JP2002155464A - Ink jet printing device and ink jet printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet printing device which can treat almost all processes ranged from a pre-treating process to a washing process only by applying a preliminary treatment, a printing treatment and a fixing treatment to only the specific printing target area of a cloth product such as a T-shirt, and can further easily print a highly precise digital imaging material on demand without using a printing plate, even when the device is small and inexpensive. SOLUTION: This method for the ink jet printing is characterized by applying a partial preliminary treatment to only a specific print target area 2 of a material 1 to be printed, using a printing tray 1 to carry out the printing positioning and carriage of the material to be printed to an ink jet printing mechanism 31, disposing a digital imaging material above an area for displaying only the partially treated portion, disposing an image-inputting or outputting means for printing the digital imaging material and a color-developing means for developing and fixing the printed partially treated portion, and then carrying out treatments ranged from the preliminary treatment to the developing and fixing treatment without using a printing plate.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an ink-jet printing apparatus and an ink-jet printing method for printing on a printing material formed of a cloth product such as a T-shirt.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, images (including characters and symbols) are applied to cloth products such as T-shirts (for example, clothes as cotton products).
Screen printing, iron printing (transfer printing), and the like are known as methods for printing. In the screen printing, a paste paste colored by mixing a pigment is applied to a material to be printed (object to be printed) through a transparent portion formed in a predetermined pattern on a screen, and the paste is applied by utilizing a bonding force of the paste. This is carried out by a method in which the paste is fixed to the printing example. When multi-color printing is performed by this screen printing, over-coating is performed using a plurality of screen plates corresponding to each color.

[0003] On the other hand, in the iron printing, an image material is printed on transfer paper by a color toner copying machine or an ink jet printer or the like, and the printed transfer paper is turned into a cloth product (clothing or the like) such as a T-shirt by a hot press. This is performed by a transfer method. Recently, an image is directly printed on a pre-treated cloth using an ink jet printer, and after the printed cloth is subjected to post-processing, the cloth is sewn to finish clothes (cloth products) such as T-shirts. The digital textile printing method performed in such a process is also implemented. Known documents that disclose such a conventional digital textile printing method using ink jet printing include JP-A-7-336466 and JP-A-8-33664.
-207263 and JP-A-8-207390.

[0004]

However, in the above screen printing, a plurality of special editions corresponding to designs and colors are required, and the production time and cost are required. Not suitable for conversion. There is also a problem in that a large number of man-hours are required for storing and managing plates when printing (copying) the same image on a plurality of cloth products. Furthermore, the screen printing has a technical problem that it is difficult to print a high-definition image material.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned iron printing, since the resin of the transfer paper is adhered to the surface of the printing material in the printing process, there is a technical problem that the printing material loses air permeability and the printing material becomes rough. There is. Especially T
When printing on clothes such as shirts, there is also a technical problem that clothes do not pass through sweat and the comfort becomes poor. Further, there is also a technical problem that the washing fastness of the printing material is deteriorated and the printing material is immediately ragged when washed. The above-mentioned digital textile printing method was devised in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks. However, in order to print on a material to be printed such as clothing made of fibers, post-processing such as pre-treatment, color-fixing treatment, washing, etc. And many other processes are required.In addition, due to the difficulty of the processing method and the problem of processing time, it is necessary to sew a printing material printed in a cloth state to produce a cloth product. The digital textile printing method has a technical problem that it is difficult to make it on-demand in a theme park, a tourist spot, or the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above technical problems and provides an ink jet printing apparatus and an ink jet printing method that can easily print on a cloth product such as a T-shirt on demand with a small and inexpensive mechanism. Is provided. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized, on-demand, high-definition digital painting material that can be printed on a specific print target area of a cloth product such as a T-shirt in a state that is comfortable and has high washing fastness. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printing apparatus and an ink jet printing method which can easily construct an inexpensive printing system.

Another object of the present invention is to print on a printing material which has been partially pre-processed only in a specific print target area while using a printing tray to align the partial pre-processing section with the printing position. The flat area of the printing tray can be minimized only in the partial pre-processing section,
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printing apparatus and an ink jet printing method which can make a printing mechanism of a minimum size and have an inexpensive structure and can be easily placed in a store or the like.

