIG. 4A shows an example of the relationship between the heating area HA of one heating element on the recording paper 17 and the ink ejection area IPA of each nozzle. In the present embodiment, the unit ink ejection area I by one nozzle
The PA arranged in a 2 × 2 matrix is defined as a heating area HA. The heating of the heating area HA is controlled by one heating element. As shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4B, a plurality of adjacent heating elements may be grouped, and the heating area HA1 may be heated and controlled by the grouped heating elements. In FIG. 4B, 2
Although one heating area HA1 is controlled to be heated using one heating element, the number of heating element groups is not limited to this, and may be changed as appropriate. Further, the number of nozzles in the heating area HA1 is not limited to the illustrated one, and may be changed as appropriate.

As described above, the recording paper 17 is heated in the heating area H.
A, each heating element 2 according to the ink ejection amount in HA 1
7, the discharged ink on the recording paper 17 dries efficiently in a short time. Therefore, recording paper 1
7 can be prevented from lowering in saturation and resolution due to the mixture of the undried inks. In addition, the ink does not dry and does not contact the conveying roller pair 21 and the recording paper 17
Is not contaminated by ink. In addition, since the ejected ink dries in a short time, the recording paper 17 is prevented from adsorbing the ink and partially extending. As a result, the next recording line does not undulate, the flatness of the recording paper 17 is ensured, and accurate recording can be performed. In addition, since the amount of heating by the corresponding heating elements is increased as the ink ejection amount increases, unlike the case where heating is performed uniformly, the occurrence of local elongation due to the attachment of droplets is effectively suppressed. In addition, heating can be efficiently performed according to the ink ejection amount, and power consumption can be reduced.

As shown in FIG. 1, the recording paper reservoir 12
Is composed of a pair of conveying rollers 21 and a movable guide 41 on the image recording unit 11 side and a pair of conveying rollers 42 on the cutter unit 13 side, and a speed difference between the two conveying roller pairs 21 and 42 (one roller pair 42 (Including stopping), the recording paper 17 hangs down between the pair of conveying rollers 21 and 42 and is temporarily stored. The movable guide 41 is provided coaxially with the lower roller 21a of the transport roller pair 21.
The movable guide 41 holds the leading end of the recording paper 17 with the cutter unit 1.
The guide position is a guide position (indicated by a two-dot chain line) that is horizontal when the leading edge of the recording paper 17 passes, and a retracted position (indicated by a solid line) that hangs vertically after the leading edge of the recording paper 17 passes. ). The recording paper 17 hangs down in the space where the movable guide 41 is retracted, so that the recording paper 17 is temporarily stored.

The cutter unit 13 includes first, second, and third pairs of transport rollers 42, 43, 44, a mark sensor 46,
And a cutter 47. Each transport roller pair 42
Are driven to rotate by a motor 48. Motor 48
Is rotationally controlled by the controller 31 via the driver 49. The cutter 47 is controlled by the controller 31 via the driver 47a, and cuts the recording paper 17 at a boundary position of each image, and separates the recording paper 17 into prints 55 for each image.

The mark sensor 46 detects a cut mark 51 or a sort mark 52 provided at the boundary of each image 50 as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the cut mark 51 and the sort mark 52 are configured to be distinguishable by forming the sort mark 52 longer in the sub-scanning direction and wider than the cut mark 51. The identification may be performed by another method, for example, by changing a color, a pattern, or a shape.

The controller 31 controls the cut mark 51
In addition, the rotation of the motor 48 is controlled based on the detection signal of the sort mark 52, and each image boundary portion of the recording paper 17 is sequentially sent to the cutter 47, and the planned cut lines 53 and 54 are placed before and after the boundary.
To cut twice. Thus, the cut mark 51 and the sort mark 52 at the boundary are cut off, and a print 55 for each image 50 is obtained. This print 55
Are accumulated on the tray 56 after cutting. Further, based on the detection signal of the sort mark 52, the controller 31 controls the sorter 14 to set a new tray 56 at the print drop position. Thereby, each print 55 is inserted into one tray 56 for each order, and is united for each order.

The sorter 14 is configured by arranging a number of trays 56 on a belt conveyor 57. Then, based on the detection signal of the sort mark 52, the belt conveyor 57 is rotated by the mounting pitch of each tray 56, so that a new tray 56 is set at the print drop position.

FIG. 6A shows an example of a recorded image 60 based on image data. FIG. 6B shows a preheating pattern 6 by the preheating thermal head 22 for the image data shown in FIG.
1 is an example. The preheating pattern 61 includes Y, M,
The preheating amount is determined based on the total ejection amount of each of the inks C and K, and the preheating amount is set large for the heating area HA having a large total ejection amount.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing an example of the relationship between the total ink ejection amount in the heating area HA and the heat energy applied to the heating area HA by the heating element. In this embodiment, the heat energy applied by the heating element is set to increase as the total ink ejection amount in the heating area HA increases. This relationship is obtained in advance by experiments or the like. Then, the driving data of the heating element is obtained from the heat energy to be applied to the heating area obtained from the relationship shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the total ink ejection amount for the heating area HA and the driving data (the number of driving pulses) of the heating element at this time are obtained in advance, and the relationship between these data is determined by the look-up table memory (L
UT) 63 (LUT 63a in FIG. 8).