Still another object of the present invention is to use only a specific print target area as a partial preprocessing section, so that the cleaning step can be performed by a small cleaning means capable of cleaning only the partial preprocessing section. Almost all steps from processing to cleaning can be completed only by processing of the partial pretreatment section alone,
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink-jet printing apparatus and an ink-jet printing method capable of facilitating the printing process and reducing the size of the printing apparatus. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide T
Inkjet textile printing equipment that can easily place and position the partial pretreatment part of the material to be printed made of cloth products such as shirts with respect to the printing mechanism, and can accurately print the printing material at a specific position. And an inkjet printing method.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an ink-jet printing apparatus and an ink-jet printing method capable of eliminating stains due to ink or the like on a printing material by concealing a non-printing portion inside a printing tray. It is. Still another object of the present invention is not only to facilitate on-demand printing by directly printing on a printing material such as a standard T-shirt or the like such as cloth (clothing) by an ink jet printing mechanism. Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink-jet printing apparatus and an ink-jet printing method which can solve the problem of excess stock by performing a pretreatment on a printing material according to demand.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink-jet printing apparatus having an ink-jet printing mechanism capable of printing on a printing material such as a T-shirt. Apply partial pre-processing only to the specific print target area of the print material,
The printing material is positioned and mounted on a printing tray in a state where the partial pretreatment section is held flat and aligned, and the printing material is used for the inkjet printing mechanism using the printing tray. The image input / output means and the image input / output means capable of printing the digital art material while arranging and transporting the print material, arranging the digital art material on a display surface capable of displaying only the partial preprocessing section as a print art material arrangement area A color developing means for coloring and fixing only the subsequent partial pre-processing section is provided, and the process from the pre-processing to the color fixing is performed only by the partial pre-processing section.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, a cleaning means for cleaning only the partial pre-processing section is provided, and the cleaning up to the cleaning performed after the color fixing is performed before the partial cleaning. By adopting a configuration in which processing is performed only in the processing section, the cleaning step can also be performed by a small cleaning means capable of cleaning only the partial preprocessing section, and almost all processes from preprocessing to cleaning can be performed in the partial preprocessing section. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet printing apparatus which can perform only the printing process and can facilitate the printing process and reduce the size of the printing apparatus.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the printing material holds the partial pre-processing portion in a plane with respect to the printing tray and includes other portions inside. The present invention also provides an ink jet textile printing apparatus that can eliminate stains due to ink or the like on a printing material by concealing a non-printing portion inside a printing tray by adopting a configuration mounted in the printing tray.
The invention according to claim 4, in addition to the above-described configuration, by forming the printing tray in an engineered shape, and mounting the printing target material so as to cover the printing tray, so that the back side of the printing target material is provided. The above object can be achieved more efficiently by adopting a configuration that prevents the exudation of ink.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink-jet printing method for printing an image on a printing material such as a T-shirt by using an ink-jet printing mechanism. The partial pre-processing is performed only on the target area, the printing material is positioned and mounted on a printing tray in a state where the partial pre-processing section is held in a planar state and aligned, and the printing tray is used. Performing printing position adjustment and conveyance of the printing material with respect to the inkjet printing mechanism, arranging a digital art material on a display surface capable of displaying only the partial pre-processing section as a printing art material arrangement area, and printing the digital art material. Only the image input / output means and the partial pre-processing section after printing are color-fixed. The coloring means because provided, and performs from the pretreatment to the color fixing in the processing of only the partial pre-processing unit.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiment,
A description will be given by taking as an example a case where a cloth product as a material to be printed is a T-shirt which is a cotton product and the T-shirt is printed. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a process for printing an image material on a cloth product (T-shirt) by applying the present invention. In FIG. 1, the pretreatment is performed for the purpose of preventing ink bleeding and accelerating the reaction of the dye with a fabric fiber (such as cotton fiber).
Before printing the dye, T
A pretreatment agent is applied to a shirt or the like. The pre-treatment step includes application of a pre-treatment agent and drying as shown in the figure.

As a method of applying the pretreatment agent, a method of immersion is generally used, but a method of partial application using a spray or a sponge roller may be adopted. As the pretreatment agent, it is preferable to use a material in which at least one of a water repellent and a water-soluble resin contains a nonionic surfactant or an anionic surfactant. The water repellent and the water-soluble resin are used to suppress bleeding of an image and to fix a dye on the surface of a cloth (cloth) to improve coloring, and the nonionic surfactant and the anionic surfactant are used. Is to suppress the liquid medium in the ink from excessively penetrating in the thickness direction of the cloth and to improve the wettability of the dye to the cloth.

After performing a partial pre-processing on a print target area of a printing material (a cloth product such as a T-shirt), a predetermined image material is printed (printed) on the partial pre-processing section by an ink jet printing mechanism. Post-processing (preferably, partial post-processing) is performed on the printed printing material. As shown in the figure, the post-processing process includes the steps of color fixing, washing, fixing (FIX), drying, and ironing. The color fixing is a reaction fixing step of a dye. Specifically, it is generally preferable to carry out a heating and coloring process as the reaction fixing step. As the step of the heat color development treatment, a conventional technique, for example, a known method used in a printing process is usually applied as it is. That is, a high-temperature steam method or a thermosol method is used.

The actual processing conditions in the heating color forming process (color fixing) are different depending on the type of the cloth to be printed, but when dyeing a cotton or silk cloth with an ink containing a reactive dye, a high-temperature steam is used. The treatment is preferably performed at 100 to 105 degrees Celsius for 5 to 30 minutes by the method. When a polyester fiber cloth is dyed with an ink containing a disperse dye, it is treated at 160 to 180 degrees Celsius for several minutes to several tens of minutes by a high-temperature steam method, or at 190 to 230 degrees Celsius by a thermosol method. The treatment is preferably performed for several seconds to several tens of seconds.

In the washing step in the post-treatment, generally, a method of washing with water (including hot water) and then soaping with an aqueous solution containing a soaping agent or the like is used. However, if the material to be printed is polyester cloth,
After washing with water, a standard method is to perform reduction washing with an aqueous solution containing an alkali agent and hydrosulfide, and then further to wash with water. When the print material is a cotton cloth, washing is performed with water (including hot water), and then soaping is performed with an aqueous solution containing a soaping agent and the like. It is also possible to improve the washing fastness. In the fixing process, a dye fixing agent such as a fixing agent is used to improve washing fastness, and a process of removing excess dye is performed. As the fixing treatment agent, for example, a substance that converts the reactive dye into a poorly water-soluble compound form by binding to a hydrophilic group such as a sulfonic acid group of the reactive dye is used.A specific example of the substance is polyamine. Compounds, dicyandiamide compounds, and quaternary ammonium salt compounds.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a partial pre-treatment of a T-shirt as an example of a material to be printed (cloth product). In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a T-shirt, and reference numeral 2 denotes a range of a partial pre-processing portion of the T-shirt 1 (a range indicated by a square in the drawing). In general, printing on T-shirts 1 (printing of art materials) is mostly performed in a fixed position such as the chest and within a fixed size such as A4 length / A4 width, and these can be almost satisfied. The position and the size are set so that the partial preprocessing is performed as the print target range, so that it is possible to respond to most print requests. In particular, in FIG. 2, the size of the partial pre-processing section (pre-processed area) 2 is substantially an A4 longitudinal square, so that it is possible to cope with A4 horizontal / A4 vertical print materials.

As a method for partially applying the pretreatment agent in the pretreatment (FIG. 1), a method using a spray and a method using a sponge roller can be considered. FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the concept of spray coating as a partial coating method for applying a pretreatment agent to the partial pretreatment section 2. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a print-receiving material made of a cloth product such as a T-shirt, 2 denotes a partial pre-processing unit (for example, a print target area), 3 denotes a spray nozzle, and 4 denotes a pre-treatment agent. Reference numeral 5 denotes a mask that covers a portion of the printing material (T-shirt) 1 that is not pre-processed (for example, a portion other than the print target range), and 5A denotes the mask so as to correspond to the partial pre-processing unit 2 of the printing material 1. 5 shows an opening formed.

When the pre-treatment agent 4 is applied to the partial pre-processing section 2, a specific area of the printing material 1 (the area to be subjected to the partial pre-processing) is marked and displayed with a chalk pen or a sticker. Then, masking is performed with the mask 5 and a pretreatment agent may be applied thereon. If the pretreatment agent is applied by such a method, the marking mark by the chalk pen or the seal can be used as a mark for positioning on a printing tray to be described later. It becomes a positioning mark for (printer).

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of sponge roller coating as a partial coating method for applying a pretreatment agent to the partial pretreatment section 2. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 denotes a print-receiving material made of a cloth product such as a T-shirt, 2 denotes a partial pre-processing unit (for example, a print target area), 6 denotes a sponge roller, and 7 denotes a screen stand. The screen base 7 has an opening 7A corresponding to the range and position of the partial pre-processing unit 2 of the printing material 1.