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram for driving the thermal head 22 and the ink jet head 23 based on image data. A frame memory 64 is connected to the controller 31.
Then, the image data from the image reading device or the image output device is written.

The controller 31 includes an image processing unit 65,
A print data conversion unit 66 and a heating pattern processing unit 67 are provided. The image processing unit 65 includes a frame memory 64
, Known image processing is performed based on the image data of each color R, G, B. As the image processing, image data selection processing to select the whole or part of the original image, size change processing to change the size of the selected range, rotation processing to rotate the image, blur processing to blur part or all of the image, There are sharpening, brightness adjustment, contrast adjustment, gamma value adjustment, and the like for sharpening part or all of an image.

The recording data conversion section 66 records the piezo elements for each of the nozzles 35 to 38 (see FIG. 3) of each color of Y, M, C, K based on the image data of each color R, G, B after the image processing. Ask for data. The relationship between the image data and the recording data is determined in advance, and this relationship is stored in the LUT 63b. The driver 40 drives each piezo element based on the recording data in synchronization with the feeding of the recording paper 17.

The heating pattern processing section 67 calculates the total ink ejection amount for the heating area HA based on the image data as described above. Then, based on the total ink ejection amount, the preheating data of each heating element 27 of the thermal head 22 corresponding to the total ink ejection amount is obtained by using the LUT 63a storing the relationship of FIG. This preheating data is sent to the driver 30. The driver 30 drives each heating element based on the preheating data in synchronization with the feeding of the recording paper 17, and preheats the recording paper 17 before recording by the inkjet head 23. The preheated recording paper 17 is sent to a recording position by the inkjet head 23, and the recording by the inkjet head 23 is performed in accordance with the preheating pattern 61 (see FIG. 6B). The preheating data is determined based on the image data. In addition, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 8, the preheating data is the recording data output from the recording data conversion unit 66 and the driving data of each piezoelectric element output from the driver 40. May be sent to the heating pattern processing unit to determine based on these print data and drive data. Further, the preheating data may be determined according to the volatile component of the ejected ink instead of the ink ejection amount. Further, since there is a certain relationship between the ink ejection amount and the image data, the preheating data may be determined based on the image data without calculating the ink ejection amount.

As shown in FIG. 1, a controller 31 has a pulse generator 32 for detecting a feed amount of the recording paper 17.
Is provided. The pulse generator 32 is the recording paper 1
7 generates a pulse number proportional to the feed amount of the recording paper 17. The controller 31 includes the pulse generator 3
The number of pulses from 2 is counted to determine the recording paper feed amount per unit time. Based on this feed amount, the controller 3
1 is an inkjet head 23 or a thermal head 22
Is determined. Further, the drive data of each heating element 27 is corrected by the drive data correction unit 68 shown in FIG. 8 according to the feed speed of the recording paper 17. For example, as the recording paper 17 is fed faster, the amount of heating by each heating element 27 is increased. When the feeding of the recording paper 17 becomes slow, the amount of heating by each heating element 27 is reduced. Furthermore,
When the feed speed of the recording paper 17 is close to "0", the heating amount is set to "0" so that the recording paper 17 is not unnecessarily heated. This correction amount is written in the LUT 63c, and a corresponding correction amount is obtained based on the feed speed.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. When the power is turned on, as shown in FIG.
Then, the conveying roller pairs 20 and 21 rotate to send the recording paper 17 to the image recording unit 11. In this state, the thermal head 22 is in the retracted position by the shift mechanism 26 so as not to obstruct the passage of the leading end of the recording paper 17. When the leading end of the recording paper 17 passes through the second conveying roller pair 21, the feeding of the recording paper 17 is stopped, and a print standby state is set.

Next, when a print key or the like is operated to input a print start instruction, the recording paper 17 is fed by the conveying roller pairs 20 and 21. The thermal head 22
Is lowered by the shift mechanism 26 and set at the heating position. Thereafter, drive data for each heating element 27 is created based on the image data, and the recording paper 17 is
Preheated. Further, the nozzles 35 to 38 of the ink jet head 23 are controlled by the head driving unit 40, and each of the nozzles 35 to
The predetermined ink droplets are ejected from the respective nozzles in accordance with the image data by -38, and ink jet recording is performed.

At this time, since the recording paper 17 is preheated in accordance with the total ink ejection amount based on the image data, when the ink is discharged onto the recording paper 17, the ink dries in a short time. Therefore, unevenness such as local waviness due to ink adhesion does not occur on the recording line, flatness is ensured, and recording by the inkjet head 23 is performed with high accuracy. Further, since the ink dries in a short time, the undried ink does not adhere to the conveying roller pair 21 and the like, and the recording paper 17 is not stained with the undried ink. Further, a decrease in chroma and resolution due to mixing of the undried ink on the recording paper 17 can be suppressed.