Advantages of partial application of the pretreatment agent in the partial pretreatment include the point that the amount of the pretreatment agent used is minimized and the drying time is shortened. When the fabric product is a cotton product, shrinkage and distortion of the fabric product during drying can be minimized. The merits of spray coating are as follows. That is, printing by inkjet printing is generally dyeing only the surface of the cloth material, and therefore, by pre-treating only a specific portion of the surface of the cloth material by spray coating, the advantage of the partial coating is further emphasized. The bleeding of the pretreatment agent from the specific portion is eliminated, and the positioning on the printing tray and the specification of the portion to be cleaned can be performed easily and reliably. Of course, when it is required to print a special portion of the print material 1 in a special size, the partial pre-processing unit (for example, the print target area) 2 is individually spray-coated or sponge-rolled. The pre-processing may be performed to prepare a printing tray (described later) having a shape corresponding to the location and the size.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an ink jet printing apparatus having an ink jet printing mechanism capable of printing on a printing material made of a cloth product such as a T-shirt or the like, wherein the partial pretreatment is performed only on a specific printing target area of the printing material. The printed material is positioned and mounted on a printing tray in a state where the portion subjected to the partial pretreatment is held in a planar state and aligned, and the inkjet printing mechanism is used by using the printing tray. An image input / output capable of performing printing position adjustment and transport of the printing material with respect to the digital printing material and arranging a digital printing material on a display surface capable of displaying only the printing target range as a printing printing material arrangement area; Means and color-fixing only the part subjected to the partial pre-processing after printing. Coloring means for providing is configured to provide a configured ink-jet printing apparatus and ink-jet printing process to perform until the color fixing in partial processing of only the print target range from the pre-treatment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing the printing tray and a printing material (T-shirt) mounted on the printing tray in a separated state, and FIG. 6 is a printing tray in FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which a print-receiving material (T-shirt) is mounted on the print medium. 5 and 6, the printing tray 11 has a structure in which the lower plate 12 and the upper plate 13 are connected to each other with the support pillars 14 so as to be formed in an overall shape. The upper plate 13 is formed in a flat shape so that the cloth material 1 such as a T-shirt, which is a material to be printed, can be placed and mounted (mounted) on the upper surface thereof. The size of the upper plate 13 (the width of the upper surface) is substantially the same as that of the partial pre-processing section 2 of the print-receiving material 1, so that the upper area of the printing tray 11 is minimized. Can be set to If the partial pre-processing unit 2 of the print material (T-shirt) 1 is marked (marked by washing and dropping) with a pen or a sticker, the print material 1 is easily positioned and mounted on the printing tray 11. be able to.

The printing tray 11 holds the partial pre-processing section 2 of the printing material 1 in a plane as described above, and includes the other portion of the printing material 1 inside. In order to mount the print-receiving material 1 on the printing tray at a predetermined position, the print-forming material 1 is formed as a whole. That is, the arms 17, the neck 18, and the hem 19 of the T-shirt (printed material) 1 are attached to the pocket 16 of the printing tray 11.
By including the non-printing portion, the flat area of the printing tray 11 on which the printing material 1 is mounted can be minimized, and the inkjet printing mechanism can be configured to have a minimum shape.

The size (width) of the upper plate 13 is as follows:
It is good that the dimensions can be changed according to the size of the printing material 1 such as a T-shirt for children and a T-shirt for adults. The size of the lower plate 12 may be the same, and the support 14 is provided at a displaced position in the printing tray 11 to make it easy to cover the printing material 1 such as a T-shirt. The material of the printing tray 11 is not particularly limited, and a desired material such as wood, plastic, and metal can be used. Further, if the shape of the printing tray 11 is made into the above-described construction shape, and the printing material (T-shirt) 1 is mounted on the upper plate 13 so as to cover the same, even in the case of a thin printing material, When printing (printing) an image material on a printing material, it is possible to prevent the ink from seeping out to the back side of the printing material 1.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing one embodiment of an ink jet printing mechanism (printing printer) used in an ink jet printing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.
In FIG. 7, an ink jet printing mechanism 31 prints a desired image material directly on a printing material 1. The printing tray 11 (see FIG. 6) on which the printing material 1 such as a T-shirt is mounted
The ink is conveyed through the inkjet printing mechanism 31 by the conveyance belt 33 installed above. In the meantime, a desired range of the printing target material 1 positioned and mounted on the printing tray 11 (specifically, the partial preprocessing unit 2 supported in a planar manner on the upper surface of the upper plate 13 of the printing tray 11) ), A predetermined image material is printed by the ink jet printing mechanism 31 (the dye ink discharged from the ink jet head or the ink discharge port).

The ink jet printing mechanism 31 includes:
As shown, it has a substantially gate-shaped print section, and an ink jet unit (not shown) is disposed inside the top beam 31A. The ink jet unit prints an image on a print target area (partial pre-processing unit) 2 of a printing material 1 by discharging ink from a discharge port based on image information. The print unit includes a print head 1 that is reciprocated in a direction intersecting the transport direction of the print material 1 and that is driven by a main scan.
A serial printing type in which an image is formed by alternately repeating line printing and pitch feeding (pitch conveyance) of the printing material 1, and a line type having a predetermined length in the width direction of the printing material 1 There is a line print type in which printing is performed only by pitch feed (sub-scanning) in the transport direction of the print-receiving material 1 using the print head. Known documents that disclose such an ink jet printing mechanism include JP-A-8-207263 and JP-A-8-207390.

Printing tray 1 on which printing material 1 is mounted
The transfer of 1 is performed by the following mechanism. That is, the guide of the printing tray 11 in the width direction with respect to the carrier 32 is formed by the lower plate 12 of the printing tray 11 and the carrier 3.
2 with a width guide (not shown). In addition, the print tray 11 is caught in the transport direction in the lower plate 1 of the print tray 11.
2 is detected by a detection switch (not shown) provided on the transfer table 32. Printing tray 1
1 is detected, the transport table 32 is detected.
Is moved upward until the partial pre-processing unit 2 of the printing material 1 disposed on the upper plate 13 of the printing tray 11 contacts an upper surface detection switch (not shown) of the inkjet printing mechanism 31. Thereby, the gap between the partial pre-processing unit 2 and the inkjet head is adjusted. After performing the gap adjustment, the apparatus enters a print mode in which the dye ink is ejected from the inkjet head to print an image material on the partial preprocessing section.

As described above, by positioning the printing tray 11 with respect to the ink jet printing mechanism 31, the ink jet printing mechanism 31 (the ink jet head or the ejection port) of the printing material 1 mounted on the printing tray 11 is used. Can be positioned. When printing on the printing material 1 is completed, the transfer table 32
Is lowered to the original standard height, and the printing tray 11 on which the print material 1 is mounted is discharged from the transport base 32.

The ink-jet print (print head) is constituted by ink-jet means provided with an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy used for discharging ink. The ink jet means performs printing by discharging ink from a discharge port using film boiling generated in the ink by thermal energy generated by the electrothermal transducer.

FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view schematically showing the structure of an ink ejection section of a serial print type ink jet unit. In FIG. 11, the printing material 1
And a predetermined gap (for example, about 0.3 to about 2.0 mm)
A plurality of discharge ports 82 are formed at a predetermined pitch on a discharge port face 81 facing the common liquid chamber 83 and each of the discharge ports 8.
An electrothermal converter (heat-generating resistor or the like) 85 for generating energy for ink ejection is provided along the wall surface of each liquid path 84 that communicates with the fluid path 2. The ink jet unit (print head) is mounted on, for example, a main scanning carriage in such a positional relationship that the discharge ports 82 are arranged in a direction crossing the main scanning direction. In this way, the corresponding electrothermal transducer 85 is driven (energized) based on the image (print signal) or the ejection signal to cause the ink in the liquid path 84 to boil, and the pressure generated at that time causes the ink from the ejection port 82 to be discharged from the ejection port 82. The ink jet unit which discharges is constituted.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing a method of inputting, printing, and processing files on a printing material to be printed on a printing material by a personal computer. In the ink jet textile printing apparatus to which the present invention is applied, a display surface on which only the partial pre-processing section 2 of the print-receiving material 1 can be displayed as a print-material-arrangement area, and a digital image material arranged on the display surface and printed. Image input / output means capable of
Is provided. That is, in FIG. 8, the print range frame 4 corresponding to the partial pre-processing unit (range where the pre-processing agent is applied) 2 is displayed on each screen of the displays 41A and 41B.
2A and 42B, and the image materials 43A and 43
Place B. Therefore, one of the print range frames 42A and 42B is selected and printed. Then, the painting materials 43A, 43
B, in the state where the image material displayed in the print range frame selected from among the print materials (T
(The shirt, etc.) 1 is printed in the partial preprocessing section 2.

When printing the print information, it is configured to be able to file the image information such as the image material to be printed, the print position, the size of the print, etc. together with the customer order information. According to such a configuration, it is possible to easily realize the duplication of the print on the print material 1 as it is, or the duplication with a partial modification. Therefore, when printing on demand at a sightseeing spot or a theme park, etc., the customer and the print area frame 42A,
By simply arranging and setting images (art materials) while interacting with the user while watching 42B, it is possible to easily and reliably print the art materials desired by the customer.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a simple on-demand color former suitable for use in an ink-jet printing apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 9, the on-demand simple color developing device 51 includes a box-shaped steam generator 52 and a box-shaped steam storage unit 53, and a boiler is built in the steam generator 52. A sponge 54 made of silicon or the like is mounted on the upper surface of the steam storage section 53. The steam storage unit 53 is configured to uniformly send out the steam sent from the steam generation unit 52 to the sponge 54.