As shown in FIG. 5, a cut mark 51 is recorded on the boundary of each image 50 by the ink jet head 23. Further, at the break of each order, a sort mark 52 also serving as a cut mark is recorded at the boundary of each image 50 by the inkjet head 23.

Therefore, by detecting the cut mark 51 by the mark sensor 46, the boundary portion is formed by the cutter 47.
And the boundary portion including the cut mark 51 is cut along the cut lines 53 and 54. At the start of recording, the cut mark 51 is recorded at the leading edge of the image 50, and the margin at the leading end of the recording paper is cut off based on this. When the sort mark 52 is detected, each image is cut off at the sort mark position in the same manner as the cut mark 51, and a sort signal indicating the break of each order is sent. When the recording of a series of images is completed and there is no recording of the next image, the leading end of the recording paper 17 is returned to the second conveying roller pair 21 of the image recording unit 11 to be in a print standby state.

In this embodiment, the width of the recording paper 17 is set to 100
mm, the recording length of one image including the cut mark is 150
mm, the feed speed (recording speed) of the recording paper 17 is 30 mm / sec.
The printing is performed with the recording width in one pass of the inkjet head 23 being 100 mm. However, the recording speed is reduced by applying to a full-color printer having a recording width of 80 mm or more and a recording speed of 20 mm / sec or more. And the ink can be dried quickly.

In the above embodiment, the nozzles 35 to 38 of the ink jet head 23 and the preheating thermal head 22
4, the heating area HA is constituted by one heating element 27 for four unit ink ejection areas IPA, as shown in FIG. The area HA is not limited to this.
For example, the unit ink ejection area and the heating area may correspond one-to-one. In this case, each heating element can be driven according to the amount of ink ejected from each nozzle, and the recording paper can be heated with high accuracy.

Further, a plurality of adjacent unit ink ejection areas may correspond to one heating element. For example, if the unit ink ejection area IPA is 2 × 1, 3 × 2, 3
An appropriate size arranged in a matrix such as × 3, 4 × 4, or 10 × 2 may be used as the heating area. Also in this case, the total ejection amount of a plurality of nozzles corresponding to the heating area is obtained, and from the total ejection amount, drive data of the heating elements corresponding to these nozzles is obtained. In this way, each heating element 27 of the thermal head 22 is
By arranging the nozzles at a coarser pitch than the nozzles 35 to 38, it is possible to use an inexpensive thermal head in which the size of each heating element is large, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, the relationship between the total ink ejection amount in the heating area HA and the heat energy applied to the heating area HA by the heating element is as shown in FIG.
When the total ink ejection amount increases, the thermal energy is increased accordingly. Furthermore, when even a small amount of ink is ejected, the heating element is heated correspondingly. However, when the ink ejection amount is small, it may be left to natural drying. FIG. 9 shows an embodiment in which the heat energy applied by the heating element 27 is set to “0” at the time of low ejection of ink to suppress power consumption.
4 shows an example of the relationship between the total ink ejection amount and the heat energy applied to the heating area HA by the heating element.
In this embodiment, in a low ejection area where the ink ejection amount is small,
Since the heating element is not driven, power consumption is suppressed.
In this case, the relationship between the total ink ejection amount and the heat energy applied by the heating element as shown in FIG. 9 is stored as an LUT 63d, and by selecting this LUT 63d,
Drive data of each heating element is obtained.

In the above-described embodiment, the preheating thermal head 22 is disposed on the upstream side of the ink jet head 23 in the recording paper feed direction. However, as shown in FIG. A thermal head 70 for drying may be arranged at the bottom. In this case, each heating element of the thermal head 70 is connected to the recording paper 1 so that the ink before drying does not adhere to the thermal head 70.
7 is in contact with the surface opposite to the ink ejection surface. As shown in FIG. 10B, the thermal head 70 for drying is used.
a may be shifted to the downstream side in the feed direction of the recording paper 17. The same components as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG.
In each of the inkjet heads 23, the Y, M, C, and K nozzles 35 to 38 are formed in a line shape. However, the invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of inkjet heads in which nozzles of each color are divided and arranged are used. The present invention may be carried out for those that have been. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, an inkjet head 71 for black ink having a nozzle for black ink
And ink jet heads 72 having color nozzles of Y, M, and C, respectively.
The preheating thermal heads 73 and 74 may be provided in each of the recording heads 72, and the recording paper 17 may be preheated by the preheating thermal heads 73 and 74 in accordance with the ink ejection amounts of the ink jet heads 71 and 72. In the case of a normal full-color image, the ejection amount of black ink is smaller than the ejection amount of each color ink. For this reason, the black ink inkjet head 71 is arranged on the upstream side in the recording paper feed direction with respect to each color inkjet head 72, so that the recording paper 17 heated by the preheating thermal head 73 Black ink having a relatively small ejection amount can be ejected and dried first. Therefore, it is possible to perform contact heating from the recording surface side by the preheating thermal head 74, and efficient drying can be performed.