The sponge 54 is formed to be slightly wider than the partial pre-processing section 2 of the print material 1, and a print material such as a T-shirt on which an image material is printed is placed on the sponge 54. That is, in a state where the partial pre-processing unit 2 on which the image material is printed is aligned with the upper surface of the sponge 54, the printing material 2 is positioned and placed on the upper surface of the vapor storage unit 53 (the upper surface of the sponge 54). I do.
In this state, the printing material 1 is stored in the steam storage section 53.
After the lid 55 is placed on the upper surface, the lid 55 is lowered and brought into close contact with the upper surface of the vapor storage section 53, whereby the partial pretreatment section 2 of the printing material 1 is sealed inside the lid 55.
Fill the inside with steam.

The lid 55 is attached to a tip of a lever 57 driven by an automatic opening / closing mechanism 56.
That is, the lid 55 is swingably driven by the automatic opening / closing mechanism 56 via the lever 57, so that the lid 55 is opened / closed with respect to the upper surface of the steam / vapor storage unit 53 (the upper surface of the sponge 54). I have. The automatic opening / closing mechanism 56 is disposed above the steam generating section 52 in the illustrated example. In addition, the lid 55 is provided with a steam outlet 58 for controlling the steaming conditions by appropriately ejecting steam by adjustment. According to the simple color developing device shown in FIG. 9, the fibers of the print-receiving material 1 react with the ink adhered to the fibers by printing due to the moisture and heat of the vapor uniformly jetted from the sponge 54 and filled in the lid 55. And
The color fixation of the printed image is performed. According to the configuration of FIG. 9, it is possible to use only a small steamer that steams only the partial pretreatment unit 2, and it is possible to reduce the size of the color former 51.

FIG. 10 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing an example of the structure of a main part of a cleaning apparatus for executing a cleaning step during post-processing of the printing process shown in FIG. In FIG.
Numeral 61 denotes a nozzle for shower cleaning and hot air drying, and numeral 62 denotes a drain tray for covering the print material 1 such as a T-shirt. The drain tray 62 has a bottom surface and left and right side surfaces as walls, and an upper surface formed of a net 63. At the time of cleaning, the print material 1 is placed on the drain tray 62 so that the partial pretreatment section 2 is positioned (positioned) on the upper surface composed of the net 63, and the upper nozzle 6
Water or hot water is sprayed (sprayed) over a slightly wider range from 1 to the partial pre-processing unit 2 to wash the partial pre-processing unit 2 by shower, thereby washing off the ink and the pre-treatment agent from the partial pre-processing unit 2. . Thereafter, the printing material 1 is dried by switching the shower cleaning to hot air blowing. Reference numerals 64 and 64 in FIG.
This is a cover arranged so that the cleaning liquid does not come into contact with an extra portion other than the partial pre-processing section 2 or an extra portion other than the print image area.

According to the embodiment described above, the following functions and effects can be obtained. First, there is provided an ink jet printing apparatus and an ink jet printing method which can easily print on a cloth product such as a T-shirt on demand with a small and inexpensive mechanism. In other words, a small and inexpensive textile printing system that can print high-definition digital painting materials in a comfortable and comfortable manner with high washing fastness on a specific print target area of cloth products such as T-shirts, without plates and on demand. Provided is an inkjet printing apparatus and an inkjet printing method that can be used.

Further, printing is performed on a printing material in which only a specific print target area is partially pre-processed while the printing position of the partial pre-processing section is adjusted using a printing tray. Can be minimized only in the partial pre-processing section, whereby the printing mechanism can be made to have a minimum size and an inexpensive structure, and can be easily placed in a store or the like. In addition, by directly printing on a printing material such as a standard T-shirt or the like made of a cloth product (clothing or the like) by an ink jet printing mechanism, not only the on-demand operation is facilitated, but also the standard cloth product can be used. The problem of excess stock can be solved by obtaining a printing material having the above structure and performing preprocessing on the printing material according to demand.

Further, by using only a specific print target area as a partial pre-processing section, the cleaning step can be performed by a small cleaning means capable of cleaning only the partial pre-processing section, and almost all processes from pre-processing to cleaning can be performed. The process can be completed only by the treatment of the partial pretreatment section alone, so that the printing process can be facilitated and the size of the printing apparatus can be reduced. In addition, since the color fixing and the washing can be partially performed only on the specific portion, the color developing device and the washing device can be reduced in size and cost, and the post-processing time can be shortened. . At the same time, since partial washing can be performed, in the case of cotton products such as T-shirts, it is possible to minimize the shrinkage or shrinkage of collars and sleeves generated during drying. Also,
Even if cloth products such as T-shirts are stained by rubbing with the printed ink after color fixing, they can be washed away by washing them all over, so if there is some time allowance, ask the cleaning industry etc. for the processes after washing. To simplify the process.