As shown in FIG. 12, the inkjet head 75 for Y and the inkjet head 76 for M are used.
And an ink jet head 77 for C and an ink jet head 78 for K, and thermal heads 80, 81, 82, and 83 are respectively provided on the upstream side in the recording paper feed direction. Preheating control may be performed by an element according to the amount of ink discharged from each nozzle of each of the inkjet heads 75 to 78. As in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the K inkjet head 78 may be arranged upstream of the inkjet heads 75 to 77 of the respective colors in the recording paper feed direction. Can be performed.

Also, as shown in FIG.
5 to 38 may be formed in a single line, or may be formed in a plurality of lines. In this case, the nozzle density in the main scanning direction is reduced by an amount corresponding to the increase in the number of lines, thereby facilitating the manufacture. Further, instead of the nozzle having a length corresponding to the entire width of the recording paper 17, a plurality of inkjet heads having a short length in the width direction of the recording paper are used, and by combining these, an inkjet having a long length in the width direction of the recording paper is obtained. A head may be configured.

In the above embodiment, the image is continuously recorded using the roll recording paper, but the present invention may be embodied in the case where the image is recorded on a cut sheet type recording paper instead. . When a cut sheet recording paper is used, recording may be performed using a platen drum type printer in addition to the printer as in the above embodiment. In this case, as shown in FIG. 13, a cut sheet recording paper 86 is wound around a platen drum 85, and an image is recorded by an ink jet head 87. Then, a preheating thermal head 89 is provided upstream of the ink jet head 87 in the feed direction of the recording paper 86, and the thermal head 89 preheats the recording paper 86 in accordance with the ink ejection amount.

Reference numeral 90 denotes a clamper for fixing the leading end of the recording paper 86 to the platen drum 85. The clamper 90 is urged by a coil spring 91 in a direction in which the leading end of the recording sheet is pressed against the platen drum 85, and is lifted by a shift mechanism 92 when the leading end of the recording sheet is clamped. A shift mechanism (not shown) is provided on each of the heads 87 and 89 so that the clamper 90 does not hit the thermal head 89 and the ink jet head 87 when the platen drum 85 rotates. To the evacuation position. In addition,
Instead of providing the shift mechanism, the clamper 90 may be buried in the peripheral surface of the platen drum 85 so that the clamper 90 does not hit each of the heads 87 and 89.

In the above embodiment, the driving data of each heating element is determined and the preheating energy is given according to the amount of ink ejected to the heating area HA. In addition, the type, thickness and width of the recording paper are taken into consideration. Then, the driving data of each heating element may be corrected. In this case, a keyboard 110 is provided in the controller 31 in FIG. Instead of inputting using a key or the like, identification information such as a recording paper identification bar code is attached to the recording paper or its core, and this is automatically read to correct the drive data of each heating element. You may. This correction amount is obtained in advance by an experiment or the like in an actual machine, and is written in the LUT 63c of the drive data correction unit 68 as shown in FIG. Then, a correction amount is obtained from the LUT 63c based on the recording paper type key from the keyboard 110 and the recording paper identification bar code, and the drive data of each heating element is corrected based on the correction amount. Instead of correction, taking into account these factors, the relationship between the image data and the driving data for preheating of each heating element is obtained in advance for each mode, and this is used as the LU.
You may write to T63a and 63d.

Further, the drying speed depending on the environmental temperature and the environmental humidity of the ink jet printer may be obtained in advance, and the driving data of each heating element may be corrected based on the drying speed. In this case, a temperature sensor S1 and a humidity sensor S2 are provided as shown in FIGS.
The output signals from S1 and S2 are input to the controller 31. The controller 31 uses these output signals to correct the drive data of each heating element by the drive data correction unit 68 as shown in FIG. The correction of the drive data takes into account the environmental temperature and environmental humidity, and for each mode,
The relationship between the image data and the driving data of each heating element is obtained in advance, and this is written in the LUT 63c.

Further, according to the width of the recording paper 17,
It is preferable to selectively control the heating of the heating element,
For example, when the recording paper is changed to a recording paper having a different width, as shown in FIG. 8, a heating element driven by the driving data correction unit 68 in accordance with the paper width is selected.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a line printer which records one line at a time in the width direction of the recording papers 17 and 86. In addition, as shown in FIG. Serial printer 9 that scans and records the recording paper 96 in the width direction using
7, the present invention may be implemented. Also in this case, each heating element 9 corresponding to each nozzle of the ink jet head 94 is used.
The thermal head 98 having the head 8a is moved in the direction of the moving end of the ink jet head 94 toward the head carriage 95, for example.
By preheating the recording paper 96 in accordance with the amount of ink discharged from each nozzle, the ink can be dried quickly. Reference numeral 99 denotes a guide rod for guiding the head carriage 95 in the width direction of the recording paper 96, and reference numeral 10 denotes a guide rod.
Reference numeral 0 denotes a platen member that supports the recording paper 96.

When the thermal head is brought into direct contact with the recording paper, the feeding resistance of the recording paper increases and the thermal head wears. In particular, when fine irregularities are formed on the recording surface of the recording paper in order to improve the absorption and drying properties of the ink, this effect becomes large. FIG.
Shows an embodiment in which the life of the thermal head and the passage of recording paper as an image receiving medium are improved. In this case, the heating element 121 of the thermal head 120 and the recording paper 1
22 and an endless heat-resistant thin belt 123 is provided.
Direct contact between the heating element 121 and the recording paper 122 is avoided.

The heat-resistant thin-walled belt 123 is
The belt 123 is formed to have a width that covers the entire heating element 121 of the thermal head 120. The heat-resistant thin belt 123 moves freely in conjunction with the feeding of the recording paper 122 as the platen roller 125 rotates.
As the heat-resistant thin belt 123, a belt made of a synthetic resin such as polyimide and having a thickness of about 50 μm is used. The heat-resistant thin belt 123 may be made of a heat-resistant thin sheet made of metal or other synthetic resin, and has a thickness of 50 mm.
The thickness is not limited to μm, but may be an appropriate thickness. Further, the belt pulley 124 may rotate the heat-resistant thin belt 123 in synchronization with the feeding of the recording paper 122,
In this case, the feeding resistance of the recording paper 122 can be further reduced. In place of the platen roller 125, a heat-resistant thin belt 123 may be used in a platen drum type printer as shown in FIG.

FIG. 16A shows an ink jet head 131 having an infrared light emitting diode (IRLD) 130 as an infrared light emitting element. The inkjet head 131 has a number of nozzles 132 and a number of IRLDs.
130 are provided side by side in the main scanning direction. In this embodiment, one IRLD for two nozzles 132
Although 130 is made to correspond, these correspondences are not limited to this, and may be changed appropriately. In the present embodiment, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6B, the optical axis 130a of the IRLD 130 is aligned with the recording paper 136 at the position where the ejected ink droplet 135 is attached, and the ejected ink droplet is irradiated with infrared rays. And efficient drying is performed.
The amount of light emitted from the IRLD 130 is controlled in accordance with the amount of ink ejected, similarly to the heating element 27 described above. The control of the light emission amount may be performed by changing the light emission intensity by changing the voltage or the like, or by changing the irradiation exposure amount per unit time by changing the duty ratio. In addition, IR
The LD 130 may be arranged on the upstream side in the recording paper feed direction with respect to the nozzle 132 as shown in FIG. 2B, or may be arranged on the downstream side as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3D, the recording paper 137 before ink ejection may be irradiated with infrared rays by the IRLD 138 to preheat the recording paper 137. In this case, the recording paper 137 is moved to the preheated recording paper position. On the other hand, the ink 140
Is discharged and drying is performed. Further, the recording paper 143 from which the ink 142 has been ejected by the nozzle 141 may be irradiated with infrared rays by the IRLD 144 to dry the ink 142 as shown in FIG. In each embodiment shown in FIG. 16, any of the line print method shown in FIGS. 1 and 10 to 13 described above and the serial print method shown in FIG. 14 can be adopted. In this case, instead of each thermal head, a light emitting head 115 having an IRLD 114 is provided as shown in FIG. The IRLDs 114 are arranged in parallel with the arrangement direction of the nozzles 94a of the inkjet head 94. In FIG. 17, the same components as those in FIG. 14 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

Instead of using an infrared light emitting element such as an IRLD, as shown in FIG.
46 is used to irradiate the recording paper 148 with the laser 147,
The recording paper 148 may be preheated according to the ink ejection amount, or the ink on the recording paper 148 may be dried during or immediately after recording. Incidentally, reference numeral 149 indicates an ink jet head. Also in this case, the laser intensity is changed by modulating according to the ink ejection amount, and heating is performed according to the ejected ink amount, so that the ink can be dried efficiently. The laser scans in the main scanning direction using a well-known fθ lens, polygon mirror, or the like.
8 is preheated or the ejected ink is dried. Although not shown, a DMD (digital micromirror device) or an AMA (piezo-driven micromirror device) is provided along each nozzle of the inkjet head.
By irradiating the DMD or AMA with an infrared ray or a laser, and by changing the inclination of each micromirror, the recording paper may be selectively irradiated with an infrared ray or a laser according to the ink ejection amount. .