Further, the partial pretreatment portion of the material to be printed made of a cloth product such as a T-shirt can be easily flattened or positioned with respect to the printing mechanism, and the printing material can be accurately printed at a specific position. be able to. Further, by hiding the non-printed portion inside the printing tray, it is possible to eliminate stains of the printing material by ink or the like.

Thus, according to each of the above embodiments,
Easily build an inkjet printing system that can print high-definition digital painting materials that are comfortable and have high washing fastness on fabric products such as T-shirts (clothing) in a plateless and on-demand configuration with a small and inexpensive configuration. In addition to being able to respond to the demand for original prints, an inkjet printing apparatus and an inkjet printing method capable of creating new demands such as printing of T-shirts for commemorative goods at sightseeing spots and theme parks are provided. You.

[0045]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention (claim 1), in an ink jet printing apparatus having an ink jet printing mechanism capable of printing on a printing material made of a cloth product such as a T-shirt, Applying partial preprocessing only to a specific print target range of the printing material, positioning and mounting the printing material on a printing tray while holding the partial preprocessing portion in a planar state and aligning the same, Using the printing tray, the printing position of the printing material with respect to the inkjet printing mechanism is performed and transported, and the digital pre-painting material is arranged on a display surface capable of displaying only the partial pre-processing section as a printing painting material arrangement area. Image input / output means capable of printing the digital art material and the partial preprocessing unit after printing A color developing means for coloring and fixing only the color is provided, and the process from the pre-processing to the color fixing is performed by the processing of only the partial pre-processing section. It is possible to build a small and inexpensive printing system that can print high-definition digital painting materials with good comfort and high washing fastness on a plateless and on-demand basis. By performing printing while aligning the partial preprocessing unit with the printing tray using the printing tray with respect to the printing target material, the plane area of the printing tray can be minimized only by the partial preprocessing unit, This provides an ink jet textile printing apparatus that can have a printing mechanism with a minimum size and an inexpensive structure, and can be easily placed in a store or the like.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-described configuration, a cleaning means for cleaning only the partial pre-processing section is provided, and the partial pre-processing section is performed until the cleaning performed after the color fixing. The cleaning process can be performed with only a small pre-processing unit, and almost all processes from pre-processing to cleaning can be performed only by the partial pre-processing unit. The present invention provides an ink-jet printing apparatus which can perform only the printing process and can facilitate the printing process and reduce the size of the printing apparatus.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-described configuration, the printing material holds the partial pre-processing portion in a plane with respect to the printing tray and includes other portions inside. In addition, since it is configured to be mounted in a state in which it is mounted, it is possible to easily perform flat positioning and positioning of a partial pretreatment portion of a printing material made of a cloth product such as a T-shirt with respect to a printing mechanism, and a specific position. The present invention provides an ink-jet printing apparatus that can print an image material accurately on a sheet, and can eliminate stains of the material to be printed by ink or the like by concealing a non-printed portion inside a printing tray.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-described configuration, the printing tray is formed in an engineered shape, and the printing material is mounted so as to cover the printing tray, thereby forming the printing target. Since the ink is prevented from seeping out to the back side of the material, an ink jet printing apparatus capable of achieving the above effects more efficiently is provided.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet printing method for printing an image on a printing material such as a T-shirt or the like by an ink jet printing mechanism. A pre-process is performed, the printing material is positioned and mounted on a printing tray in a state where the partial pre-processing section is held in a planar state and aligned, and the inkjet printing mechanism is used by using the printing tray. The digital printing material is positioned on a display surface capable of displaying only the partial pre-processing section as a printing material placement area, and an image input capable of printing the digital printing material is performed. Output means and color forming means for color fixing only the partial pre-processing section after printing Since the process from the pre-processing to the color fixation is performed by the processing of only the partial pre-processing section, a specific partial pre-processing section of a cloth product such as a T-shirt is provided in a non-plate, on-demand, high definition. A small and inexpensive textile printing system that can print comfortable digital painting materials in a state of high comfort and good washing fastness. By performing printing while aligning the partial preprocessing unit with the printing position by using the printing apparatus, the plane area of the printing tray can be minimized only by the partial preprocessing unit, thereby making the printing mechanism the minimum size. The present invention provides an ink-jet printing method which can have a low-cost structure and can be easily placed in a store or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the entire printing process of an inkjet printing apparatus to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a T-shirt as an example of a printing material to be printed and printed according to the present invention and a range of a partial pretreatment section thereof.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the concept of spray coating as a partial coating method for applying a pretreatment agent to a printing material.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the concept of sponge roller application as a partial application method for applying a pretreatment agent to a printing material.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a printing tray and a printing material used in the ink jet printing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which the printing medium of FIG. 5 is mounted on the printing tray of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing one embodiment of an ink jet printing mechanism (printing printer) used in an ink jet printing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing a method for inputting, printing, and processing files on a printing material to be printed on a printing material by a personal computer.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a simple on-demand color developing machine suitable for use in an ink jet printing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

10 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing a structural example of a main part of a cleaning device for executing a cleaning step during post-processing of the printing process shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view schematically illustrating the structure of an ink ejection unit of a serial print type inkjet unit.

[Description of Signs] 1 Material to be printed (cloth product such as T-shirt) 2 Partial pre-processing part (range to apply pre-processing, for example, range to be printed) 3 Spray nozzle 4 Pre-treatment agent 5 Mask 5A Opening (mask) Reference Signs List 6 sponge roller 7 screen base 7A opening (screen base) 11 printing tray 12 lower plate 13 upper plate 14 support 16 pocket 17 T-shirt arm 18 T-shirt neck 19 T-shirt hem 31 Ink-jet printing mechanism ( Inkjet printer) 32 Conveyor table 33 Conveyor belt 41 Display 42 Print range frame 43 Painting material 51 Simple color former 52 Steam generator 53 Steam storage unit 54 Sponge 55 Cover 56 Automatic opening / closing mechanism 58 Steam outlet 61 Nozzle 62 Drain tray 63 Net 64 Cover 81 Discharge port surface 82 Discharge port 84 Liquid path 85 Electric heat Converter

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) D06P 5/00 111 D06P 7/00 4L049 7/00 D06Q 1/00 // D06Q 1/00 B41J 3/04 101Z (72) Inventor Minoru Kobayashi 1248 Shimokagemori, Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture Inside Canon Electronics Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shoji 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Invention Person Atsushi Aoki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Cloth 3-30-2 Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term (reference) 2C056 EA23 EA24 FA03 FB03 HA12 HA29 2C059 AA12 AA17 AA21 DD03 DD29 3B154 AB19 BA60 BB39 BC08 DA30 3F101 LA07 LB11 4H057 AA03 DA01 DA32 EA11 FA30 FA31 GA06 GA15 GA17 GA21 G A29 HA09 4L049 BA00 BA39 DA23 EA07 FA02

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet printing apparatus having an ink jet printing mechanism capable of printing on a printing material made of a cloth product such as a T-shirt, wherein a partial pretreatment is performed only on a specific print target area of the printing material. The printing medium is positioned and mounted on a printing tray while the pre-processing unit is held flat and aligned, and the printing medium is printed on the inkjet printing mechanism using the printing tray. Alignment and transport, image input / output means capable of printing the digital art material while arranging the digital art material on a display surface capable of displaying only the partial pre-processing section as a print art material arrangement area, and after printing A color-forming unit for color-fixing only the partial pre-processing unit is provided. Ink-jet printing apparatus characterized by performing up to serial color fixing in the processing of only the partial pre-processing unit. 2. A cleaning device for cleaning only the partial pre-processing section, wherein the processing up to the cleaning performed after the color fixing is performed only by the processing of the partial pre-processing section. 2. The ink jet printing apparatus according to item 1. 3. The printing medium according to claim 1, wherein the printing material is mounted in a state in which the partial pre-processing portion is held in a flat shape and other portions are included inside. 3. The inkjet printing apparatus according to 1 or 2. 4. The printing tray is formed in an engineering shape.
The inkjet according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the printing material is mounted so as to cover the printing tray, thereby preventing ink from seeping out to the back side of the printing material. Printing equipment. 5. The inkjet printing mechanism according to claim 1,
The ink jet printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an ink jet unit including an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy used for discharging ink. 6. The ink-jet printing method according to claim 5, wherein the ink-jet unit discharges the ink from a discharge port using film boiling generated in the ink by thermal energy generated by the electrothermal transducer. apparatus. 7. An ink jet printing mechanism, wherein T
In an ink-jet printing method for printing an image on a print-receiving material made of a cloth product such as a shirt, a partial pre-processing is performed only on a specific print target range of the print-receiving material, and the partial pre-processing portion is held in a planar shape. In the aligned state, the printing medium is positioned and mounted on a printing tray, and using the printing tray, the printing position of the printing medium with respect to the inkjet printing mechanism and transport are performed. An image input / output means capable of arranging a digital image material on a display surface capable of displaying only the processing unit as a print material arrangement area and printing the digital image material, and color-fixing only the partial pre-processing unit after printing. A color developing means for performing the processing from the pre-processing to the color fixing by processing only the partial pre-processing unit. Ink-jet printing method characterized by performing.