FIG. 19 is a schematic view showing a main part of an ink jet printer using an ultraviolet curable ink. In this case, instead of the IRLD 130 of FIG. 16, the recording paper 1 is formed by using an inkjet head 154 in which an ultraviolet light emitting laser (UVL) 152 is provided in parallel along a nozzle 153.
The image is recorded at 55. Then, the ultraviolet intensity control unit 16
At 0, the intensity of the ultraviolet light is controlled according to the ink ejection amount, and the ink 156 is cured by the ultraviolet light 157. Also in this case, the ultraviolet curable ink 156 can be efficiently cured. It should be noted that instead of changing the ultraviolet intensity, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
The irradiation amount of ultraviolet rays may be changed according to 1. Further, the ultraviolet intensity control unit 160 and the ultraviolet irradiation amount control unit 161 may be used together.

Although not shown, a DMD (digital micromirror device) or an AMA (piezo-driven micromirror device) is provided along each nozzle of the ink jet head as described above. UV light may be applied in accordance with the amount of ink discharged using the spatial light modulator described above. In addition, as an ultraviolet ray generating device, U
In addition to VL, an excimer laser, an ultraviolet lamp, or the like may be used.

In the above embodiment, the thermal head and the LE
Although preheating was performed for drying using D or the like, instead of this, although not shown, a drying device including a heater and a blower was used according to the ink ejection amount in the main scanning direction of the recording paper. Dry air may be sent. Also in this case, the heater is divided into a plurality in the main scanning direction, and the amount of heat generated by each of the divided heaters is controlled in accordance with the amount of ink ejected to the heating area by the heater.

In each of the above embodiments, the driving data of the heating element and the light emitting element is obtained according to the ink ejection amount. However, the concept of the ink ejection amount according to the present invention is not limited to the ink ejection amount in the original sense. Includes the amount of volatile components in the ejected ink. By treating this volatile component amount as the ink ejection amount, the ink can be dried more evenly and accurately. Further, the image data itself, which is a factor for determining the ink ejection amount, is also closely related to the ink ejection amount,
Various types of conversion data based on image data are also included in the concept of the ink ejection amount referred to in the present invention.

In the above embodiment, the ink jet heads 23, 71, 72, 75 to 78, 8 using piezo elements are used.
Although 7, 94, 120, 131, 149, and 154 are used, various mechanisms for ejecting ink may be applied. For example, a flow control valve system comprising a piezo element and a diaphragm, a thermal ink jet system in which a heating element is used to heat ink liquid to generate bubbles and eject ink, and an ink droplet is formed by using an electrode. A continuous ink jet system that applies electric charge, collects unnecessary droplets with a deflection electrode on a baffle plate, and discharges necessary ink droplets on recording paper, applies a high voltage according to image signals, and uses this high voltage Various ink jet systems such as an electrostatic suction ink jet system in which ink droplets are sucked onto recording paper and an ultrasonic ink jet system in which ink droplets are generated by vibrating an ink liquid using ultrasonic waves may be used. Further, the ink used may be other color inks such as light magenta and light cyan in addition to Y, M, C and K.

[0069]

According to the present invention, heating means divided in the nozzle arrangement direction are provided, and the heating means is heated in accordance with the amount of ink ejected from the nozzle to the heating area on the recording paper by each heating means. Since the amount is controlled, the recording paper can be dried efficiently. In particular, by configuring the heating means using a thermal head in which a large number of heating elements are arranged in the main scanning direction, preheating for drying can be controlled for each nozzle, and drying can be performed accurately. Therefore, it is possible to print a high-quality image without lowering the saturation and the resolution by mixing the adjacent undried inks on the recording paper.

A thermal head is provided upstream of the ink jet head in the recording paper feed direction on the ink jet ejection surface side of the recording paper, and a heating element is brought into contact with the recording paper at the time of heating, so that drying is performed efficiently. Can be preheated. Therefore, in the recording by ink ejection from the nozzles, the ejected ink dries in a short time, so that the recording paper does not locally elongate due to the ink adhesion. This makes it possible to perform recording by ink ejection with high precision without causing minute undulations of the recording paper near the recording line due to ink ejection.

By providing the thermal head so that the heating element is in contact with the surface of the recording paper opposite to the ink jet ejection surface, preheating by the thermal head can be performed near the inkjet head, and cooling of the recording paper after the preheating is performed. Loss can be reduced. Further, by controlling the heating of the thermal head according to the recording paper feed speed and the width of the recording paper, the recording paper can be preheated efficiently.
In addition, by increasing the heating amount when the ink ejection amount from the nozzle is large, the ink can be efficiently dried.

By heating the ink or the recording paper in accordance with the amount of ink discharged by the light emitting means in which a plurality of infrared light emitting elements are arranged, the ink can be dried efficiently as well. Further, since the recording paper can be dried in a non-contact manner, there is no conveyance resistance. In addition, when inkjet recording is performed using an ultraviolet curable ink, by irradiating ultraviolet rays in accordance with the ink ejection amount, the ink can be efficiently cured, and in addition, excessive irradiation of ultraviolet rays is eliminated, and recording paper Yellowing, etc. can be suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an ink jet printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view showing a thermal head.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view showing the ink jet head.

FIG. 4A is a plan view illustrating an example of a relationship between a unit ink ejection area and a heating area, and FIG. 4B is a unit ink ejection area when the heating area is configured by a plurality of heating elements that are grouped; FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of the relationship between the heating area and the heating area.

FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating an example of a boundary portion of an image.

FIG. 6A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a recorded image recorded by image data, and FIG. 6B is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a preheating pattern in the case of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing an example of a relationship between a total ink ejection amount per unit heating area and heat energy applied by a heating element to the unit heating area.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram for obtaining drive data of each pierzo element of the inkjet head and drive data of each heating element of the thermal head based on image data.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing an example of the relationship between the total ink ejection amount and the applied heat energy in another embodiment in which the heating element is not heated at the time of low ink ejection.

FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram illustrating a main part of another embodiment in which a thermal head is disposed below an ink jet head, and FIG. 10B is a schematic diagram illustrating a thermal head disposed downstream of the ink jet head in a recording paper feeding direction. It is the schematic which shows the principal part of another embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing another embodiment using two inkjet heads.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing another embodiment using four inkjet heads.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of a platen drum system.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing another embodiment using a thermal head in a serial print system.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view showing a main part of an ink jet printer according to another embodiment in which a heat-resistant thin belt is provided between a heating element and recording paper.

FIGS. 16A and 16B show ink ejection and infrared irradiation in another embodiment using an inkjet head having an infrared light emitting diode, wherein FIG. 16A is a front view and FIG.
Is a side view in a use state, and (C) to (E) are side views in another embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a schematic view showing another embodiment using a light emitting head by a serial printing method.

FIG. 18 is a schematic view showing another embodiment using a laser irradiation device.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing curing of an ink in an inkjet printer using an ultraviolet curable ink.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 9 inkjet printer 10 paper feed unit 11 image recording unit 12 recording paper reservoir 13 cutter unit 14 sorter 17, 96, 122, 142 recording paper 20, 21, 42 to 44 transport roller pairs 22, 70, 73, 74, 80 to 83 , 89,98,1
20 Thermal Head for Preheating 23, 71, 72, 75-78, 87, 94, 13
1,143 inkjet head 24,25,125 platen roller 27 heating element 30 thermal head drive unit 35-38,132 nozzle 40 inkjet head drive unit 41 movable guide 46 mark sensor 47 cutter 95 head carriage 123 heat-resistant thin belt 130 infrared light emitting diode 140 Laser irradiation device 152 UV light emitting diode 156 UV curable ink HA heating area IPA unit ink ejection area

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Eiichi Kito 798- Address Miyagidai, Kaisei-cho, Ashigara-gun, Kanagawa Photo Film Co., Ltd. Inside Film Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuyuki Hosono 798, Miyadai, Kaisei-cho, Ashigara-gun, Kanagawa Photograph F Co., Ltd.

Claims (24)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: an ink jet head having a plurality of nozzles arranged in a main scanning direction; a recording paper or an ink jet head being fed in a sub scanning direction; and ink being ejected from each of the nozzles to record an image on the recording paper. In the printer, a plurality of heating means for heating the recording paper divided in the arrangement direction of the nozzles, and in accordance with an ink ejection amount from the nozzles to a heating area on the recording paper by each heating means, A control unit for controlling a heating amount of the heating unit. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the heating of the recording paper by the heating means is performed before, during, or after ink ejection. 3. The ink-jet apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said heating means comprises a plurality of heating elements of a thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged in the main scanning direction or a plurality of adjacent heating elements. Printer. 4. A paper feeding means for feeding the recording paper in a sub-scanning direction, wherein the thermal head is disposed at an upstream position in the recording paper feeding direction with respect to the ink jet head, and each heating element of the thermal head is recorded. 4. The ink jet printer according to claim 3, wherein the heating area is heated by bringing the heating area into contact with a recording surface of paper. 5. A recording medium, comprising: a paper feeder for feeding the recording paper in a sub-scanning direction; wherein the thermal head is arranged at a position sandwiching the recording paper together with the ink jet head, and to a surface opposite to a recording surface of the recording paper. 4. The ink jet printer according to claim 3, wherein the heating element is heated during ink ejection by contacting the heating element. 6. A paper feeding means for feeding the recording paper in a sub-scanning direction, wherein the thermal head is arranged at a downstream position in the recording paper feeding direction with respect to the ink jet head, and on a side opposite to a recording surface of the recording paper. 4. An ink jet printer according to claim 3, wherein said heating element is brought into contact with said surface to heat the ink after discharging. 7. A head shift mechanism for displacing the heating element between a heating position at which the heating element is brought into contact with the recording paper and a retracted position separated from the recording paper is provided. 7. The ink jet printer according to claim 3, wherein the ink jet printer is set at a retreat position except for the position other than the above. 8. The infrared light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein said heating means comprises a plurality of infrared light emitting elements or a plurality of adjacent infrared light emitting elements of a light emitting means in which a plurality of infrared light emitting elements are arranged in the main scanning direction. The ink-jet printer as described. 9. A paper feeding means for feeding the recording paper in a sub-scanning direction, wherein the light emitting means is arranged at a position downstream of the ink jet head in the recording paper feeding direction, and the heating by infrared rays from the light emitting means. 9. The ink jet printer according to claim 8, wherein the area is heated. 10. A paper feeding means for feeding said recording paper in a sub-scanning direction, wherein infrared rays are radiated to a position where ink ejected from said ink jet head adheres or in the vicinity of a position where ink is adhered. The inkjet printer according to claim 8 or 9, wherein 11. The ink jet printer according to claim 3, wherein an amount of heating by said heating means is controlled in accordance with a feeding speed of said recording paper. 12. The ink jet printer according to claim 3, wherein each element of said heating means is selectively driven and controlled in accordance with a width of said recording paper. 13. The ink jet printer according to claim 3, wherein the amount of heating by each of the elements is increased when the amount of ink discharged from each of the nozzles is large. 14. The recording width of the recording paper in the main scanning direction is 8
0 mm or more, and the feeding speed of the recording paper is 20 mm / sec.
The inkjet printer according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein a full-color image is recorded. 15. An ink-jet head having a plurality of nozzles arranged in a sub-scanning direction is moved in a main scanning direction by a head carriage to perform band-like recording on recording paper, and the recording paper or the recording paper is synchronized with the band-like recording. In an ink jet printer for recording an image on the recording paper by feeding an inkjet head and a head carriage in the sub-scanning direction by an amount corresponding to the band-like recording, the inkjet printer is divided in the arrangement direction of the nozzles and heats the recording paper An ink jet printer, wherein a plurality of heating means are provided, and a heating amount of the heating means is controlled in accordance with an amount of ink ejected from the nozzle to a heating area of the recording paper by each heating means. 16. The heating means comprises each heating element of a thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged in a sub-scanning direction or a plurality of heating elements adjacent thereto, and the thermal head is provided adjacent to an ink jet head; The heating amount of the heating element is controlled according to the amount of ink ejection from each nozzle with respect to a heating area of the recording paper by the heating element on the recording paper before ink ejection. 15. The inkjet printer according to item 15. 17. The heating means comprises a plurality of infrared light emitting elements of a light emitting means in which a plurality of infrared light emitting elements are arranged in the sub-scanning direction or a plurality of adjacent infrared light emitting elements. Provided
Before the ink discharge, during the ink discharge, or after the ink discharge, the heating by the light emitting element according to the ink discharge amount from each nozzle to the heating area on the recording paper by the light emitting element is performed. The ink jet printer according to claim 15, wherein the amount is controlled. 18. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a temperature sensor for detecting an environmental temperature, and a control unit for controlling a heating amount of each of said heating means in accordance with the environmental temperature detected by said temperature sensor. 18. The ink jet printer according to any one of items 17 to 17. 19. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that controls a heating amount of each of the heating units according to a type or a thickness of the recording paper or a type and a thickness of the recording paper. An inkjet printer according to any one of the preceding claims. 20. An ink jet printer having a plurality of nozzles and an ink jet head which relatively moves a recording paper and ejects ink from the nozzles to record an image on the recording paper, wherein the ink is cured by irradiation with ultraviolet rays. An ultraviolet irradiation unit capable of changing the irradiation intensity or the irradiation amount of ultraviolet rays in the arrangement direction of the nozzles, and an ultraviolet irradiation intensity or irradiation of the ultraviolet irradiation unit according to the ink ejection amount from the nozzles. An ink jet printer comprising: a control unit for controlling an amount. 21. An ink jet printing method in which an ink jet head or a recording sheet having a plurality of nozzles is relatively moved, and an ink is ejected from the nozzles to record an image on the recording sheet. The recording paper is heated by a plurality of divided heating units, and the amount of heating by the heating unit is controlled in accordance with the amount of ink ejected from the nozzle to the heating area on the recording paper by each heating unit. Inkjet printing method. 22. A heating head using a plurality of heating elements or a plurality of adjacent heating elements of a thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged in a main scanning direction, wherein heating of the recording paper is performed before ink ejection, 22. The ink jet printing method according to claim 21, wherein the method is performed at the time of discharging or after discharging the ink. 23. A light emitting device in which a plurality of infrared light emitting devices are arranged in the main scanning direction or each of a plurality of adjacent light emitting devices is used as the heating device, and the recording paper is heated before ink ejection. The ink-jet printing method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the method is performed at the time of ink discharge or after the ink discharge. 24. An ink jet printing method in which an ink jet head or a recording paper having a plurality of nozzles is relatively moved, and an ink is ejected from the nozzles to record an image on the recording paper. An ink-jet printing method, comprising: using an ultraviolet curable ink that cures according to (1), and controlling the irradiation intensity or irradiation amount of ultraviolet rays according to the amount of ink ejected from the nozzle by an ultraviolet irradiation unit.